Chapter 47
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: I'm Not Into That Kind of Thing!
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After gaining a reliable comrade named Karin (she told me to speak casually, so I did).
I figured it was about time for my daughters to wake up, so I decided to head home.
Oh, and by the way, about those potions...
"Come over to my house tonight and take them. I'll give you the rest then."
I'd also made dinner plans with Professor Cheetah.
Thinking it over, to prepare for any unexpected situations, it seemed best to consume the potions right in front of the professor. So, I invited Karin to my place.
"You understand what I'm saying, right?"
"…Understood."
At that moment, Karin wore a look of resignation as she gave a mechanical reply.
It seemed signing that contract again had really shaken her up.
'Well, I guess I'd feel the same.'
For Karin, it was like poking at a PTSD trigger, so I felt a bit guilty.
But I had my own position to consider, so there was no helping it.
In the end, I quietly slipped out of the lounge to give her time to compose herself and headed home.
Just in time, my daughters had woken up, and we enjoyed a pleasant breakfast together.
And after that...
"Daddy-nyang! Can we go on an adventure-nyang?"
"An adventure?"
"Professor Cheetah said there's a valley in the back mountains! I want to go explore it with Sis!"
"Ah, that place?"
This was something I'd learned last time.
It happened during dinner one evening when I asked how far exactly the professor's territory extended...
[My territory? Hmm... Roughly speaking, everything you can see around you when you spin in place right there?]
"Come on, Professor. You think I'm dumb enough to fall for a joke like that?"
[It's not a joke.]
"Ugh, fine... So that mountain I can see behind you is yours too?"
[Yep.]
"…Pardon?"
[I said yes. My mountain. While we're on the topic, there's a vacation home with magic barriers in the valley up in the back mountains. Go check it out sometime.]
[Lulu and Arin would love it, right?]
"Ah... Um... Y-Yes..."
...It wasn't a joke. Everything visible around us really belonged to the professor.
I never imagined the back mountains were his too.
Anyway.
That day's lesson was a minor one: 'Never try to flex money in front of the professor...'
Lulu and Arin, having experienced their first outing yesterday, now brimmed with curiosity about the outside world.
Recalling that conversation, they wanted to go adventuring in the back mountains. That was the current situation.
With that in mind...
"Sure, go have fun."
"Nyang! Adventure time-nyang!"
"Yay! It's an adventure!"
Staying cooped up in the house would just make them restless, and the back mountains weren't far anyway. There was no reason to oppose their little outing.
Even if they got lost, they said they could instinctively sense my location, so that wasn't an issue.
If they ran into beasts in the mountains... well, dinner might end up being roast mountain game.
As long as they weren't bickering with each other, my daughters weren't fragile enough to get hurt anywhere. No problem there either.
"I'll pack you an adventure bento, so wait just a sec."
"Nyang! Adventure bento-nyang!"
"Yay! Adventure bento!"
Rather than fretting and saying no...
As a father and a man, I supported their adventure by packing a hearty adventure bento (loaded with meat!).
"We're off-nyang!"
"We're heading out!"
"...You've grown so much, my little girls..."
I watched their backs as they dashed off without a glance behind, feeling a swell of pride.
Even so, I gazed after them with a poignant look, wishing they'd turn around just once.
'Lavris' is nagging its owner to start training in Battle Spirit already.
"…Yeah, I should."
The notification from Lavris snapped me out of it. With the girls away, I decided to do some training.
I practiced the basics of Battle Spirit, along with Orc-style axe and fist fighting techniques.
About three hours later.
I was pleased, feeling like I'd grasped the knack for moving my body properly.
"Daddy-nyang! We're back-nyang!"
"Daddy! We brought back some game!"
"Game?"
My two daughters returned covered head to toe in dirt.
The weird part? Each was dragging something huge in one hand, hauling it along the ground.
Curious about what the heck it was, I checked out the massive somethings...
"Baa..."
"…A sheep?"
...It was a sheep, still alive and bleating pitifully.
A gigantic fluffy one, with two enormous horns to boot.
"Wait, why is there a horned sheep in the back mountains?"
I might have understood a normal sheep somehow.
But abroad, maybe. In Korea? A sheep with horns that big?
"Nya-hang-hang! Lamb for dinner-nyang!"
"Lamb skewers~!"
"Baa?! Baaa!!! Baaa-!?!?!"
...Well, as long as my daughters were happy.
In a world with towers popping up, a horned sheep in the back mountains wasn't that strange.
Alright, time to shear the wool and prep the meat...
"We caught it alive, so it'll be super fresh-nyang!"
"The more it struggled, the tastier it'll be for sure!"
"BAAAA!!! Baaa! Baaameee! Baaameong?!?!?!"
...Or so I thought, for a moment.
Its reactions were almost like it understood speech, which was suspicious for just chowing down.
Since it was caught in Professor Cheetah's back mountains, I figured I'd ask him first.
"If you understand me, nod. Do you know Professor... no, Harin?"
I asked just in case.
"Baa?! Baa! Baabaa-!!!"
"It really understands?"
The sheep nodded vigorously, proving my suspicion right.
I explained to my daughters that this seemed like a spirit beast the professor raised or something similar, and we probably shouldn't eat it...
"Oh, like that-nyang? Got it-nyang!"
"It didn't look that tasty anyway."
"Eh... You two are okay with that? Wasn't this what you caught to eat?"
"Nyang? We just saw it while passing by and caught it-nyang! The meat at home tastes better-nyang!"
"Catching something that runs away is fun~!"
"Baa-?!?"
...The sheep let out a wretched bleat, like 'You caught me for THAT reason?!'
But my daughters ignored it completely and dashed off to the bathroom, saying they'd go wash up.
As their father, I apologized on their behalf to the communicating spirit beast.
"Um... Sorry about that. My daughters got a bit overexcited on their first adventure."
"Baa...!!!"
"Look, I'll take responsibility and groom your mangled fur, so calm down."
"Baa...!!"
"I'll make you something tasty too. I'm a good cook. Anything you want?"
"Baa...?"
"I don't get exactly what you're saying, but... If you like human food, nod once. If veggies or hay are better, nod twice."
Nod!
Huh, spirit beasts can eat human food after all.
"Meat-based food once, veggie-based twice, both three times."
Nod! Nod! Nod!
Doesn't picky about meat or veggies...?
In that sense, more mature than Lulu and Arin, who skip veggies.
For food, I can just whip something up from the cauldron.
More importantly...
Scrub-a-dub!
"You need a bath first."
"...Baa."
If Lulu and Arin were dirt-covered...
The spirit sheep was a pitiful sight: fur singed like from fire (probably Lulu) or soaked and caked in mud (probably Arin).
I decided to clean it up first to soothe its bad mood.
I easily lifted the sprawled sheep.
"Heave-ho!"
"Baa-?!"
"Hm? You're pretty light for all that fluff?"
"B... Baaa-!!!"
"Hey, quit squirming! You're splashing mud everywhere!"
"B... Baa..."
Surprised at being picked up, it flailed for a bit.
But once it realized I meant no harm, it settled down.
I carried it to the faucet in the corner of the yard, set it down, and started washing.
By the way, the yard faucet had the professor's magic, so hot water came out.
"Baaa..."
"Living the dream, huh?"
"Baaahng..."
It seemed to love the warm water, relaxing completely as it entrusted itself to me.
I got serious about grooming its fluffy fur.
And that's when...
Pet pet!
"Baaahh...♡?!"
"Oh? Does an alchemist's handiwork apply here too?"
The Alchemist's Dexterity seemed to boost all manual tasks.
Even fur grooming became the delicate touch of a master craftsman.
"Baaahk...♡ Baahoh...?! Baaaahh...!!♡!"
"Hey! Quit making weird noises! What if people misunderstand?"
"B... Baaa...! Baaaa-!!!"
"My touch is that amazing... something like that?"
Nod... nod...
"Not even a girl, and getting those sounds from a sheep... What a weird feeling."
"Baa-!!!"
"Quiet, you."
Pet pet!
"Baahb-♡"
The strange moans were annoying enough to quit, but...
Half its body was already soapy, so I pushed through.
After about 30 minutes of grooming...
"Baaak...♡ Baahwk...♡"
"Oh man, my life."
I'd succeeded in washing the spirit sheep before the girls saw.
But seeing it slumped twitching on the ground, I felt a pang of self-loathing, like I'd done something misconstruable.
"My lord. May I ask something...?"
"Hm? Karin?"
We hadn't exchanged numbers or even gallery nicknames.
With no way to contact me, Karin had come to the house and walked in on this awkward scene.
I tried to explain immediately... but that wasn't the issue.
"…Rachel?"
"?"
What did Karin just say...?
If I didn't mishear, she called the spirit sheep Rachel... the name of that comrade from the tower.
...Hold on.
Come to think of it, that Rachel's penalty was definitely...?
- Despite taking penalties, the survivors were me, who went blind; Rachel, who took on a beast's form; and Lynn, who explodes from external stimuli.
...No way.
Right...?
"Rachel...?"
"Baaa...♡"
"Rachel-!!!"
"Ah."
No wonder there was a horned sheep in the back mountains...
Who could've guessed it was a person turned into a sheep by a penalty...?