Chapter 262 - An Unknown Woman
"That just now was..."
Mano-chan directed eyes at me, having just finished a fierce battle, as if she were looking at an alien.
It was no wonder. I had punched a grown man and sent him flying several meters away.
It was only natural for her to harbor distrust or fear.
"Um, I thought I heard something about... regressing to being a baby or something."
...So that's what it was.
It seems that for a junior high school girl, the sexual preferences of the man she's fallen for are a more important issue than anything else.
While gently stroking Mano-chan's head, I
"I was just playing along with those perverts,"
I lied.
After falling silent for a while, Mano-chan accepted it, saying, "I thought so. There's no way Nakamoto-san would ever do something like that."
Or perhaps she just "threw herself in the direction she wanted to believe." People call that falling into a pit.
"For now, we should move."
As long as thugs who have acquired magic are wandering about, there is no longer a safe place in this city.
...Except for my apartment, which is a spot where combat power is excessively concentrated.
"I'm home—"
Taking Mano-chan with me, I made an early return home.
I had already sent a message via smartphone to Angelica and the others saying, "I picked up another new girl," so it shouldn't cause much of a stir.
Thinking something inhumanly like, I've been bringing girls home at a pace of once every three days lately, so they should have developed some resistance, I opened the entrance, and—
"Welcome home, Kei-kun!"
I was greeted by an unknown woman.
Eh, who is this?
She was wearing an apron and holding a ladle in her right hand, and her long silver hair seemed to be tied up in the back, but her face was Philia herself.
...This is probably Philia.
Why is she dressed like some young housewife?
And what concerns me most is—
"What's 'Kei-kun'?"
I wanted her to explain that first.
I can't settle down unless it's the usual business-like "Hero-dono" or the "Father" she calls me when she's in a state of delirium.
After a moment of blank staring, Philia replied,
"But, aren't we already dating?"
...That's heavy!
Just because we bathed together and I splashed her with Hero juice, she's acting like my girlfriend as if it's a matter of course.
No, certainly that is an act that wouldn't be permitted if we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, but that was merely an accident...
"Anyway, I have something to talk about, so could you come this way?"
"Is it the arrangements for the wedding?"
Older women always want to get married right away, don't they?
How does Mano-chan feel about this? Is a battlefield about to erupt suddenly?
When I fearfully peeked at her reaction, I could tell she was relieved, saying, "Thank goodness... Nakamoto-san wasn't a lolicon..."
It seems that seducing adult women leaves a good impression on JC types.
Is this what they call a blessing in disguise?
Deciding that I should finish the talk while the two of them were in a good mood, I decided to take them to the bedroom.
I walked down the hallway, holding Philia's hand in my right and Mano-chan's in my left.
To call it "a flower in each hand" was a bit of a stretch since one of them was a bit too thorny, but I wouldn't complain about such luxury.
"Oh, Father, welcome home."
"...Welcome home."
On the way, I spotted Angelica and Ayako-chan in the living room, but they were busy peering into a laptop screen, so their reaction was curt.
Don't those two feel anything seeing Philia like this?
"Hey, didn't Ange and the others say anything to you?"
When I asked Philia, she answered with a satisfied housewife pose, placing a hand on her right cheek.
"As for the Holy Maiden, the moment she saw me, she started saying, 'The symptoms are worse than usual today,' and began researching something called schizophrenia."
"...I see."
They are probably in the middle of researching something together with Ayako-chan.
A wise decision.
Sensing the feelings of Angelica and the others, I entered the bedroom and had Philia and Mano-chan sit on the bed first.
With both hands free, I moved to close the door.
"Whew."
While locking it behind my back, I dove into the main topic.
"Philia."
At my call, the goddess priestess from another world twitched an eyebrow.
"There are people leveling the inhabitants of this world. They are undoubtedly Assassins from that world. Do you have any idea what might be behind this?"
"...Hmm. Before that, may I say one thing?"
"What is it?"
Philia spoke with a face that suggested there was nothing more important than this.
"Call me Fi-tan, okay?"
"..."
How long do you plan on keeping up that vibe?
We aren't a high school couple!
I'm thirty-two, and your actual age is in your mid-forties.
Even if your physical age is in your late twenties, it's a bit much.
...Because she's an elderly virgin, her views on romance are strangely maidenly.
"Stop messing around and tell me everything you know as the High Priest."
"Everything I know...? Ah, you mean you want me to tell you what I like about you, Kei-kun? Um... how you're sturdy, how your skin is more beautiful than men from that world, how you're quite good at taking care of people despite everything. Also, the occasional roughness you show makes my heart race with that 'I'm the boss' vibe, and that wildness of killing demi-humans and eating them from the head... it's irresistible... Jeez! What are you making me say!"
This woman is no good... she's too giddy to be useful...
If I don't get her back to her original Philia soon, I won't be able to draw out the necessary information...