“Nhghh…” Too heavy… What’s going on? It’s like a weight pressing down on my belly. Crushing me… Is this the weight of responsibility?

  “Munya munya~” Probably not… The pain caused me to slowly open my eyes when I heard someone’s sleepy groans coming from under the sheets.

  What’s going on?! What do you think you’re doing?!

  I wanted to open up with a line like that while pulling the sheets back dramatically, but the weight bearing down on me was draining my strength.

  “What’s… going on…?” All I could manage was to croak out some words. I had to use all my strength just to be able to move my arms. “Sa- Sarasa?”

  “Hm…?” I pulled the sheets back, and the mystery was solved. The force weighing down on me was not responsibility but my lovely girlfriend. Or ‘this idiotic catgirl,’ as felt more appropriate to call her right now. She was curled up into a ball while using my bare belly as a pillow. I can see myself being happy with this under different circumstances, but right now… It really hurts!

  “Ngh!” A glimmer of light entered the room through a window, and with the sheets down, illuminated Sarasa’s face. She was woken up by the brightness of the morning and shifted around before stretching. A big stretch without a care in the world.

  “Iroha?” She finally noticed me when she opened her eyes. A silly smile formed on her lips. “Good morning!”

  “At my expense, I bet it is.”

  “Huh?” My response and our different orientations helped her realize something was wrong. She turned her head and finally realized who her pillow was. “So this is why my head felt so nice…” With newfound appreciation for her pillow, she rubbed her cheeks back and forth on my belly.

  “Hey! I appreciate the appreciation, but get up! You’re hurting me!” I put all my strength into my legs and managed to get out from under her and sit up.

  “*Sigh…* Over already?” Sarasa laid flat for a second before getting on her knees. “Nyahahaha! At least today’s off to a good start, right?”

  “A good start?” Even without the weight on me anymore, the weird sensation didn’t go away. It’s like my organs are all out of place thanks to her head. “I don’t know… I feel like I have taken some permanent damage.”

  “No way, no way… Hm?!” She laughed before a stark possibility crossed her mind. “Permanent damage to the belly…? Does that mean you can’t bear my children anymore?!”

  Anymore? “Ahahaha… I have some bad news for you, Sarasa…” The small chuckle made me feel a bit better when suddenly…

  *Knock knock knock.*

  Sarasa and I looked at each other. “Di- did you pay for room service?” In response, Sarasa shook her head.

  “Iroha?” From the other side of the door, I heard a familiar voice. The voice of a very important someone. “It’s me. Can you open the door? Or I can have Flanne break it open if you’d prefer.” It was Beatrize…

  “Flanne’s here? Haven’t seen her in a while… Wonder what she’s up to…?” Wh- what an absolute idiot!

  “That’s the princess out there, you idiot! Flanne’s escorting her!” Sarasa spent a lot of time with Flanne in Rocky Ridges, but she hasn’t been around as much since we got to Ebrilyon. She’s well informed, so I’m sure she already knows about her working for the princess. However, she hasn’t met Bea yet. She doesn’t recognize her voice.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Put on some clothes already! Fast! Sounds like she’s ready to have Flanne break the door down!” I jumped out of bed in a hurry and reached for my dress. Sarasa finally realized the urgency of the situation and did the same.

  “Coming!” We got ready as quickly as possible, and I opened the door.

  “Good morning, Iroha. Sorry for showing up so early and unannounced. Though, this shouldn’t be something you’re unfamiliar with.” Is she talking about when I showed up with Galene? Very funny…

  “It’s fine… What are you doing here?” Bea showed up with Flanne behind her. I got out of the way and let them in.

  “I heard what happened during the quest with Galene and wanted to have a word with you.” The two of them casually stepped inside when Bea finally noticed Sarasa. “Oh… You’re with someone else here.” She took up a polite pose. “Are you the one Flanne befriended in Rocky Ridges? Sarasa? It’s nice to meet you.”

  Sarasa dramatically moved so she’d be right in front of Bea. With precise movements, almost like dance moves, she put one foot forward, extended one arm, and bowed with the other over her chest.

  “No… The pleasure’s all mine, your highness.” She immediately sucked up to her. “Consider me at your command. Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “Hate to burst your bubble, but you don’t have to act like that.” She had a forced, serious smile on her face that made her simultaneously handsome and ridiculous. I couldn’t bear it. “If she heard of you through Flanne, she already knows how much of a troublemaker you are.”

  “Ahh! No way!” She was shocked. “What about my premium contracts?!” Her eyes turned to Flanne and pressed her for an explanation.

  “All I did was report the facts truthfully.” Flanne calmly replied. “Any conclusions the princess arrived at are not my responsibility.”

  “Gahh!” She fell to her knees. “It’s over…”

  Bea couldn’t help but giggle. “Don’t worry… Flanne’s reports painted you in a positive light. I have a reasonably okay opinion of you.” Light returned to Sarasa’s eyes. “But I need to know what you’re doing here. I didn’t plan to involve anyone other than Iroha in this…”

  “Sh- she’s not causing any problems! It was a bit of a coincidence that we met, so let’s not talk about it. Okay?”

  “Hmm… If you say so... I’ll take your word for it, Iroha.” Whew… Just saved her from getting beheaded…

  “Thanks… What did you wanna talk about? Sarasa will hear, but don’t mind her.”

  “I received some news of what happened at the village you and Galene went to. I was right, wasn’t I? There was more at play there than met eye.” Bea seemed a little proud, and I wanted to do nothing but praise her.

  “Princess… Someone in your position cannot afford to be fueling conspiracy theories… Surely what happened was just a misunderstand-”

  “No… Bea’s hunch was right.” I interrupted Flanne. “What happened yesterday is completely absurd. I’m not sure how much, but a lot of it was planned by someone.”

  “It involved Galene after all.” Sarasa wasn’t meant to be here, but she insisted on chiming in. “Lots of people trying to mess with her…”

  “That’s right, but…” Bea shot her an intimidating glance. “Why do you know about that?”

  “I- I’m just good at knowing what’s happening in the world. I’m friends with a lot of people! Nyahahaha…” She panicked. Sarasa… Why couldn’t you just stay quiet? “Either way, when did it start? What part of yesterday was planned?” Her eyes shone with excitement.

  “Why are you so into this?” Does she like conspiracies and stuff? “Probably everything from the very beginning. This whole quest they had Bea give Galene is a complete sham, right?” I looked to Bea.

  “That was my first impression. I’m surprised you got to the same conclusion.” Bea smiled, pleased. “But let’s not draw any conclusions just yet. I’ve heard the gist of it, but I wanna hear the details from the ones who were there.” Ones?

  “Well… Here’s how things went… For the record, it wasn’t our fault!”

  I told her what happened yesterday, starting with the villagers. The quest wanted Galene to save a village under attack by exterminating the monsters nearby, but the village was peaceful. The villagers knew nothing about the attacks.

  Then, the wolves, the so-called monsters, which were actually just normal animals. It didn’t take an expert to know the difference… Not to the people of this world, at least. How could they make such a simple mistake?

  Finally, about the wolves that attacked the village. Undead wolves. Actual monsters. Even weirder, there was a big evacuation before the attack.

  “This is…” Bea had to think for a moment. “More complicated than I thought… That evacuation is really weird… Lying about the wolves and getting monsters to attack a village are both things I can see someone doing to target Galene, but the evacuation… Why? What’s their goal?”

  “I wish I knew… Now Galene’s mad at me for some reason. I was the one who pointed out the wolves were animals, so we shouldn’t kill them. Then she blamed me when the village got attacked. She might not even trust you anymore either.”

  Was it Thivadi? Someone else? If I find the one who’s behind this, I swear I’ll make them pay…

  “Trust… If the one behind this is a demon, that would explain a lot. If Galene stops trusting humans, it will be a lot easier for them to do things in our lands.”

  “Well, let’s stop here today.” Bea relaxed with a small sigh. “You two have done well. You can leave the rest to us. We’ll try to reach Galene and clear things up with her.” She gave a small nod to Flanne. When she turned around, Flanne reached the door first and opened it for her. “It’s still early, so we’ll let you go have breakfast now. Until next time. Or you can go back to whatever debauchery you were up to.”

  “Huh?! It’s not like that!” I tried to explain, but the door closed. Last thing I saw was Bea smirking. She is too naughty for a princess… Maybe Ebrilyon needs a revolution after all…

  “Right right…” We were left behind. Sarasa crossed her arms and nodded in agreement. “We were just talking about making babies. Nothing weird about that, right?”

  “What are you saying? You’re the one who said that. Don’t drag me down with you.”

  “Nyahahahaha!” When I glared at her, she broke out into laughter. “Well, quest completed! In a roundabout way… What do we do now? Wanna get breakfast before heading back?” With fast-travel, we could return to Ebrilyon in no time. “We can even go on a date afterwards! Or we can look for Ririna to pester her.”

  “A date… Now that’s an idea… You’re not so bad when you actually try.” I patted her for a moment, and she smiled. “But… I have a different idea…” With her personality… I can probably say it casually and act like it’s nothing… It will cheer us up too after yesterday’s failure. “Sarasa…”

  “Wanna visit my world instead?”