Chapter 208: I don’t know which of them I should choose

“…how are you here?”

The place where I left Miranda-san behind was a week’s worth of travel by horseback from the village. And yet, she has somehow returned just a tiny bit later on the same day.

Moreover, she was drinking again.

“Kukuku, it’s no use trying to strand me somewhere! I can use teleportation magic like you! As long as I’ve been to a place, I can go there whenever I want! Too bad for you! Gyahahaha!”

You can use such an advanced magic, but you still don’t want to work…?

“…but being so strong was what made those people be jealous and fearful of me. To the point that I had no choice but to seal myself…even now, I can still remember the looks they gave me. It was as though I was some kind of monster to them. And that’s why I’ll never again display my power to anyone.”

“……”

“How’s that for a character’s backstory?”

“You’ve used that same trick on me already!”

It would seem like nothing would convince her to start wanting to work.

I had no idea what her real reason was, but it was amazing in a sense that she could stick to her convictions that much.

“Look, I’m not asking you to do some especially hard or demanding work…”

“Then, how about this: I’m what you people of this era will call a person from the ancient past. A living witness to history, if you will. Just having a person like me here has merit in itself, I’d say. If that’s so, I don’t even have to do anything at all to contribute, am I right? Of course, I’m right!”

“That argument is not convincing at all.”

I sighed.

That said, it did seem like we shouldn’t treat her the same as the average village.

“…haa, alright, let’s suppose that we accept that as what you do to contribute, you should at least be the one to fetch your food and drinks as well as the one to keep your own room clean.”

“Ehh, but that’s such a hassle.”

“Can I punch you at least once?”

I was known as a gentle and kind village chief, but I almost used force there.

We proceeded to debate back and forth for a while, and when I was about to just give up…

“Tch, fine, then. If you let me live like I want, I don’t mind letting you feel my breasts.”

“What? No, that’s not…”

“Kukuku, you sure? Are you really not interested? Even though I say so myself, my breasts feel great to touch, you know?”

She said so while seductively touching her breasts.

I swear, this drunk…

“!?”

All of a sudden, Miranda-san’s face stiffened.

“W-w-what an intense bloodlust…? Is she really just a maid…?”

“Huh?”

I turned around, but only Millia—with her usual sweet and gentle smile—was standing there.

“Fufufu, leave the rest to me, Luke-sama. One of the duties of a maid, after all, is to give assistance to guests.”

“Oh, okay. I guess it’s all up to you now.”

For some reason, I felt compelled to simply agree.

Besides, I was already at the end of my patience and couldn’t deal with this drunk anymore.

◇　◇　◇

“Huh? What’s wrong, Selius-kun?”

“Ah…no, it’s, it’s nothing.”

“……?”

Right after I exited the room that Miranda-san was using, I ran into Selius-kun.

Being Selen’s younger brother, he also lived in the top floor of this building.

“Ahm, is it because of the smell from this room?”

“Ahh, no, it’s got nothing to do about that! It’s just…that…”

I wondered what it was actually about, but instead of answering me, Selius-kun simply fidgeted over and over.

“Is it about Philia-san? Have you made some kind of progress with her?”

“N-no…”

Selius-kun secretly liked Philia-san. Well, I say secretly, but almost everyone knew of this fact.

However, because he was quite a shy person when it came to this kind of things, he couldn’t make a move on Philia-san even to this day.

“I guess it’s kinda related to that, but…”

“Related to that? What do you mean?”

“Y-y-you see…”

Selius-kun, with an earnest face, began to explain.

“I-I-I don’t …I don’t know which of them I should choose! Should it be Philia-san…o-or should it be Miranda-san!?”