The New Gate

The next morning, after Shin had spent the night at Tsuki no Hokora.

“…It’s too bright.”

It was the first thing that he thought when he woke up.

The sunlight had reached the top of the bed because he didn’t close the curtains. Now, it was directly shining on Shin’s face.

“What time is it now?”

Because he had gone to bed without setting the alarm, he didn’t know the time. When the menu screen was displayed, it was slightly pass 6:30.

“Schnee is not here…”

Schnee, that had been clinging to his right hand, was nowhere to be seen. It was likely that she was already awake. A faint smell of breakfast confirmed Shin’s prediction.

As he had those thoughts, there was a feeling of some discomfort on his left arm. He turned toward that way while thinking ‘no way’, as silvery hair spread on the bed, entered his field of vision. If it was that alone, he would have thought it was Schnee, but the physique was too different for some reason.

The figure that was stark naked and sleeping peacefully, was a little girl of around 10 years old.

Her identity――

“Is this Yuzuha?”

【Analyze】showed the name of the little girl. Besides when Yuzuha mentioned about its head clearing up after the fight yesterday, perhaps there was some sort of seal that was removed as well. If that was the case, then the unusual level up, suddenly being able to speak, and having this figure too. All of it was explained.

Anyways, when an Element tail became a full-fledged level 1000, highest class monster in the game; human transformation and talking too, were possible by default. It just felt unnatural to see instead of the fox’s usual appearance.

Leaving behind the fox ears and tail for no special reason, it was an irresistible appearance for a person who likes these sort of things.

“In any event, this is a very dangerous setting.”

It was a common pattern, someone would come to wake another person up with bad timing and then, receive an outrageous shock due to the misunderstanding.

There was no presence of a person on the other side of the door, but he couldn’t be careless now.

“Hey Yuzuha, wake up. It’s morning.”

He held Yuzuha’s shoulders and began to wake it up. While paying attention toward the outside the room, he shook it a little harder.

“Unyu…What~?”

“I will say it again, it’s morning.”

“I’m still sleepy…”

It seemed like its appearance still similar with the personality, too. The Element Tail in Shin’s memory had an antique way of talking, but now, it talked like a little child.

“Come on, wake up, quickly.”

“Nh? Oh.. Shin~ Good morning~”

“Yeah, good morning. Please put on clothes for the time being as you get up.”

Though Yuzuha was only a little half-asleep, when it realized it was Shin that woke it up, it had an ‘awkwardly forced smile’ on its face. Depending on the person who saw the smile, they would roll over in agony. Of course, there was no such characteristic in Shin as he ignored it and urged Yuzuha to put on clothes.

“Shin is warm~”

“Why are you clinging. A girl must not do such a vulgar thing, it’s bad.”

“Eh~”

Shin warned Yuzuha while separating himself.

After all, everything would end if someone saw him embraced by a naked little girl.

While it looked like fondling a younger sister, he had to keep some distance.

“Is a girl no good?”

“Not good!”

“Then I will transform this way!”

Yuzuha, who asked that, emphasized girl for some reason. For Shin who was against it with, “Not good”, Yuzuha took an unexpected action.

All of a sudden, Yuzuha’s body emitted a faint light, and the slightly bulging chest disappeared, followed by that, the hair became very short. And then, in that nether region, there was a thing that a little girl shouldn’t have.

Shin’s thoughts stopped at that moment, the phenomenon that happened before his eyes was too shocking.

“…Oi…Why, did you become this?”

“If a girl is not good, then I should become a boy!!”

It was not a line that a nude pretty boy, while puffing out his chest with pride, should say. In front of Shin was not the coveted ‘loli’ of pretty girls, it was the desired ‘shota’ of pretty boys. There was no fixed distinction of sex to an Element Tail. This was the moment that made him realize it clearly.

“Even if it is a girl or a boy, it’s not good to embrace while naked.”

“Shin doesn’t like ‘boys’?”

“Why is it, that I feel like the way you said ‘boy’ has a different meaning to it.”

He felt the sense of incongruity from the remark. Yuzuha wasn’t supposed to know the meaning it held in order for it to say it.

“Yuzuha? I have one question for you; when you said a ‘boy’, you mean a ‘man’, right?”

“Kuu? Doesn’t it mean a cute boy? But, I wonder if this boy is a cool looking guy.”

“…………”

Although it seemed alright for now, he felt a shudder.

“Shin?”

“Well…It is not wrong, I guess.”

And then, Shin properly glossed over the question.

“Or more precisely, where did you hear that?”

“People who came to the Shinto shrine said it. In addition, the ‘BL’ they said was interesting.”

“Who the ー!! What a fool to have a conversation like that in front of the boss Element Tailーー!!”

While sending a curse to whomever and wherever the unknown players were, Shin instructed Yuzuha to return to the little girl mode. It was not so bad when it was a ‘loli’, but a suspicious ‘shota’ was too hard mentally.

“Come on, put this on for the time being.”

“It’s puffy. What is it~?”

“It is from the material that I made before. If I remember correctly, didn’t you wear clothes that had such a feeling before?”

Shin handed Yuzuha a scarlet hakama* with a kimono* undershirt and a white robe. In short, it was the shrine maiden clothes. Certainly, they were not ordinary clothes since they came from Shin’s Item Box. (T/N: A type of traditional Japanese clothing)

Even though the clothes would be suitable in the Shinto shrine, they were also the clothes that Element Tail wore during the game in human mode.

“Oh~”

“Please say if you think you want to change the color. If i’m not mistaken, it was navy blue?”

“This is fine~!!”

Yuzuha delightedly said, while putting on the shrine maiden clothes. Because the size adjustability was included, there was no problem even if the figure was small.

However, was the memory vague? A few minutes after the clothes began to change, they had lost shape everywhere.

“Shin～…”

Yuzuha called to Shin in a frail voice.

“Say it from the beginning if you don’t know how.”

Shin spoke while he repaired Yuzuha’s disarrayed clothes. Speaking of how he knew how to put on the shrine maiden clothes, it was because of the schematic attached to the note column. Such a thing was a part of the item’s clothes description.

As Yuzuha put on the Japanese sock that Shin took out as an addition, it spun around and around on top of the bed in high spirits.

“Kuu~”

“Don’t move around too much. The outfit will get out of shape.”

“Then, I will have Shin dress me again~”

“Stop it.”

What made it so happy? It was twirling around and around, matching with the tail that extended from the hakama. Somehow the shrine maiden clothes expanded from the spine muscle as a result.

Was it the close feeling of wearing a dougi*? Shin wondered. He had a hunch that the spine expanded only because it wore it like that. (T/N: martial art’s uniform)

“Hey, don’t go turning around. It should be breakfast soon.”

“Breakfast!”

“I guess Yuzuha feels hungry too.”

“Yes!”

“Then, let’s go. Hmm? Someone is coming. This response, is it Tiera?…Ha!?”

Shin perceived that it was Tiera approaching. It was different if it was Schnee, but he hadn’t explained about Yuzuha to Tiera in detail yet.

“Shin, are you awake? The breakfast will be ready soon.”

Tiera knocked on the door as she told him about breakfast.

“Oh, yes. I will be ready right away――”

Still, the door was not impudently opened like the way they did in mangas and light novels. But, was Yuzuha not able to wait? Yuzuha, who didn’t notice Tiera’s voice, pushed open the door with all of its might.

“Breakfast!!”

“――There!? Yuzuha stop!!”

“Eh?”

At the same time as Tiera’s surprised voice, a thick sound resounded as the door collided with Tiera.

“Ouch~”

“Um, ano, au…”

Shin, who appeared from the side of the door, saw Tiera holding her reddening nose and the figure of Yuzuha was also seen. It seemed like Tiera took a pratfall as she was sitting in a child-like sitting state.

“Are you alright”

“Uu~ This child is?”

“It’s Yuzuha. Actually, it has a transformation ability. Hey, apologize to Tiera.”

“I am so-sorry…”

“I see. Haha, it’s alright, Yuzuha-chan. Since I didn’t get hit with too much power. But, be careful when you open the door next time, okay? And um, good morning.”

“Okay~ Um, good morning.”

Tiera, who was seen laughing, made Yuzuha, who was panicked, feel relieved. As for Yuzuha now, one would think that it was only a child that was excited too much, because its thoughts and actions were appropriate for its age.

Shin thought about it while seeing the situation that got the two people talking. If he looked at Yuzuha’s situation, this might be the maximum growth limit in the present conditions. Yuzuha hasn’t leveled up since that time, and he knew that it’s mind state hadn’t completely returned to its original state either.

Why was Yuzuha’s power sealed? Though he didn’t understand much of the information obtained from Yuzuha itself, he would have to verify it. It was obvious to Shin that there was something else unknown that occurred.

“By the way, now that you two have reconciled, shouldn’t we go eat breakfast?”

“Yes, because I only can serve it after. Master is already there waiting.”

“Breakfast~, breakfast~”

“Huh, was it a young fox originally? Yuzuha-chan, do you like fried tofu?

“I love it!”

“Then, shall I make inarisushi* for lunch?” (T/N: sushi wrapped in fried tofu )

“Really!?”

Yuzuha rejoiced when it heard inarisushi. This appearance that wasn’t even seen in intimate sisters.

“Good morning. Ara, is Yuzuha also able to change into a human form?”

When the three people arrived at the living room, Schnee who set the table greeted them. Since she knew that Yuzuha was an Element Tail, she didn’t seem to be surprised much. And Shin decided not to touch on what happened last night.

“G-Good morning.”

“Yes, good morning. Then, shall I lay out the meal for each person?”

Was it because of the sudden encounter with Tiera? Yuzuha showed a little restraint while greeting Schnee.

Seeing Schnee, who returned the greeting while smiling kindly, Yuzuha separated from Shin’s trousers, which Yuzuha had kept holding while watching from there.

As for the table, even if four people sat, there was plenty of space left. While Schnee prepared breakfast for Yuzuha’s portion, Shin brought a spare chair.

“Then, let’s eat.”

““Itadakimasu!””

They clasped their hands and began to eat. The menu was rice, fried tofu miso soup with seaweed and tofu, and dried and opened mackerel fish.

Shin thought about whether or not Japanese foods suited elves, but there was no feeling out of place because of the figure that was holding wooden chopsticks and breaking the fish into smaller pieces.

Yuzuha was using a spoon because it couldn’t use chopsticks properly.

“Yummy!”

“As expected from Master.”

“This is great.”

Only voices of praise came out. Even though it was not luxurious, even in the real world he never ate such a delicious meal.

“That is because of the flavor boost from the skill. I can’t be proud of it very much.”

“Isn’t it a great thing?”

“The taste goes up at least two stages due to the skill.”

“Is that so, but it could not originally be delicious if there was no practice. After all, I still think it’s amazing.”

“That is so, didn’t Master practice so much?”

Tiera talked about how the humble Schnee put great effort in cooking.

As for the cooking skill, it certainly could compensate the dish in various ways, but it was not possible to improve bad foods. Because a bad thing would always be a bad thing.

Even if one compensated with the skill, there was no change if the cooking ability was good.

“Thanks for the meal!”

“Yes, I’m glad that you’re satisfied.”