Maou na Ore to Fushihime no Yubiwa

Finished with the greetings at the palace, by Zonmi’s suggestion, we went to visit the castle’s royal villa.

The survival race pa.s.sed down among the ghoul clan… The hundred deaths course was scheduled to be held three days from now.

For that reason, Zonmi has suggested to us the royal villa as a lodging place until then.

Originally, it seems it had been built for guests that came from far away, and as no one apart from us was using it, it naturally looked like we had reserved it to ourselves.

It’s quite ironical to say that, compared to the human world, it feels like we are now living with more luxury.

“Haah… At any rate, today many things have happened…”

To wash away the tiredness from the trip, I went to an onsen bath[1] which I learned of beforehand.

After consulting with the girls, it seems that there’s only one big bath that has fixed hours alternating between male and female bath.

Inside love comedy mangas, at this time of the entering-the-bath scene, without fail it will lead to a mixed bath event, but of course this is the real world.

Thinking about it calmly, the chance an event like that occurs is about 0.

I checked the time on my cellphone.

“Good…”

Since I’ve checked many times, there’s no doubt.

This is the male bath.

I threw my clothes into the basket at the changing room.

I opened the door, making a rattling noise, and.

“Uo… It’s pretty large…”

What entered my vision was a scenery of a stone bathtub surrounded by pine trees that overall overflowed with a j.a.panese taste.

After lightly rinsing my body, I entered the tub.

As for the essential bathtub… It was quite disappointing.

To sum it up in one word, lukewarm.

Since it was made with the weak to heat ghoul clan in mind, that may be partly inevitable.

If a ghoul entered forty degrees[2] hot water, maybe they’ll start dissolving into the bathtub.

“Fui…”

Once you get accustomed to soaking in warm water, it’s not that bad.

However, if you take a long bath you may catch a cold.

… I pray that from the showers at least comes hot water.

And, as I was having those thoughts, I heard noises coming from the changing room.

““Ah””

I think that we raised our voice at about the same time.

W-what’s with… This…

Am I dreaming?

Before my eyes was Zonmi in the nude.

The extent of the shock leaving me unable even to blink… I froze as if the time had stopped.

However, it looks that it was the same for Zonmi, she just kept staring to me, standing upright without even covering herself with the towel.

During that time concentrated to the utmost, I thought it once again.

Zonmi’s body is beautiful, isn’t it?

That is, despite not having an overly destructive bust size like Manami or Lilith-san.

Nevertheless, I don’t think that Zonmi’s body loses in femininity even for a bit when compared with them.

Zonmi has… long and slender arms and legs.

Smooth skin, white like virgin snow.

And I think that her chest size is a bit above the average of her age group.

Those, that certainly came from heavens splurging, deserve to be called perfect cheat specs.

“…!?”

The instant after I absentmindedly thought that.

“Chiharu… Hide!”

As if recalling something, Zonmi suddenly… Pushed down my body.

*SPLAAAASH*

Raising a huge splash, I was submerged to the bottom of the tub.

As it was expected, I was in close contact with Zonmi’s body.

Even if I say so myself, how did we end up in such a situation was a big mystery…

Zonmi, so as to keep submerged (?) my body that wanted to surface, using both hands and feet… and the b.u.t.t too, pinned down my body.

“Nu. What is it… This white and murky fluid…?”

“Heeh. This has been made fairly standard… I never thought I could enter an onsen at the land of the ghouls.”

““…””

These voices, don’t tell me… Iris and Kyouko!?

Though belatedly, at that moment I understood the reason behind Zonmi’s actions.

It seems that, for an unknown reason, I was brazenly using the bath during the time slot reserved for the girls.

Because of that… Zonmi, who had noticed my presence ahead of time, so as to avoid the other girls running into me, submerged my body into the tub.

Be that as it may, that’s weird.

Before entering the bath, I had checked many times the time, so… What could have gone wrong? … Don’t tell me!?

Then, a thought flashed in my mind.

What I had been zealously checking back then was my cell phone’s clock.

My cell’s clock… I had it set with the clocks of the hotel we were lodging at before.

Could it be that… As we’ve moved to the undead tribe’s continent, there’s a slight time difference!?

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Still submerged, a voice I was used to hearing resounded in my ears.

Girls that suddenly yell like that, as far as I know, there’s only one.

As usual, the voice’s owner was Manami.

“Wait, you zombie there! Didn’t I tell you before that you shouldn’t enter the bath before me! I had even brought a PET[3] bottle…”

“… Is that so? My apologies.”

“Uu… Even though I thought I could drink after so much time oniichan’s after bath soup… Since the zombie has gone in, it’s been polluted and I can’t drink it!”

“…”

After so much time… You, did you usually do that at home?

… If we return to the human world, I must be really careful of not having a bath until my sister is done.

“Manami-sama… It’s a pity that thing about Chiharu-sama’s… Soup, but… Raising your voice inside a bath for public use is a lack of manners.”

“That’s unneeded a.s.sistance. t.i.tty wo… No, t.i.tty monster[4]!?”

“Why have you corrected yourself like that!?”

“That’s because… You see…”

“And why are you now staring at my chest!?”

“I… Manami-chan is out of the question, but I think that Lilith-san is lacking enough manners. The heck, what do you have to eat to grow them this big?”

“Wh-what is it, young ladies!? Could you not randomly cooperate and stare at my b.r.e.a.s.t.s!?”

“Muu… Now that thou mention it, certainly… The succubus’s mammaries are magnificent.

Well… L-let me check the sensation for when, in the future, my mammaries grow bigger too.”

“Hey. Iris-sama!? Please stop with the incomprehensible sophistry and touching other people’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s!”

“…”

G-girls talk[5]!

I never heard it happened in the real world, but it’s the kind of girls talk that is, for some reason, an over-the-top staple situation on the late night anime[6] world!

Moreover, it’s the comeback of the superb flow of events where the flat-chested character plays with the well-endowed character’s b.o.o.bs!

I shouldn’t spit out the pattern.

I, right now, am feeling the beauty of this honed style…

“Chiharu… Chiharu…”

“…*bubbles**bubbles**bubbles* (W-what is it?)”

“Now it’s your chance, while they are caught with the succubus’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s! Try to leave this place by diving!”

“…*bubbles**bubbles**bubbles* (Understood)”

Thanks, Zonmi.

Thanks, Lilith-san’s b.o.o.bs.

Even though there’s no ill will, if I, being a man, get exposed here, things wouldn’t end well.

…

……

Slowly.

Slowly.

Without raising noise, I gradually parted from Zonmi.

I’m nearing the limit of my lung capacity, but if it’s some tens of seconds more, I should be able to endure it.

A bit more.

Now, if I remove my leg from within Zonmi’s thighs I can safely break out.

With the mission’s end almost on sight, just when I was feeling relieved, an accident happened.

A part of my body… The hardest place of my lower body ended up hitting Zonmi’s body.

“Hyau!?”

All of a sudden, Zonmi raised a coquettish voice.

“C-could you not touch me with weird places!?”

“*bubbles**bubbles**bubbles*… (No. The knee!? Wasn’t it the knee!?)”

“Uu… Chiharu, you moron… Pervert.”

“…”

Even though I tried to somehow clarify the misunderstanding, in this situation, it didn’t work.

“? Hasn’t the zombie suddenly raised a weird voice?”

“What’s the matter, ghoul? Are you feeling under the weather?”

““…””

T-this is bad.

Even though Lilith-san managed at great pains to attract their attention, this accident just now gathered all stares on us.

And my lungs, like a tense string that got cut, suddenly demanded oxygen.

… It can’t be!

I’m at my limit!

Uooooooooh!

I can’t endure iiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

I can’t! It’s coming out! It came oooooooooooooooooooooooooout! (I mean the oxygen).

“… Buha!”

Reaching the limits of my endurance, I brought my face over the water.

““““““…”””””

I’d say I won’t forget this scene in all of my life.

When, in the future, I’m a gramps and die, I think I want to peacefully breath my last inside a soft hospital bed while remembering this scene.

What I first saw were Kyouko, Iris, Manami, Lilith-san… Those four girl’s blank faces.

Zonmi, the only member who was aware of the circ.u.mstances, had her face totally flushed red in a daze.

And as I gradually shifted my glance down, I could grasp with my eyes the stark naked figures of the five girls.

If there’s a heaven in this world, right now I’m standing in front of it, so I thought.

Some seconds after that.

Though there occurred the mysterious incident of the onsen’s cloudy water becoming dyed red as if by tomato juice, that’s yet another story.

× × ×

“Good grief. No matter if there was no ill will, to brazenly enter the women’s bath… Reflect deeply on what you have done.”

“… Yes.”

After apologizing again and again to the girls, I was taking a stroll along the premises with Zonmi, after she bathed.

“And what even more unforgivable… You got excited by my body… And moreover one part of your body even got hard…”

“Erm, Zonmi. By my honor, I tell you that was…”

“I-I mean, I’m… A sixteen… Years old girl.

That Chiharu got that reaction due to none other than me… Though it makes me a liiiiiiiiiitle bit glad… This and that are different stories. Carried away by your l.u.s.t on such a public place… Shame on you!”

“Y.yup.”

What do I do… This mood…

Being too late to stop her misunderstanding, it was a troublesome atmosphere.

“… Now that I think of it, recently we haven’t had the chance to speak like this, just the two of us.”

Giving up on dispelling Zonmi’s misunderstanding, I boldly tried to divert the conversation’s topic.

“…Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

“If you like, this night… Could you tell me many things about you?”

When I asked, Zomi suddenly looked away, as if embarra.s.sed.

“… W-what the heck do you mean by that?”

“I’ve fully realized since coming to this town.

That you had two little sisters. That you were the ghoul clan’s princess.

If you think about it… I didn’t know a thing about you, Zonmi, until I came here.

That’s why

Like what kind of childhood did you have.

Like why you thought about going to the human world, I want you to tell me about those things with as much detail as you can.”

When I blurted to her my honest thoughts, Zonmi showed an awkward smile,

“… It doesn’t matter but I have neither shared memories with you, Chiharu, like the Nephilim does, nor a tragic past like the red dragon. I don’t think there’s anything that could catch your interest, Chiharu…”

“? Don’t decide those things before speaking about them. By the way, I want to know everything about you.”

“…… Once again, thoughtlessly saying like that lines that set one’s teeth on edge.”

Looking down as if troubled by where to look at, Zonmi spoke bitterly in a provoking tone.

“That’s right, isn’t it? Occasionally reminiscing is not that bad…”

Nevertheless, as if resigning herself, Zonmi started to speak in an unconcerned tone to hide her embarra.s.sment.

“First, about my childhood… As a child, I was, crudely speaking, a girl with no independence.”

“Is that so? How surprising.”

“Yeah. The me at that time was dedicated to studying as per my parents’ command and attended many different lessons. I feel that the me back then lived just to comply with my parents’ expectations.

And the expectations of those around me… Raised the hurdle to clear once I cleared it . As my school results, different from a certain half-baked pair of siblings[7] were excellent, the expectations on me grew at an accelerated pace.

At one point, voices appeared that endorsed me as the first queen in the ghoul clan’s history. Since at the time… My parents had yet to produce a male heir.”

“…!? Isn’t that amazing?”

“It is. The me back then… In the eyes of strangers may have looked like a child that could do anything perfectly with no effort.

However, since my conduct, after all, was a reaction born from a guilty conscience about the attention everyone had on me due to my excellent results… It’s not like it had any purpose.

That’s why I ended up snapping.

When my parents had their long-expected son, the expectations of everyone shifted from me to the baby in less than a month after the birth.

To me that was tremendously vexing… I felt like all of my efforts up to date got denied… My efforts until then were in turn exchanged in my heart for opposition against my family.”

“…”

I didn’t know.

Though not to the extent of Iris… Zonmi too has suffered bitter experiences in the past.

“Reached the turning point, about the human world… Was it once I graduated from middle school?

Though everyone naturally expected me to further my studies, I, overcoming the opposition from my family, chose the path of being a monster tamer’s partner.”

“Why expressly that?”

“Going straight to the point, it was to walk down the path that I myself chose instead of the rails set by someone. To me, the path of becoming a monster tamer’s partner… Looked like the perfect place where I could test my own power, without my lineage mattering in the least.”

“Was that so? How strong of you. Zonmi, you…”

“…”

Instead of the safe asphalt before her, she dared to choose the difficult path of cutting through by herself.

Only people with absolute confidence in their own abilities can attempt that stunt.

Zonmi, with a perplexed countenance, “haah…”, sighed,

“… What you’ve said also goes to you, Chiharu… No, rather, aren’t you the one who’s strong?”

“? What the heck do you mean?”

“I mean… You too… Despite having thousands of other paths, you chose by your own free will to walk down the path of a monster tamer.”

“… Ah!”

Now that she mentions it… Isn’t it like that?

Though I wasn’t too aware until now, My mentality of having accepted the unusual lifestyle of a monster tamer may be extraordinary.

“Besides, I, by no means… Was not the strong monster you think I was, Chiharu.

At first, I doubted if the path I chose myself was the correct one.

There were many night when I couldn’t sleep out of uneasiness.

However, since I met you, Chiharu, and we made the contract, I stopped having bad dreams.

Chiharu… How much indebted I am to you… I don’t think you’ll know it in your life.”

“… That, maybe… Is the same for me…

I too, if you were not with me, Zonmi, would live an aimless life without knowing even the kind of person I am.”

“…”

Zonmi looked down, in silence.

A quiet night where snow falls heavily and piles up.

There’s just a comfortable silence.

“… Fufu. It’s somewhat embarra.s.sing. Chiharu, you shouldn’t let your body get so cold. Why don’t we continue with this story after we have succeeded in convincing my father?”

“… That’s right. Let’s do as you say.”

Overcoming her family’s opposition… I think that Zonmi’s determination of following by herself the path that she herself cuts through.

However, Zonmi was about to run into another wall.

Unless I achieve victory on this race without fail and convince Zonmi’s father… Zonmi will probably fall again into that bitterness.

Only that… Is the obstacle we must overcome.

Finished my night stroll with Zonmi, once I had laid down in my bed, I renewed my resolve.