Ch.57The Kiryu Family Vacation (2)

“Saito Kana. That’s his name. They say he’s the one with the talent to succeed Tetsu. Coincidentally, he’s the same age as you. A whole 17 years old.”

Gonzaemon said.

Right. I know. He was a character you’d meet in the Toshin Cup if you took the kendo dojo activity route in the game.

The Saito family wasn’t just famous for swordsmanship. They were a prestigious family with influence in both political and business circles. In short, she was a silver-spoon young lady.

Of course, from the player’s perspective, she was a romance option.

However, most players tended to avoid her.

The reason players went to the kendo dojo in the first place was to raise intimacy with Umi while also gaining experience points.

In the end, romancing Umi was the main objective. It was natural not to feel attached to a suddenly appearing heroine during that process.

That aside, Saito Kana was quite popular outside the game. She was undeniably beautiful. She appeared frequently on illustration submission sites. All looks, no substance…!!

But… I wondered why Kana had her eye on me. Moreover, a term that didn’t exist in the game came up. Talent-killer? What was that?

“It’s Saito Kana’s alias. All swordsmen who caught her interest… ended up quitting kendo during practice matches.”

Gonzaemon said.

“R-Really?”

This setting is new to me.

Saito Kana wasn’t a character with such detailed background. She was just a rich young lady. But now she seemed to have all these fascinating character traits attached to her.

I had a reasonable suspicion that the god who pushed me into this world might have Saito Kana as their favorite character.

“Of course, she didn’t force them to quit. They stopped wielding the sword entirely of their own will.”

Gonzaemon sighed.

“Why?”

“Because they experienced an overwhelming gap in talent. The despair of realizing that no matter how hard they tried, they could never reach her level… it was enough to make them put down their swords. Their efforts and talents all seemed futile.”

“………”

“The more serious one is about the sword, the more likely it happens.”

Gonzaemon said.

“I’m quite serious about kendo too… that’s concerning.”

I said.

In truth, my dream wasn’t to be a kendo athlete or anything like that.

My real dream was to be a web novel writer. That was true in my previous world, and it remained true in this one. That hadn’t changed.

“Are you really not going to become a professional kendo athlete?”

Gonzaemon looked at me with disappointment.

“No. But… that doesn’t mean I’m not serious about swordsmanship. It’s my favorite thing besides writing novels.”

“………”

“I’m serious about both kendo and writing. My resolve is to fully pursue both paths. There’s no rule saying you can only be serious about one thing.”

I concluded.

That conclusion didn’t just apply to my career path. I was now certain.

Umi, Eri, and Taiga would probably want to kill me if they heard this… but I intended to pursue a harem.

It seemed too unfortunate for someone to end up not being chosen. I wanted to make everyone happy. I had become serious about all three of them.

The moment I resolved to take them all with me, my mind became clear.

It was no exaggeration to call it a clear mind. I felt like I could even succeed at Excel Sync without trying.

“Anyway, so this Saito Kana is strong, right? That actually makes me want to challenge her.”

Afterward, I looked at Gonzaemon in the rearview mirror.

“Even if I lose now, as long as my spirit doesn’t break, I can reach any height, right?”

That was my conclusion.

“……….”

Gonzaemon was silent for a moment.

“HAHAHAHAHA!!!! You really are something else!!”

Soon after, Gonzaemon burst into hearty laughter.

“I want to believe… that you have a soul strong enough not to break when facing Saito Kana.”

Gonzaemon said to me.

“I’ll work hard enough not to disappoint you, Master.”

I replied.

Even if it wasn’t an official competition, the Toshin Cup was a well-known tournament. Showing a pathetic performance there would tarnish the name of the Kiryu dojo.

“That’s the spirit!! Great!!! I’m fired up from this passionate man-to-man talk!!! We’ll start training as soon as we get to the inn!!!!”

Gonzaemon shouted loudly.

It seemed his training disease had flared up due to our passionate conversation.

That’s when it happened.

Thwack-!

Ms. Asuna immediately stood up and grabbed the back of Gonzaemon’s neck.

“Darling. You shouldn’t interfere with the young couple.”

Ms. Asuna said with a sweet smile.

“Hahaha… I was just joking.”

Gonzaemon immediately shrank back.

“And… how about we have some fun like in our honeymoon days?”

Ms. Asuna suggested.

“Honeymoon days…?”

“The dojo business is doing well now, and we should make a sibling for Umi.”

Ms. Asuna said.

“A-A second child?”

Gonzaemon cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Umi might get lonely being an only child.”

Ms. Asuna said.

“She’s already grown up, so feeling lonely is a bit…”

Gonzaemon mumbled hesitantly.

“Darling. Do you still think you have a choice?”

Ms. Asuna said with a sweet smile.

“Y-Yes…”

Gonzaemon nodded.

Somehow… I felt a sense of camaraderie with my master for being under someone’s thumb. Master… I’ll definitely repay you!

———-

Shortly after, the car arrived at the inn.

“Wow…..”

I didn’t expect much, but it was quite a proper hot spring inn. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it was extremely Japanese.

Then, I looked at the inn’s sign.

‘Saito Onsen’

The name seemed familiar.

“Wait. Master. This place…..”

I asked Gonzaemon.

“Yes. It’s one of the inns and hot springs operated by the Saito family.”

Gonzaemon readily admitted.

“Eeeeh…..”

In other words, this was enemy territory.

“I have a history with this place. I earned the right to use it for free for life. That’s why we came here.”

Gonzaemon explained.

“Still, it feels a bit awkward…..”

“Don’t worry!! Neither Toshin Tetsu nor Saito Kana, whom I mentioned in the car, are here!! It’s just an inn using the Saito family name! Just enjoy yourself without worry!”

Gonzaemon laughed heartily and slapped my shoulder.

“Well… that’s a relief then.”

Right. This was a hot spring trip. I should just enjoy it.

Ms. Asuna opened the trunk. Inside were bags containing clothes and toiletries.

“Let me carry those.”

I immediately took the luggage from Ms. Asuna.

“My… our Shota is so dependable.”

Ms. Asuna chuckled as she spoke.

“Except for the ‘kyeek’ screams, he’s really a good kid, right?”

Umi smiled happily, as if pleased that I was being praised.

“Doesn’t Umi also scream now? Going ‘ieeeek’.”

Ms. Asuna chuckled.

“When have I ever!!”

Umi blushed and got angry.

“So the saying that you become like the one you love is true?”

Ms. Asuna said with a smile.

Certainly… Umi had been negatively influenced by me.

I couldn’t forget Umi’s antics on the Ferris wheel when we went to the amusement park last time.

She was just an ordinary gyaru character in the original game, but she was rapidly becoming eccentric.

Ah… has she been consumed by the poison of Yodo Gi-ae-ek, one of the twelve transformations? Poor Umi.

As soon as we entered the inn, the staff immediately came forward.

“Ah… Mr. Gonzaemon. We’ve been waiting. Please come this way.”

The staff politely guided our family.

Tremble-tremble-!

But for some reason, the staff seemed to be trembling as they looked at us.

“Um… they seem oddly afraid of you, Master?”

I asked Gonzaemon.

“Ah… when I was younger, I caused a bit of a disturbance here.”

Gonzaemon said with an embarrassed tone.

What on earth did you do…? I was about to ask but stopped myself. Everyone has their dark history, after all. Yeah.

——-

The Kiryu family was assigned two rooms.

Both were special suites. They even had private open-air baths inside. It was no exaggeration to say we were receiving VVIP treatment.

One room was assigned to Mr. Gonzaemon and Ms. Asuna, and the other to me and Umi.

I could guess why they deliberately put me and Umi together. This… was definitely Ms. Asuna’s scheme.

Anyway, we immediately put down our luggage.

“Wow… this is nice.”

Honestly, I didn’t expect much, but it was quite heart-warming. The open-air bath on the veranda and the forest view outside were quite atmospheric. There would probably be a lot of mosquitoes in summer.

Such unrefined thoughts came to mind, but I pushed them away.

Apparently, Ms. Asuna and Mr. Gonzaemon’s group would only eat meals with us but otherwise do their own thing.

It was essentially a ryokan date for just me and Umi.

“Umi. What should we do?”

I asked Umi.

“First… we have a private open-air bath. Let’s at least soak in it.”

Umi said.

“Hmm… shall we?”

There seemed to be some improper intentions, but I understood the desire to soak in the open-air bath.

“Yeah. Why not.”

Umi and I headed straight for the open-air bath.

Splash-!

I immersed myself in the bath.

“Ahhh….”

It was better than I expected. It felt like my fatigue was melting away in the hot water. I might have been overexerting myself lately.

“Mmm….”

Umi, with only a towel covering her intimate parts, also entered the bath.

And she sat right in front of me. Her positioning was requesting a back hug.

I immediately embraced Umi from behind.

“Ehehe. Shota. You’re quite perceptive.”

Umi said with a smile.

“No. You were making it so obvious.”

I chuckled and gently caressed Umi’s body.

Rub-rub-!

At that moment, Umi pressed her back more firmly against my stomach. It became a posture where her buttocks were subtly rubbing against my private area.

“Ah… Shota. You’ve gotten hard?”

Umi smiled mischievously.

“Can’t help it. Umi is too pretty and cute…”

That’s right. It’s unavoidable for a young man in his prime.

That’s when it happened.

“Ahnnng?! Hnnaaah?!! Darling… you’re amazing❤”

“Asuna… really… you’re still so beautiful like this…!”

“My husband too… ohgogok?! You’re just as vigorous as when you were young❤ So unnecessarily energetic…”

“Stop talking nonsense… haaah… let’s decide on a child’s name in advance…”

“No… my head’s going blank… I can’t think… hnnnng?!! I’m coming…!”

It seemed Gonzaemon and Ms. Asuna were also focused on baby-making in their open-air bath.

There was such a thing as atmosphere. When the next room was making love, we couldn’t help but get heated up too.

“Shota… shall we make a baby too?”

Umi began to explicitly caress my body.

And so, Umi and I also began to intertwine our bodies.