Chapter 184

Chapter 182 – Underneath – 4

“U-uh, how I got in… Hehe.”

Nix was being extra careful, glancing around much more than usual. With her already low self-esteem, it was even worse with Lize giving her a gaze that was practically a life sentence beside her.

“The commanders don’t come often, so… someone suggested we check it out…,”

“Did you say you weren’t coming but then suggested checking it out? My kids wouldn’t have done that!”

“What?”

As I turned my head, Lize seemed to realize her mistake and quickly tucked her dagger away while avoiding eye contact. There was a gigantic certainty behind her words that her side wouldn’t have done anything like that.

The fact that there was certainty meant something had been pre-arranged. She must have told them her plans in advance. She really came prepared.

If I hadn’t brought her to the storage, she would have surely lured me somewhere secluded. That last statement confirmed it.

“…Lize, let’s talk later. Now, keep going.”

“The Dark Night Order seemed okay with waiting for a few hours… B-but I couldn’t resist my curiosity… Hehe.”

“Your kids are just like mine, aren’t they?”

“……”

It seems the impact of delaying my return by a whole day while entwined with Lize was enormous.

As I was internally flabbergasted, Nix, with a sinister smile and fingers wiggling in front of her chest, continued to speak haltingly.

“I got to the storage and heard strange sounds inside, so I went up to spy… Hehe. The ceiling of the storage was weaker than I thought, and… well…”

“What, you were spying on us?”

Feeling disturbed by that fact, Lize slightly frowned. Seeing this, Nix flinched with a tiny eek!, trembling in fear.

Normally, she spoke as if outdoor exposure wouldn’t bother her, but this came off as surprising. Even if it’s Lize, she doesn’t have a taste for showing off in front of outsiders.

Then again, I didn’t like outdoor exposure either. Around the same level as when I was with Aurora, just showing it to nearby women was my psychological limit.

“Where to start?”

“Um, m-may I say?”

“I won’t hit you, just say it.”

“Uh, starting from the part where you pull down the Knights’ regulation pants you’re wearing.”

I suddenly recalled that those dolphin shorts were considered regulation wear.

I glanced at the blue dolphin shorts that Lize was wearing, which could be exaggeratedly described as almost like a thong. It looked like clothing meant to reveal rather than conceal her butt and genitalia.

One knight wore a white sleeveless top with dolphin shorts as regulation, another wore a sports bra and leggings, and the last one was a bunny girl or reverse bunny as regulation wear. What an impressive country.

“So you’re basically saying you saw everything from the start. Why beat around the bush?”

Lize clicked her tongue as she spat out words laced with coldness, unlike her voice while talking to me. She then straightened the slightly crumpled waistband of her dolphin shorts.

Even so, the sleeveless top was so short that it couldn’t hide her abs and side skin.

I saw that Lize’s mood seemed to be getting worse again, so I swept my finger along the valley line of her spine.

“Eek?! What?!”

Lize jumped in surprise, turning her body around. She shot back a glare, as if she was going to interrogate me. I smugly smiled and accepted that gaze with ease.

“Sorry, my hand slipped. You just looked too tempting.”

“If you’re going to touch me, at least ask first. If you’re going to touch without asking, do it to my chest or butt. Are you a pervert? Touching places like that?”

Is touching the back okay but not the chest or butt? With a slight sense of grievance, Lize puffed her cheeks and decided it was no longer awkward to pry into it.

“The kids should be waiting at the training ground, so let’s hurry out.”

Lize readily followed my words. From the way her blue eyes were directed towards Nix, it seemed she didn’t want to do it in front of outsiders. The storage door opened again.

As we exited, I shot a sharp glance at Nix. Under the slightly daunting gaze, Nix made a tiny hic! sound of surprise.

Nix’s figure skittered away, following behind. Just as I was about to step out last, a dull thump! sounded, and something hard bumped against my toes.

I looked down at the source of the sound. A large wooden log was rolling a bit away.

“…Was it because it was old?”

To think the ceiling would collapse with just one person climbing up. Nix couldn’t be that heavy. Should I tear this down and refurbish it as I was expanding?

I picked up the log I had just kicked and looked around.

‘It’s really thick. How did it break?’

The thickness of the log was close to half my index finger. Even if I planned to cut it with a sword, it didn’t seem like it would be easy. Yet it collapsed just like that?

I checked the ceiling. The broken part had a size that was just about enough for one person to fall through. The nearby ceiling’s thickness also looked terrifying.

‘…Was that area a bit weakened?’

No matter how I thought about it, it shouldn’t have collapsed so easily. Thinking I’d have to either rebuild or repair the storage later, I left the log and headed out of the storage.

Lize and Nix, who had gone out first, were waiting for me nearby.

‘Good grief.’

I felt a bit awkward to say this, but it was a sight that only my chest was in view.

Even considering that the women here were generally tall, Lize was relatively short, while Nix was objectively small, regardless of any averages.

Yet both of them had chests so large that I couldn’t grip even one side with both hands, making it impossible not to naturally focus my gaze there.

Moreover, one wore a tight-fitting white sleeveless top, and the other, a modified white shirt that nearly exposed her chest, adding to the emphasis on their busts, even more so.

As I returned to the training ground flanked by two voluptuous beauties, the Silver Dawn Knights and Dark Night Order, who were having a normal conversation, shot me looks as if to ask why I was back so soon.

It felt strange that they looked at me like that when I hurried back.

“Hurry and clean up and wrap it up. Move!”

I raised my voice. Lize stepped forward and rallied the Silver Dawn Knights. The knights on both sides began to move sluggishly, following the commanders’ orders.

Knights dressed in white sleeveless tops and dolphin shorts jumped onto the carriage. Perhaps due to the uniforms being larger, their exposure was less than Lize’s.

Plus, the one next to them dressed as a bunny girl or reverse bunny in stockings, mesh stockings, bare legs, or tights looked relatively more modest.

Nix also busily moved about doing something, although honestly, it didn’t help much. Her chest was enormously large, but her limbs were disproportionately small, limiting her carrying capacity.

The work finished quicker than expected. Lize brought over a list of items, and the Silver Dawn Knights were helping out as well. Besides, the movement route for relocating the items was fairly short.

“…There are a ton of them.”

“Is it okay to say that about a present from the Empress?”

Of course, separating the sheer quantity, it was enormous.

A mountain of treasures was piled up in one corner of this massive training ground. Nearby, the Dark Night Order was diligently carrying materials to build a temporary storage.

“I guess if I don’t get caught saying this, it’ll be fine?”

“Hmm… No, Delta, I feel like it’d be okay even if you do get caught.”

Lize chuckled, as if it was just a joke. But I couldn’t laugh at the thought that might actually be true.

“…I’ve accepted everything for now, but now that I think about it, I have nowhere to use them. Should I just build another storage and stash it all away? Lize, any ideas?”

“What do you ask me for?”

Lize also seemed to share that she didn’t have a particular use for the items. Even if she didn’t know the exact unit price, with such a large quantity, one could practically build a new one instead of just an expansion or repair.

Even if I distributed them among the entire Dark Night Order, shared some with Aurora, and even the Silver Dawn Knights, it seemed like it wouldn’t be enough to use it all.

‘If I sold all this, how much would it fetch in the game?’

If I had sold it in the first round, I’d have enough to comfortably use through the eleventh round. Most consumables don’t change value. I might’ve been able to buy holy water that glows pretty easily too.

Well, the infamous quest isn’t infamous for its high price though.

“Do you want some? You could take it and share it with the Silver Dawn Knights.”

“If you give it to me, I’d take it, but I doubt I’d have any use for it. The knights who worked in the palace would be more than able to live comfortably after retirement. And I don’t really need to do that—”

Lize grinned and poked my side with her elbow.

“You’ll end up feeding me anyway, right? I can just sit below you and spread my legs, so why bother?”

“Could you be a bit more mindful with your word choice?”

As I glanced around and spoke, Lize burst into laughter.

The Silver Dawn Knights seemed familiar with Lize’s behavior, while the Dark Night Order displayed an inexplicably contented smile as they let it roll by.

This made me feel like I was the one acting abnormal.

‘What can I do with this… Oh.’

After mulling over what to use this for, I suddenly thought of a good idea and turned to Lize. It felt a bit off using someone else’s money, but if it was my own money, it wouldn’t be a problem.

“Lize.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Shall we go catch a scammer?”

‘Hmmmm…’

A pink-haired girl with long twin-tails that reached her butt was rolling her hot pink eyes as she scanned the people ahead.

The men looked fine. Good-looking, tall, and well-built. Most importantly, they had plenty of money. Their personalities also seemed quite outstanding. No, not just okay, they were top-notch.

The women weren’t bad either. Both looked good enough, albeit a bit shorter, but their figures were overwhelmingly splendid. Especially their chests—

‘……’

The hot pink eyes subtly lowered to her feet. Instead of seeing their toes, one might see their ankles if standing up straight with only a slight curve beneath, revealing nothing but an underdeveloped chest.

‘Disgusting breast monsters.’

Grumbling, she shifted her gaze elsewhere. What was so good about those lumps of fat? They just caused back pain when carried around unnecessarily. Plus, it was uncomfortable to wipe when sweaty.

The pink-haired girl reorganized her thoughts after winning that mental battle. Despite her thorough examination of the people, they still felt suspicious.

If a person had that kind of wealth, they could easily trade with reputable merchants in the city; why come all the way to the outskirts to deal with a wandering trader like me?

As a long-time con artist, my instinct told me that these people had some hidden agenda.

“You want to buy something from me?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, as a merchant, I’m grateful for that. However, if you wouldn’t mind me asking, could you tell me the reason? With the money you’ve shown, it seems you could trade directly with a trading company, so why come looking for me?”

“I need something only you sell. You should understand what that means.”

“Something only I sell? I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what you mean. If it’s what a wandering trader like myself sells, they’d naturally have it at a major trading company, right? Why don’t you go ask over there?”

The girl spun around sharply. Since she came this far, she was confident the man would halt her.

Despite her act, if the girl had solely sold what others sold, she wouldn’t have lived this long as a con artist and wandering merchant. Certainly, she had something hidden away.

“Stop pretending. If you know I’m in need of your items, let’s not waste each other’s time.”

She stopped in her tracks.

Regardless of how she had learned of it, the implication was clear: she needed something from me. In that case, the urgency was on their side, allowing me to flip the script one more time.

“Stop pretending? I’m also an honest merchant. When an opportunity to sell arises, I won’t let it go—”

“Or would calling you ‘Fetch’ make me more inclined to make a trade?”

If that black-haired man hadn’t called her by one of her dozens of aliases rather than her real name, it certainly would have changed the situation.