Kingdom Church of the Polka Temple. Though small, it boasts a tradition spanning over a century and serves as an essential facility responsible for much of this little town’s wisdom and entertainment.
When most people hear this description, they immediately exclaim, “Isn’t Polka’s entertainment just alcohol and hot springs?” However, only a select few old-timers truly enjoy drinking to excess. While hot springs have become integrated into common life, they certainly cannot be considered the primary form of entertainment. Some eccentric individuals may claim that merely bathing in a hot spring makes life perfect, but generally speaking, the purpose of a bath is to soothe a tired body and wash away dirt—a function unchanged even by Polka’s sacred spring, which possesses special spiritual efficacy. To label this as the greatest form of entertainment is akin to saying “sleep is the ultimate amusement,” which sounds rather bleak when considered logically.
No, that’s not what I mean. The temple’s role is to organize various festivals in Polka and continuously convey music, songs, dances, and the accumulated tales of the nation to its people.
In the cities, temples have already begun shifting public perception toward being “facilities for weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies.” But in this simple era, within this unpretentious town, a temple was something truly “joyful.”
However… ”…………” Elve Lorie of the Gold Clan, who recently began serving as a temporary teacher at that temple, found herself bewildered.
Her assigned duty was to teach arithmetic to the children. Though she struggled with students who refused to take their studies seriously, her short stature likely fostered a sense of closeness, or perhaps the effect of her seemingly unimaginable “whip” proved effective; either way, the children remembered what she taught well, earning praise from priests and guardians alike.
Yet lately, non-children have begun appearing in her classroom. Adults observing their own children’s lessons would hardly feel confused. In fact, many parents take a brief ten-minute peek during work breaks. For the teacher, having students sit up straight to avoid scolding or gain praise from their parents is welcome.
But that’s not the case here. Azel and Rizer, the cat sisters, are inexplicably seated in the front row during class.
”……Hey, you two.”
”?”
“Nya?”
“Why are you here? Don’t you have work at Mr. Schneider’s inn?”
“Auntie does everything for us, so it’s fine, nya~”
“Nope.”
”……Well, I’m not exactly comfortable saying this, but honestly, you’re a bit of a distraction.”
“Eh?”
“It’s okay~ Lorie’s stories are interesting~”
“I don’t actually intend to tell interesting stories… This is elementary study for children, and it means nothing to you either.”
”?”
“You know nothing, right?”
Azel and Rizer shake their flashy tawny-orange hair in unison, looking puzzled.
Hearing this, the children behind them erupt into chatter.
“No way!”
“So cat-beasts are actually pretty dumb?”
“Not dumb! There’s no one around to teach us stuff like this!”
“Even if we don’t know, as long as we can hunt in the desert colony, we’ll survive!”
“Eh, that sounds cool~ Maybe I should live in the desert too~”
“You can’t even hunt, can you?”
“Shut up. If these idiot cats can do it, so can I.”
“In my colony, we hunt inside dungeons~”
“Careless, and you’ll die sometimes. It’s monsters we’re dealing with.”
”…………”
The boy who had casually remarked on the desert’s harsh reality turned pale at Maple Sisters’ matter-of-fact lesson.
In this region, “monsters” typically refer to mad wolves—wolf-like creatures that have invaded towns before, more than once. For those who know the terror they bring, such an occurrence is utterly insane.
“That’s enough, that’s enough. You can listen a bit more from behind. The kids’ brains are too young for this.”
“Meow~”
“Meow~”
The cat sisters shifted seats with mild dissatisfaction.
“Come on, come on… by the way, is it true all cat-beasts get screwed by that pervert Andy?” Having moved to a nearby seat, the boy who had just turned pale quickly recovered and whispered an improper question.
“Not everyone~”
“Barbara hasn’t gotten any~”
”…Everyone else then?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure.”
“We have, though.”
“Hey, stop it! No weird talk during class!”
”…Well, if you’re doing it with Pervert Andy, that’s fine. Let me touch your breasts a little later too (←whispered).”
“No way.”
“You can do whatever you want, Master. You’re the boss. I hate you for being such an idiot. Just let me touch Mommy’s breasts instead.”
The cat-girls showed zero sympathy for the boy’s lewd request. His dignity shattered completely, his face turning bright red as the surrounding children burst out laughing. “Stop it… stop it!” A chalk thrown by Loryie exploded with a sharp crack against the foreheads of both the cat-girl and the boy.
“What the hell!?”
“Grrrrooo!?”
“Save the dirty talk for later! Math class now!”
With a single flick of her wrist, she fired three chalks in rapid succession. Loryie had developed some strange skills lately.
By the way, as exchanges with the Cat-Beast Colony increased, the need for elementary education grew accordingly. Eventually, Loryie would become a private tutor specifically for them—but that was still far in the future.
“Even if I try to talk to them, Jeanne and Selen probably can’t act properly…” Fennel said with a troubled expression.
Jeanne might be okay, but there’s no way they’d expect someone carrying such a heavy belly like Selen to do carpentry work. If she were light-footed, she might have actually tried.
“I sometimes have to feed Peter’s milk, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do physical labor.”
“I can’t do carpentry, but I can handle simple designs—calculating lumber needs and all that. Besides, it doesn’t have to be done in one day. Once the baby is born, I can help properly then.”
“That’s true…”
“Before we know it, she could give birth any moment now.”
Eilina and Christie exchanged glances.
“If you’re short on hands, just call out for Marone or Millil—they’re always around. Besides, I’ve been mentally excluding them from the list, but surely someone like Oregano or Sebori could handle some carpentry work too?”
“Is that so…”
Fennel frowned, her expression troubled.
“I’ve heard that your clan originally had many artisans like this.”
“There are indeed quite a few, but those girls aren’t particularly heirs to the family business…”
“What? Why not just let them try? Even if they fail, it only means more work for Jeanne’s share.”
“That may be true, though…”
Fennel looked increasingly uneasy. Selen, who had been offered a seat by Christie, sat down with an air of authority, shaking her head slightly as if to say, “That won’t do at all.”
“This applies not only to carpentry but to everything: if there’s no specialist, anyone can give it a try. Saying ‘I’m not good at it’ or ‘It’s outside my expertise’ sounds reasonable on the surface, but in reality, having someone else to rely on is a sign of privilege—and indulgence. If needed, even clumsy or inexperienced attempts will lead to mastery through practice. The saying ‘putting the right person in the right place’ only holds when there’s an abundance of talent.”
“As expected, Selen’s words carry real weight.”
“See? Even Apple learned new things once she was forced to take on responsibilities. So why not give it a little effort? There’s no rule that carpentry is exclusively men’s work, and for tasks requiring strength, we can always rely on Jeanne or the people from Blue Dragon. If the final result isn’t satisfactory, we can rebuild it. As long-lived beings, you have plenty of time to practice as much as you need.”
”…Perhaps that’s true. While I’ve been saying the number of elves is declining, I seem to have overthought things in terms of group logic,” Fennel admitted.
Christie looked at Selen with admiration.
“As expected, your approach to people is different, Miss Selen. Once you become a leader, you tend to focus too much on aptitude and numbers.”
“That’s simply because elves, blessed with stability and longevity, often narrow their vision unnecessarily. Anyone can do quite a bit if they try, and nothing needs to be perfect all the time.”
Jeanne crossed her arms (Peter had entrusted Selen to her) and nodded in agreement.
“Exactly. Even a girl who became Andy’s female slave without ever engaging in anything erotic would realize she’s more than what she thought of herself once Andy desired and praised her. Many girls say they feel like they’ve been reborn, but ultimately, they cling only to their strengths. Since this is a good opportunity, I think you should try to do as much as possible for Andy.”
“Building the hot spring bathhouse counts, and so does the content of our intimate scenes.”
“If everything is done with the thought of helping Andy, starting new skills won’t feel burdensome at all. Whether it’s carpentry, blacksmithing, or even erotic techniques—if you believe they’ll one day connect to your ideal play, that’s enough. …Personally, I’d love to participate in the ‘hot spring duty’ role once our dedicated hot spring is ready.”
“Huh? Hot spring duty?”
“Waiting by the hot spring all day, then casually inserting my penis into Andy’s whenever he dips a bit, waiting until he’s satisfied before resting again… treating me like equipment, if you will♪”
“But isn’t that what Master usually does in the hot spring?”
“Well, surprisingly, he can’t let loose much in the hot spring, so situations outside the barrier prison are rare.”
“I’d love to enjoy slow sex in the bath all night without any hesitation—no vigorous thrusting of the waist, just keeping my penis inside continuously♪”
“Hmm… If that’s the case, I might also… y-yes, I’d like to try that too.”
“And I… perhaps something like a moon-viewing bath where I serve drinks while enjoying Andy’s penis broth… No, that sounds a bit indecent, doesn’t it?”
“It’s not too late for you, Christie.”
“Master Andy being stripped bare by Lady Christie is becoming visible to all♪”
As the afternoon passed in lively chatter at the Baron’s estate, the scene shifted.
“Marone-chan, I’d like to ask you something without offending you.”
“Yes?”
At that moment, at Mother Marie’s home, Marone and Oregano were helping Marie with cooking as they worked toward mastering “Mother’s Special Recipe.”
“A kind girl like you will surely find a much better man than someone as worthless as Andy. So perhaps… it would be better to stop those female slave roles and strange games?”
“Eh…?”
“I’ve heard that beastfolk become far more lustful than humans with the phases of the moon. Even if it’s a racial trait, if there are periods when their desire fades so much… I can understand feeling a bit inferior about it. But just because of that, I don’t think you’d ever call yourself a slave like Drey—yes, that one. Andy is an idiot; he’s laughing all the way down and spreading rumors that there are ten or twenty of them… but just because others do it doesn’t mean Marone-chan has to follow suit? A girl as modest, cute, and hardworking as you could find a man who’d love you with his whole life in even a small town. If you’re upset about Andy, I’ll shut him up for you.”
”…N-no, I don’t want that.”
”…You don’t want it? I think the men’s superiority over women in Trot is far worse than anything else.”
“I… I want to bear your master’s child right here. Not by some stranger who might treat me well, but because I want your master to dote on me… I’ve always meant that, yet…”
While peeling a potato, Marone bowed her head.
Seeing Marone with her ears flattened, on the verge of tears, Marie raised her hands in surrender.
”…Sigh. I always wonder what she did.” She turned back to the pot with a tired expression and slumped her shoulders. “That’s why I told you, Mother-in-law. Everyone truly loves Master; they’re all doing this willingly.”
Smiling as she offered herbs sprinkled with oregano, she continued.
“We’ve already confirmed all the cat children. As for the rest… hmm, I thought at least one might have been carried away by emotion. But most of those who were approached seem to be first-timers? Once the fever breaks, I think they’ll start wondering, ‘What on earth was I doing?’ ”
“How about it? Master seems to become more and more charming with every adventure he goes on… At least for us elves, we’re a race that’s persistent when it comes to the opposite sex, or rather, hard to change our minds. So I don’t think they’ll cool down so easily?”
“It feels like she’s being deceived…”
“That’s because you’re her mother. You see her as a child, so Master’s charm doesn’t come through.”
“Nonsense. I don’t think there’s any woman who cherishes Andy more than me? That’s what parents are about.”
“Oh… but that’s different from our feeling of wanting to be loved by Master, wanting to become part of his life, isn’t it?”
“Hmm… As a parent, I still want to stop my son from doing impossible things, and the daughters who seem to misunderstand their father, before they get hurt in front of me… But this isn’t like a king’s harem. That child is my son, made by our foolish husband’s seed.”
Oregano smiled helplessly before adopting a more serious expression.
”…A king needs many wives because he is part of the system of kingship. But Master… Andy Smythe carries the greatest burden on his shoulders to make the women he loves smile. I don’t want him to give up, so many people have gathered their strength, and for the sake of those smiles, he expresses his love… It’s not a harem as an institution, but a gathering formed inevitably. If that person is happy with us being female, then naturally we wish to offer ourselves—that’s all. This way of speaking might sound like excessive self-consciousness, but surely, under laws made in ancient times for someone other than us, we cannot be contained.”
”…I don’t think it’s quite that grand, though. My Andy…”
“Even if it is, I will certainly remain his female slave until the day he dies.”
Oregano said with a smile free of any cloud.
The town of Polka was wrapped in the glow of sunset. To the south, once again, Andy leaped into an adventure unknown to them. Each one, thinking of that day when they would welcome him.