20th day of the Tree month. Under the clear sky, I stood in the garden of Lilia-san’s mansion, my eyes scurrying about.

  There’s actually a visitor scheduled to come to Lilia-san’s mansion today, and I’m the one to greet him.

  The reason why I, who isn’t a servant of Lilia-san’s mansion, is coming to greet him is that this visitor is an acquaintance of mine…… Hmmm. It’s about time he arrived……


  Shortly after thinking that, I heard a loud voice that resounded well in the garden.

  [Oiii. Kaito!]

  [Acht!]

  A large man with blue skin and two horns, standing nearly two meters tall…… This is Acht, a Blue Ogre who I met and became friends with when I was invited to eat barbecue by Kuro.

  It seems that he came in human form just as I asked him to do before, greatly waving his hand as he walked towards me with a refreshing smile on his face.

  [Well~~ My bad, we took the wrong turn earlier and arrived a bit late.]

  [No, it’s fine. Welcome, Acht.]

  [Ooh! Ahh, that’s right, let me introduce you. This is my partner……]

  [I’m Eval, a Special Individual of the Black Wolf Race, the Silver Wolf. It’s a pleasure to meet you.]

  With Acht’s words, a beautiful silver-haired woman appears from behind.

  With long, bushy hair resembling that of a lion’s mane, large triangular beast ears, and even a long silver tail peeking out from her waist, she’s a beautiful woman that definitely looks like a beastman.

  The word “fluffy” somehow popped into my head.

  [I’m Miyama Kaito. It’s my pleasure to meet you too. Eval-san.]

  [You can just call me Eva if you want. I’m just like this idiot, people who didn’t have a good upbringing. Calling me that uprightly is just making my back itchy. I’m also going to call you Kaito, too.]

  [I understand…… Ah, no, got it.]

  I feel that Eva has a personality much like Acht.

  Hearing what I said, Eva lets out a refreshing smile, showing what being a “pleasant beauty” is.

  [I wasn’t able to attend the barbecue last time…… Did my “idiot husband” do anything strange?]

  [……Husband?]

  [Unnn? I’m talking about Acht.]

  [……Eh? Eeehhh!? A- Acht is already married!?]

  [Ooiii, Kaito. Why are you that surprised…… Or rather, what were you thinking about me……]

  Kuhh, what is this…… He looks like he would be completely clueless regarding love affairs, but this damned Acht, for him to be able to marry such a beautiful woman…… Riajuu, go explode…… Ah, no, that’s no good. I also have Isis-san by my side already, so I guess I’m also one of them riajuus huh…..

  [N- No, I’m sorry. I heard that you were his partner, but I didn’t think you were his wife……]

  [Unnn? Ah, I really didn’t mention it huh…… We’ve been married for eight hundred years now.]

  [……Well, I’m still wondering why I ended up with this idiot……]

  [Oi, oi, you’ve been calling me an idiot since before, aren’t you being mean……]

  [……That alcohol I’ve been looked forward to drinking, who drank it again?]

  [……I’m sorry.]

  Yep. I’ve already figured out the power relationship between them in that short conversation…… Acht is being completely led by the nose.

  Well, that shows how close they are to each other…… ah, I wasn’t able to ask him because I had to say hello to Eva first, but I guess I’ll ask him now.

  [……Acht, is Neun-san not able to come?]

  [Ahh….. Oi! Neun! Until when are you going to hide there!?]

  [……Ehh?]

  In addition to Acht and Eva, Neun-san was also supposed to come today but…… I can’t see her right from the start.

  When I asked Acht about it, Acht looked backwards and called Neun-san’s name.

  Thereupon…… A familiar helmet appeared from quite a distance away, or rather, from the shadow of the gate of Lilia-san’s mansion.

  [……I- I can’t. M- M- My heart i- i- isn’t ready yet…… A- A- Aren’t we just supposed to meet before our m- m- marriage ceremony?]

  [What the heck are you talking about? You’ve been talking about strange stuff since before….. Hey, just come already.]

  [Aaahhh!? Please let go of me, Eva-sama!? P- P- Premarital relationships here are no good! I hate to stay chaste until I’m married! H- H- However, if K- K- Kaito-san w- w- wishes for it, I’m not sure I can say no to him!]

  [No, you’re making too big of a leap there……]

  Eva-san drags Neun-san, who has been hiding behind the gate and hasn’t come towards us at all, while letting out a sigh.

  Even while she was being dragged, Neun-san was still saying incomprehensible things.

  [……Hey, Acht. Could it be that Neun-san isn’t feeling well?]

  [……Are you…… for real?]

  [Eh?]

  [……Kaito, knowing your worth is important, you know……]

  [……Eh?]

  For some reason, Acht looks dumbfounded and patted me on my shoulder…… What is this? Also, what does Neun-san mean earlier? She wouldn’t be able to say no if I asked him something?

  Ahh, could it be…… She’s talking about letting me drink some of her miso soup!? No, no, I was just talking about if she could really make some, so it’s not like I would force her to make some if it’s impossible……


  Thinking of the reason why Neun-san was flustered, I approached Neun-san whom Eva-san had dragged along, and spoke to her.

  [……Neun-san.]

  [Hyyiiihhh!?]

  [You don’t have to push yourself too hard. I will really be patiently waiting so…… It’s alright for me to wait until Neun-san’s heart is finally ready.]

  [Ahh…… Y- Yes. I’m sorry that…… I’m such a cowardly woman.]

  [No, no, don’t worry about it. Your modestness is also one of the lovely things about you, Neun-san.]

  [Hwehh!? Awawawauu…… auu……]

  Neun-san is really like a woman from the Taisho Era, a very reserved person.

  Even if it’s just serving a single home-cooked meal, she needs to get to know that person well, or something like that…… Is this what they call a Yamato Nadeshiko? She’s like one of those women who would be three steps behind a man, following him, which I think is quite adorable.

  (T/N: Yamato Nadeshiko, just in case, is the personification of an idealized Japanese woman, the epitome of pure, feminine beauty.)

  When I honestly told her how I felt, Neun-san’s armor rattled along as her face looked down.

  I originally couldn’t see her face because of her armor, but I feel like she’s somewhat depressed. Since she has a strong sense of responsibility, she may be feeling sorry while thinking about what I think.

  [……Hey, Acht…… Is he always like that?]

  [……Probably, or rather, definitely. He certainly is like that back when we first met…… but for him to be this bad……]

  [I’m starting to feel some pity for Neun now…… Alright! I’ll go cooperate with her for a bit!]

  [Oooiii, you shouldn’t intrude on their matters too much……]

  After I heard Acht and Eva talking about something, Eva then approached me and Neun-san.

  [Hey, Kaito…… You think that Neun is a good woman, right? She got a solid hold of herself, good at cooking…… Don’t you think she’d make a good wife?]

  [Wha!? E- E- Eva-sama!? What are you suddenly saying!?]

  [Eh? Yes, I think Neun-san is a very wonderful person. I’m sure that the person who will have her as his bride would be a very happy person.]

  [Eh!?!? Awawawa, K- K- Kaito-san!? V- V- Very happy, t- t- that is…… T- T- That’s no good, i- i- it’s still too early……]

  In response to Eva’s question, Neun-san began to tremble more, and the sound of her armor rattled louder.

  [Neun-san? Are you okay? You look kind of……]

  [Hyaaahhh!? K- K- Kaito-san, your face is too close……]

  [Could it be that you’re feeling bad…… I can’t see your face though, could you take your armor off for a moment?]

  [T- T- Take it off!? T- T- That is, errr…… I- I- I would like to r- r- respond to your r- r- request but…… I- I- I’d like my f- f- first night to at least be in a b- b- bed……]

  [First night? Errr…… I don’t think we’re talking about that right now…… Anyway, please take your armor off.]

  [T- T- That’s no good!? I- I- It’s still in the middle of the day, y- y- you want me to……]

  Hmmm, Neun-san really isn’t feeling well.

  She has been saying lots of incomprehensible things since a while ago…… So it might be possible that she really isn’t feeling well, so I should probably push her a little harder.

  Thinking that, I took a step closer to Neun-san and reached for her helmet.

  [Awawawa!? K- K- Kaito-san!?]

  [Excuse me, I might be a bit forceful but…… I’m going to take your helmet off. I need to see whether you’re feeling unwell or not……]

  [Auuu…… waauu…… u- ummm…… p- please be gentle with me……]

  [……Yeah?]

  Neun-san muttered in a voice I couldn’t hear, I just tilted my head again.

  [……Looking at these two looks interesting but…… It doesn’t look like they would be able to move forward with the real topic at this point.]

  [Like I said, don’t unnecessarily intrude on their matters too much……]

  Dear Mom, Dad—— Acht came to visit with his partner…… Eva. Neun-san has also come with them, but she was acting kind of strange the whole time, anyway, to sum it up—— Neun-san looks strange.

  **********

  {Author’s Notes}

  When Neun reaches her limit, she loses her brakes and goes out of control.

  When she becomes no good after being flustered too much, Neun-chan looks really cute!

  Also, I see that you yourself have declared it, so there’s no way you can deny it….. Kaito, go explode.

  Remarks, all of Kuro’s family members are named after numbers (Only Raz has a slight twist).

  Ein is from German number 1.

  Sechs is from German number 6. (As for Sechs’ subordinates, Sei is based on the Italian number 6, while the Seditch in the name of his company is based on the Italian number 16)

  Razelia is from one of the 7 Treasures of Buddhism, Lapis Lazuli.

  Acht is from the German number 8 while Eval is from the Hawaiian number 8

  (T/N: which is actually ewalu/awalu, but I’m not going to name a girl Ewa.)

  Neun is from German number 9.

  And in that order, this shows who is more senior over the others.

  T/N: 37/209