Maintain advanced flexibility and respond adaptively.

Man, you had multiple sets of nipples, Mashiro-san… Only the top pair were actually developed though.

It's like how guys have nipples, you know? Apparently the lower ones exist for no real reason either. The second pair and below, I mean.

Well, I was sucking on the third one when I woke up. Half-asleep.

When she asked "You awake?" in the morning and I answered "Yes," she bonked me on the head. Just between us.

"You're the first person to ever do whatever you wanted with me this much. Seriously."

"Sorryyy."

By the way, I'd contacted Dea-kun in my storage space right after deciding to stay at Mashiro-san's place, so it wasn't an unreported overnight stay. The dinner Aishia had prepared should have been put in the time-stop storage, so I plan to eat it tonight.

Also, Mashiro-san had a house in Karkassa. It was a square building with earth walls that she'd apparently made with earth magic, but it had magic tools so fire and water weren't a problem. The toilet was naturally a scavenger slime, so no issues there either.

"Mashiro-san, have you lived in Karkassa long?"

"Hm? Ahh, been here for about five years now. All things considered, there are a lot of beastkin here, so it's comfortable. Someone as furry as me stands out pretty badly in other towns in this country."

Apparently Karkassa is close to the border with the beastkin country, so there are a lot of obviously beastkin people.

"A beastkin country! So that's a thing too. Tell me more."

"Sure. Though the closest beastkin country from here is a small one."

Just like there are countries for other races, there are multiple beastkin countries. Well, thinking about it, of course there are. It'd be weird if only humans had multiple countries.

The closest one, Terarialbee, is a country ruled by the Beast King Barbaros.

It's a small country, but apparently the capital has a colosseum and gets lots of tourists.

"A colosseum, huh."

"I've even gotten to fight against tamed monsters there. That was fun."

"Oh, from the way you said that, you've competed there before, Mashiro-san?"

"Yep. Believe it or not, I've won a tournament before. A small one, though."

Mashiro-san grinned proudly. Wild and cute.

"Maybe I should try entering too? Like, a tournament or something?"

"Sure, and when you do, I'll bet everything on you, so let me know."

"Kyaa, you believe in me that much! Mashiro-san, so cute!"

"Who could possibly beat you?"

"Oh my, saying that about such a delicate girl."

"Delicate girls don't one-shot dungeon bosses."

Fair point.

"Oh, that reminds me. I was told to bring Karina to the guild."

"Ehh, that's such a pain."

"Can't help it, you're the one who did that big treant harvest and took out the Black Mantis and Mithril Devil, you know? Plus, if you don't take the initiative and show your face first, they'll probably look you up by name. Is that gonna be okay?"

Oops. I forgot the guild in this world is surprisingly high-tech with proper management.

If they look up the name Karina, I'd get linked as 'Karina currently in Karkassa.'

"Saying it was okay to use my name was a bit hasty, huh."

"Hey, wait. Karina isn't a fake name? That's your real name?"

"Oh, right. I could just say it was a fake name. Hehehe."

Maybe this is Healer's time to shine. Well, it'd be a hassle to modify Aishia just for this, so I'll just disguise myself this time.

Even if the adventurer guild questions Karina-chan later, I can just say 'Sure, Karina is me, but… huh? Black Mantis? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a regular E-rank adventurer! Do you think I could do something like that?' and that'll solve everything. Perfect!

"Hey, Karina. My gut says you're thinking something half-baked?"

"How dare you call it half-baked. Please don't underestimate my genius stratagem."

"… So what are you gonna do then, Great Mage-sama?"

"Say it was a fake name and maintain advanced flexibility while responding adaptively."

"Um. Meaning?"

"Make it up as I go with improvised responses!"

When I said that, Mashiro-san gave me a suspicious look that said 'Is she serious?'

"I'm kidding, kidding."

"Is it though? It's not my place to say, but maybe you should take life a bit more seriously?"

"Mashiro-san is so cute I just had to tease you. I'm actually thinking about it a bit more, promise."

"… Come on, Karina. People are gonna question my sanity."

For now, I'll go to the guild with you. Oh, but I'm disguising myself as Healer.