Chapter 40: Rafting And Lap Pillow
Sunday evening, 9 pm.
Since I had logged in before everyone else, I was currently doing some crafting.
One of my aims was to upgrade our weapons with turtle type ones.
Compared to our defensive gear, our weapons were already falling off.
If we are going to head out to the vicinity of Heathrow, I felt the need to upgrade the weapons of everyone except Tobi.
In the now less populated blacksmith’s workshop of 「Heathrow town」 I made 2 staves and a sword quickly.
Since I made them with fine quality and +10 which is the upper limit for turtle type gear, there weren’t any problems with them.
This is all thanks to Selene-san’s guidance…it’s going well.
Their offensive power is about 30% higher than those made of iron, but the selling point of the turtle gear is that their endurance is about four times that of iron gear.
Even if it turns out to be a long trip we should be safe with this.
Once I was done with that, I moved onto making that accessory I promised to make for Riizu.
The place was a bench close to the fountain in Heathrow.
I used a small amount of tortoiseshell which was a rare drop that dropped apart from the shells, I completed it without much trouble.
Even if I say so myself, I believe it turned out quite well.
Next up is sewing.
The material was a player original synthetic fiber that resembled denim cloth I bought in the trading BBS.
Other than that, I bought fire worm’s thread that can generally add fire resistance to defensive gear you sew it in.
Both of them were quite expensive…but I was somehow able to sell all the elven ears, so I still have some surplus of money.
To think they would sell in just two days after I registered them.
Since it seems like there’s a demand for them, I’ll think about making them again once we start running out of money.
I concentrated and carefully stuck the thread through the somewhat hard denim cloth.
…Oh, I have no issues handling this.
In reality, I wish I had a sewing machine, but the sewing in the game called TB is made so that it’ll complete on its own once you finish 30% of the work.
The problem is the loss of feeling in my thighs for staying in the same posture for a long period of time.
My legs are about to go numb….
I want to stand up and relax my body. Even inside the game your body will feel stiff and the circulation of blood can be stopped.
That’s why…
「S-Siesta-chan…wake up already, don’t really go to sleep…」 (Hind)
「Suuuu….munya….」 (Siesta)
I talked to the girl that was using someone else’s legs as a pillow.
She suddenly appeared here about 30 minutes ago.
It was around the time I was making the finishing touches on the tortoiseshell accessory, I couldn’t do anything about it at the time…but before I realized it, she was having my lap all for herself.
「However, what meaning is there in sleeping inside the game…?」 (Hind)
「…Senpai, you didn’t know? You can recover HP and from status ailments if you sleep inside the game. Furthermore, it’ll reduce the speed at which the hunger gauge depletes.」 (Siesta)
「Really!? Wait, if you are awake please move! …My legs…are already…at their limit…!」 (Hind)
「You are such a weakling…well, if you trained your body, I wouldn’t be able to lie on such a pleasant lap though. I have taken a liking to senpai’s lap.」 (Siesta)
「Nuaaaa!」 (Hind)
I didn’t have the time to reply to her.
Immediately after Siesta-chan raised her body, the cloth I was working on and placed on top of the bench fell down to the ground and I tried to catch it with both hands.
Now that my legs were free from her weight, the blood circulation returned…even though it would be fine if they didn’t reproduce even these minute details!
Aaahh…the NPCs and player’s suspicious glances focused on me.
This is so embarrassing, but I can’t move.
While I stood still like that, a stone kicked by a random passerby accidentally flew towards my leg…
「-!!」 (Hind)
It was a direct hit in the area that had gone numb.
It was a soundless groan, but it was squeezed out from the depths of my throat.
「That was awful…」 (Hind)
I sat on the bench again, I spent quite a lot of time squatting like that until I was able to return to my sewing work.
I’m about to finish this one so I want to finish them all in one go.
With her usual unchanging sleepy face even though she had woken up, Siesta-chan absent-mindedly stared at my hands.
「Don’t mind it, senpai.」 (Siesta)
「Should that be said by the culprit!? Besides!」 (Hind)
「Sure sure.」 (Siesta)
「Kuh…」 (Hind)
It’s definitely going in one and out of the other. I can’t get a serious reply.
It gives the feeling that I’m dealing with a whimsical cat.
「…By the way, where are Lycoris-chan and Cineraria-chan? Are you alone today?」 (Hind)
「Those two are good girls, so they are already sleeping. Since I’m a bad girl, I’m having a tryst with senpai like this…」 (Siesta)
「I get the feeling I heard an improper word there, was it just my imagination? …Hah.
「In that case, how about you go and get some sleep? It’s going to be 10 pm soon enough, isn’t it late for a middle schooler to be awake?」 (Hind)
「-You are so mean, senpai! With those words you are trying to say that I’m a hindrance right…!?
「Uuu…」 (Siesta)
「No matter how I think about it you are just acting cheeky, you wouldn’t cry over this much…」 (Hind)
They are definitely fake tears.
She’s carefully hiding her face with both hands and her voice is shaking, but it was so obvious that it was at a level it made me want to cry too.
Just as I thought, once I took one of her hands down, behind it was only her usual sleepy face.
「…However, I can easily trick my male classmates like this, you know?」 (Siesta)
「You are the one that’s very mean!」 (Hind)
She’s the devil, the devil is here.
Abusing women’s weapons…her male classmates should also take a better look at her and notice.
It’s so obvious.
「…? Hmm?」 (Siesta)
「Oh? What’s wrong?」 (Hind)
Siesta-chan suddenly shifted her gaze to a place where there was nothing.
While I was confused by her actions, she sluggishly stood up and bowed her small head.
「Well then, it’s about time I slept for real. Senpai, see you again.」 (Siesta)
「O-Oh, that was quite sudden. Eh…good night.」 (Hind)
「Yes. Good night.」 (Siesta)
Leaving those words behind, she logged out while waving her hand.
Her actions left some questions behind…but oh well.
Since I was alone now, I concentrated on sewing.
I believe it was five minutes after that?
Since I heard calm steps, I raised my head and saw Riizu who had logged in and she sat down next to me.
She removed her hat and placed it on top of her lap.
「Hind-san.」 (Riizu)
「Oh. How did it go? Marking your own tests.」 (Hind)
The reason Rise took longer than me to log in was because she was marking the trial tests on her own room.
She would take out the parts that she didn’t get right…and guess what her grade was roughly.
「Yes. There weren’t many issues with them.」 (Riizu)
When she says that there weren’t any issues, she meant that she got perfect marks after all…she’s too good, she doesn’t have any competition at this point.
There was a period of time where I was burning with competitiveness against my little sister, but I was no match for her.
Right now, I’m just a brother that’s trying to help his little sister in her path of pursuing knowledge.
Hang in there Rise…you are number one.
「I see, glad to hear that. Good work.」 (Hind)
「Ah…fufu…」 (Riizu)
I lightly placed my hand on top of her head without reservation, in order to hide her bashfulness she concealed her face with her hat.
Like that, she proceed to bring her body closer.
Just when I was thinking that it was fine to let her do it just for today, Riizu brought her face really close to mine and glared at me intensely.
「…Hind-san.」 (Riizu)
「W-What is it?」 (Hind)
「There’s the smell of another woman coming from Hind-san’s body.」 (Riizu)
「What!?」 (Hind)
Riizu, who had said something really weird, suddenly started to draw her nose to my surroundings.
It’s true that until just a while ago Siesta-chan was close to me, but would that have left any remains of her scent…?
「Kunkun…especially around the area of these thighs…」 (Riizu)
「Eh!?」 (Hind)
Are you a dog!? You have got to be kidding me…how was she able to tell?
It’s not like I was guilty of anything and there was no need to hide it, there was no need…but my sixth-sense rang the alarm bells and told me that I shouldn’t say anything about it.
The current Riizu’s eyes had lost all their light and they already looked as if you were peering into the abyss. It was scary.
In accordance with my sixth-sense, I took out the accessory from my inventory and forcibly put it on Riizu’s neck.
Due to my sudden movement, Riizu’s eyes showed surprise and she came back to her senses.
「T-This is?」 (Riizu)
「R-Remember? I did make a promise at the start of the event, right? That in exchange for aiming for the event rankings for Yumir, I would make an accessory for Riizu.」 (Hind)
「You remembered…? Oh, it’s lovely…」 (Riizu)
Since her mage clothes were plain, I chose a tortoiseshell with as bright a color as possible to make a necklace.
The color was translucent, it was crimson with a bit of amber and dark brown mixed into it to give form to a unique shade.
I thought about making a hair ornament, but I had the fear that it would get hidden once she wore the hat so I settled for the safe choice which was the necklace.
Performance wise, it was a first-rate +1 and it increased magic attack by +15, perfect for a mage.
「Thank you very much!」 (Riizu)
「Was it satisfactory?」 (Hind)
「Yes!」 (Riizu)
I’m glad.
Since her expression had brightened up, I felt a sense of relief once light returned to her eyes.
Now that Riizu had placed the necklace on her hand and was gazing at it, I should get back to my sewing-
「However, this and that are different matters you know?」 (Riizu)
「Eh…」 (Hind)
「Right?」 (Riizu)
「…Yes…」 (Hind)
After that, for a short while, Riizu clung onto me and wouldn’t let go.
At that, it was also in the same posture as Siesta-chan…that is to say, this was the second lap pillow of the day.
The pretext was probably to stay like that until she overwrites the previous smell I guess.
As a result, I stayed sitting down on the bench like that until Yumir logged in, snapped, and tore her off me.
Because of this, it goes without saying that my legs went numb again…