Ch.372Side Story: Chaos

“Haaa.”

Erika sighed, but it wasn’t negative in meaning.

We had just left Iceburn Village.

Some people were suspicious about a different woman accompanying me instead of Stella, who had come with me last time.

Erika had subtly pushed Stella aside, claiming to be my wife.

Since then, she’d been radiating a pleasant mood after hearing comments about what a good couple we made.

Even her recent sigh was similar to one of contentment after a satisfying meal.

Anyway, seeing Erika in a good mood made me feel good too.

She had been teasing me continuously during our carriage ride. This time too, she sat between my legs and leaned against me, though without the earlier mischief.

“Were you expecting something?”

Her voice, filled with playfulness, sounded more like a student’s than a professor’s as she slightly lifted her head to ask.

“Not really.”

I neither expected it nor didn’t expect it. It was stimulating, but we couldn’t do anything here anyway.

I had spent quite a fulfilling time with Erika. I thought dating in a rural village might be boring, but just being together was nice.

It was a time when I realized what a blessing it is to be happy simply by being with someone.

As we approached the house, I could see smoke rising into the sky. We had planned barbecue for dinner, so they must be preparing it.

If only the Dark Spiritmaster and Findenai were there, I might have been worried, but with Stella around, it should be fine.

“Hmm.”

Erika leaned against me more, seemingly reluctant to end our time alone, and I welcomed her.

As we entered the house…

[Waaah! Waaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaah!]

Awoo! Awoooo!

A huge flame was blazing spectacularly in the middle of the yard, and I could see the Dark Spiritmaster and Ppopsil standing helplessly in front of it.

“Am I seeing this correctly?”

“…I was about to ask that.”

It was hard to believe, but against the darkening night sky, a pillar of flame rose high.

The heat it emitted, the crackling sound, and the strange burning smell.

The flames were perfectly shooting high into the sky.

[Kyaha, it’s burning well!]

Stella, with horns on her head, was clapping and enjoying the blazing fire from the rooftop.

“Vellica…”

Stella, whom I had trusted, had been defeated by the great demon. It was fitting to see a demon cackling at the pillar of fire, but not welcome.

“Erika, please contain the fire first.”

“What about you?”

“I need to find someone who’s not visible.”

I wondered what our maid was doing. I passed by the flames and entered the house.

Fortunately, the fire hadn’t spread to the house or the vegetable garden.

Clunk.

As I opened the door and went inside, I saw beer bottles scattered on the floor. Seeing what had happened, I gritted my teeth and strode forward.

The beers we had bought from Robern through the general store for tonight’s dinner.

Findenai was sitting by the freezer where they had been stored, holding a beer bottle with her head bowed.

“What… happened here?”

When I stood in front of her and looked down, Findenai suddenly lifted her head.

Her face was flushed red, and beer bottles were scattered around her.

It was obvious she was quite drunk.

“Hehang.”

She laughed with a nasal sound.

“Masshterrrr.”

“Haa.”

Judging by her completely slurred speech, it seemed difficult to get any answers from her today. We were supposed to have a barbecue, but she was drunk and a mess by herself.

“Fine, I’ll hear the story tomorrow, just go to bed for now.”

“Heheng, masshterrrr.”

“Findenai, pull yourself together.”

I tried to support her, but Findenai avoided my hand, flailing like a loach. I wondered why she was acting like this, but she started throwing a tantrum, banging her head against the wall she was leaning on.

“I tried my besht!”

“…”

“You told me not to shmoke, sho I didn’t!”

I knew Findenai became strange when she drank, but meeting her like this after so long was a bit bewildering.

Was she remembering that I told her not to smoke during our relationship yesterday?

I appreciated it, but if this was the alternative, I would have preferred her smoking.

“Sho!”

Whoosh.

Findenai suddenly lifted her skirt, showing me what was underneath.

“…Why aren’t you wearing underwear?”

“Hehehehehe. Shurprishe!”

I knew she wouldn’t answer even if I asked. Now annoyed, I simply picked her up.

Being a spiritual body, her physical strength was replaced by mana, so she wasn’t heavy or difficult to carry.

As I carried her princess-style toward the bed, Findenai wrapped her arms around my neck and laughed.

I wasn’t sure what was so amusing, but at least I understood she had been drinking beer continuously to resist smoking.

‘I’m not worried about her body, but…’

With the mountain spirit residing in her body, Findenai wouldn’t suffer physical harm from smoking or drinking.

Those things couldn’t hurt her anymore.

‘But addiction would be a problem.’

Compared to when we were constantly fighting, these were peaceful times. But conversely, that meant it was also boring.

Findenai often mentioned having nothing to do.

If she became addicted to smoking or alcohol to the point where she couldn’t control herself, that would be a problem.

‘I trust her mental strength, but…’

People change when they become accustomed to peace. Look at me, for instance.

Plop.

When I laid Findenai on the bed, she quickly took off her clothes. She was fast at that.

Yesterday she had struggled so much, but now she was twisting her body and acting coquettishly, wanting to do it again. It momentarily aroused me.

Especially since Erika had heated me up earlier without providing any release.

“Just sleep today.”

After kissing her forehead and stroking her head a few times, Findenai, though disappointed, quickly fell asleep.

Looking at her sleeping peacefully, her appearance was striking, but I found the usual lively Findenai much more attractive than this quiet version.

After putting Findenai to bed, I went outside to find the Dark Spiritmaster, the apparent culprit of today’s incident, hugging Ppopsil and making excuses to Erika.

[I’m not the culprit!]

Awoo!

Ppopsil was howling along with the Dark Spiritmaster, while Erika sighed and crossed her arms.

“Then why didn’t you put it out and just stand there? Someone of your ability could easily do it.”

[I, I tried to! But it was hot when I touched the fire! I got burned! I have a burn injury!]

The Dark Spiritmaster whimpered, showing her hand. Yet her hand was perfectly fair.

“You have beautiful hands.”

[Eh?]

The Dark Spiritmaster scratched her head in confusion. When she saw me coming out, she tried to run into my arms but stopped after seeing my expression.

Then.

[Will I get a reduced sentence if I confess?]

Squeak.

The Dark Spiritmaster and Ppopsil immediately lowered their tails. I nodded, telling her to go ahead, and she began explaining the situation.

It all started with Findenai.

“Ugh, damn it.”

Findenai had lit a fire for the barbecue and stared at it blankly while licking her lips.

She wanted to smoke but was trying to quit because of what I said yesterday.

“I should drink first.”

Since she couldn’t smoke, Findenai switched to alcohol and left her post.

The Dark Spiritmaster, who only knew how to play and nothing else, was playing with Ppopsil when she suddenly had a thought while looking at the fire Findenai had started.

[A campfire would be nice!]

It wasn’t a bad idea.

Previously, the Dark Spiritmaster had shown a tendency to float around whenever she saw campfires or large flames.

If she had told us, we could have done it more safely.

[Is this enough?]

Naturally, when she infused mana, the flames grew larger and almost set the entire house on fire.

[What are you doing!]

For some reason, Vellica, not Stella, appeared and prevented the flames from spreading elsewhere.

Vellica had been enjoying watching it…

“So it’s all your fault?”

When I reprimanded the Dark Spiritmaster, she scratched her cheek and muttered.

[Oh, really…]

“…”

[No, wait! Don’t look at me like I’m completely useless! I have value too!]

Black magic.

The Dark Spiritmaster had become truly useless except for necromancy.

Even though she had lived alone in her laboratory for necromancy research, I wondered how a person could change this much.

“How are you helpful?”

At this point, I had to ask.

In our household hierarchy, the Dark Spiritmaster ranked just above Ppopsil, who only produced waste and ate food without being helpful.

The Dark Spiritmaster didn’t eat food, so she was ranked above Ppopsil, but now that she ate too, she was almost on the same level.

For reference, Hannibal, the horse pulling our cart today, ranked higher than the Dark Spiritmaster.

It was more of a competition between Hannibal and Findenai.

Anyway, that was roughly my ranking of household usefulness.

[W-well…]

Unable to say how she was helpful, the Dark Spiritmaster finally winked and answered.

[I have big breasts.]

“…”

[Don’t look at me like that! You liked them too! You were so happy when I let you put it between them yesterday!]

“Put it… breasts…”

I avoided Erika’s glare as she looked at me. If the Dark Spiritmaster was trying to deflect attention to me, I’d call her clever, but it seemed to be just a coincidence as she pouted her lips.

[Ah, is it over? That’s a shame.]

Vellica, who had been on the roof, came down. I wondered why Vellica was out instead of Stella.

Suddenly, the horns disappeared, and Stella shouted.

[Vellica! Stop interfering!]

After saying that, the horns reappeared.

It was Vellica.

[No! Give me just one day! You’ve been too reckless!]

Swish!

The horns disappeared again.

It was Stella.

[Shinwoo Kim, help me! Vellica is taking over my body because she’s afraid of sleeping with you!]

The horns grew back again.

[That’s not true!]

Vellica denied it vigorously, but her expression gave it all away.