episode_0028

Our house is as usual!

Waking up as usual, followed by a hangover…. Ugh.

“Ugh oh ah ah ah…”

A morning where the hammer of a hangover pounds at my head.

Amidst the chaotic dizziness, like a festival with drumming, Korean drums, and even gongs mobilized, I let out a strange groan.

“Haa, did I go too hard yesterday…”

Yesterday, after successfully finishing the pojangmacha (street stall) business, Arte joined at the perfect time, and we finished cleaning up together.

The small second round held at our place, taking the leftover ingredients and drinks with us, was… how should I say it, a completely uncontrollable festival.

Laughing, talking, dancing, grinding(?)-

Glasses were exchanged, liquor flowed, and the atmosphere instantly reached its peak!

The problem was… I drank too many different kinds of alcohol.

Blueberry juice mixed with juice that Arte made,

High Elf wine that Lilien brought from somewhere,

And even an unidentified cocktail that Elis made.

As the glasses circulated, the atmosphere grew hotter and hotter, and we became increasingly absorbed in each other’s laughter and gazes.

Then, it seems I blacked out somewhere in the middle and fell asleep.

“Whew… my body, which passed out after one glass of soju-beer mix even before reincarnation, couldn’t possibly have endured this.”

I barely tried to lift my upper body.

If I stayed like this, it felt like even my soul would wither away.

Just as I was about to wash my face to clear my head.

“…Huh?”

My body didn’t move. My eyes weren’t blinking either.

“Huh? My arm… won’t lift?”

My waist wouldn’t lift either. It felt like something heavy was resting on my front.

The blanket also felt too warm for me to have covered myself alone.

“Could it be…”

Just as I was about to lift my head slightly through a gap in the blanket-

“Ugh… my head hurts… don’t toss and turn so much… Yuuaan…”

Along with a languid voice that sounded like it was dying, pure white hair moved gently on my chest.

It was Lilien.

The Knight Commander who was sleeping soundly, using me as a pillow while tightly hugging my chest with both arms and even tangling her legs around me.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and the sight of her muttering my name in her sleep….

Just had to make it hard to bear from the morning.

“Lilien… you threw off your underwear and went to sleep again.”

No wonder the sensation of her bare skin touching me was excessively soft and warm.

The sight of her curves subtly revealing themselves with every breath, seeming like they might just be visible, was truly….

“This is troublesome. Very troublesome.”

Even though I, a man, am here, Lilien always throws off her underwear and goes to sleep when she drinks alcohol.

Still, I can’t deny the sweet feeling that makes me forget the hangover for a moment.

And to my left. A slightly trembling warm touch wrapped around my side.

“Ung nya… cold… Yuan’s side is warm…”

A small, determined tail wrapped around my waist, and a being that curled up tightly against me like a cat.

It was Elis.

Her slightly poking fangs and twitching tail clearly showed her cute sleeping habits.

At the sound of her burying her face in my side in her sleep and muttering “Yuan…”, my face couldn’t help but heat up.

“Looks like she’s determined to stick to me even in her dreams…”

Finally, to my right arm.

A soft touch and a cautious hand tucked under my arm, using it as a pillow.

When I turned my head, there were clear eyes quietly regulating their breathing and looking at me.

“Good morning, Yuan.”

It was Arte.

The neat beauty unique to an automaton sparkled in the morning sun.

She spoke on, gently hugging my arm with a soft smile.

“While you were sleeping… you were very quiet. Personally, I was hoping you had sleeping habits… It’s regrettable. I missed a chance for legal physical contact.”

“Ah, Arte?! You, you weren’t perhaps watching me the whole time?!”

“I refuse to answer. Error error. Bweep bweep.”

You’re an automaton in the first place, so you don’t get hangovers and you don’t even need to sleep.

In fact, isn’t this tin can the most dangerous among the three?

On the left, the Demon Lord with her tail wrapped around my waist,

On the right, the automaton who watched me all night using my arm as a pillow,

In front, the Knight Commander who hugged me, going beyond the pillow.

You’ve completely surrounded me.

How did they completely block me off without any blind spots?

Is it that even the sleeping posture of Munchkins is the strongest?

Towards Arte, who seemed the most clear-headed, I turned my head with desperate eyes.

My memory of yesterday was submerged in a hazy fog, and beyond that fog, it felt like some terrible mistake was lurking.

“Arte… yesterday, I didn’t cause any trouble, did I?”

At those words, she tilted her head slightly and asked back.

“Trouble, what type are you referring to?”

“Things like that! Like, saying something I shouldn’t have, or suddenly leaning on you guys… I mean, embarrassing words or actions! Please, I didn’t do anything like that, did I?”

Then Arte slowly brought a finger to her lips and closed her eyes for a moment, as if contemplating.

“Searching,”

At that moment, small hologram windows in Arte’s eyes rapidly blinked and started moving up and down.

—Beep, beep, search complete.

Arte opened her eyes and looked straight at me.

Her gaze was strangely playful, which made me very uneasy.

“Exactly 5:27:48.”

“…Huh?”

“You said you loved us. You embraced the three of us simultaneously, passionately. I thought my rational circuit was briefly paralyzed. The instinct circuit completely dominated me for 3 seconds.”

“Whaaaaaaat?!?!”

I tried to jump up, but my body wouldn’t move.

Ah right. I was still held down by the three of them.

“Don’t lie! Did I really do that?! Lying is bad, Arte!”

Then Arte raised her hand without batting an eye.

A hologram unfolded from her fingertips, and the nightmare-like scene from yesterday began to play.

[Recording playback start.]

The scene from yesterday was clearly projected on the screen.

Under the dim lighting, empty liquor bottles lay scattered messily on the table,

Lilien, Elis, and I were already half-glassy-eyed.

Our minds had probably made a round trip to somewhere in space.

Only Arte was the only one watching us in that chaos with clear eyes.

With a slight hint of a smile on her face.

On the screen, Lilien asked playfully in a drunken voice.

“Yuan… hic! Who among the three of us do you like the most?”

At that moment, the me on the screen suddenly stood up.

“Can’t decideee!! I love all three of youuuu!!”

And then, without hesitation, I hugged Lilien, Elis, and Arte tightly at the same time.

The screen stopped at the same time.

I stared blankly at the hologram, mouth agape.

Ah ah ah… I saw it, I saw the creation of the greatest dark history moment of my life.

“Arte. Delete it. Delete it right now.”

My voice was almost a plea.

“Impossible. It has already been saved in my secret folder. It has been locked with a 24-layer security protocol, which even I cannot breach.”

“How can that even beee!! Hey! Delete it!! Delete it!!”

While still struggling with my body that couldn’t move an inch, I shouted from the morning.

After washing my face, with a slightly fresher feeling than before, I headed to the kitchen.

As soon as I opened the door and came out, the two people on the bed were tossing and turning with messy hair.

“Ugh… sunlight… it’s stinging…”

“Volume… lower the volume… my head…”

Lilien and Elis were still groaning under the blankets.

Smiling wryly at the sight, I quietly lit the kitchen stove and placed a pot on it.

Just then, as if she noticed my movement, Arte, who had slightly lifted her head from the bed, looked at me.

“Yuan? What are you planning to make from the morning?”

Arte, quietly showing curiosity with oddly clear eyes.

At the same time, she was stroking the hair of Lilien and Elis with her hands.

“I have some fish that I prepared beforehand. I’m going to boil some bean sprout soup.”

“For hangovers, I see.”

“Yeah. It’s simple, so just wait a bit.”

Before opening the pojangmacha yesterday, I lightly prepared some leftover monster fish fillets.

I had ground them finely and made them into broth blocks.

After lightly simmering the broth and adding plenty of bean sprouts—

Soon, a subtle and savory aroma began to spread throughout the kitchen.

Just then, a weight was placed on my back with a ‘thump’.

“…Huh?”

Small hands wrapped around my waist, and with a soft sensation, a gentle and warm body heat seeped into my back.

Soon, a slightly messy golden hair, a small tail, and the tips of folded wings came into view.

“Yuan… my head hurts… I’m dizzy…”

It was Elis.

The Demon Lord who silently burrowed into my back, rubbing her face against my back like a child.

“Haa… why is she always like this when she drinks…”

Gently patting her arm, I leaned my back against her familiarly.

“Yeah, it’ll be done soon. You’ll feel better quickly after eating this.”

“Ung… really?”

A quietly murmuring voice.

At the same time, her arms hugged my waist even tighter.

Her tail was also slowly coiling around my legs.

Smiling at the sight, I focused on the pot again.

Inside the pot steaming with rising vapor, the bean sprouts were cooking just right.

Add garlic and green onions, a pinch of salt, half a spoon of soy sauce.

And finally, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes—

“Good…!”

Warm steam rising heatedly.

As the savory and spicy aroma filled the kitchen, I felt much better than before.

“Hangover bean sprout soup is complete! Arte! Can you wake Lilien up and bring her over?”

“Yes, Yuan.”

Arte lightly got up and headed towards Lilien, who was wriggling in the blanket.

“Lilien, wake up. Yuan has made a dish?”

“Ugh… bean sprouts… give me bean sprouts…”

Lilien opened her half-closed eyes through the slightly parted gap in the blanket, and Elis, still resting her chin on my back, whispered.

“Yuan… this soup… smells so good… I want to eat it every morning…”

“To do that, you’d have to drink like this every day, wouldn’t you?”

“Hehe, that… I’ll think about it a little.”

Even while saying that, the corners of her mouth were lifted ever so slightly.

Smiling, I quietly placed the three bowls on the table, one by one.

Slightly spicy and warm hangover bean sprout soup.

And, this morning scene shared with the people I love.

Could there be a warmer start to the day than this?

[Eyecatch!]

Today’s Dish – Bean Sprout Soup Simmered with Deep Sea Monsters

Seafood monsters that swam in the deep sea.

Among them, there are also fish-type monsters that somewhat play the ‘anchovy position’, you know?

Lightly prepare them to make a broth, and add a whole lot of bean sprouts.

It’s okay even if you don’t have special ingredients.

The scent of the sea infused in the broth combined with the refreshing taste of bean sprouts will warmly embrace your body and mind.

“Normally, you should also add egg and seaweed flakes, you know~”

ㅡThe Reincarnator who scooped up a mouthful each to feed the Demon Lord and the Knight Commander who couldn’t pull themselves together