Book 2: Chapter 4: (2)

「How do I look?」

「How should I put it… It suits you.」

「What do you mean ‘How should I put it’?」

「No……It’s nothing.」

「Give over! What is it?」

Little miss elf was probably doing it on purpose.

Every time the changing room curtain opened, there she was in a tank top that made her breasts stand out, or shorts that emphasised her thighs and hipline.

「You’re not interested in me at all, are you?」

「That’s not what I meant.」

「What a half-assed answer!」

The curtain closed with a swish. I could hear the sounds of the clothes rubbing against her as she got changed.

I wonder what sexy clothes she’ll come out in this time?

Deet was always in a bad mood.

How am I supposed to reply when she says stuff like that and then comes out in those clothes?

I don’t have any women around me, so I don’t get it.

Through the curtain, Deet said,

「I’m gonna head back.」

「Right. Well, shall we go, then?」

Apparently, the mini fashion show of sexy clothing brands was over.

It was a bit of a shame, but it was about time we were going.

But Deet, the one who’d suggested we head home in the first place, wasn’t coming out of the changing room.

「……? Didn’t you want to go home?」

「There’s one last outfit……」

She still had another outfit, huh?

「Be quick about it, then.」

As soon as I’d said that, the changing room curtain opened slowly.

「What? Deet?!」

Without thinking, I called Deet’s name in a stupid voice.

In her final outfit, didn’t recognise her for a second.

「I-I thought so……It’s weird, isn’t it?」

The last outfit Deet had put on wasn’t her usual revealing clothes, but the white dress and straw hat.

She always went about proudly in clothes that showed a lot of skin. But now that she’d put on the pure white dress, her face had turned bright red, her eyes were squeezed shut, and her mouth was pulled into a frown.

「Th-Thor……Clothes like this don’t suit meee……」

When Deet said that so tearfully, I accidentally said aloud,

「You look ○○○○」

N-no no no no no, I just blurted something out!

Wh-what did I say?!

The ears of the elf who stood before me in the white dress were twitching.

「Hey, you can’t say that! Thor!」

‘You’ve got it all wrong!’, I wanted to say, but I closed my mouth.

I honestly had no idea what I’d said, but I couldn’t just dodge responsibility by saying that it had slipped out accidentally.

The things we say by accident are, in their own way, full of truth, so I had really meant it…

Deet was in a good mood all the way home.

She peered intently into my face, smiling from ear to ear. I didn’t even feel like she was subtly making fun of me.

But that was okay, wasn’t it? It felt as if Deet had come back.

In her hands, Deet was carefully cradling the bag which contained the white dress and straw hat.

♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎

We stealthily returned to the apartment via the window of the Japanese room.

「Deet, you hide in the closet. I’ll have Shizuku switch with you.」

「Okay.」

I hid Deet in the closet. When I went into the Western-style room, Ria had already got out of bed.

「Oh, welcome back!」

Noticing me, Ria immediately bowed her head low.

「Thank you very much. For carrying me again, and putting me to bed.」

「Oh, it’s nothing. Are you hurt?」

「No! I’m better already! I’m very sorry to have worried you.」

She was back to her usual spirited, intense self. There was no need for the thermometer, but I was fine with that.

「I’m so glad! In that case, let’s all eat these desserts that I bought. They’re called crêpes.」

「Okay!」

I was worried about asking the girls to eat dessert late in the day, but since Ria and Deet were both fighters, they didn’t have an ounce of spare fat on them. I’m sure a small dessert will be okay. Incidentally, although they had no extra body fat, their breasts and thighs were marvellously plump.

I got Shizuku, who was still in Deet’s shape, to go and fetch Deet.

Shizuku had said that she wanted to eat crème caramel, which she had found out about on the internet, so I gave her the crème caramel chocolate cream crêpe.

Ria, Deet and I sat at the dining table.

On the table, the three types of crêpe were lined up.

「What a lovely sweet smell!」

Well, Ria seemed to have an appetite. As I’d expected, there was nothing wrong with her body.

「Which one are you having?」

「All right! I’m gonna have the banana chocolate cream!」

I looked at Deet, exasperated.

「Uh-oh……What is it?」

My expression said ‘Let Ria choose’. Ria smiled.

「Deet, you can choose whichever one you want.」

「Thank youuuuu♪」

Deet happily took the banana chocolate cream one. Well, I guess it’s okay.

「Which would you rather have, Ria? The strawberry chocolate cream, or the blueberry cream?」

「Please, Sir Thor, you choose first.」

「Nuh-uh. I like both, so I’m fine with either.」

「In that case, may I please have the strawberry chocolate cream?」

「Of course. Here you go!」

The three of us each picked up the crêpe we’d chosen.

At the same time, I said 「Thanks for the food」and gulped down the blueberry cream one.

「Mmm… The sharpness of the blueberries is really good.」

「Mmmm! My banana chocolate cream one has dark chocolate in it, but the bitter flavour really makes the sweetness stand out. It’s so good!」

From the way Deet devoured her crêpe, I could see she was really enjoying it.

If only Ria had been happy, too. But when I glanced at her, I realised that she hadn’t eaten a single bite.

「What’s wrong, Ria? Are you full?」

It was true that she had been eating sukiyaki with the rest of us before she collapsed, but she should have been able to fit a crêpe in as well.

Perhaps she was ill after all?

「Ah, not at all. I’ll eat it.」

Ria took a bite from the edge of the crêpe.

「Oh… oh-oh……」

Ria suddenly burst into sobs.

「Huh? Wh-what’s wrong?」

I asked her why she was crying, but no reply came.

Flustered, Deet held her own crêpe out to Ria.

「S-so-so-so-so-sorry. You’d rather have the banana chocolate cream after all, wouldn’t you?」

Deet…… That can’t be it.

What’s more, Deet had eaten more than half of her crêpe, while Ria had only had a bite of hers.

「N-no, that’s not it, Deet.」

「Huh? R-really? Then what’s wrong?」

Ria paused, and then said while eating her crêpe, 「Crêpes taste so good……You’re all so kind to me, and I just get in the way……」

Deet and I looked at one another.

「N-no, everyone has problems sometimes! Don’t worry about it.」

「H-he’s right. Take me, for instance – every time I drink, I get really persistent about making other people drink, too.」

We’d better be careful when we’re drinking with Deet. Ria carried on eating her crêpe and crying.

With the two of us comforting her, she finally began to smile.

♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎

There was nothing physically the matter with Ria, so it was decided that she and Deet would sleep in the Japanese-style room.

I was sad that I would be sleeping in the fine bed in the Western-style room.

Perhaps I should have bought three futon.

Even when I got into bed, Ria’s tearful face came back to me, and I just couldn’t get to sleep. As I lay there, my mind wandering, the silhouette of a slim girl appeared.

She seemed to be holding something in her arms.

「Are you asleep, Thor?」

「Master…」

Apparently Deet and Shizuku had turned up. A jelly-like shadow detached itself from the silhouette of the girl and drew closer.

「I’m awake.」

「Can we talk for a moment?」

「Uh, sure. Go ahead.」

It was about Ria.

I sat down on the edge of the bed, and Shizuku climbed onto my knee. Deet sat down next to me.

「It seems like Ria’s worrying about the trauma itself, and because of that she thinks she’s inconveniencing us.」

「She really isn’t……Inconveniencing us, I mean. We don’t have to deal with Enami urgently, so I think she’ll be fine.」

From what I’d heard, orcs seemed to be pretty strong monsters. And Enami used to be a sumo wrestler, too.

「Well, I guess it’ll be okay. It’ll be scary when the reward increases, though.」

「Right? While Ria’s recovering, I can level up on my computer.」

「What? You’ve already built that trap you were talking about before, for levelling up in here?」

I’ve been waiting for this! I wanted to show it off to Deet.