A Cup of Leisure

"Is this what they call the leisure of a cup of tea?"

Well, what I'm actually sipping is the leftover blue wine from yesterday, but since I'm drinking something, it's all the same, right?

"Anyway, she should be back soon."

I gazed at the orange sunset light filtering through the window while taking a swig from the wine bottle. After Kernax left and I was alone, I grabbed a light breakfast, then toured the house to pick up the basket of towels I'd left around yesterday while giving the place a cleanup.

Not that I scrubbed or wiped anything down—just tidied up the scattered stuff, hand-washed the laundry for some exercise, and used the world’s built-in drying magic on the dryer to fluff everything up before stacking it neatly on the bed. That sort of thing.

Once the housework was done at a leisurely pace, it was right around lunchtime. I polished off the leftover venison from the pot, then scrubbed the pot spotless. After that, it's pretty much ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what you see now: nursing the wine and killing time idly.

Oh, and since I'd had sex with Kernax, I didn't forget to check the info window.

According to the info from the chat room, it's hard to rack up big points with humans since they dominate the world I got dropped into. Even so, Kernax netted a whopping 26 points. That's nine times the score from the slave hunter who kidnapped me.

The biggest factor in scoring is how rare the race is in this world—that's the heavy hitter. Other stuff like command ability, fame, physical prowess, wisdom, and so on only tweaks it a little.

Oh, and if she gets pregnant, you get bonus points proportional to the race's rarity. Of course, if there's a miscarriage, or if the woman I hook up with gets seriously hurt or dies because of it, the score drops—or worse, gets wiped from the list entirely. That's solid info, so they said to use it wisely.

Since Siron's score hasn't budged, looks like she's still fine for now.

As I stared out the window and drained about half the last bottle of blue wine, I heard a noise at the front door. I set the bottle on a nearby table and headed over.

"Welcome back."

"Smith?"

Kernax looked a little startled by my greeting, her eyes widening as she stared at me.

"Uh... um, yeah, I'm home... Smith? It's nice to be welcomed like this. Really nice, but... did you finish up your guild work properly?"

"About that, Kernax. You headed out with the guards, and I was left alone in the house."

"Yeah. That's right. Alone...... Oh."

"Yeah, pretty much."

I scratched my head, and Kernax's mouth twitched a few times as she watched me. Then she swept both hands over her face dramatically.

"Sorry... I was so swamped I completely forgot about the security wards......"

"Nah, it's fine. Thanks to that, I got a full day ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of rest."

"No... you need to head to the guild right now. I'll explain everything."

"I said it's fine? You think they're gonna chew me out for missing one day? Hell, all I do at the guild is sit around killing time anyway."

In reality, my role at the guild is handling silver-rank and above adventurers, so "work" just means sitting there zoning out or helping the female receptionists sort request forms. Missing a day wouldn't be a big deal. If anything, they'd just worry.

Okay, maybe Amelia-noonim would give me some shit.

"Anyway, it's fine, so let's change clothes first."

"No, I'll do it alone..."

"Hey now."

"......Urgh."

I carefully removed Kernax's greaves from the wooden mannequin stand in the entryway and hung them one by one.

"Wait, hold on. I sweated a lot today... don't get too close, okay?"

"Yeah? Sniff sniff."

"Sto— S-Smith!!"

I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind and buried my nose in the nape of her neck, inhaling deeply. She squirmed in embarrassment but didn't struggle hard, probably worried I'd get hurt. So cute.

"Mmm. Mint's nice too, but this scent's got me kinda fired up."

"F-f-fir-fu, fired up...?"

No joke—Kernax's sweat had this weird addictive quality. The more I sniffed, the hotter my body got. Rubbing my dick against that cheeky ass right now wouldn't be bad, but since I'd wasted the day lounging, I had plans to get busy. So I kneaded her firm-yet-soft lower belly a few times before letting go.

"I was gonna whip up dinner with whatever's on hand, but figured you might've eaten out, so I held off."

"N-no, I haven't."

"Cool. Go wash up and come down. Oh, got any plans?"

"N-none."

Kernax glanced at my half-hard bulge while I sniffed her, swallowing hard.

"Sex later. Dinner first, then hit the smithy."

"......The smithy?"

"What? You look disappointed for a sec."

"Wh-wh-wha-what? No. Go wash up quick."

She bolted upstairs like I'd hit a nerve.

"That was good."

"Hope it suited your taste."

"Of course. Delicious."

Kernax nodded in satisfaction after devouring a pile of sandwiches—smoked meat, perfectly grilled eggs, and onions sliced to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the right texture.

Not a combo that's hard to nail, honestly. I smirked, cleared the empty plates, and Kernax fidgeted in her chair, offering to help like the situation felt awkward. I turned her down, of course.

"Alright, dishes done. Time to head out."

"But Smith. What's the errand at the smithy?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Mm. Got it."

With Kernax nodding obediently, we finally stepped outside. The sun had set and it was night, but that was fine.

"Urgh......"

She explained earlier that smithies stay open late unless it's some special circumstance. Our hands were interlocked, her neck flushed red below as we walked.

"Um... Smith. Mind letting go now?"

"Why? Embarrassed 'cause of me?"

"......You know that's not it, yet you ask questions that just make it harder for me."

"'Cause you're cute."

"Urgh......"

Eh, not many people around anyway.

"Hey? Isn't that the captain?"

"Shh!! You idiot, don't ruin the mood. Pass quietly."

A pair of guards on night patrol whispered and averted their eyes to avoid meeting ours. It was their way of being considerate, but the moment their murmurs reached our ears, it just stoked Kernax's embarrassment more.

Anyway, after dodging a few more guard patrols like that, we reached the smithy.

"Meris!!"

The second we stepped in, Kernax bellowed the blacksmith Meris's name. Guess she planned to vent her built-up shame on her.

"You gone nuts, bitch? Gonna bust my eardrums? Why the fuck you yelling this late? And you crazy slut... finally fucked up, huh?"

"Wh-what do you mean, fucked up!!"

Meris, proudly displaying her ample tits through her soaked T-shirt as always, spotted our tightly clasped hands and started grinning.

"I set you up perfect, and instead of thanks, you're banging like rabbits? Hey, you. Seen her temper? Better drop her hand and run while you can."

"Meris!!"

"What, bitch? Did I lie? Back a few years ago, you were all bark—"

"M-my bad!!"

"Tsk tsk tsk. So? Here to brag about your boyfriend after 30 years?"

"......Why bring up my age?"

"All bark—"

"Ah, no!! Smith has business, that's why!!"

"Hm? This guy?"

Meris swept her sweat-damp golden hair aside, propped her chin on the counter, and stared right at me. My eyes naturally drifted to the tits squeezed firm between her arms—now a solid C-to-D cup.

"What're you staring at? They ain't gonna wear out. Kinda creepy, dude. Or wanna cop a feel?"

"Uh......"

The words "sure, why not" nearly slipped out, but I swallowed them back.

"Nah. Here for the iron ingots I bought last time."

"Iron ingots? Got extras, so sure, but you really not into my tits?"

"Meris!!"

Kernax's face hardened at Meris constantly thrusting her soaked-shirt-outlined tits forward. She stepped in front of me, blocking the view. Such a shame.

"What the hell, bitch. Lemme feel a man's touch too."

"Wh-what kinda vulgar—!!"

"Ha, you bitch? Hey. Remember our pact? If one of us scores a guy, we share?"

"Th-that......!! Th-that was kid stuff......"

She didn't deny it, huh.

"Look at this shameless slut. Fine, whatever—kid promise or not. No reason for you to hog him and cockblock my love life."

"......Smith's here as a customer, not to field your thirsty advances this late. Hurry up and fetch the iron ingots."

"The fuck? When'd you get so bold? Lost your damn mind. Hey!!"

"Yes!!"

I instinctively poked my head around Kernax's side at her call.

"How many you need?"

"Uh... just two today?"

That's all the emergency cash I had left. While Meris went inside for the ingots, I patted my waist for the payment pouch.

"Uh......"

No matter how much I groped, no pouch. I looked down to confirm. Of course it wasn't there.

Obviously not. I never even brought the damn thing!!

What an idiot.

"Smith? Problem?"

"Well......"

I confessed to Kernax that I'd left the emergency pouch in my guild room.

"......Smith."

"Sorry!! Made you come all this way for nothing!!"

Stupid fucking Smith. Should've just stayed home for marathon creampie pregnancy sex. I mentally kicked myself, vowing to reflect on it later while jerking off.

"Smith."

"Yeah. Listening."

She'd called me twice, so I looked up into her blue eyes.

"It's not some luxury item—just iron ingots. Don't apologize for this. Hell, no need to apologize at all."

Kernax slipped a hand into her cleavage and pulled out a small coin pouch, forcing it into my grip. It was still warm from her body heat.

She squeezed my hand tight and smiled faintly.

"I'm not hurting for cash. Use it without worry."