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Chapter 75: Company retreat, part 6

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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama

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Two entire days passed before I could move fully again.

According to Iris, the royal cavalry had raided one of the warehouses and confiscated the goods while I lay bedridden.

「My body feels heavy.」

Having lay down for the past two days, I still felt sluggish.

「It can’t be helped. You executed a first-order necromancy spell on a vampire after all, and you’re feeling the repercussions accordingly.」

「You mentioned that you’ve done it once too, right? Who did you use it on?」

「Ortenberg…」

「Who’s that?」

「A cat… I used to own. It went well, but I blacked out for a few hours after that. Looking at the magic circles, I somehow figured out that the recoil is proportional to the target.」

Reviving a cat is certainly different from reviving a vampire.

「I still don’t know whether Linus created ‘Second’, though. Someone else could’ve made it while he simply smuggled it in…」

I had racked my brains while bedridden, but still haven’t come to a conclusion.

「Oh… that’s one of the painkillers used in the demon realm a long time ago. It’s lost its popularity since then, though.」

「So he didn’t make it himself, but rather procured it from the demon realm?」

Lyla was sure that it had no side effects. That fact only applied for demons, however. She had had no idea just how harmful it was to humans.

「Aren’t painkillers usually taken as liquids, like potions?」

「You really do know your stuff. That’s only in the present day though. We can now brew liquid painkillers from other herbs, so that powder is a relic of the past. In addition, the powdered form is hard to use on the battlefield, so we still have a huge stockpile of it.」

I guess Linus had somehow figured out what it did to humans. Perhaps he’d seen someone take it. We’ll never know for sure, though.

「That blithering idiot.」

Lyla, feeling lonely, cussed at the late Linus. I suppose I’ll tell King Randolph about this whole episode once I have time.

「Roland-sama? Can you move yet?」, inquired Dee as she walked in.

「Yeah. Daily life is no longer a chore, though I still can’t fight like I did before.」

「Ufufu, it’s fine, you’re probably still crazy strong.」

My senses were sharp, but my reflexes were dull. It felt like my entire body was tied down by weights.

「Shall we go?」

「Where to?」

「Where to… hasn’t Lylael-sama told you?」

「I haven’t had the chance to even approach the subject…」

「Heh, you’ve always been one to be embarrassed by strange things.」

Seeing Lyla’s reluctance to speak up, Dee broke the news to me instead.

「We’re going to the beach! Everyone’s dying to get their swimsuits wet. We agreed to go once Roland-sama’s alive and kicking again!」

She glanced at Lyla, who was still looking shy.

「I mean… I don’t like the idea of wrapping myself in that rag. Why can’t I just go naked…?」

Typical.

「You can think of it as equipment to be used in the water, Lylael-sama.」

「Fumu… fine…」

Dee handed me a pair of shorts, which she had probably bought for me earlier. If it’s the sea, then… it fits, I guess.

「Okay, we can go once I get changed.」

「See you later, then!」

Lyla was still looking embarrassed, but Dee dragged her out of the house. Walking outside, I saw a few people scattered along the beach. Noticing me, one of them waved.

「Roland-san～～」

「Milia?」

She was wearing a one piece swimsuit. The branch chief was beside her.

「Shh, don’t shout」, said Iris, looking at me.

Sporting a navy blue bikini, she was wearing sunglasses and a straw hat. She looked way more like an adult than Milia.

Since Dee had said that everyone would be there, she was probably lurking somewhere with Lyla. Setting Lyla aside, I wondered how Dee would manage with the gaping hole in her chest. She’ll probably stuff it with fruits or something, I thought.

After quickly getting changed, I walked to the beach and Milia came to greet me.

「You seem like you’ve recovered well, Roland-san. That’s great!」

「Sorry for making you worry.」

Sitting in the shade of a parasol, Iris tried to act nonchalant.

「I knew he would be fine from the start.」

「Weren’t you really flustered at first, chief…?」

「Shh. Look, if you stay there, you’ll get a tan.」

「Aren’t you the only one concerned about that, chief??」

「I’d love to see you crying in ten years’ time.」

「Doesn’t it go without saying that we should get a tan while at the beach…?」

While the two factions squabbled, I did some warming up.

「…Uhm, Roland-san, what are you doing?」

「Aren’t we swimming to that island?」

「Which one…? Wait, that small one!? That’s so far away! Why all of a sudden!? Even though we came to the beach…」

「Isn’t it because we’re here?」

I had no idea what Milia was getting at.

「Swimming is a full-body exercise.」

「Uh…」

「It’s a really good form of exercise, you know? Really sharpens dulled reflexes.」

「Please don’t be so stoic!」

Sighing, Milia seemed to have noticed something. She put her index fingers together.

「Girls come to the beach to play. It’s normal. Going all-out to swim probably isn’t normal…」

「– Okay, let’s play.」

Milia did a small leap in triumph.

「Yay! Let’s build sandcastles!」

「If we’re building castles, I’m afraid I’ll have to nitpick a little.」

「That’s fine! We’ll be building in pairs, so you can say all you want!」

「For our strategy, the Demon King’s army, our enemy, numbers ten thousand. Assume that we have five hundred. Accounting for the difference in strength, we’ll build a castle that can hold for three months. We’ll also need to erect a frontline base designed to be abandoned when the time comes.」

「Can you come up with something fancier? That sounds bloody!」

「Okay. Castles should be first and foremost designed with the worst case scenario in mind. War never ends well, so there’ll more or less be some bloodshed.」

「I want to build a castle where a prince immediately falls in love with a princess!」

Iris, who was still seated under the parasol, laughed.

「Roger that. You can leave me in charge of defence. If the castle isn’t protected, then the prince and the princess won’t be able to fall in love.」

「Hey… that’s kind of cool, chief…」

「Both the prince and the princess have decided to fight to the end if anything happens. Knowing that it will lower morale, they don’t have an underground escape route ready, or anything like that. There are only two possible outcomes — reinforcements arrive and they make it out, or their entire retinue falls to the enemies.」

「Isn’t that still really bloody…!?」

「Not if the reinforcements arrive quickly.」

「There’s no need to be so detailed. It’s just a castle made out of sand, you know?」

I began to busy myself with building the frontline base, but an incoming wave immediately wiped out about half of my hard work.

「A literal wave formation, huh? This is no different from saying that it’s a terrible idea to erect a base here. Hmm… I see…」

「You look like you’re having fun, Roland-san…」

As I was digging a hole and building a wall, Lyla and Dee came over.

「Ara-ara. Playing with sand, Roland-sama?」

Dee’s bikini’s manufacturer had evidently scrimped on cloth.

「How’s the hole, Dee?」

She squeezed her chest, making her breasts appear bigger and creating a cleavage line as well.

「Ufufu. Look how large my boobies are. Can’t see the hole now, can you?」

「Indeed.」

「My hair covers the back.」

Even without squeezing them, her breasts were large enough to make the hole relatively inconspicuous. Lyla, on the other hand, was wearing a T-shirt.

「Aren’t you taking that off, Warawa-san?」

「Ehh… I can’t get used to it, no matter what…」

「But you’re always so confident!」

「It feels neither here nor there… it’s really embarrassing…」

「Look, Roland-san’s staring at you…」

「Hiding it only made me more curious, Lyla.」

「Sigh…」

Taking matters into her own hands, Dee locked the uncooperative Lyla into a full nelson, while Milia grabbed her shirt with both hands.

「S-stop it… it’s embarrassing…」

「This side of Warawa-san is cute too… don’t struggle, okay～」

Laughing in a perverted manner, Milia took Lyla’s shirt off, revealing a red bikini adorned with ribbons.

「…」

「It fits you, Lylael-sama!」

「Choosing it together was the right choice ♪」

Both Dee and Milia nodded in agreement. Blushing from embarrassment, she plopped herself onto the sand.

The strings near her waist were like ribbons, or should I say bows?

In contrast to her crimson ponytail her neck was white as snow.

Her shoulders were delicate, and her navel small.

Hidden in the shade yet apparent under the sun, her faintly translucent skin left all enthralled.

「You’re beautiful.」

Lyla blushed even harder.

「O-Of course I am.」

Throwing a fistful of sand at me, she then grabbed her T-shirt from Milia’s hands, running across the golden sand and hiding behind Iris. Just like a stray cat unaccustomed to humans, I thought.

「Let’s go play. Only those wearing nothing but swimsuits are invited, though～」

「Good idea, let’s go!」

The two of them glanced at Lyla. Although she was pouting, she gradually stepped out from the parasol’s shade. Her behaviour reminded me of a stray cat keeping its guard up while slowly crawling up to food that was placed out for it.

「Why do you make me do such shameful things… look, I can just take everything off, you know –」

「That’s even more shameful, Lyla-chan!」

In the end, Lyla was unable to resist the urge to play with us. Her white, bare skin plain for all to see, she joined us at last. We did a lot of things that day, including beach volleyball, long-distance swimming (just me) and burying a corpse (Dee) in the sand.

The beach was more fun than I had expected.

Halfway, we heard a commotion coming from another spot on the beach. Apparently an elf had washed ashore. She was fine, but nobody knew how she got here.

「Could that be Rodje…?」

Lyla grumbled as she saw the elf being carried on a stretcher from afar. She certainly looked like Rodje.

「…Did she come from the sea?」

「She always comes here from the demon realm… so it might be a different elf?」

After that, we gorged ourselves at a barbecue that Iris had planned. Having enjoyed ourselves to the fullest, we headed back to the lodge just as the sun began to set. Back in our room, Lyla whirled around in front of the mirror, happily observing herself from every angle.

「♪♪」

In stark contrast to before, she was now reluctant to change out of the swimsuit.

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