CH 75

May 6th, 2023

Beta Reader: My_Own_Worst_NPC

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Cecily and the others have been very attentive to me, probably because I have been acting absent-minded lately, ever since Sierra left the island.

They’ve been acting kinder to me, even more than before.

I’m not really sure, but I think I’ve been making a miserable face. Although I’ve been practicing my smile in front of the mirror, there’s no way I can keep it up all the time. If anything, I have always been living a rather indifferent life, so I could say that I’m just honestly showing my sorrowful side.

I only realized it after Sierra’s no longer here, but I loved her more than any other woman I had ever met in this world. [1]

I think we balanced on a thin rope, overcoming the differences in our race, and we maintained a special kind of relationship. And the day that I had slipped and fallen on that rocky ground, was the day that our relationship fell out of balance as well.

Even if that hadn’t happened, our relationship would still eventually come to an end. But even then, I wonder if we could have continued it for a little longer.

Life is truly full of regrets.

…

I heard a knocking sound in the front door, and moments later Rouge appeared.

“I’m back. I’ve chilled the beer you’ve put at the door by magic and put it in the storage room.”

“Thanks. Sorry for troubling you, Rouge.”

“You’re welcome. Whew, it’s really hot out there…”

It was mid-summer on Monte Christ Island, and the temperature had been near 40 degrees [2] every day.

As Rouge took off her sweat-soaked shirt, I took a good look and stared at her. It can’t be helped, you know, I can’t peel my eyes off the sight of how her sweat-drenched shirt clings to her breasts, how they follow upward when the shirt is pulled over her head, and finally bounced back downward when released from the constraints of the shirt.

As a man, it’s just normal to stare at such a scene, right?

Though, it could also be that my sorrowness had abated so much that I’m now getting attracted to Rouge’s breast.

“Shirou-san, like I thought, you aren’t like the usual men out there.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“I mean, most men don’t look at a woman’s bare breast with such a happy expression on their face.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, I’m sure men love to see boobs, but I don’t think they would be as obvious as you do.”

Yeah, as expected I think I was making a lewd face, but that is my honest nature. I can’t lie about it.

“Hey, do you want to suck on them?” Rouge tilted her head while lifting her heavy breasts with her hands.

“Thank you. But I think I’ll just accept that it’s the thought that matters.”

“Ahn!”

Rouge moaned as I used my index fingers to poke her breasts.

“We’re home!”

Which at the exact moment Miina and Cecily came into the room. It seems Miina also feeling hot outside, since her top half is also naked. She has a slim body which shows her ribcage, with a nice pair of mounds nestled comfortably just above it, like a bowl. [3]

It’s a rather picturesque kind of bust that she has.

As for Cecily, she’s still wearing her shirts even on a hot day like this. She usually speaks in a rough tone, but I guess she actually has a good upbringing, though I can’t ascertain it since she never talks about her past.

“W, what… what are you two doing?”

I froze as my index fingers are still poking into Rouge’s breasts.

“It’s… it’s two fingers…”

“Is that some kind of pun?”

It’s really hard to explain what I was doing. After all, having fun sometime doesn’t involve productive activities or logical reasoning. Also, something which lacks practicality can only be valued by using aesthetic or artistic scale. Which applies to what I’m doing now with my two fingers.

Oh wait, maybe the men on this world don’t find it enjoyable to poke on a woman’s breast? Maybe that’s why they’re having a puzzled expression. [4]

“Well, it’s somehow… fun, I guess.”

“It’s fun for you Okami-san? Th-then, please do it with my breast too!”

Hmmm… if I poked Rouge’s breast but refuse to do it with Miina’s, won’t it be called as preferential treatment? I guess it can be called as preferential treatment. Well, I would hate it if they say I’m giving preferential treatment, so here goes…

“Just a little, okay?”

I calmly poked hers gently and sympathetically, as if it was just a small tap, so they won’t know how eager I am to do it.

“Mmhh… feels like a lightning ran through my body…”

Hold up. What kind of idiotic thing are we doing right now anyway? And in the middle of the day to boot.

“I’ve got an idea!” Rouge suddenly shouted loudly. “Shirou-san, I think you’ll get a lot of customers tonight, so please prepare a lot of food, okay!”

“G-got it.”

“Miina and sis Cecily too, help me out okay!”

“Roger that!”

“But it’s supposed to be my turn to get my…”

And Rouge pulled the both of them in a hurry before Cecily managed to finish her sentence.

What was all that anyway?

But, it’s true that thanks to Rouge, I’ve cheered up a little. And has roused my little Joe more than a bit…

Anyway, maybe she’s planning to have some kind of event for tonight, which means that I’d better prepare for a bit more food than usual, just like she told me to.

“Goku No. 1, get the vegetables from the field. No. 2, bring the deer loin and sirloin from the cellar and prepare it. No. 3 and 4, get some fish from Cimas.”

If you keep yourself busy enough with work, you can distract yourself from sorrow, after all.

I’m going to give the customers tonight a grand feast, even if it would cut into my profitability. As I made ratatouille using the summer vegetables that Goku had collected, my mind became fully absorbed in my work.

———————————————————————————————————————

By the time Cecily and the others returned, it was time to open the shop.

“Welcome back. Can you please put on the board in front of the…”

What I was going to say was completely halted due to the appearance of the girls. It was already evening, and so the temperature had cooled down a lot, and yet Rouge and Miina were still shirtless.

Not only them, but even Cecily was also shirtless now.

“The sign? Oh I’ve put the ‘We’re Open’ sign in front of the store, don’t worry.”

“I-I see. So, what would the three of you like for dinner tonight…”

As I put out the ratatouille from the pot and serve it on a platter, I suddenly had an idiotic thought about how I haven’t poked my fingers into Cecily’s chest yet.

“Hello, is there any vacant seat?”

It seemed that a customer just arrived at the same time the restaurant opened. Judging by the voice, it must be Master Elza.

“Welcome. Please feel free to take… a… seat…”

I was at a loss at words since Master Elza also appeared topless.

No matter how wide my strike zone is, she is a woman over 70 years old, so I wasn’t excited at all. Well, her face and body look youthful; like she is only about 40 years old, and if you only look at her abdominal muscles, you might even think that she’s even younger.

It’s amazing how she can have such a six pack at her age. I guess, I’m actually into hot older ladies.

Alright, I’m sorry, it made me excited a little, okay? I’m an honest person, so I can’t lie after all.

“Master Elza, what’s with such an appearance tonight?”

“Hm? I heard you can’t come to the store tonight unless you’re being bare chested. At least that’s what the young woman over there told me.” Master Elza said while gesturing toward Rouge.

Rouge said that?

“It’s a party to cheer you up, Shirou-san.” Rouge said when she noticed my gaze.

A party for me?!

It seems that when they went out before, they split up and told the regulars about the no tops rule. Moreover, they also put up another sign next to the restaurant’s signboard:

[Tonight is a topless theme. Please come without wearing anything on your upper body.]

Anyway, the regulars don’t seem to perceive it as something lewd; they only think of it as a more comfortable way of drinking alcohol because it feels cooler like that, because of the heat. Well certainly even though if it’s already evening, but the temperature is still quite hot and humid.

Not only the temperature; I’m feeling hot too, because they’re all topless, which made it difficult to hide the growing bulge in my pants.

“Six beers, please.”

Even the six female warriors, who are regulars, were already taking off their clothes even though they’re not drunk yet.

But having an evening like this is not bad at all. Maybe I should keep holding this topless night event once a week during the summer.

“Cheers!!”

The sound of mugs and glasses clinking overlaps with cheerful voices.

For some reason, the customers are having a challenge to put the large beer mug on their chest and drink it from there. I can’t even imagine what kind of things are popular in this world.

I was sad to realize that Sierra was not here with me, but I was also happy to see how Rouge and the others were concerned about me. Somehow, the feelings of exhilaration and loneliness don’t merge, leaving my heart with patches of different colors, like how a marble would have different shades of colors in them.  

Anyway, there are plenty of joyful things to experience in this world, which is comforting.

“Shirou.”

“What can I get you, Cecily?”

“Yeah, uh, two fingers please.”

Huh? Is she talking about the alcohol amount in whisky, or the thing I did earlier in the day?

Me, being half-assed as usual, poured two fingers of whiskey into a shot of glass and served it to her.

And Cecily only silently took the glass and gulped it down. [5]

The world was complicated indeed, with various things existing side by side without mixing together.

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1 I’m sorry team Cecily, team Chris and team Lotte, but it’s what the Author said.

2 Around 104oF

3 Here, the author uses the おわん型 (Owan-gata) or bowl type to describe Miina’s mounds.

Apparently, it can be classified into 6 types:

Source: https://news.livedoor.com/article/image_detail/14157550/?img_id=16166679

From top left to bottom right: Osara-gata (Plate type), Owan-gata (Bowl type), Hankyuu-gata (half-ball type), Pyramid, Yagi-gata (either it means goat or eight trees, I’m not sure), and Ensui-gata (cone type).

4 I’m kinda lost here. Is Shirou insinuating that (Japanese) women on earth love to poke around men’s chest?

5 Look Cecily, you can’t just give Shirou subtle hints, you know. You need to woman up and take the initiative! I’m rooting for you!