The Blacksmithing Town of Corky (2)

And so, right away, sake and snacks were brought in from a nearby tavern for a drinking party.

The Dwarf Village name was no joke. Dwarves appeared from all over, each carrying a tankard the size of a small barrel filled with sake, and exchanged toasts with Gozoh.

Besides me, Rokuko, Ichika, and Niku had all been swept up in it too.

"Goshujin-samaaaa～, huh, yer not drinkin'? Here, have some, yeah?"

"Oi, Ichika, stop pouring. You're pretty drunk."

"It's the Dwarf Village, y'know? If ya ain't drinkin' sake, what're ya gonna drink?"

Yeah, drink juice. Ichika was quite free-spirited for a slave. Not that I minded.

"Man, as expected of Gozoh's hometown. Nothing but drinkers."

"Gahahaha! Yeah, drink up, drink up!"

"Nah, I'll pass. I'm supposedly sick, remember? Right, Rokuko?"

When I looked at Rokuko beside me, she was chugging away at a tankard.

"Puhaah… so bitter… I knew it, juice tastes better…"

"Wha… hey, who gave Rokuko sake!?"

"That was me!"

"Shikina, you! Don't give children alcohol!"

I lightly glared at Shikina, who was waving her hand from across the table.

"Huh? Isn't Rokuko-dono a High Elf like Haku-sama, meaning her actual age is different from her appearance?"

"Her ears are obviously different from an elf's, how could you make that mistake?"

"There are obviously magic tools for that sort of thing. I mean, even I've got stuff growing down below, so ear shape should be easy to change, probably!"

"Dirty jokes are banned, you hear me? Disappointing elf… hyo!?"

Just as I was lecturing the drunken Shikina, I felt something nudge against me from under the table. I jumped and pulled my chair back, only to find Niku with a dazed expression and flushed face.

Niku clung to my leg again.

"Ni—Kuro? What are you doing?"

"… Goshujin-sama's scent…"

"You're drunk!? Oi, who gave Kuro sake!"

"Huh? That wasn't juice? Ahahaha～"

"Rokuko, it was you!?"

I almost called her Niku in front of everyone. Damn it, what was going on. Was nobody sane here!?

Where could I evacuate to…

"Kehma-kun, over here, over here!"

Receptionist Anita-san! Legal loli auntie! Salvation!

I grabbed Rokuko and Niku, who was still clinging to my leg, and retreated to Anita-san's side.

"Are you alright? Kehma-kun, those girls too?"

"Thank goodness… Could I have some water?"

"Here you go… Oh my, that was sake. Water's this one, this one."

Taking the water, not the sake, I had Rokuko and Niku drink. When I brought the cups to their mouths, the two each latched onto the rim and drank the water in small gulps… How soothing. I wanted to pet them. If both my hands weren't full, I would have.

"Ueeah, Kehmaaaa, Kehma… mmm…"

"Goshujin-samaaaa… oniku… zzz…"

And then they passed out. These two little girls were perfectly in sync.

I decided to take the two of them to rest at an inn… but then I realized we hadn't even decided on one yet.

"Hey, Wataru. What about the inn? I need to get Rokuko and Kuro somewhere to rest."

"Ah, Gozoh-san said the inn next to his family's house, so there."

"I see. Gozoh, where's your family's house?"

"Hm? The girls passed out, huh? My place is right nearby. Hey guys, I'm stepping out for a bit. Gonna show Kehma and the others the way."

With Gozoh leading the way out of the drinking party, I carried Rokuko and Niku toward the inn.

… This occurred to me just now, but without Golem Assist, my back would definitely be killing me. Even if they were little girls, two at once was quite the load.

"By the way, what does your family do, Gozoh? Kantra's family are blacksmiths, right?"

"We're adventurers specializing in mining."

Mining specialists. So maybe there were metal-lump golems around here too?

"There's a dungeon with ore mining spots. It steadily produces ore, but monsters also come out normally. So it's an adventurer's job."

"Heeh, there's stuff like that too?"

I secretly checked the DP Catalog. It seemed like mining spots were available for cheaper metals. They fell under the treasure category.

Were they cheap because mining spots existed, or did mining spots exist because they were cheap? Probably both.

It might just not be in my catalog, but precious metals like gold, silver, and mithril might only be obtainable from natural veins or monster drops.

"Ah, here we are."

[Forest Honey Pavilion]. A solid three-story stone inn reasonably close to the guild. The stone two-story house next to it was apparently Gozoh's family home.

"Roppu and I'll stay at my folks' place, so we just need rooms for Wataru, Shikina, and your group. Four rooms."

Gozoh went to greet the inn's owner. The owner wasn't a dwarf but a bear-eared beastkin.

Being neighbors, they were well acquainted, and the reunion had them chatting away… I'd really like to get some rest soon though.

After waiting a while, Gozoh came back scratching his head.

"Hey, Kehma. There weren't enough rooms. Only got two."

"What… Well, can't be helped. Then let Wataru and Shikina crash at your place. My party will take the inn."

"… Well, those guys might just drink through the night anyway, so okay."

I should be fine leaving Shikina to Wataru… though they both seemed pretty drunk. If they crossed a line, fine by me. I could use that as an excuse to foist her onto Wataru permanently.

Having successfully secured rooms at the inn, I could finally let Rokuko and Niku rest.

… I should rest too.

In the room next to where I'd put Rokuko and the others down, I spread out my futon and lay down.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

When I woke up, I was being pressed against something soft.

"…"

It was warm and comfortable enough that I almost went back to sleep… but then I wondered. What was this soft, squishy thing? It didn't feel like a futon. From the sensation against my face, it was wrapped in cloth, but the contents weren't cotton or anything like that.

And it smelled faintly of alcohol. No, it reeked of alcohol. Wait, was someone hugging me?

I raised my face slightly.

"Afuuu… that tickles, y'know～…"

It was Ichika. Why was I being used as Ichika's hug pillow?

I tried to think calmly despite my confused head.

… The chain of events was probably something like:

1. Gozoh told them he'd brought us to the inn.

2. Ichika came to the inn to rest too.

3. The inn owner guided her to our room… correction, to my room.

4. Drunk Ichika got into the futon as-is.

5. Morning came. <- Present.

What? Did the inn owner think Ichika and I were a married couple with kids?

… Oh well. This was way better than ending up alone in bed with just Rokuko.

Now what? Waking someone who was sleeping seemed rude, and she was hugging me so tightly I couldn't move.

Right. Let's just pretend I didn't notice and go back to sleep.

I came up with that wonderful idea and tried to go back to my previous position… wait. That would mean burying my face in Ichika's chest, which would be pretty bad, wouldn't it? But staying like this, looking up at Ichika's face at point-blank range, was pretty tough too.

"Nooo, I can't eat anymore, but this is mine…!"

"Uwahp!?"

Suddenly squeezed even tighter, my face was forcibly buried in Ichika's cleavage… It smelled like alcohol. But I could breathe fine.

Ichika did this on her own, so it was force majeure. Besides, Ichika was my slave, so there was no problem whatsoever with my face being buried in her chest. Right, it's fine. Back to sleep.

Just as I closed my eyes, Ichika started squirming.

"Mm… huh, mmm… was that a dream…? That giant curry bread… kuh, if it was a dream, I should have bitten into it without hesitation…!"

Wait, she was waking up now of all times? With my face buried in her chest…? P-Pretend to sleep! If I'm asleep, none of this is happening!

"Huh… I'm holding onto some… thing!?"

I could feel Ichika stiffen when she realized. Our bodies were pressed so close I could clearly hear her heartbeat.

"This isn't… Niku-senpai… right…? G-Goshujin-sama?"

We both had black hair, but mine and Niku's were obviously different. Ichika seemed to realize right away.

Alright, keep pretending to sleep. Nice and steady breathing. I'm asleep, so just quietly pretend this didn't happen and leave… please, I'm begging you.

"Where even am I… owowow, I drank too much yesterday, I can't remember… an inn? Wait, why am I with Goshujin-sama… huh?"

I could hear Ichika's heartbeat getting faster. She was probably confused.

"… … Oh!? I see, hug pillow duty! He got me drunk on purpose for this!?"

Why would you jump to that conclusion!? I wanted to retort so badly, but I had to keep pretending to sleep. I'd committed to this bit, so I was sleeping my way through to the end!

"Geez～. He could've just asked and I would've done it anytime. No need to go to all that trouble gettin' me drunk. Ah, but maybe Goshujin-sama prefers flat chests?"

Ichika said, sounding bashful as she patted my head. No! That's not it! And yes, I have a leg fetish, but that doesn't mean I dislike breasts!

"… Oops, careful now, can't go wakin' up Goshujin-sama. That was close. Maaaan, I'm glad I asked Niku-senpai about this～"

Saying that, Ichika gently cradled my head. What was I supposed to do about this?

"… Anything more than this, well… I'm not gonna bite, y'know～…"

I wasn't sure what she was getting at. Should I be playing dumb here?

Whatever. I'm asleep. I didn't hear anything.

By the way, a little while later, Niku came by and taught Ichika "The Method to Slip Away Without Waking Goshujin-sama," then led her out of the room. And so, I successfully noticed absolutely nothing. The end.