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Ex-Hero, Now Freeloader – Chapter 45

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Translator: Kobracon

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45 – Pajama Party with the Seven 1

That was a strange day.

I had dinner with not only the kids, but with Eleanor as well, fresh off of her mission, but she was sorta restless.

I even asked her what was wrong but she just replies with “Th-th-there’s n-nothing wrong!” avoiding eye contact.

I’m a little concerned, but the meal passed by like that, and it was eventually bedtime.

『Rain.』

Mika calls out my name as she is stabbed into her exclusively-made pedestal like a sheathe.

「Hm?」

『…If you really don’t like it, just say no, okay?』

「What’re you talking about?」

I came to understand what she meant a little later.

There was a knock on my door.

Time-wise, this is around the time the little ones sneak into my bed, but they don’t knock.

「Master Hero, this is Ferris.」

It’s Ferris, the maid assigned to me.

The elder sister to Lejie, the maid in charge of escorting the Demon King’s daughter Myuri. She’s a Majin woman with characteristically long, glossy black hair and a gentle smile.

「Ah, Ferris. What’s up?」

「Yes, well… I have brought the young ladies along.」

Even through the door I could tell she had difficulty choosing her words.

「Young ladies?」

Doesn’t ring a bell. At least, not when referred to as a whole like that.

「You’re not talking about the kids…right?」

「Correct. Those children are sleeping in a different room tonight.」

「Oh? Oh well, just come in. It’s hard to talk through the door like this.」

「Well then, if you’ll excuse me…」

She enters. The door was swung wide open.

Ferris looked troubled yet had a smile on her face.

「Who goes in first?」

I could hear the voices of young girls coming from outside my room.

「Huh? What are you saying? It is you, Monana, the one who proposed this in the first place, who should go in first and explain all this to Sir Rain.」

I feel like I’ve heard that voice before, but it sounds younger than I remember.

「If you don’t have the courage, then perhaps I should head in first~」

「Hold it, Louto. I said going on ahead was forbidden.」

「S-s-sleeping with Sir Rain… I’m not letting anyone else take the spot next to him…」

「Hey, not fair, Lejie! M-maybe we should have drawn a lottery to decide everyone’s position.」

「Enough already. You go in first and explain this to Sir Rain. He’s waited long enough!」

「I guess I really should go first~」

「No, you don’t!」

「I-is it first come, first serve?! I won’t lose!」

All five of their young voices blurred together as they bickered, and then…

「Bwah…!」

They all tumbled into the room like an avalanche.

There were five young Majin girls.

One by one, they are…

Eleanor, one of the Demon King Army’s Big Four. The beautiful, silver-haired woman who invited me into this life as a freeloader.

Louto, a teacher in the magic academy. A beautiful, brown-haired woman who excels at barrier magic.

Vivi, the Demon King Army’s Chief intelligence officer. A beautiful, purplish-red-haired, tanned woman who devotes her very being to finding out my favorite dish day after day.

Lejie, the maid and escort to the Demon King’s daughter. A beautiful, dark-haired woman who is also Ferris’s younger sister.

Monana, the Demon King Army’s greatest Magic Tool engineer. A beautiful, blue-haired woman conducting several kinds of research.

They looked…very similar to them.

Extremely similar. Almost like the child forms of them all.

I think they’re younger than when I saved them five years ago.

They look close to Carro’s age.

Also, this goes without saying, all five of the girls are flat-chested, unlike the other five I know.

All of them wore a one-piece type of pajamas.

「Wh-what the…?」

Mika was the one who answered my question.

『It’s the Seven. Looks like they drank the Youth Potion that Monana made.』

「Youth Potion.」

Looks like Mika had an inkling, but she didn’t say anything.

She’d warn me if it was dangerous, but something like this would be confusing even if she told me.

「I have so many questions, but…」

Like wouldn’t the invention of a Youth Potion be the biggest discovery of the century? Or why the five of them drank it? Or why did they come and visit me in my room right before going to bed?

「Go on, Monana, explain.」

「Urgh… Uh… Well… G-good evening, Rain.」

「That’s right. Good evening, Monana.」

Even at such time, it is always important to give the proper greeting.

「You knew it was us right away, huh? I thought the first step would’ve been getting you to believe it was us.」

「Well, I am pretty surprised, but… I caught on.」

Things outside the realm of common sense can happen. You see that all the time when you fight as a Savior.

Besides, I’m able to sense their presence.

If I concentrated to confirm it, there is no mistake that these five girls are them.

「I-I see.」

「That aside, why? You’re all younger than when we first met, right?」

「Ah, yeah. At that time, we weren’t that different compared to you now in terms of age. That proved a slight problem…」

「Problem?」

「W-well, do you remember what we talked about this afternoon? About how you sleep with the kids?」

「Oh yeah, about how they crawl into the bed because they feel lonely.」

Mini-Monana’s expression turned serious.

「I-in other words… So long as we meet the requirements of being of the same age as the aforementioned Carro as well as feeling “lonely”, it would be fine for us to go to bed with Rain, correct?」

「As expected of the biggest brain in the Demon King Army. That logic is foolproof.」

Mini-Vivi said as she nodded in agreement.

「Is it…?」

It seems closer to illogical than logical.

「I, for one, have been working very hard as of late. Undertaking missions in locations that are physically far away from Sir Rain already makes me feel lonely…」

Mini-Eleanor looked at me like she was about to cry.

「If that’s the case, then I, too, have been busy gathering information on the demons who’ve been active lately. Thanks to that, I’ve been lonely, not being able to search for Hero Rain’s favorite foods.」

That was Mini-Vivi.

「Me too… Even though we’re in the same castle, my job is to escort Lady Myuri, so I can’t go to meet Sir Rain… Of course, I like being with Lady Myuri too.」

That was Mini-Lejie.

「Me three. I’ve been very, very lonely since Sir Rain hasn’t come to the school lately~ Rain’s seat is still vacant, you know~?」

That was Mini-Louto.

「You’re all still fine. I wasn’t able to meet him until recently, y’know? I mean, I had my own reasons, but I won’t lose in terms of loneliness.」

Mini-Monana continued. All five of them showcased how they each fulfilled the conditions.

「Uh, okay… Well, I understand the conversation. Not so much the reasoning…」

In order to sleep in the same bed as me just like the kids do, they turned themselves into young girls.

I don’t really know why they had to do that.

「All that aside, Sir Hero. Is this agreeable?」

With an apologetic look on her face, Ferris asks.

「Hmm…」

I can’t make up my mind.

All five of them looked up at me with puppy dog eyes.

I couldn’t say no to that…

「Sir Rain, perhaps if you were to see it as a so-called pajama party?」

Said Mini-Eleanor.

「A pajama wha?」

I know what those two words mean separately, but I’m not familiar with the term when put together.

「Yes. It appears to be an event where common folk deepen their relationships by putting on their night attire and gathering together with their good friends.」

「Huh, that’s a thing? They liken that event to a party?」

「Exactly.」

『……Pretty sure girls and boys don’t mix in those.』

Mika was muttering something, but I couldn’t really hear it because the five of them cleared their throats loudly, almost as if to cover her up.

「So that’s also a normal thing to do, huh? Alright, I get it, let’s give it a shot.」

There is, without a doubt, a longing within me for the ordinary.

If I can get closer to that by even a little, I’ll try it.

The moment they heard my answer, the five young girls jumped for joy.

Their joy drowned out Ferris’s dry laugh and Mika’s sigh.

『So? What happened to the discussion about who’s sleeping next to Rain?』

In the next moment, I could sense a fighting spirit that shouldn’t come from young girls emanating from the five of them. There were sparks in the air as they exchanged glances.

…Wh-what’s about to happen?

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