Chapter 61: Alan Strutting His Stuff, the Infidelity Scandal Erupts

The cold wind chilled Roltz to the bone. In the split second between life and death, countless thoughts raced through his mind.
'This... is far too sudden...'
'Lufie... Noda... I haven't yet...'
The forest snake’s ferocious jaws grew closer and closer to his face, its fangs already within a hair's breadth.
Then, it split apart.
In mid-air, amidst Roltz's horrified and regretful gaze, in a posture that completely guaranteed death, it shattered into a dozen pieces in an instant, scattering from before Roltz's face like discarded food scraps from a kitchen trash can.
At the same time, he felt a gust of wind brush past the side of his cheek.
A residual trail of light flickered in the air.
The forest snake's corpse spurted hot blood, splashing across his face. Only then did the surrounding exclamations of shock ripple outward like a rising tide.
Roltz had no spare attention to give to the concerned cries of the crowd; he turned his head to look at the figure beside him who seemed to have been 'squeezed' abruptly out of thin air.
"Are you alright?!"
This voice was something he had heard almost every few days over the past half-year.
The wind from moments ago did not originate from any part of the snow-covered mountain forest.
It was simply carried along by someone.
"Daddy!!"
Sylphiette's panicked shouts drew closer by the degree. Roltz looked down at the dead-as-a-doornail forest snake on the ground, then back up at the eager-faced Eris before him, dazed for a long moment before finally recovering from his trance.
"Thank you... That was a huge help..."
As the surge of adrenaline faded, Roltz was overcome by lingering fear. His legs went weak and he nearly collapsed, only to be firmly caught by Eris.
The latter checked Roltz's body up, down, left, and right. Finding nothing amiss, she let out a gentle sigh of relief, while Sylphiette and Rudeus came running over through the accumulated snow.
Seeing the forest snake's carcass on the ground, Sylphiette instantly understood what had happened. Her lips trembled and she buried her face directly into Roltz's arms, while simultaneously reaching out to grab a tight fistful of Eris's sleeve.
With lingering fear, Roltz stroked Sylphiette's head and softly comforted her.
Watching this scene, Eris breathed a slight sigh of relief, and as she looked at the small hand clutching her sleeve, a smile involuntarily surfaced on her face.
'Good thing I made it in time...'
Paul also suddenly flashed out from nearby, his expression full of vexation.
"You alright!? I was paying attention to movement on the other side, damn it..."
"A close call, no harm done."
Paul breathed a sigh of relief, his mouth twitching as he looked at the pulverized chunks of forest snake scattered across the snowbank, which looked practically ready to be tossed straight into a pot.
"Your Soundless Blade technique is getting more and more refined. That was fast..."
"Just a stroke of luck..."
"What was with your reaction just now? You noticed it way faster than I did."
"I've been keeping my awareness up. Didn't you say there was a chance magical beasts might appear, Uncle?"
"You rascal, you certainly think things through."

Eris stroked Sylphiette, who had turned around and buried herself back into her embrace, and shared a helpless, smiling glance with Roltz and Rudeus, who was scratching the back of his head nearby.

The preparatory activities for the hunt lasted a full five days, with nearly the entire forest cordoned off tightly. The specific hunting method was also made known to Eris:
The hunting area was divided by nets, and torches were tossed into the woods to rouse some of the hibernating monsters. Afterward, archers would hunt them from behind the nets. This effectively thinned out the weaker monsters that relied on exceptional reproductive rates to survive in the forest. As for ranked monsters like wild boars, their numbers in the forest were very small, and their black fur stood out too conspicuously against the snow, allowing hunters to easily steer clear of them if encountered early on.
Well, there was no need to steer clear of them either.
Because... the wild boars in this forest had almost all been eaten up by Chef Eris.
On the surface, it seemed like a good thing, but in reality, Eris's actions had inadvertently eliminated the natural predators of the weaker monsters in the forest. At least in Paul and Roltz's estimation, the population this year might be a full thirty percent higher than the last.
Swarms of weak monsters posed a much greater danger to the winter crops planted around the village and to ordinary villagers than powerful, solitary monsters.
Thus, setting up the nets required extra care.
Five days later, snow began to drift down from the sky again, and everyone left the forest to return to their respective homes.
The day the snow stopped would be the day of the culling.

"My dear! You're back!"
"I missed you so much, Zenith~"
Amidst Rudeus and Eris simultaneously covering their faces in embarrassment, Paul acted like a jubilant dog. The moment he returned home, he cast aside the facade of composure he maintained outside, rushing impatiently toward Zenith and pressing his face against her belly.
Zenith, long accustomed to this flirting in front of the children, merely smiled at Eris and Rudeus, then playfully flicked Paul on the forehead.
"If you missed me so much, why didn't you come back?"
Paul chuckled and looked up at Zenith.
"The forest is too far, going back and forth is inconvenient... We pushed deeper into the woods this year, and Roltz almost had an accident, so I had to stay and keep watch."
"Alright, time to eat~"
Lilia happened to be carrying the food out from the kitchen at that moment. She smiled at the returning Rudeus and Eris, then began setting the table.
Dinner was very cozy.
Only, throughout the meal, Eris's gaze kept sweeping back and forth between Paul, who was clumsily hovering around Zenith, and Lilia, who kept her eyes averted and minded her own business, a meaningful smile playing at the corners of Eris's lips.

The soundproofing of the Greyrat household was not good.
Especially for a Water God Style swordsman who had honed all five senses.
The first night.
Zenith and Paul were flirting in the next room, and in the middle of the night, some strange noises began.
Unlike the usual groans, it sounded more like the smacking sounds of someone eating.
After just a brief while, Zenith seemed to grow tired. She exchanged some whispered teasing with Paul, and then the adjoining room went silent.
Half an hour later, the door next door opened.
Paul went out for a very long bathroom break.

The second night.
Still the sound of a midnight snack. This time Zenith seemed intent on pleasing him, but before long, things quieted down once again.
Paul went to the bathroom again after Zenith fell asleep.
Only this time, he also took a hot shower.

The third night.
The winter night in Buena Village was exceptionally quiet, and the rustle of snow falling outside the window could be heard clearly.
The next room was much the same.
Moreover, tonight there was even the sound of the window curtains being drawn. Perhaps once the snow stopped and they could go out to hunt monsters, it would allow Paul to vent his excess energy.
...
It snowed for a week.
...
And so things naturally and wildly careened out of control—starting from the fourth night, whenever Eris went out to use the bathroom, she would find Lilia bundled up in clothes late at night, boiling water in the kitchen before returning to her room to wash up.
It was as if the winter made one particular room exceptionally cold.
And every night, the door next door would open.
Finally, on the night of the seventh night.
After the neighboring door opened, the footsteps of the male master of the house were uncharacteristically delayed in sounding. Before long, Eris, lying in bed, heard unusual sounds.
There were faint sounds of conversation, drifting through the wall into Eris's ears—very soft, very fragmented, so much so that even Eris, at the Saint level of the Water God Style, could not hear them clearly.
However, without a doubt, these were not the sleep-mutterings of Zenith from the next room.
Eris got up, opened her door, and stepped silently into the hallway.
The sounds could now be captured; their source was the maid's quarters at the end of the second floor.
"...You... You've been holding back for a long time too, huh."
"...Nonsense... I haven't..."
"Oh... Is that so?"
"Ah... Yes... Ah... No..."
"Do you like it?"
"......"
The muffled creak of a bed frame.
"Ah... Li... Like it..."