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Chapter 68 – part 2

「Hand them over.」

 

「…Hand them over? What…?」

 

「Release your entire collection.」

 

「…No, I won’t.」

 

「Even if I’ll hit you again?」

 

「…that’s a reward.」

 

Ah, she was an extreme masochist!

 

Ugh! Really… She’s so annoying!

But seriously, how did she end up like this?

 

「Hand them over! This is an order!」

 

「…An order? Control…?」

 

Suddenly, Lilith blushed.

 

「What’s wrong, Lilith?」

 

「…Fufu… Lute… commanding me… trying to dominate me… trying to control me… fufu… ufufu… ufufufu…」

 

Lilith started laughing with an almost ecstatic expression that no teenage girl should ever display.

Honestly, it’s really scary. Someone help.

 

Ignoring my confusion, Lilith started taking spoons and forks out of the item box.

The count was an impressive 257 sets.

 

「You… I’ll responsibly dispose of these, okay?」

 

「…My collection…」

 

Ignoring Lilith’s teary eyes, I stored the spoons and forks in a bag. 

They were all silver.

 

They’d fetch a decent price when sold in town.

 

「The ones I used during dinner earlier were these, right?」

 

「…Yes.」

 

Taking out one set of spoon and fork, I handed it to Lilith.

Of course, they hadn’t been washed yet.

 

「Wash them right away and store them in the item box. Until this spoon and fork break, keep using these.」

 

With a dissatisfied expression, Lilith nodded.

 

「…Understood.」

 

—Next morning—

 

The spoons and forks set out for me were brand new.

I gave Lilith a strong punch on the head.

 

Anyway, that’s how we made our way back to town.

 

Several days later, on a holiday, Lilith, Liz, and I were in a town with a magic academy, shopping.

 

「But item boxes are really convenient.」

 

「…My skill level is maxed, by the way.」

 

With a storage space that’s surprisingly enormous, if a skill like this were available in modern-day Japan, it’d probably bankrupt most retail businesses.

 

Well, thanks to that, we were shopping at a level where we could practically buy out the entire variety store.

 

「Oh, um, umm, um… your total is five gold coins (equivalent to 5 million yen)?」

 

「Yes, here’s your payment.」

 

The elf employee, wide-eyed, was quite amusing.

It seemed Liz found it amusing too; she chuckled while watching.

 

As we left the store…

 

「…Ufufu.」

 

The moment we stepped outside, Orto, who had been tethered outside, jumped onto Lilith. 

He licked her cheek and wagged his tail. Well, he seemed to be in a good mood.

 

「Orto is so fluffy…」

 

Lilith likes cute things, or rather, she was fond of animals. 

She loves Liz and, naturally, adores Orto.

 

「All right, next stop is the bedding store. Not necessarily a canopy bed fit for a noble, but at least let’s get something decent for a good night’s sleep.」

 

Lilith and Liz nodded at my words.

I took Orto’s leash and started walking.

 

After a while, we came across a skewer stand, so we indulged in a couple of skewers each.

It was perfect since I was a bit hungry.

 

I leaned against the table attached to the shop and fed some of the skewered meat to Orto.

 

「There, there, take your time eating.」

 

Orto happily wagged his tail and let out a joyful bark.

He was really fond of humans, so he’d find things cute even if it wasn’t Lilith.

 

At that moment…

 

「Oh, Lute? What are you doing here?」

 

「Oh, Cordelia…」

 

Before I could respond, Lilith glared sharply at Cordelia.

 

「…Could you not interrupt our family time?」

 

「Family time?! What do you mean!?」

 

Lilith points at me.

 

「This is the father,」 

 

Then she points at herself, 

 

「This is the mother,」 

 

Then she points at Liz, 

 

「This is the daughter,」 

 

and finally she points at Orto, 

 

「And this is our pet dog, Orto(Orthros).」

 

With an ecstatic expression, Lilith proudly said, 

 

「…This is our family time. Starting with a couple, before blossoming into a warm family.」

 

「Noisy!」

 

「…Ouch.」

 

Just as I gave Lilith a knock on the head, she pretended to cry, saying, 

 

「Cordelia? I think you know this already, but Lilith has a bit of an… interesting personality…」

 

I glanced at Cordelia…

 

「Oh… I see. Sorry about that. It seems like I ruined the family atmosphere…」

 

It was a cold look. What’s more, she is really staring.

 

「No, I mean, Lilith’s got a weird personality. Only an idiot would take her seriously.」

 

「It’s not like I actually believe  her. I’m just, like, ‘Oh, I see,’ and I feel like I’m completely out of the loop.」

 

Ah, this sounds like she’s angry… Ah, it’s really bothersome.

 

At that moment, Cordelia shifted her gaze to Orto and her eyes lit up.

 

「Oh, it’s a doggy! Come here, come here!」

 

Thankfully, she seemed to be back in a good mood in an instant.

Oh, right, she’s always liked animals, hasn’t she?

 

Cordelia reached out to Orto, but he took a step back and growled in warning.

 

「Oh…」

 

Cordelia retracted her hand and took a few steps back, creating distance from Orto.

 

「Animals always seem to be wary of you when you meet for the first time huh? And Orto should be pretty friendly too…]

 

「Well, once they get used to me, they warm up.」

 

「Is it a bloodline thing?」

 

「Yeah. It’s a strange story, but it seems like many on my dad’s side are disliked by animals. Well, there aren’t many decent relatives on that side, so maybe that unpleasant vibe gets through to animals.」

 

「Ah, your uncle was quite something. But you’re normal, though… A family line disliked by animals, that’s really weird.」

 

Then, Cordelia, who seemed a bit lonely, widened her eyes suddenly.

 

「I shouldn’t be idling around here. See you later.」

 

「Yeah, see you.」

 

Seems like heroes are busy; even on holidays, they’re running around everywhere—conducting training programs or attending meetings with various officials from different countries. It’s truly tough.

 

As Cordelia hurried away, I sighed in relief.

 

But, before I knew it, we were surrounded by five ruffians.

 

「Hey hey, buddy? Got a pretty girl and a cute dog with you, huh?」

 

「Hehe, got a cute dog too, huh?」

 

「Sorry, buddy, but we’re taking the girl, the kid, and the dog.」

 

The men cracked their knuckles, openly behaving like kidnappers.

 

「How many times has this happened, Lilith?」

 

「…This is the third time this week.」

 

「Guess we’ll have to beat up these punks before heading to the old man’s place. The investigation we asked for should be done around now.」