Chapter 243

Courage

I woke up . A throbbing pain was pounding in my head .

… What happened? I’m sure I was… huh? I’m in a room at the inn? And the suite room at that .

I was trying to be sure about something to do with Leona, but didn’t I get caught in a trap?

Why am I here? Did I lose my memory? Or maybe I’m in a dream?

I heard a knock at the door .

“Who is it?”

“Meat . ”

It was Meat’s voice . I started to give her permission to enter the room—but then I noticed what I was wearing .

That is, nothing at all .

Moreover, this futon . It’s the Godly Comforter for some reason . The suite room should’ve had a down-filled mattress .

Moreover moreover, I felt a weight on my body . When I looked to see what it was, it was Rokuko clinging to my body, still asleep .

Sh-she’s wearing her pajamas . Am I safe?

“Hold up a moment, Meat . I’d like to check over something, but could you please answer me through the door?”

“Yes . ”

“… How many days ago did Leona leave? The day I held the Dungeon Battle with Ontentoo, that is . ”

“Yes, that was day before yesterday, so… two days ago . ”

… What? There’s a day’s worth of memories missing .

This is scary . Not only did I lose consciousness, which I might be fine with by itself, Leona almost definitely did something to me .

I decided to wake Rokuko up . I feel sorry for doing it since she looks happy with some drool coming from her mouth on to my belly, it had to be dome .

“… Hey, Rokuko, get up . Oi . ”

“Kehmaaa… mnmnn, nmmm… . ”

“Uoooh, stop licking my bellybutton, it’s ticklish! And stop squirming about please, it’s starting to make me feel weird! Please, get up, please!”

“Heeaah!? Ah, Kehma! … You’re back to yourself!?”

Judging by the first thing Rokuko said as she woke up, I’m starting to feel uneasy .

What the heck did I do yesterday!?

“Yesterday was dangerous . You definitely lost your mind . Only Meat and I noticed it though . ”

“… Uhh, what do you mean by that, exactly?”

“You suddenly hugged me and whispered to me that you love me . Umm, no, I mean I was happy that you were so passionate about it, but it didn’t feel like ‘Kehma’ . So I brought you to the Godly Comforter and had you go to sleep . ”

So to put it another way, she used the therapeutic effect of the Godly Comforter… it cured abnormal statuses as well?

… Huh? Wait a sec . Now’s not the time to be calm . Don’t we have to be a married couple to prevent having divine punishment fall down on me for using the Godly Comforter? What happened to the divine punishment? Is that it? Did we get deemed as a couple? Eh, oi . Did god just officially recognize Rokuko and I as a couple?

“Hey, Rokuko . ”

“What’s up?”

“… You and I, are we—wait, first off, why am I naked? Also, please let me put on some clothes . ”

“Ah, un . Good, you’re back to being you… And you’re naked because you took off your clothes when we got into the Godly Comforter . They should be on the floor now . ”

Just as Rokuko said, my clothes were strewn about the floor… I quickly put them on .

“…”

Umm, please stop staring at me like that . It’s embarrassing to dress with someone watching .

A short moment later, I’d finished changing my clothes with Rokuko staring at me the whole time .

Should I ask it now then?

“Ah, umm, right . Rokuko . I need to ask you something . ”

“Sure, what?”

“… You and I, are we… a couple?”

“Eh?”

Rokuko responded in a blank voice… Wait, what’s that ‘Eh?’ supposed to mean?

“… Ehhh!?”

“Please, Rokuko . Please answer me clearly . ”

“… Ah, um, that… we’re partners?”

“Don’t dodge the question, Rokuko . ”

“… … Well, we’re…”

We’re…? We’re what!?

“… . Not a couple, right?”

“Not… a couple, yeah…”

Rokuko hung her head with a serious look on her face . Yeah, now it’s come to this .

“… Crap . This is the Godly Comforter, I might get hit by that god-paling divine retribution…! What should I do, Rokuko?”

“Eh!? Ah, th-that? Umm . Well, if that’s it, it’s ok . It’s set up so that it’s alright when I give the permission . ”

“Eh, really? Exclusive-use items can get set up with things like that?”

“Uhhh… yeah . Definitely . ”

Seriously? Tell me sooner if you can make adjustments like that to it!

“That’s good then… Man, now that I know it’s fine, I’m tired . Can I borrow it?”

“Eh? Mm, well…”

“Oh, right . Meat’s still waiting outside, huh . Meat, is anything wrong?”

“No, I just came to see how you were doing . If you’re safe and back to yourself, that’s good . ”

Finished saying that, Meat left .

Alright, let’s go back to sleep .

“Hey, Kehma? … What kind of, err, what kind of relationship do* we have? We’re not… a couple, right?”

“… Yeah . We’re not a couple . We haven’t really went through a marriage or the formalities, after all . ”

“Is that… why? Kehma, do you not… want us to be a couple?”

Rokuko looked at me with an expression that seemed like she was about to cry .

… It’s not like I don’t want to . I mean, I definitely don’t dislike her . Rather, I couldn’t think about anyone else in this world being my partner other than Rokuko . Ah, maybe Meat? But she’s a serious hug pillow girl… Which means Rokuko really is the only one .

But if I say that we’re married or something like that right now, Haku-san would kill me . Twice . Once to remove [Super Transformation] and once after the extra life was gone . In other words, she wouldn’t stop killing me until I’m dead .

“It doesn’t feel like we’re lovers, so… isn’t it alright to stick with being partners?”

Even if I said we’re lovers this far into our relationship, I think I’d still get killed by Haku-san . I don’t exactly want to be killed, so I feel like my best bet is to bulldoze forward with our [Partner] set-up and not step on the landmines that are ‘lover’ and ‘married’ . We’ve been like that this whole time, after all .

“Then if you make someone else your lover, I’ll, I’ll… I’ll pout!”

“You’ll pout? Not oppose it?”

“Kehma, I don’t think you’d do something like that without a reason, so it’s alright . But you do know that I’ll definitely pout about it, right? I’d need at least three servings of fresh melon bread . ”

“I don’t really think it’ll happen, but you should be really angry if it does . ”

“I’ll forgive you if it does! Nehee~”

I rubbed Rokuko on the head .

… She smiled . She’s even in her loli form, such a warming sight .

“Oh, umm . Should I stop sleeping with Meat?”

“Eh? Meat’s a hug pillow, why would you stop?”

I just don’t get Rokuko sometimes . Well, I’m accustomed to using Meat as a hug pillow nowadays, so it’d be a bit hard on me if I suddenly had to stop using her .

“Right… Meat is your exclusive hug pillow, isn’t she…? Could you lend her to me too? I’ve been wanting to try using her for a while now . I’ll let you use the Godly Comforter in exchange . ”

“Sure, why not . ”

Our negotiations concluded . Now that I know there won’t be a divine retribution, there’s no reason for me to hesitate about the Godly Comforter anymore .

But well, there’s a risk that I might be addicted to it . That isn’t a reason to hesitate from enjoying it, though .

“We could also all three of us sleep together in the Godly comforter . ”

“Oooh! That sound great, let me call Meat back so we can get back to sleep . ”

“Wait, Meat has a shift and there’s only the two of them right now . Meat joining in can wait till later… How about we sleep till lunch?”

“Sure~”

Rokuko and I somehow arrived at a compromise about our relationship .

I should probably give my thanks to Leona for it, seeing as how she was the main culprit behind us two sleeping in the Godly Comforter . Not, let’s not . It’s Leona, after all .

Still though, pushing forward with our relationship as ‘partners’… I don’t think the old me would’ve done that .

Rokuko and I were—no, I think I was caring about the typical concept of ‘lovers’ and ‘couples’ too much .

How should I say it… oh .

Like I got some courage?