"Itadakimasu!" (Let's eat!)
Three voices chorused in the living room.
As usual, it was just the three of them—excluding Mariabell, who was still asleep—for breakfast. It was a familiar sight, but something had recently changed slightly.
One dining chair had been added.
Sitting on that chair, placed on the short side of the table, was none other than Ren. It was the so-called head of the table, the seat of honor, but this wasn't because she was the party leader.
The reason was the back of the person shallowly seated on the chair—the impressively sized, bat-like wings.
Unless she consciously folded them, if they were accidentally spread, they would inconvenience the person next to her. The solution was simple: there should be no one next to her.
In short, the reality was closer to "being pushed aside because she was in the way."
In addition, the quantity of Ren's breakfast was strangely small.
The bread, soup, and cheese were only placed in token amounts, looking like they would be gone in one or two bites each.
This, of course, was not meant to harass Ren.
"It's so convenient being a succubus, isn't it? I can't believe you can store up food like that," Furi casually said, which explained the reason.
Having become a succubus, Ren could now sustain herself by absorbing life force from others—Energy Drain.
Furthermore, if she had absorbed a sufficient amount, she wouldn't feel hungry even when it was mealtime. If she needed a refill, she could eat something or have Furi and the others let her absorb some HP.
Since eating was still possible even when she wasn't hungry, she started having only small amounts prepared to enjoy the taste, especially in the mornings when she was often quite full.
Ren merely shrugged at this.
"It's convenient, but it feels like I'm using you guys as food, so I feel kind of bad."
"It's fine, it's fine. It's not like you're sucking us dry until we die."
"It actually helps us, since the food tastes better when you absorb a moderate amount!"
Lately, Ren often slept with either Furi or Iris (and occasionally Mariabell). While sleeping, there was usually physical contact, but even in an unconscious state, she never 'sucked' them to a dangerous degree.
For a succubus, humans were food. It was probably thought to be a waste to drain them to death. In fact, killing them solely by draining HP required conscious effort.
As a result of this, Furi and Iris divided Ren's reduced portion of food between themselves. If anything, they seemed full of energy.
"But you know. It's convenient not to be hungry, but it lessens the enjoyment of a meal, right?" Furi said while eating her breakfast with relish.
"Have your taste preferences changed, too?"
"Hmm. I feel like eating meat. And raw vegetables."
She probably found foods that are easy to ingest life force from to be more delicious. Although, she didn't feel like eating raw meat or raw fish.
"Oh! Speaking of raw, couldn't Ren handle raw eggs now?"
"Could I...? I'm scared of what will happen if it doesn't work, honestly."
Chickens are relatively easy to raise due to their size, so eggs are quite cheap even in the other world. The problem, however, is that eating them raw causes stomach aches. In Japan, raw eggs are properly pasteurized, which minimizes this kind of harm, but here, they don't have the means to do that. It was normal to eat eggs boiled or fried, and having tamago kake gohan (rice with raw egg) was practically asking for trouble. Ren and the others tried it once before and were rewarded with severe stomach pain.
A succubus's body is built differently from a human's, so she might be able to ward off bacteria, but the thought of going through that pain again made her hesitant.
Seeing Ren's weary expression, Iris tilted her head.
"You guys like raw eggs after all, don't you?"
"We used to eat them all the time. Are you not a fan of raw eggs, Iris-chan?"
"No. I don't think I've ever found them particularly tasty..."
So she had at least tried them.
"My father and mother sometimes force themselves to eat them using my mother's magic."
"Spirit magic is so convenient...!"
Apparently, they could use the Spirit of Life to work on their bodies and restore their condition.
If they ever desperately craved raw eggs, the two resolved to ask Iris's mother for help.
"Oh. I heard that the number of animals in the forest has also increased since the lake was created. And apparently, herbs have started growing around the lakeside, too."
"That's good news."
The forest doesn't harbor familiar livestock—pigs and cows. The main animals that could serve as meat are deer and wolves, but when cooked, they are surprisingly palatable. The amount that can be hunted directly affects the price, and since the population living here increases year by year, it was welcome news that the numbers were increasing.
"Wait, Iris-chan? Do animals multiply that easily?"
"Yes. The forest animals just seem to multiply when you're not looking."
"Multiply when you're not looking," Ren repeated.
That was an amazing thing to say.
In this case, it wasn't about them secretly breeding; it was a matter of them genuinely appearing out of thin air. The animal population seems to change based on the scale and richness of nature, and the skill of the administrator. Currently, the animals in the forest are maintained by Iris's mother, who is an Elf.
The Spirit User class also manipulates nature, thus indirectly contributing to the development of the forest.
"Meat, huh? Venison roasted with herbs sounds good."
"I also heard that they've started catching fish. The amount distributed in the shops has increased a little."
"I see. That's nice. That the things we do directly affect everyone else."
If they do something bad, they could end up like Takuma and his group, but if they do something good, life in the town becomes richer. If an unfinished lake has that much impact, completing it would be even more beneficial for their lives. They still have plenty of fragments left, so they could expand the lake if they wanted to. Deciding on the appropriate final size was a tricky point.
"Iris's hard work is helping your mother and father, isn't it?"
"...Ehehe. I'd be happy if that were true. Until now, all I could do was help with tending to the forest."
"So, if Iris-chan and the others stay as they are now, they won't have a class, then?"
If the level of the administrator's class has an impact, what would happen if Iris were able to gain levels? Depending on the result, the future of this world could change drastically. Since the number of Transferees arriving each year is mostly fixed, the cooperation of the native generation is essential to maintain the expanding world. If they can't find a clue to clear the dungeon before the initial Transferees reach the end of their lifespan, things might just drag on. When she thought about it that way, she could somewhat understand why the Wise Man was plotting various ill-advised schemes.
"Wait, Iris. So, if more people with classes that nurture the forest lived here, would the forest become even richer?"
"I think it would. There was a time when they tried something like that a long time ago... but opinions clashed with my mother and the others, and it became troublesome instead..."
"Ah, so things like that happen, too. It's not as simple as in a game, huh?"
Even without malicious intent, or perhaps because of the lack of malice, there are times when reconciling different opinions becomes a struggle. In reality, there is a kind of difficulty that is different from manipulating everything from a divine perspective.
"Does Ren's succubus form have some hidden benefit? Like good things happen if she lives in the brothel?"
"But humans don't just multiply when you're not looking..."
Ren said, her eyes distant.
Humans don't increase without following official procedures. Could it be that the succubus's role is to increase them...?
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