Seller: Manager, Labyrinth #201
Rating: ★★★★★
Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #16
- A handy herb for when you need to pull all-nighters. Boil the leaves with hot water and you'll get a relaxing, bittersweet tea. Great for calming your nerves when you're staying up all night. I ran a few tests to analyze the components, but I didn't find any addictive agents or anything with harmful side effects. Unfortunately, if you try to extract the active compounds, the nature of the effect changes, so you can't mass-produce medicine from it.
Rating: ★★★★★
Reviewer: Manager, Labyrinth #228
- A good friend for those sleepless nights. Pour a little water on it, pop it in your mouth, give it a chew, and it'll calm you right down. Talk about convenient! I just need to take a bit of it when I'm having trouble sleeping, and boom! I'm out like a light. The taste is all right, and it doesn't seem to have any side effects. It's my favorite.
"There's plenty still in stock, so I should be fine waiting until tomorrow to place another order."
"It'd really bother you that much to sleep with me, Mary?"
When Ann turned on the puppy dog eyes, I knew the game was up. What was most impressive was that she did that naturally; she wasn't even trying to be manipulative.
"Of course not! In the military, we used to sleep huddled together from time to time. I don't mind at all."
And Mary was down for the count. She didn't even last through round one.
"All right then, I'm gonna go to bed first!"
Ann skipped over to the bed and plopped down right in the middle.
"I suppose this ship has already sailed, but, Aoi, do you mind me sleeping in the same bed as you?"
"I'm a little worried about it, but it's fine. If I said I wanted to sleep somewhere else, Ann would throw a fit."
"Would she now. I see."
Mary and I shared a whispered conversation. It seemed my answer convinced her.
And so all three of us lay down in bed, with Ann between me and Mary. I'd played 3P scenes like this in visual novels and whatnot, but I sure never expected to get the experience in real life. Ann fell asleep quickly. Long nights playing online games had caught up with her. On the other side of her, Mary was wearing form-fitting pajamas and had her arms wrapped tight around Ann, her face completely red. She'd boldly claimed she would be fine, but sleeping huddled together in the military was a far cry from sharing a bed with someone.
In the end, Ann had successfully convinced the both of us, even though we were embarrassed about it. I couldn't imagine telling her I didn't want to sleep beside her, and Mary's clumsy kindness did her in as well. My ears pricked every time Mary took another deep breath. She was clearly still wide awake, and restless. Me, I was already going under. I could feel myself slowly slipping away into the land of dreams, a slight smile on my face. Heh. Just like Ann, I'd also been up late gaming recently. Lack of sleep really came in handy sometimes.
◇
I woke up to warm sunlight filtering in through the window. Once upon a time, when I'd still been a dedicated gamer, I couldn't wake up on time without an alarm clock. Man, those memories from a year ago seemed so far away now. Still, today's wakeup was unusual for several uncomfortable reasons. It was indeed light outside, but it was still earlier than my usual wake-up time. And while I was used to feeling the warmth of Ann glued to me when I woke up, I was not used to being sandwiched in like that. It was uncomfortably hot.
Something momentous had happened. I was sure of it.
I steeled myself and opened my eyes. Mary was lying beside me, still sound asleep, our noses nearly touching. Ah, then the warmth behind me must have been Ann. This was a bit troubling. Mary had her arms wrapped around me, pulling herself tight up against me. Meanwhile, she had both her legs wrapped around me from the other side, clamping her to my back.
What was I, her favorite plushie?
Okay, so what to do about this. There was no way I was escaping without them noticing. In game terms, we'd gone way past hard difficulty and right on to chaos mode. It was morning already, so if I moved even a little, they were sure to wake up. How had we ended up like this? Well, Ann was prone to tossing and turning in her sleep and had probably ended up behind me. Then Mary hugged me, thinking I was Ann. Incidentally, the only reason I was still hanging onto my sanity was the lingering effect of the samathi herb I'd popped into my mouth last night. I had to think of something, before it was too late. I had to get out of this alive! THINK! You must have learned something from all those games, right?! I had two beauties pinning me to the bed, one on either side of me, and... Yes! That's it! The answer came to me the moment I turned the question upside down.
Why not just stay like this?
This was paradise. You couldn't get something like this in my world unless you were ready to shell out some serious cash. This softness, this warmth, this sweet scent... These could only be my reward for a life well-lived! As a gamer, I could hear the truth in my heart: this was the greatest event of my life thus far.
When I realized all this, the perfect solution came to me. If Mary woke up while I was awake, disaster would strike this cabin. But if the opposite happened, everything would be fine. The visual novel cliché was that the girl woke up right after you, and then she slapped you silly. Given Mary's nature, she'd be horribly surprised and panic, whether I was awake or not, but if I was asleep, there was a chance she'd just gently let go of me and pretend it never happened. Granted, there was also a chance she'd just up and slap me anyway, but still, I liked my odds better like this. I was always sleeping together with Ann, so no need to worry about that side.
Now, the other concern was my sanity. However, my self-control had been tempered in the mighty crucible of Ann's nightly attentions, and with the further aid of my trusty herbs, I could lie back and enjoy this ride for as long as it lasted!
So there you had it. I closed my eyes and tried to burn the sensation into my brain. It was totally cool if I hugged her a little tighter, right? Yeah. Mmm. Man, this softness was the best. I could feel Mary's heartbeat gently thumping against my chest. Enveloped in happiness, I decided to fall asleep a second time. Good night, world.
I dozed off blissfully, and in my slumber, I thought I heard a cutesy shriek.
"Yo yo, good mornin' to ya. I've gotta plan out my schedule today, so I was hoping you could tell me what you're... Hey, Aoi, did you do something to Mary last night?"
A transmission opened up as we were all eating breakfast, and Suzu quickly became suspicious of me, for some reason. Mary looked composed, but she was acting rather distant now, and she was being careful to always position herself so that Ann was between the two of us. I didn't know whether the memories from this morning were still fresh in her mind or if she was just shy, but her face was still a little flushed. Not that you'd catch me pointing that out; only an idiot would step on a mine like that.
"Of course not. Hell, Ann was there the whole time."
And that was a hundred percent true. I hadn't done anything, even if a happy accident did occur. Plus, I was pretending not to know anything about my good fortune overnight. You know, I could really tell my fortitude had grown. It hadn't been all that long since I was freaking out over sleeping with Ann in her human form, and now, in spite of a moment of panicked hesitation, I was able to live in the moment and really enjoy it. No doubt I had Ann to thank for my newfound tolerance, with the way she pushed the boundaries of my self-control night after night.
◇
"Good morning! Is Mister Barry home?"
Ann had guided us to the home of a certain fellow who she thought could handle being the foreman for our labyrinth construction project. The house was a red brick bungalow located a little ways from the center of the village. Between all the kobold children playing in the garden and the house's weathered condition, the impressive structure looked less like an exercise in ostentation and more like a result of necessity. Big families
needed big houses.
"Aye, is that you, Ann? My, how time passes."
A well-muscled male kobold walked out of the house. Though his physique was impressive, his most striking feature was his missing arm. His body was covered with scars, and he sported a big, furry beard. Though not exactly frightening, he did look a little rough around the edges.
"You look well! Haven't seen you around in a while, so I was getting worried."
The old man smiled broadly and produced a sweetened rice cracker from his pocket, handing it to Ann. He looked like a doting grandfather sneaking some candy to his favorite granddaughter. Ann had described him as a kindly old fellow. Spot on, if you asked me.
"Oh, this looks grea---wait, hold on, me, don't get distracted! Mister Barry, I'm here on business today!"
"Oh, are you now? What business do you have for me, Ann?"
"Ummm... You tell him, Aoi!"
Wow, way to set me up for success, Ann.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Aoi, one of the Great Dark Lord's labyrinth managers."
"Oho, Ann, this must be the fellow. I can't believe you didn't tell me you got married!"
Uh. Hmm. I had picked up a few title changes in my past two months here in Milt. I'd started as "The Guy Who Hired Ann". Then, after about a month, I'd leveled up to "Ann's Sugar Daddy". Now, apparently I'd been promoted all the way to "Ann's Husband". Rumors always grew out of control in tiny communities, but this one was turning into a real wildfire. I couldn't believe how much it had grown in just a month.
Incidentally, every time the rumor got crazier, Ann's best friend Sara would storm into our hut and start grilling me, asking me if the stories were true and just what did I think I was doing to her Ann. I shuddered to think what the stories were saying about us now. I had my suspicions about just who was sowing all these irresponsible rumors about us: the village's fiercest matchmaker and Ann's staunch advocate, her aunt Jenny. I'd already accepted my fate with Ann, but Jenny didn't seem satisfied with that and wouldn't accept anything less than the removal of all possible obstacles between us. I hadn't proposed to Ann, or even initiated a romantic relationship, but I had said a few words to her at one point, and denying those now would be in poor form. I couldn't bear the thought of breaking her heart.
Ugh. This marriage thing was clearly Jenny's work in action, but even if I could see it coming, I couldn't dodge this bullet. I mean, I couldn't just go and deny this kind of thing outright, you know?
"Married, eheheh..."
Ann ran up to my side and glomped me, her eyes shining and her cheeks flushed. Yeah... Denying that was clearly not an option. Throwing a bucket of cold water on Ann when she's this happy would be worse than sadism. It would be inhumane, I'm telling you! Absolutely inhumane!
"So, uh, at any rate, I came here to offer you a big job, Mister Barry."
I stifled my urge to object and tried to continue the conversation. Barry looked at me approvingly, so at least it looked like I'd made the right call there.
"I'm trying to build a new underground extension for the labyrinth I manage, under the orders of the Great Dark Lord. I'd like you to be the foreman for the construction project."
"Oh really. Now that's a grand enterprise if I've ever heard one."
His voice was soft, his mood sober. He'd gone from an affable old man to a canny expert in a heartbeat.
"Would you really want to hire a retired old hound like me for such a big job? I reckon there are plenty of young, active workers if you go to the nearest town."
"That's true enough."
I nodded. I would certainly have been able to find a more active construction foreman if I'd made the longer trip to an actual town. But there was a reason I was looking for a foreman from the village itself.
"But I want you, and I also want every worker on the project to be from Milt. You know the villagers better than any city foreman would, and you know what jobs they'd be best at. You would be the perfect manager for them."
If I were hiring professional builders, familiarity would be less important, but the villagers here were farmers, not construction experts. Having a foreman they knew and trusted would make all the difference in the quality of their work.
"Hmm, I see. A good reason, that. Plenty of folks think there's nothing more to a construction project than throwing money at it until it's done."
I'd been doing some amount of management lately in my job, but I felt I knew the field intimately from my gaming experience. I remembered one administrative sim in particular, the sixth in a long-running series of city-building games called Some City, which I'd poured a ton of time into. As the foreman, you were supposed to oversee large construction endeavors, and the game emphasized the importance of good relations among your workers. Knowing their individual strengths was important, as was managing their fatigue. If you made the most out of their skills and status points, you could dramatically improve both the quality of construction and the time to complete a job. The series had been orchestrated by an actual civil engineer, so the game was as close to reality as possible, from the construction methodology to the logistical planning. Recently, I'd been desperately studying it in hopes of building up at least some familiarity with the basics of architectural planning and execution.
"I'm well aware that, while you do need funds to undertake any construction project, that isn't all you need. Barry, I think you're just the man I've been looking for."
"Well now, I just don't know. I'm delighted you'd turn to this old man for help, but I'm not as spry as I used to be."
Barry stroked his beard and murmured. I may have landed Mary by offering her a fat paycheck, but I had a feeling that wasn't going to work with this retired artisan. Fortunately, I had a secret weapon.
"Ann, you're up."
"Roger! Leave it to me!"
I whispered Ann her cue, and she leaped into action.
"Oh please, won't you help us, Mister Barry? Pretty please? You're the only one we can count on!"
"R-Really? All right, all right. May lightning strike me down before I deny my precious Ann anything. I suppose these old bones have one more job in them."
All it took was Ann asking, and every ounce of reservation he had melted away like snow under the sun. Ann's cuteness was a force to be reckoned with. I couldn't tell if Barry was just weak to children, being a grandfather, or if Ann's persuasion skills were just brokenly OP.
"All right then. I'm Barry. Half kobold, half dwarf. I may be a bumbling old fool, but I deliver when it counts. Here's to a good partnership."
Barry turned and gave me a courteous nod. You know, I did think he was a little beefy for a kobold. Half dwarf, huh? Did Barry have a dwarf form, the same way Ann had a human one?
"The pleasure is all mine. I look forward to working with you."
His handshake was so firm you would never have thought he was an old man. So, we had our foreman. One more item to mark off the to-do list.
"I'm going to the mayor's house to ask him about hiring some of the villagers. Would you be willing to come along? I'd like to get your opinion."
"Aye aye, boss. No need to be so stiff with me. You're in charge now."
Listening to Barry gently ribbing me, I grew certain that I'd made the right choice. This old man was more than he seemed.
◇
Barry and I had gone to see the mayor, and after we met up with him, we all took a break in a nice clearing near his fields. The minotaur towered over the rest of us. I got the feeling he could pick us all up in one hand, wooden bench and all. It was always strangely charming, seeing him sipping tea from his giant wooden cup.
"My, my, Aoi and Mary, and Barry too? What an unusual combination! Ohoho."
"Good day, Mayor Hopper. There's something we wanted to consult with you about, if you have a moment."
"I was just taking a breather myself. Your timing couldn't be better. If you're here with Barry, maybe you're planning to dig a well?"
Surprisingly not far off. We w
ould certainly be doing a lot of digging, at least.
"I'm looking to expand the labyrinth, and I'd like to hire some of the villagers. I realize it's the middle of harvest season and people are busy, but I'm willing to pay accordingly. Do you think the villagers would be able to help?"
"Hmm. So you need some extra pairs of hands."
The mayor folded his arms and looked thoughtful. Would they be too busy?
"We're all greatly in your debt, so I'd like to help you out. You're right that we have our hands full with harvest season, but I think the chance at earning a little money on the side would be a boon to many, out in this distant country village."
It was a difficult trade-off for the mayor. He couldn't diminish the labor force too much during harvest season, but he also didn't want to give up the rare chance to earn money.
Strongest Gamer; Let's Play in Another World Volume 2 Page 11
