Disregarding the issue with the arm pillow, we ended up having a meal first.

Today’s menu consisted of the fried rice, tempura, and tamagoyaki. And for dessert, I brought out my masterpiece of a pudding.

「T-Tasty! It is the first time I ate something so delicious. Lars wasn’t lying! 」

Ferris had a bigger appetite than I anticipated. She didn’t eat anything since she left her mountains, the mountain of rice disappeared in no time. At this pace, she would finish everything, so I ended up making karaage.

She wasn’t satisfied even after finishing the dessert. She was finally full after I brought out 20 portions of ohagi from my infinite storage.

After the meal, I managed to ask her about Lars. The Crybaby was as always, but he did work hard in his own way. He hunted on his own initiative, it was expected from him to become an accomplished warrior. When it is time for his journey, I would be nice to meet him once.

Apparently, Ferris heard about us from Lars on the daily basis. We were together for just one week, but the events became increasingly exaggerated as they came out of his mouth. Coupled with Ferris’ delusions and convenient interpretation, my image turned into something close to a god.

Today, I had her stay in Peris’ room. When she saw me preparing a bath, her eyes glittered.

「This bath is really great. Let’s go in together later」

After I saw Peris acting as a big sister, I decided to leave everything to her.

I distanced myself from them and entered the bath.

「What should I do with Ferris?」

「Didn’t husband already decide?」

「Un, she is Lars’ big sister, I can’t just disregard her」

「However, with her appetite, Peris-san and Rico-sama might be in trouble」

「Un. Should I teach her how to cook? 」

「That might be the best choice」[¹]

When we left the bath, Gon came into our room. It is rare for him to visit in the night.

「Depending on the circumstances, this dragon girl, Ferris might be quite useful to us」

「Oh, we discussed it just a while ago. Are you talking about her appetite? I’m thinking about making her cook for herself. Also, we might ask her to hunt too」

「There is something more important than this. With her, we can secure a safe passage through the Juka Mountain Range」

「I see!」

I didn’t try to return to the Juka Kingdom simply because I couldn’t. It is a matter of the distance from the Hideta Empire. It takes about two months to circle around the Juka Mountain Range and reach the Juka Kingdom. The round trip would take 4 months. I can’t leave my mansion for that long and the prime minister won’t be happy either. However, if you go through the Juka Mountain Range it would only take a few days. With Irimo, I could arrive in two days. The difference is substantial.

We decided to postpone it to the morning and climbed on the bed.

However, Rico’s behavior was unusual since a while ago. She didn’t say a word. Maybe because she understood the reason, Mei quietly returned to her room.

「…..Rico? 」

「…..」

「Rico-chan? Do you want the arm pillow? 」

「…..」

She turned her back to me and didn’t speak. I put my arm under her neck and gave her the arm pillow. Following that, Rico turned around to face me.

「Why did you let that dragon girl stay in the mansion?」

「Are you against it?」

「Somehow, I can’t forgive her. She assumed such an impudent attitude. She ate everything and troubled you, even though it was our first meeting」

「She is still a kid, can’t help it」

「Besides, why did she ask for the arm pillow………」 [²]

「Ah, when I was on my way to deliver her little brother home, I let him do it」

「Did you do it to someone else besides me?」

「To the small male dragon that is. He didn’t fall asleep otherwise. It is only Rico and Mei amongst the women」

「Leaving this little girl in the mansion……ah」

I silently embraced her and stole her lips.

「Fuh, hah, hah, I, I………」

「I know. My arm pillow is only for Rico. Or you still aren’t satisfied? 」

「Then…..all right」

「Thanks, Rico」

Teary-eyed, red-faced Rico was truly beautiful. I embraced Rico once again.

In the morning, when I entered the dining room, Ferris was already there waiting for me. Peris was skillfully preparing breakfast and Rico went to help her out. Mei seemed to be taking care of Irimo. Gon and I sat before Ferris. Following that, Ferris stood up

「I’m sorry for my rude behavior yesterday. I will do anything to be useful, please let me stay here」

and lowered her head.

「All right. You can sit. In this house「If a person doesn’t work, he doesn’t eat」. Therefore, those who can do nothing can’t stay here. I have two conditions you have to agree to before you can stay」

Ferris swallowed with a sound.

「First condition, I want you to help Rico and Peris when you are here. In other words, I want you to learn how to cook. If you want to eat more, you have to hunt for ingredients in the forest. Since I left the hunting to the harpies, you can just cooperate with them. This is about it for the first condition. The second one, it would be fine even if you can’t achieve this. Can you somehow arrange a safe passage through the Juka Mountain Range? That place is the dragon’s den, they will attack if you approach carelessly. Can you arrange the passage at least through the lands of your own tribe? This is the second condition」

Ferris stared at my face and nodded.

「I’m good at hunting. That’s why I left on a journey in the first place. Besides, it should be fine with the passage too. No one would touch us as long as you bring me with you」

「All right, I understand. You can stay here for as long as you want! 」

「T-Thank you very mush ~uuueeeee」

She started crying. She does indeed resemble her brother.

「Everyone, please gather! This is our new friend from now on, Ferris. Take care of her, everyone!」

「Best regards」
「Best regards」
「Best regards」
「Best regards」

「Ev, evirione, besd regars ~uuuu」

Ferris greeted everyone through her tears. Yet, she still devoured breakfast in a moment.

「All right, I’m off to work. Let’s throw a welcoming party for Ferris tonight. I will shop for ingredients in the capital」

「Please buy some sugar!」
「Buy fish today. Also, kelps, squids, and prawns would be nice too」
「We are almost out of bittern too」

「All right, I will try to close the store sooner. Mei, let’s go」

Mei and I mounted Irimo.

Today, after I finished a few of the orders right after the opening, I didn’t have anything else to do in the store. We decided to use this opportunity to make a cake.

I took out the harpies’ eggs, sugar butter, and bought the strawberries from the market. In the process, I failed to adjust the heat and nearly burned everything, but, nonetheless, it was a success.

Today’s dinner ended up being quite grand. Everyone smacked their lips seeing the amount of meat, fish, and salads. It seems that Ferris went out to hunt while I was away and brought 8 cow-like monsters home. Gon worked hard to dismantle them all, their meat was truly delicious.

As for dessert, I brought out our masterpiece of a cake. It was a gigantic cake with a lot of strawberries on top. Everyone ate with a gusto. That taste of the harpies’ eggs was truly delicious, it had a nice touch to it. When I asked later, I learned that the harpies’ eggs are considered luxury goods and even royalty rarely has a chance to taste them. No wonder.

Regarding Ferris’ room, I delegated her a room next to Peris’. This was the room that I used previously. It seems that she spends most of her time in the human form as a part of her training. With that as it is, we couldn’t let her wear the same clothes every day, so on the next day, we went on a shopping spree to buy some new clothes, armor and weapons for hunting, and daily necessities.

In the first place, her baggage was mostly filled with food and little to no personal things. I wonder what she would have done if she didn’t find me. It took us several days of shopping to completely arrange her room.

A week after Ferris’ arrival, our life has finally calmed down. And as if aiming for that time, Jeneha came back. I received a shock after hearing her report.