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Morning.

Awoken by the dazzling light streaming through the window and the sensation of something wriggling around her stomach, Calcedonia slowly brought her consciousness back from the depths of sleep.

As her mind cleared, the sensation in her stomach became more distinct.

And so did the warm sensation on her back.

“Um… what are you doing?”

Calcedonia turned around and asked the person hugging her from behind.

“Hmm, I’m touching Calcie’s belly.”

The man, her destined spouse, replied in a cheerful tone.

“Your skin is so smooth and soft to the touch, Calcie. I could stay like this forever.”
“Eek. You’re tickling me.”

Though she said that, her voice clearly carried a note of delight.

Precisely because he knew that, the man—Tatsumi didn’t stop moving his hands.

Right now, neither of them was wearing anything. With everything exposed to each other, they were nestled close together within the warm fur.

Ever since that night when they first became intimate, sparked by that “magical painting,” the two of them had come to sleep like this, their bare skin touching, almost every day.

It wasn’t as if they were engaging in the physical language of love every day. Even without that, simply being like this was enough to bring them both a sense of fulfillment.

Tatsumi buried the tip of his nose in Calcedonia’s hair as she squirmed, seemingly tickled, and savored her scent deeply.

“Somehow… you smell just like the old Chiiko… though it might just be my imagination…”

Tatsumi’s words slipped out quietly. Calcedonia closed her eyes blissfully as she placed her palm over Tatsumi’s hand, which was wrapped around her waist.

“…………Darling. I have just one request…”
“A request?”
“Yes. If possible… just when we’re like this, could you please call me Chiiko again, like you used to?”
“Huh? But, that’s…”
“I’m very happy that you call me Calcedonia as a woman. But the name Chiiko is also a precious name I received from you… a special name that only you, and no one else in this world, calls me by. It’s fine to call me Calcedonia normally. But only when our skin is touching like this… I want to be called Chiiko.”

Understanding her feelings, Tatsumi held her soft body close.

“I understand. Just when we’re like this, I’ll call you Chiiko like I used to.”
“Thank you, darling.”

Feeling Tatsumi’s comforting body heat across her entire back, Calcedonia smiled happily.

.

Even as she was completely immersed in this blissful atmosphere, Calcedonia began to move to get out of bed.

“Come on, darling. Today’s the day you’re going to the tavern where the mabeast hunters gather for the first time, isn’t it? It’s about time we got up and got ready.”
“You’re right. It’s hard to tear myself away from this warmth in bed, but it can’t be helped. Okay, then, Calcedonia, you get out of bed first.”
“Huh?”

The moment Tatsumi finished speaking, she suddenly felt herself floating. Calcedonia blinked in surprise and was instantly teleported out of bed.

She frantically regained her balance in midair, barely managing to prevent herself from falling to the floor. However, this meant that, bathed in bright light, her naked body was exposed to Tatsumi’s gaze.

Realizing she was completely naked in front of Tatsumi, Calcedonia let out a cute little scream, clutched her chest with both hands, and crouched down where she stood.

Tatsumi, still sitting up in bed, watched her with a cheerful smile.

“Mm, what a treat for the eyes.”
“Oh, come on. You’ve been a little mean lately, darling!!”

Still crouched, Calcedonia reached out, grabbed a pillow from the bed, and hurled it at Tatsumi.

But Tatsumi effortlessly caught the pillow as it flew toward him.

After that, without either of them initiating it, the two shared a laugh.

Despite all their bickering, they were, after all, a happy couple.

.

After finishing breakfast and relaxing for a while, the two left the house around the time the fourth-hour bell rang—which, in Japan, would be noon.

Their destination was one of the taverns used as a base by the mabeast hunters—a place Calcedonia had frequented during her training days.

As snow flurries fell sporadically, the two walked slowly, huddled close together.

Seeing the pair—who had already become a familiar sight in the neighborhood—the housewives they knew would smile warmly, squinting their eyes, or call out to them in a friendly manner.

“Oh my, Tatsumi and Calcedonia. Out and about together again today?”
“You two are always so close, aren’t you?”
“It’s true. With you two around, even the snow on the ground looks like it might melt.”

These were harmless, playful teases exchanged one after another. Hearing such comments, Tatsumi looked away, blushing, while Calcedonia smiled happily.

The two stepped out onto the main street and slowly made their way toward the center of town.

Then, guided by Calcedonia, they turned off the main street onto a side street and headed for their destination: a tavern that also served as an inn.

“…So, Calcedonia, what’s the owner of that tavern like—the one you said helped you out before?”
“Apparently, they came to the Zoisalicht Continent from a distant foreign land about twenty years ago. After that, they wandered all over the continent, and I heard they arrived in the town of Levantis about five or six years ago and opened this tavern.”

As he listened to Calcedonia’s words, Tatsumi pictured in his mind a stern-looking middle-aged man who looked every bit the battle-hardened warrior.

A man who traveled across the continent as a mercenary and mabeast hunter, and after retiring due to injuries or other reasons, now runs a tavern while mentoring the next generation.

“Yeah, that sounds like a very plausible story,” Tatsumi nodded to himself inwardly, while Calcedonia’s story continued.

“Lately, the tavern’s reputation has been excellent, and I’ve heard that skilled mabeast hunters use it as their base. Back when I used to go there, it had just opened and wasn’t very well-known yet, but I hear it’s now grown into one of the town’s most iconic taverns.”

There was a note of nostalgia in Calcedonia’s words. It seemed she, too, held the owner in high regard.

“…I haven’t been able to stop by that place since I became an exorcist… I wonder if the hostess is doing well?”

I see. It seems the owner in question has a wife.

A stern, stubborn owner and a cheerful, attractive landlady who supports him. That’s another very common setup.

As Tatsumi pictured the scene of that tavern in his mind, he heard Calcedonia’s voice ring out with particular excitement.

“Ah!! There it is!! That’s our destination, the Elf’s Restful Pavilion!!”

Where Calcedonia was pointing, there was indeed a tavern c̲u̲m̲ inn that caught the eye.

The wooden door was larger than that of an ordinary house. Although it showed some signs of age, it appeared well-maintained, revealing a beautiful wood grain.

The building was constructed of reddish-brown brick, similar to that found in ordinary homes. It appeared to be three stories tall; presumably, the first floor housed the tavern, while the second floor and above served as guest rooms.

But what caught Tatsumi’s eye most of all was the sign hanging next to the entrance door.

The stylized design of a fork, a knife, and a beer mug likely indicates that this is a tavern. And beneath that design was an image of a bed. This, too, must signify that the place also serves as an inn.

Recently, Tatsumi had finally begun to learn how to read and write the script of this world. However, the literacy rate in this world is quite low.

Given that, it’s probably quite common for shop signs to include illustrations as well as text.

However, it wasn’t those illustrations that caught his eye.

It was the text written on the sign that captivated him and wouldn’t let go.

The font was angular, clearly different from the flowing script of this country. Yet to Tatsumi, those characters felt far more familiar than the local script.

And yet, those characters were something that simply couldn’t exist in this country.

“H-how… how come there’s Japanese written here…?”

Tatsumi stared up at the sign in a daze.

The words written there—Elf’s Restful Pavilion—were, no matter how he looked at them, a combination of hiragana, katakana, and kanji—in other words, Japanese.

.

Seeing Tatsumi staring blankly up at the sign, Calcedonia tilted her head.

“Darling? Is something wrong?”
“Y-yeah… H-hey, Calcedonia. About the writing on that sign…”
“I heard that’s the script from the country where the hostess of this shop used to live.”

Calcedonia looked at the sign Tatsumi was pointing at and explained.

It seemed that while Calcedonia could speak Japanese, she couldn’t read it.

Come to think of it, in her past life, she had been nothing more than a cockatiel. As for speaking Japanese, she could probably understand it to some extent from listening to Tatsumi and his family, but of course, there was no way she could read or write it.

“So that means… could it be that the owner of this shop is Japanese, just like me…?”

To think there were other Japanese people in this country… no, in this world, besides himself.

The feeling that suddenly welled up in Tatsumi’s chest was probably what you’d call nostalgia.

Even though he’d cut himself off from any lingering attachment to his life in Japan, there were times when he simply couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

If the proprietress of this shop really was Japanese, perhaps they could share this sense of nostalgia.

Holding onto that hope, Tatsumi stepped inside the shop at Calcedonia’s urging.

.

The moment he entered, the aroma of alcohol and various dishes tickled Tatsumi’s nose.

As Tatsumi had expected, the first floor appeared to be a tavern, with a counter at the back of the room and several tables and chairs for four scattered throughout the spacious interior.

At some of these tables sat men in armor who appeared to be mabeast hunters, casting bold stares at Tatsumi and Calcedonia.

Some of them were clearly directing lewd glances at Calcedonia, so Tatsumi casually stepped in front of her to block their gaze.

Both Tatsumi and Calcedonia were currently clad in thick fur coats.

Underneath, Calcedonia wore her everyday clothes, but Tatsumi was equipped with boiled-leather armor and a steel sword at his waist.

Even though they were wearing fur coats, it was obvious at a glance to these battle-hardened mabeast hunters that they were armed.

Furthermore, Tatsumi has been thoroughly trained as a soldier priest. Even from the way he moves, it’s immediately clear that he’s no mere amateur.

That’s precisely why, while the mabeast hunters might cast bold glances their way, none of them say anything. Conversely, if anyone here were to pick a fight, it would be a sure sign that they’re an inexperienced mabeast hunter.

Some of them seemed to have realized that Calcedonia was the “Holy Maiden” of the Temple of Savaiv, and a few were whispering among themselves.

Amid the probing gazes of the mabeast hunters, Calcedonia made her way slowly toward the back of the shop, seemingly unfazed.

As Tatsumi walked alongside Calcedonia, his eyes fell upon a woman working busily behind the counter.

She was probably the owner of this shop. If so, was she Japanese?

Tatsumi harbored that hope. But his eyes soon widened in astonishment.

“Huh?”

Let out a foolish sound without meaning to, Tatsumi stared at the woman.

She was shorter than Tatsumi—perhaps around 160 centimeters. Her slender build and fair skin, which rivaled Calcedonia’s, were striking.

Her long hair was a pale blonde—slightly darker in hue than Calcedonia’s platinum blonde. And the color of her eyes was a sapphire blue, in stark contrast to Calcedonia’s ruby-red.

Above all, her ears were long, slender, and pointed, standing straight up. That was a characteristic of that famous race from fantasy stories.

“Huh, an elf…?”

That’s right.

That woman was an elf.

Until now, Tatsumi had never interacted with people known as demi-humans.

At the Temple of Savaiv in this city, there were only humans, and it seemed demi-humans were a minority even within the city.

Although he might occasionally pass one by on the street, this was the first time he’d seen a demi-human up close like this.

Perhaps she had heard Tatsumi’s mutter, because the elf woman turned her face toward them. The moment she did, her face lit up with surprise and joy.

“Calcie-san!! It’s you, Calcie-san!! Wow, it’s been a while. How have you been?”
“I’m fine. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, too. Are you doing well, hostess?”
“Oh, of course!! I’ve heard all about your exploits, Calcie… the rumors of the ‘Holy Maiden of the Temple of Savaiv’ reached all the way here, you know?”

Calcedonia and the elven woman chatted cheerfully.

It seemed this elven woman was indeed the hostess of the shop.

If that’s the case, who on earth wrote the Japanese on the sign? There’s no way an elf would know Japanese, Tatsumi thought to himself as he pondered the matter.

The elf woman, who had been talking with Calcedonia until then, turned her gaze toward Tatsumi.

Instantly, a look of utter astonishment spread across the elf woman’s face.

With her blue eyes wide open, she murmured in a trembling voice.

“Eh…? C-could it be… are you from Japan…?”

The words that slipped from the elf woman’s lips were, without a doubt, the Japanese that Tatsumi knew so well.