Too Much Explanation, and You Stop It
"Good to see you, Toria."
Leyre offered his hand. Toria looked puzzled for a beat, then brightened with an "Ah!"
"Here!"
And she set her breasts down in his palm.
Leyre was flustered. The sensation, however, was not entirely unpleasant.
"No, I was only trying to greet you..."
"Aaah, so that was it! My former master loved fondling breasts so much that I was trained, without even realizing it, to offer my chest the moment I heard 'hand'! Isn't that just like a little puppy? Oh! You're welcome to treat me as a bitch, if you like!"
The suspicion that this one belonged to the same breed as Karin left Leyre's head spinning.
"...Are every last maid in this place like that?" Marx asked.
"There are only some among them who received a great deal of training in that direction from their former masters."
"Ah, anyway... could you tell me what sort of books are in the library?"
At that, Toria began to drool and haul volumes out left and right, as gleeful as a fish returned to water.
"Ooooh! At last I can show Master the collection I've been dying to present! Here, here, look at this. Look at this!"
The book she thrust forward was a children's sex-education comic.
"A children's sex-education comic illustrating human genitalia and physical characteristics! See how badly worn the parts you grip have become! Surely this is the damage left by young masters, still immature and yet already curious about sex, passing it around among themselves! My former master's own children, after looking through books like this, used to say things such as, 'Uuu, big sis... something feels weird down there...'! And that was not all! They even tried to strip us, maids though we are, on the grounds that we have body structures similar to humans!"
Leyre felt, at one remove, as if his eardrums were about to burst. She talked too much. The explanations went on far too long. She was even explaining things that did not need explaining.
"Hey, um..."
"Now, now, this one is a novel! A book that looks to have been a bestseller! Even when I read it, I was swept up in tremendous feeling—joy, anger, sorrow, and delight all at once! It is plainly set in a world unlike human civilization, and yet it folded the old technologies and social atmosphere of that civilization in so skillfully that it was immensely popular! And no wonder, for one passage records that it ranked first in a vote! What book, you ask? A merchant's novel! It is the story of a wolf-god maiden with wolf ears and a traveling peddler who meet, sell all manner of goods, and live through their adventures together! In the end their pure love is fulfilled, right through conception and childbirth, and there is even a sequel in which that child sets out on a journey!"
"..."
"This book is philosophy! I never fully understood human philosophy, and yet after reading it I felt myself grow stronger! To explain by way of this volume, it is the story of a philosopher who began as a clergyman and later became a scholar! This philosopher denies religion, declaring that it is dead, and insists that one must pursue humanity's selfish good rather than a religious good! And that is not all! He stresses that human beings must surpass humanity itself and become supermen who press ever onward through curiosity and their own inquiry! He adopts an order of evolution in which the camel must become the lion, and the lion must become the child! But read his other books and you find this gentleman thinks entirely too highly of himself! Is that the flaw of philosophers?! Do people who have realized something simply boast that much?! My former master preferred to live an ordinary life rather than put on airs, so he was never like that!"
Toria abruptly snatched up still more books, shoved her face in close, and asked.
"Master, what about you? What sort of book do you wish to read? Is there something you need? The collections I sought out and gathered with my own hands are truly varied, and there are so many of them! In order to learn what a human being is, I assembled not only the novels, comics, and philosophy I mentioned, but a great many history books as well! History is especially important! We know humans, and yet we do not know them well! We have tried this and that so that we might call our masters forth once more! To do that, we needed to understand them properly through the history books, and yet..."
"...Toria?"
"Yes, Master! Has something you desire occurred to you? Only say the word! The books I would recommend this very instant are...!"
Leyre simply caught her by the arm and sealed her mouth with his own.
"...?!"
"Master?!"
"...Rather feral of you."
When Leyre drew his lips away, embarrassment quieted Toria at once, and only then could he go on.
"There. Quiet at last."
"Ah... aaah... ah..."
"Master, please do the same for me!"
Lucia, her jealousy apparently driven to its peak, begged him for it on the spot. Leyre offered no particular resistance and kissed her as well, tongue and all.
"...Thank you."
"That enough? Marx, want one too?"
"..."
Marx only turned her flushed face aside.
"I'll praise you plenty later."
"...See that you do."
Everyone was satisfied. The mood was warm. It grew quiet.
Only then did Leyre say what he had actually meant to say.
"Toria, do you have any manuals on farming?"
"Eh? Ah, n-no... I couldn't... find any. Still... the history books mention farming methods here and there, and as far as I know, the farming was done by consulting those..."
She calmed quickly, spoke slowly through her embarrassment, and drew a book out. She handed him a single volume. It concerned the Neolithic and ancient history.
Leyre opened it and skimmed. The development of agricultural technique was indeed recorded there, to some extent. It seemed they really had farmed by following it.
"Then what about technical manuals?"
"B-by technical manuals, you mean...?"
"Ah, it's a little complicated, but... a book that explains how to build a generator capable of making electricity, and how it works. A book on how to use the electricity from that generator. Things like that."
Toria's eyes blinked wide.
"Why would you want books like those...?"
"I had a thought while I was looking over Marx's council village."
Leyre turned to Marx.
"You've built it up into a proper village, and it's come along remarkably well. What's a shame is this. You weren't using electricity—the bedrock of civilization from the days when humanity was still alive."
Marx nodded.
"We tried to run the power plants, but maids are household models, so we didn't know how, and most of them were broken to begin with. It had reached the point where making new ones would have been better."
"Thanks for explaining."
With that, Leyre stroked her head.
"...Hmph."
"Anyway, that's why I want to find the relevant books, have the maids study them, and then have them build what we need so we can use electricity. Is it possible?"
He looked to Lucia.
"Our capacity for learning is excellent across the board. If we succeed in learning from the books, there will be nothing to hinder any of us in building and operating such things."
"...Human. Do you truly believe it's possible?" Marx asked.
"What do you mean?"
"We tried as well, but there was simply no way, so we settled for living as we were. We didn't know where to look for the books, or any place where knowledge had been gathered. Is it possible?"
Leyre smiled.
"We try it and see. What is there we can't do?"
"A hopelessly optimistic brat, truly..."
Marx stepped closer.
"Then we'll have to go somewhere such books are likely to be."
"That's right."
"Do you know of any such place?"
Leyre thought it over, then turned to Toria.
"Toria, where did you get all these books?"
"Th-the bookstores nearby..."
"Would there still be a lot of books left in them?"
"There... should be. I didn't bring all of them."
"Hmm."
Leyre considered.
"Lucia, is there a university anywhere near here?"
"By a university... do you mean a place of higher education?"
"Yes. Somewhere famous for its college of engineering would be even better."
"I cannot speak to a college of engineering, but... there is a university some distance away."
"How far is 'some distance'?"
"Three days on foot."
Leyre snapped his fingers, then pointed to Toria and Marx.
"Toria and Marx will come with me. Lucia, put together a few combat-capable people, Hias included."
"Combat-capable? Surely you don't mean..."
"I'm going to the university myself. I mean to stop by those nearby bookstores as well, of course."
"Th-then I shall... send a letter to the Council and come back, just as Master commanded!"
Karin, her things already packed, looked at Leyre as she spoke.
"Um... Master..."
Shy, she nuzzled the teddy bear in one hand against her face and came closer.
"Yeah, Karin. Do your best out there."
Leyre had a fair idea why she was approaching, and he brought his hand down on her rear with all his strength, a sharp, springy smack.
"Now off you go! Don't be late! Late, and you're in trouble!"
"Y-yes...!"
Wearing a look of bliss, Karin set off for the Council with several maids.
"Human. You handle Karin... remarkably well."
"It was rough at first, but... well, you get used to it."
Leyre let out a sigh. Honestly, it wasn't bad. It satisfied that peculiar human appetite for dominance, and striking a rear as large as her imposing frame left a taut, springy feeling lingering in his palm that felt rather good.
"And besides, I handle you pretty well too, don't I, Marx?"
"Mmm... that's..."
He stroked her as he said it. Marx did not look displeased.
"But aren't you going back to the Council?"
"...Why would I?"
Her face asked it as if the answer were obvious.
"Because you're the chairman?"
"I can do the embassy work from here, can't I? And..."
Marx flushed and turned her face aside.
"I want to keep receiving your praise..."
A fond look crossed Leyre's face.
"Marx is unexpectedly cute, you know."
He pulled her into a tight embrace and petted her. Marx did not refuse. She hugged him back just as hard.
"...Master."
"Ah, Lucia."
Lucia had brought several maids with her.
"I have secured the personnel to be dispatched to the university."
"Thank you, Lucia."
"A dispatch, is it~ I didn't think I'd be going myself~"
Agrippa was among them.
"Hehe, Master! I'll protect you properly!"
So was Hias.
"I didn't expect to be going either! Well, of course—when it comes to books, I am the expert!"
Toria, who would be in charge of the books, had come along as well. With them were other maids to carry food and supplies.
"Agrippa? You'll be busy managing the farm. Are you sure this is all right?"
"Mm~? It's fine~ Quite a few hands have been sent out already~ And the farm work is more or less finished~ I ought to step out for a little stroll like this now and then, too~"
"I see... All right, then!"
Leyre raised a fist and shouted.
"For the sake of bringing electricity back—expedition, move out!"
"Move out!"
The maids cried it with him. Lucia came closer.
"Master, please do be careful."
She pulled him into a tight embrace. And then—
"Of cour—"
She kissed him. Tongue included, as if to flaunt it: Master is mine, so don't even think of laying a hand on him.
"A talisman. May you return without a scratch."
The maids around them wore looks of pure wow and sighed in admiration.
"Mm~ As expected, Lucia's possessiveness runs rather deep~" Agrippa said.
"And what of it? He is my Master."
"Our Master, surely, Big Sister Lucia."
Hias objected.
"Just devote yourself to protecting Master."
"Uh... um..."
Lucia's sudden move left Leyre briefly stunned.
"Sh-shall we go?"
With some difficulty, he declared their departure all over again.