The inn that Shiori and Alec were brought to that evening was simple but elegant, and judging by the attire of its customers, it was popular among the rich and influential. The brick building had once been a rich farmer’s manor, and this gave it historical value. It wasn’t uncommon for scholars to sometimes visit.
The adventurers had been given access to the inn’s finest room—a room so spacious that their three familiars weren’t an issue.
“It’s such a nice room,” Shiori uttered. “And it’s really okay for us to have our familiars with us?”
The innkeeper—who was also the village elder’s younger brother-in-law—answered Shiori’s timid question with a smile.
“Oh, yes,” he replied. “You’re free to take them with you to all our facilities. In recent years, it’s become quite common for people to travel with their familiars or their pets. Naturally, the number of inns accommodating such customers is growing too.”
Brovito had begun its life with farming and logging as its core industries. But over the last few decades, as the standard of living rose and the working class were able to take more holidays, the village put more effort into its tourism and made the most of the wondrous sights of the Blue Forest.
Tourism became the village’s third major industry, but it had boomed in recent years and begun taking over more of the village.
“In the past, the rich weren’t really fond of farming villages like ours, but over the last twenty or thirty years, there’s been a change of heart. These days, it’s not at all uncommon for the nobility to stay here. And when they stay, they also bring their aides and servants with them, and so we’ve put a lot of effort into ensuring we’ve all the necessary facilities to accommodate such large parties.”
“Oh, I see,” said Shiori. “Wow...”
The profit that came from rich clientele was significant. Those of a good standing traveled with an entourage of servants and guards, and so even a one-night stay meant for many filled inn rooms. On the flip side, however, the nobility were known to cancel their reservations at the first hint of trouble, and multiple canceled reservations during the village’s busiest season spelled huge losses.
The snow wolf attack in the previous fall, too, had resulted in almost all of the rich customers canceling their reservations. The newly installed footbath could not make up for the sales, and a great many families were forced to take seasonal work elsewhere.
“That’s why we couldn’t be more grateful that you managed to see to our request so swiftly,” said the innkeeper.
Violid’s ears dropped apologetically. Everybody knew, however, that it was not the snow wolf’s fault. The trouble had been started by humans—nobles who had no connection to Brovito whatsoever. And it had not even been Violid’s family’s pack that had attacked the village anyway; nobody blamed him for anything.
It was because the village understood all of this that they’d called upon their sole photographer to take a commemorative photo. Violid had been rather flustered by it all. And though a black-and-white photo likely wouldn’t capture the wolf’s beautiful fur coat, it would nonetheless capture the stately dignity of his bearing. Duplicates of the photo had been made, and the pictures now decorated the village hall and other notable facilities. The villagers promised to send Alec his own copy soon.
The adventurers’ first-ever “family photo” included the villagers and the knight corps, and was a lively affair. The whole thing made Alec very happy; he saw it as a way to commemorate a very special day.
“Should we put the photo in the living room?” he pondered. “Or actually, we should look for a new place first, huh?”
“Yes, we really should, and the sooner the better,” agreed Shiori.
Shiori and Alec’s apartment was a good size for the two humans and a slime, but with a snow wolf joining them, the place would feel very cramped. The two decided to put their efforts into their new house and their planned sharehouse, and smiled at the thought.
“Life is so fulfilling when it’s filled with fun things to do,” said Shiori.
The following morning, Shiori woke to the sound of the cattle lowing outside. She deftly squirmed out of the still-sleeping Alec’s viselike hug and sat up. Alec looked quite happy to sleep a little longer, so she dropped a kiss on his cheek and slipped out of bed.
Rurii and Bla were both spread across the floor, Bla’s pocket bestiary lying on the floor by their side. The two had been gazing at it before bed, and had probably fallen asleep in the middle of their page-turning. Sitting by the side of the bed was the Fenrir who had just joined the family, though Shiori had to remind herself that Violid was in fact a beautiful variant snow wolf.
Violid appeared to have been awake for some time, and his sly gaze was all too easy for Shiori to read: “Someone’s up early after some late-night shenanigans...”
Oh dear...he totally caught us in the act...
Alec had stirred during the evening and, in his half-dreaming state, had wanted to have a little “fun.” It hadn’t gone unnoticed. Shiori had been taken by surprise—who would do such a thing upon the welcoming of a new family member?—and had tried to resist. However, even in his slumber Alec had been thorough from start to finish, and try as she might—and try she did—Shiori had been powerless until she, too, slipped off into another world.
I will have to inform His Highness, the king’s elder brother, that his idea of play sometimes goes too far. He will require adequate admonishment.
“Good morning, Vio,” said Shiori, blushing. “You’re up early.”
The snow wolf barked a reply.
“Did we wake you?” she asked.
Shiori had tried to keep her voice as quiet as possible, but she worried that she’d woken the wolf, which she knew to have good hearing. Just thinking that she’d kept him from a good night’s sleep made her feel terrible. Violid sensed her worry, and growled a light “Nope.”
“Well, that’s good to know, at least.”
“He’s probably a light sleeper anyway,” said Alec, finally sitting up in bed. “Until now, he’s probably been on edge all the time. He’s had to be ready for danger no matter what.”
Violid grunted to confirm Alec’s comment. While it was rare for carnivorous magical beasts at the top of the food chain to be attacked, Violid had lived a life in which he was always wary of attacks from his own kind. Though he was the same as them in shape and form, his different color put other snow wolves on guard, and sometimes brought out their savagery. Violid had thus been forced to constantly move from hideout to hideout, and was never able to sleep deeply.
“I see...” uttered Shiori.
Shiori knew only too well how hard it was to just live, and how harsh a place could be to navigate when you were marked as different. It forced you to work that much harder than anybody “normal,” and it was horribly taxing on the body, the mind, and the spirit.
“In my life before I became an adventurer, I rarely got a good night’s sleep,” Alec said. “I couldn’t be more grateful for the life I have now, and how it allows me to sleep without worry.”
His former home in the castle was one that should have offered safety and security, and yet Alec could never truly feel at ease. When he had lost his father to illness, he had also lost his most powerful shield, and his own home had suddenly felt like a threat. He felt as though if he let his guard down, even for a moment, someone might take his life, or he might otherwise find himself waking in bed next to a woman whom he might then be forced to wed.
Alec had never wanted to be a part of the battle for succession to the throne, and even the nights that should have offered him some small respite gave him no comfort. Such was his anxiety and stress during his last year at the castle that he never slept deeply, and so his health suffered horribly as a result.
A lack of sleep stole from one the ability to think clearly. If the story of Violid’s past was indeed true, then he, too, must have suffered terribly. Perhaps he, like Alec, had found himself standing at the precipice between life and death.
“But there’s no need to worry any longer,” said Alec. “Rest easy when you’re with us, and sleep well.”
Violid’s tail wagged in response. The conversation had come to a neat conclusion, but then Shiori remembered something she’d wanted to say and whispered in her lover’s ear.
“Alec...” she started.
“Hmm?”
“When we’re together with someone new...to the family,” she whispered, “fooling around is...well, it’s a little embarrassing. At the very least, we should do it in another room...”
Alec’s eyes went wide.
“You mean that wasn’t Vio?” he muttered.
He made it sound as if he’d been dreaming of playing with Violid, when in fact it had been Shiori by his side, and Shiori who’d been made to endure the night’s fun. Her jaw dropped.
“Then why’d you thrust your hand into my pajamas?!” she shot back.
“Oh, uh...sorry?”
“Those weren’t the hands of a man playing with a snow wolf!” she cried.
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you...” muttered Alec.
The man seemed to wither under his lover’s glare.
“Well, aren’t the two of you awfully friendly this morning!” wobbled Rurii.
Bla, meanwhile, watched on in rapt silence at its first viewing of two lovers squabbling.
Violid’s wolfy grin spoke for him: “You couldn’t fool a snow wolf, let alone a dog with that act.”
Shiori knew that on the next expedition they went on, the one thing she’d have to be most careful of was none other than her own lover. She let out a cry of exasperation and covered her face with her hands. A single day had passed since Alec and Violid’s meeting, and things were not at all off to the start that Shiori had imagined.