The Kingdom Church Polka Temple.
Though small, it has a history spanning over a hundred years and is an important facility that holds much of the wisdom and entertainment of this small town.
When people are explained this, most often say, “Isn’t Polka’s entertainment just alcohol and hot springs?” However, only a few old men really enjoy the alcohol. Hot springs are part of everyday life for the common folk, but they’re not considered the primary form of entertainment. Some oddballs might claim that simply having access to hot springs is enough to make life perfect, but usually, the role of a bath is to soothe tired bodies and wash away dirt. This isn’t any different even in Polka’s sacred springs, where special healing powers are said to exist. Calling this the greatest entertainment is like saying “sleep is the greatest entertainment,” which, when you think about it, sounds pretty lonely.
No, not at all.
The role of the church temple is to host various festivals in Polka, constantly sharing music, songs, dances, or even stories accumulated throughout the kingdom with the townsfolk.
In the cities, temples have already started being seen as “facilities for weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies,” but in this simple era and town, a temple was something “fun.”
However…
”…………”
Laurier, an elf from the Gold Clan who recently began serving as a temporary teacher at the temple, was feeling confused.
The task assigned to Laurier was to teach arithmetic to the children. Though she was frustrated by how difficult it was to get them to take it seriously, perhaps due to her short stature and the familiarity it brought, or perhaps because of the seemingly unimagiable “whip” she wielded, her students’ retention was good enough for both the priest and the parents to approve.
But recently, someone who wasn’t a child had started joining in.
If it were an adult parent watching their child’s lesson, they wouldn’t be confused. In fact, quite a few parents often stopped by for a few minutes during work. As long as the child didn’t get scolded or praised, it was welcome from the teacher’s perspective.
Instead, the cat sisters Azel and Rizelle were inexplicably sitting in the front row during class.
”…Hey, you two.”
”?”
“Meow?”
“Why are you here? Didn’t you have work at Schneider’s inn?”
“Our big sister takes care of everything, so it’s fine, nya~.”
“Yeah.”
”…Um. This is really hard to say, but honestly, you’re a bit in the way.”
“Eh?”
“It’s fine~! Your stories are interesting~!”
“I’m not trying to tell interesting stories or anything… This is just kid-friendly lessons, and they don’t mean anything to you two.”
”?”
“Aren’t you all just full of surprises?”
Azazel and Riserel, with their flashy tea-colored cat ears and tails, swayed their hair in unison and looked puzzled.
Hearing this, the children behind them started to make a commotion.
“Seriously?”
“Are cat beastfolk really that stupid?”
“Don’t say that! We don’t even have anyone to teach us these things!”
“You can survive in the desert colony just by hunting, even if you don’t know anything!”
“Eh, nice. Maybe I should live in the desert too.”
“Shut up. Even you can’t hunt properly, can you?”
“Shut it! If these stupid cats can do it, then so can I!”
“In our colony, we hunt in the labyrinth.”
“But if you’re not careful, you’ll sometimes die. It’s monsters after all.”
”…………”
The boy who had spoken carelessly about the desert reality was left pale-faced by the Maple sisters, who explained it so casually.
Around here, monsters are called Mad Wolves. Wolves with horse-like bodies used to invade the town a few times in the past, and those who knew the terror of them would find it utterly insane.
“Enough, enough. I mean, you can hear it, but move further back. The kids are shorter than us, after all.”
“Meow~”
“Meow~”
The cat sisters moved to a different seat, though they looked slightly dissatisfied.
“Hey hey, by the way, is it true that all cat beastmen get all perverted with that slut Andy?”
The boy who had been pale-faced earlier now recovered and whispered a scandalous question to the cat sisters who had moved nearby.
“It’s not true for everyone~”
“Barbara doesn’t do it~”
”…What about everyone else?”
“Hmm, what do you think?”
“We’re doing it, though.”
“Hey, over there! Don’t talk about weird stuff during class!”
”…If you’re doing it with that pervert Andy, then fine, I guess? Later, let me touch your boobs a little too (←whispering).”
“No.”
“You’re just a servant, so it’s fine. You’re such an idiot, I can’t stand you. Why don’t you just keep touching Mama’s boobs or something?”
The cat girls were completely unfazed by the boy’s lewd request. The boy turned bright red, utterly humiliated, while the other kids around them snickered.
“Enough of this…!”
The chalk that Laure had thrown exploded with a loud boom on the cat girl and the boy’s foreheads.
“Ouch!?”
“Gwahhh!?”
“If you want to talk about pervy stuff, do it later! Right now is math!”
With a single swing of her arm, she could fire three shots in rapid succession. Laurier had developed some strange skills.
By the way, as interactions with the cat beastfolk colony increased, the need for elementary education grew, and eventually, Laurier would end up teaching at a private school tailored for them, which was still far in the future.
“Even if you call out to her, Jeanne-san and Selen-san wouldn’t be able to act normally…”
Fennel spoke with a troubled expression.
Jeanne was one thing, but there was no way they could make Selen, who carried such a heavy belly, do any carpentry work. If she were more nimble, she might have been capable, though.
“I only have to feed Peter milk occasionally, but it’s not like I can’t handle manual labor.”
“I can’t do carpentry, but I can handle simple design work. Calculating the necessary lumber, for example. And it’s not like we have to finish it in a day; we can help out properly after giving birth.”
“That’s true…”
“It’s not like she could get pregnant anytime soon anyway.”
Irina and Kristi exchanged glances.
“If we’re short-handed, we could call on the cat beastfolk like Maronne-san or Milly-san. And while I’ve kind of excluded them from my mind, Oregano-san and Savory-san might also be capable of carpentry work.”
“Is that so…?”
Fennel makes a thoughtful face.
“I’ve heard the family has a lot of craftsmen in it.”
“It’s true, but those kids aren’t particularly the next generation or anything…”
“Then why not just try it? Even if they can’t do it, it’ll just mean Jeanne’s workload increases.”
“That might be true.”
Fennel looks uneasy. Selen, who has been handed a chair by Christie, sits down with a sigh, looking somewhat wiser and saying, “That won’t work.”
“It’s not just this kind of thing— if there’s no specialist, you should try anything. Saying it’s out of your skill set or that it’s not your specialty might seem like a valid excuse at first glance, but it’s actually quite privileged and indulgent to think you have someone else to handle it. If you need to do it, you’ll figure it out eventually, no matter how clumsy or inexperienced you are. The idea of ‘the right person for the job’ is just a saying for when there’s an abundance of people.”
“Coming from Selen, that’s quite convincing.”
“Look, even Apple managed to learn all sorts of things once they had no choice. So, why not give it a try? There’s no logic in saying carpentry is only for men, and if you need help with the heavy lifting, you can always ask Jeanne or the people from Blue Dragon. If you’re unsatisfied with the result, you can just rebuild it. After all, elves live long lives, so there’s plenty of time to practice.”
“It might be true. Even though I’ve been saying the number of elves is decreasing, I think I’ve been thinking too much in terms of group logic.”
Fennel nods in agreement.
Christie looks at Selen with admiration.
“Your approach to handling people is still quite different from mine, Selen-san. Ever since you started leading people, you’ve been too fixated on aptitude and numbers.”
“That’s just because elves tend to fall into a narrow mindset, trapped in stability and longevity. Anyone can do it if they try—there’s no need for everything to be perfect.”
Jeanne crossed her arms (Peter had entrusted Selen with this) and nodded at Selen’s words.
“Exactly. Even a girl who’s never been Andy’s slave before would feel like she’s more than just herself if he wanted her, praised her, and made her feel appreciated. Many girls say it’s like they’ve been reborn, but clinging to what you’re good at isn’t the best approach. This is a good opportunity, so I think you should challenge yourself to do as much as you can for Andy.”
“Building the hot spring hut is one thing, and the contents of the erotic play are another, right?”
“If you think of everything as being for Andy, starting new things won’t feel like a burden. Carpentry, blacksmithing, even erotic techniques—all of it can lead to the kind of play you’ve been dreaming of. …If we had a dedicated hot spring hut, I’d want to do the hot spring duty roleplay.”
[Master]: “W-wait, I’m on hot spring duty?”
[Assistant]: “I’ll stay in the hot spring all day, and when Andy goes in for a dip, you’ll casually stick your thing in, relax for a bit, then go back to the hot spring… It’s like being treated as equipment♪”
[Master]: “Isn’t that what you always do in the hot spring…?”
[Assistant]: “Surprisingly, I can’t really let loose in the hot spring, so it’s only in situations like this barrier cell.”
[Assistant]: “I’d love to have slow sex in the hot spring for the whole night. Don’t shake your hips too hard, just keep it in me the whole time♪”
[Master]: “Hmm. If that’s the case, I think I might… want to try it as well.”
“I… I’d like to try something like pouring sake while serving men and enjoying their juices during a moonlit bath… Oh, wait, is that a bit too indecent?”
“Now, of all times, Cristy.”
“It seems like you’re already being completely won over by Lord Cristy, Andy-san♪”
The baron’s mansion was bustling with excitement as the afternoon passed.
“Marone-chan, I know this might upset you, but I’d like you to hear me out.”
“Yes?”
At that moment, at Mother Marie’s house, Marone and Oregano were helping her with cooking, working hard to master the “flavors of home.”
“I think a good girl like you would be able to find a much better man than Andy, who’s such a scoundrel. So, um… maybe it’s best to stop with that whole slave thing and those weird games?”
“Wha—”
“I’ve heard that beastmen become incredibly lustful during the full moon, even more so than humans. I know it’s part of their race, but if there’s a period when they become so shameless… I can understand feeling a little self-conscious. But still, calling yourself a slave is something else. Andy’s an idiot for just going along with it, and he’s spreading it around to ten or twenty others… But you don’t have to do the same just because everyone else does, right? There are plenty of men out there who’d love a girl like you—modest, cute, and hardworking—who’d devote their lives to loving you. If Andy’s bothering you, I’ll shut him up for you.”
“I… I don’t want that.”
“You don’t? I think the way Trot treats women is far worse than that.”
“I… I want to have the Master’s child here. Not with some unknown person who’ll cherish me, but with the Master himself, so he can dote on me a lot… I’ve always felt that way, but it’s like… I just can’t…”
Marone peeled potatoes while looking down.
Seeing Marone, who had her ears pressed down as if she were about to cry, Mary raised her hands in surrender.
”…Sigh. I always wonder what on earth that child is thinking.”
She turned back to the pot with a tired expression and slumped her shoulders.
“See? I told you so, Mother-in-law. Everyone really loves the Master, and it’s not like they’re doing it just for show.”
She smiled as she handed over some chopped oregano.
“We’ve already checked on all the cats. After that… well, I’m starting to wonder if one of them might be swayed. It’s mostly kids who’ve never been touched before, right? Once the heat cools down, they’ll probably start thinking, ‘What am I doing?’”
“I wonder. The Master seems to get more and more charming every time he goes on an adventure… At least for us elves, when it comes to romance, we’re a persistent bunch. We don’t cool off easily.”
“You think we’re being fooled…”
“That’s because you’re his mother. You see him as a child, so you can’t fully understand the Master’s charm.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I think there’s no woman who loves Andy more than me. That’s just how parents are, isn’t it?”
[Translator’s Note: This text is from a conversation between two women. The first woman is speaking in Japanese, and the second woman is translating it into English.]
Woman 1: “Ah, um… but that’s different from the feeling of wanting to be loved by our Master, or to become part of his life.”
Woman 2: “Hmm… As a parent, I’d want to stop them before they get hurt, even if it means my son is doing something unreasonable, or my daughters are misunderstanding things. It’s like watching a scene from some palace in a foreign kingdom. That child is my son, made with my husband’s seed.”
Oregano smiled wryly and then assumed a more serious expression.
Woman 2: ”…For the King, it’s just part of the system—being a member of the royal family means having many wives. But for our Master… Andy Smysen, he shoulders greater power than anyone to bring smiles to the women he loves. I don’t want him to fail, so we gather together and express our love for him, not as part of a palace system but as a natural gathering. If that person is happy being our female slave, then of course we’ll offer ourselves. That’s all it is.”
Woman 1: ”…I don’t think he’s that kind of person. My Andy isn’t.”
Woman 2: “Even if that were true, I’d probably stay as his female slave until the day he dies.”
Oregano spoke with a smile free of any trace of doubt.
The sunset enveloped Polka Town in its glow.
Meanwhile, in the south, Andy was likely embarking on some adventure they knew nothing about.
Each of them thought about the day they’d welcome him back.