I slept soundly through the night and woke to the birdsong in the air.
Pulling myself up to a sitting position, I noticed the three goddesses were also gathered around me, each wrapping an arm around me as they dozed. It was a common sight by now.
“So that’s what that strangely heavy feeling was...” I muttered to myself.
When I’d still lived at the Clematis manor, my bed was so small that it was hard for them to sleep with me, but they had no such issue with my new bed. It was so large that all of us had enough space to roll around.
Thinking back, the size of the bed might’ve been why the three goddesses had gotten more touchy-feely once we’d started staying at this manor, though they mostly kept it contained to the simple act of sleeping next to me. Even if I went to bed alone, I’d always wake in the morning with them by my side.
Cult especially liked to rest her head on my thighs, regardless of the disastrous picture that painted. I’d told her several times over that it was indecent and that she ought to stop, but she’d always counter that she had nowhere but my legs to sleep, as there wasn’t enough space otherwise. Of course, she always punctuated that with a teary, forlorn gaze.
I couldn’t say no when she looked like she was about to cry, so I would simply leave the conversation at that—and this was the result.
“Well, the added warmth isn’t so bad now that we’re heading into winter, but it is still a little much sometimes... And that aside, you do realize I’m a boy, right?” I reminded her. Men had regular physiological responses in a certain part of their body that made it, uh...raring to go, right? I didn’t want to say it outright, but I was embarrassed at the thought of a woman seeing that.
Cult laughed charmingly, clearly amused by my reticence. “I know that much, dear one. None of us mind it at all. You needn’t be ashamed of it; in fact, it’d be much better if you simply considered it normal.”
She finally sat up, releasing my legs from their role as her pillow. Her voice lacked the usual morning rasp people had after sleep, so it was plain to see that she hadn’t slept at all.
“Normal?” I repeated, finding her comment a little absurd. “If it were that easy, humans would have lost their sense of shame a long time ago.”
“You humans are so difficult,” Cult sighed. But then, an idea struck her. “If that’s the case, then you can practice getting used to it with us around! Or even just with me alone.”
“Just you?” I repeated, unsure of what exactly she was getting at.
“Yes. I do take pride in knowing my body stokes the flame of desire in all men,” she winked. “Of course, the only person of male sex I would permit to touch me is you and only you, dear one. So, how about it? I would be perfect for practice, don’t you think?”
Clambering in front of me, Cult rested her head at the base of my throat as she pressed her breasts into my chest, squeezing them into soft, malleable shapes. Then I noticed her rather enticing scent and her voice’s gentle notes whispered tenderly into my ear, stealing away all rational sense. Looking down even the slightest bit gave me an eyeful of Cult’s breasts wedged against my chest.
“H-Hey, Cult,” I protested weakly. “I’m only eight...” But Cult was a truly bewitching woman. Of the three goddesses, she was definitely the most feminine.
However, now that we considered each other our family, it’d be wrong to make a move on her, right? On the other hand, if she brought it up, then I couldn’t exactly claim not to be interested.
The real issue was that my body was still that of an eight-year-old—the same age as an elementary school student would be in my past life—and this was way beyond any youthful experimentation.
“Age is but a trifling matter. There are plenty of nobles who indulge in such things at your age, you know,” Cult purred.
“What, really?” I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, given this was another world and all. A lot of the rules I remembered from my past life no longer applied.
“Yes, really. It is well within your right to toy with me as you will. None can rightly criticize us, especially when they have no awareness of my existence.”
“But if someone did find out, they’d think I was a total nutjob,” I protested. Since she was invisible to everyone else, all they would see is me going at it alone. They were sure to think I was crazy, and I didn’t want that either!
“We are the only people here. Let’s enjoy ourselves to our heart’s content.” With that, Cult brought her face close to mine once more, her lips quivering as she—
“This isn’t okay, obviously,” a third voice murmured.
Before Cult could lock lips with mine, Aruna, who had been sleeping soundly to the left of us just a moment ago, slapped the former. Cult’s body went flying at a ridiculous speed, sailing through the wall to disappear somewhere outside.
“Th-Thanks, Aruna. You’re a lifesaver.” Glancing at her, I saw that she was rubbing her eyes and still rousing herself from sleep. Displeasure was written all over her face.
Biting back a small yawn, Aruna spoke. “That snake. We agreed not to make any moves on you ahead of one another, but she gets aggressive every chance she gets! Perhaps she needs to learn a painful lesson.”
Determination settled in Aruna’s gaze. Whenever she got like this, her threats were less like “threats” and more like “promises.”
“L-Let’s not get hasty, all right? I doubt Cult meant any harm,” I said in an attempt to soothe her.
“You know she tries to take advantage of you precisely because you’re so nice and forgiving, right? Honestly, do you want her to keep doing this?” Aruna snapped.
“No... I’d just feel bad for Cult if you got any more violent with her than you would in a friendly argument.”
Even their “friendly arguments” resulted in a terrible time for those involved. Still, Aruna’s emphasis on the word “painful” gave me pause, tugging on my heartstrings. It might not make a difference to them, but my human morality still wouldn’t abide torture.
Aruna sighed, exasperated. I guess she acknowledged my point.
“I have to teach her these lessons all the time, so what does it matter if I do it again? You’re awfully sensitive about the oddest things, Hisui.”
“Sorry. It’s just that I think of everyone as family.”
After a moment of silence, Aruna nodded, her anger dissipated. “I see. Well, I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Back to her usual self, Aruna gently combed her fingers through her orchid hair, the slightly wavy locks swaying to and fro as she went. It was gorgeous.
I had a healthy appreciation for Cult’s dark hair, which closely resembled that of a Japanese woman’s, but I also liked Aruna’s unique hair color. Fouré’s youthful, maidenly peach locks were also lovely, of course.
“Oh, right, Fouré’s...” I glanced at her, who was lying to my right. “Still sleeping.”
“She certainly is,” Aruna agreed.
Unlike Aruna and Cult, Fouré seriously loved her sleep.
“I thought you guys said fairies don’t need sleep,” I remarked.
“We don’t. But we can sleep, which is especially simple for Fouré—she can generate feelings of drowsiness,” shrugged Aruna.
“Oh, okay.” So that basically meant that Fouré was deliberately making herself sleep in order to align her schedule with mine. Aruna slept lightly, while Cult chose not to sleep at all. They each had their own reasons to sleep—or whether to sleep at all—and their personalities really came out in their choices.
While Aruna and I chatted, Cult came back. Her timing was perfect, as that was when Fouré happened to wake as well.
“That was such an ordeal,” Cult complained as she entered the room.
“Mngh... Mmm,” Fouré sleepily mumbled as she looked at Cult. “Huh? What happened to you? You’re a mess.”
“Nothing in particular. I was merely subjected to Aruna’s usual temper tantrum.”
“Oh, gotcha,” Fouré yawned.
“I’m going to punch the both of you,” Aruna growled, then lowered her voice, her tone carrying an undercurrent of venom. “Tell me, who’s throwing a tantrum again?”
At that moment, Fouré, who had been blinking blearily awake, suddenly shot up straight and hung her head in an apologetic bow alongside Cult.
“No one! Don’t you worry!” said Cult.
“No one is! Never mind!” exclaimed Fouré.
The War Goddess Aruna, the strongest of all living beings...was the single entity Fouré and Cult both feared, despite being equally powerful in their own rights.
The spellcraft Cult wielded had enough firepower to go toe-to-toe with Aruna’s master magecraft, and Fouré’s regenerative abilities meant she could always rise again, no matter how badly she’d been beaten.
But while Fouré and Cult were powerhouses in their own specialty, Aruna maintained a balance between might and durability—which made her the undisputed strongest of the three in combat. From what I’d heard before, Fouré and Cult couldn’t beat Aruna even when they fought two-on-one.
“Honestly... You two need to think more about your behavior before you open your mouths or do something stupid. As fairies, at least try to maintain a modicum of dignity. You’re going to be a bad influence on Hisui.”
“Dignity, huh?” Fouré mused.
“Do we even need that?” Cult asked, grinning devilishly.
“Give your scheming a rest; it’s showing on your face,” Aruna frowned.
“Fiiine.” Cult folded to Aruna’s intense pressure once again. While I wanted to keep watching the three of them, my sleepiness had completely disappeared, and I had things I wanted to do today.
Now that I’d finished building my house and the furniture to go with it, obtained my papers for permanent residency in Lycoris, and registered with the adventurer’s guild, it was time I tried the obvious next step: taking on a job request from the guild.
I knew I didn’t have to rush into taking a job, but I couldn’t keep my curiosity and excitement at bay. I had permission from Aruna, Cult, and Fouré anyway, so my enthusiasm reached a high as I daydreamed about the requests I might get.
I got dressed as Aruna continued lecturing the other two, then headed out to the dining room without them. After finishing my breakfast, I left for the adventurer’s guild.