Volume 3 Chapter 4 Part 5
「I-it’s embarrassing… so please don’t stare…」
「S-sorry.」
I turned my back towards her. Sounds of Ria washing herself echoed throughout the bathroom.
The water stopped, and I heard Ria slowly approach the bathtub. As if trying to escape, I ended up pushing myself towards the opposite edge of the tub.
「Sir Thor. Don’t do that… also, please look this way.」
Y-your asking the impossible. The virgin me was far too embarrassed. I hadn’t even used the milky white bath salts today.
「Did you also sit that close to the edge when Deet was here?」
「N-no, I didn’t…」
「Then…」
Ria held my shoulders and spun me around. Uwaaaa.
Too embarrassed to do anything else, I covered my face with both hands and froze. Unexpectedly, it seemed Ria had also frozen stiff because the entire bathroom became deathly silent.
I peeked at Ria through a crack in my fingers.
She was adorable in the most purest of senses. Without a trace of eroticism.
「Ria.」I spoke in the most gentle voice I could.
「Y-yes.」
「Don’t think like that. Because Ria, I-」
I moved to hold her hands, and in that instant, brought my lips to Ria’s and kissed her.
Ria stuttered, trying to say something, but I stopped her.
Because the man should be the one pursuing the kiss! Well, a virgin like me wouldn’t know, but it was probably true!
「S-sir Thor!」
「Yeah?」
Ria forcibly pushed my lips away. Sorrow. And I must have looked as sorrowful as I felt, because Ria quickly spoke up.
「Y-you’ve got it wrong!」
「Eh? About what?」
Was there something she really needed to say?
「D-do you hear any voices?」
「V-voices?」
I strained my ears. Was that… a voice coming from the front door?
「Is Tooru not here~? Alright, then I’m letting myself in!」
That voice belonged to a certain black cat beast-person I knew all too well…
「Tell me about the redevelopment plan~! And come increase my max level~!」
「M-Miri?」
「Hm? Tooru? So you were here!」
Apparently, Miri had amazing hearing ability, since she was somehow able to hear me muttering all the way in the bathroom.
「I think his voice came from here?」
Crap! I silently cried, but it was too late to do anything. The translucent glass door swung open.
「Nya!? What-? You’re bathing with Ria, huh. Miri will join you!」
「O-oi!」
On that day, I learned that there also existed girls who didn’t need to make preparations before bathing.
Miri quickly started to strip, revealing a black tail growing from her springy butt.
It was as if I had not only won the lottery, but also won second and third place as well. [1. TL Note: often in Japanese lotteries, the number right before and right after the winning number also gets prizes. Ex. if the winning number is 1234, then 1233 and 1235 might be considered consolation prizes]
「W-wait! Don’t take off your clothes!」
Miri, paying no need to my warning, proceeded to splash water over herself before leaping into the bathtub.
「T-there’s not enough space for you!」
Miri stared at Ria and I, who were still locked in the compromising position from before. 「Ah, I get it~ you were using your Max Level Increase Kiss!」
「O-oi! You can’t say that…」
Miri had casually just spilled my secret skill in front of Ria.
「W-what’s that? Max Level Increase Kiss?」
「That’s, um… Wah! Stop pushing…wah!」
The bathtub wasn’t nearly big enough for that.
As I felt myself being violently jolted around, my face ended up buried inside Ria’s voluptuous chest. Everything was turning into utter chaos.
Suddenly, Miri’s hands grabbed my face, separating it from Ria’s chest. Abruptly, I found myself staring at Miri’s face, which was moving closer and closer.
「Y-you can’t… Miri… wait…」
「I get one too!」She said happily. 「Mwah!」
「Miri! Stop that!」Ria cried out. She snatched my head away from Miri’s face, and once again, I found my face buried in her chest. Ouch. My neck hurts…
And thus was the story of how my face made a round trip between Ria’s chest and Miri’s face.
♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎
I sat cross-legged on the tamami mat in the Japanese-style room. Ria sat across from me, and Miri sat next to me.
「Why are these the sitting arrangements!?」Ria protested, her cheeks puffed out indignantly.
「Well. We’re the ones being scolded, so it wouldn’t make much sense for us to sit next to you, right?」I prodded Miri. 「Right?」
「Nya!? Uh, yeah, right.」
「Jeez~~~! I want to sit on your side though!」Apparently, our seating arrangement had only made Ria even angrier. 「But whatever. What’s this ‘Max Level Increase Kiss’?」
I couldn’t hide it any further.
「Actually, I didn’t know about it before, but I have this skill called ‘Skill That Increases a Woman’s Maximum Level by 1, Up to 3 Times a Day, Up to Double the Original Level, When You Kiss Her,’ which is a really long, but that’s how it is apparently…」
「It’s a ‘Latent Skill’」Miri chimed in. 「My Person Appraisal skill is high level, which is how I discovered that Tooru had it, but he wouldn’t have been able to find out by just checking his status.」
I blinked. Some of that information was new even for me.
「Nyahaha. You might even have some rare skills that my Person Appraisal skill can’t detect.」
「Eh? Really?」
In other words, I might have other amazing Latent Skills?
「There are some individuals who possess more than one Latent Skill. The fact you have one already makes it much more likely that you have others as well.」
「So does that mean I could be really powerful?」
「You already are~! Before I met you, I’ve never even heard of increasing someone’s max level by kissing them!」
「Ahahaha. Even though I’m ‘Unemployed.’」
「Nyahaha. True. In that case, I can make you a bandit! Though your status will still be ‘Unemployed.’」
「Then there’s not really a point, is there. Hahaha.」
「True~ Nyahaha.」
SLAM!
As I joked around with Miri, Ria suddenly slammed the floor with her fist.
Miri and I both shrank in fear.
「So Sir Thor~ that must mean you’ve been going around kissing lo~ts of girls, right?」
「N-no, I haven’t. I just feel bad for people stuck at max level… since all their hard-earned experience they earn goes to waste…」
「That’s right.」Miri said, coming to my rescue. 「I get to increase my potential without capping out. Last time, we did kiss more than three times, but-」
Miri suddenly stopped talking, looking shocked. She turned to look at Ria.
I looked at Ria as well, knowing full well the reason behind Miri’s astonishment.
Large teardrops leaked out of Ria’s eyes.
「R-Ria, sorry.」
「Sorry, nya.」
I didn’t know why, but for some reason, Miri and I both profusely apologized.
「That’s… not it…」
「「Huh?」」
「My max level is high, so that’s means Sir Thor won’t kiss me, right?」
That’s why!? But she had a point. Her current level was 32 while her maximum level was 56.
As you got higher in levels, the amount of experience required to level-up increased exponentially. For Ria, it might be physically impossible to reach her level cap within her lifetime.
Besides, if she continued to seriously grind experience nonstop by fighting progressively more dangerous monsters, she might even die.
「What about this? Every time Tooru gives me a kiss, he gives you one too!」
「「Eh?」」
Ria and I exclaimed together at Miri’s sudden, unexpected proposal,
「Are you okay with that, Miri?」I asked.
I thought that she’d hate something like that.
「My papa, who was a cat person, had a lot of lovers. Mama was just one of them.」
「Oh, you mean the legendary thief Dorothea.」
Miri had taken over her mother’s position as the Thieves’ Guild leader. I wondered what her father had been like. According to Miri, he wasn’t human either.
Hm? Wait a second. Didn’t Dorothea also have multiple lovers, according to Miri…?
I shook my head. That was irrelevant right now.
「So as long as Tooru kisses me, he can kiss whoever else he likes.」
Cat people had a surprisingly gratuitous culture. Either that, or Miri’s parents were just unique. At this point, either explanation worked for me.
Ria turned to me.「B-but, won’t that make you unhappy, Sir Thor?」
「No, not at all. Actually, if you agreed to it, I’d more more than happy to…」
「See, Ria~? It’s ‘cause you’re super cute! Alright then, Tooru! Since you kissed me in the bathtub, go and give Ria a kiss!」
S-somehow, it seemed we’d all come to a consensus. In which case…
「Kya-! Please wait, Sir Thor!」
「Eh? So it’s a no-go after all?」
I was promptly rejected. Perhaps I was mistaken about the consensus.
「Not at all! But Miri is staring so intensely at us! I can’t do it with her like that!」
Miri’s pupils dilated. Just as if she were a cat, watching something with intense curiosity.
「Don’t mind me. Go ahead and finish. I’ll wait here ‘till you’re done.」
「I-I can’t! How can you just say ‘go ahead and finish’! Besides, didn’t you come here for an errand or something?」
Oh, that’s true. Miri had mentioned something about the redevelopment plan.
「Nya-! I forgot. Tooru knows about Japan, so I wanted to consult him on some stuff.」
Ria couldn’t contain herself any longer. 「Then after your consultation, you will go home immediately! Then Sir Thor and I will continue at our own pace. Hurry up and get your consultation over with!」
「Tsk.」
But despite her playful and carefree nature, Miri was quite serious when it came down to business. With a stern expression, we began discussing the redevelopment plan for the Thieves’ Guild.
♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎
「Hah…」
I felt Ria sigh. We were lying next to each other on the bed, surrounded by pitch black.
「Three times is barely anything, huh… on the contrary, it makes me a little sad.」
「We can do it however many times you want, you know.」
「I know, and I really want to, but I’d feel bad for Miri. We even made her go home early.」
「That’s true.」
Ria and I both giggled.
As I held Ria in my embrace, I asked her: 「Didn’t you use to disapprove of the Thieves’ Guild?」
「After seeing it in person, and seeing how much care they put into taking care of their children, I don’t think they’re bad people…」
In the past, Ria’s family had been attacked, and their belongings stolen.
I didn’t know who did it, but Miri’s band of chivalrous thieves only attacked corrupt nobles and greedy merchants.
「Though I think in your case, Ria, it’s be fine for you to be a little more suspicious of other people.」
「In that case, I might start to be suspicious of you, Sir Thor. Because the number of girls around you keeps increasing.」
「Eh? That…」It seems I’d stirred up a hornet’s nest.「Um, anyway. I wanted to help Miri out.」
「It’s not like I’m against it.」
「Really?」
「Sir Thor is a kind person, so it’s only natural. And besides, I’m concerned about Miri too, so I’ll also help out.」
I was relieved to hear that. Having Ria helping out would be a lifesaver.
「Ultimately, the main problem with the Thieves’ Guild territory is that they can’t attract nearly as many customers as the Merchant’s Guild.」I explained.
「I see. In other words, if they could increase business in their territories, they wouldn’t need to resort to a lifestyle of dangerous crime. And other groups wouldn’t be able to push them around.」
「Yup. And if we’re talking business, there’s a lot to be learned from Japan. In the process, I also want to help with the orphanage’s management.」
「Eh?」
As I held Ria in my arms in the pitch black room, I could feel her raise her head to look at me.
「Could it be that you’re doing this for my sake?」Ria asked tentatively.
「Not just you. Nick and Mary too.」
「Sir Thor… thank you…」
I felt Ria squeeze my tightly.
「The kiss from earlier… can you kiss me just one more time?」
「No problem.」
「Mm… can you kiss me… one more time?… mm…」
Obviously, there was no way we’d stop at just one time.
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