Book 1: Chapter 4: (2)

「What do you want to drink? I have the black tea, milk and cola from yesterday」

「I-Is it alright if I get a cola?」

「Ahaha. Just as I thought, it’s addictive, isn’t it?」

「Y-yes. The fizziness and sweetness are very nice.」

「That’s right! And if you squeeze in some juice from this thing, it’ll taste even better」

「Ah, that’s a lemon, right?」

「Correct!」

It seemed that there were lemons in the other world as well. But she probably didn’t know what happens when you mix this into cola. Of course, she didn’t. Since she didn’t know what cola was.

「Mm~ The flavor of the lemon will make the sweetness of the cola even more refreshing, right? Sounds delicious.」

Ria immediately drank all of it. After which, she looked really sad.

「We have seconds. I’ll squeeze some lemon, all right?」

Her face brightened up in an instant. It was fun, seeing how easy to guess how she was feeling.

As we continued drinking the cola, we continued our heated discussion about monsters.

「There really are a lot of different types of monsters that come out in the Dungeon of Yomi」

Based on what Ria said, there seemed to be a lot of dangers in the Dungeon of Yomi that my room in Japan is connected to.

「By the way, if there are certain types of dangerous slimes that have been appearing in the dungeon recently, could you please tell me?」

「The purple poison slimes carry very strong poison. And the yellowish-brown acid slime spits out a really strong corrosive substance. I think that’s about it for the very dangerous slimes. Of course, I think you already know about them, Sir Thor 」

No, I didn’t know about those at all. I wanted to take this information down in my memo pad.

「I haven’t been fighting monsters at all lately, so…」

「I see」

Yes. I haven’t fought anything other than that blue slime.

After our break ended, the two of us continued to tidy up the room.

「Ah~!」

Ria raised her voice.

W-what was it this time. Could she have found another of my「resources」?

「This! These clothes are so cute!」

「Hm? Cute clothes?」

Ria showed me what she had found.

「It’s this. This.」

「Geh! The bloomers and the school swimsuit!」

Thinking about it, after I came home from Tons Quijote, I just randomly left them on the tower of cardboard boxes that RIa was clearing out now.

「Could this be another dangerous thing?」

「N-no, it’s not but」

It was certainly dangerous in a way. But it was not physically dangerous in any way.

「I’ve never seen clothes like this so it must be some sort of special artifact, right?」

「No, I mean……it’s a swimsuit and……」

It was true that the school swimsuit was a swimsuit. But what should I say about the bloomers?

「And that’s home clothes cum nightwear, I guess」

I said words of prayer.

「Is that so? It’s so cute~. But this is meant for females, right? Could it be that……」

「N-no. I have requests for female clothing sometimes, too」

「Is that so.」

「If you’d like it then I’ll give it to you as a present, Ria」

「Is that ok!?」

I bought it thinking that it might have some special effects in the dungeon but no matter how I thought about it, I probably couldn’t wear them.

「Yeah, please accept it」

「Thank you so much! Could I wear it now?」

W-what did she just say?

「The bloomers? Here?」

「Don’t tease me…….Sir Thor……please lend me your changing room.」

「Ah, no, yes. Of course I will」

「I’ll go change, alright?」

What? Is this really happening?

Ria came out of the changing room immediately. It would probably be suitable to say that she looked like a goddess wearing her celestial navy blue clothing.

「H-how is it? Does it suit me?」

That navy blue hipline had a healthy volume and roundness to it. And those slender thighs would probably make anyone……

「I want to make you my pillow」

「What? A pillow?」

「Ah, I-I’m sorry. It’s nothing」

She asked me whether it suited her. And yet I answered that I wanted to make her my pillow. It was no wonder that she gave me a puzzled look.

「It suits you really well.」

「R-really? Well, since this can also be worn as nightwear, I guess it wouldn’t be weird for me to sleep with you in bloomers tonight, right? Ehehe」

W-what did she just say? Today……in bloomers……?

She did sleep on the same bed as me yesterday night. But yesterday she was wearing a jersey.

Mansion¹ + Dungeon. In other words, mangeon. Thank you……..

In her bloomers, Ria cleaned the area where we were done packing happily with a vacuum cleaner.

She was using the vacuum cleaner thinking that it was an artifact. WIth her golden hair, she didn’t really look like a Japanese, but she looked just like a modern person doing some cleaning.

In the end, we had spent most of the day cleaning up.

After eating a mapo bowl for dinner, Ria was enjoying her cola float.

「it’s so cold and so~ sweet! And the bubbles from the cola is……mm~~~!」

I felt bad interrupting her having a good time but I thought that it might be good to at least ask her.

「By the way, what are you going to do after this, Ria?」

She looked down hopelessly.

I could kind of sense what the reason was. Thinking about it logically, she had already recovered from the paralysis poison and had probably gotten back her strength after sleeping for a night.

If that was true, then the logical thing for her to do would be to try to return back to above the dungeon. But…….

「Could it be that there’s a reason why you can’t go back up from the dungeon immediately, Ria?」

「Yes……actually, I did have a companion but……um, so……but we got split up, and I lost my sword as well. It is rather impossible for me to go back up alone」

Just as I thought, I see. And she herself might not notice this but I could sense that she had a bit of trauma from lying in the dark dungeon alone all that time while she was paralyzed.

But how did she intend to return back up there?

If she said that she wasn’t able to go back up alone, it probably meant that she wanted me, the wise sage, to bring her up.

It was true that I was able to defeat the slime using the pickaxe, but if we were to meet a goblin or even a dragon along the way up, I wasn’t confident that I would be able to protect Ria at all.

「I would think that some adventurers are bound to pass by here when they come to explore this dungeon, so I will join them when they do come」

Ah, that was a viable method too.

「But will anyone pass by here anytime soon? And there’s also a chance that the adventurers might reject you when you ask to join them」

「Depending on the situation, there is a possibility that it might take quite a long time. If I wait in the dungeon every day, there’s bound to be someone coming through here in a week」

「A week, huh?」

I guess it was only natural to help someone out when they’re in a pinch. Although I was completely fine with Ria staying for one more week.

What should I do when I’m at work? I guess it’ll work out somehow.

「Would I be causing too much trouble by staying in your house until then, wise sage?」

That’s right. If she found out that I was just some poor commoner, someone like Ria would definitely think that she was causing me too much trouble by staying here. If that happened, she would probably try to leave this place as soon as possible, by any means possible.

And this time, Ria, without her weapon, would definitely get done in by monsters. Not to mention, she might even get attacked by a horde of goblins and……she might even get…… I would never forgive them— — —!

So that Ria can continue to stay here without any hesitation, it was probably better to remain as a wise sage.

「You’re not causing any trouble at all! Why, I’m a wise sage after all! 」

「Really? Thank you so much! Cooking, laundry, cleaning, I’ll do anything.」

It kind of felt like I suddenly got myself a beautiful, golden-haired wife.

Of course, she wasn’t my wife or anything like that.

She was still going to go home in the end. To be honest, I would be really lonely.

「If you want to……you can stay here forever」

I was surprised myself by the words that I suddenly let slip out of my mouth. She didn’t even have a passport. Thinking about it logically, it was impossible for someone from another world to stay in this world forever. Moreover, there would be problems financially as well.

Yet, the words just came out of my mouth so naturally. In my head, I knew that I was, to a certain extent, prepared to face those challenges. Part of me was prepared to take responsibility for my words.

「I’m really happy……but I have to return up there no matter what so……」

「I-I guess you’re right……」

It was a disappointing answer, but it was only natural. Ria definitely had relationships with other people from the other world. Even I, someone who practically cut off all relations with his biological parents, have some people I care about. Her rejecting the offer to stay here probably didn’t mean that she hated me or anything.

I was able to accept that fact because I watched her wipe the corner of her eyes as she smiled at me.

「But, could I come to this room…….to meet you again, Sir Thor?」

Ria looked down, embarrassed, and glanced up at me.

「Of course you can! Come back anytime.」

「Fufufu」

「Ehehe」

For some reason, it felt a bit awkward to look at Ria’s face.

And it seemed that it was the same for her.

「O-oh yeah. Is it alright if I take a bath?」

「A-ah. Of course」

Thinking about it, it was already that time.

Ria went to the changing room. She then peeked her head out.

「What’s wrong?」

「Oh yes, Sir Thor. One of the pieces of clothing that you gave me was a swimsuit, right?」

Clothing that I gave her? Ah, the bloomers and the school swimsuit.

「Y-yes. It’s a type of swimsuit called a school swimsuit.」

What was she going to say? Ria didn’t speak a word.

「?」

「It’s nothing!」

It seemed that Ria had already entered the bath.

Notes: