Regena gave a look of curiosity when she heard me say those words.

  「Really? I heard from master that you wore these kinds of clothes before though. Master even complimented that they fit you.」


  That was an unexpected blow.

  I’d worn those clothes before for the sake of finding Kuroki. Now that I’d met him, I had no need to wear those kinds of clothes anymore. I mean, I never even knew that Kuroki had actually seen me wearing that kind of attire.

  Regardless of that, I can’t help but wonder just what in the world did he tell Regena? It seems that I need to speak alone with him once he returns.

  「No… just give me a normal clothes please.」


  I practically pleaded to Regena.

  「I see… please wait a minute, I’ll bring another set of clothes.」


  Regena then left with the bikini armor still in her hands with a slightly dejected look on her face.

  AD

  「… Please wait a minute, Regena-san.」


  I stopped Regena.

  「Is something the matter?」


  「I won’t wear that armor now, but… maybe I will later.」


  I decided to keep the bikini armor for now. I might be able to pull Kuroki apart from that woman by wearing this armor.

  Though it sounds like a nonsense idea, for some reason, I’m convinced that this plan would work on Kuroki.

  ***

  ◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

  「Chiyuki-san, this is really delicious you know.」


  Nao told me so while eating the meat happily.

  The meat offered by Nao was a dormouse-like animal broiled in honey and fish sauce. The official name of the animal was Yamane.

  These dormouse-like animals weren’t wild dormouse, but rather were cultivated inside ceramic pots which were shaped in spiral patterns on the inside.

  Though I had some resistance against eating this rat meat at first, I’d found it quite delicious when I actually tried it. Nevertheless, I’d almost come to believe that Nao was a cat who ate rats.

  Besides the Yamane, there were various other dishes spread out before us. The party was still going strong despite the earlier appearance of the Karkinos.

  I mean, thanks to us quickly getting rid of those Karkinos, there’s almost no damage leftover from the attack. Additionally, it seems that the people think that it’ll be alright even if something does happen again since we could just resolve any incident almost as soon as it happens.

  In an instant, the day had already turned into night.

  It’s night and yet it was almost as bright as daylight since the moonlight that shone upon the ship in addition to the abundant lighting from the magic lamps kept the place well lit.

  The dancers danced following the tunes. The performers acted according to the script.

  The musicians aside, the majority of the dancers and performers were of the Ishtar faith. They’re allowed to perform as long as they’re not against the teaching of the Goddess Faeria.

  In the first place, I’d heard that the Goddess Faeria loves dance.

  In short, Ishtar’s faith allowed these things as long as they didn’t gamble or were involved in prostitution. But even those prohibitions were done in public, whether it was legally or illegally.

  I mean, even if you call them prostitutes, there’s various kinds of them. The high class prostitutes were more like the hetaira of ancient greek. Some of those prostitutes even managed to climb up the ladder in society and became the queen of a country using their beauty.

  But, Faeria’s followers didn’t seem to be able to accept that fact. It seems that many of Oudis’ and Faeria’s followers who’d risen to the upper echelons of the country wanted to do something about this problem and yet were helpless against it.

  In the first place, some of Oudis’ followers had ended up falling in love with Ishtar’s prostitutes. The thing called lust wasn’t something that could be so easily suppressed. That’s where the politics got complicated.

  AD

  The people who watched the dancing and performances raised cries of joy and celebration.

  Rino started to dance along in the spur of the moment.

  In the first place, Rino had received dancing lessons back in Japan so she could dance fairly well.

  The men who saw her dance were rooted in spot, unable to look away from her hypnotizing performance.

  I frowned a little.

  Since Rino’s dress exposed a lot of her skin, the eyes of the male audience here has become really dangerous with her performance.

  Though the person herself didn’t care about it, as a friend, it was hard to see my friend being eyed by lecherous gazes.

  Reiji didn’t seem to mind Rino being exposed to such lecherous sights either. He was enjoying Rino’s dance along with Sahoko and the other women.

  And then, Kaya and Kyouka were standing in a slightly separated place. Her situation was the exact opposite of Reiji’s; she was surrounded by men.

  It seems that they were trying to woo her, but Kyouka simply ignored all their attempts to approach her with those intentions.

  In terms of the way she treated good looking men, she was way better compared to Reiji. But, the men who could win against Reiji in this world belonged to an extreme minority.

  For that fact, I happen to know one man who did beat Reiji. I wondered what he was doing right now. It seems that he isn’t with Kyouka.

  「Oops, Shirone-san seems to have returned.」


  Nao looked up at the sky.

  Nao spotted the figure of Shirone flying in the sky with her wings of light outstretched. Shirone was flying straight towards us.

  「I’m back, everyone.」


  Shirone retracted her wings as she arrived where we were.

  The people that were watching Rino’s performance then looked at Shirone due to the similarity between her wings and that of an angel’s.

  「Are you feeling okay already, Shirone-san?」


  「Yeah!! I’m okay!! I was just drunk after all!!」


  I wasn’t asking whether she was drunk or not. But, seeing her expression back to her usual cheerful face, I guess that she’s okay.

  「I see that you’re cheerful again, but did something happen?」


  When I probed further, Shirone shook her head lightly.

  「Uhm, nothing happened really. But I had this dream and I think that I shouldn’t be feeling dejected anymore.」


  Shirone replied with a smile on her face.

  It seems that she was saddened by the fact that she couldn’t meet her childhood friend. But, I guess she’s already cheered up.

  「After Shirone came, Rino isn’t standing out anymore.」


  Rino came over to us and spoke with a slight pout.

  But it doesn’t seem like she’s really angry at Shirone. And her upset expression is so cute.

  「Sorry, Rino-chan.」


  Shirone apologized to Rino.

  「As punishment, let’s dance together.」


  Rino pulled Shirone’s hand as she spoke.

  「Wait a minute, Rino-chan!!」


  Shirone ended up being dragged forcibly by Rino.

  Since it couldn’t be helped, Shirone ended up dancing along with Rino.

  Though Shirone didn’t seem to have taken dance lessons, it seems that she has a suitable sense for it. In fact, she could dance as well as Rino.

  The two of them looked really beautiful as they danced under the moonlight.

  「I don’t know what happened but it seems that she’s gotten over her slump.」


  Reiji came over and spoke to me while he watched the two.

  「Most probably.」


  I also agreed with him.

  It was a good thing that Shirone had cheered up again.

  「I’ve been waiting for her to ask me to comfort her though.」


  I looked at the long line of women behind Reiji with a look of disbelief on my face at hearing this di*ck say those words.

  It seems that he was planning to comfort Shirone, but do you really think that you’ll have the time for that?

  But still. Reiji is Reiji afterall. He was worrying about Shirone in his own way.

  「We’re going to start the investigation tomorrow, Reiji-kun, so don’t overdo it.」


  AD

  Reiji showed a strange look on his face at hearing that.

  「Ah, the search huh. I forgot about it.」


  I almost slipped on my feet at hearing such an irresponsible remark.

  But well, that’s just like Reiji. Though Reiji won’t forgive his enemies, he didn’t hold a grudge against them either as long as they didn’t didn’t appear in front of him. It’s good that he could forget about the past, but that’s also another kind of trouble if you think of it in another way.

  「Moreover, that priest must’ve already investigated this matter to some extent.」


  Reiji spoke with a light tone.

  Decius, Oudith’s Knight of Law, had already gone off somewhere to conduct the investigation.

  「Surely, waiting for the report from Decius-dono is a wise choice but still…」


  The Knights of Law were given the authority by the nation to investigate crimes, but even then, that authority was very limited. No matter how great the Knights of Law are, they might’ve missed some sort of clue due to the limits of their authority. That’s why, we won’t know just how far the progress of the investigation has come.

  Seeing Reiji who didn’t seem to take this matter seriously forced me to remember again that this d*ck hated doing menial work and investigating.

  I wonder how far the progress of the investigation has come by Decius-dono? I hope he’s found some sort of clue, but…


  I wonder just what in the world is the culprit of this incident doing now?

  I pondered as I looked at the moon.

  ***

  ◆Dark Knight; Kuroki

  「My dear master, it seems Shirone-sama has returned.」


  Regena gave her report.

  「I see. Thanks a lot, Regena.」


  I couldn’t meet with Shirone since Kuna is here with me.

  「What is this, Kuroki? It look like a cat tail for some reason.」


  Kuna picked up a certain item from the gift box provided by Zeal.

  The thing she’d picked up was definitely the cat tail. There was a round metal fitting attached at the base of that tail.

  Kuna looked at the fake cat tail with a curious look on her face.

  「Uhm… it might be something for you to wear.」


  I feigned ignorance despite knowing very well what kind of thing it was.

  「EH!! I’M WEARING THIS!! WHAT IS THE WAY TO WEAR THIS!?」


  Kuna asked back excitedly with an innocent look on her face.

  I knew the way for her to wear this accessory, but like hell I could explain the truth to Kuna.

  「U~hm, how to wear that I wonde~r. I seem to have forgotten it already. Ahahaha.」


  I tried glossing over the subject with an unnatural laugh.

  The angel in me kept worrying about what to do with the gift I’d received from Zeal.

  But then, the devil in me whispered, 「YEAH BABY, LET’S ROCK!」


  That’s why, I had no other choice.

  The clothes inside the box had already lost their function with covering the body.

  But still, I felt that it was wrong to dress Kuna up in such a lewd dress.

  Let’s just keep this clothing for now.

  Since there was a bikini armor set amongst the clothing, I’d given it to Regena to pass on to Shirone. Reason being, it suited Shirone to the point that it was literally a match made in heaven.

  Though, it might be impossible for me to see her in that attire from close up.

  「My dear master, what are you going to do with the girl you brought home just now?」


  Regena asked regarding the treatment towards the sword dancer I’d brought back. In short, the treatment for Sienna.

  In fact, I was at my wits end at seeing Kuna pouting when she saw I’d brought Sienna back with me. But, it couldn’t be helped. I couldn’t beat to leave her in that place in the end.

  「Well then… what should I do now I wonder.」


  In fact, I really have no idea regarding what to do with Sienna.

  What should I do now?

  Nothing came to mind.

  In the first place, I’d come to this country to enjoy my vacation, not to destroy this country. I guess I’ve got to tell Turia about this matter in the end.

  After checking his real intentions, I guess I’ve got no more reasons to involve myself with Zeal. The problem was the one who was present along with Zeal at the time: Tarabos. I’m almost convinced that he’s up to something dangerous.

  I will ask the dwarves to create a strong barrier made from extremely rare materials. Messing with it won’t be that simple.

  The Death God, Zarxis, might be able to do something about the barrier, but there was no such thing as enough preparation.

  I continued to rack my brain.

  「KUROKI!! DOES THIS LOOK GOOD ON ME!?」


  Kuna turned her round butt towards me with the cat tail attached on top of her clothes.

  STRIKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

  「Yes, it’s really cute.」


  I patted Kuna’s head as she closed her eyes, seemingly enjoying the moment.

  Well, nothing can be done right now even if I keep thinking about it. Let’s just take a rest for now. I’m sure I’ll get some inspiration along the way. Let’s take my take enjoying my vacation with Kuna for the time being.