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519 – 「I See… So That’s Why She Said It’s Better Not to Know」

 

The next day. After somehow managing to get the dead-tired dwarf sisters and Dr. Shouko back on their feet, I shoved them into the private bath. After taking care of them, and being taken care of in return, I decided to take a walk around the inn. That’s when I ran into Moegi, Konoha, and Inaba. All three of them were wearing the same yukata that I and the girls were wearing.

「Good morning, you three.」

「Good morning, Hiro-san.」

「Good morning.」

「Good morning, Hiro-dono.」

Moegi greeted me with a smile, Konoha with a glare for some reason, and Inaba with a completely serious face. Why is Konoha giving me that look?

「I’m not sure why you’re glaring at me… but this is a good inn. The hot springs are nice, the food is delicious, and the service is excellent.」

「This place is one of the finest luxury hot spring inns in this resort area, after all…」

「They’ve certainly spared no expense.」

「Considering Hiro-dono’s potential, I suppose that’s only natural.」

「Is my potential really that big of a deal?」

「It really is.」

「It truly is.」

「To the point where if it meant winning your favor, they’d probably tell the three of us to offer up our chastity.」

「There’s no way that’s true, right?」

「I wish it were a lie.」

「…Sigh.」

「That’s the situation.」

Moegi gave a wry smile, Konoha let out a massive sigh, and Inaba shrugged. It seems like they might actually be serious… Not that I have any intention of touching them.

「Rest assured, I have no intention of doing anything like that. I’m not dissatisfied with you three, but…」

「Is that so?」

「Yeah. I mean, look, when I return to the Empire, I’m going to be marrying with the heiress of an Earl House. I’m also set to marry a Marquis’ daughter, a Viscount’s daughter, and formally wed Mimi and the other girls as well. Even though we are going to celebrate such a big wedding soon, I left all the wedding preparations to the noble houses of my fiancées and even got them to agree to let me take this pre-wedding trip to Kugi’s homeland. Now, imagine me getting involved with you three during this trip and saying to them on my return, ‘These girls are also my wives now.’ Even if my fiancées were somehow okay with it, their parents would hunt me to the ends of the universe swords in hand.」

That said, if I were to fight seriously using my psionic abilities, I doubt I’d lose. But I don’t want to cause that kind of chaos in the first place.

「So, if you were to make a move, you’d take responsibility for it?」

「That’s unexpected.」

「Isn’t that a bit rude? I might take offense to that.」

「Shall we offer up our chastity, then?」

「Normally, I’d be glad to take your offer, but not right now.」

Moegi and Inaba took the opportunity to tease me further, but I just shrugged in response. Konoha, on the other hand, was simply being harsh towards me, so I chose to ignore her. If I got upset every time over something like this, there’d be no end to it.

「It’s a bit disappointing, as I’m somewhat interested in you, Hiro-san.」

「Somewhat?」

「Yes, just a little. I’m curious to see what kind of skills you must have to keep all those women around you.」

「I’m not particularly skilled with women or anything like that. If you want to know how things work, you should ask Mei.」

Mei’s the one managing my relationships with the women around me. As for me, I just go along with what they say and get ‘shared’ in a way that works out for everyone. But seriously, having a beautiful woman like Moegi say something like that makes my heart race. I wish she would stop.

「I’m interested as well, if I were to experience that kind of relationship with you, I could record it in my diary or turn it into a research paper. That way, my name would be remembered by future generations.」

「What kind of ambition is that… Is it a desire for fame? I mean, getting involved with someone just for that reason is a bit… to become lovers, or get in a relationship with someone just for that doesn’t seem right to me.」

「Even if it starts for practical reasons, as long as we develop genuine affection in the end, it’s fine. Think of it like a political marriage. It’s not so strange, is it?」

「Is that so…? I guess… maybe?」

Inaba’s view on marriage is definitely unique. Honestly, she might be the most eager of the three.

「As for me, I’m not interested.」

「Well, I figured as much. There’s also the matter with Kugi. I still don’t fully understand why you’re so invested in Kugi, but that would only complicate things further.」

It seems Konoha isn’t happy about me having a relationship with other women at the same time as Kugi. I suppose it makes sense from her perspective, but the timing of when I met everyone is something I can’t control. To me, it just feels like she’s unreasonably harsh against me.

「Konoha-san, you’ve been so harsh against Hiro-dono because you know the truth about Kugi-san—or rather, about the priestesses, right? However, Kugi-san’s situation doesn’t have anything to do with him, nor was he involved in any capacity.」

「That… may be true, but…」

Konoha who was gently chided by Inaba responded looking dejected, her tanuki-like ears flattening against her head as her shoulders drooped.

So, she knows the truth about the priestesses, huh? That’s something I’ve been curious about for a while now.

「Standing around talking about this won’t get us anywhere. If it’s alright with you, could you tell me more about that situation?」

There should be a lounge area near the entrance of the inn. We still have some time before breakfast, so I might as well ask about this.

☆★☆

「I see… So that’s why she said it’s better not to know.」

After listening to the details about Kugi—or more specifically, the priestess system—in the inn’s lounge, I found myself leaning back into the sofa and staring up at the ceiling.

「And now I understand why Konoha has been so harsh with me.」

However, what Inaba said about this having nothing to do with me is also true. All of this happened without my input or knowledge, so the only thing I can say is ‘How did you expect me to know that’.

「Erasing the entire past, huh… So that’s what it meant.」

Now I finally understand why Kugi said it’s better not to know. This isn’t something that should be pried on out of mere curiosity. Kugi erased all her past before becoming a priestess—everything before she became Kugi. Even her name, ‘Kugi’, is a new name she received after she became who she is now. All that is lost will never return. Every bond that made her who she was has been severed, erased. In a way, she became like me—a person who fell into this universe alone, with nothing to tie her to her past.

And she did it all just to be with me. There was no guarantee we would end up together, only a possibility that she staked everything on.

「Disposed of, huh…」

I have no idea what kind of cost it took to completely erase one person’s entire past, or how much it cost to turn Kugi into a full-fledged priestess. Maybe for a nation like the Holy Vuelzarus Empire, the cost is negligible. Or maybe it is so costly that not even a galactic empire can ignore it. But what would await the priestess who went through all of this and didn’t manage to connect her fate with the visitor? The very thought is terrifying.

Now that I think about it, her name says everything. The surname Seijou, which means ‘purity’, is apparently a common one given to those who become priestesses. However, the personal name of the priestess is determined by some form of divination or oracle. The name she received is Kugi, meaning  ‘offering’.

「Do they think I’m some kind of evil god who’ll go on a rampage if I’m not given a sacrifice…?」

「If you were to unleash your wrath, you could destroy not just one star but multiple star systems, so in that sense… it’s not entirely inaccurate.」

「I didn’t ask for things to turn out this way either… sigh.」

The word ‘kugi’, meaning ‘offering’, refers to rituals where humans or animals are sacrificed to local gods or spirits. I still don’t know if Kugi herself is supposed to be the offering, or if she has a role in offering something to me. Either way, the one who gave her this name doesn’t care for Kugi herself.

「Now that I think about it, I heard something about Kugi having the role of stopping me if I ever went berserk.」

「I’ve heard that priestesses are entrusted with such a role.」

「And of course, that would mean she’d risk her life to do it…」

My head hurts. Even though Kugi is a remarkably powerful practitioner of the Second Spiritual Form, in terms of sheer psionic force, she is nowhere close to me. If the time ever comes when she has to stop me, it will undoubtedly mean risking her life—or, more accurately, sacrificing it. It would be like trying to hold back the collapse of a massive dam with nothing but her body. If that’s the case, then her name, ‘Kugi’, might have been chosen with that grim future in mind.

「Well, I understand Kugi’s situation better now. I’m not precisely happy with what the Holy Vuelzarus Empire did to Kugi to win me over… However, Kugi seems content with the life she has now. So, the only thing I can do now is keep working to make sure she can keep smiling, just as I’ve been doing.」

I still don’t know why they felt it was necessary to go that far with Kugi, but I’m not the type to feel like I need to uncover every single detail to be satisfied. What matters is what I do now and how I move forward from here.