Ch.40The World Changed by an NPC (5)

The situation of Ira turning into a cute, chubby baby pig did not occur.

Even when told to eat as much as she wanted, Ira was someone who ate less than normal children to begin with. Rather…

“Brother! Ice cream!! Ice cream!!!”

“Alright, here you go.”

“Wow~!! Yum!!”

My sister, who received a pink jewel-like ice cream for the first time in her life, bit into it with her violet eyes shining like the sun. If I had raised her as a mukbang YouTuber, she would have easily surpassed 2 million subscribers.

She really was born in the wrong era—no, the wrong world.

“After you finish eating, you must brush your teeth. If you sleep without brushing, your teeth will rot. You don’t want Ira’s teeth to turn yellow, do you?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Are you our child’s mother, Your Majesty? Lately, Ragni’s smart conversation is starting to sound more like nagging, and I don’t think it’s my imagination.

No, of course I don’t dislike it. She’s saying these things because she cares about Ira, right?

“This is really delicious. Ice cream? It’s expensive, but worth the price, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah. But do you actually like that flavor?”

“Why? It has a refreshing taste. Is that black one tasty instead?”

“…Well, you’re the first person I’ve met who says that tastes good. *lick*”

Was it like an Easter egg in a game? After lunch, Ragni guided us to what she called a delicious dessert shop, and there was an ice cream parlor.

An expensive dessert at 2,000 kan each. In the past, I couldn’t have even imagined eating something so costly, but our wallets are quite thick now.

Ira got strawberry, I got vanilla, and Ragni got chocolate. But… don’t tell me Rey…

“Hmm. This mint chocolate is really delicious! But, they sell it because people eat it, right?”

“I suppose so. They’re not digging up the ground for charity work, are they? Still, I don’t know anyone who eats that and says it’s delicious. When looking for a sweet dessert, why deliberately seek that tingling sensation in your mouth?”

“Brother! This is yummy!! Ah~ Aahn!”

“Ah~ Nom.”

“How is it~? How is it~?”

Little sister, please don’t ask while shaking your body and tilting your head. Your brother might have a heart attack.

“Yes. It’s delicious. Here, Ira, aahn~”

“Aahn!!”

Our cute sister fed me a bite and then took a big bite of my vanilla.

Hehe, this is maddening. I want to bite her. My mouth naturally relaxes into a smile at Ira’s actions, which are sweeter than ice cream.

“Ira, this is delicious too. Here.”

“Nom!! Yes!! This is yummy too!! Sweet!!”

Ragni naturally offered her ice cream, and Ira took a big bite of that too, her cheeks puffing out.

Ugh, this must be what they mean when they say just looking makes you feel full. Her baby talk due to the ice cream is also too adorable.

“Master, aahn~?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Aw. Then, I want vanilla too, aah~”

“Here.”

“Nom!! Hehe!”

Ragni seized the opportunity to try an “aahn” attack on me, but I deflected it and she stole my ice cream instead.

What is she eating so much for? Oh well, you can have it all.

“Oh, oh?! Hey, Miss Ira! This is delicious too! Here, aahn!!”

“…Ugh. I don’t like that color.”

“Eh?! Not even the taste, but the color?! Why?! Isn’t it nice, like the blue sky?!!”

“Don’t feed Ira strange things.”

“Eeh?!! It’s really delicious!! Hey, Jack! J-just once! Aahn! Really, aahn! Just once!!”

To think Rey was a mint-choco enthusiast—this is a low point.

I don’t despise or dislike people who eat Hawaiian pizza or mint chocolate, but I do dislike those who force it on others.

Both my past life memories and my current self agree on this. Besides, I’ve already tried both.

“Rey, forcing things on others is bad. Don’t do that.”

“Hiing!! But it’s really delicious!!”

“…You seem to know the taste without even trying it?”

“You said it yourself. It’s tingling, and the color itself is off-putting.”

“Yes! Off-putting!!”

“Pfft…!!”

“Ugh… not even tasting it or giving me an ‘aahn.’ Off-putting… ugh. I-I’ll go buy another flavor!!”

Rey dashed back into the store, leaving the mint chocolate ice cream with Gor. What’s with that obsession with “aahn” anyway?

And then.

[Nom.]

“…Are you allowed to eat that?”

[I can eat it if I want to. With my absorption skill.]

…What? Why absorb mint chocolate? Are you crazy?

But can a golem eat human food? That’s something new.

Gor, who tried the ice cream Rey had dumped on him, looked at me with an expressionless face. What? What is it?

[…This is an abomination.]

…According to the boss monster’s status window, mint chocolate has been declared an abomination.

*

“Excuse me, Ragni.”

“Yes?”

“He’s more composed than I expected.”

“I know. For someone who showed such aversion, he’s quite calm now, and it doesn’t seem like he’s deliberately hiding anything.”

Ira, Gor, and Jack.

The three of them were playing with a ball in a grassy open space in the center of the city. What was it called? A family park?

Well, more precisely, Ira would kick the ball in any direction, and Gor would run to fetch it.

It looked just like someone playing fetch with a dog.

Moreover, Gor pretended to run hard but actually walked briskly to get the ball and return it, and Ira smiled brightly at the sight. Oh, she kicked it again.

Does Ira have a slight sadistic streak like Jack? It’s a bit chilling? In a good way.

“…You’re thinking something strange, aren’t you?”

“My, are you saying your mind is good enough to read my thoughts?”

“No, it’s your expression.”

“Oops.”

It seems that after awakening to her own peculiarities, such sensations show on her face.

She never imagined her preferences would fall into this category, but what could she do? It wasn’t something she sought to discover; she just happened to notice it after becoming Jack’s slave.

Surely, if not for that incident, she would never have known. But still.

“You have quite a nice expression too.”

“…How did this happen… I wasn’t like this before.”

This time, Jack kicked the ball hard, making Ira giggle, and Gor rushed to retrieve it. Rey felt the urge to join them but suppressed it for now.

She had things to discuss with Ragni.

The two continued their conversation while watching the three playing in the distance.

“Your expression that day. You were extremely angry, and also very confused, why is that?”

“The reason for my anger needs no explanation, but if you’d like to hear my speculation, I’ll share it.”

“Yes, please.”

As Rey sat beside her and asked, Ragni rested her chin on her hand and began.

“He probably felt less aversion than he expected. Let’s set aside the fact that someone touched, or tried to touch, someone precious to him. In my opinion, I think it’s related to his profession as a mountain keeper.”

“Like an occupational… disease?”

“Rather than a disease, it’s just the nature of being a mountain keeper, right? Dealing with harmful beasts and monsters that threaten people. I think he treated those men he killed that day not as humans but as harmful beasts or monsters.”

“……”

Treating people as monsters or harmful beasts. Rey wondered if this was possible given Jack’s character.

Still.

“If that’s the case, I’d be glad. There are plenty of humans who deserve to die.”

“Right? I think that’s better too, and this current sight is much more pleasant to see—oh.”

“*gulp* That looks enviable.”

Gor, who skillfully caught the ball in his mouth, sat down like a dog, and Ira patted him. Ragni often slept leaning against Gor.

She said the female golem’s hair was soft, fluffy, and cool, making it comfortable. But still.

“…Should I fetch the ball once too?”

“We’re real perverts, aren’t we?”

“…I can’t think of anything to deny that.”

Why was it that watching Jack and Ira pat Gor made her want to sit there and be patted too? Why? Why did she feel envious?

She had never felt this way before. It was just a tamed monster, a stone at that, different from them.

However, Ragni and Rey calmed the strange jealousy rising in their hearts for now. They needed to finish their conversation.

“Sigh. And this is just me talking to myself.”

“Yes?”

“Jack’s hypersensitivity toward Ira, that overprotectiveness, it looks a bit strange to me.”

“Eh?! In what way?”

Rey genuinely questioned her statement. Why? Isn’t that level of overprotectiveness normal for one’s younger sibling?

“Overprotectiveness, hypersensitivity—from the perspective of a parent or sibling protecting a young child, well, it could be normal. But to my eyes, he acts as if Ira would die if anyone touched her.”

“…Ah.”

He put an absurdly expensive jewel on Ira without hesitation, the kind only royalty would use, and while he didn’t even look for armor or weapons for himself, he tried to buy armor with all sorts of magical enchantments for Ira. If he had sold that jewel, he could have easily bought a huge mansion. Even after proper explanations were given.

It’s as if he shows only the will to protect Ira from any threat, any enemy.

“It’s like, he won’t die even if he gets hurt. But Ira will die if anyone touches her. She’ll die if she’s even slightly bumped or touched. That’s how he seems to think. As if a mansion, or even a sturdy house, wouldn’t be enough protection.”

“…Now that I think about it, I’ve seen such behavior too.”

“And isn’t it strange?”

“What else?”

Ragni’s questions continued. Her red eyes trembled slightly as she looked at Gor, who was opening his mouth like a dog waiting for a reward, though not actually panting. But she felt she had to share all these doubts.

“After our match, you gained a skill, and your abilities improved to a ridiculous level, right?”

“Ah! That’s because Jack helped me tremendously…”

“Even so, your growth is abnormal. And then there’s Jack’s strength. Gor’s strength too is unusual.”

“What? What do you mean by that…”

“Simply put, you could probably fight the Knight Commander, known as the Empire’s strongest knight, without losing. From what I see, you might even have a slight edge.”

“Eh?! That can’t be…!!”

“And Jack and Gor are much stronger than you. I may not know how to fight, but I have an eye for these things.”

“……”

If Rey hadn’t witnessed her intelligence and capability, she might have laughed it off as an overestimation from someone ignorant about fighting. But to Rey, who had already experienced it, Ragni’s serious red eyes made it impossible to dismiss as a joke.

“But Ira is different. It’s as if she didn’t live in the same place as Jack, wasn’t born in the same place, didn’t eat the same things, and didn’t travel together—she’s so weak, and shows no growth.”

“…M-maybe it’s because she’s still young…”

“Well, we’ll see about that in the future, won’t we?”

Ragni, unaware of status windows or games, couldn’t grasp the concept of levels. But she vaguely sensed something after watching Jack, who had just started moving after giving various instructions for what he called the “Ira enhancement plan.”

“After buying the armor and weapons, we’ll see how Ira grows based on his actions. That should make things clear.”

“……”

As if to say, Ira will also become stronger. She will surely show growth different from now. Ragni’s words sounded like Jack possessed such a skill. Rey understood this and swallowed hard as she looked at Jack.

And Ragni had implied this meaning to Rey.

“…If that’s really the case.”

“Then he’s truly an extraordinary person. Someone I absolutely don’t want to let go of.”

The two women, already falling for him and beginning to lean toward strange preferences, thought: if being by his side could make them grow faster and stronger than they are now, that would truly be…

“I really want to serve him as my master for life.”

“…Ragni, you’re drooling.”

“*slurp* Hmph! You too. Your face is all red, you know?”

Both women wiped their drool and felt a stirring in their lower abdomen as they stood up and approached the three. They shared the thought that perhaps they had been caught by a truly remarkable man.

And.

‘Next, I should be the one to fetch it.’

‘I’m definitely faster than Gor, right?’

They had the exact same thought—one that Jack would immediately tell them to get lost if he heard it.