After we leave the elder’s mansion, Elga shows us around the village and introduces us to other divine beasts.
Some have names I’ve heard before, and others I don’t recognize at all.
And it sounds like not everyone is here today.
Some are out hunting, some went out to meet someone stronger than me, and others are exploring the island.
And apparently these hot-blooded young people don’t come back to the village very often.
That said, it’s highly unlikely that any of them will end up dying. Divine beast people are among the strongest people even on this island.
They’re not going to be outdone by anything unless it’s something like a demon god or an ancient dragon, and Elga says divine beast people are the best when it comes to their ability to survive.
“It feels nice here, like time is slowing down.”
“Yes. And it has a somewhat nostalgic and gentle mood.”
The divine beast people’s village is full of things we’ve never seen before.
In particular, we got to pick something from one of the beast people’s fields that was ready to eat, and it was delicious.
Also, we hear that fruit growing deeper in the forest is very tasty, and they’re going to serve it at the banquet tonight. Naturally, we’re looking forward to it.
The day ends before we know it, and as the sun goes down, people in the village start making a bonfire.
We are taken to an upper seat near Suzaku, and watch as food is brought here.
There are over fifty divine beast people around us, and regular beast people are gathering too.
“Well then, everyone! Today our great warrior Elga has brought us new friends! He is a monster that took my fireball and was unharmed! Make sure you welcome him!”
Everyone roars while toasting with their wooden mugs.
It’s pretty embarrassing to be the central figure of a banquet, but it’s very clear that they’re doing their best to welcome us, so we’ve decided to simply be happy about it.
I was worried about Reina before, but she’s surrounded by divine beast people and doesn’t seem to be feeling bad.
“Ah, this is good.”
“Luna helped with that!”
“That’s great Luna. It really is tasty.”
Luna is smiling next to Reina’s lap, and Reina pats her head. I do it too from time to time, and her fluffy fox ears feel nice.
I feel my heart getting warmer, until I hear a loud scream coming from not too far from us.
I’m pretty sure that’s where Reina left the tonkatsu sandwiches this morning.
“Uuuuuoooooooo, what is thiiiiiiiiis!? Sooooooo taaaaaastyyyyy!”
I turn to look, and see a mass of divine beast people there yelling in a chain.
And their yells attract the attention of more people, so that mass is getting bigger and the yelling doesn’t stop.
“…Arata, don’t you think divine beast people are a bit over-dramatic?”
“If that’s enough to make them so happy, that’s nice, isn’t it?”
I feel like worrying about that too much is just going to be our loss, so we should just be happy that they’re enjoying them.
“Ou ou, are they really that good? Maybe I’ll go grab one too.”
“Ah, we have your portion here, Suzaku.”
Suzaku is about to get up, when Reina takes tonkatsu sandwiches out of her storage magic.
This is what we were going to eat, but she prepared such a warm welcome and a banquet for us, that we should do something for her too.
Also, the sandwiches in the storage magic are still warm, so they’re better than the ones that have been out for a while.
“Hou, this is emperor boar meat. Fufufu, those don’t come out too often… I haven’t eaten it in a while.”
She opens her small mouth wide and takes a bite, and the very next moment, it’s her eyes that open wide.
“Hey Reina!”
“Y-yes?”
Suzaku presses Reina with a menacing look on her face, although it’s clear she’s holding back from letting her power explode. If she wasn’t, Reina wouldn’t just be feeling surprised.
“How many of these do you have!?”
“Hum, these…”
Reina takes out what’s probably all the sandwiches she’s holding.
Ten tonkatsu sandwiches are lined up in front of Suzaku, and she starts gobbling them immediately.
When she’s quiet she’s a beautiful lady, but what I’m seeing now would be enough to cool off a love that had been burning for a hundred years.
I guess that wouldn’t be the case if someone like her was your type to begin with, but anyway, it looks like she really likes them.
“Ah… Ah… Ah…”
Luna is staring at her in blank amazement. Usually she’d say that those were hers and charge in to eat the sandwiches, but Suzaku’s vigor is keeping her in check completely.
Still, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to eat, and drool runs down from her mouth as she watches the sandwiches disappear right before her eyes.
Oh well, all right then. I sneakily take out a sandwich that was in my storage magic and put it in her mouth, and Luna immediately turns her back to Suzaku.
Her wild instincts kicked in to protect her food from being taken away.
Suzaku is done eating all the sandwiches, so she grabs some fruit wine and gulps it down.
“Kah! Tastyyyy! What’s this? It’s way better than the emperor boar meat I’m used to!”
“Well, there are several preparations done beforehand. And I also used a rare but very tasty part…”
“So it’s special! Sorry! I ate everything!”
Suzaku says while laughing like she doesn’t feel sorry at all, but we don’t say anything.”
We made them, but it’s hard to say anything when it looks like she enjoyed them so much.
…I say we, but it was mostly Reina. I just put the meat in the bread.
“I heard about it, but you really do make great food! Do you wanna be my personal cook? We’ll treat you good!”
“Hum… There are still a lot of things I have to do, so…”
Reina is taken aback by Suzaku’s clearly serious proposal, and keeps peeking this way.
I think that’s an SOS signal, so I walk up next to her.
“We’ve only been on this island for a few days, so we’re still getting used to life here.”
“You could just live here… Well, I guess you young people like adventure. I don’t think you’re gonna make good things if I force you anyway, so I’ll give up for now.”
I’m relieved to see she’s reasonable. If she came at us, I don’t know if I could protect Reina.
“But still, drop by from time to time and make something nice. We’ll get you all the ingredients you want.”
“Yes, definitively.”
Reina says, and the mood softens for a while, until we start hearing noise from a little far away.
“What’s going on?”
“Ah, it’s just the young ones making a ruckus. Don’t mind them.”
Suzaku doesn’t seem to care, but the noise gets louder and louder.
“Flying…”
“Flying…”
We can see from here what looks like divine beast men flying and landing, and then repeating.
How am I supposed to ignore that?
“What’s that?”
For some reason, the guys that are flying are getting closer.
Actually, it’s more like the one making them fly is getting closer.
By the time I can clearly see who’s causing this, Suzaku sighs and explains what’s happening.
“That’s Gaius. His ancestor is Behemoth, and he’s the biggest hooligan around.”
“Hooligan…?”
“Well, it’s just like you see.”
Apparently the other divine beast people are trying to stop him, but it looks like he’s just too strong, because he’s walking this way while tossing them in the air like they’re balls.
“Who made thiiiiis!?”
“Eeh!”
Reina is startled by the guy that’s coming here like a runaway train.
His ruffled brown hair reaches all the way to his waist, and he’s naked from the waist up except for a cloth wrapped around his torso.
He’s muscular, and clearly very proud of his power.
He keeps running until a certain point, when he stops, and starts lumbering his way over here.
I guess he’s not here to harm us.
“You!? Did’ja make this!?”
The way he speaks is a bit broken. It goes beyond that certain wildness in the way Elga and the others speak.
He’s looking straight at Reina while walking over here.
I turn to Reina, and she looks a little overwhelmed by the pressure he’s exuding.
“I-I did, so?”
“Did’ja!? Then yer my wife!”
“…Eh?”
The moment he says that nonsense, I unconsciously stand before him and Reina.
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