The Strongest Onmyoji and the Shikigami With AI are Unparalleled in Another World ~ A Second Life Properly Enjoyed Using Artificial Intelligence ~ - Chapter 229
When I got home, dinner was already prepared again tonight.
Apparently, AI-chan had asked Leanne and Pamela through Bee-san to make it.
“Sorry to trouble you two.”
“Thank you.”
“…Really appreciate it.”
“I really like both Pamela and Leanne~”
“Coming back from the labyrinth and having to cook is a bit much…”
Seriously, seriously.
Well, not like they ever let me cook, though.
“Nyaa~”
Tama-chan turned toward Pamela and pointed at her own face with a front paw.
“Oh, of course, I’ve got yours too, Tama-chan.”
“Nya?”
Tama-chan tilted her head.
“Yep. Fish. You like it, right?”
“Nya.”
“I even brought some milk for you.”
Whoa…
They’re totally having a conversation…
Feeling a bit dumbfounded, I still sat down to eat the dinner Pamela and Leanne had made.
“Leanne’s rice balls are great, but Pamela’s cooking is really good too. Actually… it’s gorgeous.”
The colors were so vivid and appetizing.
This was clearly the work of someone experienced in the kitchen.
“We take turns cooking at the dorm.”
No way Leanne’s ever done her turn.
Actually, more like, they never let her.
We kept chatting as we ate, and once we were done, we finally got a chance to relax.
“Ugh… Now that I’ve eaten, all of a sudden I feel super tired…”
“…Honestly, me too.”
Yeah… I was starting to feel drained as well.
“Huh? Really?”
“You’re always full of energy, though.”
Well, that’s just Lily for you.
“Is this… the trap of the safe zone?”
I asked AI-chan.
“Yes. The labyrinth is essentially a cave, and a place like that puts more strain and stress on you than a normal adventure. But… there’s magic there that numbs you to all of that.”
What a pain.
“Natalia, from now on, use Heal on a regular basis. I can’t trust my own judgment in that place.”
“Understood.”
“And we’re taking tomorrow off, right?”
Deciding the schedule was Natalia’s job.
“Yeah. I think we should take a break. Let’s rest tomorrow.”
This isn’t the kind of place where you push yourself.
It’s not like building a mansion is a life-or-death necessity, and we’re not in any kind of rush.
No one’s going to die, sure—but there’s nothing worth getting someone hurt over either.
“Oh, Yuuma-san, I tallied up yesterday’s haul. All the magic stones were B-rank—five gold coins each. I gave you a bit of a bonus and rounded it up to six gold coins per stone. That comes out to a total of 48 gold coins.”
Pamela said this as she placed the coins on the low kotatsu table.
“Amazing… that’s impressive. And for the record, we’ve got more from today too. AI-chan?”
“Yup~!”
AI-chan began lining up the magic stones.
“Wow, that’s a lot again…”
Pamela’s eyes widened as she watched the pile of stones grow.
“Well, we did spend the whole day there.”
“Let’s see… thirty-two of them, huh. At six gold coins apiece, that’s… 192 gold coins.”
That’s crazy.
“On top of that, the rest of the drops were worth 120 gold coins and five copper coins.”
“I was the one who recommended it, but… this labyrinth city really is something else…”
No kidding.
“I’m surprised too. But… that place is still poison. I overheard some other adventurers talking today—sounds like it’s not a place you want to stay in too long.”
“I agree. That’s the smart move. There are other places to earn, and I don’t want you pushing yourselves too hard.”
Of course Pamela would think that, waiting around like this.
“I know. I’ll rake in the cash quick and then go back to the easy life.”
“I think that’s best for you, Yuuma-san. If no one kept an eye on you, I feel like you’d just keep working forever.”
Well, I didn’t really have much in the way of rest in my previous life, anyway.
“Nya-nya-nya.”
Tama-chan once again pointed at her own face with a paw.
“You worked hard too, Tama-chan? Good girl~”
Pamela smiled brightly as she petted Tama-chan.
It was painfully clear just how spoiled she was.
“Nyaa~”
“There, there.”
We kept chatting like that for a while.
But Natalia and Lily were clearly struggling to stay awake.
And as for Alice—she was already asleep, with just her usual floating head left out.
“You guys should get some sleep. You must be exhausted.”
“Yeah… I’m starting to feel a little sleepy.”
“It hit all of a sudden…”
Even I was starting to feel tired—these girls had to be feeling it even more.
“Take Alice with you and head upstairs. We’ll talk again tomorrow.”
“Okay. Alice, wake up.”
“Let’s sleep in our own rooms~. You’ll catch a cold under the kotatsu.”
The two of them gently roused Alice.
“…This is my room.”
No, it’s not.
“Alice, you have to sleep properly tonight, okay?”
“…Fiiine.”
Alice finally sat up, and Natalia and Lily took her with them back to their room.
“Guess we should head out too,” Liane said, glancing at Pamela.
“Yes. And Tama-chan is yawning too.”
“Tama-chan must be tired as well. Yuuma-sama, we’ll be heading home now too. Tomorrow’s a free day, so we’ll drop by again.”
Pamela picked up Tama-chan in her arms, and the two of them stood up.
“Well then, see you tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
“Good night.”
The two teleported and returned home.
“I’m gonna go take a bath.”
I stood up and headed to the bath. As I soaked in the hot water, the fatigue from today started melting away—and with it, drowsiness began creeping in.
When I got out, I saw Annie was still there, lounging and resting.
“You’re not going to bed?”
“I’m not sleepy yet, so I’m staying here.”
Huh…
“Master, would you like a drink?”
“Yeah. Annie, you want one too?”
“I do. Tomorrow’s a day off, after all.”
Better be careful not to drink too much.
Annie doesn’t hold her liquor that well, but once she starts, she never stops.
“I’ll go grab it~”
With that cheerful reply, AI-chan left the room and came back quickly.
After raising our glasses in a toast, we started sipping wine.
“So hey… are you seriously aiming for all four of them?”
Annie gave me a sidelong glare, eyes half-lidded in suspicion.
Not just asking about Ilva specifically, but lumping all four of them together—that pretty much says everything about how little she trusts me.
“About that… Hey, AI-chan, can I ask you something?”
“Hmm?”
I stopped AI-chan just as she was sneakily trying to vanish from the room.
“Come here a sec.”
“Yees~? What is it?”
AI-chan plopped herself down lightly in the seat across from me—where Natalia usually sits.
“You’ve been trying to do something with those four girls for my sake, haven’t you?”
“Yes. I just thought they seemed like the kind of girls Master would like~”
The kind of girls I’d like, huh…
Wonder what that even means?
…Eh, whatever.
“Stop it.”
“Huh? But why? I mean, even today, you used Tama-chan to get their names out of them, didn’t you?”
“Wait, you did that?”
Annie gave me that deadpan glare again.
“That was for a different reason.”
“Hmmm…”
Yeah—no trust whatsoever.
Well… I can’t really blame her for that one.
“There was something I needed to check, that’s all. Anyway, stop trying to do anything with those four. And that innkeeper’s daughter too, while you’re at it.”
Chances are, this little fox is eyeing her as well.
“Okaaay… But why?”
“Annie, cover your ears for a minute.”
“Okaaay,” she replied in complete monotone as she sipped her wine.
She made no move to actually cover her ears.
Well, whatever.
“AI-chan… I don’t know how many women I’ll end up being involved with. It’s not something I’m aiming for—but no one knows what the future holds.”
“Hmm? Well… I guess, sure…”
“Pfft…”
AI-chan made a face like, yeah right, and Annie scoffed through her nose.
“I’m being serious. Even now, I think twelve is just straight-up insane.”
“Yes… But that’s just the kind of person you are. I mean, you’re already surrounding yourself with six.”
A stupid harem party, basically.
“That’s it. Listen, AI-chan—people are incredibly complicated. Everyone has a limit to what they can tolerate. Cross that line, and relationships can fall apart just like that.”
“When you say ‘people’… you mean women, don’t you?”
“You’re talking about us, aren’t you?”
It applies to both men and women, honestly—but fine, whatever.
“When you’re adding new companions, you have to be careful. For example, if it’s people from town or members of this clan, then even Annie and the others can get along with them. But someone from a completely foreign country suddenly joining? That’s a whole different story. That’s where factions start forming.”
“Factions…”
“Yeah. Think of it like this—there’s the Kingdom of Rize faction and the Republic of Axa faction. I told you before, didn’t I? It’s fine if these girls complain about me. In fact, I’m sure it’s all just complaints down on the third floor. But fights between women? That’s a different story. Sooner or later, that’ll tear everything apart.”
Factions make things even worse.
When people gather together, guilt tends to get diluted. So if they end up in conflict, there’s no telling what they’ll do.
“And if that happens?”
“These girls already don’t think highly of Ilva and the others.”
“That’s misleading. We don’t really care about them one way or the other—we don’t know them.”
Annie said that flatly, but AI-chan looked noticeably uncomfortable.
((“…Umm… was I mistaken. I thought I heard the words ‘man-stealing tramp’…”))
…Yeah, I heard that too.
((“AI-chan, this is a sensitive time right now. Hypothetically, let’s say I married these girls and had kids with them. Then maybe they’d feel more secure—might even be able to accept certain things with a resigned ‘well, it can’t be helped.’ Or, if they got to know Ilva and the others and actually grew close, then maybe there’d be a chance. But not now. It’s too early.”))
Not that I’m planning on any of that in the first place, though.
((“Understood.”))
AI-chan seemed to have accepted it.
“Annie, come on—drink up.”
I gestured for Annie to come over and poured her another glass of wine.
“Thanks…”
We kept drinking for a while after that.
Once I had soothed Annie’s mood, we finally went to bed.
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