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After the meal of the contractor and guests, the kitchen was filled with the cheerful labor songs of the Kikimoras.

“Chiki Boom Boom – Chiki Boom Boom – Chiki Boom Boom -”

“Boom Chiki! Boom Boom Chiki Chiki! Boom Chiki!”

“Boom Boom Chiki Chiki – Boom Boom Chiki Chiki -”

Labor brought joy to all house fairies.

Of course, it wasn’t as if there weren’t things that brought comparable joy.

Meal.

It was now the Kikimoras’ lunchtime.

And just as brownies loved freshly baked bread and fresh milk, Kikimoras adored sweet desserts.

Moreover, the Kikimora kitchen crew at Fellow Mansion had a privilege unlike their counterparts at other places, who packed lunch boxes.

“We have freshly made butter caramel pie ready!!!”

“Kikimora cake is all set!”

“We also brought compote to drink from the warehouse! Here are the glasses!”

The privilege of enjoying freshly made desserts on the spot.

One might question how that was a privilege, but it was as important as a dwarf brew master drinking the finest beer made at the brewery for himself.

Let alone, the physical capabilities of Kikimoras reflected their appearance.

They were no more than the level of teenage girls.

Unlike other house fairies, they had to use magic and magical abilities even for small tasks, which required considerable calories.

This was one reason why the desserts of Kikimoras were astonishingly sweeter than what people from extreme climates could imagine.

How nice it would be to say that. In reality, they simply believed that nothing was sweeter than sweet, pouring honey, sugar, syrup, and fruit into their food.

Fulfilling their caloric demands… was simply an incidental result.

Therefore, at Fellow Mansion, led by Nascha, the Kikimoras always searched for even sweeter! Even sweeter ingredients for their desserts.

The dessert served to the new contractor and his entourage was the outcome of that effort.

Likewise, the dessert that Kikimoras were ready to devour right away.

“I never thought I would get to eat such a sweet dessert!”

“It’s much sweeter than the sand turtle dates.”

“I can’t believe next week is the end of the rotation. What a bummer.”

Upon hearing that, the faces of the Kikimoras sitting in the dining room, enjoying desserts and drinks, turned gloomy.

Kitchen duties were one of the few privileges.

And among those, it was the privilege of privileges.

No Kikimora could monopolize the kitchen work on a regular basis.

That would be excessively unfair.

Such enviable tasks had to be enjoyed equally by all Kikimoras. Thus, Nascha, with a stern resolve, made sure to rotate the duties so that no one could monopolize.

It wasn’t for nothing that she held the title of chief; the Kikimoras thought of her as a stern Kikimora.

“The amount of honey and sugar has decreased compared to the previous desserts, yet it’s much sweeter.”

“But if you think about it, isn’t it still honey?”

“Since it’s a monster byproduct, I think it’s different!”

“Right. Sugar, honey, syrup, jam, and… er… somehow, I believe it’s somewhat different!”

“But shouldn’t we explain this to the contractor?”

At that, the dining room, which had been filled with chatter and the sound of tableware, fell silent as if it had never been noisy.

In that fleeting moment, the Kikimora kitchen crew’s telepathy raced at the speed of light to the other Kikimoras.

Each of them, having paused their tasks and enjoying their lunch desserts, was shocked into silence by the thunderous response.

It was not the time to be casually sitting here.

“Emergency! Super emergency! Super emergency!”

“This is not the time to enjoy desserts! We must find the contractor and the prospective partner!”

“The last Kikimora to remember should quickly reveal our location!”

If they weren’t careful, their paradise, the Kikimoras’, could crumble.

The problem wasn’t with Karem.

It was the prospective partner beside him.

Catherine Marigold Atanitas.

The Chief Magic Consultant and former S-Class Adventurer.

“I never imagined that last year’s contractor wouldn’t visit the mansion again, it’s as if my eyes are deceiving me—”

“But they’ve made their nest this year, so it doesn’t matter, does it?”

“This is not the moment for such talk! The garden crew just telepathed that they headed into the forest!”

“…Wasn’t that quite a while ago? It’s probably over already…!”

The kitchen crew was in chaos.

“Super emergency! Super emergency!”

“We haven’t given up yet! Garden guardians! The garden guardians are in the forest!”

“Calling! I’m calling out! No, calling means to summon… Uh, uh uh uh… Aaaaaah!!!”

The Kikimoras’ telepathic communication rate skyrocketed.

*

*

*

“Are you going to eat this?”

Karem rolled a fruit freshly picked from the forest in his hand.

No matter how he thought about it, it seemed under ripe.

“Are you really going to eat that? It’s too sweet, I was just taking a walk.”

“I’m not going to eat it as a snack.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s a palate cleanser.”

As if to say, no more talking, just do your job, he opened his mouth.

As he offered a small piece of fruit, Catherine puckered her lips in distaste.

“Ugh.”

“I thought you were eating it just because your mouth was bored.”

“Having eaten such a dessert for lunch, there’d be no reason for my mouth to be bored. It’s just too sour, that’s all.”

Well, the residual sweetness left in his mouth was the same for Karem. Immediately biting into a piece, Karem regretted it.

“Oh, this is way too sour.”

“I definitely said it was sour.”

“Still, it definitely clears the aftertaste quickly.”

The intense acidity and sour taste made his mouth tingle and salivate.

“It looks somewhat like a plum. But why is it so sour?”

“What are you talking about? That is a plum.”

“What? That’s a plum? Don’t exaggerate about the variety.”

Muttering that, Karem unsheathed his chef’s knife and flung the plum far away. Seeing that, Catherine chuckled softly.

“What’s so funny?”

“Your grimacing face is funny. Was it really that sour?”

“It must have been the under ripe part that was even more unripe.”

Previously, if he was trembling from excessive sugar, now he was grimacing from excessive sourness, making his mouth and cheeks shudder involuntarily.

“Then sit here for a moment.”

“Huh? All of a sudden?”

As Catherine lifted her staff and perched on a tree root, Karem, a bit confused, decided to sit down too.

Her cool and soft hands cradled his cheeks.

Rub – rub –

“…This feels surprisingly nice.”

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Hmm? You said your cheek was sore, didn’t you?”

What’s the problem? When Catherine tilted her head, Karem quickly moved to brush her long hair away from behind her ear.

Meanwhile, Catherine’s rubbing didn’t stop.

“So, how long do you plan to do this?”

“Until I’m satisfied.”

“You seem quite far from your original objective. Maybe about what happened in the garden earlier—”

As Catherine suddenly slapped his cheek, Karem, though it didn’t hurt, flinched slightly from the unexpected smack.

“Who said anything about revenge for embarrassing behavior! I’m just rubbing your sore cheek!”

“I didn’t say anything to that extent.”

“Be quiet!”

Catherine then proceeded to pinch Karem’s cheeks from both sides.

“Are you intent on receiving another slap?”

Nervous shake –

“Yeah. Think about whose cheeks you’re holding now. Act properly.”

He had no reason to be dissatisfied, but he felt a tad shy, somewhat different from their usual skinship.

The perpetrator herself also seemed a bit shy, as the tips of her ears, barely visible through her hair, turned red, but trying to act nonchalant made it cute, maintaining a poker face.

As he quietly surrendered his cheeks to Catherine and remained silent, he began to hear other sounds submerged in the chattering.

The rustling of leaves being stirred by the wind.

Birds chirping from somewhere.

Boom Boom – Chiki Chiki! Boom Boom – Chiki Chiki! Chiki Chiki Chiki Boom Chiki Boom! Chiki Boom! Chiki Boom! Chiki Boom! Boom Chiki Boom Chiki Boom Boom! Boom Chiki Boom!

The humming evoking the image of a green-masked villain swinging maracas acted out by the king of American comedy.

Vaguely reminiscent of the Kikimoras’ labor songs as background music for a game.

Judging by the faintness of the sounds, it seemed a bit far away, but perhaps due to the forest, it oddly sounded as if it was very close.

“…”

“Are we walking again soon?”

“…Sure.”

It appeared Catherine was also a bit perturbed by the disrupted atmosphere, as she nodded subtly while turning her head. As she stood and reached out her hand, Karem placed his hand on top of hers.

“…What is this about?”

“Huh? Isn’t it just asking for your hand?”

“Not your hand. The staff… though I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Chuckling softly, she summoned her staff with the other hand.

“Wait.”

Just as they were about to step away again, Catherine listened closely to the surroundings.

“I heard something just now.”

“Kikimoras’ labor songs? Yeah, it’s pretty unique.”

“No, not that. This way.”

Karem, sensing a nuance suggesting she might have misheard, still followed as Catherine, confident in her hearing, pulled his hand and moved onward.

Soon they deviated from the forest path, where bushes and leaves thickly grew, causing the volume of the Kikimoras’ labor songs to diminish, but their pace did not slow.

“What exactly did you hear? Watch out for branches.”

“You do realize each creature’s wing flapping sounds different, right?”

“Of course, I do.”

It’s only natural that the flapping sounds of pigeons, eagles, and owls would differ, given their size.

Karem wondered why she was asking this all of a sudden.

“I heard the flapping sound of a bug.”

“A bug?”

“To be precise, it should be called the flight sound of a bug monster.”

Calmly saying this, Catherine suddenly halted when she felt resistance through her hand. With her eyes closed, Karem stood frozen in place.

“What’s going on?”

“…No, it just triggered some bad memories.”

“What are those?”

Catherine smirked slightly.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of bugs?”

“Of course not.”

Karem made a serious face.

It had been 12 years since he reincarnated in Europe.

In his previous life, he was terrified of even the tiniest bug, but over the last 10 years, he must have consumed dozens of kilograms of bugs to survive.

However, due to some stroke of luck, he had never encountered truly dangerous monsters or wild beasts. Not even bug monsters.

“Not just bugs, but bug monsters. I heard those damn things could be as big as a child, even the small ones.”

“Considering your divine power and divine art skills, it wouldn’t matter if a few squads of those came at you.”

“No, Catherine? Wait, what? We could just turn back—”

Catherine chuckled while pulling a frightened Karem along without releasing his hand.

‘It’s like an eagle fearing goblins.’

What Catherine had told Karem was entirely genuine. Given his abilities, he would likely secure a B-rank the moment he decided to be an adventurer.

In other words, with just a bit of experience, an A-rank was guaranteed.

Should a Swordmaster and an Elder of the Triad watch over his battles, and a holy diplomat endowed with divine power comes to the guild claiming to be an adventurer, any guild would offer full support.

“A little bit of real combat experience may be needed.”

“That’s a rather ominous thing to say—”

“Quiet. The source is right ahead.”

Karem shut his protesting mouth.

Just as she said, they could hear the sounds she mentioned.

Buuuuuuuuuuuum~ Buuuuuuuuuuuum – Buuuuuum~

Click! Click! Buuuuuuuuuuuum~

Covered with long, fluffy fur and with a long body and legs. Its sharp jaw looked somewhat threatening, but it was more reminiscent of a Pokémon than a bug.

Objectively speaking, the source of the threatening sounds was cuter than he’d expected.

It had the color of light green which made it resemble a cotton candy stuffed toy.

If a mass of them weren’t buzzing around the crevice of a centennial giant oak tree, the scene would be adorable.

“…Oh please, good lord Tutatis.”

“Looks like a Snow White Ice Bee. Not so threatening after all.”

“Based on their size and numbers, it looks very threatening though.”

“Only because you’ve never seen true bug monsters. And… I think they’ve noticed us.”

“What?”

Before Catherine’s words could finish, a Snow White Ice Bee perched on a huge tree trunk began to flutter its wings.

A sound like a jet engine compared to what it was just seconds ago blasted loudly and harshly into their ears.

From its fluffy belly, threatening spikes began to protrude sharply.

All forms of hiding were now rendered meaningless.

“Go face them alone.”

“Catherine?”

“I can guarantee it. With your abilities, you can handle them easily.”

With those words, Karem looked at Catherine. Then he glanced back at the noticeably DEFCON 2-level Snow White Ice Bees preparing for battle.

“Are you joking?”

“Relax, you won’t get hurt. If it’s really dangerous, I’ll step in. Wait, no, maybe it’s because the rewards aren’t enough. Okay, I’ve decided.”

Catherine whispered softly.

“If you succeed, I’ll grant you one wish.”

“Actually, I’ve been thinking that at least once, some experience with a monster is necessary. What a coincidence.”

With the thoughts of Afterglow Fortress and the Horned Rabbit Tunnel completely forgotten, Karem’s fighting spirit ignited.

A wish? He didn’t know what to wish for, but it would be nice to have one!

So Karem’s fighting spirit flared up.

Catherine silently watched.

The war preparations were complete among the ranks of Snow White Ice Bees.

“Everyone, calm down! Let me explain!”

“Contractor comrade! Just a moment! Please wait a moment! You all wait a moment too!”

“We can’t kill them! Our paradise, the Kikimoras!”

Three Kikimoras that climbed trees and jumped out from the bushes bravely intervened between the two groups.

The Snow White Ice Bees seemed perplexed by the sudden interruption, their previously intimidating sounds fading, replaced by a confused buzzing. They also appeared to be taken aback.

Just as Karem was preparing to unleash divine powers and divine arts, he subtly glanced over at Catherine for a signal.

“…Well, since they’re your house fairies, you handle it how you wish.”

“Then… I’ll just stop for now?”

Although he was a bit disappointed to let go of his wish, he couldn’t ignore the trembling fairies with firm expressions trying to suppress their fear.

A girl trying to mediate a conflict between civilization and giant bugs.

It felt like watching a scene from an old animated film.

 

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