Catria lay on her side in the open field as the wind blew.
“Ah… Oooh…”
The act of ear cleaning: the act of using a small stick to shovel up the stuff in one’s ears. This shovel-act could be performed by any human.
Catria’s current state of being required her to be shoveled, even though she absolutely didn’t want it. This ear cleaning perfectly threaded the needle between her need and desire.
The tentacle headed for Catria seemed to agree with this compromise and retreated into the scabbard.
Catria, meanwhile, told herself again and again that cleaning one’s ears was both the act of shoveling and also something entirely different! A completely normal thing! Nothing to be embarrassed about!
Consequently, Catria’s tears of gratitude wouldn’t stop flowing as she rested her head on Alan’s lap.
“Ah…” she sniffled.
“Stay still, Catria.” Alan held her head in place with one hand.
Catria’s sensitive ear loved the feeling of being cleaned out with the earpick. Beneath the warm sun, Catria simply let her head rest on Alan’s thighs.
Shoof, shoof.
“Ungh… Ah…”
He’s just cleaning my ears. That’s all, Catria repeated to herself over and over again. While technically shoveling, this was comparatively normal. She had nothing to be ashamed of. It was completely fine and totally not embarrassing at all—
What am I talking about?! Of course this is embarrassing! Catria screamed in her heart of hearts. There were limits to her self-deception.
The warm sun. The cool breeze running across the open field. The two of them alone with her head on his lap. And depending on the angle, a person might even see her skirt flutter upward just so.
I’m such an idiot, Catria thought. How could she be all grateful at a time like this? It was mortifying! It almost looked like the two of them had just started going out and were still in the honeymoon phase of their lovey-dovey relationship!
Shoof, shoof.
“Aaah. Eee…”
It just felt so goooood.
Generally speaking, the act of having one’s ears cleaned felt good, and Alan demonstrated exceptional skill at it to boot. Extremely exceptional. He immediately addressed any itchy bits. Alan could be called nothing less than a digging specialist—
Wait, what am I thinking?!
“Ah… Ah… Alan, that’s enough…”
“Nope. Not yet. I’ve still got a ways to go.”
“Aaaaahhh…”
Alan had taken Catria’s ear hostage. She was at his mercy. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing, but it felt so unbelievably amazing.
He’s just cleaning my ears!
Shoof, shoof. Shoof, shoof.
Alan silently dug away at all the wonderful-feeling parts of Catria’s ear.
“Ah, Alan… Don’t just get all quiet on me… Say something.”
“Hrm?”
If Alan stayed quiet, Catria feared they would end up looking like a happily married couple that trusted each other implicitly.
“Let’s see… Well, it looks like our journey’s about to come to an end.”
Shoof, shoof.
“Y-yeah, you’re…right.”
“Where do you think I should go next, Catria?”
“Huh…?” This inquiry puzzled Catria. “What do you mean? Alan, you’re getting married to the princess, right?”
“What?”
“In Hell, you said you were taking responsibility for her.”
Catria wasn’t exactly savvy with romantic talk, but she couldn’t imagine anyone but Alan getting together with Princess Lithisia. It was impossible. For the future of Rostir, for the sake of the human race, Alan had to take Lithisia as his wife.
But Alan shook his head. “Catria, that’s never going to happen.”
Shoof, shoof.
“Haaaaah, mmm. Wh-why?”
“I’m far too old for her. Plus, she’s a princess and I’m a miner. We live in different worlds.”
“No, wait. Hold on.”
“And anyway, Lithisia has no such interest in me.”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait.”
Coming from anyone else, that logic made sense, but when it came to the Shovel Princess and this Shovel Beast, logic went out the window.
“Perhaps more importantly, I don’t intend to become a king.” Alan blew lightly into Catria’s ear.
“Eeeeeeee… But the princess…”
The princess definitely wanted to be with Alan, but Catria couldn’t get the words out. The waves of warmth coming from her ear overwhelmed her.
Alan continued without pause. “That’s why you also need to think about where you’re going to go next.”
“Wh-where?”
“If you’re going to become the greatest Holy Knight in the land, you need more training, no?”
Swoosh, swoosh.
“Eeeeeeee!”
“I pledged to mine everything you have, so I’ll be going with you,” Alan said as he did one final pass on her ear.
Catria’s breath froze.
“…”
A calm breeze blew across the field. Against the backdrop of the shining sun, Alan’s all-encompassing smile and his intimate words made Catria feel a new kind of warmth in her ear. She might even call herself comfortable.
He’s going to mine everything there is to mine out of me. A journey where he mines everything from me… What a shoveltastic idea…
The last of Catria’s strength drained from her body, like she was melting. She wanted to give even more of herself over to the shovel.
“Alan… I… You…”
Just as Catria let her body follow its desires—
Click!
Her elbow accidentally pressed the Anti-Shovel Power activation button on the Sacred Scabbard Arcadia.
“Aaaaahhhhh!”
Anti-Shovel Power, full burst. Catria exploded to her feet and flew back five meters. That was too close! I almost succumbed to the darkness! To Alan’s shovel!
“Haaah, haaah, haaah, haaah…”
“Hrm, looks like your scabbard’s fully charged.”
“A-Alan!” Catria directed her Holy Knight Blade straight at the miner. “I-I was just caught a little off guard! I will never lose to the shovel!”
“That’s what I like to hear. That’s who you are.”
“Augh?! H-how dare you say something so embarrassing!” Catria gently pounded on Alan’s chest.
Little did the two of them know that someone watched them from deep within the forest. She remained silent for a time, but eventually she whispered to herself. “Shovel…”
A mysterious princess indeed.