45. Rena
After leaving the slave trading post in Kolobo, I bought some daily necessities that would be needed with the beastman girl I had purchased—named Rena—and then headed to Lorraine’s place.
I thought I should at least give her a quick report, but we arrived right as the Adventurer’s Guild was about to close, so it wasn’t a good time for a proper conversation. However, since the guild was closing, I took a gamble and invited Lorraine to dinner, and surprisingly, she accepted right away.
The reason was that she had wanted to try the fried potatoes and karaage I had mentioned during the day, but was hesitant to go alone.
This was also due to how bad public safety was in this other world. A beauty like Lorraine, with such an attractive body, was bound to attract men. On top of that, as the receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild in this town, she was well-known and popular among adventurers. The probability of her not being targeted was astronomically low.
That was exactly when I, who had gained a bodyguard in the form of a young girl, appeared. Turning misfortune into fortune—this was a perfect example of that. And so, the three of us—me, Lorraine, and Rena—ended up at the Spring’s Tavern.
“Takuma-san, thank you so much for this.” “No need to thank me, it’s nothing.” “But… is it really okay for me to be treated like this…?” “Yes! Please eat as much as you want, Lorraine-san!” “Understood… Then I’ll take you up on your offer.”
Lorraine picked up one of the fried potatoes in front of her and brought it to her mouth.
“Oh… it’s delicious. Is this made from jagga?” “Yes, exactly. That jagga.” “It doesn’t taste like jagga at all…”
As you might have guessed, “jagga” refers to potatoes. Though for some reason, the most important two characters in the word for potato are missing in this world. Well, it’s another world, so it can’t be helped. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, were sold normally as “sweet potatoes.” God, couldn’t you have done a bit more fine-tuning on that?
But thanks to that half-hearted adjustment by God, I was able to earn passive income and was now having dinner with Lorraine—the woman I had a crush on in my previous life, even if she was now married. God, good job.
“By the way, this is the karaage, right?” “Yes. Be careful, it’s hot.” “Alright, then…”
Instead of eating the karaage in one bite, Lorraine took about half of it into her mouth and slowly savored her first experience. After chewing it thoroughly, she put the rest in her mouth and fully enjoyed the concentrated flavor of meat and oil.
“This is also incredibly delicious. Now I understand why adventurers head straight here after finishing quests.” “I’m glad it suits your taste. Here, try eating this with this sauce next. It’ll give it a completely different flavor.” “Thank you. Then, let me try again…”
Lorraine tried the fried potatoes and karaage with the ketchup and pepper I offered, savoring each new taste one by one. After every bite, she gave detailed impressions. As a man, it made me happy, and as the creator of the dishes, her feedback was extremely valuable.
I drank the beer I had become completely addicted to, occasionally glancing at Rena, who was sitting to my left quietly eating fried potatoes, while facing Lorraine.
“By the way, Takuma-san… Is that girl really your bodyguard?”
Lorraine looked past me toward Rena, who was still silently dipping fried potatoes in ketchup and eating.
“Yeah. She’s my bodyguard.” “You bought her as a combat slave, right?” “That’s correct.” “I see…”
It was natural for Lorraine to find Rena strange.
On the way to the guild earlier, we had talked a little. Rena was 28 years old. She didn’t look older than me at all, but there was a reason for that.
Beastmen and demi-humans inherited traits from animals, so their growth rate was slower. As a result, they generally looked much younger than their actual age. It was similar to how one year for a cat is roughly equivalent to eighteen years for a human. Even though beastmen also had human genes mixed in, they still seemed to age at roughly half the speed of humans.
It went without saying that Rena looked like a girl in her early teens, and her knowledge and mentality were also around that level. Like the saying “age-appropriate,” she had probably lived according to the pace of her appearance. That was why, despite looking like a young girl, she didn’t complain about the world like a child would.
Setting that aside, while it was understandable that Lorraine found her appearance strange, the bigger mystery was probably that Rena was a combat slave, not a labor slave or a sex slave. A small, young-looking girl—her appearance was almost completely at odds with the word “combat.” The fact that she was a beastman was barely enough to make it believable in my eyes, but perhaps not for Lorraine.
No matter how you looked at it, Rena didn’t seem like someone suited for fighting.
However, she was unmistakably my bodyguard.