Chapter 56: Great of Rounds ⑬

Day 4. 

The final day.
The festival had finally reached its end.
It felt both long and short at the same time.

“……?”

When I woke up in the morning, my body felt heavy.
Something soft, cool, yet warm was lying on top of me.

I lifted the blanket to see what it was—
and found Shiro-san’s face.

“?”

Pure white skin.
A cold, translucent complexion, paired with facial features so meticulously sculpted it was like looking at a fine doll. No matter how many times I saw her, the only word that ever came to mind was beautiful.

Not “cute”—but purely, overwhelmingly beautiful.
A white, flawless girl.

For some reason, that face was resting on my chest.
She was peacefully asleep.

“……Leukon… Beyaz… Kaao… Beyaz… Wof… Abyadou… Safed… Pte… Saheido… Pte… Keo… Putih…”

As always, she muttered spell-like words in her sleep.
…It is sleep-talking… right?
I really hope her Restriction Relic isn’t activating or something.

Two soft, marshmallow-like mounds pressed against my stomach.
She actually has more than I expected—no wait, am I touching those directly!?

“Uhh—”

“Biela… Tsagaan… Valkoinen… Wit…”

Why was Shiro-san on top of me?
And judging by the warmth and texture… she was naked.

Actually—
Shiro-san is completely naked.

“……”

Okay. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t notice anything.
Moving on.

Lately I’d been thinking about something:
I know all four of them have feelings for me.

So, the whole “sleeping beside me” thing is… well… I guess I get it.
Do I? …Maybe?

Anyway—
I felt like there was some other purpose behind it.
Probably something the Witch planned.
My guess: she wants to make me stronger.

Right now, I’m like a hastily built structure.
Made quickly, cheaply, and with minimal time.

All because of my stubborn wish to defeat Alweld.
I’m getting stronger through shortcut methods.

But shortcuts always have a cost.
Rush jobs inevitably break somewhere.

There is no easy road.
The price must be paid.
I’m not prepared for it—but there’s no turning back now.

“Maybe…”

A thought struck me.
What if the Witch is trying to reduce that cost?
Not just to make me strong, but to help me endure what comes after?

If it’s the Witch…
Yes, that sounds like her.

“Maybe?”

Shiro-san woke up, repeating my words back at me like a parrot.
Our eyes met—my silver eyes and her white ones.
Similar, yet different.

Together, they’d make pure silver-white.

After staring for a moment, she licked her lips lightly, her expression faintly heated.
A perfect chance to ask.

But first—

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. Maybe what?”

“Maybe this whole sleeping-together thing has some deeper meaning?”

“Yes. It does.”

She answered decisively.

“I knew it.”

“Since it’s the last day, I’ll tell you. The one who suggested it was the Witch.”

“I knew it.”

Knew it.

“Originally there were five beds. The Witch removed one so there would only be four. Then she proposed we take turns sleeping next to you. At first Shiro and Chive were embarrassed. Munieka agreed instantly—so Shiro didn’t want to lose to her, and agreed. Then Chive nodded too. The Witch also explained the purpose.”

“And that is?”

“To relax you.”

“Eh?”

“By relaxing you, your soul vessel and its inner strength increase—so she said. Also, making contact with someone strong.”

“Relaxing, huh…”

Isn’t this the opposite?
I’ve been tense the entire time.

Because every night, a stunning beauty or a flawless girl sleeps beside me.
Often naked. Or nearly naked. Or entirely naked.

And this perfect white girl is literally lying on top of me naked.
Wait—that sounded wrong in a lot of ways.

“The strong ones are you all, right?”

The First-Rank Explorers—of course they’re strong.

“Yes. Staying in direct skin-to-skin contact for a long time boosts your soul vessel and inner strength.”

“Is it actually working?”

“It is. Shiro can tell. Good for you.”

“Uh… th-thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Shiro began rolling around like a cat.
It was cute, so I unconsciously reached out to pet her—
She jolted in surprise.

Oops. She really is like a cat…
But she didn’t pull away, letting me stroke her hair.

Her white hair was silky, slightly cool, and smooth to the touch.
Very nice to pet.

While I was doing that, the marshmallow-like mounds pressed against me again—

“Hey, Wof-kun.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Something hard and hot is pressing against Shiro’s stomach.”

“Time to get up!!”

I hurriedly lifted Shiro off me and sat up.
Shiro got off the bed. I tried not to look as much as possible.

Just then, Chive-san stepped out of the bath—her morning bath.

She saw the completely naked Shiro and immediately started yelling.

Shiro, please.
At least cover yourself.

Today is the final day.

The meeting had no agenda and concluded with Alhazard  Abramelin overall remarks.

“Ladies and gentlemen. What is an Explorer? An Explorer is one who explores itself. One who explores the unknown. One who pursues dreams yet unseen. One who explores life itself. Or perhaps one who explores the heart of a loved one. All of these are Explorers. We are those who explore everything. This year’s ‘Great of Browns’ was filled entirely with firsts: new locations, new experiences, even unprecedented events. It was truly a festival worthy of us, the pinnacle of all Explorers. I am grateful that it could be held safely and conclude without incident. I look forward to meeting you all again in five years. That concludes the meeting of the ‘Great of Rounds.’ Explorer Grand Guild – Grand Guild Master, Alhazard Abramelin.”

And so, the Great of Rounds came to an end.

In the afternoon came the final exhibition match.
A match truly worthy of a finale.

“Now, we begin the final exhibition match! The last match is a tag-team! ‘Ittō Ryōdansai’ Kaede Akima & ‘Autodoll’ Munieka Eldorado! Against… ‘Strange Chef’ John & …human… no, it has been changed to ‘Afterlife Vision System ver. β’.”

Seriously? A pink sphere floated gently into the arena, causing a stir.
Of course—if a pink sphere suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it would be confusing.

And then to hear that it’s a First-Rank Explorer? Even more bewildering.

“The rules are as follows: victory is achieved by surrender or incapacitation. Killing the opponent is forbidden. Understood?”

What…? The only normal person here seems to be Kaede.

“Begin!”

Immediately, the Afterlife Vision System ver. β unleashed a barrage of lasers.
Lasers fired from small spheres orbiting the large pink sphere.

“What the—!”

Kaede sliced through the lasers. Lasers can be cut? She sliced them one after another with precision.
Meanwhile, Munieka and John clashed directly.

John summoned a suspicious giant fish from the void, with six horns, four eyes, and three fangs.
He even brought it to the kitchen.

On a massive cutting board, he filleted it into three pieces and then into neat sashimi cuts. Impressive skill.
The red flesh… tuna, perhaps? He carefully sliced it thinly and arranged it on plates.
Soy sauce in a small dish. Complete.

John shouted:

“Eat this!”

I was stunned.
This… this is sashimi. Raw fish slices.

Why?! Why sashimi?! What on earth is this person doing?!

“Exquisite, indeed.”
“Pi-pi-pi-pi—!”
“And now I am to eat this?”
“Eat it!”
“Understood. I shall taste it.”

They’re really going to eat it?
Kaede and the pink sphere—both who had been fighting—watched intently.

Munieka took a bite, then spoke. Did she really just eat it?

“It has a strong, unique flavor. Quite interesting.”

So… it wasn’t particularly delicious.

The match was won by Munieka and Kaede.

“And with that, this year’s ‘Great of Browns’ is officially concluded!”

And so, the four-day festival—both long and short—finally came to an end.

Late at night.

The moon and its daughters appeared brightly, and the night sky seemed to rain down stars.

Hyadrangea Grand Hall. Arena.

The daytime heat and chaos had vanished, leaving serene silence. On this stage, there were two of us:
A young man with sharp, wild, and intelligent beauty, crowned with blonde hair.

Alweld von Rutvelt.

We faced each other.