Survival in Another World with My Mistress!, Volume 2, page 19
The harpies chatted merrily as they enjoyed their meal.
Hmm, they’re actually all pretty cute now that I’m getting to see this side of them. I get the feeling that there are more beautiful ladies in this world than in mine. Every guy I’ve met has been good-looking too.
But what I’m really trying to say is that it was a treat getting to watch a bunch of babes have fun and enjoy what they were eating. It was like appreciating the ladies in indulgent chocolate commercials up close.
After we were done eating, it was bath time.
“You all go ahead and take yours first. I’ll take mine after,” I told them.
“Now, now. You should be the one to go in first. We don’t mind waiting.”
“That’s right. I think you should be the one to take your bath first.”
I hadn’t taught anyone the bath order hierarchy, yet for some reason, they were all eager to be prudent. Maybe they were worried that I wouldn’t like taking my bath with the leftover hot water?
“It’s okay, I can always put more fresh hot water in. Ladies first, as they say.”
“Then I’d rather you join us!”
Fronte had just proposed something unthinkable. Nuh-uh!
“I think that’s a great idea! I’ll wash your back,” Pirna agreed.
“Huh? Uh, I don’t think—” I started, but then the other harpies voiced their agreement too. No, no, no, no.
“Yes, I think that’s a great idea. Don’t be shy.”
“Get ’im!”
“Wait, hold on! Why can’t you all be a bit shyer about—whoa! You’re stronger than you look!”
“We simply must show our appreciation for all that you do.”
“Yes, we really are grateful.”
I put up a fair effort to resist, but all eight of them worked together to drag me to the bathroom. No! Stop it! By “show your appreciation,” you mean you’re planning to do something lewd to me, don’t you?! Like you’d find in some indie porno comic!
The full-body washing and massage with their feathers felt really good. Yeah. It was the kinda thing that once you experience, you can never go back. Furthermore, while I didn’t need to concern myself about my fidelity, they had gotten a very good look at me from head to toe.
Hey, stop right there. No massaging that spot. You can’t! That part of me is off limits! Off limits, I say! I don’t want people to start questioning my loyalty! No matter what they say, that kind of thing does count as cheating!
***
The next morning, I woke up feeling invigorated. I slipped out of bed, got dressed, and stretched. I felt wholly refreshed. Huh? You wanna know if there were any harpies in my bed? Blessedly, no. I rebuffed them all the night before. It wasn’t that I didn’t like them. They were all pretty, and I knew they—and Ira—were being forthright with their feelings for me. I appreciated how honest and open they were.
But whether we’d become an item was a completely different topic. In that sense, that bath we took last night was a close one.
I want to believe that what happened would just barely be acceptable, but I’ll talk to Sylphy about it, I vowed to myself as I broke down the walls with my pickaxe.
Right. My room was pretty much completely sealed, since I had replaced the door with a wall. I’d left a block empty to use as a window and air hole, but I’d obviously made it in such a way that harpies couldn’t wriggle through.
If they forced their way into my bed and seduced me, I didn’t know whether I’d be able to resist them, hence the preventative measures. I’d learned my lesson in the bathtub. Call me weak-willed if you want, but a man who didn’t have any reaction to being fawned over, pursued, and seduced wasn’t normal. At the very least, I wouldn’t have been able to say no. Which was why I had to isolate myself from them.
Go ahead and call me a wuss all you want! Ha ha ha! Sigh… Time for breakfast.
“Good morning, Kousuke.”
“Good morning.” The other harpies echoed Pirna’s greeting.
“Morning. Are you ready for breakfast?”
They all responded cheerfully. I was afraid that things would be awkward after I so blatantly rejected them by Cask of Amontillado-ing myself, but they seemed fine. I felt a bit of relief as I dished out bread, salad, vegetable soup, and sliced steak.
“Kousuke, are you fretting about what happened yesterday?”
“Well, yeah. I hope I wasn’t being too blunt or stubborn.” After all, the second I got out of the bathtub, I dashed into my room and locked myself in. Granted, I already apologized, since I was afraid I would give in if they tempted me any more than they already had.
“I know how this sounds coming from us, but please don’t think about it too seriously. It’s enough for us that you would be interested if we tried.”
I was pretty sure every man was born with the predisposition to start acting thoughtless when someone of their preferred gender started hitting on them, no matter how questionable it was. Or maybe not? No one would ever just thoughtlessly accompany a hottie that they didn’t really trust. Right? Maybe this scenario was just too peculiar and hard to imagine.
As for me, I was the kind of creature who dropped his guard around anyone physically attractive. I thought that Sylphy was beautiful, even though she had beaten the crap out of me the first time we met. I had been pretty cautious around her at first, but I wound up sleeping with her when she came on to me. I didn’t trust anyone who claimed they were in full control of their senses. Yeah. That was sensible, right?
“You ladies sure aren’t afraid to go after what you want, though. You all act very different from what I’m used to. I’m not against it, but I just don’t know how to handle it. Just wait until things calm down.”
“Very well, we shall.” Pirna was all smiles, and so were the other harpies.
Was that enough for them for now? Hmm. Hmmmm. Am I going to be okay? Sylphy is more than enough for me, but now Ira and the harpies… Plus, from what I heard, even Melty and Gerda have their eyes on me.
Ultimately, I needed to talk to Sylphy about this. It was beyond me, way outside my wheelhouse. But even Sylphy had been kinda ignorant about romance and stuff before we got together. Who the heck could I ask for advice?
I couldn’t really count on the men either. Maybe Cuvi? If not him, then a well-educated woman. Ira was well educated, but only about magic and alchemy. Melty? Would that be safe? It felt awkward to ask a woman who wanted me about this kinda thing, though. But maybe I should just ask Sylphy about that too. Yeah. That made sense.
After we finished breakfast, we parted ways with Fronte and her squad. I completely demolished the floating house, and then we set off again for the temporary fortress. I made sure to register the floating house as a blueprint; I had a feeling I’d be using it again.
“Will we be staying at the fourth shelter today?” Pirna asked.
“Let’s figure it out when we get there. At this pace, we might even make it to the temporary fortress.”
“That’s true.”
We’d left early in the morning, so we arrived at the third shelter before noon. We took a short break there to check in with Ira via the golem communicator and catch our breath.
I had no idea what time it was, since my smartphone had run out of battery long ago, but based on the height of the sun, I estimated it was before nine o’clock. If I kept running at this pace, we’d arrive at the temporary fortress with plenty of time to spare. But it would be a bit of a problem if we pushed through and couldn’t arrive before sundown.
Thus, I delayed answering Pirna’s question and focused on running.
To be honest, if we wound up staying the night at the fourth shelter, that would mean that I would be spending the night with Pirna and her squad. Pirna and the other ladies had backed off for now, but I was unsure whether I’d be able to resist if they came on to me again. What I really wanted was to avoid spending the night in the same place as them under these circumstances.
I didn’t know if my prayers would be answered, but our journey was proceeding ahead of schedule. We ran into gizmas several times along the way, but with my giant ups, the offensive powers of my shotgun, and my ability to defend myself using blocks freely, gizmas were low-level trash mobs to me now.
I collected their carcasses, and we were able to arrive at the fourth shelter just before noon.
“That was fast,” Ira said over the golem communicator.
“I know, I’m surprised too.”
The shelters had been built at such a distance that it would take approximately six to eight hours for a person to walk between them, which meant they were about 30 to 40 kilometers apart. We had arrived there before noon, which meant I’d hit two of them in less than six hours. It probably had something to do with the fact that I didn’t have to worry so much about the rough terrain.
“Can you hear me clearly?” I asked.
“Yes, I can. It’s great that we can communicate all the way out to the fourth shelter.”
The distance between the frontline fortress and the fourth shelter was normally a four-day walk. That was easily over a hundred kilometers. The fact that we could communicate clearly over this distance meant that we had a very effective tool on our hands from a military perspective as well.
“If we can know the extent of the distance between us from the strength of the magical waves… No, wait, I guess knowing each other’s location would be an unnecessary function,” I said.
“It’s not that we can’t calculate it, but I think it’ll eat up a lot of the core’s capacity. We won’t be able to avoid the degradation of its basic functionality.”
“Yeah, that’s another thing. We’re going to the temporary fortress after we take a short break here.”
“Okay, understood. Be careful.”
“Thanks, I will. Bye.”
I ate lunch with Pirna and the other harpies once I was done talking with Ira over the golem communicator.
“Your food is always so good.”
“I love being able to eat meat other than gizma.”
“Not that I mind gizma meat,” I said.
For lunch, we were having honey-roasted chicken sandwiches and sliced pickles. I had wondered if harpies could eat bird meat and made sure to ask in advance, but they said they didn’t mind at all. It made sense. Back on Earth, many birds’ natural enemies were bigger birds. That was just the way things went.
Only three of the five harpies I had set out with originally were with me now. The other two had gone on ahead to the temporary fortress. I assumed everything was fine there, but it would be dangerous if we rushed into a fortress under siege by the Holy Kingdom. There were hardly any more gizmas around here, so I was having them scout ahead.
Because of that, Pirna, Pessa the tawny harpy, and Tochi the green harpy were my lunch companions. The harpies who had gone ahead were Egret the white harpy and Asia the rust-colored harpy. As it turned out, harpies could be divided into two subraces: small birds and large birds. The small bird subrace was fast and turned sharply in midair, while the large bird subrace was stronger and had more stamina in exchange for slower speeds. The harpies staying behind were of the small bird subrace, while the ones who had gone ahead were of the large bird subrace.
“Such a shame. Here I was looking forward to taking a bath with just us tonight.”
“Ha ha ha. A shame, huh? But it’s best to get there as soon as possible,” I said.
“Our original plan was for three days, though. Why don’t we take a load off for the rest of today?”
“Yeah, that’s a great idea!”
“On second thought, nah. No way we can do that.” I shook my head, chuckling awkwardly.
Pessa was cheerful and naïve and Tochi was serious, but she liked attention. Egret, who wasn’t here, had a “noble lady” air about her. Asia was quiet.
“Yeah. It’s too bad, but we don’t have any time to relax quite yet,” Pirna said as she stood up, finished with her sandwich. She started checking the condition of her wings. Pessa and Tochi followed suit.
The harpies always made sure to examine their wings before they flew. I assumed it was because even a single feather out of place could lead to some unforeseen accident. The secret to their flight must’ve been hidden within every single one of their feathers.
“Shall we get going?” I asked.
“Yes!”
I demolished the floating house, and we set off again.
***
“Kousuke! You’re back!”
“Uh, yup.”
Sylphy hugged me the instant we arrived. Hey, you’re hugging me too tightly! You’re squeezing groans out of me, and not the good kind!
“Good work out there, Kousuke. Have the citizens managed to arrive at the frontline base safely?” Sir Leonard asked.
“They should be getting there now. Shall I try communicating with Ira?” I said.
“Communicating?” Sylphy released me with a puzzled look. I guessed Egret and the other harpies hadn’t told her about the golem communicator yet.
“Weren’t we saying how we wanted a way for one liberation squad to communicate with another over a distance? Ira and the other researchers made this golem communicator. It worked just fine back at the fourth shelter, so let’s see how it does here.”
I switched it on and tried calling her, but there was no response.
“Hmm, guess the magical waves don’t reach this far out. They made it between the frontline base and the fourth shelter, so I guess that means it has a range equal to a four-day walk.”
“That much? Incredible,” Sir Leonard said.
“I’m pretty sure that if we set up relay stations, we should be able to communicate across an even farther distance. I think Ira’s got everyone working on it now.”
“Hmm, interesting. I get the feeling the very foundation of this war is about to shift.”
With these golem communicators, we could ambush using decoys and pincer maneuvers all we wanted. When it came to defense, we could swiftly report a siege. One day, if we could make something like headphones and smaller versions of these for harpies to wear, then we’d even be able to establish an airborne early-warning system.
We could have a bird’s-eye view of the entire battlefield and share information about the enemy’s movements. It’d be a complete nightmare from the enemy’s point of view. Harpies had good vision, so I bet they’d be able to tell us the locations of troops waiting to ambush us, and then they could pulverize them by bombing them from the air. Jeez, who needs ground troops when you’ve got harpies?
If I were the enemy, I’d focus on a way to counter aerial attacks. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a combat spell that might function as a hard counter. I probably needed to start planning around that.
“At any rate, we can confirm that the people made it as far as the second shelter yesterday and then left, so I’m sure they’ll be fine the rest of the way.”
“I see. Does that mean that you ran all the way here from the frontline fortress in two days? That’s practically the same speed as a centaur,” Sir Leonard said.
“Yes, that is pretty fast… Like, really fast. And you don’t look tired at all,” Sylphy added.
“About that…”
I showed them my new bunny-hop strat in order to alleviate their doubts. It was easy now that I was used to it. The important part was the rhythm.
“That’s a peculiar way to move,” Sir Leonard said.
“Your powers make less and less sense, but are you accelerating unnaturally while you’re midair?” Sylphy asked.
I had a feeling Ira’s eye would go dull again if I showed her this. That just made me want to show her more. I’d learned to enjoy blowing her mind.
“Well, that’s about all on our end. Anything happen here while we were gone?”
“Yes, as it turns out…”
There had been some movement at the fortress along the border to the badlands. The enemy was stockpiling supplies, steadily preparing for war.
“That’s the impression the harpies got during their reconnaissance. Their troops number over five thousand. They’ll probably make their move within the next few days,” Sylphy said.
“That’s a lot.”
Still, with our fortress, crossbows, ballistae, and aerial bombs, I had a feeling we’d manage.
“However, there’s no need to face them head-on. We could lay some traps and then say adios.”
“Traps?”
“Yeah, traps. I’m gonna go all out laying them.”
Mwa ha ha! This fortress will be their grave. Oh, but perhaps we should send them a declaration of war first? We aren’t barbarians, after all; we’re a civilized people. It’s important to make our stance clear to them. Not that there’s any room for discussion here.
***
“Assuming we can’t avoid clashing with them, then the question is where we can find common ground,” I told Sylphy and Sir Leonard.
“Yeah.”
“Indeed.”
It was easy to start a war. The hard part was ending it. Since all kinds of elements were involved, such as fatigue, supplies, the support of the populace, national profits in securing strategic defensive and communicative positions, as well as mines and land, leaders, and national pride.
“It goes without saying that Sylphy will be our leader, but who could possibly be theirs?” I asked.
“Their supreme leader is Holy King Alfred III, but in this case, it’d be the consul who reigns over the Kingdom of Merinard,” Sylphy told me.
“That would be an archbishop of the Church of Adol, Aureus. A swine of a man who is adept at working his subjects to the bone to fill his own pockets.” That was scathing criticism coming from Sir Leonard, who always conducted himself in a gentlemanly fashion. I wondered if he’d had some run-in with this man before.
“It might be best for our leaders to try to negotiate peace first, but I doubt he’ll listen,” I said.
“I concur. There’s too big of a gap in our numbers,” Sir Leonard agreed.
