Soto's Tea Party

Kehma's daughter, Soto, had blended seamlessly into Golen's everyday village life.

Today, she was having a tea party to make new friends. The venue was the dining hall of the "Dancing Doll Pavilion."

"I'm Soto Golen, Papa's daughter! Please call me Soto-chan!"

In addition to Soto, the tea party's participants included Niku, Maiodoru, and Michiru, the Sister-in-training. With Shikina there as an added bonus, that made five people in all. Given that it wasn't a mealtime, it was the perfect chance to have snacks as there were many seats. On the table were tea and pudding as refreshments.

"My name is Maiodoru Tsuia, I am Kuro-sama's fiancée."

"I'm Michiru! A Sister-in-training of the Beddhism at the church! I hope to get along well with everyone!"

"… Shall I reintroduce myself as well? I'm Niku Kuroinu."

"May I participate as well? I am the eldest daughter of my great father, Dain Kukkoro, Shikina Kukkoro."

By the way, Soto's full name was [Kalinisoto Golen Masuda Labriheart], but she abbreviated it in her usual self-introduction as just the village chief's daughter.

Cid from the neighboring villageDraco also abbreviated his long name to Cid Pavuera, and Maiodoru, who was the most aristocratic among the tea party's participants, had a long middle name that she didn't use unless in a very formal setting. Just for the record, Shikina also has one.

"Here, some socks as a token of our friendship! Don't worry, they're brand new dungeon-made!"

"How thoughtful, thank you…?"

The participants received brand new socks from Soto, led by Maiodoru.

They weren't wrapped at all and were exposed, but the quality was indeed very good.

"Would you mind trying them on right now? Ah, I'll collect your old socks!"

"Soto-sama. You were told by Goshujin-sama to stop such things at today's tea party."

"Ugu, Onee-chan… I'll remember this, Papa…!"

Soto's perverted tendencies to collect socks was stopped by Niku just as it was about to emerge.

… Strangely enough, Soto's eccentricity—her sock collecting habit—had been tolerated until now. One could say that it was because it was limited to Kehma's subordinates, the slaves Niku and Ichika, and the dungeon monster girls. In other words: his family members.

It would be safer to stop her from doing this with outsiders. Thanks to Niku, it seemed the tea party would be able to start without a hitch.

"Soto-sama is Kuro-sama's little sister, right?"

"Yes! That's right, Mai-chan. I am Onee-chan's little sister, hehe… Oh, Mai-chan is Onee-chan's fiancée, right? Should I call you my sister-in-law?"

"Ah, sister-in-law…! That's… true!"

Maiodoru was captivated.

"Still, I was surprised when I learned that Master had a daughter."

"Well, Kuro-sama is also Kehma-sama's child, isn't he? It's not that surprising."

"… Hmm? But their family names are different, aren't they? And Kuro-chan is a dog beastkin. Their races are different, even."

"I got my Kuroinu name from Goshujin-sama. And Soto-sama and I have different mothers."

"Ah, I see. So Kuro-chan is a child born out of wedlock. Master is quite something."

Shikina nodded, understanding Niku's explanation.

By the way, they also had different fathers, but they kept quiet about that. If they didn't say anything, people would naturally assume they were related by blood due to their rare black hair.

Next, Michiru, who had slyly changed her socks, spoke to Soto.

"Soto-chan, Soto-chan!"

"What is it? Michiru-chan."

"Are you a follower of Beddhism?"

"Yes! I'm a follower of Beddhism!"

"Yay!"

"Yay!"

Soto and Michiru exchanged a high five, quickly getting along.

Then, in a position where Niku couldn't see, Michiru quietly handed Soto her freshly taken-off socks.

"Don't forget to take care of this poor Michiru at the next church event…"

"Kukuku, you're quite the mischievous one. I'll put in a good word with Papa…"

Their conversation resembled that of shady merchants and corrupt officials, but with socks instead of golden-yellow sweets, it was somewhat childlike.

That being said, they were both just going along with the flow, so there probably wasn't any malicious plotting. Probably.

"By the way, the pudding at this inn is really well-made. We even tried making it at home since we got the recipe."

"Mai-dono, when did you get the recipe!?"

"Hehe, I am Kuro-sama's fiancée, after all."

"How nice…"

"? We can eat it anytime we come here, right?"

"Michiru-dono, I will eventually return to my family in the imperial capital… but I wish to stay here for another 10 years or so."

Maiodoru hesitated to worry about Shikina's marriage prospects but decided not to. There was no point in worrying about other families, especially an elf's.

"Indeed, the imperial capital is far away."

"Hiring someone with the [Storage] ability as a dedicated cook here might be an option."

"I see, like Wataru."

"Eh, Kuro-chan, does Hero Wataru do such things?"

It seemed that procuring rice here and transporting it to the imperial capital was also part of Wataru's job.

… Although they could transport as much as they wanted to the capital using the dungeon function, they seemed to be using Wataru to cover up that fact. (Including the portion exchanged via [White Beach], rice exports were an important source of income for [Cave of Desire])

"Hmm, I wonder what kind of socks Hero Wataru wears since he travels all around the empire…"

"Soto-sama."

"I-I know! Not today, right? Not today!"

Soto was scolded by Niku.

"Niku-chan, I don't mind, you know? I'll accept Soto-chan's love, because I'm a Beddhist Sister!"

"Michiru-chan is cute! I like you!!"

"Hey, Michiru! Don't use that name for Kuro-sama again—"

"… I actually prefer to be called by that name though?"

"No, Kuro-sama! It's indecent… W-when we're married, I'll call you that in the bedroom… Please bear with it until then…!"

Maiodoru's face turned red.

… It was easy to forget since that was what she was called around Kehma and everyone else, but [Niku] usually had that meaning.

"Hey, hey, Soto-chan. Doesn't Mai-sama smell good?"

"Yeah! She's so cute! I love this kind of stuff!"

"Oh, you truly are the Master's daughter!"

"Hey! What are you three talking about?"

"… Anyways, does anyone mind if I took a second serving of pudding?"

And so, Soto was accepted as the ordinary… normal??? daughter of the village chief.