A bit earlier.

Ara got what she was looking for, a portfolio containing a stack of blank paper and writing utensils. All of us have discussed what we need for our journey, but she wants to review it again and write it down.

I hate that kind of paperwork, but Ara makes it look so precise and intellectual that it looks very cool.

“Let's head down.” I want to see Kenta. It was bliss this morning, waking up and seeing Kenta's face right next to mine. I dreamed about him. He took me into his arms and whispered his love for me into my ear.

In reality, we're still not there yet. I have to work harder.

He's warm. When he sleeps, somehow his face is a bit softer. I could see it from up-close. He sure carries many burdens. He worries about many things so that each of us girls doesn't have to.

What a dependable husband. However, he should rely on me more.

Soon, my arm will be healed, and then I will work twice as hard so that Kenta needs to worry less.

“Katarine-san, please wait a bit.” Ara walks slowly down the hall while looking at the ceiling.

“Does it still hurt?” I have to be rough to her when we were training, but that doesn't mean that I'm not concerned. I'm very concerned, but that's also why I have to be hard on her during practice.

“Yes.” Ara is always calm. “It's not just that though.”

“Huh?” I cock my head.

“I'm still getting used to urban areas again. It has been a while. The distribution and nature of spirits here are vastly different, so I suffer from a kind of sensory disturbance.”

“Sorry, I don't understand.”

“Imagine that you would perceive the world through carmine colored glass. Everything you see has a different color, which will lead you to have difficulty in estimating distances, seeing movement, and determining the actual color, of course. There is also a blur, which makes it even more difficult to perceive the environment.”

“That would be bad.” Thinking how it'd be if I saw everything in the same tone would be scary at some point.

“Currently, there are, I think, four people right above us, moving, and since the wood of this building is dead, it contains no spirit. For me, it feels like someone is flying only a short distance above my head.”

Kenta, Kyou, and Ara can sense spirits. While Kyou has to concentrate very hard to get a faint feeling and Kenta can use a [Skill] to push this ability, Ara has a much deeper and more innate connection to them.

I can't sense them at all, there wasn't enough time for me to learn that. “I can't say I understand, but...” Bending my right arm, I hold it over Ara-san like an umbrella. “Better?”

“...” I can't see her face because she's under my arm, but she draws closer to me and ducks her head a bit. “You have my gratitude.” I only know that living beings have spirits. Good thing I'm that much taller than her, otherwise it wouldn't work.

“Hey there. Mind if we talk for a sec?”

Three men are standing in front of us. One of them around my age, the other two a bit older.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes. Well, not exactly wrong, but not right either.”

“Nn?” What is he talking about?

“Well, you see, my little brother here told me, that there is a real beauty here.”

“...” I don't know what he's talking about.

“I thought he meant the black haired one first, but he meant you. You're friends with the black haired girl, right?”

“You mean Kyou?”

“Yes, that one with the interesting name.”

“Yes, we're friends. And more.” We have the same husband. There is no word for it, I think. Because it's a divine sin. … ah, a sin. Dear gods, please don't mind the little piece of happiness I have.

“Ah, yes. She's his sister, right?”

“Hn?”

“You know, of that black haired boy.”

“Yes, she is.” Ara chimes in.

Oh, I forgot that we had a cover story. How exciting, just like when Fabian disguised himself as a guard of the Empire to sneak into their prison in Molakkhinakka to rescue Miriam's childhood friend, even though he knew that he would be a hindrance to win Miriam's heart.

“But y'know, I think there is something not right here.”

Did he see through our disguise?

“Why should a pretty girl like you be with someone like him?”

That hurts. “I know I may not be adequate, but-”

“Woah, wait, girl! It's not you, it's him. I mean, look at him!”

“Kenta's not here.”

“I meant it figuratively.”

“Ah, sorry.”

The little brother said something in a soft voice, I missed it, but the other one laughed.

“You've just proved that you're perfect.” Big brother grins, while he says that.

“Be careful, Katarine-san, they either want to capture or rape us.”

“They do?”

“““No, we don't!”””

“You said, that Katarine-san isn't the brightest tool in the shed, which leads me to the conclusion, that you are trying to ambush us. There are only two possible reasons for such behavior: To ask for ransom, because you're short on money, or to rape us because you're humans.”

“...why does us being humans means that we want to do that?”

“Don't worry, I understand that your sexual urges are quite extreme, but for times like that, there is still masturbation.”

“...A-ny-way!” The way he says it sounds weird. “What I want to say is, that we have no intention of forcing you to do anything. I just came here to say, Katarine: That gimp is not good enough for you.”

“...what gimp?” I have an idea, but I tend to jump to conclusions, so I better make sure.

“That guy... Kenta, was it? You know, that rude, small, ugly thing with black hairs and eyes, and-”

*slap*

I didn't put much strength into it, but with my bent arm, I performed a backhand slap.

Ara's ears are twitching a bit. Maybe she's startled by the spirits above us because I suddenly took my arm away. Sorry, Ara.

But! “Say that you're sorry!” He spoke bad about Kenta! That's so mean!

The big brother touches the red mark my hand left behind. “You got fire! I like that.”

Maybe he knows that I'm from Feuerberg's royalty. People say our blood has fire mixed with it.

“Walter, everything alright?” The little brother asked.

“More than that.” For some reason, he is licking his lips. Did he bite them when I slapped him?

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

No, don't spend a thought on that! If he did, then he deserves it! “Say that you're sorry!”

“Why?”

“Kenta is great! He's smart, caring, and brave! Even if things get worse and worse, I can always rely on him!”

“He's a wuss. Looking at everyone like they're trash, it's because he's afraid. I know that type.”

“You don't know Kenta at all! He's not afraid of anything!” He's cautious, but that makes him strong. How his face looked when he said that he will stay behind to buy us some time from the mercenaries, he was so cool. 'I'm the only one who can do that, so just shut up and do what I say!' ♥ “Tehehe.”

For some reason, the three men before me blush. Maybe because they finally understand, why Kenta is so great! Ah, my face is so hot as well, my heart is beating like crazy.

“I think I may have just witnessed human pheromones at work.”

“A-anyway! You, Katarine! How about going somewhere else to get a delicious breakfast, and-”

“You didn't apologize.”

“...let me be clear here. You are a hell of a girl, while your lover is just some dumb brat. Instead of wasting your time with him, let me prove to you that I'm five times the man he is.”

The little brother and the other man enter the conversation now.

“Walter really is.”

“That twerp is just a dork.”

“Kenta's not dumb. He's smart!”

“How smart can he be!? Trying to get a mercenary-band together at his age, that's just plain stupid! Even if he has some skills in combat, where is your guarantor? How do you plan to get customers? Do you even have any spare equipment? And he's the leader?”

“Who would hire four, young nobodies as guards?”

“Your leader is just incompetent.”

“Kenta is not!”

“I heard how he beat someone up yesterday. Well, he might be good in fights, but he can only solve things with violence, right? The same as just now. Instead of talking, he threatened us. What a loser.”

“Like some idiot.”

“He just picks fights because he's afraid of using his wits!”

“No!”

“What about your arm? Did you hurt it, because he was too slow to save you?”

“Or did he just not care?”

“Maybe he even asked her to do something that got her hurt.”

“It was me, who-”

“Also, his face looks like he was dropped as a baby too many times.”

“Maybe his mother beat him up because he was too much of a rascal.”

“Or because he has his father's face.”

Wha- That's... that's so unfair!

“Walter, we made her cry.” The little brother utters.

Yes, I'm about to cry. Because I'm angry about how one-sidedly these people are insulting Kenta! They don't even want to listen to me.

What bad people!

“Doesn't she look rather cute when she's pouting like that?” I'm not cute right now, I'm angry!

“What the situation calls for” Ara's voice cuts through the atmosphere “is some arbitration.”

“Nobody asked you, elf.”

“Be quiet, duman, and listen. First off, if you call me elf one more time, I'll make you suffer using a century’s worth of knowledge. Do we have an understanding, duman?”

“Don't talk to me like that!” The big brother tries to push Ara away.

But I catch his hand. “Don't push my friend!”

“You know, Katarine. I wanted to play nicely here. However, if you're like this, then let me show you what a real man is made of.” Now he tries to push me up to the wall with the arm I'm holding, but he's too far forward. By shifting my body-weight and pulling his arm, I can easily trip him, which causes his face to hit the wall.

“Walter!” The little brother tries to help by attempting to grab me. I release the big brother and give little brother a quick jab right in the gut. While he flinches, I take Ara's hand and take some distance from them with her.

“Ara, you're hurt. Stay behind me.”

“Considering how you're hurt more, I'm inclined to say no. However, if I take into account that your training is the reason why I'm injured in the first place, despite your handicap, I think I will do so.” Then she puts her hands over her earpoints. “I'll certainly do so.”

“Ouch!” The big brother pushes himself from the wall. “Seriously, I have had enough. Katarine, you'll come with us, and you'll like it. If not, we might teach a cheeky girl why she should listen to men. Elf, you stay out of it.”

“Duman, my recommendation for you would be to jump out the window right now to exert damage control.”

Instead of listening to Ara's piece of advice, the brothers charge at me.

Because I want to move my left arm as little as possible, I let myself fall on my right hand, then I perform a spinning side kick with both my feet aimed at the big brother's face. It connects and throws him backward.

In the air I spin my body around, I still have the momentum of my previous attack which propels me forward, and my right elbow crashes into the little brother's shoulder. Then my feet touch the ground, so I spin around to little brother again, giving him a straight in the stomach, followed by a knee thrust. Not being able to use both of my arms limits my movements indeed.

As big brother is trying to stand up, I run up to him and let myself fall on his face, knee first.

What about the third one? Ah, he drew a knife. That's not good, knives are dangerous. I’d better take care of it.

While giving little brother another kick on the way, I grab the wrist of the knife holder and then twist his arm, forcing it behind him. I follow up with some kicks against his legs. “Let it go! Let the knife go!” My yell causes him to let the knife go. While it's still in the air, I kick it and it shoots out directly towards where I aimed it. The handle hits big brothers face as he tried to stand up another time.

I push the former knife holder towards the wall as I jump at little brother. My right arm hooks behind his neck, and my knee bores itself into his stomach. The moment I release him is the moment he falls to the ground, trying to catch his breath.

The non-brother is cowering in a corner, he is no threat anymore, so I go to the big brother, whose face might be a bit damaged. He's still on the floor, so I take and twist his arm. “AAAAARGH!!!”

“Doing bad things hurts. Inside. Even if you pretend to not notice it. So don't attack people. Don't use knives in arguments. Especially, don't insult Kenta! Kenta is not dumb, he's not incompetent, he's not a loser!” I exert a bit more force on my hold.

”PLEEEASEEE STOOOP! I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! I'M SORRY, PLEASE!”

“Then close your mouth and open your ears.” I point at the floor. “And sit down. I'll tell you how great Kenta is!”

All of them follow my directions. One of them is limping, one has a crushed face, and the last one got so many body-blows that he has trouble walking straight, but they all come to me and sit down.

Good thing that we have an understanding.

“Katarine-san, I'll return to our room for a bit. I have an idea.”

“OK. And you three... The first time I met Kenta was on the Mauerfelsen, those are mountains to the west of Feuerberg...”

I tell them how great Kenta is. How he bravely charge into the den of kobolds, how he was more than ready to sacrifice himself on multiple occasions, like with the boak-crawler throwing fourbirds and the mercenaries. How he plans everything out, giving us so many advantages on numerous occasions. How kind he is, putting others like the village of Aroahenn before himself. How patient he is with me, who always stumbles on the way.

While I was explaining all of that, Ara returns with the hair-cutting utensils Kyou used yesterday and starts cutting the hair of the three, whose eyes are glued to my lips. That's because they want to hear about Kenta, I'm sure.

So I say more and more. “...and I want at least four children. I don't need a big house, maybe raising them while traveling would be good, but I want them to study so that they can be as smart as their father. And when Dear and I are too old to continue fighting, I think I want to be a tailor. Maybe open a shop in a forest village. Dear could go fishing or hunting, while Kyou is watching the house and our grandchildren, and Ara... Ara, what do you want to do then?”

“You’re asking my opinion? How about I teach your children and grandchildren, could be interesting to become a teacher for these special human children for a few decades. But foremost, I just want to continue my research.”

“Ah. OK. So, Ara will continue her research, while being a teacher. She will be still young, when Kyou, Dear and I die, but I want to make her life until then so content, that she won't feel much sorrow for us.”

“...very appreciated? Nevertheless, I think the three are ready.”

I look at the three people. Everyone got a new haircut. The moment the scissors are away, they exhale in delight. Ara did her best to give the three of them a new hairstyle simultaneously. The result doesn't look good.

“Ara, why did you cut their hair in the first place?”

“I got interested after seeing Momo cutting Kenta-kun's hair. So I wanted some test subjects in the first place. In addition to showing how their lives are now much different after hearing about the greatness of Kenta-kun.”

“I see.” That makes sense. I look at the three. “Now tell me, what do I like about Dear the most?”

The three of them look at each other in panic. Then the big brother open his mouth: “Everything?”

…

I like that answer. “You pass!”

Look at how glad all of them are. They all laugh softly.

“Is Dear great?”

“““He is! Katsuragi-dono is great!!!”””

“...they surprisingly understood,” Ara says after a moment of hesitation, her left ear a bit lifted. “That one mumbled: 'Anyone who can make her fall for him so hard, must be something close to a god.'” The little brother looks like he was just caught.

You gain 1 WP. Your husband successfully blocked the advances of someone, who thought of stealing away your sister-wife with violence. Hopefully, he will be your shining white knight soon as well.

Ah, while I was busy lecturing, I missed how Dear not only saved Kyou but also was doing something cool to do so.

If I had only known!

...No reason to dwell on it. I'm glad that Kyou is OK, and that she could see how cool Dear is. Sometimes I wonder if she really loves him as well.

Maybe she's just working on a long-term secret scheme to tear down his defenses and make him finally honest about his feelings. The moment his walls are torn down, he will accept Ara and me fully as well.

Yes, that sounds like Kyou, selfless and caring, so that all of us will be happy too.

It's time to wrap this up now: “Do you know where we find cleaning utensils? To clean up all the hair?”

The utensils are in a broom cabinet, of course. Ara and I start sweeping up the hair, as I dismiss the three of them.

You gain 2 WP. Even if he's not here, your husband is the best man in the world and you proved that. That is true dedication.

Shortly afterward, Kyou and Dear show up and we explain what happened.

“Unbelievable,” Kyou comments when we finish. “Three guys on one girl? That's cowardly!”

“So they really were trying to rape us?”

“No, Arako. They just ganged up on Rine-chan to hit on her. That's low, using numbers to intimidate girls to do whatever they want!”

“I didn't feel intimidated, Kyou.”

“Not right now, Rine-chan.”

“OK.”

“So, to summarize. You were on your way downstairs, you met these guys, they tried to hit on you, you declined and they started bad-mouthing Ken. Then Arako came into it, it escalated, Rine-chan beat them into submission, and in the end, you converted these three to some sort of devotees. Am I right?”

“I think so?”

“Seems to be precise.”

Finally, Dear started to move. He was just looking at us before, but now his lips are moving. “WHAT THE FU-”

[https://kentusauthor.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/rinepk45.png?w=676]