I Was Nearly Killed by My Fellow A-Rank Party, but Now I Fed a Nine-Tailed Fox Deep in the Dungeon. ~ “My Master, I Shall Never Leave Your Side for All Eternity,” the Legendary Monsters Said While Doting on Me. Before I Knew It, I Had Become the World’s Strongest Lord of the Demon Realm~

Let’s All Get in the Hot Spring Together!

“I’m totally wiped out… no way I can make it back to town now. Can I crash here～?”

As soon as Mike set his sword down, he collapsed right in the middle of Mayohiga’s living room.

“Of course! Mike, seriously, thanks for everything today! And you even carried me on your back when you were dead tired… I actually got some energy back because of you.”

“Kuon-kun is always super welcome here～”

The moment she said that, Mike’s face suddenly went pale like he’d just remembered something awful.

“S-sorry! I was running around all day, so I probably stink like crazy from sweat…”

“Not at all, it wasn’t like that.”

“Ugh… you’re just being nice. Got any towels? I really wanna wipe myself down.”

When Mike said that, Tamamo clapped her hands like a lightbulb had gone off in her head.

“Alright everyone, come this way.”

She led us around to the back of Mayohiga.

There was this huge empty pool-like spot with no water in it.

Tamamo twitched her beast ears, listening carefully.

“Hmm, it doesn’t look dried up. Kuon, could you punch the ground right there while pouring in some youki?”

“Punch the ground? Got it, here goes!”

I did exactly what Tamamo said, slamming my fist into the earth with youki packed in.

Suddenly the ground cracked open and a geyser shot straight up.

“Whoa, what is this, what is this!?”

“Careful, it looks way too hot. Yukime, cool it down so nobody gets burned.”

“Understood!”

Yukime waved her hands and sent a stream of cold air to chill the boiling geyser.

“Is this… wait, is this a hot spring?”

“Exactly. Hmm, with this kind of flow, it feels like there’s even more water than back in the old days.”

“W-wait, does that mean we can actually get in a hot spring!?”

Mike’s eyes sparkled like crazy.

“Nurara. Use your wall-making youjutsu to build a big, wide bath for us. Yukime, make an ice channel so the hot spring water cools down on the way and fills the bath at the perfect temperature.”

“Got it!”

“I’ll do my best to match the hard work Nine-Tails-sama put in today.”

Thanks to the two of them, a beautiful hot spring was ready in no time flat.

“Nurara, the main spring is still shooting out, so block it again with your wall for now.”

“Yes!”

“Wow… we actually made a hot spring. And man, looking at it this way, Nurara’s power is seriously convenient.”

“Let’s all get in together!”

Suzu said it so innocently, but obviously the only guy here is me…

“I’ll go in later, so you girls go ahead and enjoy it first.”

“In that case, I shall join Kuon later as well.”

“Nurara!? Then… um, I’ll join you later too…”

“Nurara, you can’t come in with me. You’re a girl, remember?”

“Khh, I really wanna get in, but being treated like a girl by Kuon-san makes me so happy… what do I dooo!?”

Leaving behind Tamamo, who could turn into a boy, and me, everyone else slipped into the hot spring.

“Haa～… this feels amazing, total paradise～… like a dream.”

“Nuraraaa… I only ever took cold baths before, so this is heavenly.”

“Yay! It’s so huge! Big enough to swim in!”

“How’s the temperature? If it’s too hot I can tweak it.”

“No no, Yukime-san, it’s perfect. Haaah, I feel like I’m melting away…”

Back in Mayohiga’s living room, Tamamo was using youjutsu to turn her own tail fur into towels, pajamas, and fluffy futons for everyone.

Right beside her I lit up some foxfire and started cooking dinner for the whole group.

“Seriously, youkai transformation is so handy.”

“Mm-hmm, and we get to eat Kuon’s amazing food too. Mike’s definitely gonna love this.”

“You’re still not giving up on making Mike join us, huh?”

“You saw it too, right? That strength of his. It’d be a total waste to let talent like that rot in a place like that.”

“…Truth is, I don’t think Mike could ever be happy staying there either. I even caught some other guild staff bullying him during work…”

“He’s got really low self-esteem. He talks about wanting to slack off, but deep down he’s way too serious.”

Tamamo made a sneaky little grin.

“But Kuon, I’ve got a secret plan. Tonight I’m definitely gonna make Mike fall for us and join the team, just watch.”

The Protagonist Gets Harassed Like Crazy

“Yaaay～, this feels so good! I’m seriously in dreamland right now～”

Wearing the thin yukata Tamamo had made, Mike was sitting on the veranda with Suzu and Nurara, all warm and steamy from the hot spring, letting out happy little puffs of vapor.

Yukime had apparently gotten her own separate bath tub made next to them and turned the hot spring into a cold plunge pool.

“The bath was amazing. While you girls were soaking, I got dinner all ready in the living room, so let’s eat together.”

When Tamamo and I came out of the spring and joined them, we all headed inside.

The table was covered with all kinds of dishes I’d made to thank everyone, and Tamamo had cast a youjutsu on them so they wouldn’t get cold.

The moment they saw the colorful spread, everyone let out cheers.

“Wow～! Kuon-kun’s cooking again!? This is the best!”

“It’s a feast～! Before I met big brother Kuon, I could barely even find food…”

“Nurara～, I only ever ate nuts and stuff, so this makes me so happy!”

“I always thought plain ice was enough… but thanks to Kuon, regular ice just doesn’t cut it anymore.”

Once everyone was seated, I sat right next to Mike exactly like Tamamo had told me to earlier.

Tamamo took the seat on his other side, sandwiching him between us.

“After all, the biggest hero today is Mike! He came dashing in to save us, chopped off five whole heads of Yamata no Orochi, and even helped deliver the final blow to Sukuna!”

When Tamamo started praising him like that, Mike scratched the back of his head looking all shy.

“Ahaha, I’m glad I could help.”

“Alright alright, let me treat you myself. Here, you like this kind too, right?”

Tamamo handed Mike a little sake cup and grabbed a full tokkuri.

It was the huge stash of alcohol I’d bought back in Looseworth when Tamamo asked me to.

She’d probably been planning to get Mike drunk ever since then.

Mike stared at the cup, swallowed hard, and his throat bobbed.

“N-no no… I’m fine with alcohol. The food alone is more than enough――”

“Come on, it’s okay. Right, Kuon? You said you wanted Mike to have a drink too, didn’t you?”

“Eh, Kuon-kun did?”

“Y-yeah… You worked really hard today, Mike. It’s fine to let loose just this once, right?”

When I played along, Mike couldn’t hide how happy he was and shyly held his cup out to Tamamo.

“O-okay then… maybe just one cup… It’d be rude not to drink at all.”

“That’s the spirit, holding back is bad for the body～. Kuon even said that youkai who can hold their liquor look really cool.”

“D-did I say that…? Ahaha.”

And just like that, Mike drank the sake Tamamo poured for him…

――One hour later.

“Ehehe～, I looove you Kuon-kun～!”

I was getting hugged tight and nuzzled by a completely wasted Mike.

(Mike… so once he starts drinking, he totally loses all brakes…)

There were already five empty tokkuri scattered around him.

He’d said “just one cup,” but Tamamo kept offering and he’d ended up drinking a ton.

His thin yukata was all messed up, and it was getting really hard to know where to look.

“Uhehe, Kuon-kun. Your face is all red and super cute～. You got all embarrassed when I took my skirt off earlier too～”

“Y-your underwear was showing…”

“I’m so glad I wore my cute undies～. Oh wait, it was dark and through tights, so maybe you couldn’t see well? Hold on, I’ll show you right now.”

“Y-you don’t have to show me! Actually, right now a bunch of stuff is already kinda visible, so please be careful.”

“Ah, sorry～, turns out I’m not wearing anything right now～. Ahaha～”

Yukime watched me getting manhandled by Mike with a stiff, twitching smile, while Tamamo had this super satisfied “just as planned” look on her face.

“Mm-hmm, just like the rumors said.”

“What rumors?”

“Apparently Mike is a favorite of the great youkai Shuten-douji, and the reason is ‘he got drunk at a drinking party and straight-up punched Shuten-douji.'”

“He punched the great youkai Lord Shuten-douji!?”

“Yep. Everyone around them froze in shock, but Shuten-douji looked thrilled. Mike himself doesn’t seem to remember much of it, though.”

“So that’s why you knew he loves alcohol… and that he’d cause a scene.”

Watching Mike press his whole body against me and gently nibble my ear, Yukime whispered to Tamamo.

“But… is this really okay?”

“About what?”

“Kuon belongs to Nine-Tails-sama, yet Mike is doing whatever he wants.”

“Hmm, Yukime, you’ve got it backwards. It’s the other way around. ‘I belong to Kuon.’ As long as Kuon doesn’t mind, I don’t care who he loves or who loves him. Kuon’s happiness comes first.”

“Eh, but you told me at the start not to get close to Kuon…”

“You’re a special case. It’d be bad if Kuon caught a cold, and I also wondered if you’d try to hurt him.”

“S-so that’s what it was…”

“What? Are you jealous of Mike?”

“D-don’t say stupid things!”

“You got carried in his arms too, after all. This time just let Mike have him.”

“I told you, I’m not jealous…! Suzu, come sleep with me already!”

“Ehh～, the drunk cat big sis is so funny, I wanna watch more～”

“No. Staying up late is bad for you.”

“Nuraraaa～! An innocent boy getting tangled up by a drunk big sis… this is peak ‘onee-shota’! I’m so glad I came along～!”

And that’s how the night went on exactly according to Tamamo’s plan…

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