Demonlands Bedding

After eating the main dish of the Demonlands, udon, we were guided to the room we'd be staying in.

It was a stone room with a carpet laid out. Oh, there's a bed too… Ah, it's hard. It's just a box with a blanket on top and a sheet on top of that.

"So bedding is underdeveloped here… I should put a futon on top of this."

"Oh? Do you intend to bring a futon to the battlefield?"

Ah, I see. It's like a battlefield experience, like by being used to sleeping on this bed, they'll sleep easier on the battlefield. It might actually be the case that you'd have an easier time sleeping on the battlefield if you're used to sleeping on this bed. How Demonlands-esque.

"Kehma would definitely give up food and armor for a futon."

"I would have said that you fuss over the weirdest things before I went to study abroad. Though I do admit that this bed is far inferior to the one in that room."

"Right?"

"If you want to talk about soft bedding in the Demonlands, there's probably just the flesh cushion."

"Flesh cushion? Oh, so like our Niku then."

… I felt at a loss on how to respond since she was basically right.

"No, I mean me turning back into my Magic Sword form and sleeping inside the guts of a prisoner or a prey. The Demonlands have a lot of weapon cores."

"Heeeh. That's not something I have to worry about then."

"Even if you aren't a weapon type, you could sleep inside someone's stomach after cutting it open. You could tie up their arms and legs and hang them up… it's like a hammock, like the one I saw at your place, Rokuko."

That's not even remotely suitable!? What's with that weird hammock!?

"Ah, would you like me to arrange that for you? Would you prefer a female slave? Monsters are too smelly, so."

"Both sound too smelly so I'll refrain."

"Really?"

Well, having to use up a life every time you go to sleep sounds pretty poor in terms of cost to performance. It also sounds gross as heck, so I'll pass too.

"Alright then, this is an imported item… or rather, it's a bedding I bought from Rokuko's place, so I'll leave it here for you to use."

With that, Aidi took out two mattresses from her [Storage] that were effectively identical to the ones we use in our suite room and placed them on the bed.

I see, this should be fine for sleeping. Guaranteed, even.

"Huh? Aidi-sama, what about ours?"

"Ichika, you'll have a separate room, so you don't need this much bedding, right? I've prepared a futon."

"Reeeally? … Wait, wait, wait, why'm I gettin' a separate room? I'm bein' left out!?"

"You're my guest, so it's only natural that I'd separate you from the currently-studying-abroad Rokuko, don't you agree?"

"Just give it up, Ichika. We'll have three people sleeping together in here already."

With that, Rokuco clung to my arm. Huh? Three people?

"Wait, Rokuko. Aren't you and I supposed to be in separate rooms?"

"Oh? Isn't it obvious that we'd all be in the same room? Aidi even prepared the bed and the mattresses for us, so it's too late to back out now, isn't it?"

Are you… seriously…?

I looked over to Aidi and she smiled back at me.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'll be supporting Rokuko all the way. I won't say a word about anything Rokuko and her Master decide to do together, of course."

"Oh. Theeen… does that mean you want Niku-senpai to stay in my room?"

"Wait, Ichika. If you took Niku-senpai, then it'd just be me and Rokuko."

"Right, Ichika, could I leave Niku to you?"

Wait, could both my outer and inner defenses have been breached?

"I'll put the beds together, Rokuko."

"Thank you, Aidi. Have more space to sleep will be nice. Oh, and I don't need a comforter, I brought one myself."

… Could you give me a comforter for myself? I can use my own Divine Pillow, so that part's fine at least.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

In the end, Rokuko and I slept together. It goes without saying that I didn't touch her and instead went to sleep right away, but the next morning, Rokuko was really happy.

"Mufufu."

I insist that I went to sleep right away and Rokuko only slept in the bed next to me. I didn't wake up naked in the morning either, nor did Rokuko sneak up on me and cling to me.

I was tired from all the travelling and my body was aching, so I fell asleep right away. It's obvious that I'd go straight to sleep.

I didn't even dream.

When I woke up, Rokuko was peering into my eyes with a weird grin on her face.

And so I found myself now eating udon for breakfast. I turned to Ichika and Aidi, who were both grinning, and muttered.

"Nothing happened."

"Yeah yeah sure."

"'Course not".

I really didn't do anything. My body being perfectly rested from a good night's sleep is proof of that. It's no wonder that the mattresses we use in our suite room are so good at recovering from fatigue. It's on par with the [Divine Comforter].

I feel so refreshed that I might even take a second nap today!

"Kehma, let's sleep together again tonight okay?"

"…"

… Hey, she doesn't intend to sleep with me every night, does she? I mean, I'm not a pervert, but I do have my limits.

"… No, I kinda want to use Niku."

"That's fine. Niku is a slave, so she doesn't count. It'll just be the two of us."

She's using the [slaves don't count] argument that Ichika talked about the other day. This girl's really fast at learning!

"What are we doing today anyway, Kehma?"

"Since you're finally here, why don't you learn something about the Demonlands by training? With your bodies."

"… I'm tired. Alright, let's sleep today!"

"That's no good, you're finally here to study abroad, so let's go learn."

"Right, Kehma is going to be participating in the tournament, so training a bit would be good. It'll let me see you at your best and not just sleeping all the time."

What's so good about that!? Aidi was sleeping all the time in our suite room too, you know!?

"Oh? I was enjoying emersing myself in your culture during my stay abroad. So then, shouldn't Rokuko and the others also enjoy the culture of this country?"

"Kuh, why does that make so much sense…!?"

"My Master will be training too, so why don't we train together?"

Hmm… come to think of it, where is Aidi's master and what is he doing right now?

"Incidentally, where is Aidi's master?"

"Ah? I didn't introduce him, did I? This guy."

Saying that, Aidi pointed to the butler standing behind her.

… Upon closer inspection, I felt I recognized the boy whose red hair was so dark it was practically black. The man whose hair color was so dark it looked like age-dried blood had no particular expression on his face.

"Why is he a butler…?"

"Because he's my slave. The same as that dog over there."

He certainly was wearing the same sort of collar as Niku.

Apparently, he was a slave that was raised in a human ranch. He was a slave that was trained to do anything his master told him to do… He must have been trained really well. If not, he wouldn't have been able to use Absolute Command Rights to make breathing unnecessary. A slave climbing to a position of power is as good as it gets.

"Master, today I'll be taking Rokuko's Master and that puppy out to train."

"… Understood, Ojou-sama."

The butler bowed his head. I just want to go to sleep… but it seems I have to train. Haa.

"Rokuko, what do you want to do? Participate or watch?"

"Ah, I guess I'll watch. … Oh, and since we're here, could you get me a book about the Demonlands to read?"

"Sure. Master, prepare a book for her."

"Understood."

With that, we all trained after breakfast.

Ah, Ichika was teaching her about rat race management, so she was off doing something else. Please hurry up and finish since we'll have some free time after that.