Evening
We found an inn before the sun went down. Once again making use of Charles's connections, the place we arrived at was the sort of inn that sold meals as well—just like in most fantasy stories.
"Then please rest well, and I hope you have a pleasant journey."
"No, you guided us here. Let's at least have dinner together."
"No, really, it's fine."
"...Ice Spear."
I threatened Charles—who kept waving off my invitation—that I'd hurl an ice spear at him if he just walked away, then dragged him straight into the inn.
After forcing the reluctant Charles into a seat, I called for a server.
"Huh? Hey, junkie. Here to pay off your tab?"
Ah... so that's why he didn't want to come in...
I suddenly felt bad for hauling Charles inside. Still, he'd helped us a great deal, so I handed him the silver coins left after setting aside tonight's lodging and food costs.
"Here... put this toward your tab."
Charles took one look at the silver I offered and nearly jumped out of his chair.
"No! Absolutely not! It's not that kind of tab!"
What? There are different kinds of tabs?
"...?"
When I stared at him full of questions, Charles let out a long sigh and finally spoke.
"I took payment in advance to make some medicine... but I couldn't find the herbs I needed, so I simply haven't delivered it yet..."
I'd heard that line before. In the world I lived in before I died, they called this "fraud." Probably the same here.
I gave Charles some serious advice.
"Mr. Charles. If you turn yourself in, they'll reduce your sentence. Nearest police station—wait, court? Where do we even go? Anyway, let's go. I'll write a petition for leniency myself."
Charles freaked out and shouted.
"No! Really, no! There wasn't even a set deadline to begin with!"
There was no way such a loose contract existed in this world. I, who had thought well of Charles until now, couldn't hide my disappointment. Selena seemed to feel the same; her gaze toward him turned distinctly sour.
"Mr. Charles. Running away won't solve—"
Just as I was about to push the self-surrender idea again, the server burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Charles. Your companions this time are pretty entertaining, huh? Come on, even they're telling you—turn yourself in. Hahaha. You know fraud gets your tongue cut off, right?"
Wow. Harsh punishment. If the country I'd lived in had treated fraud like that, nicknames like "Fraud Republic" never would have stuck...
"Carter!"
"Hehehe. Fine, fine. I'll write a petition with the gentleman too. Hehehe."
Judging by the victim's reaction, thankfully it seemed Charles hadn't actually committed fraud.
"I always believed Mr. Charles was a good man. Now then—three servings of tonight's dinner, or whatever the chef's special is!"
"I believed in you too, Mr. Charles."
I quickly ordered food, burying the fact that I'd just treated Charles like a con man, and Selena chimed in right after claiming she'd believed him all along. I could feel Charles's goodwill toward us dropping from the look in his eyes, but there was nothing to be done about it.
When the server—Carter, apparently—took my ridiculous order and left laughing, silence settled over the table.
How do I fix this...
After fretting for a while, I opened my mouth with a smile.
"Haha. Still, thanks to you, Mr. Charles, we got to tour the village comfortably today. Thank you."
"Spare me the empty flattery."
Charles's guard was firmer than expected.
"Mr. Charles. It's a misunderstanding."
"What exactly is a misunderstanding?"
"Anyway, it's a misunderstanding. Clear it up."
"..."
"..."
The air was stifling. But I had my own grievances. By every standard I knew, what Charles had done was textbook fraud.
Our cold war began to thaw when the very server who'd started the whole mess brought the food.
"Hey, Charles! Why's the atmosphere so heavy!"
"It's because of you, Carter."
"Ahem. I only spoke the truth. Anyway, I specially asked Father and brought three servings that look more like four, so cheer up."
Indeed, there were four plates of food.
"Hah... Fine. Mr. Mir probably didn't mean any harm... I'm sorry. I lost control of my feelings for a moment."
"No, it's fine. Since the misunderstanding's cleared up, let's just eat the specially prepared food...?"
As I spoke and reached for a fork, I noticed the server already sitting across from us, digging in.
"Ah. I haven't eaten yet either. Since you're Charles's friends, a friend's friend is a friend, right? I'm Carter, Mr. Mir."
The server who met my eyes introduced himself and offered a handshake. Even as I shook hands with Carter, I couldn't tell whether he was simply friendly or just thick-skinned.
"I don't know how long you'll be around here, but if you stop by, I'll treat you well. Mr. Mir."
I had no idea whether I'd ever return to this village after today, but I said I understood and started eating.
Perhaps because it was a proper meal after so long, the food Carter's father had cooked was quite tasty.
By the time we finished the meal mixed with light chatter, I felt surprisingly close to Carter. Probably because he'd steered most of the conversation.
After parting ways with Charles, we followed Carter upstairs to a room on the second floor.
"Soundproofing's not great, so enjoy yourselves quietly."
At Carter's lewd little joke, Selena's face flushed red and she hung her head. Seeing that, I wanted to tease her more and piled on.
"Haha. Don't worry about that. I'll cover her mouth while we do it."
"Ooh. You have quite refined tastes."
"Of course. It'd be troublesome if someone came knocking about the noise right when things were getting good, wouldn't it?"
Hearing the back-and-forth with Carter, Selena's eyes flew wide open and she stared at me. Looking at that expression, I decided to end the teasing.
Just one more.
"Selena looks restless, so I should head in now. See you tomorrow."
"Have a good night! Hahaha!"
As Carter left laughing heartily down the stairs, Selena poked me and asked in a small voice.
"Master. Are you really going to cover my mouth and do it?"
I'd only said it as a joke and planned to just sleep, but watching Selena ask while trembling slightly made desire start to rise.
Haa... covering her mouth, covering her eyes, Selena trembling in fear that someone might walk in at any moment... haa... my ass. Will my dick even fit into that pussy?
But recalling that Selena was a woman who'd lost her virginity less than a full day ago—and remembering how swollen her pussy had been—I decided to hold back a little longer.
"Later. Someday maybe we'll try that? Today we should just sleep. We walked way too much."
"Right? Resting today is better, Master?"
Selena's expression brightened at my words.
"Yeah. Let's rest. We'll probably have to walk a lot tomorrow too, so better to sleep well."
"Okay!"
Then she started stripping off the robe she was wearing.
"Selena...?"
When I asked in a questioning voice, already naked Selena turned around and answered.
"Hmm?"
"Why the robe..."
"Why? Sleeping in a robe is uncomfortable."
An understandable reason—except that then my impatient lower half becomes extremely uncomfortable.
"Master's going to sleep naked too, right?"
Selena said that and began examining the robe this way and that.
"Hmm... would it be okay to poke a hole here..."
Watching Selena—completely unaware that I was turning into a beast—shake her elastic butt while pondering, I couldn't hold back any longer.
This is self-defense.
With the inner beast fully awake, I rationalized it as entirely Selena's fault for showing me that, stripped in a hurry, and rubbed my already battle-ready cock against her luscious rear.
"Kya! M-Master?!"
Selena, still holding the robe and lost in thought, let out a sharp scream at the hot thing pressing against her butt.
I grabbed her and laid her down on the bed.
"M-Master?! You said we'd just rest today?!"
"Huu... huu... how am I supposed to just let this pass after seeing that. Huu."
Selena tried to resist, but it was nowhere near enough to stop the beast I'd become. Her legs slowly spread, revealing the pussy that had been hidden. And the moment I saw how red, congested, and swollen it still was, the excitement cooled instantly.
"M-Master?"
When I, who had looked ready to start, suddenly stopped, Selena sat up and called to me. But I didn't answer. I just flopped down beside her.
"Master...?"
When I still didn't reply, she called again.
"Let's rest."
"Uh... but Master's that... doesn't seem to want to rest much..."
That thing often moved while ignoring my will, so there was nothing to be done.
"Leave it."
I said that, pulled Selena close beside me, and pulled the blanket over us.
"Master? Th... it's okay to do it..."
From under the blanket, Selena gauged my mood and spoke in a tiny voice.
"Sleep, sleep. We have a long walk tomorrow, so we should rest early."
Saying that, I deliberately ignored the lower half that kept demanding release and closed my eyes.
I'd expected not to fall asleep easily even with my eyes shut, but having walked far too much with a body that knew nothing of exercise, the fatigue must have piled up—consciousness slipped away almost at once.
In the room where Mir's even breathing resonated low and steady.
When Mir had roughly breathed and rubbed his huge cock against her butt, she had unconsciously spoken words of resistance out of fear of the pain. Yet it wasn't as if Selena had no desire at all to feel again the strange pleasure she'd tasted the day she lost her virginity. She carefully opened her mouth.
"Master... asleep?"
But Mir, already deep in slumber, gave no reaction to Selena's soft voice.
Quietly gazing at the face of her master—with his quite exotic, unique features—under the same blanket, Selena turned her body and wrapped her arms around his.
"Thank you, Master. For being considerate... for cherishing me..."
Carefully conveying words that would never reach the sleeping Mir, Selena rested her head against the arm she held so tightly and gently closed her eyes.