As we entered the city, I tapped on the wall behind the coach and told him to stop, and then the carriage stopped there.
I got off the carriage, and Mirai with her student bag also got off.
When I told the coach that this was as far as he would go, he got off his seat, bowed, then quickly returned to his seat, reversed the carriage, and drove out of town.
「 Having a coachman is nice. I think I’ll get one myself. Well then, how about we look for a place to stay for the day? Or do you want to eat first? Your choice 」
「 I’m not in the mood for food 」
「 Okay, let’s look for an inn. Let’s go 」
Perhaps the school uniform stood out, but the stares of people passing by were piercing.
When I’m with Nia and Euphy, I’m used to it, but it’s different with Mirai.
She moves closer, hiding behind me.
「 If you’re afraid of being seen, how about you cling to my arms? 」
「 No thanks. It’s not that bad 」
Or so she says, but she stepped closer to me.
We’re already close to physical contact, how about you just grab me?
With Mirai next to me, we continued towards the center of the city’s main street.
We bought some delicious-looking food from the stalls lined up on the street along the way.
I didn’t forget to ask for information about the inns meanwhile.
I’m already accustomed to this.
I got this information from a well-dressed woman selling mysterious grilled meat with aromatic herbs, about the best inn in the town.
The price is about half of the high-class inns from the capital, but the quality is good, the rooms are spacious, the interior is luxurious, and there’s a proper bathroom, it’s perfect.
I immediately paid the overnight fee and now the lodging for tonight is secured.
「 I’m glad we got a good place to stay, although it’s not as nice as the room you were staying in before. If unlucky, there wouldn’t have been a bath, so this saves us 」
「 Eh, y-yeah. You’re right, I guess 」
I entered the room and approached Mirai for the first time, but her behavior was blunt.
No, that’s not it. This timid behavior has to be caused by being brought to the room.
She’s not trying to look my way.
Well, that’s inevitable, but I didn’t care, and I laid out the food from the stall out of my magic bag onto the table and I noticed that she was looking at it.
「 You should be getting hungry, want to eat? 」
「 Yeah… 」
Time-wise, it’s already past noon, so she has to be hungry.
We went to the reception desk and she started eating the bread given to her.
Mirai sits on the chair, not saying anything.
Mirai froze for a moment when I handed her chopsticks I bought from a hundred yen store, but she immediately accepted it and reached for the meat on the leaf plate.
「 Kotori-san, I’ve never had this before, what is this meat? 」
「 Who knows? It’s some mystery meat I see often in this world. Maybe it’s a monster? 」
「 Huh? You can eat monsters? 」
「 Yeah, you can If you hunt wolves or something similar, they’ll buy it from you. Animals like those are already considered as monsters in this world I’ve seen it often requested in the adventurer’s guild, so I’m guessing it’s edible meat. Hunting them is a quick way to secure food after all By the way, wolf meat doesn’t taste good when grilled 」
「 I-I see… 」
Mirai seems a bit drawn away by the wolf talk.
Then, she turned stiff looking at the meat she was eating
「 Don’t worry. I don’t think that’s a wolf. It’s something else, don’t worry too much about it 」
「 What meat is this… 」
I don’t know so what can I say?
It must be some sheep meat based on the taste.
I mean, what do you even eat most of the time?
Do the people in the royal capital not eat monster meat?
While I was thinking, she was still frozen, staring at the meat.
Seems like she won’t do it no matter what.
Okay, how about we change topics?
「 Oh yeah, have you ever seen monsters, Mirai? 」
「 Yeah. They made me fight one during training 」
「 And it didn’t work out? Did they make you fight a humanoid one? 」
「 No. It was a big boar 」
「 A boar? If they brought it for you to train, then you should’ve been able to handle it, right? Yet, you couldn’t 」
「 I just couldn’t kill living beings 」
「 Well, let’s not force the impossible. I also got drawn away because of how grotesque it was 」
I recalled the hellish training Euphy gave me and then Mirai turned her gaze to me.
「 Kotori-san, you do that adventuring thing, don’t you? 」
「 That’s what I did most when I came to this world 」
「 That means you fought off monsters, right? Why do you kill them? 」
「 Why, you say? Now that’s a hard one. At first, I had to make money, but now it’s not a problem. Also, it’s mostly because I was attacked. Honestly, I don’t think too deeply about it. Mirai, are you the type who’s against killing animals? Are you a vegan? 」
「 I’m not like that. I eat meat, and I do think fish is delicious. It’s just that I don’t want to do the killing 」
「 Hmm, I think that’s normal. I also had some resistance to it at first 」
「 Isn’t that right? I’m not weird, right? 」
「 Yeah, I believe so 」
「 Yes, I’m not weird. It’s them who are weird. And yet, they force me to use magic to kill. And yet, why did Seijin do it so easily 」
Mirai looks down and speaks out some words with resentment in them.
By the looks of it, they probably told her that she’s weird for not being able to kill.
In this world, you have a problem if you’re not killing monsters even though you have the strength to do so.
I agree with that, but it’s not like that can be forced.
If they were animal-like, there would be less resistance, but goblins are very humanoid in shape.
She might look like a bit of a harsh JK, and she also carries some attributes of a yakuza daughter, but Mirai’s still a kind-hearted girl inside
I watched Mirai with that impression in mind, and then she began to eat the meal in front of her.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with the taste, and it goes to your stomach.
I watched her over as she emptied the plate.
「 There’s still more if you’re hungry 」
「 No, I’m done. T-Thanks… 」
Huh?
I think this is the first time Mirai expressed gratitude.
Surprised by the subtle change, I offered her something I just got earlier.
「 No biggie. That aside, don’t forget to use this, okay? 」
「 Ah…okay 」
The item I handed Mirai, who suddenly got meek, was a roll of paper tied to a string.
That’s the scroll for contraceptive magic.
I walked into a general store while looking for a place to stay, and I got this.
This scroll was a bit expensive.
A piece cost me six gold coins.
Considering that a single gold coin is what it usually takes to have someone use contraceptive magic, it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s expensive.
I wonder if there are people who don’t want others to know that they used this kind of magic?
Or maybe, it’s reserved for people who are out there for a long period, like adventurers.
I don’t know the situation, but this is what I need right now.
Usually, you have to go to church for the contraceptive magic.
I’m restricted by the Tiny god from going to those places, so I can’t go there. I can’t tell Mirai to go there alone because I’m afraid she’ll complain about it
I forgot to mention that it’s also tedious.
The other way was to go to the slaver, but I doubt that they have contraceptive magic users all the time.
They might’ve had it because it was an auction back then
So, I bought a magic scroll for easy and hassle-free contraception, and I also bought a certain item that the shopkeeper recommended to me
The shopkeeper was giving a disgusted smile as he looked at Mirai and me, but when I saw the shape of the bottle it was in, I already knew what it was
They charged me three gold coins, but I bought it immediately.
Mirai received the scroll and untied it.
Then, she closed her eyes, as if to think of something, and the next moment, the scroll blazed up and disappeared
「 Ooh?! It burned, Are you okay? 」
「 Yeah. That’s how it is 」
「 I see. Mirai knew how to use it. The old man in the store explained it to me, but it seemed like there was no need So, is it working? 」
「 I feel warm in my belly, I think it is 」
「 I see. I guess that’s one worry gone 」
I don’t see any change, but since the scroll burned up and disappeared, the effect has probably been triggered already.
Honestly, I doubt that it works, but I have to believe it
「 Well then, our bellies are filled, you already have your contraception, what’s left to do is.. 」
「 ?! 」
Mirai looked at me frightened as I suddenly made a suggestion…
I talked to her quite a bit today, and she has become more open and her gaze somewhat softened, but it all returns to nothing.
Her expression turned dark all at once and she became silent.
I have to force my way here, I guess
「 Do you want to take a bath first, or later? 」
「 ………… 」
「 Geez, don’t look like you’ve fallen to hell. Okay, I’m taking a bath first, got it? 」
It won’t be just a quick splash, but I’ll wash my body quickly and get it over.
When I stepped out of the bathroom with the towel I brought from Japan wrapped around my waist, Mirai’s eyes turned wide in surprise and looked down.
I took a sip of water from the bottle on the desk, half naked, and sat on the chair facing Mirai.
「 I have bath towels, shampoo, and body soap for you to use there 」
I told Mirai without paying attention to her condition, and she remained motionless and still looking downwards.
I feel like a bad guy for pressuring a JK into a relationship because I got her weakness and told her to go to the bath.
Well, I don’t think that I’m half-wrong about this.
Mirai froze, wondering what to do, but after a while, she stood up and went to the bathroom, with the towel in hand.