Mnotia's Den

 “Sera, it’s morning. Get up.” Elena’s voice. But I want to sleep a little longer…. “Come on, Akame is already up too, you know?” When I don’t get up, she shakes my body. Uu… can’t be helped. “…I’m up.” “Good. Morning. Go wash your face and fix your bedhead.” “…Okaaay.” My eyes met Akame the Burrowing Snake, who was stretching its body out from my chest. I’m just glad it looks lively today too. For the past few days, Elena has also been sleeping and living inside the 【Hideout】. Even if the contract with Akame is done and there’s supposedly no problem, a monster is still a monster. It’s also to keep watch, just in case. Even if I’ve gotten a little better at waking up early lately, being woken up even earlier than that is rough…. ◇ On the day I picked up Akame and talked in Seriana’s room, I went to consult the old man after he got back. Should I call it a whirlwind of events? Things progressed all at once, and then it turned into a big deal. First, the Burrowing ...

 Following Elena to Seriana’s room, I found Alec there too. Even if he’s technically an escort, he is still a man, so he usually tries not to come in much—so this is rare. “Perfect timing. Here, Alec.” I wasn’t going to forget, but I’ll hand it over first. “Ah… you saved me.” The errand is complete. Now come on! “So, what did you pick up? It doesn’t seem hostile, but… it’s a monster, right?” That’s a difficult question. “…It’s probably a monster, but I don’t know what it is.” I rolled up my sleeve to show them, but… it wasn’t there. I rolled up the other sleeve, but… it wasn’t there either. “Get down from the 【Floating Orb】 and turn around.” As I looked over my body here and there thinking, Where is it? , I was told that. Is it on my back or something? Well, whatever. I got down from the 【Floating Orb】 and turned my back to them. “…Hey.” Seriana lifted my skirt, and even the shirt I was wearing underneath, exposing my back. Yeah… right… I’m wearing a one-piece… ar...

 "See ya." "Yeah. Say hi to the Red Ogre for me!" We exchanged farewells and parted ways with the adventurers. That finishes the errand. Several days had passed since I completed Liesel’s request, and I still hadn’t gone to the dungeon—I just couldn’t work up the motivation. It wasn’t like I was simply slacking off. With one mistake, I could die in the worst-case scenario, so I’d been waiting until I was in perfect condition. …Or so I told myself as an excuse while I lazed around, when Alec asked me to run an errand. He’d been steadily making connections with influential adventurers in the royal capital, and his dungeon exploration was going smoothly. But his original role was as Seriana’s guard. Today was the reward distribution from the expedition, but an urgent escort duty came up, so I went in his place to collect his share. By the way, “Red Ogre” is Alec’s nickname. The club and shield left behind by the Demon. The shield was presented to the royal...

 “Sera, is something wrong?” Out of the corner of his eye, Elisha was receiving treatment, and Liesel—who had been enjoying tea with Seriana—asked me how I was doing. I can’t tell without a mirror, but I’m sure I must have been making an indescribable face. “No… it’s just… you know…” I don’t have the vocabulary to convey this situation in a refined way. What should I do…? Perhaps sensing my inner conflict, Seriana gave Liesel a look. “If something’s wrong, don’t worry about the words—just say it.” He’s probably saying that because he thinks something might be happening with Elisha. There is, in a sense—but it’s a little different. “This lady’s been kneading my ass this whole time. Can you do something about it?” “……Sister?” The handsome guy looked dumbfounded. Beside him, Seriana covered her mouth, holding back laughter. Elisha’s maids didn’t so much as twitch. And even in this situation, she didn’t stop her hands. Is it really that fun to knead such a flat ass? “D...

 The Mesaria Kingdom’s First Queen has three children. The First Prince, the First Princess, and the Fourth Prince, Liesel. The First Prince—who is also the Crown Prince—was born to the First Queen, and that First Prince himself is also highly capable. With no anxiety whatsoever about the succession, the Mesaria Kingdom is secure. That is how every country sees it. Apparently, for the past few generations, many royal marriages have been to foreign nobility, but since there’s no worry about the succession in this generation, the policy seems to be marrying into domestic nobility and once again strengthening the ties between the royal family and the nobility. The First Prince has already married, and although it has not yet been announced publicly, Seriana and Liesel’s engagement is also part of that policy—helped along by the fact that the two of them get along well, too. And Liesel’s older sister, the First Princess Elisha, has also already finalized an engagement to a domest...

The sound of pages being flipped idly, and the patter of feet moving as someone lay sprawled out, echoed through the room. This is inside the academy—probably some kind of lounge, I think. Since they’re leaving me here alone, I doubt it’s a guest room… but the furnishings are all elaborate, so I can’t be completely sure. More importantly, why was I brought here in the first place? In the end, nobody’s told me. I don’t know what kind of curriculum it is, but Seriana went off to class. She told me she’d be back at lunchtime and that I should wait here, but according to my stomach-clock, it’s about time for lunch already…? I even made it into my second book, which I’d brought along to kill time. They were big and heavy, but bringing multiple books just in case was the right call. “Hm?” There was a knock, but they opened the door without waiting for an answer. Is it Seriana and the others? “Welcome ba— …Who are you?” I pushed myself up from the sofa and looked toward the door. Three people...

 The first month of summer. In Japan, it would probably be around June. It rains, but there’s no rainy season, and the humidity isn’t that high. The sunlight is strong, but the breeze that comes in through the windows is cool, making it a pretty comfortable season to live in. It seems to be the same for the monsters that live outside; around this time, their activity picks up, and they start expanding their territories. Aimed at that, adventurers steadily gather in greater numbers at the frontier settlement. Back when I was at the orphanage, I was constantly being dragged out to treat the injured, and my days were busy, but…。 After the wedding, just as Seriana had said, several requests came in for me. And the idea she had mentioned in response to that. It was to have the other party come to the estate, rather than me going to them. Well, if you put it that way, it’s only natural that the one who has business to attend to is the one who goes. Unless the other party’s ran...

 “Looks like you were really happy.” “Seriously. Knowing what she used to be like, it was honestly painful to watch how she was after we came to the royal capital… I’m glad.” “…Was it really that bad?” Seriana, who doesn’t know what Elmeria looked like before the treatment started, asks me. “Yeah. She was probably about one and a half times your size, Lady.” “S-…I see… then I’m glad she was able to lose weight.” Mm. Absolutely. Right now, we’re in the carriage on the way back from the Feld estate, having finished the final day of treatment. Starting with both arms, then the torso, head, and then each leg in turn—we made steady progress, and today we completed it safely. On the first day, I misjudged how much I would wear myself out, but the four days after that were fine. I feel like I’ve gotten one level better at handling 【Mira’s Blessing】. And as a bonus, I got a total of twenty-five gold coins—five per day. I can earn Holy Coins in the dungeon, but I didn’t have mu...

Fingers and nails: ten minutes each. Forearm and upper arm: twenty minutes each. I took my time and did it carefully. The left arm was finished in no time. Lord Brams had already left his seat, and the two who had been making small talk at some point fell silent, staring fixedly at Elmeria’s arm on the table. They were probably shocked by how drastically it had changed. I was shocked too. I’d tested it a few times on overweight people at the farm, but I’d never done it this slowly and thoroughly before… “Alright, all done!” It didn’t go as far as turning it into a pig’s trotters, but the arm that had been about as thick as my leg became beautifully slim—long and sleek. And as a bonus, the skincare was perfect too. Judging by her clothing size, was this about what it used to be originally? “My goodness! My goodness! My goodness?!” Elmeria cried out, eyes wide in astonishment. “It’s wonderful!” Oriana said the same. This might be the first time I’d ever heard her voice that loud. “Here—l...

 There is a lady named Oriana, the old man’s wife—in other words, Seriana’s grandmother. When I consulted Seriana about what to do with Lord Brams request, she told me she was uneasy about sending me alone to meet a noble I’d never met before. I agreed. That said, given the circumstances, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse, and thinking about the future, I wanted to accept it. If only we had more time before the deadline, Seriana could have arranged her schedule, but… while I was still wavering over that, Oriana appeared and said that, in that case, she would go herself. Perhaps it’s because they’re important, but it seems nobles have it rough. Not only outside the home, but inside as well, they can’t really let their guard down—relationships with the first and second wives, the question of an heir, factional issues lurking behind the servants, and so on. Apparently it’s so common that even at gatherings of the ladies in the royal capital, those complaints make up the main top...

“Okay, Sera. You can speak the way you normally do.” After we finished exchanging greetings, the old man gave me permission to drop the formalities. Just to be sure, I glanced at the other party, and he nodded too. Good, good. “So? Why me again? You need something?” He looked stunned by how different I was. Sorry—wasn’t exactly raised in luxury. “Ah… a-ah, yes. Indeed. I happened to hear about your blessing. I wanted, by all means, to borrow your strength, so I came to ask Lord Arios.” “Hoooh.” A blessing… so, a skill. And I’ve got two skills. With 【Prayer】, there are probably other people who can do something similar without needing to ask me, so it’s probably 【Mira’s Blessing】. But still—why? …Hmm. “Hm?” I raised the altitude of the 【Floating Orb】 I’d adjusted to match the chair height, and while I was at it, lifted my right leg too. Then, as if to show off 【Scarlet Bee Needle】 to the old man, I gave it a little shake, waving it back and forth. “Wait, wait.” Maybe he understood what ...

 “Fuaaah～ahfu” While I was lazing around in Seriana’s room reading a book, a huge yawn slipped out. Maybe it’s because I’ve started waking up early since I began going to the farm—though it’s really just that I wake up before Seriana comes to wake me… but once it’s past noon, I get sleepy. In my previous life, my sleep was fairly light, and even when I was at the orphanage I was always the first one up, but… has the safety of 【Hideout】 made me lose my sense of caution? Or maybe the bedding I pestered the old man for was just that good…。 Now then, about 【Mira’s Blessing】 that I’ve been testing—this blessing makes light come out of my hands, and that light becomes the area where the effect reaches. Using both hands works better than one, and while the range gets narrower, touching directly with my hands makes the effect even stronger. As for what it does, I could mess with hair, and it turned out it wasn’t “aesthetic” so much as beauty in general. My hair becomes glossy, silk...

 Because my hands are blocking his view, the old man doesn’t seem to have noticed. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I should at least tell him what I’m seeing. “Your skin’s getting a little whiter. And the scars are fading too.” “!?” The moment I told him about the changes in his left hand, he made a surprised face—and then immediately yanked his left hand down toward himself. Was there some kind of abnormality? “Are you okay?” “Mmm… but…” Even as he answered, he kept staring hard at his left hand. No, seriously—what happened? “Do you recognize this scar?” After a while, he held his left hand out toward me again and pointed at a scar. It was a straight line running from his middle finger toward his thumb. A blade or something, maybe? It doesn’t look like it was from a monster, but…。 “Yeah. Not from a monster, right?” “Mmm. When I was still young, I was deployed to Luzel’s western border as a member of the alliance, and we fought the Empire several times. That’s a wound ...