Chapter 103: The King Of The Little Ones V (1/2)

【125th day】

Both Agathion and Lys were back to normal, we made good progress, and were able to secure the route to the 30th floor.

All that was left was to defeat the guardian with all our might.

That would bring me past the halfway mark.

It's been 125 days since I first stepped foot in the alternate world. I have 240 days left to reach the 56th floor. ………Going by the number of days alone, I have more than enough time.

The journey to this point has felt both long as well as short.

For the first time in a long time, I asked for the probability of success.

According to Yukikaze, it’s 48%.

That's a big improvement from Izora's 0.2%, but considering that I still have a 52% chance of failure, I need to stay on my toes. And it's precisely because I need to stay on my toes that I've started to take the time to relax from time to time.

I strolled through the streets of Lemuria with just the clothes I happened to be wearing. But just in case, I had my katana at my hip. In addition, there was also the magic sword that would come when I called for it.

Even if I were to enter the rougher parts of the city, I would probably be able to at least fight off robbers.

Unhindered by anyone, I let my feet take me wherever they willed, just like a cat would.

With a god on my shoulder.

「Souya, come on, try saying ”that” again. Come on」

「Please spare me」

For a while now, she has been bringing this up a lot.

「Just try calling me ”Mama~”. Come on, it's fine, isn't it? Kukuku」

「………Mama~」

She must have liked it a lot, because she would make me do this as soon as we were alone.

Humiliation play.

Humiliation play from a god with too much time on her hands.

For this to be my way of relaxing, am I a pervert or something?

「Alright, next is my turn」

「Yeah yeah」

Misuranika-sama moved from my shoulder to the top of my head.

「Hmmm, let's go right today」

「Alright alright」

Following her instructions, I turned right at the fork in the narrow alleyway.

Some sort of material covered the top of the alleyway, obscuring the sky. The path was dim, musty, and dank. Only in this alleyway was the ground not cobbled, but oddly smooth.

My adventurous spirit aroused, I proceeded along the long, winding path.

I found a store that had gone out of business.

Sensing no signs of life, I went in.

Was it once a general store, I wondered. The place had been ransacked, so it was hard to tell for sure, but some traces of the furnishments of a store had remained. I looked around the abandoned space and tried to picture the vestiges of life that had once passed through this place.

Since its location wasn't good, it was probably a hidden specialty store or a hobby store, and it likely wasn't a thriving business.

Even so, it must have been able to scrape by with its regulars.

Every day, the same customers must have come and gone.

There must have been days when they did nothing more than make small talk.

However, after the owner passed away, there must have been no one to take over the business, resulting in it being abandoned.

After dreaming that up in my mind, I left the place.

Once more, I continued down the narrow, winding path. I returned to a place where the sun shone.

「Ugh」

I was blinded by the glare.

「Oh, this place is……」

When my eyes had adjusted, I found myself in a familiar place.

I was in front of the Gunmerrys’ inn.

In the short while since I had seen the place, it had become neat and tidy. All the junk was gone and the old couple was baking bread on the first floor. That gentle aroma wafted through the whole area.

There was a row of flowerpots outside, with flowers of all colors planted in them.

In the upstairs window, I could see the back of someone I knew.

Right when I was wondering if I should call out to that person……

「Oh, it's a cat~!」

……a little beastkin girl came up to me. Behind her was a fat Hemu boy.

「Here, you can pet her」

I offered my god to the children.

The little girl hugged her like a stuffed animal, then petted her. The fatso also reached out and stroked Misuranika-sama's belly.

「Are you guys playing here again today?」

「That's right~, we're waiting for our friend」

The fatso's reply left me in a bit of a quandary.

We certainly did make a promise, but I didn't think that children would dutifully keep it.

The little girl stared at my face.

「Onii-………………san?」

It would seem that she had realized something.

A little lost as to what to do, I weaved a web of words.

「Is the friend you're waiting for a kid with black hair like me?」

「That’s right~」

「Yup!」

The fatso and little girl replied.

「He's my little brother. Thank you for playing with him. But I'm sorry. He's gone to another continent. So, umm, for now………………he can't play with you guys anymore」

『Eehhh～』

In unison, they let out a disappointed cry.

「When will he be back~?」

「I can't be sure at the moment」

「Why did he leave without saying anything? Why?! Why?!」

「Erm, I'm in a bit of a bind here」

I was overwhelmed by the two children who were pressing me for answers.

The interest they’re showing is stronger than I had expected.

「My brother is sick. He has a disease that cannot be cured in Lemuria. And it will take a long time to cure him. A much longer time than you can wait――」

「I see~」

「Oh, okay」

So innocent. They believed me right away.

My conscience hurts a little.

「Oh!」

The fatso yelled out all of a sudden.

He pulled the little beastkin girl back and they started whispering away. Incidentally, since she was still in her arms, Misuranika-sama was also listening and nodding along.

What's going on?

「Umm」

「Yes?」

The fatso came up to me and asked me timidly.

「Could it be that you're the king?!」

「Ehh, me?」

Why would you think that?

「I mean, you're carrying the same sword as the king」

「Oh」

My hand went to my katana.

Certainly, King Lemuria has an identical one. Recently, he has been carrying it everywhere with him, along with his favored sword. In addition, whenever he has a spare moment from his work, he wanders the streets armed in that manner, and if he comes across any wrongdoings, he pulls his blade out to redress it.

Is he the Unfettered Shogun[1] or something?

Well, it's probably half righting wrongs and half picking up women though.

Even though Lanseal, who looks about ten years old now, has been nagging him about it, there's no sign of his problems with women going away.

The fatso must have seen the king carrying the katana somewhere in the city.

「This is a sword from a foreign land called the katana」