Chapter 4: Welcome, Cat-Ears-san

I made up my mind. This feeling I’ve kept hidden in my heart… I have to tell Master.

Straightening my posture while still sitting beside him on the sofa, I gaze at my Master intently.

“Master, I have a request.”

I throw in my ultimate weapon—puppy-dog eyes. Clinging to his chest, I look up at him with moist, glistening eyes and lean in closer.

Judging from the slight flinch in his expression, it’s working perfectly. Time to push forward.

“A-Ah, what is it? Let’s hear it.”

My Master always spoils me in the end. I doubt he’ll shoot me down harshly. Seizing the moment, I stare at him with tearful eyes and plead with all my might.

“Please… Buy a new slave!!”

It’s been three days since the nightmare of the gacha incident, and I’ve done my absolute best. I really, really did my best.

But—I’ve hit my limit.

How bad is it? I’ve barely been able to move from the bed for the past three days. Not even kidding.

Even now, my legs are trembling, and I can’t walk properly. Just crawling from the bed to the sofa took a tearful amount of effort.

At this rate, I’m going to die on top of him—not as a joke, but as a real crisis.

There are only two ways to fix this: he either finds a woman outside, or he buys a new slave.

But considering his personality, the former is pretty unlikely. Plus, getting involved with outside women would only complicate things.

That said, this world has only recently reached a level of civilization where the idea of “cleanliness” is finally starting to take hold.

Which means, if he goes to a brothel, I’m in danger by association. STDs are terrifying. Even on modern Earth, with advanced medicine, they’re a serious threat—so my concern is completely justified here.

That leaves the most direct and least troublesome option: purchasing a new slave.

If Master starts doting on a new slave, my burden will be lifted. It’s a win-win. That’s why I mustered the courage to propose it.

“A slave… Why would I do that again?”

Huh? He sounds a little grumpy… Odd, considering how he usually seems pretty enthusiastic about the whole harem idea.

“At this rate, my body won’t last. I’m not joking—I’ll die.”

But I can’t back down now. My sensitive areas are in serious danger. Just because he’s in a slightly bad mood doesn’t mean I can retreat.

This sadist doesn’t understand how terrifying his sex maniac skill really is.

He treats it like some kind of comedy routine, but it’s honestly insane. It’s exactly what the name implies—bottomless stamina.

Just when I think it’s finally over, he’s ready for the next round. From the receiving end, it’s a never-ending Requiem of suffering.

“I mean… I thought I was being pretty gentle. It’s really that bad?”

“How on earth was that gentle!? Look up the definition of ‘gentle’ in a dictionary—please!”

He makes me cry, scream, apologize, and doesn’t stop until I pass out. This bastard! I’m at the edge—mentally and physically.

Even if my body could take it, my mind is going to snap. He seriously needs to understand the difference in stamina here.

I’m not one of those lewd elves from adult comics, you know…

“I’m not sleeping—I’m blacking out! Fainting, literally! If you always knock me unconscious before I fall asleep, that’s not normal! Just yesterday, I was honestly prepared for the possibility I wouldn’t wake up today!”

“Ah… yeah, okay, well… I guess if Sora dies on me, that’d be bad… I’ll go check with the slave dealer later…”

“Thank you! Really, thank you so much!”

Tearful persuasion won him over in the end. Though reluctant, Master finally agreed.

He'll keep his promise, so for now, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Ahh… thank goodness. Looks like I’ll live to see another day.

“So you're Shuuya-sama’s number one slave, huh.”

So, Master went out around noon to visit the slave trader. By early afternoon, he returned home with a new slave girl—one with cat ears.

From my point of view, she’s a precious… a potential comrade-in-suffering. So of course I greeted her with a warm smile.

But! The moment Master stepped back out to buy some daily necessities, leaving the cat-eared girl alone with me, she looked down at me with cold eyes and started acting like this.

She looks about fifteen. Her hair, ears, and tail are all a dark chestnut color, and her eyes are green.

She’s more on the beautiful side than cute, and her chest has some serious firepower. She’s at least a full head and a half taller than me. Compared to Master, she’s about half a head shorter… and no, don’t you dare start calculating anything.

When she was with Master, she seemed pretty timid and quiet—but this is her true nature, huh? Looks like she was just wearing a cat mask… fitting, since she’s got actual cat ears. Not that I’m laughing.

Our Master is a perverted brute who uses my immature body for his nightly fun, but in spite of that, he’s also fairly rich and good-looking, even by our standards.

Not to mention, he’s a promising adventurer whose name is starting to get noticed in all sorts of places.

Word of him has even started spreading around this town, so I’m sure the cat-eared girl’s heard plenty from the toad-like slave trader.

Like maybe… “If you manage to become his number one slave, you can live like a noble lady” or something along those lines.

Honestly, our lifestyle is pretty high up by commoner standards. It might even scrape the bottom rung of nobility.

“You must’ve worked hard with that scrawny body, but from today on, I’m the one getting pampered!”

She declared this while shaking her chest with pride, probably thinking my silence meant she’d won. Women are scary, aren’t they?

But I’m not shaken. By all means, go right ahead. Be my guest.

As long as I get fed and don’t starve, that’s good enough for me. And if she’s really as confident as she looks, maybe it is okay to let her handle the bedroom duty from now on.

Of course, I still need to lay some groundwork to make sure I don’t get tossed aside completely, but having someone else take over the hardest, most painful part? That’s huge.

This world’s civilization level is kind of like Earth’s late medieval to early modern era. Thanks to magic, it’s not quite ancient history tier, though.

Even so, this house has heating, cooling, and even a refrigerator. And Master earns a pretty decent income.

Like I said earlier, it’s not extravagant, but compared to ordinary folks, we get to eat hearty, high-quality meals every day.

If I got kicked out or sold off again now, I wouldn’t survive—physically or emotionally. If I want to live, I have to cling to Master. Laugh if you want—I’m a spoiled, useless elf now.

ahem Anyway, let’s just let her handle tonight’s service.

Master may be a degenerate perv, but he’s not a bad person. And while his idea of “kindness” is… off, it’s not completely wrong. So I probably don’t need to worry about her safety.

I may still get summoned now and then, but a guy’s bound to prefer someone with more curves than my pitiful body.

If, over time, Master starts choosing her over me more often, then the plan will be a success. I may have the heart of a boy, but I’ve never been okay with this nightly routine, just so we’re clear.

Getting used to something and wanting it are two very different things.

That’s why I’m really counting on her. I’ll cheer her on wholeheartedly!

“Do your best, okay? I’m rooting for you!”

“Huh? Uh, yeah—I mean, I will do my best! Not that I needed you to tell me that!”

Wait… was that just my imagination, or…?

"You both look great. Truly a feast for the eyes."

"Hehe."

"……"

By evening, Master returned home with various items and clothes for the girl (her name turned out to be Lulu-chan).

Why are our maid uniforms matching? What kind of petty harassment is this? Is this some twisted plan to make us compare bust sizes and humiliate me?

Too bad for you—my personality is male. Tactics like this don’t affect me in the slightest. Even if there’s an indecently bouncing pair of cat ears and boobs right next to me, it means nothing to me.

…Goddammit.

Lulu-chan, dressed just like me, looked at my chest and gave me a smug little grin. I helped clean her up using the hot water we prepared, helped her get dressed, and then, as she tried to provoke me with her trembling little voice, I shoved her right into Master's room.

I brushed off the two pairs of hands trying to stop me—pretty forcefully, I might add—and told them plainly, "Well then, tonight’s all yours!" With that, I wrapped up the dinner cleanup and household chores. Mission accomplished. Good job, me.

Now, time for bed… except, I don’t have one. My room still doesn’t have a bed. No matter how many times I say “just let me sleep with you,” he still won’t buy me a personal bed.

It’s not even about the money at this point. One day I’ll convince him. But tonight, there’s nothing to be done.

Oh well, guess I’ll sleep on the sofa in my room. It’s reasonably soft, at least. And just not having that beast beside me makes it feel like I can sleep more peacefully than usual.

Sleeping alone for the first time in a while… Ahh, today and tomorrow are bound to be peaceful, calm days. Good night!

"NnyaaaaAAAAHH!? Nya—nyAAAAAAHH!! H-Help—! Heeelp meeeee!!"

…Let me sleep, will you?

What the hell is that sadist doing in there? Wasn’t this her first time? Does he not understand what “taking it easy” means…?

I jolted upright and burst into Master’s bedroom. Lulu-chan went in there… probably about two hours ago?

As I flung open the door to the bedroom—filled with increasingly frantic and wholly unbroadcastable sounds—I shouted:

"What are you doing to make her scream like that!? Are you okay!?"

"Whoa!? Wh-What the—oh, it’s just Sora."

There I found Lulu-chan, in a state far beyond description. With tears brimming in her eyes, she looked straight at me as I burst in. Slowly, her trembling hand reached out toward me.

"H-Help… meee…"

Uhhh… I mean, she was acting so confident earlier. I really wanted her to hold out a little longer.

But… she looks just like I did, back when no one helped me.

Leaving her like this would honestly hurt too much. And if she really got pushed all the way, no doubt she’d be utterly broken.

Ahh, if only I had the strength to turn my back on others.

"…Gghhh… I-It’s the senior’s job to protect the newbie from the pervert boss, after all!"

"A-Auuh… Senpaaaiii…"

"…Why does it feel like I’m being painted as the villain here…?"

To anyone with functioning eyes, you are obviously the villain, you goddamned Magical Excalibur!

Today’s the day I snap that thing in two!

◇◆ADVENTURE　RESULT◆◇
【EXP】
MAX Combo 7
BATTLE TOTAL 10
◆【Sora Lv.3】+7
◆【Lulu Lv.0】+3
◇―
◇―
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Sora Lv.3[35] → Lv.4[42] LevelUp!!
Lulu Lv.0[0] → Lv.1[3] LevelUp!!
【RECORD】
[MAX COMBO]>>12
[MAX HIT]>>16
【PARTY】
[Shuya][Lv24] HP291/291 MP480/480 [Normal]
[Sora][Lv4] HP2/17 MP30/30 [Normal]
[Lulu][Lv1] HP14/272 MP22/22 [Normal]
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
【Comment】
"Nyaa… nyaaaah… sniff, sniff…"
"There, there… you were scared… weren’t you…? It’s okay now… you’re safe… zzz…"