Chapter 327: “It Was Just a Look Though?”
“Eh?”
The sudden reply not only made Shien stop for a moment, even Airi and Lasha ended up showing surprised expressions.
However, at this point, the girl who called herself Beatrice stopped talking and instead simply blinked her big eyes while quietly watching everyone else again.
Shien’s party of three exchanged another glance.
This little girl called Beatrice seem to be somewhat unbelievable.
Shien attempted to communicate with her multiple times afterwards, but other than when he asked about her name, where she could reply “Beatrice. My name” with difficulty, the girl wouldn’t respond to anything else.
She was practically like a newborn babe. It was very puzzling.
Shien thus stopped trying to communicate anymore.
“Well that’s a fine mess. Other than her name, we know absolutely nothing about what’s going on here.”
Shien acted like he had completely given up.
Airi and Lasha didn’t have anything to contribute either.
It’s only natural. They suddenly got a little girls stuffed into their care, and the people who started it all committed suicide. Plus, the girl in question wouldn’t say anything other than her name and won’t even respond to anything else. Anyone would be useless here.
Airi did say one thing.
“We might as well just toss her out.”
Her completely nonchalant tone made Shien feel for the first time that she really is a Demon Lord. That was quite cold-hearted.
“If we were to abandon her now, she wouldn’t have a very high chance of surviving ouit there. Even if she does manage to survive, she’ll likely end up falling into misfortune.”
Lasha stated the most worrisome result using the calmest tone.
Shien was unable to retort to that.
Never mind this girl who can’t even speak, even if the person in question was completely healthy, at the girl’s age, they’d probably have a hard time living on all by themselves outside, right?
Plus, this girl called Beatrice is so cute as well. One can tell with just a look that she’d grow up to be a great beauty. If they really do just leave her alone or even loss her out, then her chances of being targeted by human traffickers are a hundred percent. The chances of her being thrown into a whorehouse or ending up as some perverted noble’s plaything is also near a hundred percent.
In this situation, Shien was not so cold-hearted that he could simply leave her alone.
Although Shien was unhappy about this situation being something forced upon him, the entire matter has already reached this point. Thus, all he can do is just deal with things as they come.
“Let’s just keep her here for now.”
Shien made his decision, let out a sigh, and spoke thus.
“We’ll go ask that Captain Terrance and see if we can get some information from him to figure out this girl’s identity and history.”
The guy in question is the governor of this city, so he should know something, right?
At least, that was Shien’s hope.
In response to that…
“Since this is Mister Shien’s decision, I will of course obey.”
Lasha didn’t have much of a reaction. She seemed like she didn’t care one way or another.
“As you like. So long as you can take care of her anyways.”
Airi acted like she wasn’t interested in this matter at all.
It seems that although Beatrice was rather unbelievable in a lot of way, it still wasn’t enough to arouse Airi’s interest. Thus, this Demon Lord was acting standoffish.
That girl was just that way when it comes to things she’s uninterested in. She just can’t muster up any energy for it. Plus, she was not exactly any kind of Good Samaritan, so she naturally wouldn’t show any sympathy just because the other party looked young.
Thus, Airi just returned to her room while yawning and went on back to sleep.
Beatrice was taken away by Lasha, who will be preparing some food for the girl as well as helping her take a bath.
Thus, Shien was left by himself in the living room.
“Seriously…”
Shien scratched his head. He felt like he was getting dragged into something troublesome again.
“Lucy really did end up hitting it on the head, huh.”
This trip was certain to not go all that smoothly.
At the very least, they had ended up with a troublesome mystery on their hands as soon as the entered the Stalim dukedom.
“Here’s hoping that hey won’t waste too much time.”
Shien doesn’t want to waste too much of his energy on something strange either.
That said, Shien had a kind of feeling.
“That little girl is probably no ordinary person either.”
With that final through, Shien went back to his own room as well.
Only after he laid down on his bed again did Shie suddenly realize something.
“Wait, I was obviously trying to find someone to sleep with me here.”
Instantly, he snapped right back up.
“Emmmmmmmm…”
Shien was silent for a while before he walked on out of his room and sneaked into a different room.
There, Airi was currently fast asleep while holding a piollow.
Shien dove under the covers of Airi’s bed without hesitation, pulled that little girl into his arms, and nuzzled her head a few times.
Yeah, although she’s a bit small, but as least she’s warm and soft.
Thus, Shien fell asleep, completely satisfied.
He thus completely failed to notice that, afterwards, another figure also dove in under the sheets and squeezed into his arms.
…
The next day, dawn.
When Shien woke up and beheld the sight before him, he froze.
“Su…”
“Su…”
Accompanying those two breathes were two small girls lying in his arms, currently soundly asleep.
There was a moment where Shien wasn’t able to comprehend what was going on.
“Two?”
“Did she split?”
“Parthenogenesis?”
“A flower in each arm?”
Shien still hasn’t fully awaken yet. All he knew was that the sensations from his hands were nice. Those two girls were both exceptionally soft. Really, it’s like he was on top of the world with lolis in hand.
It was only after a while that Shien finally fully woke up and properly recognized the appearance of the two little girls in his arms.
Of those two, one of them is Airi.
She seems to be still asleep. In fact, she didn’t even notice that someone had sneaked into her bed, and she’s still hugging her pillow, deeply and happily asleep.
As for the other one, she is Beatrice.
This particular little girl had changed into a set of pajamas from who knows where and was sleeping like a baby with her thumb in her mouth.
Shien had those two little girls in his arms. He looked like a dad with his daughters.
The problem though…
“Airi’s one thing, but just when did Beatrice show up?”
Shien was still confused.
That was, until a voice replied to him.
“She dove under the covers on her own, Mister Shien.”
Calm words rang out within the room without any prior signs like it was only natural, or perhaps simply the same as always.
Shien had also gotten used to it by now, so he simply turned toward the source without any real surprise.
Lasha was quietly standing next to the bed. As Shien turned his attention to her, she continued speaking.
“I believed that she was harmless, and that Mister Shien should be happy with it, so I did not stop her.”
… In other words, you just watched from the side as someone else dove into your master’s bed huh?
Should I be praising you for that? Or should I praise you?
Also, what the heck did you mean by me being happy with it?
Just what kind of person am I in your mind? I really would like to spend a good hour for you to properly tell me…
Shien, who had been continuously muttering about the entire matter in his mind, finally accepted the reality and let out a sigh.
“Sighing first thing in the morning like that. What a dark day.”
Shien said such a thing listlessly as he sat up.
“Su…”
“Hu…”
Airi and Beatrice were still sleeping so peacefully. They showed no signs of waking up at all.
Shien carefully set the two girls back into bed, glanced at Beatrice as she slept with her thumb in her mouth, and then glanced at Airi who was tightly hugging her pillow. Then, he suddenly got an impulse.
“Isn’t now a good chance?”
Shien’s eyes were glued to Airi.
More accurately speaking, it should be that they were glued to the pillow in Airi’s arms.
Shien had been finding the pillow, which had never left Airi’s embrace, an eyesore for a long time now.
Supposedly, this pillow hid a huge secret behind it, one that Shien had been eyeing for some time now.
Airi had already promised Shien that she’ll let him take a peak after he deals with the Old Demon Faction in the Stalim Dukedom. However, they’ve already reached the Stalim Dukedom now, so it shouldn’t be a big deal if he took the reward ahead of time, right?
As he thought that, the impulse in Shien’s mind got stronger and stronger.
“Alright then, just one then…”
Thus, Shien rubbed his hands against each other and slowly reached out toward Airi.
“I don’t think this is a very good idea.”
As this was happening, a calm and cool voice quietly rang out as if to stop Shien.
Unfortunately though, Shien completely ignored it. He simply continued to reach out as his heart beat faster.
Getting close… It’s so close…
Just as Shien’s hand touched the pillow, and before he could get excited about his accomplishment, Airi’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
“… What are you doing?”
Airi looked at the hand reaching for her and went silent for a while. Only after that did she then look up at Shien and spoke coldly while showing no emotion at all.
“… Would you believe me if I said that I was just randomly stretching my hand out?”
Shien’s mouth twitched as he dryly laughed.
“What do you think?”
Airi continued to show no emotion on her face. She simply looked at Shien disdainfully.
“W-what’s wrong with that!” Shien suddenly acted like he got stimulated by something and switched from embarrassment to anger, “We’re already here in the Stalim Dukedom after all. You’re going to be showing me anyways after I’ve dealt with the Old Demon Faction, so what’s wrong with showing me a bit earlier?”
As he said that, Shien suddenly launched a hand forward to make a surprise grab at the pillow and pull it away from Airi.
Unfortunately for him, the moment that Shien’s hand moved, Airi’s little hand moved in a flicking motion.
Shien immediately felt his world spin. He had no idea just what happened to him. His body simply felt like it got thrown up into the ceiling before slamming heavily down onto the bed, where he was laid out flat.
Lasha had already pulled Beatrice away before anyone noticed, so she was sleeping in the maid’s arms without taking any collateral damage.
Airi had also gotten out of bed and was standing on the other side of it.
“I said that it’ll happen after you deal with the Old Demon Faction, so it will wait until after you deal with the Old Demon Faction.”
Airi looked down from above at Shien, who was lying flat on the bed, with a speechless expression on her face.
“You’re also the first person who had ever dared to crawl into my bed in the middle of the night and sleep while hugging me. You should know when to be satisfied.”
After leaving such words, Airi then finally turned about and left.
Lasha had also quietly left, taking Beatrice with her.
Thus, Shien was left on his own, lying on his bed in sorrow.
“It was just a look though?”
Seriously, making a big deal out of nothing.
