Seraphina guided us to a high-class inn that catered to royalty. I half-expected us, as grimy adventurers, to be viewed with suspicion, but when Seraphina spoke to the innkeeper standing at the entrance, we were warmly welcomed inside.
“Welcome, honored guests. Please, right this way.”
After the usual check-in procedures, the proprietress, dressed in Eastern attire, led us to our room. It seemed to be located in a secluded spot further down the hallway.
As we followed the proprietress down the corridor, a slender woman walked towards us and brushed past. She was a beautiful blonde woman – or so I thought, until I noticed her long, pointed ears. She appeared to be an Elf.
Elves, known as the “Forest Fairies,” are a long-lived race, and many reside in forest villages. However, it’s not uncommon to find Elves like her integrated into human society.
This Elf woman was clad in an Eastern-style outfit, lighter than the proprietress’s. I later learned it was called a “Yukata.” Her exposed neck, chest, and legs glimpsed as she walked were quite alluring.
“Ah…”
Seraphina let out a small gasp upon seeing the Elf. She then scurried over to me and whispered in my ear, “Douglas, I believe that’s her.”
“Her? Who are you talking about?”
“The Elf Swordsman I saw in my precognition dream, the one fighting the Green Dragon.”
“What…?”
By the time I turned to look, the Elf had already rounded the corner and disappeared. Should I chase after her? No, what would I even do? Tell her that in the future, we might fight a Dragon together? That sounds incredibly suspicious. Some kind of new pickup line?
“…Well, if it’s fate, we’ll meet again someday.”
“Indeed.”
We decided to let it go for now. Seraphina’s precognition dreams were proving rather troublesome. Knowing about potential future events didn’t seem to offer much of an advantage.
Despite that encounter, we eventually reached our room. The proprietress gave us a tour of the room, explained the dinner and bath arrangements, and then politely bowed and departed.
The floor was covered with “Tatami,” mats woven from grass and pressed into flat surfaces. We were told to remove our shoes and step onto them barefoot. In the room, enough “Yukata” and “Obi” for each of us were provided, similar to what the Elf had been wearing. Hand towels for bathing were also supplied. We were told that the bathhouse would have bath towels ready for use after bathing. It was incredibly thoughtful.
“This is truly a high-class inn fit for royalty. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
“In the Eastern lands, royalty, referred to as ‘Otonosama,’ also apparently use inns like these.”
“Wow, this is more than a commoner like me can handle.”
I had experienced exotic inns before, but this was a different kind of astonishing. I was glad I accepted Seraphina’s invitation to come here. As for the price, for the five of us, including Lombardia, for two nights and three days, it was roughly fifty gold coins. Considering the reward for defeating two Wyverns was three hundred gold coins… well, I managed to say it wasn’t much, albeit with a trembling voice.
For the record, for a fleeting moment, I considered if Lombardia could disguise herself as an axe and sneak in as just one person. The harsh realities of a humble life for forty years were difficult to shake.
“Whoa, so this is a ‘Yukata.’ That Elf earlier seemed to be wearing just this over her bare skin. Walking around the inn in just this seems a bit risqué… But she’s still wearing underwear, right?” Ellen said, holding up a Yukata and voicing her thoughts. Seraphina chuckled and replied, “In the Eastern lands, the origin of this culture, there are some regions where it’s customary to wear it without any undergarments. This inn recommends wearing underwear, but they said it’s up to personal preference.”
“Hmm. By the way, Douglas, would you prefer Miina and the others to wear underwear or not?” Miina asked teasingly with a smile.
“Wh-what are you saying… This is unexpectedly suggestive conversation. I usually see you all naked, but this is making me quite flushed. That… well, if anyone else is going to see you, it’s probably better to wear underwear. Even if it can’t be seen from the outside.”
“Nyanfu~♪ Douglas, you’re surprisingly possessive, aren’t you?”
“…Do you think that’s unfair? You both completely yield to me, so for me to want to possess you alone…?” I asked. Miina tilted her head in confusion. “Nyaa… Now that you mention it, it is a bit unfair, isn’t it? I’ve never really thought about it. Miina doesn’t really care either way, nyaa.”
“I think it’s fine either way, too. We’re happy like this.”
“Yes, Miina and Ellen are right. If I can receive Douglas’s affection, I could ask for nothing more.” Ellen and Seraphina echoed my sentiments, affirming my selfish desires. As always, my wives were perfect angels.
“What about you, Lombardia?”
“Nnn? You’re asking me too? …Well, since I met you and gave myself to you, I’ve been entirely yours. The concept of possessiveness doesn’t really register anymore.”
…I see. So that’s how it is. Lombardia had offered her entire being to me from the start. Overwhelmed with emotion, I embraced Lombardia, who was in her Maid outfit.
“Lombardia, thank you!”
“Haaah!? Wh-wait, why now…? W-when you hug me like this so tightly… I… uuuugh…”
The petite, tanned girl I embraced squirmed, steam erupting from her head. Miina, Ellen, and Seraphina watched us, laughing merrily.
But then…
“DOGOOOOOOON—!”
A loud, booming impact echoed from somewhere in the distance.
“What was that…? Outside the inn… It sounded quite far away.”
Listening more closely, I could hear faint screams mixed with a distant voice: “Giants! Giants are attacking!” Miina’s cat ears twitched upon hearing this.
“…Ngh!? Douglas, did you hear that, Nya!”
“Yeah. But I don’t know the situation. Let’s go outside the inn.” My wives all nodded, and Lombardia transformed into her axe form. We then rushed out of the room and down the hallway. Throwing caution to the wind, we ran.
As we ran down the long corridor, an Elf woman in a Yukata burst out from around a corner far ahead. It was the Elf Seraphina had seen in her precognition dream. The Elf held a slender sword in its scabbard and, as she emerged from the corner, she sprinted towards the inn’s entrance with lightning speed.
“S-so fast…!? Even if I ran with all my might, I don’t know if I could catch up!” Ellen exclaimed in surprise. She was indeed fast. I’d heard Elves generally possessed superior agility to humans, but this was extraordinary speed. The Elf disappeared from our sight in an instant. I thought if it were just me and Ellen, we might be able to pursue her, but we didn’t.
Dodging through the surprised and confused inn staff, the four of us and one weapon exited the inn. Even as we were rushing through the inn, the distant, heavy impacts continued incessantly. Our high-class inn was located at the top of a gentle hill at the end of a sloping street within the town. Thus, stepping outside, we had a panoramic view of the town and its surroundings.
We saw the Elf descending the slope, heading straight for the western city gate. Within the town, people were screaming, panicking, and fleeing in disarray. Panic had gripped the townsfolk. The reason for this chaos was outside the city walls. No, just now, one of them had destroyed a section of the city wall and entered the town. Combined with the ones outside, there were three in total.
“Hill Giants…!? And three of them!?” Seraphina cried out in astonishment at the sight. The giants, known as Hill Giants, were smashing or had already smashed through the town’s surrounding walls with massive trees and boulders. These monsters, belonging to the giant race, were attacking the town. Hill Giants, though large, were not intelligent and acted purely on instinct and appetite. They likely saw the town, teeming with humans, as a good feeding ground. However, despite their low intelligence, their immense size—three times the height and twenty-seven times the weight of a human—made their brute strength a terrifying threat. Their Monster Rank was C+. This classification meant that even ten ordinary warriors of F-Rank class would likely be annihilated against them. Before I met Lombardia, encountering one would have made me prioritize escape and survival over finding a way to defeat it. And here there were three. For such a small tourist town’s meager defense force, it was a nightmare beyond compare. Normally, while towns of this scale prepared for frequent monster attacks like Goblin or Orc hordes, they didn’t prepare for a once-in-a-hundred-years nightmare like three Hill Giants attacking simultaneously. This world still had many unexplored, untamed regions where formidable monsters dwelled. Occasionally, they would emerge into populated areas and mercilessly destroy the civilization that humankind had built over long years. Humanity had to endure such unreasonable attacks, but they could only continue to live on, robust, resilient, and audacious, in a human fashion— “Damn it, my timing is either incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky,” I muttered. Fortunately, we were here today. This unreasonable threat could be crushed. At the inn’s entrance, I activated the [Maiden’s Blessing] skill, embraced each of the three women—Miina, Ellen, and Seraphina—and kissed them.
