Chapter 215: A Welcoming Dinner, and a Woman Who Catches the Eye

(That is... the village brought dinner for us...)

Come to think of it, I had not eaten dinner.

My stomach growled at once.

"Ahaha, you’re hungry."

The moment Lilli said that, her own stomach gave a cute little growl.

Then another.

Birga’s face went bright red.

"The villagers brought dinner, apparently. Want to eat?"

I asked Birga and Lilli. Both of them gave me a puzzled look.

"What is it?"

"How did you know?"

Lilli asked outright.

"Oh. Muriel’s magic."

"I see." "That makes sense."

Both of them seemed satisfied.

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Yeah, let’s go!" "Of course we’ll go."

Birga and Lilli answered, then started getting dressed.

I had never undressed in the first place, so I straightened my clothes and sat on the bed to wait while the two of them got ready.

Lilli put on her underwear, then her short trousers.

She moved to pull on her short tunic, and stopped.

"...I shouldn’t wear this, right?"

What she held up and waved at me was the very short tunic she had been about to put on.

Hearing that, Birga stopped in the middle of fastening her armor and tilted her head at Lilli.

"Why?" "Why not?"

Birga and I asked at the same time.

"Because I’m a Dule, aren’t I?"

Ah. So that was it.

"Inside this village, it should be fine, shouldn’t it? Once we go outside, though, that won’t work."

"Mmm... no. I’m still not wearing it. I’m Hiroyuki’s Dule too. Ah, Master Hiroyuki."

Lilli smiled shyly, folded the short tunic in a flash, and put it back in the box.

Birga stared down at her own chest, then moved to take off the breastplate she had only just put on.

"No, no. Birga, you can stay as you are."

"Why not!? I’m a Du, a Dule too, so my, my chest should, sh-should be out!"

Face scarlet, she pressed in on me.

"If something happens, Birga, you’ll be fighting up front, won’t you? That isn’t Dule armor like what Muriel and Sara wear. You have to equip yourself properly."

I bent at the waist, brought my face closer, and explained it to Birga.

"...Mmm."

Birga groaned, her face troubled.

Maybe she thought I was right, too.

"When we reach the city of Lubeck, we’ll buy armor made for a Dule."

I said that while stroking her head, and Birga gave a small nod.

"Ah! Me too, me too!"

Lilli raised both hands and begged.

"Well, I’ll think about it. Anyway, everyone’s waiting, so let’s hurry."

I stroked Lilli’s head too, and dodged the subject.

"Yeah, you’re right!" "Let’s go."

Lilli, bare from the waist up, and Birga, armored from head to toe, each took one of my arms as they said it.

"All right. Let’s go."

I left Lilli’s house with the two girls.

...

"Yeah, it’s good."

"Thank you."

Rosalier bowed her head with grace.

"The whole village made it. I am glad it suits your taste."

Then she ladled another serving of stew onto my plate.

I already knew there was no poison in it. Rosina had quietly checked with magic, and Lilli had eaten first with no sign of anything wrong.

So everyone was eating. Even so...

"Would anyone else like another serving?"

"Ah! I want some!"

"My, Lilli, this will be your third bowl."

Rosalier carried the heavy stockpot, tall enough to reach Birga’s and Lilli’s shoulders, over to Lilli.

She set the pot on the floor, scooped stew with the ladle, and poured it into Lilli’s dish.

"Nom nom, slurp, mm, nom nom, Rosa-neechan’s stew really is good, slurp..."

"Now, now. Either eat or talk, Lilli. Pick one."

She chided Lilli gently, then moved on to the next person who wanted more.

Gejia had warned me to be careful, but nothing in particular seemed suspicious.

"Oh? Is something the matter?"

"Ah, no. I was just thinking again how good this stew is."

It really was good.

It was an ordinary beef stew, and yet.

"We put in red wine and tomatoes. If you simmer it slowly, the flavor deepens and turns mellow. Ah, but that is also why it took so long... I am sorry we were late."

Rosalier said that and bowed her head.

"No, no. If I get a feast this good, I’ll wait as long as it takes."

I answered Rosalier in a hurry, but with a smile.

A few of the Dules wore stern faces. Well, that was that.

I also savored the dishes the village women had all pitched in to make.

"Yeah, this meat dish is good too. And the stir-fried vegetables."

"Thank you." "We are glad you are enjoying it."

When I praised the food, the other village women who were serving also smiled and thanked me.

"Come to think of it, what happened to Nadja?"

"The fatigue from the day must have caught up with her. She is already in bed, asleep."

I had asked no one in particular, and Rosalier answered.

"That child was so excited. She must have been very happy. You are the hero Lilli is always telling stories about."

She smiled gently and looked at Lilli.

"That’s right... nom nom, gulp. He’s the one who saved me... am, nom nom..."

...Was she embellishing that a fair bit?

"Ufufu. And so, you finally became Master Hiroyuki’s Dule?"

"That’s right, that’s right."

Mouth stuffed full, Lilli puffed out her nearly flat chest, cute nipples and all.

"Ufufu. Master Hiroyuki, please take good care of Lilli."

Rosalier, who had smiled gently at Lilli, turned to me and bowed her head again.

"Of course."

They had found out I had made Lilli a Dule. Embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head.

Then again, with Lilli bare from the waist up, it was obvious at a glance.

Rosalier lifted her head, laughed with refined grace, and went back to serving the Dules.

No matter how many times I watched Rosalier, there was nothing suspicious about her.

Seen plainly, Rosalier was a caring older sister.

Black hair down to her back, black eyes.

She wore a flashy red long-sleeved short tunic and a pitch-black skirt that reached her ankles, but her soft manner and the gentle smile she never let fade calmed the loudness of the clothes.

Come to think of it, her skin was unusually white too.

Not the mysterious white of someone like Sophia. It looked sickly.

The flashy clothes, the long black hair. When Nadja introduced Rosalier, Nadja had been standing beside her with her tan skin, so I had thought that was why and had not paid it any mind...

Still, prying would be rude.

...Ah, right.

I could ask from this side.

"By the way, Rosalier, why are you in this village?"