Chapter 74

So it turned out I—along with four girls in dancer outfits—ended up at the sea.

It might have looked like some wealthy guy’s sketchy hobby, but that wasn’t it at all. If I were rich, I’d buy an uninhabited island and use it as a private beach.

What we were actually doing was wholesome. First, we went searching for tide-pool creatures.

A little way off the main beach there’s an area teeming with sea life. Since this is my hometown, I know it well.

“Look, this is a starfish.”

“Oh, it really is shaped like a star…”

Farphistanya-senpai, a total ocean novice, examined every creature I showed her with wide-eyed interest.

“That over there is a hermit crab. It uses an empty shell as its house.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen the real thing for any of these. It’s very fascinating.”

It felt a bit like a biology lesson about marine life.

Meanwhile, President Kelkel plunged into the water and started catching fish with her bare hands.

“You’re good at that…”

“Seeing this awakens my wild instincts. Sometimes I want to run through the fields and mountains in my dog form to blow off steam, but a vacation like this is nice too! ♪”

The President seemed composed, yet she nimbly waded in and snatched fish. Everyone has their own way of playing.

“I’m… not fond of places like this…”

For some reason Mary looked gloomy, moving timidly as she clung to me. It was like walking through a school-festival haunted house—even though there’s no ghost scarier than Mary herself.

“What do you dislike so much? Some people can’t stand the smell of the tide, but…”

“Places like this feel like things will appear. Especially among the rocks…”

Just then—I saw something scuttling between the rocks.

“Ah, it’s just a sea slater.”

“Hyah! It appeared! I’m scared, Big Brother!”

Mary hugged me fiercely. Being hugged by her in that outfit felt… weird, which wasn’t good, but she was genuinely terrified.

“I see, so sea slaters are what you’re afraid of.”

“Big Brother… hold me tight for a bit… I’m shaking because I’m so scared…”

She wasn’t joking; Mary’s face had gone ocean-blue.

Many people hate sea slaters, but I didn’t expect the “Ancestor of Indescribable Nightmares” to fear them too. Sea slaters are truly fearsome.

“My, my, you two look like real siblings. I’ve seen an unexpected side of your family.”

Cerulia didn’t seem bothered. Apparently it varies from person to person.

“Ever since I came to this world and saw them the first time, I’ve had a physiological loathing for them… Their movement is just gross… I can’t handle sea slaters or cockroaches…”

“I guess you have a revulsion toward things that scuttle around…”

“Big Brother, you’re warm. Stroke my hair…”

Thinking ‘I’m not your big brother,’ I couldn’t leave Mary like that, so I obliged.

“There, feeling calmer now?”

“Yeah… Franz, thank you.”

If a ‘little sister’ figure is scared, you comfort her like that.

Then Mary looked up and peered into my eyes from below.

“Somehow, being stroked by Franz… I might be starting to feel… a bit ‘naughty’…”

A jolt of nervousness hit me, but I knew I had to respond firmly.

“I won’t permit that! This is a public place!”

“Indeed. Since you are both employees of my company, I would like to ask for moderate behavior.”

The President backed me up. I’m not sure whether wearing that counts as “moderate,” but since it isn’t a crime, I figured it was fine.

After that we walked along the shoreline where the waves rolled in and decided to sunbathe in the shade of palm trees to avoid the direct sun.

The reason for staying out of the direct sun was—

The metal parts of these dancer outfits trap heat and get really hot.

If you think about it, dancers don’t usually perform under the midsummer sun. They dance in theaters at night, so the outfits weren’t designed with sun protection in mind. Cerulia seemed used to it, but it was a different story for the first-timers.

Farphistanya-senpai pointed out the problem: “I might get burned if this continues…”

Makes sense—it’s probably one reason swimsuits aren’t made of metal.

Still, doing nothing and listening to the waves felt luxurious.

“This feels quite nice. It reminds me of vacations in the Demon Realm.”

Cerulia, who was right beside me, said that.

“Yeah, I’m so happy it’s almost scary. I just hope a giant shark doesn’t attack us.”

It’s rare, but marine creatures do sometimes come near the shore. Depending on the species, some sharks are said to target swimmers.

“Man~ I’m glad I came along too.”

President Kelkel seemed to be enjoying herself as well; her tail wagged vigorously.

By the way, our group was incredibly conspicuous, and I could feel a lot of eyes on us. I heard voices: “Who is that guy?” and “Is he some idiot son of a local lord?” Clearly, people were jealous. I’m just a new employee.

Other comments floated over: “I want to hang out with that dog-eared girl,” “That succubus girl’s chest is incredible,” “Being called ‘Big Brother’ by that little demon girl would be supreme,” and “There’s no better scenario than having that unsociable-looking black-haired girl whisper sweet nothings to you.”

If my father saw this, he’d kill me…

Still, despite my good fortune, I had a small worry.

“But is it okay for everyone to take summer vacation all at once?”

I asked the President.

“Yes, I’ve shifted the schedules slightly so they don’t overlap with when the others are working.”

“Even so, the only other employee I know in this company is Tototo-senpai.”

There should be a few more employees, but I have no idea where they are or what they’re doing.

“I think you’ll meet them one by one. Our employees are basically individualists, so there’s not much talk of everyone doing something together. If anything, I tend to hire people who aren’t great at being tied down by a company.”

“I can understand that.”

It made sense, given the President’s tendency to bring up people who don’t fit into society but have great ability.

“Because of that, there’s actually an employee working near this very sea.”

That surprised me a bit.

“Huh. When I think of the seaside, I imagine a lot of Blue Magic users, but there are Black Magic people too?”

Blue is associated with the ocean, so magic related to the sea is often handled by Blue Mages.

For example: magic to control fish or calm the waves. Blue Mages also manage swimming beaches.

“Well, everyone has their own life path.”

For some reason the President smiled meaningfully.