“From what I’ve heard, you seem to have had a wonderful time with the lady saint and her people after you left.”
“Meanwhile, we were stuck cleaning up the work you left us.”
“I admit that I did have a good time,” I said, raising my hands in surrender, “but I also got my hands on some useful info for the mana trap project.”
“Hmm?”
The next day, I stopped by Ifriita’s room to continue our mana trap development, only to be met with icy glares from her and Ira. Ok, fine. It was true that there’d been a lot of skinship yesterday, but it was completely wholesome. Honest. There was no sexy stuff involved. Just, uh…well, boobs are the best.
I opted not to mention that last bit out loud. Especially not to sully the honor of Ira and Ifriita, whose chests were, let’s just say, comparatively less ample.
“You know about Adolist churches, right?” I asked, trying to change the topic.
“Mm. There’s one in the city,” Ira replied.
“Yeah. A massive one suddenly popped up here in Merinesburg,” Ifriita mentioned.
All of a sudden…huh? I guess for Ifriita, it must have felt that way, since she’d basically been frozen in time for twenty years.
“Yeah, that’s the one. Apparently, healing miracles get a boost in effectiveness when they’re performed inside the church. On top of that, members of the clergy recover their magic energy faster while they’re there.”
Ira’s large eye widened, and Ifriita’s pointed ears twitched in interest.
“I don’t know if that applies only to clergy,” I went on, “but it’s fascinating either way. Faster magic recovery could be huge.”
“True,” said Ifriita. “I’ve never actually gone near an Adolist church before.”
“They’re basically the headquarters for demi-human exclusionists, after all,” Ira added dryly.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But if we can analyze why magic energy recovery is faster there, we might get a lead toward developing a magic energy accumulation device.”
Both Ira and Ifriita nodded with great fascination.
A magic energy accumulation device, hm? Apparently, Ifriita had defaulted to calling the mana trap that. It was a mouthful, but she wasn’t wrong. It was straight to the point and easy to understand.
“So,” I said, “you girls wanna come check it out with me?”
“You aside,” Ifriita said with a sigh, “I feel like it’d cause problems if we showed up.”
“You’ll be fine. I already talked to Elen and the others yesterday. They worked things out with High Priestess Katalina. If we head there now, she should be finished with morning service and free to show us around.”
“Nicely done, Kousuke.”
“Seriously. All right, shall we?”
“Let’s.”
The three of us excitedly set off for the platform, where a carriage was already waiting for us. This was my first time going out with them together. The thought crossed my mind just as I hopped in—only to immediately stumble into a problem.
“Really, guys?”
“Kousuke and I are basically husband and wife. There’s nothing strange about this,” Ira said as she made herself comfortable—on my lap, leaning her body up against me, lovey-dovey style. Ifriita, of course, immediately took issue with that.
I, meanwhile, had already started absentmindedly falling into my usual routine of caressing her silky hair and poking at her little cheeks, completely forgetting how awkward that might look to a third party. It honestly didn’t occur to me until Ifriita spoke up.
Scary how blind to stuff you could get when you’re used to something!
“I’m allowed to laze about like this because we’re a couple,” Ira said sweetly. “You can’t, because you’re not, Ifriita.”
“Did I say I wanted to?” Ifriita shot back. “This is about showing some modesty.”
“It’s perfectly natural for a couple to deepen their bond. As long as we’re in a private carriage, we’re not in public. It’s perfect.”
“But I’m. Right. Here.”
Ira blinked innocently at her as if to say “And that’s a problem how?”
Meanwhile, Ifriita was only getting more upset.
Why was Ira taunting her like this all of a sudden? The princess’s lips were curved in a smile, but her eyes told another story. That was no smile of joy, just the kind of smile that said “One more word and I’ll end you.”
Today, I learned that smiles could, in fact, be a form of violence.
Okay, not actually, but it was still scary.
“Jealous?” Ira asked sweetly.
“Wha…?! I never said that!”
Ifriita’s roar was worthy of a lion, but Ira didn’t flinch. Instead, she calmly took my now-still hand and brought it to her cheek, nuzzling it like a satisfied cat.
“Um, Miss Ira?”
“Mm?”
“What exactly is going on here?” I asked in response to her sudden act of…violence?
This really was all too sudden.
“This?” She tilted her head innocently. “I just want to enjoy your company. And maybe taunt Princess Ifriita a little, since she’s being so indecisive.”
“Wha…?!”
Ifriita shot to her feet, losing her temper. In her defense, that was a pretty direct provocation. Unfortunately, standing up just made her look like she was taking the bait.
“Urgh…!”
Realizing it too, she sat back down almost immediately, averting her gaze with a frustrated look on her face.
Her long, pointed ears—those unmistakable elf ears—were bright red.
Um… I had a feeling this was the case. Man, does my body give off some kind of weird pheromones or something? Because this definitely wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
“Um…”
“Shut up! Don’t say a word!”
“Ah. Right.”
I obediently closed my mouth as she pointed her finger at me, cheeks blazing.
Ira, still perched comfortably on my lap, smirked.
You’re such a naughty girl for stirring up trouble like this, I thought, narrowing my eyes at her. You’re really asking to get punished later!
I reached out to pinch her cheek only for her to catch my fingers in her mouth and start sucking on them.
Hey! Stop it! Don’t suck on my fingers like that!