Eating

The next day at noon.

After coming home in the morning and being thoroughly scolded, I slept soundly just like that, and after waking up, I ended up going for a walk through Tree Village with Nadja and the others.

“Good grief, this is exactly why you’re like this, Woody… Are you all right? You weren’t eaten, were you?”

Nadja, who showed no sign of cooling down even after some time had passed, said that and began patting my body all over. Then she flipped up my clothes and even inspected the skin beneath them.

S-stop it!

If you do something like that to me, I won’t be able to get married anymore!

“E-eaten…? Ran-san isn’t a monster or anything, you know?”

“No, that is not what I meant… I see. Woody, you are such a good boy.”

For some reason, she stroked my head with a gentle expression.

Apparently, her mood had finally improved.

I did not really understand, but I was saved…

“…At this rate, it seems there should be no problem. (mutter)”

“That is true. That woman may look like that, but she has no nerve. (mutter, mutter)”

Nadja and Aira were talking about something behind me.

I could not make out the contents of their conversation, but judging from their expressions, it was probably the kind of talk I did not need to hear.

We had known each other for a long time now, so I had started to understand at least that much.

“Come to think of it, it sounds like someone from the Adventurers’ Guild will be coming to inspect the place soon.”

“When that happens, naturally, I will be present too! After all, I know the most about the monsters and dungeons that appear in this desert.”

Nadja looked cute as she puffed out her chest, so this time, I stroked her head.

Then Nadja’s face turned bright red.

When she was stroking my head earlier, she looked so cool, but now she was just an adorable, ordinary girl.

There should be no problem attracting the guild here, so I was not too worried.

According to Nadja, the monsters deep inside the dungeon were quite powerful, so I would just hope that skilled adventurers would gather on their own.

The dwarves were here now too, so there would be no trouble with processing materials either.

I had not shown my face there for the past few days, so after today’s plans were finished, maybe I should go to Guinea Village.

I also had to properly listen to what all the dwarves had to say.

“Come to think of it, where are we heading right now? Your outfit also feels tighter than usual.”

“Ah, apparently the two Divine Beasts have something to discuss. So, just in case, I thought I should pay proper attention to my appearance.”

“Which means it’s not just Simurg-san, but Wheel-san too… This had better not be another ridiculous matter.”

Nadja trusted Simurg-san firmly, but she seemed to have a tendency to think of Wheel-san as a sloppy old man when it came to alcohol.

Well, I did feel that it was not exactly wrong either…

“I also had something to discuss, so it was perfect timing.”

What I wanted to discuss was the plan to create a new village around the dungeon at Magros Volcano.

I had wanted to ask whether Wheel-san could extend the Sanctuary and expand it all the way to that area.

After all, whether there was a Sanctuary or not made a completely different in the cost of building and maintaining a village.

“Come to think of it, Miria-san also said she had something to discuss.”

“Then I’ll have to hear her out later.”

Things I had to do kept appearing one after another.

I wanted to solve them one by one and rest soon.

A bit of yesterday’s hangover was still lingering, and my head was spinning… Maybe I should refrain from alcohol for a while.