Chapter 127
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After Ms. Alicia’s unbinding and healing succeeded, and after a small accident, they decided to examine the arm that didn’t return to her body.
”Excuse me… it’s still stone.”
Cleric Ms. Hilda asked Ms. Alicia for permission and touched the arm, confirming it was still made of stone.
It was broken off mid-way, but just as she said, the arm remained stone.
”So… if it’s petrified and lost, it’s not considered part of the body?”
”Probably. It seems your leg returned, so it was probably bad that it separated from your body.”
Ms. Hilda answered Ms. Elina’s question, and Ms. Alicia let out a big sigh after hearing it.
”Haa… I really did something stupid.”
”W-well… it’s not like you’re back to normal, but you got your arm back, right? It moves like it used to, doesn’t it?”
”It seems to move fine, as far as I checked earlier. Ah, well, I guess I’ll check a little more.”
Ms. Alicia said to Iris, then moved her arm and hand.
Swish, swish… Wiggle wiggle… Grab!
”Kya!?”
Rub rub…
After bending and stretching her arm and grabbing at the air, Ms. Alicia, for some reason, starts fondling Iris’s chest.
”Yep, it’s fine. It moves properly, and if I touch something, I can feel it.”
”Hey, where are you checking!?”
”It’s fine, we fixed it.”
”Then you should check with yours!”
”Eh? But… it’s embarrassing to fondle my own chest in front of the men, isn’t it?”
”I’m embarrassed too, having mine fondled!”
”It’s embarrassing to do it myself.”
”Haa, seriously…”
Iris gave up arguing with Ms. Alicia and sighed.
Judging by her reaction, it seems like this was something they did sometimes.
Well, I guess I don’t have to worry too much, I thought, but then the conversation went in an unexpected direction.
”Hmm… But Siera, aren’t you bigger?”
”Eh? …Ah! I-I wonder?”
Someone pointed out the difference in sensation, and Iris, remembering something, tried to act dumb.
Maybe it’s all my fault?
No, I heard somewhere that there’s no scientific basis for it growing bigger if you rub it, so it’s probably unrelated.
But this is a world where magic and skills exist, so it wouldn’t be strange if something like that happened, right?
Come to think of it… compared to the first time, it does feel like it’s grown a bit.
Just as I was thinking that, Iris gave me a quick glance.
”…”
It seems like she, as the head, thinks I’m the cause.
But it’s not like there’s obvious growth, so Iris seems to have decided to mislead her.
”Well, that… ah, look! I’ve been active as an adventurer in Dungeon City, so it’s probably just the muscles making you feel bigger, right?”
”Really? I feel like it’s actually softer than before…”
”Th, that’s just your imagination!”
Iris tries to push through with a “it’s all in your head” to Ms. Alicia’s observation.
It seemed like it was hard to convince her…
”Well, maybe.”
Somehow, it worked.
”Phew…”
Iris successfully deceives her and breathes a sigh of relief, but… I doubt whether Ms. Alicia was really convinced by that explanation.
However, if Ms. Alicia knew that Iris used her body for me, she would worry, so I decide not to bring up this matter any further.
* * *
After that, Ms. Elina asks Ms. Hilda to leave, making sure not to mention this matter again.
She explicitly includes information about me in this, and Ms. Hilda promises to keep it a secret.
Since she’s being so considerate, I don’t think she’ll try to imitate the kind of stuff that would lead to my discovery.
Then, in Ms. Alicia’s room, with just me, the women of the Gavrett family, and the still-invisible Seria, we start discussing what’s to come.
”Anyway… now that Hilda’s gone, we’re good with the names, right?”
”Yeah, that’s right. I just didn’t want the outside people to know about me.”
I respond to Ms. Elina, who initiated the conversation, and remove the cloth covering my head.
I’ll probably end up showing my face at this mansion anyway, as Iris’s bodyguard.
”*Sigh*”
I removed the cloth and fixed my hair, then introduced myself once again to Ms. Alicia.
”Um, my real name is Koji.”
Strictly speaking, it’s not my real name, but it’s what I usually go by, so I gave that name.
”…I see. Then, once again… Mr. Koji, thank you very much for everything.”
She looked toward Iris and Ms. Elina, as if checking with them, and when they nodded, she thanked me again.
When I revealed my true identity to Ms. Alicia, Ms. Elina shifted the conversation toward what comes next.
”Mr. Koji, you’d prefer to keep your involvement in Alicia’s curse-breaking a secret, right?”
”Yeah, that’s right.”
She thought it over a bit after my answer, then made a suggestion.
”…Then let’s say that Siera found that paper in the dungeon. You only accompanied her as her bodyguard.”
Hearing that, Ms. Alicia protested loudly.
”Wait, Mother. That means we can’t properly thank Mr. Koji. Something like that isn’t easy to come by. Shouldn’t we tell Father the truth and give him his due?”
”More important than payment is keeping this whole thing under wraps──your own involvement needs to stay hidden.”
”──Are you really okay with that?”
Ms. Alicia asked me that directly after Ms. Elina’s firm reply.
I nodded back at her.
”Yeah. I’m not short on money, and I don’t really want anything in particular.”
I couldn’t exactly say I’d already received thanks from Mother and her sister, so I ended up sounding like someone who didn’t want anything at all.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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