“Thank you, Kent. Well then, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“See you, Caro.”
A carriage from the Baron’s family was waiting at the station, and Caro got in and headed home. It felt strange; usually, Kent and Caro would walk home together to Kent’s house.
(Everyone’s gone. Time to head home.)
Just as Kent thought this and was about to walk home, someone grabbed his arm.
“Kenty~ Can I have a moment?”
It was Elnet who had grabbed his arm.
“Elnet, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, I just wanted to talk to you a little, Kent. I was watching to see when Caro left. When she did, I thought it was my chance and called out to you.”
Elnet then hugged Kent’s arm and pressed her nonexistent chest against him.
“Look at this beautiful older sister pressing herself against you. Are you getting excited?”
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
Kent gave a subtle reaction.
“I think I have more than your girlfriend does.”
Elnet said curiously, as her attempted seductive attack wasn’t having much of an effect. Caro was short, so her lack of a chest was balanced. However, Elnet was as tall as Kent, who was of average height for a man, making her tall for a woman. This made her flat chest even more noticeable. She didn’t seem to realize it.
However, Elnet had no idea that another girlfriend of Kent’s, who possessed a “boss-level” chest, was staying at Kent’s house.
“I’ll treat you, so let’s go get dinner. Come on, come on.”
Elnet dragged Kent along with a strength he couldn’t resist, and took him away.
“Come on, come on, eat up! Bring us more, old man!”
Kent was taken to a shop that looked like an izakaya, a place he had been to with Caro before. Elnet ordered whatever caught her eye.
A large spread of dishes filled the table, and Elnet began to drink heavily.
“Don’t hold back. Leave this to your older sister.”
“Then, I won’t.”
Kent gratefully accepted.
“Hey, Kent, listen to me. My sister, it seems she has a boy she likes, but before she could make a move, he was snatched up by another girl. She came to me for advice. But I have no experience in romance like that, so I don’t know what to tell her.”
“But if they’re from a high status family, isn’t it okay to have multiple wives? Can’t she just date him? And if her family is high status, wouldn’t the other person likely be high status too?”
“Actually, the person my sister fell for is a commoner. So, unless they’re incredibly wealthy, they’ll probably only choose one.”
“Is that so?”
“My sister used to say things like, ‘Men of low status are out of the question.’ What’s gotten into her?”
As their conversation flowed, the food and drinks on the table dwindled.
“Hey, old man! More drinks and food!”
“Coming right up!”
Elnet placed another order.
(Where in her slender body does all this go?)
Eighty percent of what was served went into Elnet’s stomach. Ten percent went into Kent’s stomach, and the remaining ten percent remained on the table.
“But Kent, I’m impressed. I never thought you had so much courage. To be able to handle yourself against an unknown number of bandits without fear… you’ve made me fall for you, big sister might have.”
As they finished most of what they had ordered, Elnet pulled Kent closer and said.
“Elnet, that hurts a little.”
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I think I put a little too much force into it. And can you stop using -san with my name? We’re not that formal, it’s just you and me. You can call me by my name.”
“Then, Elnet.”
“Ah, it just made my heart skip a beat. Say it again.”
“Elnet.”
“I can’t take it anymore… *snore snore*.”
With that, Elnet fell asleep.
“Hey! Don’t fall asleep on me! Elnet, wake up!”
Kent shook Elnet, trying to wake her, but there was no sign of her stirring.
(I guess I have no choice… I need to get out of here.)
“Excuse me. The bill, please.”
“Welcome. I’ll calculate it now, just give me a moment.”
The shop owner began to calculate the bill.
“Alright, that’ll be one gold coin, two large silver coins, and six silver coins (126,000 G).”
“I thought we ate and drank a lot, but I didn’t realize it was this much that ended up in my stomach.”
Incidentally, he recalled that when he came with Caro before, he got change back from two silver coins.
The person who offered to pay was sound asleep, snoring like a log. Kent had no choice but to pay.
(This expenditure is going to sting.)
“Thank you for your patronage! Thanks to you, we’re in the black today. Please come again.”
Kent left the shop, but since he didn’t know where Elnet lived, he had no choice but to carry her home on his back.
(What will I tell Marie…)
“I’m home.”
“Welcome home, Kent? Um, what about this person?”
Marie asked Kent with a clearly displeased expression.
“Actually, yesterday, I happened to be on the same stagecoach as her. We were walking back together, so we decided to go for drinks after returning. Then, she fell asleep on the way.”
“And you brought her home with you then?”
“Well, I suppose it amounts to that.”
“Ah, Kent’s brought another woman home.”
Catherine also appeared and said.
“Another one… I don’t remember bringing that many home.”
“Just kidding. So, you need to put her somewhere to sleep, right? Kent’s room is fine?”
“That’s right. Let’s have her sleep there for now.”
“Understood. Then I’ll go prepare it, Mother.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
Marie and Catherine opened the door to the room and helped carry Elnet to Kent’s room.
“Heave ho.”
They managed to lay her on Kent’s bed.
“Kent, you said you went drinking, so you’ve already finished dinner, haven’t you…”
Three servings of food were prepared on the dining table. Seeing that Marie and Catherine’s portions had not been touched, it seemed they had been waiting for Kent to return.
“I ate a little, but I’m fine. Well then, shall we have dinner?”
“Yes!”
Marie and Catherine replied happily.
The three of them gathered around the dining table and began to eat dinner.
“Kent, how was your trip with Caro?”
“It wasn’t a trip, it was an inspection. I heard a lot and enjoyed it.”
“I see. I’m glad you enjoyed it. But please take me on a trip someday too.”
“That’s right. I hope we can go someday.”
“I want to go too!”
“That’s right, you too, Catherine.”
“Yay!”
Marie and Catherine asked Kent many questions about his recent inspection.
“Still, it’s amazing that Caro is the lord’s daughter. I mean, just a few days ago she was working with us at the shop…”
“Is big sister Caro not coming here anymore?”
Catherine asked with concern.
“She seems to be busy right now, but I’m sure she’ll come once things settle down.”
Kent said this with a wish for it to happen, even though he had no certainty.
After finishing their meal, they decided to take a bath. Marie and Catherine had already bathed and smelled of soap.
“Before that… I’ll quickly renovate a part of the house.”
Actually, there was another untouched room in Kent’s house. He had left it neglected as there was no need for it, but he had been thinking that it wasn’t good to always share a bed. So, he had been considering creating a Japanese-style room with tatami mats, which would allow for some flexibility. He took out his terminal and selected a simple Japanese-style room renovation from the reform plans. Upon pressing ‘confirm,’ a tatami-matted Japanese-style room was completed. Along with that, he decided to install air conditioners in the Japanese-style room and Kent’s room.
(Akane will probably start complaining about wanting an air conditioner soon too.)
Summer was approaching, and even the nights were starting to get a little hot. Kent, who disliked the heat, didn’t shy away from the expenses.
“Kent, is this room made of grass? It smells nice.”
Catherine said as she entered the tatami room, which smelled of rush grass.
“It’s a strange room. Is it made by hardening grass?”
“This is called tatami, and it’s made by weaving something called igusa. You can also sleep on it if you lay a futon.”
“I see. Then, it’ll be fine even if lots of friends come over.”
Marie said happily, perhaps thinking about future possibilities.
“Then, I’m going to take a bath.”
Kent headed to the bath alone.
“I couldn’t take a bath yesterday. Ah, a bath is the best!”
Kent enjoyed his bath, appreciating the benefits of modern conveniences.
“So, Kent, how are we going to sleep today?”
“Hmm…”
Marie asked, and Kent pondered.
“Since we made it, let’s have the three of us sleep in here!”
Catherine suggested.
“Oh, sleeping in a ‘river’ formation? That might be good.”
“A river formation?”
When Kent said this, Marie asked.
“When a parent and two children sleep, if you place the child in the middle and have everyone face the same direction, it forms a character that looks like the Chinese character for ‘river’.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s why it’s called a river formation.”
Hearing Kent’s explanation, Marie said with admiration.
“Then I’ll be in the middle. Here I go!”
Marie, Catherine, and Kent lay down side-by-side on the newly purchased double-sized futon in that order.
“This might be nice too.”
“It is… Oh, Catherine, you’re already asleep.”
Kent and Marie watched Catherine’s sleeping face and said.
