Chapter 96: A New Normal
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 96: A New Normal
Dawn.
This is the time I leave the house, seen off by Eris.
“Have a safe trip.”
Eris, who had been hesitating, gave a small smile and finally spoke the words she wanted to say.
“…Husband. Ah!”
She couldn’t help herself and lunged into my arms.
My departure was delayed for a short while.
* * *
Morning.
“Mmph… Ngh… Ooooh…! Not there, no…!”
The vigorous ‘exercise’ I do with Rune every day has practically become a duty now.
Normally, once or twice would be enough, but lately, she keeps demanding more, as if she won’t be satisfied until she’s on the verge of fainting.
By the time we hit the fourth round, nothing but animalistic groans escape her, but she wraps her arms and legs around me and refuses to let go. It’s quite the predicament.
* * *
Just before lunch.
“Oppa, listen to this~.”
This is the time I visit Narupa’s office.
Narupa, who always plays the role of the reliable older sister, lets her guard down completely in front of me. It’s a healing time where she whines and acts spoiled.
Even though Eris has taken the lead among the women, Narupa still has to step up frequently as a businesswoman. Consequently, her stress is relieved through this healing time with me.
The effect is undeniable.
The suggestions she made early in our relationship—about abandoning this world and running away together—have decreased significantly.
Or perhaps she’s just decided to eliminate the new demonic threat first before revisiting the idea.
“Narupa, I heard you’ve started working on my former party members at the Magic Tower?”
“Chuuup, hmm? Just a simple status check, really.”
“I was worried we were being a bit too relaxed about it.”
Narupa straightened her posture and leaned her head on my shoulder.
“You’re right, Oppa, but it can’t be helped. The Magic Tower has its own rules. There are constraints we have to work around to deal with them, and if we decide to visit, we have to go in prepared to clear a dungeon. We can’t afford to be negligent with the preparations.”
She was right on every count.
The Magic Tower itself is a dungeon.
To be precise, the mages conquered almost an entire tower-type dungeon and then established it as a place for learning and research.
Turning a dungeon into a hideout—it’s arrogant, yet perfectly typical of mages.
“What if Mirei and Resin move somewhere else?”
“They have nowhere to go. I heard the Royal Purge Squad is scouring the area.”
“The Purge Squad, huh? Haven’t they entered Hus yet?”
“They did, but they’re gone now.”
As she said this, Narupa flashed that characteristic madness of hers.
“It’s fine if more come. I have plenty of things I want to experiment on.”
“Don’t do anything inhumane.”
“Oh, Oppa, don’t you know?”
Narupa stretched contentedly.
“Those people have had their records expunged; they aren’t ‘human’ anymore. Since they aren’t human, how could anything I do be considered inhumane?”
With that, Narupa handed me a few jars of a new moisturizing cream.
“It’s even resistant to burns~. It has a great soothing effect, too.”
“How do you know it’s resistant to burns?”
“Oh, you know, it just happened?”
She gave a beaming smile, yet she couldn’t hide the madness behind it.
Narupa is still Narupa.
Since she only seems able to suppress it when she’s in my arms, I’ll have to take full responsibility for her.
* * *
Early afternoon, past lunch.
Adventurer Guild Training Ground.
“Gyahahahahaha!!!”
Surprisingly, I spend part of my day with Diane.
Is it healing time?
Hardly.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
It’s training time.
Training to master Barion’s space-time abilities.
Under Narupa’s guidance, she’s become able to move short distances, which has made her a bit of a nuisance. However, I can still predict her movements and land light blows to her midsection, just like I did now.
“O-one more time!”
“Sure.”
“Gyahahat!”
She vanished from my sight, but she had simply used space-time to move into my blind spot.
They say a sub-space exists between the starting point and the destination, but with Diane’s current power, staying there is impossible.
So, she relies on continuous movement, just as Barion did.
“Shisha—!”
With a strange shout, she threw a dagger from behind. I easily dodged—
Slice.
“Oh?”
The dagger, which had been flying in a straight line, vanished the moment I reacted. It reappeared from an unexpected direction and grazed my cheek.
I only managed to avoid a direct hit by reacting a second time.
“Gyahahat! Success!”
“That was unexpected. Well done, Diane.”
“Yesss! Gyahahahat!”
When I praised her sincerely, Diane threw her hands up in the air, overjoyed.
“Did you teleport the dagger again after throwing it?”
“That’s right! I used your certainty that you could predict it against you! Gyahat!”
Is this really the same Diane who used to be so simple-minded in our old party?
When taught, her comprehension is high, and she starts applying the concepts almost immediately.
Even Narupa was quite surprised by this.
Since she’s been receiving etiquette lessons from Eris, her table manners have improved. And when Rune—who openly dislikes Diane—criticizes her palace etiquette just to be petty, Diane actually goes and fixes those flaws too.
“It’s only once in a while, but sometimes I can see how you’re going to react, Alto! And! And… also…”
Excited, Diane rambled on about what she had practiced and what she was now capable of.
Since she had worked so hard, I wanted to listen to everything, but unfortunately, I had a prior engagement.
I placed my hand on Diane’s head to signal that we were done for today.
“And… wha—?”
Slowly, with a bit of playfulness, I ruffled her hair.
“You worked hard.”
“…Yeah!”
Her face lit up.
In the past, this would have felt unpleasant, but ironically, Diane’s efforts had brought about a lot of change.
I heard that on the day she visited Eris’s house for the consummation, she was kicked out without warning. Yet, she didn’t say a word. Instead, she’s been diligently training at the Lord’s Castle and knocking out all sorts of odd-job quests.
“Are you leaving?”
“I have things to do.”
“You’re coming tomorrow too, right? I’ll practice a lot and have something new to show you tomorrow.”
“Sure. But make sure you get enough sleep at night. Your condition will tank if you don’t.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
With a small wave, I left the training ground.
When I glanced back, Diane was standing still like a doll, watching me.
Without a smile.
As I climbed into the carriage to leave, I saw Eris approaching Diane with a thick stack of quest forms.
Diane took one of them and vanished using her space-time movement.
* * *
Late afternoon, early evening.
The location was none other than my house—well, my former house.
It was now the temporary residence where Yarismal lived.
Following the Old Man’s suggestion, I decided to spend the evening with Yarismal.
I had asked Rune, Narupa, and Eris if this was really okay, and their responses were… varied.
“Of course it’s not okay. But that’s your choice, Alto. If she’s willing to swallow her pride for your sake and get along with us, we’ll respect that.”
“She seems crazy in a different way than Rune and me. Well, crazy women usually get along fine.”
“She’s a fragile person. Because she’s fragile, she acts tough. It’s just because she doesn’t know how to express herself, so please, try to see the depth of her heart.”
Somehow, the youngest seemed to give the most profound answer compared to the older sisters…
Anyway, I knocked on the front door of the house that was mine, but no longer mine.
Knock, knock.
“Coming!”
CRASH!
What was that sound?
The sound of the doorknob being shattered and ripped out.
Inward, into the house.
“O-oh? It came off? Why? Ugh…!”
“……”
Since she couldn’t pull it, I pushed the door open.
Creeeeeak.
“Ah! Um… well… hello?”
“……”
“Y-you’re early! Oh, the door? Don’t worry about it. I’ll fix it myself. More importantly, I’ve prepared dinner…”
BOOM!
The sound of something exploding came from inside the house.
Hot liquid splashed onto the back of Yarismal’s head and cheek. It stuck to her, sizzling as it caused a burn.
Yarismal dabbed at it with her finger, tasted it, and then beamed.
“It tastes good! It’s a success!”
“……”
“But it would look unsightly to have food on me, wouldn’t it? Just a moment.”
She wiped it away casually with her hand, and the burn healed instantly.
“Just a second~ let me go tidy up. The pot boiled over a bit.”
As Yarismal spun around, I could see soup splattered all over her back.
But that wasn’t the problem.
“Just so you know, dinner is braised pig’s trotters! It’s a traditional Bierma tribe dish. It’s also what I’m best at.”
There were no bandages on the fingers she was using to scrub and wipe.
She’s a priestess and a healer, so of course she wouldn’t need bandages.
However, I could see the faint traces of new skin growing back.
“Um… haha… I’m boring, aren’t I…? To be honest, I’m not very good at talking about anything other than work…”
As her voice lost confidence, I let out a small sigh and spoke.
“Yarismal.”
“Yes? Yes! Did you call for me, Husband!”
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
“Yes! Anything!”
The way she spoke shyly while huffing through her nose was somewhat terrifying.
And for good reason. Right now, Yarismal was…
“Why are you naked?”
“I’m not naked! I’m wearing an apron, see?”
Ah, I see.
“Why are you wearing only an apron?”
“That’s…”
Yarismal covered her mouth and demurely lowered her gaze.
“…It is to show you that I am a woman who is ready at any time.”
“……”
“……”
“…Ready for what?”
“That’s…”
Yarismal bit her lower lip and suddenly spun around.
“It’s too embarrassing for a maiden to say out loud!”
KABOOM!
The wall she bumped into as she spun around shattered.
Um, that’s where the wardrobe used to be.
“Ha! I’m fine, Husband!”
I’m not fine.
My house is not fine.