Maybe it was because the commotion with the lab and the Minos Unit had finally settled down.
Ever since the yakiniku party, these past few days had been calm and uneventful.
But if there was one big change recently, it was the new beds.
I had finally gotten around to graduating from the straw bed.
It started with Hiyarn. That rabbit.
Lately, Mineha had been coming over to make breakfast.
So Hiyarn asked me: wasn't it embarrassing to still have a straw bed, what with a girl visiting?
At first, I thought: what's this rabbit talking about?
She also filed a complaint that sleeping on it was uncomfortable for her too.
Wait, why is this rabbit even sleeping in my room in the first place?
But now that she mentioned it, I realized girls had been ending up in my room more and more often lately.
And straw was... well, I was starting to feel a bit self-conscious about it.
The thing is, I don't really know much about this kind of stuff.
Hiyarn confidently declared that when it came to bedding, the expert would be a woman.
I was half-skeptical, but I went to the Torquetam base manor anyway.
Riv let me in, and I met with Pakira.
"W-wanting my advice on beds? What a peculiar question. I'm using slime, you know."
"Slime is the material?"
"It's a bed made from slime blocks. Soft and quite nice."
Maybe it's like the waterbeds I remember from my past life.
Come to think of it, there were slime cushions too.
"They're expensive, right?"
"Indeed they are. And though it's included in the service, the replacements happen once every six months."
"Oh, so it's like that..."
"Depending on the season, you also need to swap out the slime blocks you put in. Of course, that costs extra."
"I-I see..."
What a hassle.
That's a no from me.
"By the way, I think Lupinus's bed would also be out of your price range."
"I can sort of picture that. Riv's was a pipe bed, wasn't it?"
"That was self-made by him... How do you know about that?"
"Ah, well, I just heard about it earlier."
"Hmm. I see."
I managed to play it off on the spot.
Otherwise I'd have to explain how I got into his room and why.
Riv had said it was a secret. That wasn't something I could share, even with Pakira.
Since he happened to be nearby, I decided to ask Bid next.
"H-hey, uh, the bed we use...?"
He seemed flustered, cheeks slightly flushed as he regarded me with suspicion.
When I explained, Bid gave a faint, wry smile.
"Ah, so that's how it is. Then I'm probably not much help."
"Is it straw, by chance?"
"Nope. Mine's, um... well, it's a secret. A sleeping bag."
"Huh? Why?"
I hadn't expected that she wouldn't even have a bed.
"Um, well..."
Bid shyly drew closer to me and whispered in my ear.
"This is also a secret, okay? I like it when something squeezes me tight while I sleep..."
"...Is that why you use a sleeping bag?"
Her face was close. Her face was really close. She smelled sweet.
And the voice that reached my ear was soft and kind of adorable.
Bid's ears, all the way to the tips of her bunny ears, were bright red from embarrassment.
She looked up at me with glistening eyes, as if reproaching me just a little.
S-sorry. I couldn't take it anymore and hurriedly took a step back.
W-what. I'm not sure I should be hearing this... Doubt crept in.
But well, since we're at it. I'll ask Juicy too.
Right now, half of this mansion served as a vacation estate for the Tassan domain.
Because of that arrangement, Juicy lived here as well.
From what I'd heard, the estate deal had been on rather favorable terms for Torquetam.
Originally, there had been plenty of spare rooms, so apparently it all worked out perfectly.
"Wof?"
"Dova."
I happened to run into a beautiful woman in a white suit.
Dova Tassan. Juicy and Rel's older sister.
An elven beauty with long silver hair and tanned skin.
Over her left green eye—
—she wore a
monocle.
Rel is the same way, but...
The elves of the Tassan family always seem to be on a completely different level of beauty compared to other elves.
She lived in this villa as acting vice-regent of the Tassan domain.
The first time I'd met her, she'd been in a maid outfit—that felt like ages ago.
Oh, right. I should ask her too.
"Hello."
"Oh, hey. Hello."
She wiped the crumbs from her mouth and returned the greeting.
"Dova, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Ask me? What is it?"
"What kind of bed do you sleep on, Dova?"
"Eh...? A bed?"
"Yeah. I was wondering what kind of bed you sleep on."
"Oh, sure. Um... are you interested?"
"Yeah."
"............"
"Dova?"
"If that's the case, then follow Dova."
"Huh?"
Dova started walking. I followed after her for the time being.
What was this. What was going on. We crossed a connecting hallway and turned at a corner on the first floor.
A somewhat recessed room. Dova placed her hand on the door.
"Go ahead. This is where Dova sleeps."
"O-Okay."
She opened the door. A soft floral scent drifted out.
First, I saw a window hung with white lace curtains.
Then a large canopy bed. Beside it stood a vanity next to a closet.
"Whoa."
"This is the bed Dova always sleeps in alone."
As she said this, she drew back the canopy and sat down.
Since she'd gestured for me to come in, I stepped into the bedroom while trying not to look too nervous.
"King-sized, huh?"
Its width was enough for four or five of me to lie side by side.
The bed took up most of the room. A proper bedroom, indeed.
Dova lightly patted the spot beside her.
A gesture telling me to sit. I obediently sat down.
"My family home has a canopy bed, but it's smaller than this."
"Then why such a big one?"
"Ah, yeah. I got it as a keepsake when I received the villa."
"A... a gift!?"
Impressive. As expected of a great noble. How much could it possibly cost?
It was luxurious enough that even a million oro probably wouldn't cut it.
Dova murmured quietly.
"It's obnoxious, isn't it? A bed this big for someone living alone. Really obnoxious."
"..."
"Look, Dova isn't single by choice. I want to get married. I want to date, I want a boyfriend, and I'm lonely. And honestly, Wof — all of us sisters, myself included, aren't just unmarried. None of us even have boyfriends. Whether we want that or not is entirely our own business. There were times in the past when that didn't matter and we were treated as political tools, but it's not like that anymore. Little by little, the will of the people is growing stronger and the authority of the nobility is fading. That's happening across the whole continent. Well, yeah. There are still plenty of idiots out there flaunting their noble power, same as always. Especially around the royal capital. I'm sure you know about this, Wof — a certain great noble who was hostile to the Tassan family was targeting Torquetam through a third-rate clan while also causing trouble for the Tassans. That's right. The Dragon Fang Law."
"...I was bothered by them too, actually."
"Ah, yeah. That leader died at the time. I know he was the third son of a noble family, a screw-up who'd been causing all sorts of trouble. He died as a delver, so no charges were pressed. Though it was practically a banishment. And then some kindly soul dug up the dark secrets of that great noble family — ones nobody knew about — with evidence and everything, and the Steerland Count family was dismantled. The ironworking businesses they ran became private companies."
"Is that so?"
"That's why Dova is grateful to the Tassan family. I'm always grateful to you."
Dova smiled at me. I honestly felt embarrassed.
That didn't help with the bed at all. Oh right. Dova would know for sure.
"Um, there's something I'd like to ask you."
"Oh, sure. What is it?"
"What kind of bed do Sheshu and Jushii use?"
"Huh? Why do you want to know that?"
"The thing is, I want to put a new bed in my room, and I was hoping to use it as a reference."
"...So that's why you asked about Dova's bed too?"
"Yes."
"...Does that go for others as well?"
"Yes. I've asked around."
"Could that be why you came here in the first place?"
"That's right."
"...Wof."
Dova looked at me with a troubled expression and spoke.
"Asking girls what kind of bed they normally sleep in is... really not a great idea, you know."
"Th-that's... Hayahn told me girls are knowledgeable about bedding."
"Oh, right. Don't take that perverted rabbit too seriously. Sure, there are girls who are particular about their bedding, but that still doesn't mean you should go asking girls about the beds they sleep in every night. Dova really can't recommend it... I mean, it's better than asking about the color of their underwear, but it's still embarrassing."
Having said her piece, Dova's cheeks flushed red and she looked down.
"S-s-sorry..."
I already had a vague feeling about it too.
When I asked Bidd about it, her reaction made me think something was off.
But the truth is, as I kept asking around for reference, I genuinely grew interested.
"Ugh, I feel so embarrassed... I'm really sorry."
"Don't worry about it. I did think it was a bit... niche."
"I-It's not like that!"
"For what it's worth, Shesh's bed is completely ordinary. Nothing interesting about it at all."
"Oh."
"She's way more normal than she looks. Juicy sleeps on the floor."
"The floor?"
"Yeah. She spreads a big futon on the floor and piles it with long pillows and tons of cushions to sleep."
"She doesn't use a bed?"
"She doesn't. She never has."
The dog at my parents' house in my past life was the same way. Well, I guess dogs don't use beds.
So not using a bed is an option too. Not that I'm going to — I sleep in a bed.
I apologized to Dova once more, thanked her, and left the manor.
All right. That rabbit. Time to punch it.