Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

My heartbeat became louder. The beast stirred slightly.

「What, is this guy……」

Ea was trembling.

That was natural.

The Demon King was on a different dimension. Its alien, black and cold presence was the opposite of divinity. I had experienced this feeling when I came to this world.

A ridiculously enormous creature that wriggled in the darkness.

A tentacle that opened like a flower.

I thought it strange that I had forgotten about it till just now for some reason.

「Agathion!」

Responding to my voice, the magic sword flew out from my quiver.

「Nuu」

I had surprised goblin-san, but this isn’t the time for me to worry about that. I’ll apologize later.

「Break the bow!」

Agathion broke Ea’s bow. By chance, the arrow that had been released from its string stuck into Makina's head.

『NyaGYAaaaAAAaa!』

A noisy scream rang out, but I ignored it.

「O, Onii-chan, wha― Huh, those eyes?」

I forced Ea to her knees and made her lower her head.

「I sincerely apologize for my sister’s rudeness. Though they’re the actions of a child, for her to point an arrow at the vassal of the Demon King…… We’ll accept any form of punishment, but please allow me to be the one to bear responsibility. For example, an arm to begin with……」

I called back Agathion and extended my left arm.

The Demon King stayed silent for a while, and then whispered into the goblin’s ear.

「My Demon King says this,『Oh golden-eyed beast, in view of your good manners, we’ll also stay our anger. Something like a Hemu’s arm is useless even as a decoration』」

「From the bottom of my heart, I respect your sagely wisdom and magnanimity」

It’s different if I’m alone, but with my sister here, I can’t act violently. She’ll get embroiled. My last resort can never be used in places where there are people, all the more so if they are people that I want to protect.

Or rather, what do you mean golden-eyed beast? Who’s that? Me?

「Ea. You apologize too」

「Why! I was only worried about you, Onii-chan! I didn’t do anything wrong!」

Shaking free from my hands, Ea yelled.

Even though she is in front of the Demon King, my sister is dauntless, albeit ignorant. That’s dangerous. The opponent is out of our league. My sister, there are lots of unreasonable things in the world and there are also times when you have to apologize even if you did nothing wrong.

Besides, the other party is a reasonable, err, person?, so you should apologize. To begin with, we’re 10 to 0 at fault anyway.

「Please, I'm asking you, think of it as doing it for your Onii-chan」

「No!」

It can’t be helped.

It was light, or rather, the power was reduced by three levels half-way through, and by the end, with the force of about a gentle stroking, I slapped my sister.

「Ea, you pointed an arrow at a person because of your prejudice and a misunderstanding. These people are the benefactors who helped Makina. Is pointing arrows at the people we owe a debt of gratitude to the actions of a descendant of Heures?」

My sister had a stunned expression on her face.

However, it turned mushy.

「………I, I, di, did, didn’t」

Tears falling in large drops, Ea started to cry.

「Onii-chan hit meeeeeeeee!」

She wailed.

Huh? This is outside of my expectations. Back in the day, she would get angry and hit me back.

「PiyaaaaaaAAA!」

It was a somewhat amusing crying voice.

No, it's a massive blunder. Even though she looks like an adult woman, she’s crying and wailing like a baby.

「Makina! Help!」

『Hawawa, hawawa』

This piece of scrap is useless. I mean, it's all your fault! You’ll be sorry later.

「PinyaAAaaa! NyaPyaaAaaaAAaaa!」

Even though we were in front of the Demon King, my sister's crying voice didn’t stop and became even louder.

Goblin-san also had a stunned expression.

「Ah jeez, it’s completely Onii-chan’s fault, so cheer up」

When I searched around in my pocket, I found a candy that was meant for Rana in case of emergencies.

「Here, ahhh~」

「Nom………………」

When I put the strawberry-flavored candy in her mouth, Ea fell silent.

I patted her head, and she came and wrapped her arms around me like a koala. It was embarrassing because we were in front of others, but I placed her on my lap and rubbed her back to comfort her.

Hmm, I can feel the sense of immorality from doing baby play with an adult woman. To be accurate, it’s sister play, I suppose.

「Hey, sixth generation A.I., Makina-kun」

『Eek』

「Were you not able to predict that this could happen? I left Yukikaze behind because you’re here?」

『S, so, sorry. Of late, the sensors on the pod have been out of sorts』

「Report it. Always」

『Eek. Souya-san, are you angry?』

「Haha, I'm not angry. After returning to the camp, shall we make some time for the two of us?」

『You're definitely angry! Noo~!』

「PinyaAaaa!」

Ea started to cry again.

「Oh, there there. You must be scared. Sorry, alright?」

I patted and rubbed her some more.

I conveyed『I’ll kill you later』to Makina with my eyes.

The characters『Hiiiii』were displayed on Makina’s screen.

「This sweet thing, I want more」

「Sorry, Ea. Because they’re for Rana」

「Hic」

Tears suddenly filled her eyes.

『Ea-sama! Makina will make even~~ more delicious food after this! So please be patient for a bit, alright?!』

「Really?」

『Really! Really!』

「Umm~ Is it alright now?」

Goblin-san, who had been a touch ignored, came up and asked in an apologetic tone.

「My King says this,『Shall we do this tomorrow instead?』」

『It's okay! For Ea-sama, Makina will cook the dish right away! Or rather, if Makina doesn’t wash away her disgrace, Makina's life is in danger!』

A little distance away, Makina quickly laid out the cooking utensils and a portable stove. She readied the fire. Perhaps they found it novel, but goblin-san and the Demon King were observing at the side.

『Souya-san, Makina’s functionalities have currently declined by 15% because Makina is on edge. Makina will send you the image just in case, so please advise me when it looks like Makina is about to make a mistake, alright?!』

The view of Makina's cooking was displayed on the LCD of the glasses.

My sister had completely become a spoiled child. She was clinging on while snuggling me and not letting go. Something like this was also nice every now and then.

Huh?

It's improper, but did she have such a lack of boobs?

Because she’ll likely get angry, I’m definitely keeping that to myself though.

『Well then, as thanks for helping Makina and to apologize for today's rudeness, we’ll prepare a meal in all sincerity and with all of our heart. First, Makina will pan-fry the ingredients』

A tupperware containing pork leg that was coated with spices was taken out.

『This meat is rubbed and coated with the spices that Makina got from Gashuraku-san』

「What kind of spices are they?」

I don’t have good memories of the spices in Lemuria.

I remember them being spicy, sour, and disgusting.

『It’s a spice mix that Makina made from the plants grown underground by the goblin-sans. Its ingredients are similar to cumin, coriander, cardamom and turmeric. From there, spices gathered in Heures Forest are added. They’re ingredients similar to clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon. They’re put together and blended into this alternate world spice mix. Makina names it Lemuria?Long-Eared?Marriage?Spice?Mix!』

Yeah, that name is bad.

「Makina, long-eared is a derogatory term for elves. Remove it」

『………………Lemuria?Marriage?Spice?Mix』

「Okay, good」

What was married together became unknown, but let’s not worry about that.

「Oh, it smells good」

My sister brightened up.

The smell of these spices made me feel nostalgic.

It was a smell that made children want to hurry home.

『The meat is pre-cooked, so it's okay to just stir-fry it lightly. After that, lots of crushed tomatoes, a generous pour of red wine, and scraped apples are added, and then this part of the dish is ready』

Next, Makina took out a frying pan.

『Next is to make a spice paste to make the seasoning stronger. Scraped onions, garlic and ginger are put in a frying pan, and then fry~?』

Makina was shaking the frying pan in a good mood.

Her previous generation was a cooking robot, so her skill was impressive.

『Once it’s been cooked through, add more spices and milk. Mix and mix~? Mix and mix~? Become delicious~? Become delicious~? Mor――』

「You should stop that」

『Alright』

I stopped her because it felt like my country’s culture would get misunderstood. f𝙧ee𝘄𝐞𝚋𝐧૦ѵeƖ.c𝘰𝓶

It was already too late for some though.

『Now that the paste is done, it’s put into a pot, and then left to simmer for a while』

She added the paste into a pot and mixed everything together.

When I looked closely, I saw that the pot was a pressure cooker. She sealed it and then left it alone for a while.

Makina stepped away from cooking for the moment and assembled the folding table. She also prepared the chairs. The tableware was laid out by the Demon King.

Wait one second!

This isn’t good, there’s so much wrong with this scene.

To begin with, letting the guest prepare the table, for example.

「Ea, Onii-chan is also going to lend them a hand, so can you let go for a moment?」

「No」

My sister wasn’t letting go. On the contrary, she hugged me even tighter.

Why do both sisters react in similar ways to each other?! Dammit, I can't pull her off!

「Speaking of which~, you said something interesting though. You married an elf~?」

Goblin-san started talking to me.

「Oh, yes」

「Which clan is she from?」

「The Heures clan」

「What? Huh, Heures? The Heures of the forest over there? Now that you mention it, that hand protector……」

「It is the Heures of the forest over there. My wife is Rauaryuna?Raua?Heures, the second daughter of Melm?Raua?Heures. This is her sister, Ea」

I pointed at the spoiled elf.

「I got the approval of King Lemuria, but their father was opposed, or rather, they were disowned though」

「Oh, I suppose that must have been difficult~」

My sister looked like she wanted to say something, so I hugged her tightly to hush her up.

When I stroked her silky hair, she became quiet.

「But you're eccentric, aren’t you?」

「Yes, quite」

I’m probably the only Japanese who is considered an eccentric by goblins. Well, I get the feeling that Japanese people all look like eccentrics in the eyes of people from other places though.

「I’ll give you this~」

「Eh」

I was given a small bag. When I looked inside, it contained seeds.

「Aren’t you interested in flowers~?」

「No, I'm only interested in those flowers over there」

「Then it’s perfect~. They’re seeds of those flowers~」

「Thank you very much」

Is it alright to get them this easily?

「Umm, is this something valuable?」

「Not at all~. But there aren’t any in the lands around here, I guess~? The seeds can also be obtained from the flowers~」

Seriously~?

「Sorry, while I’m being overbold, I’d like to ask you something. Do you know some sort of method to cleanse curses that have polluted people?」

Due to the differences in cultures, certain cultures are better at or more suited to different things.

Maybe the goblins are aware of a method to cleanse curses easily.

「That’s impossible~」

It's impossible~, huh.

「You’re talking about Hemu curses, right~? I don't know about them~. Soil and living things are different~, you see, and even if you plant flowers in people, they don't bloom, right~?」

「Right~」

Everything wasn't going to turn out so conveniently for me, I guess.

But a flower that can cleanse curses, huh. It may only work on soil, but even that alone is a harvest.

Goblin-san left and helped the Demon King. The plates were laid out and spoons were placed beside them.

I felt really guilty. 𝐟𝐫𝗲𝙚ｗ𝚎𝐛𝙣𝐨𝙫𝘦𝗹.c૦m

For a short while,

With the red flowers beneath me, I killed time watching the peaceful sky.

The sleep-inducing gentle rays of the sun. The small talk between Makina and the goblin. The clatter of tableware.

The scent of appetizing spices drifted across the plain.

My sister rested her chin on my shoulder and fell asleep.

A skeleton in a black cloak and a goblin were sitting quietly at the table. A cylindrical A.I. was singing and revolving in front of a pot.

It was surreal.

This was the most surreal scene since coming to the alternate world. It was, but perhaps because my sister’s body heat had spread through me, I started nodding off drowsily.

Now that I thought about it, I didn’t get much sleep yesterday.

Sleepy.

Sleepy.

………………………………