Ch.131A Very Brief Settlement (6)

There’s a saying that foxes are animals that combine dogs and cats. It means they look more like puppies, but their behavior is closer to cats.

“What did you just say?”

“Mating season, I’m talking about mating season.”

It’s impossible to read the fox sisters’ thoughts. Yesterday they kicked me in the shin saying they disliked me, but why are they acting like this today? In this way, they were just like cats.

“The mating season isn’t over.”

“It must be because of you.”

“Look. This part keeps itching.”

“Our tails keep wagging. Regardless of our will.”

A pair of tails moves softly.

“No matter how disappointed I try to be in you, my body remembers.”

“The moment we formed a deep relationship, it was over.”

“My body has been tamed.”

“You knew about our situation, so that’s why you confidently brought up the harem talk, right?”

“That was mean.”

“You’re really sly, aren’t you?”

I realized once again why foxes are foxes. If Tiria was genuinely upset, these sisters were assessing the situation even while being upset.

Suddenly, Tiria’s words came to mind.

When you become close enough to touch a fox person’s tail, it’s like making a commitment.

“Pervert.”

“Pervert.”

I realized this was their gesture of reconciliation.

They’re so dishonest.

After gathering my thoughts, I grabbed both Riyo and Miyo’s swaying tails at once.

“Hnnng!”

“Ah?!”

The fox sisters trembled and tried to sit down. I supported their waists so they wouldn’t fall and pulled them closer. An addictive, savory scent invaded my senses.

I realized something while comforting Tiria yesterday. That saying “sorry” lacks sincerity.

I said what the fox sisters most wanted to hear.

“I love you both.”

“Hnnng.”

“I can’t choose just one of you. Because I’m a fool. A fool who can’t even count properly.”

“No, we are one…”

“Even if I do this?”

“Eek!”

“Hnng!”

As I alternately squeezed both tails, two different voices came from one mouth.

“There are two of you. You can’t be included in the option of choosing just one person. If I choose one, the other inevitably follows. That would be infidelity.”

“It’s not infidelity…”

“Then can I choose just Riyo and love only Riyo? Is it okay to forget about Miyo?”

“Hey, who decided that?”

“See?”

The fox sisters are clever. They already realized they had fallen into a contradiction.

“If I don’t choose you both, that means I’m being irresponsible to you. If I choose you both, I become a two-faced guy.”

We’ve been through life and death together.

Even without words, we could understand what emotions were flowing between us.

Still, I’ll say it. Clearly, with all my heart.

“So I want to take responsibility for both of you. I’ll make you happy. Whether in joy or, heaven forbid, in sorrow, I’ll be with you for life so you’ll never be lonely.”

“Uh, uwaaa.”

“I love you.”

I gently bit the fox sisters’ napes. A sticky scent, their tails twitching as fur scattered.

My breathing quickened. The fox sisters’ scent seemed to have the power to provoke strong impulses.

At the same time, the sisters bit my shoulder hard.

It hurts.

As if to say that to embrace these women I must endure this much pain, they were biting with all their might.

So I endured. Holding back the groans that threatened to escape, I embraced them even more tightly. Letting their teeth marks remain clearly on my shoulder.

I felt a warm sensation.

Slowly, I separated our joined bodies. I touched my shoulder, sticky with saliva.

“Ah, I’m bleeding.”

A light pink liquid was flowing out.

This time, the fox sisters brought their heads closer. I thought they were going to bite my other shoulder, but no. They carefully licked the wounded area with their tongues, breathing on it.

Eventually, Riyo wiped her lips and stuck out her tongue playfully, saying:

“Nyah, I took Erich’s virginity.”

I laughed helplessly at those words.

“What? Who took whose what?”

“I mean… huh?”

A sharp, irritable voice. Feeling uneasy, I hurriedly turned my head.

Adora Giford was standing there with her arms crossed, staring at Riyo and me.

***

When it was time to eat, everyone gathered.

After setting aside a portion for Salvira who was recuperating, I distributed bowls to the female soldiers.

Today’s breakfast-cum-lunch was a soup dish with meat from wild game caught by Rachel and vegetables gathered by Tiria.

Simply put, it was a hodgepodge, but on a deserted island where food was always scarce, nothing was better for filling our stomachs.

“How is it?”

“Well, it’s edible.”

This was the first time I had put so much effort into cooking. Fortunately, it seemed to suit everyone’s taste, including Tiria’s.

Adora was the first to finish her meal.

“We should head to the white sand area soon.”

She mentioned what we needed to do today in an extremely businesslike tone.

“Let’s break the barrier and return to where we came from. Then we can either wait for rescue or build a raft to escape.”

She wasn’t wrong.

No matter how comfortable Salvira’s dwelling might be, there were limits to obtaining food and maintaining cleanliness.

We divided into two groups.

Rachel and Tiria would be responsible for hunting and gathering, while the rest of us would form another group for cleanup and tool-making.

After checking our bearings with a magic stone, I showed Riyo the barrier-breaking diagram that Salvira had given me.

“What? You wanted to show me this after the meal?”

“No one else can do it but you two.”

“Kuhng, that’s true.”

It was a diagram that required pouring both holy power and magic power.

Why did it need both types of power to break?

The answer was obvious.

It had to prevent Holy Spirit Kingdom people trapped on the island from escaping, while simultaneously preventing traitors from the Magic Kingdom from leaving freely.

How could someone who uses holy power and someone who uses magic power cooperate in this world?

Even if they cooperated, how could they coordinate?

And even if they could coordinate, there was one more mountain to climb.

Beyond simply using holy power and magic power intuitively, one needed to understand them clearly as a single principle.

In other words, one needed to have some knowledge of both Holy Spirit studies and Magic studies.

Without that, constructing this diagram would be nearly impossible.

And there was exactly one person on this island who possessed all these conditions.

“We’ll try it.”

The fox sisters.

The seductive voice of the vixen from earlier was nowhere to be seen. Riyo and Miyo concentrated with serious faces. They worked with me to carve the circuit and create the magic circle.

Adora was watching us closely.

It felt like being monitored by a superior, no, even more burdensome than that.

Rustle, rustle.

Adora took out a lollipop from her inner pocket and put it in her mouth. The sound of the wrapper bothered me, and when I glanced at her, unfortunately our eyes met.

“Don’t mind me. Continue.”

Despite her calm words, her face briefly revealed a sulky emotion.

If last night she had formally reprimanded me for “the crime of deceiving a superior,” now her expression seemed to say “senior, you’re mean.”

That’s right.

She was upset.

I should have gone to her to apologize or comfort her somehow, but I had been too focused on Tiria to give her attention.

It was entirely my fault, so I needed to make up for it here.

“Director, could you help me for a moment?”

“What.”

“I think we need to put a lot of mana in this part, but it’s not working well.”

“Aren’t you a first-class mage? Can’t you do even this much?”

“I’m congenitally low on magic power…”

In fact, thanks to Adora, it had permanently increased dozens of times, but that wasn’t the important thing.

Emotional rather than rational.

It would be enough just to mention that I needed her as a woman.

“Hmm, let me see.”

Adora stood up and bent over behind me.

“This is easy enough even for a non-specialist like me.”

Adora placed her hand on the stone tablet and infused it with mana. The glowing mana circulated and settled stably.

“Major, I’m sure I increased your mana by lending you even my lips.”

“Maybe it’s because my body is slow to recover, but it still seems insufficient.”

“Well, alright. If you say so…”

The next moment, Adora’s arm wrapped around my neck.

And before I could close my mouth, a sweet smell spread inside.

“Don’t chew it, let it dissolve slowly.”

The taste of artificial sweetener, as sweet as honey.

The identity of this taste, like consuming the benefits of civilization, was undoubtedly the candy Adora had been sucking on.

“How is it?”

“…Sweet.”

“And?”

“It’s also a bit salty.”

Something landed on my shoulder with a thud. It was Adora’s coat.

Taking off her coat meant removing her epaulettes.

“That’s my taste, senior.”

Adora wrapped her arms around my shoulders and slowly leaned her body against mine. Everything she said tickled my ear like a breeze.

“I won’t apologize for yesterday. You were wrong. But I realized that I’ll be the winner anyway. Because when we leave this island, I’ll be the only one by your side, and your direct superior is my father.”

As she spoke, Adora’s gaze was fixed on the fox sisters on my other side.

“Hey.”

The fox sisters approached, growling. They pulled the stick from my mouth and put it in their own, chewing on it.

“Would you look at that?”

Adora frowned.

“How dare you take what’s mine? Give it back.”

“You gave it to Erich. Erich is ours. So this is ours too.”

“What twisted logic. Return it while I’m asking nicely.”

“Sure.”

Miyo, with a smirk, crunched the candy and ate it.

Crunch, munch munch.

The fox sisters approached, exuding a sweet scent, and suddenly covered my lips.

“Slurp, suck…”

The broken candy came over with sticky moisture. Sweet yet salty. With such an animalistic kiss, I felt like I might lose consciousness.

Naturally, Adora’s expression crumpled.

“I wasn’t going to say this out of courtesy…”

“Say it.”

“You’re like a beast.”

“That’s right. I am like a beast. More precisely, I’m like a fox. So I don’t care anymore how many women cling to our husband.”

Miyo giggled, pressing firmly on my chest and snarling at Adora.

“Because from now on, I’ll squeeze him dry every day so he can’t sleep with other women.”