Ch.82Interrupted Pillow Talk

“I couldn’t resist the charm of those two…”

“I’m glad you said that.”

“Haaa… I thought I was going to pass out. I can’t even move a finger now.”

Despite the three of us lying on a single bed, Setty doesn’t seem uncomfortable at all as she snuggles against me, rubbing her cheek on my chest.

Jessica, lying with her head on my other arm, is still twitching slightly, lost in ecstasy.

This moment made me realize once again that when these two decide to seduce me, my willpower is worth less than a scrap of newspaper.

“Will, can I ask you one more favor?”

“What kind of favor?”

“I want to hear about your past. The story before you met us.”

“Oh, I want to hear that too.”

“Before I met you two… you mean before I came to Grantis?”

“Yes. Let’s set aside the unwritten rule of pioneers for a moment. I want to know more about you.”

Among those who crossed over to Grantis, there’s an unwritten rule not to talk about what happened in the outside world if possible.

But it’s human nature that as people meet, build trust, and become friends or lovers, they want to know more about each other as their feelings deepen.

If it’s Jessica and Setty, I can share things without worry.

“Hmm, where should I start… Do people here know what continents exist outside of Grantis?”

“No. There’s nothing left about that, neither in documents nor oral tradition. It seems the first-generation immigrants deliberately made sure no records remained.”

“I see. Then what I’m about to tell might differ somewhat from what actually exists outside Grantis…”

I told them about my life so far, being careful not to mention the specific technology and culture of 21st century Earth.

That I came from a place slightly more technologically advanced than Grantis but where magic didn’t exist.

That I lived apart from my family due to discord, then moved to another country where I worked as an employee of a trading company.

That the country had a history of western frontier expansion very similar to present-day Grantis about 100-150 years ago.

That I had romanticized that era since childhood and admired gunmen, and after winning a shooting competition, I was killed by a robber and woke up in Grantis.

I didn’t mention that I was actually a man in his 30s who had become younger upon crossing over to Grantis.

Perhaps I wanted Jessica and Setty to only see me as the young, healthy person I am now.

“So Will’s gun is already more than 100 years outdated?”

“That’s right. In just about 100 years, the technology for killing people developed insanely fast.”

“Killing people?”

“Where I lived, there were no monsters as common enemies of humanity. Even wild beasts didn’t roam freely in most countries. Weapons have long been tools for people to wage war against each other.”

“So even without monsters, it wasn’t peaceful. Will Grantis eventually become like that too?”

“Well… I don’t think it will become like where I lived.”

“Really?”

I can nod without hesitation to their question because I’ve learned a bit about the world of Grantis through our adventures.

Though I didn’t major in military history, I believe people have waged wars throughout history for two main reasons:

‘For my own gain, and to destroy others.’

For one’s own gain means literally occupying more resources and land, or profiting from the war itself.

Resources are finite, and if your land lacks what you need, you have no choice but to take from others to survive.

Conversely, destroying others means, in extreme terms, eliminating ‘those different from me’ from the world to maintain one’s legitimacy or peace of mind.

Kingdoms, justifications, religious prestige, culture, even differences in skin or hair color could cause such friction in the human world.

But unlike Earth, Grantis has buffers against these two factors—that’s my view based on experience so far.

“The pioneers and natives of Grantis are building relationships by joining forces against the common threat of monsters. The longer this relationship continues, the better influence it will have even after the common threat disappears.”

It’s a much more hopeful first contact than treating one side as savages to be conquered and exploited due to overwhelming technological differences.

It’s also significant that this interspecies meeting occurred without the involvement of ‘religion,’ which can easily become the basis for such thinking.

“It’s also good that magical energy is infinitely generated from mana veins. Where I lived, there was a joke that as soon as certain resources were discovered in a country, the world’s strongest power would immediately go overthrow that country’s government.”

“If magic is infinite, that doesn’t happen?”

“Well, human greed is endless, so the possibility isn’t zero. But just not being driven by resource scarcity and hunger to take from others is already a huge merit, I think.”

“Will, you’re amazing. Like a scholar.”

“Haha… it’s just prediction. Full of my personal hopes.”

In reality, I understand intellectually.

Just because magical energy is an infinite resource, and even if it’s distributed equally throughout Grantis, it doesn’t mean everyone will live together in perfect harmony.

There are those who try to profit by buying and selling natives as slaves, and those who illegally occupy others’ homes and shoot at passersby.

Still, this world of Grantis is writing its frontier history in a much more positive direction compared to Earth’s.

If the beginning is different and the process is different, why couldn’t the ending be different too?

Perhaps I’m trying to overlay my uncomfortable feelings about the dark aspects of the western frontier era I once admired with the image of Grantis as an ideal world.

“I think I’ve told you most of my story, so now let’s hear about Jessica and Setty’s past. Jessica first.”

“Me? I don’t really have an impressive past—”

‘BANG BANG BANG!’

Just as Jessica was about to start her story, someone violently pounded on our door.

Mina and Phyllis wouldn’t knock like this, and if it were a staff member, it would be rude enough to warrant a complaint.

Above all, it was suspicious that whoever was pounding on the door wasn’t stating their identity or business.

“Setty, your window connects to the next room, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll stall for time, you two get dressed.”

No matter how rude the visitor, I couldn’t greet them naked, so I quickly put on underwear and pants, grabbed my revolver, and approached the door.

The room door is designed to open inward to avoid blocking the corridor.

I positioned myself where I wouldn’t collide with the door if someone kicked it in, and after seeing Jessica put on her underwear and grab her grimoire, I unlocked the door and slowly opened it.

“Oh, this is your room?”

“…Sheriff?”

Standing outside was the white-haired sheriff we’d met upon arriving in Riverside, along with several men in city guard uniforms.

“What’s going on? I’m guessing it’s not good news if the sheriff is involved.”

“A theft occurred at the general store in this city 30 minutes ago. I’m searching your room under my authority as sheriff.”

“W-wait. There are two women getting dressed in the room right now, so please wait a moment.”

“…I’ll wait exactly 2 minutes. Keep the door open so we can see the opposite window, and have them dress on the hidden side.”

While Jessica and Setty got dressed, the sheriff stood expressionless, watching his pocket watch. Exactly two minutes later, he entered the room.

“But why are you investigating our room because of a theft at the general store? We were all in our room 30 minutes ago.”

“According to the victim’s testimony, the culprit was a cat-folk girl with black hair and brown skin.”

As the sheriff said this while glaring at Setty standing by the bed, Jessica stepped in to protect her.

“Wait! Setty hasn’t left the inn since we checked in today!”

“We’ll determine that through investigation. If you’re truly innocent, cooperate with the investigation quietly. If you resist or flee, you’ll face more severe punishment than for theft.”

With those words, the sheriff signaled to the guards waiting outside, who skillfully began searching every corner of the room.

When they pulled back the blanket on the bed where we had just been naked, revealing the soaked sheets, Jessica and Setty’s faces turned red with embarrassment and anger. I too was trying to calm my boiling insides while waiting for the sheriff’s investigation to end.

‘Which bastard framed Setty…’

I have my suspicions.

The old woman who was horrified at the sight of Setty when we arrived in Riverside.

Of course, a hunched old woman couldn’t steal from a store and run away, so there must be another perpetrator, but that old woman is certainly involved in this incident.

The sheriff and guards searched not only our room 206, but also rooms 207 and 208 that we had reserved.

Mina, who had been working hard before dinner time, was furious about the sudden intrusion and the act of emptying the contents of her bag. Though she couldn’t directly interfere with the sheriff conducting a criminal investigation, she cooperated silently but warned that she would claim compensation for any damaged parts or precious metals.

“No stolen goods were found in the rooms.”

“Hmm, can’t be helped. For now, you’ll have to come to the sheriff’s office for questioning.”

“Even though no evidence of theft was found?”

“There are no cat-folk living in this city. And no cat-folk have entered the city either. Given the victim’s testimony that the culprit was cat-folk, suspicion is unavoidable.”

“You’re not considering the possibility of a false accusation?!”

“Of course that’s possible. But that possibility becomes convincing only after questioning proves she’s unrelated to the theft. Understand?”

For Setty’s innocence to be proven, her alibi must be established through questioning.

In principle, the sheriff is right.

But Setty’s alibi for the time of the incident is simply that she was rolling around in bed with me and Jessica.

No one witnessed this except the three of us.

It’s unlikely that testimony from the suspect and her companions would be accepted as an alibi, and trying to prove it would likely subject Setty to a humiliating experience.

‘Looking for anyone who heard the moaning of a cat-folk girl having sex in room 206 around 5 PM on April 2nd’

See? It’s already heading in a trashy direction.

So we need to prove Setty’s innocence by other means.

“…Alright, Sheriff. We’ll cooperate with the investigation. But you’ll have to accept our conditions to prove Setty’s innocence.”

“This is absurd. Do you think you’re in a position to set conditions?”

“Just hear me out. You want to solve the case, and we want to prove our companion’s innocence as quickly as possible. So why don’t we both set aside our pride and take the fastest route to the truth?”

If proving that the past Setty didn’t commit a crime is difficult, then we can make the future Setty commit an impossible crime.

I call it the “My future self will somehow handle it” strategy.