Ch. 4 – Underneath

“W-well, how I got in was… Hehehe.”

Nyx was paying far more attention to my mood than usual. Her self-esteem was already low, but with Rije giving off a gaze close to murderous intent beside her, she seemed to shrink even further.

“The Captain-nims weren’t coming back, so… uh, someone suggested we go check on them…”

“You said to go check on me because I wasn’t coming back? My kids wouldn’t have done that, would they?”

“What?”

As I turned my head, Rije, perhaps realizing her mistake after speaking, subtly put away her dagger and averted her eyes. The recent statement that her kids wouldn’t have done that contained immense conviction.

The fact that it contained conviction meant that she had already made some preparations. She probably told them her plan beforehand. I realized she had truly come prepared.

Even if I hadn’t brought her to the warehouse, she would have surely lured me to some secluded place, saying, “Let’s go.” I was certain of it after her last remark.

“…Rije, you and I need to talk separately later. So, keep telling me.”

“The Jet-Black Holy Night Knights were also fine with waiting a few hours, but… I, I couldn’t resist my curiosity… Hehehe.”

“Your kids are just like mine, aren’t they?”

“……”

Was the impact too great from when I delayed our return by a whole day, on the pretext of sleeping with Rije one last time before coming back here from the Imperial Palace?

While I was flustered internally, Nyx, who was fidgeting with her fingers in front of her chest and wearing a gloomy smile, continued speaking haltingly.

“I came to the warehouse, and I heard strange noises inside, so I went up to peek… Hehehe. The warehouse ceiling was weaker than I thought, so I just…”

“What? You spied on us?”

Rije frowned slightly, as if displeased by that fact. Nyx made a “Hiiik!” sound and trembled at the sight.

Considering how she usually talks, I would have thought she wouldn’t hesitate to engage in public displays, so this was unexpected. Is it that even Rije doesn’t have a preference for being watched by outsiders?

Indeed, I also disliked outdoor exposure play. My psychological limit was showing myself to a close female acquaintance, like when I was with Aurora.

“From where?”

“Uh… C-can I say?”

“I won’t hit you, so tell me.”

“From the part where you were pulling down your Knight Order uniform pants.”

It suddenly occurred to me that those dolphin shorts were also considered part of the uniform.

I glanced at the blue dolphin shorts Rije was wearing, which, to exaggerate a little, were no different in length from briefs. Her attire seemed designed to expose her buttocks and genitals rather than cover them.

One Knight Order had white tank tops and dolphin shorts as their uniform, another had sports bras and leggings, and the last one had bunny girl outfits and reverse bunny outfits as their uniform. It was truly an amazing country.

“You’re just saying you saw everything from the beginning. Why beat around the bush?”

Rije clicked her tongue with a ‘Tsk’, uttering words that were the complete opposite of the voice she used when talking to me, dripping with coldness. Then, she straightened the slightly rolled-up elastic band of her dolphin shorts.

Even so, the tank top was so short that it couldn’t prevent her abs and bare skin on her sides from being exposed.

Seeing that Rije’s mood seemed to be souring again, I lightly traced my finger along the deeply indented groove of her spine.

“Hiiik?! What was that?”

As expected, Rije was startled and turned her body. A gaze as if interrogating me returned. I smiled slyly and calmly brushed off her stare.

“My apologies. My hand moved on its own. You just looked too tempting.”

“…If you’re going to touch me, ask first. If you’re not going to ask, then touch my breasts or butt. Are you a pervert? To touch only places like that?”

So breasts and butt are okay, but the back isn’t? With a slightly off-kilter grumble, Rije puffed out her cheeks with a ‘Hmph’, perhaps finding it awkward to interrogate me further.

“The kids will be waiting at the training ground, so let’s go out quickly.”

Rije obediently followed my words. Seeing her blue eyes directed at Nyx, it seemed she didn’t want to do anything in front of an outsider. The warehouse door opened again.

Glaring at Nyx as she left was a bonus. Nyx, who received the fierce gaze, hiccuped softly with a ‘Hiccup’.

Nyx’s figure timidly disappeared behind her. Just as I was about to be the last one to leave, Puck! A dull sound, and something hard caught my foot.

I looked down at where the sound came from. A large wooden block was rolling a little distance away.

“…Was it because it was old?”

To think the ceiling collapsed just because one person went up. Nyx’s weight couldn’t be that heavy. Should I completely overhaul this place while I’m expanding?

I picked up the wooden block I had just kicked and examined it.

‘It’s incredibly thick. How did this break?’

The thickness of the wooden block was almost half of my index finger. It was so thick that it wouldn’t be easy to cut even if one tried to with a knife. But this collapsed?

I checked the ceiling. The broken spot was a hole just big enough for Nyx to fall through. The thickness of the ceiling nearby also looked formidable.

‘…Was that area a bit weak?’

No matter how I thought about it, it wasn’t a thickness that would collapse so easily. Thinking that I should either build a new warehouse or repair it later, I left the wooden block and exited the warehouse.

Rije and Nyx, who had gone out first, were both waiting for me nearby.

‘Oh my god.’

It’s a bit hard to say this, but it was a combination where only their chests caught my eye.

Even considering that the women here were generally tall, Rije was on the much shorter side of average, and Nyx was objectively tiny, without even needing to consider the average.

Despite that, both of them had chests so large that even using both hands, one couldn’t fully grasp even one side. So, it was only natural for my gaze to be drawn to them.

Furthermore, one was wearing a tight white tank top, and the other was wearing a modified dress shirt that practically exposed her chest, which emphasized their chests even more.

As I returned to the training ground with the two busty beauties on either side, the Silver Dawn Knights and the Jet-Black Holy Night Knights, who were casually chatting with each other, looked at me as if asking why I had come back so early.

I came back quickly, but their gazes were like that, so I felt strange.

“Let’s hurry up, clean up, and finish. Move.”

I raised my voice. Rije also stepped forward and gathered the Silver Dawn Knights. Both Knight Orders, having received orders from their Captain-nims, began to move sluggishly.

The members, dressed in white tank tops and dolphin shorts just like their Captain-nim, jumped onto the wagon. Perhaps because the clothes were larger, there was less exposure than Rije.

Moreover, the outfits next to them were bunny girls wearing stockings, fishnet stockings, bare legs, or tights, or even reverse bunny outfits, which made them look relatively more modest.

Nyx also scurried around and did something, but honestly, it wasn’t much help. Her chest was incredibly large, but her limbs were short and stubby, limiting the items she could carry.

The work finished faster than expected. Rije had brought a paper with the list of items, and the Silver Dawn Knights had helped. Plus, the movement path for carrying items was quite short.

“…There’s a damn lot.”

“It’s a gift sent by His Imperial Majesty. Can you really say that?”

Of course, apart from that, the sheer quantity was enormous.

A mountain of treasures was piled up in one corner of this massive training ground. Nearby, the Jet-Black Holy Night Knights were diligently carrying materials and building a temporary warehouse.

“Wouldn’t it be okay if I don’t get caught saying this?”

“Hmm… No, Delta, I think it would be fine even if you did get caught?”

Rije chuckled to herself, as if she had made a joke. But I couldn’t laugh, thinking that it might actually be true.

“…I’ve accepted everything for now, but now that I think about it, I have nowhere to use it. Should I just build more warehouses and pile it up inside? Rije, do you have any ideas?”

“Why ask me?”

Rije also seemed to have no particular use for it. Although I didn’t know the exact unit price, I thought that this amount might be enough to build an entirely new castle, not just for expansion or repair.

Even if I distributed some to the entire Jet-Black Holy Night Knights, gave a suitable amount to Aurora, and even to the Silver Dawn Knights, it still seemed insufficient to use it all.

‘If I sold all of this, how much would it have been worth in the game?’

Even if I had sold it in the 1st playthrough, it seemed like I could have used it lavishly until the 11th playthrough. Most consumables don’t change in price. Perhaps I could have even easily purchased the holy water imbued with light.

Well, the reason that quest was infamous wasn’t because of the price, though.

“Do you want to take some too? You can take it and distribute it to the Silver Dawn Knights.”

“If you give it, I’ll take it, but I probably won’t have anywhere to use it, will I? A knight who worked at the Imperial Palace can live quite lavishly even after retiring. And I don’t necessarily need to-“

Rije grinned and nudged my side with her elbow.

“You’re going to support me anyway, aren’t you? I just have to quietly spread my legs under you, so why bother?”

“Can you please be more careful with your word choice?”

As I glanced around and said something, Rije burst out laughing.

The Silver Dawn Knights had a ‘whatever’ expression, as if they hadn’t seen Rije act like that once or twice, and the Jet-Black Holy Night Knights also seemed to be letting it pass with a mysteriously pleased smile.

This made me feel like I was the abnormal one.

‘Where should I put this… Ah.’

I kept pondering where to use this, then a good idea came to mind, and I turned to Rije. It felt a bit wrong to do it with other people’s money, but if I used my own money, there would be no problem.

“Rije.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Want to go catch a swindler?”

‘Hmmm…’

The pink-haired girl with long twin tails reaching her waist diligently rolled her hot pink eyes, just like her hair, scanning the people in front of her.

The man was fine. He was handsome, tall, and had a good physique. Most importantly, he was rich. His personality also seemed quite excellent. No, he wasn’t just fine; he was top-tier.

The women weren’t bad either. Both were quite good-looking, and while both were a bit short, their figures were overwhelmingly excellent. Especially their chests-

‘…….’

Her hot pink eyes subtly shifted towards her feet. A meager chest that only had a very slight curve, likely to show up to her ankles if she bent down even a little, not just her toes.

‘Damn busty monsters.’

She grumbled and shifted her gaze elsewhere. What was so good about those lumps of fat? Just carrying them around would cause back pain. And it was inconvenient to wipe when sweaty.

The pink-haired girl, having finished her mental victory, reorganized her thoughts. No matter how she looked, these people were flawless, but that made them even more suspicious.

Someone with that much wealth could easily trade with large trading companies with the best credit within the city. So why would they specifically come all the way to the outskirts of the city to trade with a wandering merchant like her?

Her intuition as a swindler who had lived by conning countless people for a long time told her that these people had some ulterior motive.

“You want to buy something from me?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, I’m a merchant, so I’d be grateful if that’s the case. But, if you don’t mind, may I ask why? With the money you showed, it seems like you could trade directly with a large trading company, not just a wandering merchant like me. What’s the reason you specifically came to find me?”

“Because I need something only you sell. You should know what that means by now.”

“Something only I sell? I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand what you mean. If it’s something a wandering merchant like me sells, then a large trading company would naturally be selling it, wouldn’t they? So, please go ask them.”

The girl spun around abruptly. She was confident that the man would stop her if she went this far.

Although she said that, if the girl truly only sold what others sold, she wouldn’t have been able to continue being a swindler and wandering merchant for so long. She naturally had one or two things hidden.

“You know everything, so stop playing coy, alright? There’s no need for us to waste each other’s time, is there?”

She stopped walking.

No matter where they heard the rumor and came from, that alone clearly meant they needed her goods. In that case, they were the urgent ones, so it wouldn’t matter if she played hard to get one more time.

“Playing coy? I am clearly a merchant. When an opportunity to sell comes, I must not miss it and sell it-“

“Or perhaps, will calling you ‘Fetch’ make you more willing to trade?”

That black-haired man, if he hadn’t called her real name instead of one of her dozens of aliases, it would have surely been so.