Chapter 163: Urovalus, The City Of Ghosts I (1/2)

【172nd day】

I was in the basement, brushing my teeth and thinking about last night's events.

『But, Onee-chan, doesn't that mean that all the lewd stuff you've been doing up until now that you've blamed on the charm magic are actually just your own desires? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You perverted elf!』

『Hyaaaa!』

When my sister pointed that out, Rana screamed and covered her face while still hugging me.

Indeed, I think Rana is rather lewd. But I believe that ten out of ten men like lewd women. So long as they don't cheat on their husbands.

『So, Onee-chan, aren't you going to leave Onii-chan?』

『Eh, I'm not going to though? What's wrong with a husband and wife being intimate with each other? After all, we're husband and wife』

『You don't have to say it twice. And why the sudden emphasis on you and Onii-chan being husband and wife? Considering all that's happened――――』

『It's a very important fact, so I'll say it as many times as I want. We’re husband and wife! We love each other!』

It's really embarrassing, so please don't say that out in public.

『Right~? Dear, right~?』

“Right~?” she says……

When I replied, “Yeah, yeah”………

『That's kind of pissing me off!』

………my sister snapped.

Rana, however, was completely unperturbed.

『Listen well, Ea. Whether you fall in love with my husband or aim to be his second wife, well, you'll be after me in everything. All his firsts will be with me, and all you'll get are the seconds! After all, we’re husband and wife!』

『Arghh!』

Just like that, the fight between the sisters began anew.

It went on for so long that I don't remember anything from about halfway through the whole thing. However, when I woke up this morning, I found the sisters snuggled up together and asleep in the living area on the ground floor.

Is this a case of “the ground hardening after the rain”[1], or is this just the calm before the storm?

Does Rana think it's okay for Ea to be my second wife, I wonder?

I've heard before that polygamy is the norm for elves. Wait, Maria has declared herself my second wife though. Is there going to be another fight, this time between her and Ea?

Mmm, it's no use.

It's no use thinking about it. What will be will be. I don't have much experience with women, so it's not something I can figure out just by thinking about it. This is not me shirking responsibility. I simply have no idea what to do.

I cleaned myself up, got dressed, did the best I could to make myself look good, then went back downstairs.

The sisters were still in their dream world.

As a matter of course, Lanseal was in the kitchen making breakfast.

This is a familiar sight these days. She's really improved a lot in a short time. If I were to have a cooking match with her now, I'd probably lose.

「Souya, please have a taste of this」

「Alright」

I went over to have a taste of her signature dish, pot-au-feu. A quick look at the pot showed that it contained chunks of pork belly, cabbage, onions, and potatoes.

I scooped some of the broth onto a plate and taste-tested it.

「Hmm」

There's an accent to the flavor of the meat and vegetables.

「This is soy sauce and………something else I can't identify. It's got an unusual flavor」

「It's a seasoning called Shio-Koji(salted rice malt). I got some of the raw ingredients for miso from Heures-sama, and then Makina and I made it in secret by mixing those ingredients with some rice. Marinating vegetables and meat with it makes them delicious, and my father and Misuranika-sama both like them very much. What's more, it’s a wonderful seasoning that's good for health」

「I, I see」

What's shio-koji again? I know it was all the rage a long time ago. Is it something made from miso and rice?

「Is it not to your taste?」

「No, it’s delicious」

「I'm glad to hear that」

I found myself using polite speech with her.

This is bad, I have a feeling that she's completely surpassed me in Japanese cuisine. I'll have to make up for it in other ways……wait, I wonder why I'm being so competitive.

「Umm, there's something I wanted to tell you. I thought about keeping quiet about it, but in the end, I felt that it’s something you should know」

「Hmm? What is it?」

I had thought that after everything that's happened between us, we're close enough to not hold anything back anymore……

What is this about, I wonder.

「It's about your adventuring. Souya, you've reached the 40th floor. That's the floor where my father lost his second party member」

「His second………」

The king of adventurers had lost two party members in the dungeon.

The first was Alma Raua Heures, Rana's aunt.

The second was Verxina, Lanseal's mother.

「The fox and the bull used in the country's coat of arms and on its banners? The fox is a representation of my mother, and the bull is a representation of the Horns she fought and lost her life killing. And that Horns is also the monster with evil title from which Evetta, your person-in-charge, was born」

「What?! Huh??」

That surprised me.

I hadn't seen the two of them interact much, but I had heard from Otou-san that Evetta and Lanseal had been brought up together like sisters.

「By the way, I don't harbor any hatred or anger towards Evetta. It's impossible to hate someone who's been family to me for so long」

「Oh, I see」

While I was relieved, I also had mixed feelings about it.

「Following the death of my mother, it's become standard practice for adventurers to hire someone from the Adventurers' Guild to accompany them to the 40th floor. When I heard that Evetta would be taking on this role, I got worried」

「Worried about what?」

「Three days ago, when I saw her at the castle………umm, I apologize for saying something based only on a feeling, but I felt that she was being uncharacteristically overeager. I can't think of any good reason why she would go so far as to arrange a match with Elysium's apprentice hero just so you can hire her first either. ………………I'm sorry, I don't know how to put it into words better. If you could just put at the back of your mind that I hoped you might look out for her a little………umm, I apologize about that. Now that I've said it out loud, it sounds really weird」

「No, I got it」

Maybe it's her beastkin's intuition. To be honest, I don't fully understand Evetta-san's actions either.

Why is there a need to rush? Between the risks of ”fighting” and ”waiting”, adventurers will always choose to wait.

For someone who was an adventurer long before I became one, it's an uncharacteristic choice.

I found out through fighting Arcane that he's not that bad of a guy. Even though his party members tend to run amok, as a leader, he does a good………oh, he scored zero points the moment Rana was hurt though.

He's a jerk. I can understand why Evetta-san doesn't like him.

Let's just say in summary that she chose me because I'm better than him.

If that's not the case………

「Lanseal, I'm going to see Evetta-san after breakfast to discuss our upcoming adventure. I'll ask her about it while I'm at it. We'll be putting our lives in each other's hands. She should know that there can't be any secrets between us」

「That's true. I'm counting on you」

「Got it」

「I’m hungry～」