Gluttony Demon King with the Swampman ~A Man with No Magic Power Who Dreamed of Magic, Wielding Knowledge from His Past Life Through Steady Research and Hard Work to Become the Most Vicious Final Boss~ - Chapter 35: The Duke’s Daughters Want a Date Too

Chapter 35: The Duke’s Daughters Want a Date Too

I’m not used to crowds.

Walking for a long time makes me feel sick.

But that doesn’t mean I hate it. The lively streets of Dura always feel good just to look at.

I weave through the least crowded routes while strolling the open-air market with Noiche.

“Haro, you keep wobbling.”

“Sorry, as always.”

“It’s fine.”

Whenever my steps falter, Noiche steadies me from the side.

It’s partly the crowd making me dizzy, but mostly because losing my whole right arm threw off my balance.

The people I live with help me with all sorts of things.

…Though I really wish they’d stop deliberately pressing my face into their chests.

She supports my body, then pins the back of my head with her palm and buries my face straight into soft, overflowing breasts. She’s wearing underwear, yet the sheer size makes the top spill out generously.

When I pull away, Noiche looks reluctant to let go. I ignore it and move on.

“Guess I should design a prosthetic arm sooner or later…”

If I use Ink as a substitute arm, daily tasks are no problem at all… but it affects both my posture and my appearance.

A child missing an arm stands out. Ever since earlier, passersby keep doing double-takes at me. It doesn’t feel great.

…Well, whatever. I’ll think about it later.

For now, I’ll just enjoy this walk.

The stalls sell more than just food.

There are accessories, clothes, and since this is a city full of adventurers, weapons, armor, and monster materials line the streets everywhere.

What personally catches my eye are books.

In this world, learning magic is directly tied to quality of life, so people have to study chants, rituals, spell formulas, and magic circles. Because of that, paper-making and printing technology are highly advanced. Literacy rates and newspapers have grown along with them.

Reading is common entertainment.

At the used-book markets held all over, you can find plenty of magic guides and stories aimed at ordinary people.

“Want them? I can buy everything.”

“No way. Don’t try to crash the market.”

The shopkeepers would be thrilled, but that would ruin the whole atmosphere.

I buy a few books that interest me with my own money.

Thanks to the ice dragon and the Sword Demon King, my wallet is actually pretty full even without Noiche treating me.

A simple spell guide for everyday use, fun retellings of monster legends from various regions, and since it’s topical, one story about Demon Kings and heroes.

“The most recent Demon King was a hundred years ago. That’s not actually that long ago.”

I flip through the pages as I stand there.

A hundred years. Even without elven lifespans, there could still be humans alive today who were around back then.

“…Haro, you’re surprisingly out of touch with the world? I thought everyone knew the Demon King and hero stories.”

“I admit my knowledge is uneven.”

There were plenty of magic books back home, but anything else was hard to get. I never had a tutor, and I basically had no one to talk to.

While I stand in a corner of the used-book market reading, Noiche hugs me tightly from behind and bends forward to peek at the pages over my shoulder.

Soft. In all sorts of ways.

A heavy weight presses against the back of my neck.

“Demon Kings appear roughly once every hundred years. Each time, a hero kills the Demon King.”

A hero is someone with the qualities to slay a Demon King.

Sometimes the quality awakens in a seasoned warrior, sometimes it suddenly appears in an ordinary farmer who’s lived a normal life until then.

The principle behind it is still unknown.

“Do heroes always win?”

“No one knows. Most heroes live out their natural lifespan, but there are exceptions—like when multiple Demon Kings appear at once.”

…Multiple?

I remember. The current rumors say seven pillars of Demon Kings are about to be born, right?

“There are a few records of multiple Demon Kings appearing simultaneously, and the damage was always catastrophic. The kingdom was stretched thin handling everything, aid to the heroes didn’t arrive in time, and… there are cases where heroes died.”

“Huh.”

That’s harsh.

“In those cases, what happened? Did they defeat the Demon Kings without heroes?”

“No. I think the remaining heroes just took down two or more Demon Kings each. A hero appears for every Demon King that shows up.”

What the hell.

So Demon Kings and heroes are one-to-one?

Then this time, with seven pillars appearing… that means seven heroes too?

“Yep. Six have already been found, I think. Half of them were identified by big brother.”

“Oh, right. House Levi is originally an astrology family.”

I sometimes forget because Zaria and Noiche are combat mages, but the true essence of celestial magic is future sight through astrology. Its real value shines in state affairs.

…Finding three hidden heroes among the common folk is insane accuracy. Noiche’s brother must be an extraordinary astrologer.

While I’m thinking that, Noiche suddenly tightens her arms.

“…Haro, what about our date?”

“I forgot.”

She scolds me by pressing her chest harder against the back of my head for getting absorbed in talk of heroes.

I apologize, stuff the books into Noiche’s pouch, and we start walking again.

There’s plenty more fun stuff besides old books.

Delicious smells drift from everywhere. Eating while walking sounds great right now.

“Ink, want some fruit?”

I pick out some sugar-glazed fruits hanging by strings from a stall’s ceiling. These are for Ink.

Noiche stares at me from the side.

Still expressionless, but this gaze definitely means “Don’t I get anything?”

…Guess I should buy her something.

Presents for girls are usually accessories, but those can interfere with magic depending on the item.

Clothes—especially loungewear worn inside the house—might be safe.

“Noiche, um… is there anything you’d like to wear?”

“…What kind of question is that?”

Yeah, I think so too.

“You’ll buy it for me?”

That’s the plan, at least.

When I nod, Noiche’s eyes sparkle.

…But she’s nobility. I can’t exactly make her wear cheap stall clothes.

When I ask if she knows a good clothing store, she thinks for a moment and leads the way.

She pulls me by the hand to a slightly upscale-looking shop tucked deep in a back alley.

Even with the shop staff watching, Noiche stays glued to me and whispers thinly in my ear.

“Then please choose. For me and Zaria too.”

“Well, that was the idea…”

I don’t want to play favorites with just Noiche, so I plan to get something for Egiy as well—three sets in total.

I have no idea if I’ll pick anything that suits them.

“It’s okay, it’s not hard. Zaria and I have the same height and chest size.”

That actually makes it harder.

There’s no way I know your exact chest measurements.

“…You don’t remember our sizes? Even though we’ve bathed together so many times?”

She says something ridiculous.

Noiche narrows her eyes as if exasperated, then says “Fine” and slips a finger into her shirt collar.

She undoes one button and—zrrp, zrrrp—pulls out a massive, warm, freshly-worn bra.

“…!?”

“Here, this is the size.”

She dangles the enormous thing right in front of my eyes.

It’s h-huge— I barely stop the word from slipping out.

Noiche calmly shows me her underwear, then grabs my chin when I instinctively try to look away.

—S-strong.

Thanks to physical enhancement magic I can’t use, Noiche can exert strength that rivals even giant men.

A faint sweet scent wafts over.

A modest, refined perfume mixed with the inherent peachy sweetness of a woman.

“Pick whichever you like. Which one do you want us to wear? Which one do you want to sleep next to us in?”

Her face is blank, but her voice carries a grinning undertone.

She presses my head deeper into her now-unrestrained, even softer, jiggling chest while picking up several items.

All of them are revealing—

Thin, sheer nightgowns, the kind called negligees.

I finally can’t take it anymore; my hips start trembling.

Noiche instantly notices.

“…Ah, you reacted. You like this one.”

She happily grabs three copies of the one that got the strongest reaction—basically just fancy underwear.

She decides to buy them, and we leave the store.

I’m in a completely weird mood.

I never thought I’d be dragged into this kind of perverted shopping.

“You’re paying…?”

“Of course I’m paying. You chose them for me, Haro.”

I walked in planning to treat her, yet she paid without discussion.

It’s not like I actually chose anything. She just asked my lower half directly.

She supports my wobbling steps from the side again.

“You’re tired. Shall we head home?”

I nod pathetically at her worried words.

That was when it happened.

A faint scream came from the main street.