Ch.150Aria and Leona – 6

The rice ball was held between slender fingers. The rice grains glistened, giving off a savory aroma. Apart from being slightly misshapen from being handled, its shape was nearly a perfect sphere.

Behind it was Leona, her face even redder than Aria’s had been moments ago. She looked like she might explode at any second if this went on any longer.

“H-hiyak?!”

I accepted the rice ball. As her fingers slipped between my lips, Leona trembled violently and let out a shrill scream. Ignoring her, I moved my mouth further, taking in more of her fingers before neatly extracting just the rice ball.

It wasn’t something I’d done deliberately. Since her fingertips were holding the center, there was no way to take just a bite—I had to do it this way. If anything, it was Leona’s fault for using her fingers instead of chopsticks.

“Wa, wawa… wawawawa…”

Leona stared at me with her bright red face, clutching the fingers that had been in my mouth, completely flustered and unable to compose herself. Her breathing was extremely rough.

After swallowing the rice ball completely, I asked:

“It’s delicious. Did you make it?”

“Y-yes! That’s ri— No! No! I didn’t make it!”

For someone who had confidently stepped forward claiming she’d prepared for a long time, this seemed to be ending quickly. I laughed inwardly as I watched Leona’s expression, which clearly showed she regretted her answer. She had blurted out the truth in her panic.

“…”

Aria appeared to be seriously contemplating whether to continue with this charade.

Since everything was already exposed, there was no point in letting them feed me more. But I also felt a bit sorry for Aria if we ended things right away.

“Since that’s what she says, Aria? I think you should do the same. She’s denying it, so what can we do?”

“Huh? Oh… yes! I understand, Miss Mira.”

Aria’s face brightened slightly as she carefully picked up a rice ball from the opposite row. Then, with an extremely embarrassed expression, she extended her arm, and I treated it exactly the same way I had with Leona’s offering.

“Hng, hnnngg…”

While Leona clutched her saliva-coated fingers in bewilderment, beside her, Aria was staring down at her own fingers that had been in my mouth, her face flushed crimson.

‘This is quite a fresh reaction.’

It felt refreshingly innocent—a response I could hardly expect from other incarnators.

Priscilla would be beyond saying, Rosaria would enjoy such situations, and Laura and Elysier wouldn’t be much different. Especially the Chairwoman… I didn’t even want to imagine.

“This is delicious too.”

“Th-thank you.”

When I evaluated the taste, Aria smiled broadly. She seemed to have given up trying to hide anything now.

“Why are you the one thanking me?”

“…Well, that’s… I mean… to confuse you, Miss Mira…?”

Her expression suggested otherwise.

Once again, Leona failed to achieve her goal. I had only pretended to be fooled, but I’d correctly identified who made what.

“Your cooking skills have really improved. If you hadn’t self-destructed, it would have been hard to guess correctly.”

“…Just forget it, Mira. Otherwise, I might die of embarrassment.”

Of course, she showed no signs of being discouraged by her failure. Both Leona and Aria spent the entire meal with flushed faces.

The rest of the meal proceeded quietly. Halfway through, I reciprocated by feeding them once each for fairness, but they both looked like they were dying of embarrassment, so I stopped after one time.

After finishing our meal, we spent time dipping our feet in the lake, walking around it, or spontaneously parting the water to observe fish as if we were in an aquarium.

By the time we returned to the village, it was almost evening. Perhaps because some time had passed, the embarrassment had mostly faded from both their faces.

“We’ve decided to display the head you brought us in the center of the village.”

The Kobold King’s head would be taxidermied and displayed in the village center—the site of the original well. It was certainly worthy, given that it wasn’t just an ordinary Kobold King.

“Since there’s a risk your contribution might be forgotten, we’ll engrave your name and deeds on a steel alloy and preserve it alongside—”

“That’s not necessary. Just keep it in oral tradition.”

I immediately objected when he suggested permanently preserving who killed it and who Mira Crate was by engraving it in steel. Leona’s father looked somewhat dejected for some reason.

Next, we headed to Aria’s house, which we hadn’t visited during lunch, and I finally got to meet her parents.

“Welcome. It’s good to have you here.”

“Welcome, Miss Mira. We’ve heard about you, so please rest as much as you’d like.”

To summarize Aria’s parents in one sentence: they seemed like the very concept of goodness molded into human form. It immediately made sense why Aria had grown up with such a personality.

Like Leona’s parents, Aria’s mother’s appearance showed no trace of her father’s genes.

“Please take good care of our Aria, Miss Mira. She may have her shortcomings, but she has many wonderful qualities too.”

“M-Mom…”

As her mother openly took my hand and asked me to look after her daughter, Aria tugged at her mother’s sleeve with an embarrassed face, telling her not to say such things.

She seemed to have already forgotten what she’d done at the lakeside.

I stayed in the village for about a week. It was partly to spend time with the two of them and partly to monitor for any reappearance of demonic energy.

Despite their complaints about how boring the place was when you lived there for decades, both Leona and Aria wore constant smiles while spending time with me.

Looking back at why they enjoyed village life in the original story, the reason was obvious. They just never said it out loud.

“…Today’s the last day.”

“Yes. I’m really going to miss this.”

The week flew by, and when news spread that I was leaving on the final day, the entire village was abuzz.

Partly because rumors about me had spread throughout the village due to the Kobold incident, and partly because I’d spent my entire stay here with the already-famous Leona and Aria, arousing people’s curiosity.

“Um… haha. My luggage has increased a bit. Everyone must have taken a liking to you.”

“A bit?”

After receiving individual thanks from people whose limbs I had reattached with healing magic, and accepting all the gifts they insisted on giving me, the pile of luggage was enormous.

It was so overwhelming that even Leona and Aria could only smile awkwardly.

The luggage filled the entire cargo compartment and still wasn’t enough, so we had to fill the passenger area too, leaving just enough space for me to sit—that says it all.

The coachman expressed concern that the horse might tire easily with so much weight, but after I promised triple the fee and cast a strengthening spell on the horse, he prepared to depart without further complaint.

The reason we could enter the village directly, unlike when I arrived, was because it was daytime now. Back then, it was night, making it too dangerous to drive a carriage through the forest path.

“Aren’t you going with her, daughter?”

“Aren’t you going along, Aria?”

While I was making final preparations, I overheard the mothers whispering to their daughters, thinking I couldn’t hear.

“No. It’s sad, but our time is over.”

“It was already decided. She has many others by her side, so it can’t be helped.”

“Don’t worry. I believe my daughter won’t lose.”

“Try your best, Aria. I know Aria won’t lose to anyone.”

“…”

Listening to this made me feel a bit guilty. I wasn’t sure whether to be grateful that they didn’t get upset about their daughters’ love interest openly taking turns meeting different women.

When I came back outside for final goodbyes, Aria and Leona waved with pure smiles.

“I’m off. See you next time.”

“When’s next time?”

“When will that be?”

“…When I have the opportunity and time?”

I awkwardly waved back. The carriage departed, and the two of them continued waving until I was out of sight.

Thanks to the strengthening spell, the carriage moved without stopping once and arrived at the city we had departed from. After paying the promised fee and using magic to unload the piled luggage, a large carriage stopped nearby.

“I apologize for being late, Young Master. I should have departed as soon as I received your message.”

“I’m the one who arrived early. You’re right on time.”

It was Beatrice.

Stepping out of the magic golem carriage, Beatrice rarely showed surprise at the mountain of luggage beside me.

“Just as you said. I’ll help you with this.”

“They gave me all sorts of things. This is what happened when I accepted everything. Where’s Yustera? Didn’t she come with you?”

Even though Beatrice doesn’t particularly like Nika, she strictly separates personal feelings from duty. She wouldn’t have come alone, ignoring her position as my maid.

“She temporarily left due to reasons you disclosed only to me, Young Master. It seemed quite urgent, so I let her go, but I didn’t expect her to be away for so long. I apologize, Young Master.”

It must be related to the succubus matter. Well, the demon realm must be busy too, so her position as Queen is probably needed.

With most demons having submitted to the Elder Lich during the undead uprising, only for the Elder Lich to disappear shortly after, it wouldn’t be strange for suspicious characters to start creeping out again.

That’s the nature of demons, after all.

“How long has it been?”

“Exactly five days and 21 hours.”

I was inwardly surprised. It had been much longer than I thought. Since I stayed in the village for a week, it meant Nika had left for the demon realm almost immediately after I left the mansion and still hadn’t returned.

‘I hope nothing’s wrong.’

Nika staying in the demon realm for a long time isn’t a good sign. It essentially means there’s an ongoing issue that her subordinates can’t resolve.

“I’m back, Master. I’m sorry for being so late…”

Nika returned around noon the next day, well past six days.

With a haggard, exhausted face, she forced a smile as she greeted me. Even Beatrice, who had been eager to give her stricter training, couldn’t say anything.

“It’s fine. You must have had your reasons. What happened?”

Her reddish-brown pupils glanced at Beatrice. After I gave a nod, Beatrice quietly closed the door and left. Only then did Nika begin her explanation, in a voice much more subdued than usual.

“Six days ago, Durahan came to our castle demanding to bring you. More precisely, he wanted your other identity.”

If that was all, it wouldn’t have taken this long. I waited silently for the rest of her explanation.

“He was carrying a demon sword.”

“Wait. A demon sword? You mean a real one, not the replica the Elder Lich made?”

That was something I couldn’t possibly overlook. Nika nodded at my question.

“Yes. It was real. I could feel the same energy that emanated from Astaroth, so I’m certain.”

“…Continue.”

“At first, he demanded we bring you, but when told you weren’t there, he attacked our people. By the time I arrived, it was already too late. I barely managed to gather the remaining ones and shake him off before returning.”