Ch.248Order-Critical NPC. (1)

“So, in the end, about that priestess Liselotte from earlier…”

“Hmm-hmm-hmm~ We decided to become friends! Just being near her makes me feel tingly and shivery, but I think she’ll show me some delicious… interesting love that makes my stomach growl!”

Delicious? What’s delicious about someone else’s love story? Let me just say this: if you try to get between those two and do something weird, there’ll be trouble.

“I don’t think there’ll be any trouble.”

“Yeah. We were watching too, but she looked like a village girl getting all excited and pushy about first love.”

“Of course! I came to the human world to find my own love, so why would I interfere with someone else’s?!”

Looking at Luxuria proudly puffing out her chest while declaring that she only wants to enjoy watching and nudging others’ relationships along, I decided to set aside my worries. Well, she’s exactly like her mother—the previous Luxuria—in this regard. But calling both of them Luxuria is really annoying. Shouldn’t one of them change their name?

“If anyone’s changing names, it should be that wom—the lady! I’m the current Lust (Luxuria)!!!”

“Then you figure out how to talk to her. We don’t have any way to communicate with her.”

After the Green Stone and the Saint—who introduced herself to us simply as a priestess, Liselotte—left for Poria’s barrier, we started walking toward our next destination. Well, even though I call it a destination, it’s only an hour’s run away, and even at this walking pace, we should arrive before sunset. The only thing I feel bad about is that everyone will have to camp outside.

“I don’t think you need to feel sorry. I’m an active adventurer, and big sis used to camp with me in the forest all the time back in the day.”

“That’s right. I’m just a little sad that Miho probably won’t sleep with me tonight. Sniff…”

“…Do you still feel some kind of resonance with me? I don’t feel anything.”

Having given up on Poria, which we couldn’t enter because of Luxuria and my ID, I set our destination as my home where my father’s grave is located. More precisely, the cabin where my father’s grave used to be. Well, considering there was a monster parade, I don’t expect that tiny cabin to still be standing, but you never know. And if that damn priestess dug up my father’s grave yesterday, I should at least tidy it up. I reburied my father’s undead body there yesterday, but anyway, that’s where we siblings laid our father to rest.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I think we might resonate again if your power activates…”

“Then I absolutely won’t use it!! I want to reduce even the slightest chance of that lady popping out!!!”

“I’d prefer you didn’t use it either. Honestly, I can’t tell if I was in heat yesterday because I was really weakened, or if your power was just that incredible. From my perspective, being taken while asleep, I couldn’t even confirm. It was just a disaster?”

Seeing Chikuyo trembling all the way to her tail as if it was truly horrific, Luxuria drooped her eyebrows and looked at me. Well, what am I supposed to do? Ah, it’s been a while since this happened.

“I-I was wondering if you also think my power is just a disaster…”

“Hmm. From the receiving end, it really is a disaster, isn’t it? You can control sexual desire and even mind control people, right?”

“I-I said I won’t use it on people anymore! I made a contract with you…”

“That’s right. I’m just looking at it objectively. Subjectively speaking, I think it’s an incredibly reliable ability to have on our side.”

“R-really?!!”

This demon who reacts so sensitively to my words and keeps checking my expression is actually quite cute in her own way. Well, we have a contract, and she herself doesn’t want to lose control of her body to the previous Luxuria, so she’s trying not to use her power. So I don’t think we’ll have another unfortunate incident like yesterday. I smiled and told Miho and Chikuyo not to worry…

“Sis, sis. Look at that…”

“Tch! Despite having a face and figure completely in our league, she’s trying to win with cuteness? Miho, didn’t you say Jack absolutely adores his cute little sister?”

“Ah, I see…! So Jack has a weakness for little sister vibes? Wait, what about me? I’m the original little sister?!”

“Tsk, Miho. Unfortunately, you’re growing up day by day. Your figure, personality, intelligence, and even your chest!! In Jack’s eyes, you’ve probably become a reliable and beautiful companion now.”

“Sniff…”

“There, there. Don’t worry. Tonight, big sis will somehow fix this!”

I can hear you two, you know. But I didn’t say that out loud. Honestly, I’m incredibly grateful for how they’ve accepted Luxuria. I’m fully aware that I like both of them, and that they like me too. Even patting their heads regularly is my way of expressing my feelings through physical contact…

“Sis, what are you going to do?”

“Well, since we’ll probably be camping tonight…”

Weren’t you two sisters keeping your distance earlier, talking about Luxuria’s powers and resonance? Now you’re sticking so close together, whispering so quietly that I can’t hear you anymore. It looks nice, but it’s making me anxious!

As I steeled myself, knowing I’d probably have to accommodate their requests tonight without crossing any lines, we continued slowly crossing the mountain.

*

Huh, I never thought I’d say this phrase in this world when I never used it even in my previous life.

“Why is it still here?”

“Huh? What’s that? What are you saying?”

“Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself.”

After crossing the mountain as the sun began to set, we arrived at the place where Ira and I used to live. What greeted my eyes was our cabin, still standing despite being weathered by the passage of time. And…

“Tsk.”

“…This is your father’s grave, right?”

“Sigh, that damn demon woman.”

“Um… sh-should I cover it up again…?”

Looking at the dug-up grave that seemed to show how far that damn tentacle nun’s power had reached, I clicked my tongue. Miho and Chikuyo sighed worriedly, and Luxuria looked guilty. It’s fine, why would you need to close it?

“Miho, the things we brought.”

“Ah, yes.”

Miho was the one who recovered and buried my father’s remains. She kept whimpering about killing her future father-in-law with her own hands, and even though I kept telling her it wasn’t like that, she insisted on doing it herself. She handed me the rags—too shabby to even call clothes—that had been on my father’s body, which she had organized and brought along. I placed the rags back in the grave.

“I know you’re not petty enough to rise again just because your body isn’t here. Rest peacefully in front of ‘our home.'”

“Rest in peace.”

“Um… r-rest in peace?”

In this world, ceremonies for honoring the dead, like funerals, only exist in religious places like the Holy Nation. Neither I nor Ira performed any religious ceremony when we buried our father, just like now. Today, instead of Ira, I’m here with three women who like me, including a demon, but I hope he can rest peacefully knowing his son is living well.

“Now, let’s see if we can use the cabin. We only need to stay for one night, so if it seems possible, you three clean up inside while I rebuild my father’s grave.”

“Okay! I’m good at cleaning!!”

“Fufu, your home, huh? I’m looking forward to it. My sister and I have lived together for a long time, so you can count on us for tidying up.”

“Uh, what? I-I can’t clean! Wait, should I call my minions…? No, I’ll work hard, I promise!!”

Miho and Chikuyo proudly beat their chests as they spoke, while Luxuria, who admitted she’d never cleaned before and almost suggested summoning other demons, received glares from the two and hurriedly entered the cabin. I immediately went to the storage shed next to the cabin. Hmm, all the tools are still here. There’s rust on the shovel, but… ah, it should be fine for brief use.

“Jack! The bed is moldy and unusable, but I think we can rest on the floor if we clean it! I’ll go get some water!!”

“We’ll need to chop firewood now. The stove seems usable, but the wood next to it is too damp. I’ll go out for a bit?”

“There’s such a strong woman’s scent in this house?! Who is she?!! Don’t tell me you’ve been living alone with another woman in this cabin since you were young—GACK?!!”

After the two checked the cabin and said we could probably sleep there, I bid them farewell. As for Luxuria who said something stupid, I gave her a neck slice before rebuilding my father’s grave.

Hmm, when I was 12, it took me half a day to make this. Maybe because my stats have increased or because I’ve grown bigger, it’s much quicker now.

“Phew~! This feels nice.”

I’ve tidied up my father’s grave, and women who like me are cleaning the house. There’s one idiot mixed in which dampens the mood a bit, but this is the kind of peaceful daily life I want. And hey, how long are you going to lie there? Aren’t you getting up?

“V-violence is wrong… d-domestic violence is terrible…”

“Pfft! You’re exaggerating. I just tapped you lightly.”

“Y-you… do you know how strong you are…? If you tap twice, two of the Seven Deadly Sins might die.”

As Luxuria coughs and exaggerates, I pat her head, and she starts spouting nonsense like “Violence followed by skinship, are you trying to train me?” Hmm, I don’t want her to become a masochist too. I’d prefer if you stayed as you are—a girl who’s fun to tease. Without voicing that wish, I entered the cabin. Huh, the only things that have changed since the day we left are the cobwebs and dust. The monsters really didn’t touch anything at all.

“Sniff… I really have never cleaned before, so I don’t know what’s what.”

“Wait, so other demons did everything for you?”

“Well, that’s part of it, but in the demon realm where I lived, there weren’t really things like what humans use. I just cleared away anything unnecessary or unsightly with demonic energy.”

Saying “like this,” Luxuria snapped her fingers, and the dust visible before us was sucked into a black mist that appeared on her fingertip, completely disappearing. Huh? What’s that? A vacuum cleaner?! How did you only suck up the dust?!!

-THUD!!

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

“I-I brought water to mop the floor…”

And seeing that sight, Miho dropped her bucket with an expression like she’d lost her homeland.