The Poruka Temple of the Royal Church.
A small but venerable institution with over a hundred years of tradition, it serves as a crucial facility responsible for most of this town’s wisdom and entertainment.
When explained like that, most people would say, “Doesn’t Poruka’s entertainment just mean booze and hot springs?” But only a few old geezers really enjoy their liquor that much. Hot springs are woven into the lives of common folk, but they can’t be considered the primary form of entertainment. There are those oddballs who claim that as long as they get to soak in a bath, life is perfect, but normally, a bath’s role is to soothe tired bodies and wash away grime—Poruka’s sacred springs are no different. To call that the greatest entertainment is like saying, “Sleep is the best form of entertainment,” which sounds pretty lonely when you think about it.
No.
The church’s role is to host Poruka’s various festivals and constantly pass down music, songs, dances, and even the nation’s accumulated tales to the townspeople.
In the cities, temples were already starting to be seen as facilities only for weddings, funerals, and such. But in this simple age, in this simple town, a temple was something fun.
But.
…
Loree of the Golden Clan, an elf who had recently been appointed as a temporary teacher at that temple, was perplexed.
Her assigned task was to teach arithmetic to the children. She was having trouble with kids who weren’t too keen on learning, but thanks to her short stature—which made her seem approachable—or perhaps the surprising effectiveness of her “whip,” the children seemed to remember what she taught, earning her praise from priests and parents alike.
However, recently, non-children had started showing up in her class.
If it were just adults watching their own kids’ lessons, she wouldn’t be bothered. In fact, quite a few parents would glance over for ten minutes while on their way to work. It was welcome behavior when the children straightened up to avoid getting scolded or to earn praise from those parents.
But no—it was Azer and Lizel, the cat sisters, who were inexplicably sitting in the front row during class.
“…Hey, you two.”
“?”
“Nya?”
“Why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be working at Schneider’s inn?”
“Big sis does most of it, so it’s all good nya.”
“Yeah.”
“…Um. This is really hard to say, but honestly, you’re kind of in the way.”
“Ehh?”
“It’s fine—Loree’s stories are interesting, though.”
“I don’t think I’m telling that interesting stories… this is a study for kids, and it doesn’t mean anything to you two.”
“?”
“You know nothing about any of this, right?”
The flashy tawny-and-black tabby sisters, Azer and Lizel, tilted their heads in confusion, their matching fur-tipped ears twitching.
Hearing that, the children behind them started making noise.
“Seriously?”
“Are catfolk that dumb?”
“Don’t call me names! There’s no one else who’ll teach us this stuff!”
“You can survive in the desert colony even if you don’t know any of this—just hunt!”
“Ehhh, sounds good. Maybe I’ll move to the desert too.”
“You can’t even hunt yourself, can you?”
“Shut up. If those dumb cats can do it, so can I.”
“In my colony, we hunt in dungeons, though.”
“If you let your guard down, you might die. Especially when dealing with monsters.” ”…” The boy who had been cocky about the harsh realities of desert life turned pale at the Maple Sisters’ blunt warning. When they said “monster,” they meant Madwolves. These wolf-like creatures with horse-sized bodies had broken into town several times before, and anyone who knew their terror would agree it was no laughing matter. “Easy there, easy there. You can listen, but move back a bit. The kids have their heads down.” “Mrow.” “Mrow.” The cat sisters reluctantly shifted seats, looking slightly disgruntled. “Hey, hey, is it true that all the catkin women get it on with that perverted Andi guy?” The boy, who had just turned pale, quickly recovered and whispered a lewd question to the cat sisters who had moved closer. “Not everyone, you know.” “Barbara hasn’t, either.” ”…Then who else?” “Hmm, I dunno?” “We have, though.” “Hey! No weird talk during class!” ”…Hey, if you’re getting it on with that perverted Andi, then good for you. Can I get a turn to touch your boobs later? (←whisper)” “Nope.” “You’re okay because you’re our master. You’re such a joke. Why don’t you just go play with Mommy’s boobs?” The cat girls were completely unimpressed by the boy’s lewd request. The boy’s face turned bright red, and the other kids burst out laughing. “Knock it off already!” Loree’s chalk flew through the air and exploded against the foreheads of the cat girl and the boy with a thwack. “Ouch!?” “Gwoaaaah!?” “No dirty talk now! It’s math time!” With a flick of her wrist, Loree unleashed a triple shot. Her strange skills were developing nicely. By the way, as interactions with the Catkin Colony increased, so did the need for basic education. Eventually, Loree would end up teaching at a private school for them, but that was a story for much later.
“Even if we try to talk to them, Jeanne and Seren probably can’t even move properly…” Fennel said with a troubled look. Jeanne was one thing, but there was no way Seren, with her huge belly, could do any carpentry work. If she were lighter, it might be possible, though. “I just have to feed Peter sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do physical labor.” “I can’t do carpentry, but I can handle simple designs. Like calculating the necessary lumber. And it doesn’t have to be done in one day; we can help out properly after the baby is born.” “That’s true…” “Before you know it, she’ll be ready to give birth any day now.” Irina and Christy exchanged glances.
“If you’re short-handed, why not call on Marone or Millie? Besides, I’m kinda picturing them as carpenters too, even though I’m excluding them for some reason. What about Oregano and Sebory?” “Is that so…” Fennel makes a difficult face. “I hear the money clan has a lot of skilled craftsmen anyway.” “They do have a lot, but those girls aren’t exactly heirs to anything in particular…” “Why not just let them try? If they can’t do it, Jeanne’s workload just increases.” “That might be true, but…” Fennel looks worried. Seren, having been offered a chair by Christy, sits down with an air of effort and says with a slightly knowing look, “You should try anything if there aren’t any specialists. Saying you’re bad at something or it’s outside your expertise seems like a reasonable excuse, but being able to get someone else to do it is actually incredibly privileged and spoiled. If it’s necessary, you’ll pick things up even if you’re clumsy or inexperienced by doing them. ‘The right person for the right job’ is just a saying for when there are too many people.” “Coming from Seren, that’s pretty convincing.” “Look, Apple can do all sorts of things now that she had to. So, why not give it a shot? There’s no reason why carpentry has to be a man’s domain, and you can rely on Jeanne or the Bronze Dragon folks for the parts that require strength. If you’re unhappy with the result, you can just rebuild it. You long-lived types have all the time in the world to practice.” ”…That might be true. Even though we elves are dwindling in numbers, I’ve been thinking too much about group logic.” Fennel admits. Christy looks at Seren with admiration. “You really do think differently about people, Seren. Ever since I started leading people, I tend to get caught up in aptitude and numbers.” “That’s just because elves are so used to stability and longevity that their vision gets narrowed. Anyone can try something and be quite good at it, and nothing has to be perfect.” Jeanne (Peter had entrusted her to Seren) nods with her arms crossed. “Yeah. Even a girl who’s never done anything sexy before, even if she’s just Andy’s female slave, if Andy asks her to do something and praises her, she’ll realize she’s not just the person she thought she was. A lot of girls say it feels like they’ve been reborn, but in the end, they just cling to what they’re good at, which isn’t great. It’s a good opportunity, so I think you should try to do as much as possible for Andy.” “Like building the bathhouse, or even the sex stuff.” “If you think of it as all being for Andy, then starting new lessons won’t be a burden. Carpentry, blacksmithing, sexy techniques… if you believe they’ll eventually lead to your ideal play… I’d love to have a dedicated bathhouse so I could do bathhouse duty.” “Mmm, bathhouse duty?” “Waiting in the bath all day, and when Andy takes a quick dip, you nonchalantly stick your dick in, then relax in the bath again after he’s satisfied… I want to be used like equipment♪” “Isn’t that something Master usually does in the bath…?” “It’s a situation where you can’t really let loose except in the magic prison because it’s hard to get wild in the bath.” “I’d love to have a worry-free, slow sex bath all night. Not shaking your hips violently, just keeping your dick inside forever♪” “Hmm. If that’s the case, I… well, I’d like to try it.” “I… a moon-viewing bath where I serve drinks and get to feast on dick juice… oh, that’s a little crude, isn’t it?” “Too late for that, Christy.” “I can see Andy being completely undone by Christy-sama♪” The afternoon at the baron’s estate passes with lively chatter.
“Marone. Listen, I don’t mean this to offend you, but…” “Huh?” Around that time, Marone and Oregano were helping their mother Marie with cooking as part of learning “Mom’s Recipes.” “If you’re such a good girl, I think you’ll end up with a much better man than some scumbag like Andy. So… maybe you should stop with the female slave stuff and weird games?” “Eh…”
“I’ve heard that beastmen get way more horny than humans during the full moon. Even if it’s just a racial trait, having a period where you’re that lewd… I can see why she feels bad. But still, that doesn’t mean she should call herself a… a dray… yeah, a slave. Andy’s an idiot, so he just laughs it off and spreads it to ten, twenty people… but just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean Malorne has to be the same! There are tons of guys in even a slightly bigger town who would love a quiet, cute girl like her with all their hearts. If you’re gonna say something bad about Andy, I’ll shut you up.”
”…I don’t want to…”
”…You don’t? I think it’s way worse than the men in Trott treating women like dirt.”
“I… I want to have Master’s child here… not some stranger who’ll take care of me, but I want Master to dote on them so much… even though I’ve been meaning to be that kind of person, but…”
Malorne peeled an apple, her face downcast. Seeing Malorne with her ears flattened and on the verge of tears, Marie raised her hands in surrender.
”…Sigh. I always wonder what she did to deserve him.”
She turned back to the pot with a tired expression, slumping her shoulders.
“That’s why I told you, Mother-in-law. Everyone really loves Master, they’re all convinced.”
Oregano smiled as she offered a sprig of chopped herbs.
“We’ve already checked all the kittens, haven’t we? And now… hmm, I thought at least one was just going with the flow. But most of them are practically virgins, right? Once the heat wears off, they’ll probably think, ‘What have I done?’”
“Who knows? Master seems to get more and more attractive every time he goes on an adventure… and at least we elves aren’t easily swayed when it comes to love. We’re not the type to change our minds so easily.”
“I feel like she’s being deceived…”
“That’s because you’re her mother. You see her as a child, so Master’s charm doesn’t reach her.”
“Not at all! I think there’s no woman who cares about Andy more than me? That’s just what mothers are like.”
“Ah… but that’s still different from how we want to be loved by Master, to become part of his life.”
“Hmm… as a mother, I can’t help but want to stop my son from doing something so impossible, and stop the daughters who seem to misunderstand him before they get hurt right in front of me… this isn’t some royal harem. That child is my son, made with Master’s seed!”
Oregano smiled wryly, then looked serious.
”…The king needs many wives because he’s part of a system. But Master… Andy Smisson, carries the biggest burden to make the women he loves smile. I don’t want him to fail, so everyone gathers their strength, and for their smiles, he expresses his love… not as a harem system, but as a gathering that inevitably formed. If that person is happy that we are females, then of course we want to offer ourselves to him. This might sound self-centered, but I’m sure the laws made for someone else in an older era don’t fit us.”
”…I don’t think he’s that kind of guy. My Andy…”
“Even if he is, I’ll be his female slave until the day he dies.”
Oregano said with a smile as clear as crystal.
The sunset enveloped the town of Polka. In the south, Andy was leaping into another adventure they didn’t know about. Each of them thought of the day they would welcome him back.