Chapter 87: That Which Is Hidden. Lies Hidden.

After my business with the Merchant was done, I stayed in the kingdom for a little while to see the status of the forest.

Apparently, the monsters there stop spawning after a certain number, and only increase their number by "natural" means. If the population drops enough, the spawns will resume though. At least, that's what everyone has been reporting.

Thanks to this, we can safely control their numbers.

Mia reported that she's been getting experience from the monsters, so it seems there isn't a level cap inside the kingdom. Well, the Merchant's existence already proves that, but the interesting bit is that it's possible to use the kingdom as a secondary means of acquiring experience.

The only problem with that is that for that to be worthwhile, we'd have to expand the land and hope strong monsters spawn, resulting in the kingdom losing its current safe zone status.

For now, I believe it's better to refrain from creating unnecessary risk inside the kingdom, so after confirming the overall strength of the horned rabbits and killing a few to maintain the quota, I went back with Anna.

It was about time for dinner, and since I had volunteered for today's hunt, Licia and Ellie were charged with cooking since the others either didn't want to deal with that or didn't know how to do it.

It's still amazing how they use the same ingredients and utensils I do and still come out with something that tastes completely different.

I tried to help them with the dishes later, but they refused saying that I should kick back and relax, and since they were emanating very strong housewife energy I wasn't strong enough to resist.

Once that was done everyone returned to the kingdom one by one, except Claire and Licia who remained with me on the sofa, resting their heads on my lap.

We were "watching" something on TV, but to be honest I wasn't paying attention. The warm feeling of their cheeks and the way their hair was entangling was so calming that I found myself completely focused on caressing them.

Claire: "What did I tell you? He likes it."

Licia: "Hm... I still think the other way around would work better..."

Claire: "But it would be too much work, also, I wouldn't be able to pay attention."

As much as I'd like to call her out, everything she said ended up being right.

Still, it's pretty clear to me that they are doing this to help me relax a bit. And while I'd like to say they don't need to trouble themselves with something like this, I already know that any comment I make on that will be immediately rejected.

I also appreciate it a lot and there shouldn't be a problem in indulging myself every once in a while.

Miwen: "Have you two made peace already?"

Ever since the incident, it seemed like they weren't on good terms with one another. I prioritized getting out of the dungeon before talking to them about it, but now that it's just the three of us it's as good an opportunity as I'll get.

Licia: "Mm... I don't know... It wasn't anything that serious, we just had a disagreement so..."

It's that kind of situation where things didn't escalate enough to create attrition, but things became awkward and neither side seems to know how to best approach reconciliation, even more so since both seem to still maintain their opinion.

I didn't want to give this any chance of permanently hurting their relationship, so I decided to listen and help them out...

Claire: "I swore my loyalty to him, if he wants me to fight, the opponent doesn't matter..."

I recognized Beatrice's voice coming from the kitchen. I thought she had already gone back to the kingdom, but it seems I was wrong.

Since she was quietly reading a book in another room I didn't even notice her presence at all.

Beatrice: "You know... loyalty shows itself in many ways... and while it's correct that you can both demonstrate loyalty while imposing limits on how far you're willing to go against your own beliefs in the name of your allegiance... the best way to be loyal is to act on behalf of the one you're sworn to while considering what is it that you can do and what is it that they desire..."

Licia: "So... you agree with me?"

Strange. I didn't get the impression that Beatrice was in accordance with Licia at all... if anything, it seemed similar to my own feelings, a bit in the middle of the road, but...

Beatrice: "Not quite... sometimes what people desire and what they think they desire is different, leading to what might look like contradictions. You might have to dig deeper into someone's character if you want to act per their true desires. It might lead you to actions that go directly against the one you're following, but if it's to fulfill for his own good, isn't it also a case of loyalty?

Perhaps even more so than someone who acts based simply on the surface desires shown to them..."

Licia: "... I guess... but what are you trying to imply? Even Miwen said that-"

Claire: "I think she's saying I was right."

Beatrice: "That's not what I meant, but since it's getting a bit late I'll be going now..."

And just like that, a pop-up that asked for permission to enter the kingdom appeared for me. It seemed like Beatrice had nothing left to say so I let her go.

As I thought, she and I have a similarly nasty personality when it comes to "other people", but she seems to go even beyond me.

I guess that's the natural path of a solitary, too much time thinking deeply about others makes you capable of looking through them a tad too much, which eventually makes you see things that would be better left unseen.

Still, I gotta thank her for what she did just now. Through her words, she made both Licia and Claire reflect quite a bit, and the discussion changed from arguments directed at each other to trying to further understand their own perspective and what Beatrice meant.

As a result, even if Beatrice meant nothing and just randomly threw an impossible problem for them to solve, it ended up working pretty well to get them back together.

However, I do think she meant something with her words...

They seemed to be aimed at a very precise target, and I know exactly who.

But since it's hard to look at yourself so critically, I wonder what is it that she sees.

Well, I can't even complain about her vagueness... as she said, it's convenient.

I checked up on Roy and Sam before going to bed with the girls, just to see if everything was alright and also to give some advice to them in case they didn't catch what I meant back then.

While they'll continue with their partnership with that party since it's profitable for them, they did say that they'll keep their eyes open for anything that might come their way.

As a gesture, I also offered to help them in case they come to need it.

And just like that, peace had been restored in the house and we enjoyed another night together.