Chapter 221
The Little Girl Returns
The pink-haired girl that invaded the village, Michiru.
Her job was to ensnare the Village Chief.
According to their information, the Village Chief was simply a figurehead with the true master being the bar master, who was also the Village Sub Chief. That said… as the Village Chief held the final say, he could easily discard the Village Sub Chief’s proposals.
They knew that the Village Chief was a person who had a thing for little girls (lolicon) from previous investigations. That’s why she, an immature Succubus, was assigned to the job.
As little girl lovers (lolicons) could often easily detect adult succubi using mimicry to look like a young girl, he was a strong enemy with a low success rate. However, as Michiru was truly a young girl, she wasn’t using mimicry.
Moreover, they didn’t mind much even if she failed and were repelled, so she was a sacrificial pawn… well, it wasn’t to that extent, but they hadn’t expected much from her.
That’s why the only thing she was told about her mission was to ensnare the Village Chief, not receiving much other information at all. She truly was repelled, so it could be said that the decision of not giving her much information was the correct choice.
“… But I haven’t given up! I’ll make that Village Chief fall into the palm of my hand!”
Clenching her fists, Michiru’s spirit was on fire.
However, when she snuck into the village again that night, the Village Chief was absent.
Was he being vigilant on the day after it? Michiru’s shoulders drooped.
And her stomach growled.
… It looked as though her body remembered that she hadn’t eaten anything after that sandwich.
“Uu… even though I’d be alright as long as I had life energy… even an animal would be fine…”
But this was an adventurer mining village. There weren’t any households that kept pets. There wasn’t anyone among the adventurers that kept lesser monsters like tamers either.
Meanwhile, sneaking in a night visit (having a meal) with an adventurer was hard for Michiru.
It was at the time she sat down in front of the inn at a loss for what to do.
“Oh? Young lady, why are you in a place like this?”
“Fueh?”
When she raised her head, she saw a beautiful woman with pale green hair.
She was wearing a frilly outfit… it was probably the outfit for people who worked at the inn.
“Are you one of the guest’s children? … Young lady, where is your papa or mama?”
“U-umm, umm…!”
Michiru grew panicked and confused. This was the enemy’s territory, she couldn’t say something careless.
However, her body was honest. A cute rumble came from her stomach.
“Oh? You’re hungry, aren’t you? Would you like me to treat you to some leftover bread?”
“A-are you a goddess?”
“Oh goodness, no. I’m just a normal maid.”
“Ah—but Onee-sama told me not to follow strangers…”
“Oh, I’ll introduce myself then. I an Kinue. I work at this inn. You?”
“M-Michiru…”
“Michiru-chan, is it? That’s a lovely name. Now, I’m not a stranger anymore, am I?”
With a smile, the woman—Kinue, held out her hand.
Michiru timidly took Kinue’s hand. Her hand was gentle as it helped pull Michiru onto her feet.
Michiru wondered if this was the kind of feeling a mother would give.
“Umm… I’m not a guest at the inn though… is that alright?”
“Oh? Then I’ll just have to give you a treat as a friend then, Michiru-chan.”
“…! U-un! Friends! We’re friends, yeah!”
And so Michiru was taken into the inn’s dining room by the green-colored maid.
*
“The target has been taken in. What now, Rokuko-sama?”
“What now, hmm…”
Although the girl Kehma had tagged on the map appeared, just when he thought about making a move and seeing what happened since it somehow felt like she was a puppy on the streets, they somehow wound up sheltering her.
She was currently sleeping rather soundly after filling up on bread. Her sleeping face was innocent, she could only be seen as a normal child.
But what should they do now?
She tried talking to Kehma about it, but as he was concentrating on making the golem that’d become the Succubus’ container, he only responded absent-mindedly. Rokuko knew from experience that she’d just have to leave him alone when he got like that.
“Shall I get rid of her?”
“Un, I’m not one to say but that’s cold. Kinue, you’re pretty merciless aren’t you… Even though you said you were friends.”
“I am a maid. Work has priority over personal affairs.”
“What do you personally want to do?”
“Fufufu, could I take her as my subordinate and teach her how to clean? She is my first friend, after all.”
“Ooh. I see.”
Rokuko nodded her head.
“Wait, huh?”
And then tilted it.
“Don’t those adventurers usually ask you to [Please be my friend]? What about them?”
“Oh, Rokuko-sama. They only really mean that as [Please be my lover]. My lover (cleaning) is settled on, so I refuse them.”
“Ah, really?”
“I might think about it if they at least presented me with some residence I could clean though.”
“… You know I won’t give Kehma up to you right?”
“Yes, I understand, Rokuko-sama.”
Kinue smiled. Kehma possessed multiple buildings she could clean: the inn, the village chief’s mansion, and the dungeon. Moreover, he provided her with an environment of not only being able to clean but also being able to cook as much as she liked. This was much too much of a blessing for her.
That’s why, when combined with the effect of her naming, Kinue’s intimacy meter to Kehma was close to the peak. She adored him to the point that she would even get rid of her first friend if that friend became an obstacle to Kehma.
“Also, also you friends with Rei and Nerune?”
“We get along well, but we are more colleagues than friends. We serve the dungeon together.”
“I see.”
Rokuko felt that Kinue was unexpectedly businesslike.
“Well, we’ll wait on dealing with her till Kehma’s done with his Golem. He got really fired up so I wonder if he’ll be staying up all night and doing something weird again?”
“Again?”
“Yeah, this happened a while ago. He went nuts over building something and forgot to sleep.”
Kinue was unable to imagine Kehma, someone who gave sleep priority over anything else, concentrating on something so much that he forgot to sleep… Then again, he was prioritizing making a Golem over sleeping right now.
“Kehma is amazing when he concentrates! He could even make a dungeon that wins against Haku Ane-sama.”
“In that case, we could expect that Golem to be perfect.”
“But he’ll be no good if he doesn’t get sleep when he’s done. What we’ll do with the girl will be after that. Keep a watch on her in the room. I’ll adjust your work shifts.”
“Yes, thank you, Rokuko-sama.”
Kinue bowed to Rokuko respectfully—
(… Now then, I wonder just how much information I can get out of my long-awaited friend.)
—and smiled.