Huh? Are you trying to walk me home to make a move?

I parted ways with Mashiro-san and headed back toward the inn.

I could've used teleportation magic to return to my base, but since I'd come all this way, I figured I'd walk back.

Still, even though I found a divine artifact, I couldn't get my hands on it. What a shame.

I can't exactly destroy an entire town, after all. Karina-chan may not look it, but she's a pacifist, you know?

With that in mind, I'd like to find a different divine artifact. I can get information from Granny Maria, but maybe I should search on my own too.

But honestly, I doubt I can investigate any better than Granny Maria. She's a bigwig, the former lord's wife, with all kinds of connections. Even with my Spatial Magic letting me travel anywhere, she's bound to hear far more rumors than I would.

While thinking about such things and wandering around, I noticed the area had gotten pretty noisy. Looks like there's some kind of fight going on. Ooh, what's going on? I wanna rubberneck too!

"You bastard, tryin' to get your hands on my daughter! Take this!"

"Shut up! Father-in-law, please let me have your daughter!"

"Like hell I will! Beat me first before you start runnin' your mouth, punk!"

Ooh, a marriage proposal ritual. Nice!

A fluffy tiger beastman who looked like a bar owner was brawling with a burly, bear-eared guy who had the look of an adventurer. A beast kin battle. Love it.

Just to be clear, the one proposing is the bear-eared adventurer.

Oh, they're taking bets on who'll win? I like fluffy, so I'll bet on the tiger guy. One stake for me, please!

"Dad! Get him there! Berry, you've got this too! Come on, place your bets on who'll win! You two, I'm closing bets soon so don't go down until then!"

And the tiger-eared daughter they're fighting over appears to be running the betting pool.

Apparently if you win, you get a drink for each stake you placed. Either way, it means sales for her. How enterprising.

"Karsha! I keep telling you, don't make your father the subject of bets!"

"Hahaha, if Karsha says so, I'll hold back until then!"

"Hah? You lookin' down on me?!"

The tiger guy's punch connected with the bear's jaw, sending him flying.

"Gahaha! You're a hundred years too early to hold back against me!"

"Ugh, grr…"

Bear-ear man, down! … One, two, three! Ding ding ding! It's over!

"Hey, is this kind of thing a regular occurrence?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Here especially—every time there's a proposal, her pops defends her."

Hmm. Lively bunch, aren't they? And she gets proposed to that often? That girl's pretty popular.

Anyway, having won the bet, I got treated to a drink at the bar. hic

 

*

 

"Huh, isn't that Karina? What, you drinking?"

"Huh? It's Mashiro-saaaan. Heyyyy!"

I was wandering around in a daze when Mashiro-san called out to me.

"Geez, I've been busy with stuff and here you are without a care in the world. Oh, about the bomb—they said someone who knows about it will take a look tomorrow."

"Issatso～"

"She's completely wasted, huh… You okay?"

"I'm fiiine, I'm fiiine. I'm the strongest, invincible, tough as steel… wait, did I get the order wrong… anyway I'm fiiine～"

"Doesn't look like it. Hey, where's your inn? I'll walk you back."

"Huh? Walk me home to make a move? You are a wolf beastkin, after all. Ehehe."

Mashiro-san lent me her shoulder.

But wait, Mashiro-san hasn't linked adventurer Karina-chan with my other identity.

Which means going back to the inn like this would be bad, right?

"Let me stay over tonight…?"

"Hm? Sure, I don't mind."

"Yay! Tonight I'm gonna mofu mofu Mashiro-san to sleep!"

"I'd rather you not… but, well, fine."

And so I spent the night at Mashiro-san's place. hic

Needless to say, I had to prostrate myself before Mashiro-san first thing in the morning.