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———-

“Uuhm…” (Souma)

I casted magic on the door and the key, and sat facing Ina, but I was instantly troubled in what to say. 

Ina is also visibly nervous.

Thinking I should bring out something to talk about instead, I looked at Ina, and then I finally remembered what those clothes are.

“Could that be the Angel’s Robe?” (Souma)

“Y-Yes! Thiel-san gave it to me saying that it would be better to have something like this.” (Ina)

The Angel’s Robe is a store sold item on the same rank as the mithril equipment, and it is armor for mages. 

It doesn’t come close to the mithril equipment in terms of defense, but it has top notch magic defense.

It shows better performance than mithril equipment when it is against monsters that mainly use magic, so it is true that it would be best to have both of them. 

Also, it definitely would be easier to move in the house with those rather than weighty armor. 

“But I am surprised you know of mage equipment like this.” (Ina)

“Y-You could say that.” (Souma)

The popularity of the Angel’s Robe comes not from its performance but its design.

When you are not wearing anything in Nekomimi Neko, something called Innerwear appears, so in order to increase the amount of exposed skin, you need to put on equipment that doesn’t have much cloth. 

A certain group of gentlemen in Nekomimi Neko tried to search with bloodshot eyes for lewd equipment with dangerous levels of cloth like swimsuits, and the results of this were compiled in the Nekomimi Neko Wiki.

And the Angel’s Robe Ina is wearing right now is within that list. 

It is not blatantly lewd, but despite giving off that innocent image, its cloth is thin and the sleeves are short, so it is pretty famous within that line of people. 

…As for me, I had Thiel equip it in my first run. 

No, it is not like I had any ulterior motives. It was the best store equipment for mages in Lamurick, so I simply had her use it. 

But I did think it was a bit lewd, like the chest area for example. 

(In that sense, Ina is the safest one.) (Souma)

If Thiel were to wear the Angel’s Robe in this world, I have the confidence to say that I wouldn’t be able to see her directly, but it will be easy with Ina.

The lack of chest and seductiveness from Ina is something that I know the most of, having lived together with her in Lamurick. 

(Aah, I knew it…) (Souma)

And after looking at the actual thing, it was just as I thought. 

Even though the robe should be matched to the size of the body, only the chest area is baggy. 

Her title as a normal train is not just for show. 

Maybe because there’s excess cloth in that part, the neck area is turned over heavily. 

Her skin faintly releasing steam was being exposed defenselessly, and I could tell that it was going up and down matching her breathing. I unconsciously gulped there… Wait, eh? 

I was losing myself in Ina at an unknown point in time. 

N-No, that’s impossible. Thinking there’s some sort of mistake here, I squeeze out my strength of will here and move my gaze a bit upwards.

“Awuuu…” (Ina)

My eyes met with Ina who is even redder than before. 

It has been completely exposed where I was looking just now.

“Ah, you see, that just now was…!” (Souma)

I was thinking about making some sort of excuse, but there’s no way to wriggle myself out of this one. 

“—!!” 

The voiceless scream of Ina was raised. She hid her face by sinking her face into the cushion she was hugging. 

As if saying even that’s not enough, she would shake her head and flail her legs, but every time she did that, the ends of her clothes would flutter, and white skin would get exposed at those moments, and I feel like I would end up in a weird mood.

I can’t let this go on. 

I put every fiber of my being into work and raised my gaze. 

I fixed my gaze to the only harmless part of Ina: the flower pattern cushion.

It is a slightly big square cushion that looks pretty soft. 

I thought ‘damn, that’s a nice cushion’ and diverted my attention from Ina. 

I looked only at the cushion for a long while and both my heart and Ina’s calmed down little by little. 

Ina was peeking at me from the shadow of the cushion.

…Is it okay now? 

I spoke to Ina the moment my figure completely entered her vision.

I throw her a completely harmless topic purely as a gentleman. 

“Hey, Ina, can I touch it for a bit?” (Souma)

“…Hm?” (Ina)

Was it an unexpected thing to say? 

The gaze of Ina was doing round trips towards me and the cushion she is hugging. 

“I have been interested in it since the first time I saw it. I will only be touching it for a bit, and I won’t be doing anything too excessive.” (Souma)

I ask again. 

Ina hugs the cushion even tighter, warping its shape, probably due to the surprise. 

Seeing that, my hunch grew stronger. 

(I knew it!) (Souma)

The cushion Ina is holding is probably made from memory foam. 

Nekomimi Neko is a world that gives off the medieval vibe, but they have currency that can only be thought of as electronic money, and there’s the equipment in the buildings; there’s a lot of techniques from the modern era that are used here. 

The cushion of Ina must be on that same vein. 

Cushions made from memory foam are common in the modern era, but I unfortunately never used it once. 

If Ina’s cushion is that, I would like to know how it feels. It should also serve to break the ice in this strange atmosphere. 

Ina took my gaze of expectation, and then nodded as if she had resolved herself. 

And then, after taking deep breaths a few times to calm herself…

“U-Uhm…be g-gentle…okay?” (Ina)

The cushion she had pushed on her chest as if to hide it, she slowly…very slowly moved it my way. 

And when the cushion moved away completely from her chest…

“…Go…ahead…” (Ina)

She said as if squeezing out those words.

Her strangely serious attitude bothered me, but there’s no point in hesitating here. 

I lean over towards Ina and…

“I will be touching it then.” (Souma)

“…Hn.” (Ina)

I asked again just in case and stretched my hand towards the cushion. 

Could it be that this cushion is an important possession of Ina? 

Ina was not lowering her hand holding the cushion, but her whole body was trembling and she had her eyes closed tightly. 

I thrust my hand there without reservation. 

“S-Soft…!” (Souma)

I reflexively let my voice out in surprise at the sensation of my hand when touching the cushion. 

So this is memory foam! 

This certainly is different from everything else. 

Even though my hand sinks in easily without much resistance when I push it, the moment I move it away, it returns to its original shape. 

It is hard to explain, but I can understand why it is popular. 

“Ina, this is incredible! Even though it is squishy when holding it and soft enough as if it melts in my hand, just a moment of leniency and it will return to being hard. This certainly is addicti—” (Souma)

“P-Please stop it!!” (Ina)

I was entering a trance there, and Ina pulled back the cushion with an even redder face than before. 

She held back the cushion, retreated all the way to the wall, and took even more distance from me. 

And then, she glared at me with teary eyes.

…Eh?

Did I mess up somewhere here?

Ina puckered her lips and criticized me while I couldn’t keep up with what was happening. 

“You really are a horrible person, Souma-san. You must have been trying to say this is softer than me anyways, right?” (Ina)

“Eh? No, I wasn’t really…” (Souma)

I don’t understand why Ina is trying to compete in softness with a cushion. 

I don’t, but Ina seems to be sulking here, but at the same time, fawning over me, which confuses me.

And…

“There’s something I want to give you, Souma-san.” (Ina)

It is certain that this flipped a switch in Ina.

She placed the cushion she was using until now like a shield to the side, and gave me a shining something.

“This is…” (Souma)

Two rings with the exact same design.

A silver ring with no patterns or jewels, no gaudiness or ornaments, you could even call it rustic. 

However, this is an item that I have never seen before despite knowing almost all of the accessories in Nekomimi Neko. 

(Could this be an item you obtain from the marriage event?) (Souma)

I heard that, when you marry an NPC in Nekomimi Neko, you can get special skills or items.

I thought such items would be placed inside my bag all on their own, but it seems like that’s not the case. 

If there’s any holes in me as a Nekomimi Neko player, it would be in the character related events. 

Because I have been solo for years, I have barely done any special companion NPC events, and I tried to not look at the information regarding companions on the Wiki so that I could enjoy it later. 

If this is a character event exclusive equipment, it would make sense that I haven’t seen it before. 

“These rings are the marriage rings of my parents. The night before leaving for the capital, Mother told me to give this to the person I truly love if I see him.” (Ina)

And then, Ina gave me one of them. 

“Souma-san, please take this.” (Ina)

But I hesitated at that silver shine. 

Do I have the right to take this? 

The reason I married Ina was not purely from love. 

I feel like it is not fair to accept this ring without telling her this.

“Ina, please hear me out. I…” (Souma)

However, just when I was going to tell her the truth of the marriage, a cold finger sealed my mouth.

“…Don’t.” (Ina)

The hand that should have been holding the rings was touching my mouth. 

That cold finger was trembling faintly. 

“Didn’t we decide to talk about that tomorrow night? That’s why…That’s why, until then…” (Ina)

Ina blocked my mouth with her slender finger, but even with that, she properly raised her head and…

“…Until then, I am your wife.” (Ina)

She said this with a face as if she were smiling and crying. 

I felt as if my brain had been smacked directly. 

It finally sunk in that Ina was thinking more seriously about her marriage with me than I thought. 

Things regarding Ina, regarding the future, about my original world, about the future of this world; a whole lot of things swirled in my head at once. 

But I left all of those behind and moved my body.

“…Lend it to me.” (Souma)

I forcefully steal away the two rings in the hand of Ina. 

I took out the light element specialization ring from my left ring finger, and put on the silver ring that Ina had. 

But that’s not all.

“Eh? Souma-sa—” (Ina)

I grab the hand of the flustered Ina and…

“…Ah.” (Ina)

I slide in the silver ring onto her finger with my own hands. 

I told Ina who looked up at me with wide open eyes.

“Sorry, this is the most I can do right now.” (Souma)

The moment I said this, a drop of light slid down from the eyes of Ina. 

I don’t know if this is from sadness or happiness. 

However, we both looked at each other all too naturally…

(Hm? This situation…) (Souma)

I suddenly noticed that Ina is close…like really close to me. 

Those eyes looking at me were damp from tears, and the breaths coming out from her were hot. 

The white robe is thin, as if telling me about the sensation of Ina’s skin through the cloth, and even when the chest area was opened widely because she is leaning over, she wasn’t trying to fix it at all. 

“Souma-san…” (Ina)

Ina called my name as if she were enthralled in this heat. 

Every time her body swayed, the faint scent of soap coming from her moist hair was wrapping itself around me. 

An atmosphere I have never experienced before was being created between us two. 

The moment it reached critical point and was about to explode…

—*Gata!*

A sound came from the back.

That mushy atmosphere ruling the inside of my head was dispersed in an instant with that. 

My stiffened body that was swallowed by this strange air regained its faculties right after. 

“Ina!” (Souma)

I shouted loudly and pulled Ina’s body to me. 

I was relieved by the definite sensation within my arms and heightened my guard.

(What happened?) (Souma)

You might think this is overreacting, but the very fact that we heard a sound in this room is strange. 

I look around the room, but I can’t see anything out of place. 

The only things in this room are the adventurer bags and cooler boxes gathered at the walls, a closet I brought from a different room and a dresser, and Shiranui which is leaning over there.

It is not like I placed it at a high location, and none of those articles would just make a sound on their own.

(Then, what’s going on…?) (Souma)

There’s no windows in this room and the door is closed. 

There’s silence cast on the door, and the sounds on it have been cut off. 

This place has been completely isolated from the outside including the sounds. It is a completely closed room. 

…It should be.

But my ears clearly caught the sound of something a few seconds ago. 

There’s no articles in my room that would make sound on its own. 

Hearing a sound would be…

(Is someone here…in this room? Someone other than us!) (Souma)

I search for monsters that can disguise as items or invisible enemies.

But there’s no monsters or NPCs that fit the bill in Nekomimi Neko. 

And most of all, I could see through an enemy like that. 

However, there’s the possibility that this is an exclusive event from Ina, a phenomenon that wasn’t present in the game, or an unknown enemy. 

If that were the case, would I be able to defend Ina without any prior knowledge or comrades? 

Ina asked me in a flustered tone, seeing me tense in a different sense right now. 

“S-Souma-san, just what is going on…?” (Ina)

“I don’t know. But don’t move away from me.” (Souma)

“O-Okay…!” (Ina)

I told this to Ina and desperately tried to endure my nervous emotions.

Now that I think about it, there were signs of an anomaly.

Leaving aside Ringo, there was Mitsuki, Christina, and Reiko-san. No matter what you think about it, there were too many visitors. 

Even the clattering sound when passing in front of the door. I am sure the people of the mansion are doing something and it made that noise. 

I don’t know what is happening, but this incident had already begun at that time. 

I was completely accustomed to peace here. 

Having defeated the Demon Lord or this being my home won’t serve as excuses. 

Such naivety doesn’t work in Nekomimi Neko. 

Even though I understood that…

(But what happened?) (Souma)

It is now that the words of Mitsuki bother me. 

Was Mitsuki really searching for Ina? 

Judging from the personality of Mitsuki, it would have been more natural for her to honestly say Ina’s name there. 

At that time, Mitsuki said ‘there’s someone I can’t see, so I came here to check for any ideas’. 

But thinking about it calmly, I don’t think Mitsuki would search for someone in that fashion when she has a grasp of their location with the Explorer Ring.

Meaning that she was searching for someone she couldn’t do that with? 

—*Gata!*

That sound hit my ears once again as if mocking me for desperately trying to get a grasp of the situation.

It really isn’t my imagination. 

I couldn’t tell where exactly the origin of the sound was, but there’s no doubt it came from inside the room. 

(This is bad…) (Souma)

Using magic on the key and the door came back to bite me. 

We can’t shout and call for help, and in order to take out the key, I first need to call the Magical Pocket and take the key out from there, and then use it on the door to open it. 

But in this situation where I can’t see the other party, I feel like such an opening would be fatal. 

Ina’s level is most likely not that high. 

If the one hiding here is a dangerous enemy, I have to protect Ina at all costs. 

I don’t have Shiranui at hand, which is rough, but I have to protect Ina. When I directed my gaze at Ina…

“Souma-san, that!!” (Ina)

The sound happened again, and Ina…pointed at that something slightly later. 

“Could it be that?!” (Souma)

The source of the sound was from the adventurer bag at the corner of the room. 

That adventurer bag was moving in our line of sight as if it were being moved by something. It fell to the side with unnatural movements, and then…

“Wa?!” (Souma)

The bag opened up from the inside. 

And from inside of it, what rolled out of it was…

“…Isn’t that Bear?” (Souma)

Everyone’s idol, Bear-kun.

The Bear rolled out from the bag without even flinching at our gazes, and after stretching as if it had a good nap, it rubbed its eyes slyly.

“Aah, speaking of which…” (Souma)

I thought I hadn’t seen the Bear lately, but I finally remember when was the last time I saw the Bear. 

It was at the time when everyone was gathered at dinner…no, when we arrived at the mansion…not that either. When I was being called the Sinking Prince… Not even that. It was a bit before that. 

After reuniting with Ina, the atmosphere froze from the bombshell that Ina dropped, and the Bear, who felt the dangerous atmosphere, took refuge in my bag…that was the very last time. 

In other words…

“Bear, could it be that you…were having a nap for the whole half of the day in my bag?” (Souma)

When I asked that, the Bear grinned in affirmation.

“…How…dull.” (Souma)

I drop my head at the response. 

It is embarrassing thinking back at me fearing an invisible enemy.

…Yeah.

Now that I think about it, the residents of the mansion coming one after the other must have been because they were searching for the Bear. 

If the Bear was inside my bag, it wouldn’t be strange for the Explorer Ring to not be able to find him, and maybe Mitsuki or Ringo heard about the Bear being missing, and they came to check my bag. 

Feeling bad about Ina tagging along in this weird situation, I returned my gaze to her who was within my arms and…

“…Ah.” (Souma)

It is only until now that I noticed I am sticking close to Ina to a degree that can’t be compared to the time when we were exchanging rings. 

Just from looks alone, we are totally hugging here, moreover, there were parts here and there that were disheveled to the point that a lot of skin was exposed to dangerous degrees, most likely because I pulled her close to me in a pretty forceful way. 

“Uaaah…” (Ina)

There’s no mysterious atmosphere in Ina like that time with the ring exchange. 

Ina had completely returned to normal and noticed her own state, her face slowly dyed red. 

And then, as if getting a surprise attack on me…

*Pon*

The Bear, who was watching us, clapped its hands as if saying ‘I have not seen anything, so continue what you were doing’, covering its eyes with both hands and facing back. 

“Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!” (Ina)

The result was wasted effort. 

Ina’s embarrassment reached its limit, and depending on the listener, you could say she let out a rousing scream as she stood up and dashed away. 

She headed to the door with astounding speed…fumbled and fell down, but stood up really quickly, and jumped to the door, pulling the doorknob with outstanding strength, and ran off outside with as impressive of a speed as before.

“Wait, the door…” (Souma)

I returned to my senses after a while and went to the door…that had been broken with brute strength. 

You really can’t underestimate the strength of someone in emergencies. 

In the end, what was left in my room was a broken door, the Bear who is still covering its eyes with both hands, and the memory foam cushion that had been left behind. 

I first closed the door, troubled. 

“Well then, let’s go to sleep for now.” (Souma)

I picked up the Bear that seemed to still be sleepy, and we slept together, which is something we haven’t done in a while. 

This is an aside, but the next morning, I was completely awake probably thanks to the Bear hug-pillow. I then headed to the living room, and there was Ina with her eyes bright red. 

Ina said she didn’t sleep a wink yesterday. 

“I can’t sleep when my pillow changes.” (Ina)

She said.

“Then, you should have taken back your pillow.” (Souma)

I responded to her with that, and she glared at me real good. 

—It is an event that made me think women are unreasonable. 

—————

Author: It has been explained in the comments already, but I will be giving a chuunibyou type hint for the ones that didn’t understand the meaning of Reiko-san’s memo. 

“A curse at first, then crosses to resentment. Once grudge is mixed, it reaches death.”

『　　怨呪　

　怨怨死怨怨

　　呪怨　　

　死怨怨怨怨

　　呪怨　　

　怨怨死怨　

　怨怨怨呪怨』

(Original excerpt) 

Translator: If someone gets it, please do write it in the comments (yeah, I am dum dum). I tried searching for the comment the author mentioned, but couldn’t find it.

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