Exiting his room, Azi saw the familiar sight of Kajima in the kitchen. He was joined by Rulu who was wearing an apron as she stirred a pot of what looked like meat and potato stew. The smell of the stew reminded him of what he had eaten before in his past and it succeeded in getting the intended reaction as it had whetted his appetite. Hearing him approach, Kajima looked over from the oven to speak to Azi. "How is your fever? All better?" "I think it's gone down a bit. But I think I’m more concerned about how hungry I am." Azi rubbed his stomach to indicate his increasing appetite, to which Kajima reacted by smiling wryly. "You didn't eat much when you were asleep but don't worry, I made plenty for tonight. Dinner will be ready soon, Nosuri and Ougi came back and said that Shizu would be bringing Yashimu over for dinner. The two mercenaries are currently in their room getting changed and Shizu should be back soon." "That's good to hear. Anything I can do to help?" "Well, if you
Kajima left the dining room for a moment and returned with an ornate box with a familiar emblem on one of its sides. Shizu and Azi recognized that the box was from the well-known pastry shop in the village. Azi perked up and asked with upbeat expectation. "No way, is that what I think it is?" "You would be correct. Thanks to Rulu we were able to get plenty of your favorite dessert." Sadi Kajima as he set the box down on the dining table. Azi turned to Rulu and asked in a surprised tone. "How did you get one? They are usually sold out since you can only get them if you reserve an order and the amount it costs to do so is incredibly high for just one." A bit fluster, Rulu explained as she flailed her hands around in a panic. "Well, when I went to the shop with Kajima, they recognized me and gave it to me as a gift to celebrate my arrival to Shisayama. It-its really n-no big deal." Azi was amazed by Rulu's simple explanation as he had gone several times in his free time in an att
After helping Kajima clean up after dinner, Nosuri and Ougi had entered their room to begin their preparations for bed. While they had changed into their sleepwear, they had yet to organize the luggage into the nearby closets. Nosuri's clothes mostly consisted of a few pairs of her casual attire which was a skintight white blouse that did not have sleeves as they got in the way when she operated her bow. The white blouse clung tightly to her skin which accentuated her bountiful and curvy breast and rear. To add a bit of modesty to her attire, she wore clothes that went over her blouse that looked like a coat with short sleeves with a short straight blue skirt that at least cover her hips but left her bountiful chest free due to how the second lay of clothes were not big enough to cover her. Nosuri did not mind the amount of exposure her body was presenting, but rather took pride in her womanly charms as she believed that any "good" woman would have no shame in her body but rather a
Sitting on one of the prepared futons in one of Kajima's spare rooms was Yashimu who had a somewhat exasperated expression on his face. When he witnessed the sight of Azi kissing Shizu's cheek and her subsequent reactions, he could not believe what he was seeing. Never in his life did he expect that Shizu could make that kind of womanly expression. Ever since he was 10 years old, he always remembered how Shizu had a serious expression and always spoke to him in a serious tone. She became more relaxed as she got older, but it was more that she had a layer of calm that was always hidden under her expression which became more apparent when she interacted with men. She never showed interest in any man who tried to court her hand in marriage. Those that were bold enough got a fist their face, while the ones she gave a chance were the ones she was amicable with but were so badly beaten down by her trials that they gave up and distanced themselves from her. Her main source of friends or c
Getting settled in bed like usual, Azi was being held from behind by Shizu. This time, due to Azi's kiss on her cheek, Shizu opted to hold him in a firmer grip that made him feel a bit of discomfort. While she knew that Azi was trying to tease her as payback for what she did to him in the bath, she didn't think he would do it so openly in front of other people. In front of Kajima was fine but in front of her own family made it more embarrassing. As she remembered how Azi's lips felt as they touched her cheek, it made her feel a tickle in her heart which caused her to reflexively hug Azi with a bit more force than usual. Bearing the slight pressure on his stomach, he still chuckled as he reveled in his small victory against Shizu. Hearing that he was chuckling at her expense, she did not want this little chuckling puppy in her arms from getting too full of himself. He might be older than her but he was still her apprentice. She began to nibble on his ear to get him worked up and to
As if instinctively reacting to his usual routine, Azi awoke at first light. He felt a wet sensation on his lips and that there was something soft missing from his palms. Taking stock of his surroundings, he recognized that he was in his room. He felt oddly refreshed from his recent lucid dream as it felt so real that he thought he would get completely lost in it. He slightly flushed as he remembered the finer details of his dream and he thought to himself. 'That was quite a dream. It is a good thing it didn't actually happen..... Right?' A bit of doubt sprouted in his mind, but he nonetheless lifted his body up with his hands. He saw that Shizu was lying beside him, which was no surprise. Shizu did have her top off like she did in his dream, but this had happened before when they slept together. Azi knew that she had a sloppy posture when sleeping so he played it off as coincidence. Remembering that he had to stay in bed for a month and had no pressing work, Azi began to wake Shi
After Kajima understood the current situation from Yashimu and Rulu, he sat Shizu and Azi down inna seiza posture on the floor of the dining room. As they sat on their knees, they looked up in horror at the expression of rage in Kajima's devil-like eyes. He began his tirade about the modesty that an unmarried man and woman should have and threatened to throw them out to the streets if they continued such behavior under his roof. This was countered as Azi and Shizu explained what really happened with blushing faces. They took turns as they retold their intimate moment last night and explained how it was a lucid dream. Kajima's eyes of wrath lessened as they then explained the details and learned that nothing sexual had occurred, but concern began to mar his expression. He worried that Shizu was possibly forcing Azi down the path of her choosing by constantly enticing him with her body and antics, but it seemed that Azi explained how it was his own choice. While it was an unconscious
Azi conjured his magic tethers from his arms and as they extended they began glowing a brighter color of blue-ish white that made Nosuri and Ougi squint at the bright sight. While somewhat uncomfortable to look at as the shined is more in the confined space of the workshop, they could still see what Azi's tethers were doing.The tethers that came from each of his hands began to split into smaller lines of blue light that then connected to the 15 individual square pieces that were now attached to their weapons."This will only take an hour so please be silent as I work."With those curt words, Azi closed his eyes and focused on infusing magic into the square black pieces. The rune on each square piece began to glow and soon magic power began to circulate through the internal structure of their weapons.Nosuri and Ougi stared in great curiosity, they have been all across the lands of the Empire and they have never seen a kind of crafting, forging, or thaumaturgic technique that was like