Epilogue

“Ow, ow, ow, be a little gentler!”

Three days had passed since then.

Higure and the others, having rescued Maihime, had safely returned to the safe house.

After that, Higure was forced to spend most of his time in bed, recovering from his injuries. He had severe frostbite, and several of his bones were cracked. Also, though it had subsided now, he had had a fever until yesterday.

Misty, who could use healing magic, was treating his wounds, but that healing magic was more painful than he had expected.

“I’m sorry, Otouto-kun. But this is the fastest way to heal. You’re doing great. If I could, I’d take your place, Onee-chan would…”

“I imagined healing magic to be something that instantly heals wounds without any pain… this is too much.”

“It’s mainly about activating your own self-healing abilities. Forcing a reckless healing method would put a strain on your body, so this can’t be helped.”

Lilitia, sitting on a stool and peeling an apple, answered.

“You were fully recovered in less than a day, Lili!”

“Scars don’t suit the cute Lili-chan!”

“A Vampire’s self-regeneration ability is top-class among all races. You can do it, Otouto-kun!”

Misty said, holding Higure’s hand.

The children were all safe, Lilitia and Misty had no lasting scars, and Maihime had been safely rescued. Considering the grand performance they had put on, it was a good outcome if Higure was only slightly exhausted… but that being said, what hurt, hurt.

“I’m not used to pain… hiin.”

Higure rotated his shoulder, checking his body’s condition.

His appetite was back, and compared to yesterday when he had a fever, he felt much better.

He probably couldn’t do any strenuous exercise, but he should be fine for daily life.

“By the way, where’s Maihime?”

“I think she’s in the next room! Want to go check on her?”

“Yeah…”

Until yesterday, he hadn’t had the mental capacity to think, and his consciousness had been hazy.

He vaguely remembered Maihime being by his side, but they hadn’t really spoken since then. He wanted to properly confirm that she was safe.

“Then you should go thank her! She felt responsible and was nursing you around the clock.”

Lilitia, holding out a bite-sized piece of apple, smiled and said, “Of course, I did my best too.” The fresh, sweet flavor of the apple spread in his mouth, and his cheeks couldn’t help but relax.

Seeing that, Lilitia also took a bite. “Mmm, delish,” she said, her lips curving into a smile. It would have been perfect if she hadn’t added, “Though not as good as you, Higure-san,” in a playful tone.

“Thanks, Lili. I’ll be right back.”

He got up with the help of Misty, who was supporting him exaggeratedly, and left the room.

He knocked on the door of the next room, which served as Lilitia and Maihime’s bedroom.

“Mm. You can come in.”

Maihime’s soft, flat voice replied.

Higure opened the door, and a dumbfounded sound escaped his lips.

“Wha—?!”

Silken white hair and a tail that swayed slowly from side to side.

A modest but well-shaped chest, slightly hidden by a shirt. A faint line of abs stretching from her chest to her navel, and legs as white as porcelain. Her private parts were barely hidden by a cloth, and it looked like a change of angle or a slight impact would expose them, making it seem more sensual than being completely naked.

Before him stood Maihime, wearing only a thin house robe.

Whether she knew it or not, or whether she was just not thinking, Maihime tilted her head curiously.

“Y-You…! I knocked, right?! Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?!”

“I’m always like this in my room.”

“Oh, did you think it was Lili?”

“No. Lili wouldn’t knock. Is this… a service?”

Maihime made a peace sign with both hands and tilted her head.

Her tail was swaying rhythmically. She seemed to be in a good mood.

“…I don’t know how to react.”

“But you’re happy, Higure-kun. You haven’t looked away, after all.”

“…………!”

Being pointed out, Higure hurriedly turned around.

But that was like affirming Maihime’s point, and she, knowing that, chuckled.

“You were nursing me around the clock, right? Thanks.”

“I did it because I wanted to.”

“Were you hurt? Are you okay now?”

“Compared to you, Higure-kun, it was nothing. You must have been scared, right?”

“Not really…”

A lie. Looking back on it now, it was terrifying.

The battle with Lulun.

During the fight, he was in invincible mode thanks to adrenaline, but fighting the kingdom’s strongest right after being thrown into another world was insane. Thinking about it calmly, it was a battle where he could have died at any moment.

“But I’ll never be able to pull off a stunt like that again…”

Higure, his face paling at the memory of the approaching ice and Lulun’s treasured sword, muttered.

He secretly decided that he would never fight so recklessly again.

“That’s a lie.”

“Like hell it is. I’m never doing anything that reckless again.”

“Even while saying that, you’ll surely come to save me, Higure-kun.”

“No, this was a one-time thing!”

“You’ll come running anyway, right?”

“I said it was a one-time thing!”

He couldn’t risk his life like that over and over. He was convinced he had used up all his luck in this one battle. Higure was weak. He was just a normal guy. He needed them to remember that.

“But, in front of you, Higure-kun, I’m just a girl.”

Tap, tap, tap. Light footsteps.

A scent like the sun, and a gentle impact and warmth on his back.

From the feel of a modest chest and a pleasant warmth, he realized Maihime was hugging him.

“…A girl, yeah.”

He did seem to remember saying something like that in the heat of the moment.

“You won’t save me, a mere girl?”

Maihime rubbed her forehead against his back.

She pressed her body against him, as if she couldn’t bear even the slightest gap.

He could hear her ragged breathing. It felt like he was being marked.

“…If I think I can.”

He truly wanted to be Maihime’s support.

If Maihime could relax, even just in front of him, that would be the best.

But Higure didn’t have much power.

He would be in trouble if she expected too much. He was happy, but it was troubling. It was a complicated feeling.

“Fufu, I thought you’d say that, Higure-kun.”

Maihime’s voice was cheerful as she moved to his front.

She hugged him as if diving into him.

“Whoa, hey… you, at least put some clothes on!”

Maihime rubbed her face against his chest and let out a blissful sigh of “Fuhaa.” She sniffed and rubbed her face against him some more.

And then, after a while, as if satisfied, she finally looked at him.

Long eyelashes, crimson eyes. She tilted her head curiously.

“Would you have been happier if I didn’t have them on?”

“The opposite! Put them on!”

“But you had a lewd look in your eyes, Higure-kun.”

“I did not.”

“I was taught not to believe you even if you say that, because it’s just you being shy.”

“By who…?”

He asked, even though he had a pretty good idea.

“Lili.”

“I thought so!”

“Wait a second, okay…?”

A voice so alluring it was hard to believe it was Maihime’s.

She gently pulled away. She pulled her arm out to remove the last bastion that hid her soft body—.

Just then.

“Stooooooop!!”

With a loud shout, the door to the room was thrown open.

Lilitia, her face twisted in a pout, and Misty, her cheeks puffed out, stood there like guardian deities. Lilitia wedged herself between Higure and Maihime, creating distance.

“I was going to let it slide for today, but I’ve reached my limit! Isn’t this a little too much of a good atmosphere?! Isn’t this a little too much of a lewd atmosphere?!”

“But you were the one who said to seduce Higure-kun, Lili.”

“I did! I did… but I have some thoughts on the matter, or rather, I should welcome the fact that you two are getting along, but…”

Lilitia poked her index fingers together, as if to express her complex feelings.

In the meantime, Misty had slid in next to Higure.

“Otouto-kun! Onee-chan too…”

Misty clung to Higure’s arm, as if not to let him escape.

Her soft body was pressed against him, and he could feel his whole body stiffen.

“Onee-chan can get naked too!”

“You don’t have to get naked!”

Just as Misty put her hand on her house robe.

“Ah! Misty-chan, taking advantage of the chaos!”

Lilitia’s intervention came.

“Don’t do too many lewd things! My identity will be gone!”

“Don’t worry, I’m strictly in the lewd Onee-chan category!”

“You’re overlapping with me, the lewd Onee-chan!”

“I don’t think you’re a Onee-chan, Lili.”

Lilitia pulled Misty away from Higure, and in the meantime, Maihime closed in, and then Lilitia jumped in, and Misty pulled on his arm—it was a complete mess.

Soft sensations, sweet scents, but Higure’s body wasn’t in that good of a condition.

“I’m injured! I’m technically injured!”

He was pushed down by the three of them, in a complete tangle.

Until the commotion subsided, Higure continued to struggle under the three of them.

After that, the capital was in an uproar.

Maihime had been rescued, and Lulun, renowned as the kingdom’s strongest sword, had been defeated.

Since there were almost no witnesses, Lulun’s defeat was not made public. However, as they say, you can’t stop people from talking, and rumors about the one who had defeated Lulun were whispered throughout the capital.

For now, there was no sign of security being tightened, but it might be better to leave the capital soon.

To celebrate Maihime’s rescue and Higure’s recovery, Lilitia and Misty had put their skills to the test and cooked dinner tonight.

Higure, Lilitia, Maihime, Misty, and the safely rescued children gathered around the table.

The wooden table was filled with dishes. The spicy scent that tickled his nostrils, the sizzling hot plate that was still steaming slightly—it was a lavish meal that was unthinkable in their usual frugal life, and even the children couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.

Higure was about to dig in, sticking his fork into the steak in front of him, when.

“Ah, but that being said, I have something to talk to you about, Otouto-kun.”

A voice full of pressure came from Misty.

Maihime, next to him, quietly took the fork from his hand.

“Um…?”

“I had something I wanted to talk about too. Right, Higure-san?”

“Come to think of it, I had something I wanted to say too.”

Lilitia and Maihime were also emitting the same pressure. They seemed to be smiling, but their eyes weren’t. Their expressions seemed to say, You know why we’re angry, right?

Eh? Weren’t we all getting along so well just a second ago?

Next to the children who were happily digging into the delicious-looking feast, a tense atmosphere flowed.

He looked at the children, and his eyes met Noemi’s. She immediately looked away. She had stuffed a piece of bread into her mouth. It was very reassuring that her danger-sensing ability was high.

“Uh…”

Still, he had no idea what he had done.

Hadn’t his stock risen sharply after this incident?

“Let’s change locations for now.”

He was led by the hand by a smiling Misty to her room.

He glanced at the children, and his eyes met Noemi’s again. She was nibbling on her bread with an apologetic expression. He sent her an eye-contact plea for help, but she looked away again.

“The food’s gonna get cold…”

When they entered Misty’s room, Lilitia quietly closed the door. Considering it was a girl’s room, he should have been excited, but he felt like a prisoner being taken to a cell.

Higure, made to sit on the bed, was cornered by the three of them.

“You really don’t know?”

Lilitia puffed out her cheeks.

“S-Sorry…?”

“The kiss!”

“Heh?”

“Why did you kiss the enemy, Lulun-san?!”

“A kiss after saving the princess, that’s the classic! I’m the princess!”

“It’s too early for you, Otouto-kun! You have to practice with your Onee-chan first!”

Three people, three different opinions. Their claims were slightly different, but they were all dissatisfied, and they leaned in close. They got on his bed, pressing in on him as if to push him down.

“Wait a minute? That was a kiss, or rather, it was to cause mana hyperphagia, I didn’t have any other intention!”

“Otouto-kun, I don’t think excuses are good, Onee-chan thinks.”

“…Yes.”

“It’s one thing with Maihime-chan and Misty-chan, but kissing the enemy is out of the question!”

“…Yessir.”

“Higure-kun, normally this would be a capital offense. The princess is lenient, so I won’t do that, but.”

“…Aye.”

It couldn’t be helped. He couldn’t think of any other way. If anything, he wanted to be praised for his quick thinking. No, he knew. It wasn’t about logic. He got it. He got it, but… Higure thought, holding his head.

“But I’m really grateful to you for this time. You were really cool. You’re my hero, Higure-san.”

Lilitia said, her cheeks blushing.

“So, let’s kiss to show my gratitude and to overwrite it! Okay, Higure-san!”

“Your eyes are scary…”

Lilitia’s hands trembled, and she opened her mouth, her fangs glinting. A string of saliva and a soft-looking tongue. It was not the shape of a mouth of someone about to kiss.

“Otouto-kun! In this world, it’s decided that Otouto-kun kiss their Onee-chans! So, come here.”

“H-Hey… I’m not falling for that again, okay?”

Soft-looking lips, long eyelashes. Her ample mounds were emphasized, and her graceful fingers traced his chest. He couldn’t help but swallow.

“Higure-kun, there’s not much I can do, but… I want you to accept my feelings of gratitude, no, more than that.”

“…Maihime.”

Maihime’s expressionless face suddenly broke into a gentle smile. Her fox ears twitched, and her tail wagged restlessly from side to side. The beautiful line of her collarbones, her modest chest. Her crimson eyes swayed with a sorrowful look.

Overwhelmed by the three of them at once, Higure was helpless.

Somehow, the situation felt like déjà vu.

Lilitia was on top of him, straddling him from the front. Maihime approached from the right on all fours, and Misty, sitting on the bed, pressed her body against him from the left.

There was no escape.

You’d think this is an enviable situation, right?

But Higure, a novice protagonist, had no capacity to enjoy it.

I don’t know! I don’t know what the right answer is…!

Even as he thought this, the three of them were closing in on him.

“Um, I’m really grateful for the sentiment, but I’m still recovering, so… please be gentle?”

However, the three of them showed no signs of stopping.

They pressed forward, their bewitching eyes shining as if they could see nothing but Higure.

A dizzying sweet scent, a soft touch, and a pounding heart.

Kissing a beautiful girl. There was no way he’d dislike it.

However, Higure had yet to grasp the limits of his own mana capacity. If the story of the Spirit Collapse Disaster was true, it would take an immense amount of time for the mana he consumed to recover. No matter how large his vessel was, if it was finite, it would eventually run out.

If they found out his mana wasn’t limitless, they would just see him as a guy with a bit more mana than usual. He had to avoid that at all costs. The next mana transfer could be his limit. He couldn’t just kiss them wantonly.

But his thoughts wouldn’t function properly, bewitched by the sweet scent.

Is it okay? Is it okay to just go with the flow for today?

“Higure-saaan.”

“Higure-kun?”

“Otouto-kun ♡.”

Their sweet whispers made his thoughts overheat.

Pushed down, Higure’s lips were stolen by the three beautiful girls.

◇

Belia Kingdom. Royal Capital Liliarre.

Nine Number, First Division Office.

“How could this…! Unforgivable! I will not forgive this!”

The captain of Nine Number—Haran—swept the documents piled on her desk to the floor. She sank deep into her chair and propped her feet on the now-clean desk. She crossed her arms and ground her teeth in frustration.

“Whoa, you’re more worked up than usual. Your bad breeding is showing.”

At the words of the Dwarf girl—Kaya—Haran shot her a sharp glare.

Kaya, with a playful “So scary,” threw herself onto the sofa.

“Don’t provoke her too much. She apparently got a real earful from the higher-ups. Kinda feel sorry for her, y’know?”

The Werecat girl sitting across from Kaya—Luilui—sighed languidly.

The arrangements for Maihime Hiiragi’s execution had been entirely entrusted to Nine Number. They had been given the authority to freely use personnel like the Royal Knights, and aside from the unnaturally short time until the execution, there had been no complaints.

They hadn’t been careless either. Placing the Dragon-Slaying Princess, Lulun, as a guard was proof of that.

And yet, it had failed spectacularly. Nine Number’s credibility had plummeted, and Haran had been thoroughly chewed out by the top brass. Nine Number’s special authority was also weakened, and they would no longer be able to move as freely as before.

What was most infuriating was the Royal Knight Commander, who seemed more pleased about gaining a pretext to put a leash on Nine Number than about the loss of Maihime Hiiragi. Every time she remembered that smug, smirking face, her blood boiled.

“Damn it! Every last one of them… I would love to slaughter them all.”

“Don’t blame Lulun, okay? If Lulun couldn’t handle it, our chances would’ve been slim no matter who was there.”

“I know that! I am not so far gone as to push the responsibility onto a single comrade. Just you watch, you Rare Species trash. I will absolutely eradicate every last one of you!”

Her face a mask of rage, Haran brought her heel down, smashing the desk. Still not satisfied, she stood up and repeatedly stomped on the wreckage.

“Whoa. Scary. Your true colors are showing, Haran-chan!”

“Well. We learned our lesson this time, right? We were relying on Lulun way too much.”

“Totally. I think we should seriously consider strengthening our forces. Maybe I’ll finally start getting serious too~.”

The Lulun in question was listening to Haran and the others’ exchange in a daze, as if it were happening somewhere far away. She would occasionally trace her lips with her finger, only to quickly pull it away.

“…It felt good.”

She remembered when Higure had kissed her.

The sensation of his rough heat filling her vessel.

His complete domination of her body, pouring so much mana into her that she overflowed.

In it, there was an indescribable pleasure, a hair’s breadth from pain.

Above all, it was the first time she had ever lost after drawing Laevateinn.

“I wonder if I’ll see him again…. No, I can’t! He’s the enemy. He was hanging out with Rare Species, you know? He must be a bad person… uuh.”

She frantically shook her head from side to side, as if to erase the words that had just slipped out.

He had caused great damage to the capital; he was an unforgivable enemy.

He was the enemy… and yet, she couldn’t get him out of her head.

She remembered the kiss and found herself touching her lips over and over.

“But, but, he’s a Human… If I see him again, then maybe—it’ll be okay?”