The Kingdom Church of Porca. Though small, it has a tradition that spans over a century and serves as an important facility for the wisdom and entertainment of this little town. When described like this, most people would ask, “Isn’t Porca’s entertainment just about sake and hot springs?” While some old men do enjoy sake to excess, it’s only a small group who feel that way. Hot springs are part of daily life for commoners, but they aren’t the primary source of fun. Occasionally, there are those who claim that soaking in a hot spring is enough to make life perfect, but generally speaking, baths serve the purpose of soothing tired bodies and washing away dirt, even if it’s Porca’s sacred springs. Calling this the ultimate entertainment would be like saying sleep is the best form of recreation—rather dull when you think about it. However, Porca’s various festivals are organized by the church temple, which also continuously shares music, songs, dances, or accumulated folktales from across the country with the townspeople. In cities, temples had already begun to be seen as facilities for weddings and funerals, but in this simple time, in this simple town, a temple was something “fun.” But, “…………” Elf Laure of the Gold Clan has been struggling since she started working as a temporary teacher at that church temple recently. Laure’s job is teaching arithmetic to children. Though they don’t always take their studies seriously, her low height seems to make her more approachable or perhaps it’s due to an unexpected effect from what looks like a whip—either way, the kids remember well whatever she teaches them, and this has earned her praise from priests and parents alike.
However, recently non-child entities have started mixing in with the children. Parents watching their kids’ classes wouldn’t be confused. In fact, quite a few parents take ten minutes to look at them while they’re on work breaks. It’s actually welcome for teachers when the kids sit up straight and behave well so as not to get scolded by those parents but praised instead. But Azel and Rizele’s cat sisters are sitting in the very front of the class for some reason. “…Hey, you two.” “?” “Meow?” “What are you doing here? Didn’t you have work at Schneider’s inn?” “My big sister usually does it so I’m fine.” “No she doesn’t.” “…Well. It’s really hard to say this but honestly, you’re kind of in the way.”
“Eh.” “It’s fine, right? The story about Laurel is interesting.” “I didn’t mean to tell an interesting story… This is just a lesson for kids and it won’t make any sense to you guys.” “What?” “You don’t know anything?” Azel and Rizel shook their brightly colored tea tiger cat hair in confusion. Hearing this, the children behind them started making noise. “Really?” “Are cat-humanoids pretty dumb?” “Don’t call us that! No one ever tells us stuff like this.”
“Even if you don’t know, you can survive in the desert colony as long as you can hunt!” “Yeah, that’s cool. Maybe I should live in the desert too.” “You can’t even hunt.” “Shut up. If these dumb cats can do it, so can I.” “In our colony we hunt in dungeons.” “And sometimes people die if they get careless. The monsters are dangerous.” “……” The boy turned pale after hearing Maple’s sisters’ matter-of-fact explanation about desert life. When they mentioned monsters, they were referring to mad wolves. These creatures had occasionally invaded the town before, and for those who knew their terror, it was insane to think of hunting them. “Okay, okay. You can listen too, but stay back a bit. The kids have lower heads.”
“Meow.” “Meow.” The cat sisters moved to another seat, though they seemed a little disgruntled. “Hey-hey, by the way, is it true that all the cat-humanoids get fucked by that pervert Andy?” The boy who had just turned pale quickly recovered and whispered an inappropriate question to the cat sisters who had moved closer to him. “Nope, not everyone.” “Barbara hasn’t gotten any either.” “…What about the others?” “I dunno, I guess so?” “We have.”
“Hey, stop it! Don’t talk about weird stuff during class!” “…C’mon, if I’m doing something with perverted Andy then it’s okay right? Can you let me feel your boobs a little later too?” (whispering) “No.” “My master is my master so he can. You’re just saying stupid things because you’re an idiot. If you want to touch mommy’s breasts…” The cat girls refused the boy’s lewd request without mercy. The boy turned red and embarrassed, while the other children burst out laughing. “Behave yourself!” Laurie threw a piece of chalk that hit both the cat girl and the boy on their foreheads with a bang. ‘Ouch!’ “Guh!” “We’ll do perverted stuff later! Right now we’re doing math!”
With a single swing of her arm, she could fire three shots. Laurel had developed some strange skills. By the way, as interactions with catkin colonies increased, the need for primary education grew, and eventually Laurel would end up teaching at a private school for them.
“Fennel’s right; Jeanne-san and Seren probably can’t even move properly…” Fennell said worriedly. Jeanne was still okay, but there was no way they could make her do carpentry work with the heavy belly she had. If only she were lighter, it would be a different story. “I just have to give Peter my boobs every now and then; I’m not completely useless at physical labor.” “Even though I can’t do carpentry, I can handle simple design work and calculations for materials needed. Besides, there’s no need to rush it all in one day—I can help out after the baby is born.” “That’s true…” “It seems like she could give birth any time now,” Iryna and Kristi said as they looked at each other.
“If you need help, why don’t you call Maronne or Millie? And I think Oregano and Sebory could do carpentry work too, even if they aren’t officially trained.”
“I wonder…”
Fennel made a difficult face.
“Anyway, the Gold family is known for having lots of skilled workers,”
“That may be true, but those kids don’t have to take over their families’ businesses or anything…”
“Just let them try. If they can’t do it, then Jeanne will just end up doing more work.”
“I suppose that’s true…” Fennel looked worried. Selen, who had taken a seat from Christie, sat down with a sigh and said, “You shouldn’t be like this. When there’s no specialist around, you should try anything. Even if it seems like a valid excuse to say something is out of your league or too difficult, the fact that you can rely on someone else means you’re in a fortunate position. If necessary, even amateurs and beginners will get better with practice.”
“Of course, when Selen says it, it carries more weight.”
“Look, even Apple can do all sorts of things when she has to. So why don’t you give it a try? There’s no reason carpentry is only for men, and if you need help with the heavy lifting, you can ask Jeanne or Blue Dragon’s people. If you’re not satisfied with the end result, you can always rebuild it. You have plenty of time to practice since you’re a long-lived species.”
”…Maybe that’s true. While I’ve been saying there are fewer elves, I was still thinking too much in terms of group dynamics,” Fennel admitted.
Christie looked at Selen with admiration. “You really do think differently about people than most, Selen. Once you start leading others, it’s easy to get caught up in ability and numbers.”
“That’s because Elves are so stable and long-lived that we tend to narrow our perspective. Anyone can do a lot more than they think they can, and there’s no need for everything to be perfect,” Selen said.
Jeanne crossed her arms (Peter had been left with Selen) as she nodded. “Right. Even if you’re Andy’s slave girl and haven’t done anything erotic before, when he asks you to do something and praises you, you’ll realize there’s more to yourself than what you thought. Many girls say it feels like they’re reborn, but in the end, clinging only to their strengths isn’t always good. It’s a great opportunity, so I think you should try doing as much for Andy as possible.”
“Like building the hot spring cabin and even the erotic content,” Christie added.
“If you think of everything as being for Andy, starting new tasks won’t be hard at all. Whether it’s carpentry or blacksmithing or erotic skills, just think that they might lead to your dream play someday… I’d like a special hot spring so we can do hot spring duty,” Jeanne said.
“Mm, so I’m on hot spring duty?” “A whole day spent waiting in the hot springs. When Andy takes a dip, you just casually slip your dick inside him and wait until he’s satisfied before relaxing again… That sounds like being treated as equipment.” “That’s pretty much what my master usually does…” “Oddly enough, it’s hard to get frisky in the hot springs except when we’re locked up in the barrier prison.” “I’d love a whole night of carefree slow sex while bathing. No rough movements, just keeping your dick inside me all night long…♪” “Hmm. If that’s what you want, then I suppose… I might give it a try too.” “And I would like to sip sake and enjoy the sight of Andy’s cum in a moon-viewing bath… Oh no, is that a bit vulgar?” “You’re just now getting embarrassed, Christie?” “It looks as though Andy will be rendered helpless by you, Christie♪” As they chattered excitedly, the afternoon at Baroness’s residence passed.
“Maronne, I hope you don’t mind me asking this.”
“Yes?”
At that moment, Maronne and Oregano were helping Marie with her cooking at her house to learn how to make “mom’s taste.”
“You’re such a good girl, I think someone much better than Andy would want you. So… maybe it’s best if you stop playing around like a slave or something weird like that?”
“Wh-what…?”
“I’ve heard that when the moon is full, beastmen get way more horny than humans do. Even though it’s part of their nature, I can understand why it might make you feel bad about yourself during those times. But even so, there’s no need for Maronne to call herself a slave just because others do… Andy’s an idiot who got carried away with that idea and spread it around to ten or twenty people, but you don’t have to be like them too, right? There are plenty of men in any big town who would love and cherish someone as modest and cute as Maronne. If you want me to stop Andy from saying mean things about you, I can do that.”
”…No, thank you.”
“No? But Trot’s treatment of women is even worse than what they call ‘male dominance over females.’”
“I… I want to have your child here… not with some random person who might take care of me but with my master who would dote on me a lot… That’s why I’ve stayed, so…”
Peeling potatoes and looking down, Maronne.
Marone looked like she was about to cry, and Marie raised her hands in surrender.
”…Huh. I always wonder what that kid did.”
She turned back toward the pot with a tired expression and slumped her shoulders.
“I told you, Auntie. Everyone really loves our master, and they do it willingly,” Oregano said as she handed over some chopped herbs and smiled.
“We’ve already checked on all the cat kids, right? I was wondering if one or two might have been left out, but almost everyone who got involved is someone we haven’t seen before. When their passion cools down, they’ll probably think to themselves, ‘What am I doing?’”
“I don’t know… Every time he goes on an adventure, he seems to become more and more charming. And at least for us elves, when it comes to the opposite sex, we’re a stubborn species that doesn’t easily change our minds. So I doubt they’ll cool down so quickly.”
“It feels like they’re being fooled…”
“That’s because you see him as your child. You can’t understand his charm,” Oregano said.
“Absolutely not. There isn’t anyone who cares about Andy more than me, right? That’s just how parents are.”
“Ah, yeah… but that’s different from wanting to be loved by Master and becoming a part of his life,”
“Hmm… as parents, we want to stop our children before they get hurt in front of us. But this is like the harem of some king. That boy is my son, made with my foolish husband’s seed.”
Oregano laughed awkwardly, then became serious.
“…A king needs many wives because he’s a part of the system. But Master… Andy Smisson shoulders more power than anyone else to make the women he loves smile. I don’t want him to be disappointed by that effort, so everyone gathers their strength for his sake and he expresses love for them. It’s not a harem as a system but something that naturally came together. If he’s happy with us being females, we’ll gladly give ourselves over to him. Maybe it sounds self-conscious, but I don’t think the laws made in old times for someone else will fit us.”
“…I don’t see him as such an important person.”
“Even if so, I’ll be his slave until he dies,”
Oregano said with a clear smile.
The town of Polka was enveloped by the sunset. To the south, Andy was leaping into another adventure they didn’t know about. Each one thought about the day they would meet him again.