Chapter 282: …Because of Us

The feel of someone stroking my head woke me.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes lightly with the back of one hand and stared blankly at the bed canopy, my head not turning.

...Aah. I had enjoyed the three of them’s bodies and fallen asleep as I was.

Meaning the one stroking my head with such kind hands now is one of the three?

After blinking several times I cleared the blurry view and turned my face to the one stroking me.

Then Setenia, sitting up, upper body turned this way, eyes narrowed, smiling kindly, was the one stroking me.

I gently took the hand stroking me, nuzzled my cheek against her palm, smiled, and spoke.

"Morning, Setenia."

"Nfufu... morning, Raide."

"Furlin and Ru?"

"Sharle-san came with comrades to get them. Someone will come again later, so ask that child for the details."

"...I see. Thank you."

I stared at Setenia’s kind expression without meaning to. She must have guessed from my face. She tilted her head a little and smiled in that troubled way.

It cannot be helped... even when I was playing the game I had never seen a smile that held both maternity and seductiveness like that.

I suddenly noticed Setenia was wearing a sleeveless negligee that did not show through, and there was a faint soap scent.

That scent told me she had been in the bath. I lifted my face, rolled the sheet, looked at my own body, and found clothes on me.

Strange. I am sure I fell asleep naked... looking well, has the room been cleaned too?

At my movement Setenia laughed, kus kusu, stroked my cheek once, swayed her large breasts, brought her face close, and told me.

Setenia said she woke from the feel of her body being touched and Melaine leading the maids had been wiping her.

When Melaine noticed Setenia had woken she prepared a bath at once and Setenia went in.

After that Sharle and the others wiped Furlin and Ru and took them, apparently.

"Ah~. Meaning the maids wiped my body?"

"Nfu, kufufufu! The one who took care of you was Melaine. Have you made even the maids fall for you?"

"...? I do not remember courting anyone..."

"You court without noticing. Like with me."

Setenia said that, kissed only my lips, eased her face away, moved to the edge of the bed, stood, and stretched.

Have I courted Melaine without noticing? Mmuu. I do not know.

Nn~. No matter how much I remember I have no memory. I will ask her later... I cannot, this.

I smiled with a troubled face, shook my head, sat my upper body up, raised both arms straight up and stretched my back, then turned toward the sofa.

...Nnn? Is someone sitting there?

From the light coming in the window I can tell someone is sitting, but not who, not with just-woken eyes.

Setenia turned only her face as if remembering, grinned, and spoke.

"Aah. Come to think of it. Raide, from now it is lecture time for you."

"...From those words I know who is sitting on the sofa."

"Kus. Is Erika really sixteen? Being able to scold you alone is quite something, I think. Ahaha!"

"I think so too..."

When my eyes got used and Erika’s figure and face came clear, she looked at me, made a full smile, and beckoned.

She mouthed something without voice. Seeing that I wanted to run.

(Co, me, he, re)

"Ah~. This is seriously scary... truly scary."

I felt like a child before being scolded. My back crawled.

I let out a big breath and rubbed the back of my neck with one hand. For some reason Setenia laughed at me happily... what is it?

I crawled to the edge of the bed, stood, stretched like Setenia had, and headed to Erika.

To put what happened simply, I was thoroughly blamed and scolded for the thrown-away remark. I will only say that.

I will never say it again... in words.

When Erika’s lecture ended and I came back to the living space it was past seven.

Setenia said she would rest a little more, then talk business with Elysia.

The shampoo and rinse she used in the bath were better than the prototypes she had been given. She wanted to let Myu and Timil use them if she could.

I remembered Setenia’s face then and smiled alone when Micon and Scon came in from the door beside the counter.

They found me and ran up happily. I smiled looking at the two of them stopping in front of me, looking well.

I put one hand on each of their heads, stroked them gently, let out a breath of relief, and spoke.

"I am glad you look well. I am relieved."

"Because Instructor covered for us..."

"Because you said... we are important..."

"You two are my people. Protecting important people is my role. Not as an instructor."

When I said that the two of them went blank, then smiled, looked at each other, and started laughing happily.

I blinked, tilted my head, and asked, "What is it?" They shook their heads still laughing.

"Aha. Just like Erika-san said."

"Fufu. Un... truly."

"Nnn? Erika?"

They were laughing happily so the details were fine. I rubbed the back of my neck with one hand and smiled wryly.

After laughing together for a while the two of them let out a big breath, held hands, put on serious faces, and looked up at me.

Those faces had braced for something, and they gave off that air too.

I put on a serious face as if answering them and waited quietly for them to speak.

I had a general idea what they wanted to tell me, but starting that from my side would be tactless.

"Instructor... Raide-san, there is something we want you to hear."

"We want you to hear about us. We want you to know..."

"Understood... something you do not want asked much? Shall we hear it in my room."

I took the two of them into my room, closed the door, sat them on the bed, and sat in the chair across.

Micon and Scon gripped hands hard and looked a little frightened.

They shook faintly. They looked at each other again, then looked at me as if they had braced and opened their mouths.

"Scon and I love each other. My precious lover."

"I-I love Micon too... I do not want to leave her."

"I see."

"Will you despise us, Raide-san?"

"We know it is wrong... if... if we..."

"If we are dir「I do not think that」... eh?"

I cut Micon off so she would not say the rest, stood, put one knee on the floor in front of the two of them who looked ready to cry, lowered my posture so I would not frighten them, and smiled gently.

I had not been told something by Nimi or Elysia, but I had that hunch.

A hunch, or... I had seen kiss marks on their napes several times.

If I only met them at the academy I would not notice, but living together you notice.

After that I watched the two of them on purpose and as someone who has lovers I understood at once... they are lovers.

I gently took one hand of each and spoke, trying to put them at ease.

"I said it, right? You two are my people, important. There is no way I would despise you for ’that.’"

"...We thought we might be thrown away again."

"Again... the family split... because of us."

"It will not split, and I will not do that to you two. Never. I can even swear to the goddess."

I held the hands of the two of them starting to drop tears firmly, but gently, so I would not let go.

From the way that father-man talked, he had probably noticed.

I have not heard family talk from the two of them so I do not know details.

But they regretted that. If he had not noticed the relation would not have split.

In the first place what is wrong. Women together or men together, if they themselves are happy that is fine.

This world is not even as strong on caring about appearances as my previous life, and I cannot understand the feeling of despising your own children.

The feeling of a man who throws family away one-sidedly over ’that’ I do not want to understand, and I hate enough that I do not want to know.

"Uaa... we thought even Raide-san would, a’u, despise us~~"

"A warm place, gushu, would disappear again, fue, we... a’aaa~~~"

"Nimi and the others and I, and this place, will not disappear over ’that.’ We will not leave you two. Here, Bell House, is the place Micon and Scon come back to. Be at ease."

"Na’aaaaaaaa~~~!"

"Fue a’aaaaaaa~~~!"

I lifted my hips a little and held the two of them gently. They grabbed my clothes hard with both hands and started crying loud.

They must have endured quite a bit until now. They wailed as if a dam had broken.

They grabbed my clothes hard as if clinging. The tears they pressed into both of my shoulders, wailing, were probably from relief they had finally gotten.

While I stroked their hair gently as if combing it, the room door opened hard and Hiero showed herself.

"What!? Did something happen!? Wait... ah~. Yeah. I get it. I will call Nimi and the others?"

"Aah. Please."

"Do not let go until then, Handful!"

"I would never let go. I told the two of them I can even swear to Lady Riera."

At my answer Hiero nodded with a full smile, gently stroked Micon and Scon’s heads before leaving the room, then headed to call Nimi and the others with a movement like teleporting.

Until Nimi and the others came to the room I kept stroking the two of them’s backs as they kept crying.

To tell them with action as much as I could that they should be at ease, I kept stroking their backs.

...Is it my imagination?

I felt a white mist wrap the two of them...

Well... it is morning, and from the way the sunlight came through the window it looked like that.