You Can Never Have Too Many Reactions!

Naturally, school has days off.

So, on our day off, we decided to treat ourselves to some sightseeing around the Elflands, all of us together.

Dea-kun, the Five Elders, Aishia, Rena, Arthur (in his horse role) —

— and Fletta-chan tagged along too.

… Well, I'm the one who invited her!!

I figure dating behind your fiancé's back is no good, after all.

"Thank you for the invitation, Karina-sama."

"… Why did you invite Flaretart along too?"

"Eh? Because she's cute."

"I see."

Then I suppose it can't be helped, Dea-kun said, sighing with his head slightly bowed.

For the record, I invited Mashiro-san too, but she turned me down with, "I don't have the courage to illegally enter the Elflands." And Misha got stopped by Mashiro-san.

"… There's one thing I'd like to ask Flaretart."

"What is it, Lord Deasalt? You're lovely and adorable today as well."

"My thanks. Now, what are you scheming, ingratiating yourself with my older sister?"

"Oh? Ingratiate myself with Karina-sama? More like, isn't it the other way around? Karina-sama is the one ingratiating herself with me, isn't she?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's right! I'm gonna have Fletta-chan support me too!"

And once Dea-kun and Fletta-chan get married, that practically makes me and Dea-kun family too, right?

This is actually pretty good, isn't it? Right?

"Kari-chaaan? We're right here too, you know?"

"If anyone's gonna support you, it'll be us! As much as you like!"

"You're not satisfied with us?"

"Am I really that unreliable?"

"And so, we sulk a little?"

"There's no way I'm not satisfied! I love you all!"

I scooped all five Elders into one big hug and nuzzled away. Aah, my cute little wives!

"Fufu, you really do get along well with your wives, Karina-sama. I'd like to get along too, Lord Deasalt."

"Sure. Well, if they take a liking to you, they'll get along with you."

So saying, Dea-kun turned his face away with a hmph.

Prickly Dea-kun is cute too! But come on, warm up to her a little more!

"So, where are we going today?"

"I was thinking we'd go to the botanical garden. They have World Tree saplings and such."

"Ooh, sounds fun. An elven botanical garden — bet I'll get to see tons of plants and flowers!"

The Five Elders all seemed keenly interested, going, "I wonder what kind of material World Tree shoots would make."

Yep, yep. When I see new plants I'll copy them, so once we're home you can test them all you want. But copies are only for experiments, trials, and personal use — you can't use them for resale, got it?

"… Lord Deasalt. Is it really all right to take the wives to a botanical garden?"

"Yes, it's fine. They won't commit any crimes… probably."

They won't, they won't. Even my forged Healer ID is legal, not a crime. Especially Mie-chan — since she's the queen, there's a sense in which Mie-chan is the law. As for this country's laws, we'll just have to manage with extraterritoriality somehow…?

"Well then, let's go, horse."

'Heeey. Departiiing.'

With Rena serving as coachman, the carriage carrying everyone set off.

Fletta-chan, who had stepped inside the cabin, was frozen stiff.

"… Hm? Fletta-chan, something wrong?"

"Ah, um… This carriage is quite a bit roomier than it looks, isn't it?"

"If it were cramped, not everyone would fit. There are five dwarves alone, after all."

I've expanded it with Spatial Magic, so it's a nice spacious room to relax in. It's got a table and a sofa, too.

Well, in truth it's a hand-me-down of the interior I used for the Dragon Lunchbox when we went to the oni hidden village.

"And it doesn't even sway."

"It's easier to relax when it doesn't sway, right?"

The space is actually severed from the real carriage by Spatial Magic, so it doesn't sway even a single millimeter. The view out the window looks like it's swaying, though.

"What an outrageous carriage… And the horse that can pull such a tremendous weight without batting an eye is impressive too."

"That one's also a strong, cute pet, after all."

Arthur is actually a dragon, you know. We ignore the weight with Spatial Magic, so it doesn't really matter, though.

"Want something to drink? I've got ice-cold juice and stuff. Ah, dwarf juice for the wives. Aishia, serving duty, please."

"Understood, milady. Here you are, guests."

Aishia set chilled apple juice, glasses beaded with condensation, on the table. For the Five Elders, she just plonked down a barrel.

"It's cold! … Wait, um, isn't that alcohol?"

"At this much alcohol content, it's juice as far as dwarves are concerned. Dea-kun and Fletta-chan aren't allowed to drink it, okay?"

"… Yes, I won't be drinking that!"

Yep, yep.

… Honestly, having a kid around who's surprised when you show off makes it so much more fun!

You can never have too many of these shocked reactions!

Haah, I totally get how the Five Elders feel, wanting to tease the young folks in all sorts of ways.

"Older sister, we'll be arriving at the botanical garden soon."

"Oh, then let's get ready to get off."

"… Eh, Lord Deasalt? Isn't that fast?"

"With a lightweight carriage, this is about how long it takes, no?"

"… The interior looks like nothing short of an ultra-heavyweight carriage that'd need a six-horse team, but now that you mention it, when I looked from outside it was a nimble, lightweight-looking carriage…"

And so we arrived at the botanical garden.

At the botanical garden, Fletta-chan revived and offered to guide us, saying, "Leave the tour of the grounds to me!"

Hm? Meat cactus steak!? They have that kind of thing too? I'm definitely eating that!