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Good morning.

Today is the day I’m going to the castle with Mika. I’m sure the elegant clothes I prepared for her will be fine.

“Mika, are you ready?”
“Yeah… but I’m nervous…”
“Don’t worry, they’re all pretty friendly.”
“Erm… they might be with you, Alim, but…”

Well, it’s obvious, you know. It’s because she has to meet the king. Of course, she’d be tense.

“Come on, Mika, let’s go.”
“Yeah…”

We left our new house and made the 5-minute walk to the castle. In any case, if people were to see us, it’d take way too long, so we turned invisible.
We finally arrived at the castle gates, and, for identification, Mika and I showed the gatekeeper our guild cards.

“Please go through, we’ve been expecting you,” he told us, allowing us to enter the hall.

There, Karua and the minister were already waiting.

“Please come in, Alim. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Mika. My name is Karua and I am the princess of the Mephilad kingdom.”
“I’m Oraful. I serve as minister.”
“A-ah… th-thank you, my name is Mika.”

Mikaa, you’re way too nervous! It’s cute that you’re so bashful, but…

“Ha-ha-ha-ha, no need to be this tense, Miss Mika,” the minister told her.
“He’s right, Lady Mika,” Karua added. “Come, my father is waiting. He wants to award you the certificate for becoming SS-Rank.”
“Uh-understood!”

We followed the minister. Mika was still on edge. To calm her down, I tried to pat her on the back stealthily.
First, we were lead in front of the throne, the king sitting there already.

“Ah, Alim. You’ve become an SS-Rank after all, haven’t you?” he said. “In addition, you formed a party that’s also already at SS-Rank. Ha-ha-ha, you created a real legend, no?”
“Indeed, thank you very much.”
“Hm, do keep up the good work. Then, you are called Mika, right?”
“Y-yes…” a tense, squeaky voice spoke up.

At this point, Mika looked as nervous, as at the time when she was taking the high school entry exam.

“Ha-ha, there’s no reason to be so tense. You’re supporting Alim as her party member, you know.”
“Yes!”
“Then, according to what I heard, you’re 12 years old, too, Mika?”
“Yes, that’s right…”
“My daughter is also only 13. Please get along well with her.”
“…of course, I will!”

As expected, the king was able to create a good atmosphere. This man is quite charismatic.

“Well then, Alim and Mika. Here and now, as the sovereign of the kingdom of Mephilad, I deem Alim Nariwei and ‘The Earth’ to be of SS-Rank.”
“”Thank you very much!””

The king rose and approached us.

“Now, if this were an ordinary attestation ceremony,” he continued, “we’d be treating that adventurer to lunch, but send them back soon after. You two are special. You may stay at the castle the whole day. Well, Alim already comes to play on a regular basis.”
“Yes, I always seem to bother you.”
“Y-yes.”

We left the throne room and went directly to Karua’s room.

“Karua! Here I am!”
“Alim, you’re here! Lady Mika, please come in and make yourself at home, too. This is my room!”
“P-pardon the intrusion…”

The moment I entered Karua’s room, I was called to the kitchen by a message¹ from the king.

Did he say a meal from me?!

…oh, I get it. He thinks that by removing me, who’s already on friendly terms with Karua, the both of them can build a good personal relationship, right?
Or is it that he simply wants to eat my cooking?

“Sorry, Karua, Mika. I got a summons from the king. I gotta go to the kitchen, so see you later.”

And with that brief statement, I went to cook a meal for the king.

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Eek! It’s just me and the princess!?
Eeh. I’m super nerveous…

F-first of all, I should try to talk to her! Yeah.

“L-lady Karua!”
“Y-yes, what is it? Lady Mika.”
“Say, how did you get acquainted with Alim?”
“Alim? I’ve known her since I shared a meal together with the tournament champions!”

A shared meal when he won the battle tournament, was it? So that’s how she got to know him? If that’s true, she’s been associating with Alim for 1 or 2 months, right?

“What about you, Lady Mika?”
“Alim and I are childhood friends. We’ve known each other since we were about 2 years old…”
“I-Is that so? T-Then, might you tell me stories about Alim?”
“Erm, of course!”

Huh, we seem to get along surprisingly well.
Alim said she doesn’t have any friends, but isn’t it really easy to talk to her?

“D-do you happen to know Alim’s favorite food, then?”
“Alim’s favorite food… That’s steak, isn’t it?”
“Oh, steak! That is a very filling dish I like to eat!”
“It really is!”
“By the way, Lady Mika… No, would just Mika be fine?”

Oh, she’s proactive. Of course, that’s a good thing.

“Of course, erm… Karua!”
“Heh-heh, by the way, it would make me happy, if you could talk less formally.”
“Eeh!? Ah, I will… I mean, yeah. Yeah! I get it, Karua.”

Uuh… that’s really hard, you know.
But just calling her Karua… still, she said it’s fine, so it should be alright, shouldn’t it?

“Oh yes, that feels better! That’s nice, isn’t it… Say, if you have been together with Alim for a long time, Mika, I’m sure you were able to enjoy her squishy cheeks² to your heart’s content, right?”

Squishy cheeks!?
Eh, what? That’s the first time, I’m hearing of that.

“Erm? What might you be… what do you mean?”
“Huh… You never squished Alim’s cheeks!? You’ve been missing out, you know! You really should have done that.”
“I should have…?”
“You definitely should have.”

W-what in the world. Once he comes back, I’ll absolutely squish them, so…

I wonder… why am I only learning about this now?³

That moment, the door to Karua’s room opened. Alim was here.

I threw myself upon my boyfriend⁴ and squished his cheeks.

I see, Alim doesn’t like having his cheeks squished.

But I didn’t stop.
Looks like I’ve become addicted.

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What the hell?

Mika suddenly jumped at me to grab and squish my cheeks!?
That blasted Karua put something in her head, didn’t she?

“Sh-shtop it, Mika… stop squishing theem!”
“That really feels good! Awesome, Alim’s cheeks are incredible! Aren’t they, Karua!”
“Right? The feeling when you touch them is simply…”

First of all, it’s good that you two are getting along so well. It may be good, but… can you stop squishing them already?

Both of them kept squishing my cheeks.

I only… I only came here to tell them the food is ready.

1. Was it ever explained how people send messages in this world? If it’s magic, I don’t think they ever mentioned any skill related to it.
2. That again, is this a Japanese thing? I think I’ve seen similar obsessions in other light novels.
3. She actually saw it happen right after meeting Alim in this world, back in chapter 93. Though she probably wasn’t in a state of mind to notice at the time. But the she saw it again with Parasuna in chapter 118, so she should definitely know about it.
4. This is a slight mistranslation. It actually means “I threw myself upon her and squished her cheeks.” I decided to leave it as it is, since I personally like that version and the inaccuracy is only minimal.