CH 84

「Starting today, this will be your room」

The place I was guided to was a simple room with two sets of bunk beds, and in addition to that, there’s one desk and two chairs. It resembled a room share space. The two expected that they would be placed in different rooms to get used to the beastmen.

「You will be living together with the lowest rank in the wolf tribe, and they may be idiots but get along well with them」

「Isn’t it terrible to call us idiots!?」

「That’s right, we are doing our best too!?」

「Shut up, idiot siblings」

The wolf tribes in each room came out and protested. One is a large man over 2 meters tall. However, his body was tight and he was slightly thicker than the fine macho.

The other was a girl who was only about the height of Hino’s waist, but with a disproportionately large sword on her back. She had a tail that is large enough to be a used as a pillow which could also be seen as her most notable trait.

「Huge」

「Small」

Is what their first expression was. And the reaction of the two siblings were,

「Uwah, his hair is black!?」

「Or rather why are you guys dispirited, especially the man!」

1

*Gochi*Gochi*Gochi*Gochi 2

「Stop telling each other what you think of them」

「「「…Hai (ssu) 」」」

「Lisalee will be sharing with Cuent, and Blair will be sharing with Nemrea. This assignment will also be used during security work」

「I want to ask 1 thing Captain」

「What」

「Why are the rooms not divided between male and female」

「……?」

Ojas looked at the two while thinking about what they’ve asked. By the way, Cuent and Nemrea are also leaning their heads to hear about it.

「Because It would be easier to make a child in a shared room.」

「「What are you talking about (da)!?」」3

「Because of our decreasing in number, we must proactively increase our population for the survival of the beastman. This time, it’s with a human, so it might be hard to get used to it, but there is no better way than to get used to the opposite gender. You siblings should remember how to interact with the opposite gender. And if you have any questions regarding the other, just consult your sibling on what to do. That’s all」4

After saying what he wanted, Ojas went away. The only people left are the four men and women in the passage of the dormitory surrounded by a strange atmosphere……

「…… You don’t have to worry about it, okay? After all, that person always proposed outrageous things」

「Eh, eeeh……um, Lisalee right. My best regards from now」

「Um, uuu. I’m Cuent. Then, I’ll help bringing your luggage in the room……」

「Ah, un」

Cuent’s group introduced themselves, though awkwardly, and managed to return to the stable atmosphere while they enter the room. One set remained, a gloomy guy and a Loli beast girl.

Blair starts to worry about what to do with his first contact, while Nemrea then faced him with a smile and asked,

「……then again, I’m Nemrea, onii-chan. Do you have a preference for little girls? 」5

A bomb was immediately thrown. At that moment his way of dealing with her was immediately decided.

「No. I’m Blair. Let’s go」

「Ah, hai~ssu……but are you really sure? Are you really not attracted? 」

「I’ve been telling you that I am not!!」

Their shared lives started like this. They put out things from their item box and made a space for themselves. Kousaka puts a lot of cosmetics and mirrors on the desk. Hino filled his desk with books. The brother and sister also had different impressions, but their thoughts were the same.

（（Weird Person……））

I with Cuent and Hino……with Blair is currently walking around the city.

「So, what specifically will be our job?」

「Ah, hai~ssu. Ummmm, for a few months starting today, we will be working as gatekeepers. We watching at the gate from our post, going out to talk if a problematic behavior occurs, and then will respond immediately if there is a suspicious person」

「Wait, isn’t that a very simple job…」

「We’ll start from the bottom!!」

Even if you smile and say it dignifiedly, I’m troubled on how to react……seniors as gatekeepers? I greeted the people who took custody of me. It’s quite narrow in here.

「Let’s do our best today too, Lisalee-san!」

「Eh, eeeh」

（Ah, I’m worried……）

「Blair-san. Our job will be patrolling around the castle. In other words, you can freely buy and eat at the stalls around us. It was a delicious work in both sense」

「This person is no good……」

This woman……all she thinks about is food. She’s just like a child, and it would be great if she’s less noisy.

「by the way, can you actually use a sword that big. Is it even usable in combat? 」

「……dunno? It looks cool so I equipped it!!」

「How did someone like you ended up becoming a guard…」

That’s just weird. What do those captains use as a basis in choosing their members? I’ve been watching over her for a while now, but I don’t think she could even win against a bearwolf.

「It can’t be helped.  There’s a shortage of human resources all over the place. Us young ones were hired as guards because of our fast legs. That’s because we were young!!」

「But…… why is a child in a place like this…」

「I am already 22 years old you know?」6

「You were older……?」

Ah, I’ve experienced a bit of a fantasy cliché once again after a while.

After work, Hino and Kousaka talked to each other in the canteen and about what happened today. However, the tones of their voices were low and their expressions were mostly in disbelief.

「You……how was it today?」

「……That’s right. We were supposed to be patrolling around the castle area, but Nemrea was just roaming around the food stalls. At one point, the captain found us and pounded her head for not doing her work, but she continued eating until our schedule ended……I also discovered that she was actually older than us.」

「……As expected of Fantasy」

「Yeah…that’s what I thought…… what’s that?」

「This…this was given during my free time. I was properly guarding the gates, but there weren’t any problems at all. Then after a while, they started gathering… beastmen aunts, came out and started having a meeting near our place… more like where did all those aunts come from, they appeared out of nowhere…… and that’s in front of the gates」

「Fantasy…… as expected」

「I guess so……」

「「Haaa……」」

I was actually worried if I could do this properly, but was I was relieved that I didn’t have anything to beyond my abilities. Right then, I thought about this again.

「The beastmen, they are quite lively」

「More like… they were this easygoing from the start. Except during battles…」

The beastmen were all calm and collected. Working on things that they could do, playing around if they have the chance, and was always trying to blow away the dark atmosphere around everyone. If there was a lost crying child, everyone who passed by asked and shout about the name of the child’s mother, and if there are quarrels, they try to settle it in a peaceful manner.

To be honest, do they even need guards? Is what I thought.

「Would you like me to tell you why we need guards?」

「Captain……」

「Don’t just suddenly pop out of nowhere……」

We were surprised when Ojas suddenly popped out behind us, but he ignored our reaction and continued to speak. 7

「Follow me when you’ve finished eating. There’s something that I would like to show you 」

Following Ojas, we went into the castle dungeon. There were many people trapped in prison, and everyone was sitting in silence.

「They are slave merchants from another country. He hired some renowned adventurers and mercenaries and tried to enter this country to take away women and children」

If you look at the amount of people captured and you might not believe it, so we turn to Ojas, but Ojas does not break out of his cold attitude. If that was the case, then it should be him who would want to cut these people apart.

「It’s fine if it’s only us beastmen around, the security won’t become that troublesome. However, when it comes to other humans, then these kinds of people will always appear. We must defend ourselves from this. Your main job is to protect the people from those who do these kinds of intentional evil. Never forget it」

「「……」」

I know about the ugliness within a person, but when we were shown something worse like this, the two of us couldn’t help but lower our faces in disbelief. I don’t want to be seen as someone similar to them.

「Oh, you were late. Did something happened?」

「……No, it’s nothing」

When I went back to my room, Cuent was still awake. I turned my eyes away without knowing how I should face him,

「……Did you encounter any trouble? If that is so, then leave it to me! 」

「Hah? Ah, no, hey, kyah! 」

For some reason, Cuent eagerly picked me up seated himself in a cross position and put me down. He then placed his fluffy tail on my knees. Wha, what is this fluffiness……Fuaah!? 8

「Hey, aren’t you a little too aggressive to a woman that you have just met today!?」

「Eh? What are you talking about? I’m always doing this to my sister when she was sad and crying? 」

「……sigh, it’s nothing」

Even though I’m many time taller than your sister, but its fine………… it did help me calm down a little. This tail is really fluffy though……

「So, what happened?」

「……Well, ah fine」

I talked about what happened when we were with Ojas while faintly talking about our past actions. After all, we were still wondering if we can ever return from our broken reality and recover. The expression of those slavers might have been similar to what we were before… no, I still believe that it wasn’t the same. I wondered if we could really rehabilitate ourselves.

Adding to that, to use another person as a tool is a questionable human ethic no matter what world you are in. And I didn’t stop humans enough for that to be abolished. That’s why I felt annoyed at myself and guilty at the same time. I know that we have also sinned.

Cuent silently listened to me. He then started patting my head with his big hand. I didn’t stop him from doing so……because it was troublesome.

「You were an amazing person. Lisalee-san」

「Maybe so, if it’s only about power. But what’s inside me is just a kid」

「But, you are just worrying about everything. I’m not really telling you to throw away everything and have fun. But I do think that what you were doing is amazing? If it was me, I won’t be able to do it!!」

「Why would you even think of doing that……Haah. But, yeah, I don’t think they could really forgive us, but I should also relax a little and it makes me think that it would be fine by just looking at your reaction」

「Oh, really!? That really makes me happy!!」

That smile is kind of pleasant to see……

Why is this happening……is what I’ve asked myself several times now.

「You know? Whenever I go to Cuent, he would always show off about strange informations. Eh, what’s wrong Blair? O~~i」

「Yes, yes. I’m listening I’m listening…… so when is it going to end? 」

「I hate that!!」

「……is that so」

How many times has this exchange taken place now…… Nérea drove me to my bed and sat on it, and I could only scratch my head on how I should react. There wasn’t even a prior warning. What and why is this……

「That’s because I’m always talking with Cuent. There was also about what Captain Ojas talked about. It was that I should know more about the opposite gender. So, it’s a practice? 」

「So, did you find anything different?」

「Ah…… my gaze was lower than usual……maybe?」

Well, that’s because I’m shorter than Cuent. Your gaze will be lowered and the burden on your neck will be less……though I’m really troubled because you are staring so closely. Don’t blush in front of me if you find it embarrassing.

「Well, whatever it is, we will be together for a while from now on. Best regards again, Blair!!……Though I want you to smile more from now on though. That way I can feel more secured」

「No, you don’t have to worry about that……」

I don’t want to be labeled as a lolicon… Even if she is legal…… 9

「You seemed to be okay now」

「They became good friends～♪」

I was watching over their work with Arena today. Although it was formerly a request from Forna, considering what we will be doing in the future, I wanted them to interact with the people of Ladaria as much as possible. If I could count on them to be a fighting force, then I would be more relieved.

「Now then, after watching over them, I think we would be ready to go?」

「Where~?」

「On a little dungeon hunt, maybe?」

_________________________________________________

「Lisalee-san is a woman who liked tails. She looked cute」

「Blair was a nervous person when he was around me! It made me feel warm!!」

（What exactly are you two doing!!）

（……Can’t say it…）