Chapter 25
“Master Marebito! How many people have you slept with already?” A lewd, crude laugh was thrown at me. Between the outermost castle wall and the palace. On the northern side, the evacuated residents huddled together. A makeshift shelter, probably hastily put together, with nothing but a crude roof. Men with the rough appearance of thugs were sitting with their legs stretched out, looking at me with grins.
Right after the meeting, I decided to go check the inside of the castle, and a female guard named Meiyui came along as my escort. Yes… there she was. She had been in the morning’s public bath. Her crimson hair and slightly reddish eyes… Other familiar parts were hidden by her clothes and armor, but there she was—Meiyui. Before she could blush, I turned my eyes away, so I think she didn’t notice that I remembered. I hope she didn’t.
Together with Meiyui, we went south from the palace, then turned from the east to the north side, when we were cornered by those men. I hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to reply or ignore them, when Meiyui strode right up to them.
“You guys!”
“What is it, Guard?”
“Master Marebito—!”
Ah, this is bad… But before I could stop her, Meiyui raised her voice:
“I just got rejected by my childhood friend I’ve loved for years!”
All the evacuated residents around us turned to look at me at once. With lukewarm, compassionate eyes.
“I’m not in the mood for such things right now! Don’t say such vulgar things!”
The evacuees nodded deeply in agreement. I wanted to go home… anywhere, I just wanted to go home…
“And another thing!”
No, I can’t take any more…
“Master Marebito is also pure! Show some consideration!”
You, Meiyui…
The thuggish men stood up awkwardly and approached me, all of them slightly blushing.
“Sorry, Master Marebito,” one said, tapping my shoulder gently without meeting my gaze, pretending to be shy. Stop it… that feeling… The evacuees, arms crossed, nodded in approval.
“Take good care of her… her purity.”
When she said that in such an embarrassed way, I had no idea where to look. Don’t you get it? Between men… Only Meiyui, alone, snorted indignantly.
“See, I told them off!” she looked at me with that “told you so” expression, but it wasn’t like that.
Calling me by my first name… just like that.
I fled quickly toward the northwest side, and the men waved thumbs-up as they saw me off. What a start. My heart felt like it might break. Even though I had acted all high and mighty in the meeting… Damn Meiyui. She chased after me, saying something like, “Wait!” I ignored her.
When I rounded the northwest side of the palace, I saw a large tree. Though a little lower than the outermost castle wall, about the height of the eaves of a single-story house. From the direction of the tree came the sound “whip! whip!”
—Bows.
Two girls were aiming at the tree with bows. Arrows shot straight into the tree. One girl with pink hair held a large, long bow, and another with black hair and a light blue outfit held a smaller bow.
…There they were. Both of them. From the morning public bath. They were… well-endowed. Even now, I could see the large swell of their chests through their clothes.
“Ah! Master Marebito! What are you doing?” The pink-haired girl noticed me and ran over, wrapping herself around my arm. Softness pressed against my arm, squishy… The images I saw in the bath and the actual feeling merged in my head.
Unable to free myself properly, I just averted my gaze. The black-haired girl in light blue bowed politely.
“Um…” I began to speak, but the pink-haired girl peered into my face. Too close, too close.
“I’m Meifan. That’s my younger sister Minyu. I’m the same age as Master Marebito, 18 years old.”
“Oh… I see…”
The soft mass pressed against my arm, and blood began to rush to my head. The same-age… chest… The word I’d been trying not to think about had broken free and wouldn’t leave my head. I thought I could stay calm as long as I just called it a “chest,” but what was pressing against my arm now was… boobs. Definitely. Rika’s boobs… her chest. Laughing Rika, swimsuit Rika at the pool, Rika in a tank top and shorts in the living room in summer, Rika who came cheering in a cheerleader outfit when I played baseball until middle school… I remembered all of it. I saw it. I saw it, didn’t I, Rika? Even though I didn’t say anything…
“Hey, Meifan. Don’t hug everything. You’re making Master Marebito uncomfortable,” Meiyui said wisely.
“Okay!” Meifan released my arm. I thought I might suffocate…
But more importantly, the bows. Why weren’t they using them in the battle against the beastmen—?
