Volume 9 Chapter 3 Part 5 (2/2)
Kunitsuna held her hand to her cheeks, looking troubled, while Mitsuyo pouted and looked away. The Five Supreme Blades were truly a trove of strong personalities.
”Hey, s.h.i.+n. The main event is starting.”
Filma called for s.h.i.+n's attention. As he turned back, Schnee appeared too.
Schnee had also changed from her usual clothing to a priestess robe; she came walking calmly into the room, her silver hair flowing while following her movements.
Like Tiera and the others, she had applied some make-up after taking a bath, making her smile, a normal sight for s.h.i.+n, even more bright than usual.
”.beautiful.”
A single word escaped s.h.i.+n's mouth.
He could have talked forever, just piling up words of praise. But he felt that it would be all unneeded.
That's how much he had been charmed by her.
”I knew itthat's how it always ends.”
”Kuu!”
Along with Tiera's dejected words, s.h.i.+n feels a jolt hitting his legs. Back from his charmed trance, s.h.i.+n looked at his feet and found Yuzuha, in her usual priestess robe, puffing her cheeks. She was still kicking s.h.i.+n with her thin legs.
”Yuzuha, ignored, no good!”
After coming back from the dungeon, s.h.i.+n had been busy talking with Kuchinas.h.i.+ and preparing for the celebrations, thus he had found no time for Yuzuha; she thought he had forgotten his promise.
Her growth should have increased her mental age too, but now Yuzuha was back to being a little girl. Maybe she was only acting more mature.
”I worked hard, here! Praise!”
”I'm sorry! I'm sorry, so stop sticking to my face! I can't see in front!”
Yuzuha, still in human form, jumped on s.h.i.+n's head, covering his face.
It was a surprise attack using her over level-600 physical abilities to the fullest. Being still under the effect of Schnee's charm, s.h.i.+n couldn't have avoided it.
When s.h.i.+n managed to get Yuzuha off him, his hair had become a mess.
”then, this happens?”
”You had her stay back a lot lately, after all. You could treat her specially at least today.”
Schnee smiled at them.
The celebrations' banquet hall was already crowded with priestesses.
s.h.i.+n and the group were led to the main guests' seats; Yuzuha, still in human form, took position on his lap.
She grinned proudly while holding his arms, laughed and talked excitedly. After growing up, her expressionless face had apparently vanished completely.
”So lovely, may I pet you?”
”Kuu, you may! s.h.i.+n pet too!”
Her tone was smug, but the fox ears on her head twitched happily. Their movements clearly showed how she wanted to be petted quickly, making Yuzuha even more adorable.
In the main guest seats, s.h.i.+n was sitting in the seat of honor, with Schnee, Tiera, Mitsuyo, Kunitsuna, Filma and s.h.i.+baid sitting on the left side. Kagerou was next to Tiera.
On the opposite right side sat Kotone, Suzune and Kuchinas.h.i.+.
The priestesses' eyes were concentrated on s.h.i.+n's group: the mysterious fox girl being cuddled on s.h.i.+n's lap, between two beauties such as Schnee and Kotone, attracted the most attention.
”Now, let us begin!!”
Kuchinas.h.i.+'s words brought total silence into the hall. She had used a Wind spell to carry her voice throughout the venue.
The eyes of all present went from s.h.i.+n to Kuchinas.h.i.+.
”I am sure many of you already know about Kotone's return. She was saved from the dungeon we have had trouble clearing, Cadaver Realm. Now I will introduce to you the adventurers who saved Kotone and cleared the dungeon.”
Kuchinas.h.i.+'s hand pointed towards s.h.i.+n and his companions.
As they previously discussed, the members who actually went into the dungeon -s.h.i.+n, Schnee, Tiera and Mitsuyo- stood up. As they did, thunderous applause filled the hall.
s.h.i.+n was surprised by the intensity of the cheering; he did not expect for the response to be so big.
”Everyone already knows about your feats in the battles in Balmel.”
”Is that so.”
It wasn't exactly a ”set-up”, but Kuchinas.h.i.+ had apparently already given some information to the priestesses. s.h.i.+n felt that it had spread all too fast though.
In addition, the words ”That's the Slas.h.i.+ng Hammer” that sometimes reached his ears enhanced his bad feeling.
”Ehm, I keep hearing the words ”Slas.h.i.+ng Hammer”what does that mean?”
”You don't know? It's s.h.i.+n's ”new” nickname. He slashes monsters apart with dull weapons, so people started referring to him as ”s.h.i.+n the Slas.h.i.+ng Hammer”.”
”Oof”
s.h.i.+n felt a dull blow in his gut, knowing how this nickname had spread without his knowledge. What kind of name is Slas.h.i.+ng Hammer he couldn't help but sigh to himself.
”Tonight we celebrate Kotone's return, the conquest of the dungeon and these brave adventurers!!”
Kuchinas.h.i.+ spoke again after the applause died down.
There was no toast; after another brief applause, all partic.i.p.ants freely started to enjoy food and beverages.
”Here you are.”
”Oh, thanks.”
Noticing that s.h.i.+n's gla.s.s was empty, Kotone raised a bottle of Sake to offer him.
Schnee too was paying attention to serving him, but as s.h.i.+n held his gla.s.s with his right hand, Kotone was closer.
”You even have my sister serve you!?”
”Don't say it like I'm forcing her to!!”
s.h.i.+n didn't know how others saw it, but Kotone had served him out of her own free will.
”s.h.i.+n, feed me, feed me!”
Completely unaware of Kotone and Schnee's small war and Suzune's pestering, Yuzuha kept ordering what she wanted to eat.
s.h.i.+n felt bad about leaving Yuzuha back often lately, so he prioritized feeding Yuzuha over eating himself.
”Can't help it. Here, say aah!”
”Yummy~”
s.h.i.+n used a pair of chopsticks and brought Yuzuha's order to her mouth. Yuzuha took a big bite and showed a large smile.
s.h.i.+n had younger siblings in the real world; he laughed wryly at Yuzuha's spoiled att.i.tude, but followed her orders to the letter.
”My, how cute.”
Looking at Yuzuha fed by s.h.i.+n, Kotone squirmed.
”Then, I suppose I shall do it to s.h.i.+n.”
”Eh?”
s.h.i.+n's chopsticks were busy with feeding Yuzuha. Seeing this, Schnee quickly used hers to pick food from a plate and carry it to s.h.i.+n's mouth.
”Here, say aah.”
”Sure, aah”
Schnee started it herself, but couldn't help blus.h.i.+ng a little.
s.h.i.+n noticed it and became nervous. The food she had brought him, though, was very delicious.
”My my, there's no s.p.a.ce to fit in between those three, is there.”
”She might be a monster, but she looks just like a child.”
Looking at s.h.i.+n and those around him, Filma and s.h.i.+baid laughed and drank merrily.
Since they didn't partic.i.p.ate in the dungeon mission, they wondered whether they should partic.i.p.ate in the celebrations, but Kuchinas.h.i.+ overwhelmed their objections, saying that it was always a party.
”Won't you go to lord s.h.i.+n's side?”
”Me? Well, even if I went”
The question to Filma had been asked by Kunitsuna, who was looking at s.h.i.+n too. He had refused to become her wielder, but as her savior, she addressed him with ”lord”.
In reaction to her question, Filma tilted her gla.s.s in her hands, a troubled expression on her face.
”Schnee and I, we have a different stance towards s.h.i.+nwe feel different things.”
”Is that so? I thought that conquering the strong and being served by the beautiful was a gentleman's way of life. It appears that lady Schnee and lady Tiera fancy lord s.h.i.+n.”
”Ahaha, anyone would see Schnee does.”
Tiera took another swig, laughing heartily.
”For Tiera, it looks too early for you to say so, though.”
”Women are more sensitive about this stuffright?”
”Mitsuyo and Munechika are a bit dull, though. Their way of thinking is more similar to a man's.”
”Hey, Kunitsuna, don't just insult so casually!”
Mitsuyo, sitting beside Kunitsuna, couldn't let those words go without reacting. I know that much too, her pouting lips expressed.
”Hmm, as they say in Hinomoto, three women together make a ruckusI see it's true even with weapons.”
Looking at Kunitsuna and Filma teasing Mitsuyo, s.h.i.+baid whispered this to himself and poured himself another gla.s.s.
”My, you won't ask about my feelings, s.h.i.+baid?”
”You are a High Lord, but your heart is similar to a Type Cat's. Even if I asked, you would not say what you really feel. We are companions under the same master, I do not need to be a woman to understand.”
”Hmph, so that's what you say to me, huh.”
s.h.i.+baid's words and look seemed to see through Filma; this time it was her lips' turn to pout.
”There is no need for reservation between us, is there. Lady Kunitsuna, you do not need to hold anything back with Filma. She's not the type to be concerned by things like that, so speak to her freely.”
”I shall do as you say, then.”
”Do let me add one thing, though. I heard you asked s.h.i.+n to become your master, but I tell you that asking us will give you the same result. Because we have received our weapons from s.h.i.+n.”
s.h.i.+baid had heard about it from Schnee, so he made sure Kunitsuna let go such thoughts. As s.h.i.+n had said, s.h.i.+baid and the others had more than enough ability to wield Kunitsuna.
”Oh my, did you find out I was aiming at you? Lord s.h.i.+n has unfathomable prowess, but the same can be said for you all. It might be a strange thing to say but, lady Schnee included, I feel that you all exceed the limits of strength an individual can hope to attain.”
”That's all part of serving a High Human. I wouldn't lose to any average warrior.”
”Truly. Were the master to give the order, the servant needs to be able to overthrow even a divine beast.”
Despite her playful tone, Kunitsuna's speech was serious; Filma and s.h.i.+baid gave their answers, each with a slightly different atmosphere.
Only Mitsuyo, who had stayed with them for a certain time and was following their exchange, noticed this small change.
”Kunitsuna, enough with your jokes.”
”I know. I won't go any further. I apologize, I am afraid I overstepped my bounds.”
”Don't worry. It happened a lot in the past.”
In the period when the High Human's abilities were still unknown, the number of reckless players who had faced s.h.i.+n to test his strength was not small.
As s.h.i.+baid and Filma were with him during such battles too, they were sensible to the gaze of who wanted to estimate their strength.
In Kunitsuna's case, they felt how she was also wary of them, so they released some of the pressure they were keeping suppressed.
”We're here to celebrate. Let's enjoy the rest of the banquet.”
They all nodded to s.h.i.+baid's words.
Forgetting about time pa.s.sing, all present enjoyed the party.