Book 3: Chapter 1: Part 1

Bonus chapter brought to you by the Patrons, please thank them and enjoy the chapter~

Part 1

Luna was pushed by Lexia’s vigor to serve her.

“A-are you really sure?”

“Geez, you’re such a worrywart. I said it would be fine, right? And also, I’m going to call you Luna, too. You can call me Lexia. This is my decision too.”

“…What a tyrannical princess you are.”

I can’t say it directly, but… Owen-san, thank you for your hard work all this time. As I was sincerely thanking Owen-san in my heart, Lexia-san snapped at Luna as if she had remembered something.

“Ah, right! Earlier, when I mentioned Luna’s smooth skin, didn’t Yuuya-sama’s name come up for a moment? What on earth does that mean?”

“Uee?”

I wasn’t expecting to be talked about, so I was completely caught off guard, and I couldn’t help but let out a weird voice. Then, instead of me, Luna starts talking proudly.

“Listen and be surprised. Yuuya has obtained and possesses a bath drop item from this Great Devil’s Nest’s monster! If you take a bath in it, you’ll be able to get rid of your fatigue, your magic power recovers, and as you can see, it even has some beauty effect!”

“What is that? That’s not fair! Let me in too! Yuuya-sama, is that okay?”

“A-alright!”

“Yay! Luna, let’s go in together!”

“W-what?”

“It’s okay; it’s okay!”

As I was about to take the bath set out of the item box as Lexia-san told me to, she asked me.

“Oh, do you want to come in with us too, Yuuya-sama?”

“H-huh?”

“H-h-hey, Lexia! Yuuya is a man, you know! And y-you’re a princess. You need to have some self-control!”

Luna. You said that, and yet you also came in while I was bathing, didn’t you? For some reason, Lexia-san just tilted her head curiously at Luna as she said that while shelving her own affairs.

“It’s fine. We’re going to get married anyway.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Are you marrying Yuuya? Stop talking nonsense!”

“It’s not a problem, you know! I’ve made up my mind!”

“You are so insistent, you little princess…”

Looking at Luna with her hand holding her head, I gave Owen-san one more round of applause. Really, thank you for all your hard work. And Lexia-san, I thought I had refused the marriage proposal once too…

“Well, uh… I’ll refrain from it.”

I smiled bitterly and took out the bath set.

“Ara, too bad. Well then, Luna, let’s get in quickly!”

As she said that, Lexia-san pulled Luna’s hand and went straight to the dressing room.

＊＊＊

“Wow! This is the bath that Yuuya-sama has? This can’t be compared to the one in the royal castle!”

“I’m not sure if Yuuya’s bath is better than the one in the royal castle. It’s becoming more and more of a mystery…”

Lexia and Luna entered the bath Yuuya had prepared for them, and then went straight to enjoying a relaxing bath.

“…It feels so good. As I thought, Yuuya’s bath is the best after all…”

“It feels really good… and Luna’s right, I feel like my magic power is being revitalized…”

Lexia was amazed at the effects of Yuuya’s bath, but she surrendered herself to the pleasantness of it.

“──So, does Luna like Yuuya-sama?”

“Buh!”

Luna gushed at the too abrupt words and turned to Lexia with a red face.

“W-what are you talking about? As I said before, Yuuya and I are… well… friends!”

“Are you sure about that? I didn’t really see it that way, you know? I felt a faint fondness during your exchange with Yuuya-sama. Well, I’m not sure if Yuuya-sama is aware of that.”

“…It’s probably just your imagination. Besides, it’s normal to like your friends.”

“Ara, is that so? Then it won’t matter if I marry Yuuya-sama!”

“T-that’s no good! Huh?” Luna hurriedly held her mouth after she said that, but it was too late for any of that.

“Hah… if you’re just a friend, it wouldn’t matter if Yuuya-sama and I got married, right? And that refusal of yours… you don’t need to tell me that, do you?”

“Uh…”

Luna twitched her mouth to say something for a while, but eventually let out a loud sigh, as if she had given up.

“…Well, I honestly don’t know what to say. I’ve really spent time with Yuuya as a training partner… but before I attacked you, I certainly valued my time with Yuuya. I knew deep down in my heart that that time was precious.”

“Is that so…?”

Lexia gave a small nod to Luna’s words, then fell silent. And then…

“…Un, I’ve decided!”

“Eh?”

Suddenly, Lexia stood up from the bathtub and pointed her finger at Luna.

“I’m declaring war on you!”

“De-declare war?”

“Yes! You don’t realize it, but if you’re even a little bit attracted to Yuuya-sama, that means you’re in love with him! And I’m in love with Yuuya-sama too.”

“W-what do you mean by love…”

“Luna can deny that she’s not in love, but I believe that Luna is in love with Yuuya-sama. And after this, let’s make our move, shall we?”

“W-what do you mean by love…”

“I mean! I’m going to do my best to not lose to Luna and to make Yuuya-sama look at me! I’m not going to give up, no matter what Luna says! Of course, if I can marry Yuuya-sama, then I’ll be the winner!”

“Wha-!”

“Now what do you want to do? Do you want me to take Yuuya-sama away from you?”

Lexia stared straight at Luna. Her gaze pressured Luna, and she imagined Lexia and Yuuya getting married. And for some reason, that imagination made Luna want to cry, and she uttered her one emotion clearly.

“…I don’t want to.”

“Hmm?”

“I-I don’t want that! Yuuya is… h-he’s mine!”

Right now, Luna still didn’t know the name of the emotions that had arisen in her mind. Still, she knew clearly that she didn’t want to let Yuuya just be taken by someone else.

“Does that mean you’re going to accept my declaration of war?”

“Bring it on.”

Lexia smiles at Luna’s gaze, which is filled with a clear will, unlike before they took a bath.

“Right. Well then, from now on you will be my guard and my rival!”

“All right. Don’t cry when you lose later, okay?”

──In this way, Luna and Lexia were able to move away from the relationship between the attacker and the target in a true sense.

＊＊＊

Lexia-san and Luna got out of the bath, and I decided to discuss the future with them.

“Um, Lexia-san. Now that Luna has woken up like this, how about we go back to Owen-san for the time being?”

I was here with the momentum, and also with the two people, Luna, the attacker, and Lexia-san, the princess, but as expected, we did not explain it too thoroughly. From Owen-san and the others’ point of view, they would be worried, and more importantly, I want to discuss the matter of going to the royal capital.

“Eeh? No! I’m staying here! Besides, Luna’s strength hasn’t fully recovered either, right?”

“Muh? That’s not──.”

“Shut up, Luna!”

“Eeh…?”

Luna was completely confused by Lexia-san’s unreasonable words. No, isn’t that indeed too unreasonable…? However, Lexia-san has a point. Even if [Complete Recovery Herb Juice] can heal wounds and illnesses, it can’t restore strength to the original state.

I thought about it for a bit, but Lexia-san’s gaze defeated me as she stared at me.

“…Sigh. I understand. But in return, it’s just for today, okay? Oh, and make sure you explain it to Owen-san later.”

“Of course! We did it, Luna!”

“Y-yeah.”

“Woof.”

Night was also happy to be with Luna and barked adorably while wagging his tail.

“Well then, I’ll prepare a meal for Luna so that she can regain her strength as soon as possible.”

As I said that, Lexia-san raised her hand with a glint in her eye when I was about to head to the kitchen in this other world home.

“Yes! Yuuya-sama!”

“Huh? Um, what’s wrong?”

“Let me cook.”

“Eh?” Not only me, but even Luna makes a dumb voice at Lexia-san’s words. However, in spite of us, Lexia-san was full of enthusiasm.

“If I show my cooking skills here, Yuuya-sama will be madly in love with me!”

“I think you’re leaking your thoughts.”

Regardless of the reason, I’ve already given up because Lexia-san said she would make it and wouldn’t listen to me. As expected, I can’t complain to a royal persona… Huh? …Huh? Wouldn’t it be more impolite to have royalty cook…?

I think about this and that, but I don’t know what’s common in this world, so I decided to let Lexia-san cook for us, just this once. Then I led her to the kitchen and prepared the seasonings, ingredients and cooking utensils.

“You can use whatever things are in here.”

“Oh my! As expected, it’s not as big as the kitchen in the castle, but it’s so beautiful!”

Even though it’s sage-san’s house, I don’t think it can be compared to a castle. After checking the ingredients and utensils, Lexia-san took the potatoes and put them on the cutting board as it was, and grabbed a knife, and then──.

“Eeii!”

──She swung it down with great force.

“Ara? I missed my target. It’s harder than I thought.”

“U-uhm, Lexia-san? Lexia-saan?”

I called out Lexia-san’s name over and over again in a cold sweat, but Lexia-san didn’t notice my voice and just kept fighting with the potatoes.

“Geez! Why can’t I hit it… Allri! Ara?”

“Hyii!”

The knife that Lexia-san swung at had slipped completely out of her hand, passed over my cheeks, and went straight and stuck to the wall. Scaryyyyyy!

“…Hey, Yuuya. Are you sure it’s safe to leave the cooking to Lexia? It can make us die, you know?”

Luna, who had gotten up from the bed and was watching Lexia-san’s cooking scene just like me, told me that while twitching her cheeks.

“I-I’ll take it baaacckk!”

As one would expect, I hurriedly retrieved the knife stuck in the wall and went to persuade Lexia-san.

“Le-Lexia-san! Lexia-san, do you have any experience in cooking…?”

“Eh? This is my first time. Why?”

“Okay, you’re out.”

I should have asked her first! It’s my fault!

“Lexia-san, I’m very sorry but would you mind letting me cook for you today?”

“Eh? Why?”

“That… I want to serve the food quickly for Luna to recover her strength, and since the ingredients for the food are all from this Great Devil’s Nest, I thought it would be quicker for me, who is used to it, to finish it…”

“Ha, I’m starving. I can’t wait to eat.”

Luna nodded at my words as best she could and followed me reading my intention.

“I-is that so? Well then, I guess it can’t be helped.”

Lexia-san couldn’t ignore Luna’s words, which were not as perfect as expected, and although she seemed reluctant to say it, she passed the torch to me.

“But I’ll cook next time! You two should look forward to it!”

“Y-yes, ahahaha…”

“…Well we were saved for now, but it seems that the princess will kill us the next time. What a pity.”

Don’t say that! Look, if she learns from a chef in the castle or something, we’ll probably be fine!

While exchanging the unavoidable promise with Lexia-san, I quickly started cooking. I’m very careful with the ingredients, such as using “Orc King” meat so that it will be easier to recover the strength.

Lexia-san and Luna kept watching me cooking like that.

“Yuuya-sama, you’re even good at cooking…”

“I understand Yuuya less and less… how is he able to do everything? Is he really the same species of human as us?”

Ugh… I’m not used to cooking with people looking at me like I did on the field trip. It makes me nervous… is there something wrong with it? Anyway, I wanted the two of them to eat something delicious, so I made it while making full use of my [Cooking] skills. After I managed to finish making it, despite being even more nervous than usual, I put the food in front of the two of them and Night.

“Now then, let’s eat.”

“Woof!”

“It looks really good!”

“Yeah… I’m so hungry now.”

Thankfully, they both seemed to enjoy my food, and I was relieved to see that they were looking forward to my cooking.

“Hmm~! This is really good! As expected from my Yuuya-sama!”

“Ueee!?”

As she said that, Lexia-san suddenly hugged my arm. Le-Lexia-san?

“H-hey, Lexia! Get away from Yuuya!”

In place of my sudden freezing, Luna pulled Lexia-san out of my arms. R-really, Lexia-san is so bold…

“W-well… I’m glad if it suited your taste.”

At any rate, I thought I could make it well, but I’m glad to actually hear that. As I was smiling at Lexia-san’s words, Luna was looking at the food with a thoughtful face.

“Hmm? Luna, what’s wrong?”

I call out to her, but Luna doesn’t respond and mumbles a little something.

“…I have to prevent Lexia from taking Yuuya…”

“Hmm?”

“Yu-Yuuya!”

“Y-yes!”

Luna suddenly called my name loudly, and I couldn’t help but respond by straightening my posture. Lexia-san is also surprised as she tries to bring the food to her mouth.

“Yuuya… um, can you feed me?”

“Huh?”

“Hey, Luna!”

“I haven’t regained my strength yet. I’m too weak to do anything.”

“You’re lying! It’s not like eating has anything to do with physical strength or anything else!”

“That’s not true. If I move too much, my wound might open up. Yeah, it can’t be helped. You can’t blame me for this; it’s a matter of course that Yuuya feeds me.”

No, Luna-san. I believe you were moving just fine before, right? You moved more than just eating. As I thought that while twitching my cheeks, Luna-san looked up at me.

“…Is that no good?”

“Ugh…”

I don’t know if it’s a no-no, or… well, if she really can’t even afford to eat, then it’s because it was I who did the damage to Luna…

“…Fine. Here, open your mouth.”

“U-un. Aaahh…”

“Aargh!”

Lexia-san was screaming next to Luna, but I didn’t have time to turn my attention to that because of the embarrassment.

“…How’s it?”

“…Hmm. It’s good; this is… very delicious.”

Luna, who was enjoying the food, swallowed once and turned her gaze to Lexia-san.

“Fufu…”

“Mukii! Yuuya-sama! Me too, I want you to feed me like Luna!”

“Eeh? B-but… Lexia-san isn’t injured…”

“It’s a princess’ order!”

“Royalty is scary.”

Political power is impossible. No matter how hard I try, I can’t go against it. I’m just a minor citizen. I had no choice but to do the same to Lexia-san as well as Luna, and this time Luna prompted me again… I didn’t have time to eat my own food. Why does it have to be like this?

I managed to get them both to eat all the food, and I was finally ready to start on my own food.

“It’s okay now, isn’t it? I’m going to eat now, just wait──.”

“No, Yuuya-sama! Now we’ll be the ones to feed you, Yuuya-sama!”

“Huh?”

“That’s right, Yuuya. It’s our thanks for earlier.”

“…..”

I couldn’t keep my mouth open at these two’s remarks. I mean, Luna-san. If you had the strength to feed me, why didn’t you just eat it yourself? Despite my astonishment, they each offered me the food in my bowl.

“Yes, ahhh!”

“Come on, eat up.”

“…Yes.”

I will only say one thing. I’m very tired of eating today.