BXBX NOVEL Volume 3 1.1
Chapter 1: Trying Out Talking with Demonic Beings – Part 1
Part 1
The day after obtaining the Summoned Beast──
Diablo’s group had come to the lakeside of 《Kosei》 this time. It was about an hour walk downstream from Fort Bridge Ulg.
There were rocks laying around, but it was flat for the most part, and there was undergrowth that grew up to about knee level.
Today, they were doing a small collecting quest.
Although it was easy, the setting was that the reward was raised due to things like public order having deteriorated recently. It was a so called Profit Quest.
After somehow completely gathering up the required amount of medicinal plants, they finished up by having lunch with the hard-baked bread that they brought.
The changing of the seasons in the Faltra vicinity was gentle, and it was said that the temperature didn’t rise that much even when it became summer, but even so, when it became June, the number of hot days increased.
If they went back now, they would probably reach the town before it became evening.
Shera scowled.
「Come to think of it, Rem, doesn’t it kinda smell?」
「......Smell, is it? It is the riverside after all, so there is the smell of water and grass, you know?」
「That’s not what I mean. Rem, don’t you smell?」
「..............................Ha?」
「Nn～, you really do smell. Look, you’ve been moving a lot. That’s why, you smell of sweat. Also, smell of dirt. And then......what could this be, a beastly smell?」
Sniffing, she snorted her nose.
Rem hugged her body, and jumped back.
「P, please don’t sniff me! I do not smell!」
「But it would be better if you took a bath. Rather, I want to take a bath! Hey, let’s do that!」
「Kuh......You......Saying that a person “smells” just because you want to bathe yourself, I find something very wrong with that, you know!?」
「You’re wrong! You really do smell!」
She vigorously asserted that.
Rem became speechless.
Shera changed the aim of her attack.
「Hey, hey, Diablo, you think so too, right!? That Rem smells.」
「Nn? Mu......Well......」
Diablo averted his gaze from the two and scratched his chin.
──I would really like for them to not talk about smell right in front of me.
He had finally grown accustomed to being together with them, but Diablo was inexperienced with women to the point of being unable to have a plain conversation with them.
Just to be sure, he tried focusing on his sense of smell.
──She doesn’t really smell.
Just as Rem said, there was the smell of water because it was the riverside. Also, maybe the smell of grass.
At the very least, it was much better than the room of his former self. There was mold and dust and......No, he didn’t even want to remember.
「Hey, Diablo, what about, me? I’ve sweat quite a bit, haven’t I~.」
Shera expressly brought her body closer.
If there was some kind of smell, maybe because they had warmed up from the medicinal plant gathering, it was the feeling that the sweet smell of the girls had become stronger than usual. Rather, he thought that it was a good aroma.
However, since saying something like that would make him seem like a pervert, he was troubled on how to respond.
「Ugh......Mu......」
Rem looked at him with a face that looked like she was about to cry. She stepped away from him and took some distance.
「......Diablo, um......do you also think that I smell?」
Although he should skillfully follow up so as not to hurt her at a time like this, it would probably be alright to change the topic.
「Ugh......Well......」
If he could say something that decent, then he wouldn’t have a communication disorder.
He had no idea how a Demon King would react at a time if he were asked about a girl’s smell. He had never imagined it.
Shera talked cheerfully.
「Enough already! If you take a bath, you’ll become all clean!」
「......Kuh......In that case, wouldn’t that mean that I’m admitting that I smell at the present time.」
「Ehー, then, why don’t you come over here and get smelled by Diablo?」
Rem glared with scornful eyes.
「......Pantherians do not like getting wet with water......Our movements become heavier when our fur gets wet, and since it becomes more difficult to grasp an understanding of the surrounding situation......」
「Then, since this a good chance, Rem, let’s get you to like bathing!」
「What kind of reasoning is that!?」
Although she was objecting to it, when Shera took Rem’s hand──she seemed to be reluctant, but she didn’t resist.
Come to think of it, Diablo also only went to the level of just wiping his body with a wet cloth on occasion.
In the Lifelia Kingdom, there didn’t seem to be any habit of taking a bath or shower. But even so, since the air was dry, and there was also the wind, it was easy to overdo it.
Even on a hot day, he thought that it was quite pleasant immediately after wearing a new shirt. That sensation is something that would occur again and again.
It might alright to bath in the water occasionally.
Translator’s Notes:
Original: 湖西. Lit. Trans.: Lake West