## Chapter 528 – Am I Pretty?
◈
It was lunchtime, and I went with Rent and Ms. Lenny to the cafeteria used by the guild staff.
After taking out the lunch box that Ms. Miranda had packed for me, I asked Rent,
“So, what happened? Are you planning to conquer not only succubus brothels but also elven ones now?”
“W-well, that’s…”
“Um, Melissa, Rent is a man, and considering Rent’s stamina, if you scold him for going to a brothel…”
Ms. Lenny tried to take Rent’s side.
Of course, I knew that too.
“I know that too, Ms. Lenny.”
But that’s not the point.
“But it doesn’t feel good when you hear it directly, does it? Ms. Lenny, do you like it when Rent sleeps with other women?”
“W-well, as long as Rent loves me as usual…♡”
“…”
Ah, Ms. Lenny is completely smitten with Rent and has reached a state where anything is fine as long as she’s loved.
…I’m not in a position to say anything since I’m the one who allowed him to go to the succubus brothel party because I wanted to keep having sex.
Still, I have to ask what I need to ask.
“Rent.”
“Yes!”
“…How was it?”
“How was what?”
“The thing with that Milia, the elven brothel owner… was it good?”
“W-well, that’s…”
“Tell me honestly.”
“It felt good!”
“…I see.”
Well, of course, it would.
She’s the owner of an elven brothel, after all.
If it’s an elf, it’s like doing it with a super pretty race like Gracia or Ninya, right?
And on top of that, she’s the owner of a brothel.
Of course, it would feel good to do it with a woman like that.
…And she’s definitely prettier than me,
“…”
“M-Melissa?”
“What?”
“Are you… are you angry?”
“I’m not angry. It’s not like Rent is doing this for the first time.”
It’s just that I feel bad because I seem inferior to others.
That’s all.
Even if I think Rent wouldn’t care,
I still end up caring myself.
…Was I originally this annoying?
“Haa…”
I sighed without realizing it.
“Ugh!? M-Melissa! T-this!”
“What?”
Rent had somehow picked up food with his utensil and brought it towards me.
“A-ah~ng.”
“…”
Rent was sweating and offering me food.
He looked like a puppy trembling after being scolded, which made me laugh a little.
“Pfft. Ah~mm.”
I felt a little better, so I ate the food Rent gave me.
…Seeing that this makes me feel better, I can tell that I’m completely smitten with Rent.
“R-Rent, dear♡ Me too♡”
Ms. Lenny next to me offered her food to Rent.
“Ah, yes! Ms. Lenny, ah~ng.”
“Ah~mm♡”
As always, Rent waits at the Adventurer’s Guild, and when it’s lunchtime, he always feeds us and shows his affection.
At first, it was very embarrassing, but now I’m used to it… and the staff around us just let it go.
As I ate the food from Rent, I gradually felt better.
But a small anxiety still remained in my heart.
◈
To match everyone going to the dungeon,
I have about two days off a week.
And today is the first day of my break.
Rent created clones, and he went to the library with Elsie, to the orphanage with Noah, and to the plaza for a date with Ninya, Gracia, and Lyfa.
Ms. Lenny is still working at the Adventurer’s Guild, so of course, he made a clone there too.
Rent himself is on the first floor, taking care of the inn with Tina and Ms. Miranda.
And I… am having reading time with Tikia in my room.
Dating with Rent… or holing up in the room to have sex is good too, but
Sometimes, I want to have reading time like this.
Today is the day I read a romance novel that I recommended with Tikia.
Tikia has also been busy with research on the magic tool called the Mask of Seclusion recently, so she hasn’t been able to read books often. That’s why she’s enjoying the romance novel, which she usually avoids, now.
“What? This kind of development unfolds here!?”
It’s fun to read books with Tikia.
No matter what, her reactions are great.
Looking at Tikia’s reactions, I can roughly guess which part she’s reading, since I’ve already read it.
And when we finished the book.
“Melissa! About the content of this book…”
Tikia always wants to have a review session.
Of course, I’m all for it.
In the village, I often gathered at the village chief’s house and talked with the aunties and other girls, so I liked having review sessions.
In the village, everyone has almost the same taste, so it’s fun to have conversations that flow smoothly.
But Elsie likes legends and myths, and Tikia likes a novel called Magical Girl Marine, which is a bit more for children.
Since our tastes are different, the two people’s reviews, which are from perspectives I can’t think of, are fresh, and it’s also fun to share my opinions with them.
Just as we were about to finish the review session and go back to reading time,
I suddenly remembered something I was curious about.
“Tikia.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Come to think of it, didn’t you go somewhere with Rent instead of going to the dungeon last time?”
“Ah, that. You know, Melissa, that I’m researching the Mask of Seclusion.”
“Yes.”
“While researching, I made the first inferior version of it. So, I went to Camel with Rent to share the results.”
“I see.”
“Hehehe, even Merlin was amazed by my outstanding development skills!”
“Merlin, as in… the court mage of Camel?”
“That’s right! I shared some results and even researched the Mask of Seclusion together for a while. Thanks to that, I’ve made a lot of progress.”
To be able to do research with the court mage of a country.
Although she looks very cute, I could tell that Tikia is an amazing mage.
“That’s amazing, Tikia.”
“Hahahaha! Right? I’m a genius magical girl! I have to do this much!”
Tikia laughed loudly and was very happy.
Rent says that Tikia looks very cute like this.
I feel the same way.
“Ah, what did Rent do while Tikia was researching with Merlin?”
“Rent? He was probably killing time outside.”
“…Did he perhaps go to the nightlife district of Camel?”
“Huh? No. Rent said he was leisurely walking around the market street, and then people recognized him, so he floated in the air and posed while playing around.”
“What?”
“You know that Rent participated in the martial arts tournament, right? Every time he won, he did a strange pose and put on a show. So, people who recognized Rent were clamoring for him to do the pose. Rent has a thing for showing off, right? So, he was happily posing and enjoying the cheers of the people.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah, he did poses like this.”
Tikia put down her book and made poses, such as making an arm muscle with both arms or folding them inward.
“Something like this. Every time he posed, people went wild.”
“…”
What on earth did he do in Camel to make people go so wild?
“…It’s better than going to a brothel, I guess.”
“Well, yeah. …Though he’s been going a lot in the Platoon.”
“Ah, did you hear about it too, Tikia? That Rent… went to an elven brothel.”
“I know that.”
“And that he conquered the owner of that brothel too?”
“Huh? What’s that about? That’s the first time I’m hearing that.”
“An adventurer at the guild said it the other day. That the Grand Sex King had achieved a new feat. I asked Rent about it at lunchtime, and he said it was true.”
“…So he went to an elven brothel and even took on the owner.”
“Haa…”
When I sighed, Tikia asked,
“Melissa, do you have any worries? Is it because Rent is going to brothels?”
“Huh? Ah, it’s not that. I think it’s inevitable that Rent goes to brothels… Well, it would make me very upset if he got caught by my eyes. Why all of a sudden?”
“Well, you sighed as if you had some worries. If you have any worries, tell me.”
Tikia said, patting her chest.
“We’re reading buddies and also comrades who call out Rent when he does something stupid, right?”
“Tikia…”
Honestly, this is a worry that I’m thinking about on my own.
I wonder if it’s okay to share this kind of worry, but… I didn’t want to reject Tikia’s kindness in worrying about me.
“Actually…”
I told Tikia about the worry I had.
That there are so many pretty women around, and I wondered if Rent really thought I was pretty.
“Hmm…”
After listening to all my worries, Tikia crossed her arms and thought for a moment before saying,
“Well, you might have those kinds of worries. Everyone is pretty.”
“I guess… that’s true?”
“But you know what? I’m having similar worries too?”
“You, Tikia?”
“Yeah, I’m a woman too. Of course, I want to look pretty to Rent. But everyone else is pretty. I’m more on the cute side than the pretty side, right?”
“Are you saying that yourself?”
Tikia puffed out her chest and said,
“It’s a fact that I’m a cute genius magical girl! Rent also said I was cute! Well, anyway, I’m not losing in cuteness, but I’m jealous of the others when it comes to being pretty. Of course, I’m jealous of you too, Melissa.”
“M-me?”
“Yeah.”
“But I’m not pretty. If you’re talking about pretty, other people are more…”
“Melissa, you need to look at yourself more objectively. Even at the Adventurer’s Guild, Melissa has a good reputation as a beautiful waitress.”
“Huh? Really? I’ve never heard that… well, I’ve heard I’m pretty, but that’s just flattery.”
“Flattery about being pretty doesn’t come out if you’re not pretty.”
“But…”
“Anyway, in my opinion, you’re pretty enough, Melissa. Don’t worry too much because you’re not inferior to others. Besides… the important thing is not other people’s opinions, but whether Rent thinks you’re pretty or not, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Then go ask Rent right now. ‘Am I pretty?'”
“Ugh… T-that’s a bit embarrassing.”
“It’s better to solve things quickly in these situations. There’s no good in dragging it out. I learned that the hard way during my school days. It’s best to solve the knots in your heart at once! Come on, come on!”
Tikia pushed my back and tried to push me out.
“W-wait a minute, Tikia! D-don’t push me!”
Even if I didn’t want to go out, it was impossible for me, who had only been promoted once, to stop Tikia, who had been promoted many times in the dungeon with Rent.
“A-alright! I get it! So don’t push me!”
“Good, go!”
“Haa…”
I sighed and went down to the first floor where Rent was.
“Ah, Rent, please lift this table.”
“Okay.”
Rent was helping Tina clean the first floor.
Should I talk to him now?
Should I do it after he’s done cleaning…?
No, what am I doing if I back down here?
Tikia said that these things should be resolved quickly.
“Hoo…”
I approached Rent.
“Rent.”
“Yeah? Melissa, what is it?”
“I, I have something I want to ask… C-can you come to my room?”
“Really? Okay.”
Snap!
Rent snapped his fingers and instantly created a clone, handing the table he was holding to the clone.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
I’m used to it now, but it’s still amazing how Rent suddenly multiplies.
He can even deal with us at the same time with that…
I went into Rent’s room with Rent.
“So, what do you want to ask?”
“W-well, there’s something… ahem! R-Rent.”
It’s really embarrassing to ask directly.
“Yeah.”
“A-am I… am I p-pretty?”
“Huh?”
See! Rent is also tilting his head as if he’s saying, “What are you talking about?” because I suddenly asked him, “Am I pretty?”
Ugh! I shouldn’t have asked!
I’m embarrassed!
Come to think of it, it’s weird to suddenly say something like that without any context!
What am I supposed to do if I suddenly get to the point like that!
O-okay!
Let’s do it again!
Let’s start over from the beginning…
“Why are you asking something so obvious, Melissa? Of course, Melissa is pretty.”
Hwaaa…
My face instantly flushed.
Rent, you really…
Just one word of “pretty.”
My heart is pounding, my face is burning, and
I’m so happy that the corners of my mouth are turning up.
The gloomy feeling I had been worrying about has completely disappeared.
“R-really pretty?”
“No… well, of course, you’re pretty. You’re the woman I love, so isn’t it natural that you’re pretty?”
I always hear him say he loves me, so I thought I was okay, but hearing it like this is really bad for my heart…
“Hey, Melissa.”
“Huh? W-what?”
“Am I cool?”
Huh?
Why is Rent suddenly asking that?
I tilted my head and said,
“No, of course, you’re cool.”
Why is Rent asking something so obvious?
It’s natural that the man I love is cool…
Ah.
…I was such a fool.
