I want to run away.
Hello, Onii-san.
Escaping from the room where Yuel is, I open the hospital door to find a smiling Aria.
Heyyy, Aria. Been a few days, huh
Yes, Ive been terribly busy since then. I didnt even have the time to come see Onee-chan.
I-Is that so. Must have been awful.
I knew she would come sooner or later. I already know why shes here.
Shes here to interrogate me over the kiss from Ruruka at the beauty contest plaza. Aria was referring to Ruruka as my mistress. I can already predict whats coming next. I mean, something similar already happened before.
From now on, Aria is going to grill me for cheating and whatnot. I bet shell respond to my excuse with I cant leave my sister in the hands of an insincere man who admits to wanting to make a harem. Its a completely sound argument.
But, sound though it may be, if Aria does say that, I could respond with thats not it.
For a person like me, who when tits are dangled in front of their face with You can rub them? will undoubtedly do so and end up being unfaithful, theres a certain definition of sincerity to the premise of a harem.
The reason Im so fixated on a harem is because I know my own personality better than anyone.
For monogamy thats cheating, but if its a harem from the beginning then its not.
I dont want to make girls sad. If possible, I dont want to do anything to betray them either.
Thats why, I want to raise my goodwill points with Eris and Ruruka and take the course of a harem is fine too, so lets get married! Also, take me!. I havent yet thought about whether I can realistically pull it off or not. From now on Im going to explore the possibilities.
But that kind of sophistry wont fly with Aria.
Aria very much loves Eris. It wouldnt be weird if she responded with I cant leave my precious Onee-chan beside a man with such weak reasons in the first place. Ill introduce her to a handsome, faithful knight!, either. Quit it.
At the very least dont introduce Eris to a handsome knight. Seriously, cut it out.
Onii-san, whats with the weird look youre giving me? Is there something on my face?
I mean, a handsome knight, thats like right next to a handsome prince in terms of what women long for. You cant compare a sexually-harassing healer who drags around a young slave girl to a handsome, honest knight. You absolutely mustnt.
Wait, huh? Hold on a minute.
Aria did you just call me Onii-san?
Yes. Because Onii-san is Onii-san. Or would you prefer Onii-chan?
No, thats not what I meant.
Assuming Aria hasnt just awoken to a brother fetish, this sudden Onii-san moniker no doubt means brother-in-law. In other words, calling me that means that Aria still wants me and Eris to get together.
Does that mean shes not here to grill me? That shes not here to pull Eris and me apart?
When I look at Aria questioningly, she peers into the hospital and inquires.
That reminds me, is Onee-chan here now?
Yeah, shes making lunch inside.
I see.
Asking only that, Aria returns her attention to me. After that, she takes a deep breath, and shows me a deep sigh. Then, with a reluctant feeling, she opens her mouth.
While Onee-chan isnt nearby, I have something to tell you, something important.
Seeing how Onee-chan reacted at that beauty contest convinced me. Onee-chan loves you, Shiki-san. No doubt about it.
Seriously?
What the heck is she saying out of the blue?
But wait, this is a valuable opinion.
As for me, I dont really understand what Eris thinks of me.
She threw me out of the hospital at one point. And Eris has a remarkably dutiful personality, so I couldnt let go of the possibility that the fact that were living together now is just you bought the hospital back for me so it cant be helped, either.
On one hand she could think of me as the special, lovely man Im sharing a home with, but perhaps its the sexual harasser Im allowing to live with me out of obligation. Theres still the possibility of the lolicon who buys slave girls too.
Its true. I know Onee-chan better than anyone, I guarantee it as her younger sister.
And yet, according to Aria, she apparently loves me. Though I myself dont think that she could hate me all that much at this point. But as for whether Eris holds romantic feelings towards me, thats rather doubtful. I mean, she hates it when I sexually harass her.
But you know, Aria, I was thrown out by Eris at one point, so isnt that not the case after all?
Just earlier, I properly asked Onee-chan about how she threw Shiki-san out and the debt and all.
So you asked? You ended up asking, huh? You ended up asking about the story of me getting kicked out for sexual harassment, did you?
Lets take a step back and look at the scene. Police cadet Aria heard the testimony from the sexual harassment victim Eris, and I, the criminal, am right in front of her.
No, for Aria, maybe the fact that Ruruka kissed me wasnt as important as the fact that Eris saw it and what her reaction might be. Of course theres still the feeling that Im a cheater and whatnot, but Arias motivating principle is how Eris feels about it.
And we ended up having a long conversation, but this wasnt a good time for it. Shiki-san, well, could you hurry and call Onee-chan over for me?
Shes inside, so why dont you come in?
No, I really dont have time thats, its sudden, but Im going to accompany Saint-samas return to the royal capital as an escort. And shes leaving immediately. Thats why I came here today, to say goodbye to Onee-chan.
What did she just say? Did she just say that the saint is returning to the royal capital? And moreover, immediately?
Returning to the royal capital?
Ruruka was saying that the saint had a purpose for coming to this city. But in the end, she never contacted me. And now shes returning to the royal capital immediately.
In other words, that means the saints purpose had nothing to do with me after all.
Yes. The beauty contest if there were to be another attack of the same size, her safety wouldnt be guaranteed. I heard that Saint-sama judged that staying any longer would be dangerous.
Now that she mentions it, that saint didnt have very many guards escorting her. I wanna say there were like three or four of them at the beauty contest. Although they could use magic, and they were probably elites.
But if Yuel hadnt been there, and the dragon had continued to rampage like that, it wouldve caused some serious damage. If another attack happened, wed be woefully unprepared for it.
But thats so sudden.
I still want to stay in this city, but about two days ago, Lord-sama sent out a large-scale investigation unit for the Krankheit Turtle incident. Looks like they really dont have enough personnel to guard an important person. I was personally nominated to escort Saint-sama, so I cant refuse.
Aria says, poutily.
Seems like the knights are seriously shorthanded. Well, Ive seen them fighting so many times now, and they were incomparably stronger than Eight or Geyser. Maintaining that level of quality may necessarily result in their numbers being low.
Got it, Ill go call Eris. Wait a sec.
So the saint is leaving this city.
I feel like I just coughed up a bone that was stuck in my throat. The clouds that have constantly been hanging over my head are finally clearing up. Theres a part of me that still wants to ask Aria about Eris, but since she has work it cant be helped.
I return to the interior of the hospital to fetch Eris.
Sorry, but could you watch the fire for me? Please make sure the stew doesnt burn.
As requested by Eris, I switch places with her and stand at the kitchen counter, watching the pot. While shes talking to Aria, it seems Ill have to do the cooking.
Man this is inconvenient.
I continue to feed a trickle of mana into the magic stove, an ignition magic tool, to regulate the intensity of the flames.
Itd be great if it was like a gas stove where you click once and the flame continues to burn, but this shoddy thing needs you to continuously feed it mana while youre using it.
And whats more, the heating power is proportional to how much mana you pour in. This is simply a finicky, tiresome knockoff. And if you put in too much, just like shorting out an electrical device, it breaks and starts to smoke. Ive broken one before, when I first came to this world.
Frankly, this type of magic tool doesnt suit a guy with a massive mana pool like me. Yuel is here too, but since she just practiced healing magic, she doesnt have much mana left. I cant leave it to her, either.
I hope their conversation doesnt drag on too long.
Ive skillfully managed not to break it yet, but since my mana manipulation isnt that great, the flame wont stay stable. If I lose focus, the stew will burn.
Master, is there anything I can do to help?
And while Im thinking that as I watch the pot, Yuel comes asking. Looks like shes bored with having nothing to do.
Nothing in particular. Just do whatever you want.
Whatever I want?
Yuel replies in puzzlement. Well, since her master is cooking, maybe shes thinking that its not okay for a slave like her to be relaxing. But there doesnt seem to be anything left for her to help with anymore.
Yuels restlessly looking around for something to help with, but sorry, Im gonna have you sit tight.
-But Yuels expression suddenly brightens, as if shes thought of something.
Then, Yuel slowly takes out the Bible.
Yuel-san doesnt miss the slightest chance to study, how commendable.
She starts reading the Bible just like that. Can she read it by herself? I observe her out of the corner of my eye.
Yuel seems interested in the illustrations; shes started to gaze at one dazedly. Thats the same one I was looking at. The illustration of the succubus and the saint in chapter three.
After a nice long look at that illustration, Yuels eyes slowly pass over the writing. However, her expression gradually grows cloudy. I guess there are words she doesnt understand after all.
Then, before a minute has elapsed, Yuels eyes completely stop moving.
She raises her head from the Bible. At that instant, I return my eyes from Yuel back to the pot.
Making sure not to glance in her direction, I try to sense what shes up to.
I can feel her gaze. No doubt about it, Yuel is watching me. Most likely shes pleading for help with those puppy-dog eyes.
I cant possibly ignore her if our eyes meet, and something tells me those eyes are going to ask me for a detailed explanation of the story of how the succubus drove mankind to depravity.
I stir the contents of the pot as I manage the fire. Praying for the conversation between Eris and Aria to end soon, I glue my attention to the pot.