Roxy looked at the three beast girls, then at Ash, and sighed, "Anyway, it's already so late. The children should go back and get some rest. Ash, you should get some rest early, too."
Although Eris was still somewhat reluctant to give up without finding any evidence, she couldn't say anything more and could only turn around and leave.
Roxy also led the three beast girls out of the room, leaving Ash to watch their retreating figures with complicated feelings in his heart, because...
"I should've given them a good petting first!"
He muttered to himself with deep regret and a hint of frustration. With no other choice, he flopped down in bed and angrily went to sleep... Although, less than a few minutes later, he sat up again and resumed his usual reading.
———
[The Next Morning...]
As usual, Ash had intended to immerse himself in the world of books.
However, the adorable fox girl, Nona, and the playful cat girl, Minnie, stayed close to him like shadows, circling around him.
Sometimes they rubbed their fluffy heads against his arms, and sometimes they gently brushed their tails against his ankles. Their obedient, endearing behavior made Ash feel a little conflicted... Perhaps spending a few more years here wouldn't be so bad.
After all, there was free food here that he could enjoy to his heart's content, cute fox girls he could pet as much as he liked, and lively cat girls to keep him company and play with. It was practically heaven on earth, a secluded paradise.
"This place really is heaven... How did I never realize before that there was such a wonderful place?"
As Ash muttered to himself, he unconsciously began gently playing with Nona's soft, fluffy fox tail, his eyes full of regret over the past.
"W-What?", Nona was startled by the sudden sound. Her two little ears instantly stood straight up like those of an alert little animal, as if she were searching for some potential danger.
"It's nothing, it's nothing...", He stroked Nona's ears, rubbing them down, while his other hand unconsciously continued to touch the fox tail spread across his thighs. His face was full of smiles, too.
Ash was thoroughly delighted, but Roxy kept wondering whether she should take him away before the rainy season arrived. However...
"W-What should I do? I really want to leave! But this place really is nice!", Eris had just been about to stand firm in her decision when she unconsciously started petting the two beast girls alongside Ash. Her face was filled with the same reluctance and inner conflict, and she was hardly any better than Ash.
"Haaah... If things keep going like this, will we really be able to leave?", Roxy let out a helpless sigh, her heart filled with unease and anxiety.
As if to confirm her worries, a drizzle began falling from the sky that morning.
The rain gradually grew heavier, and the torrents pounded mercilessly against the ground. By the following day, it would be clear that the rainy season had officially arrived.
The rainy season was a distinctive climatic phenomenon in the Great Forest region of the Millis Continent. It usually lasted about three months, during which continuous heavy rain fell.
Most of the Great Forest would be submerged by floods, roads would be cut off, and transportation would grind to a halt. All the races had to make sufficient preparations in advance and stockpile enough food to get through this period safely.
However, this land was extremely rich in natural resources, completely unlike the barren Demon Continent.
Preparing food here was relatively easy, especially after Ash had effortlessly dealt with the humans who had been harassing them. There was even less reason to worry about food shortages.
In the blink of an eye, three consecutive days of rain had left deep puddles scattered across the ground. Yet the children still couldn't resist their playful nature and happily chased one another around in the rain.
Suddenly, a raging torrent came rushing down from the hillside like a wild horse breaking free of its reins. Two children who had been playing without a care in the world were swept into the current in an instant, seemingly about to be carried away by the merciless flood.
Seeing this, Ash leaped into the torrent without hesitation, instinctively reaching out to rescue the children.
However, at this critical moment, he suddenly remembered that he had once told Eris and the others that he couldn't swim, just to placate them.
The thought made him hesitate slightly in the rushing water, and he subconsciously looked up toward the riverbank.
At that moment, Eris came rushing over in a panic, making him hesitate again. In the end... he simply pretended that he couldn't withstand the current, desperately holding the two children up while remaining submerged in the water for a long time. Only then was he finally rescued and brought ashore, where he fell unconscious.
'I'm doing a good deed, so I should be able to look forward to the customary scene of a beautiful girl giving me artificial respiration, right? That's right! I deserve this. There's no need to feel guilty about it! ', Ash kept his eyes closed, enjoying the sensation of being carried.
Listening to the chaotic voices of the crowd, he used his mana to sense and observe his surroundings, quietly waiting for a beautiful girl to give him artificial respiration.
But just as things were about to unfold as he had imagined, with Eris and Roxy rushing over in desperation... a burly, heavily muscled beastman warrior suddenly charged over like a whirlwind.
The beastman was tall and powerfully built, broad-backed and thick-waisted, with solid muscles as hard as steel. He was none other than Gyes, the tribe's chief warrior.
Without a word, he roughly shoved his own daughter and Eris aside.
Eris stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. Unable to contain her anger, she shouted, "What the hell are you?!"
"I'll do it! I'm strong enough to squeeze all the water out of his lungs! And I've got plenty of stamina, too!"
Completely ignoring Eris's anger, Gyes crouched down on his own initiative, clasped his hands together, and pressed them heavily against Ash's chest.
Again and again, every press packed with tremendous force, making Ash suspect that his chest was being struck by a massive boulder.
If not for his unusual constitution, he might really have suffered internal injuries from the pressure... But as for the water, he hadn't swallowed any in the first place. How could Gyes possibly squeeze any out? Even forcing things had its limits.
Before he could even decide whether to find an opportunity to sit up, that Sacred Beast also staggered over and brought its mouth close to his face, apparently intending to imitate the human method of rescue and give him beastly artificial respiration.
The heavy breathing of the burly man beside him, combined with the dog's panting, scared Ash so badly that cold sweat broke out all over his body. He nearly fainted for real. Unable to care about anything else, he abruptly sat up, used all his strength to push both the man and the dog away, and shouted, "All right, all right! I'm alive again!"
As soon as he spoke with such vigor, the entire area fell silent. The panicked people surrounding him stared at him in stunned disbelief, as if they had all turned into wooden statues.
This made him realize that he had woken up a little too abruptly. He silently glanced over the crowd before slowly saying, "...It's true that I can't swim, but I never said I could drown, did I?"
"You damn bastard...", Eris, who had firmly believed his words and had even been looking forward to showing off her skills when he drowned, was so furious that the corners of her mouth twisted. Without another word, she drew her sword and charged at him. However...
In full view of the stunned crowd, he instantly flew into the air and even smiled as he said, "By the way, I forgot to tell you. I can actually fly."
"Let's see you come down if you've got the guts!"
"Then come up here if you've got the guts."
"You damn bastard..."
Eris was so angry that she stamped her feet, yet there was nothing she could do to him. The people around them merely shook their heads and gradually dispersed, their expressions filled with amazement and wonder.
Roxy, however, looked at him with apparent admiration, seemingly wanting to learn flight magic as well. After all, flight magic didn't exist in this world.
Unfortunately... although Ash noticed her expectations, he had no way to teach her.
Over the next several days, Eris continued to look at him with the furious expression of someone who had been betrayed. This left him with no choice but to lonely... or perhaps not-so-lonely... himself pet the beast-eared girls.
———
The long rainy season continued. Eris and Minnie grew increasingly close, and at one point, they even began talking about Ghislaine, the daughter of the chief of the Doldia tribe and the younger sister of the warrior chief, Gyes.
Although Gyes had initially shown disgust toward Ghislaine, Eris's furious protests gradually helped him understand that Ghislaine was no longer the same person she had once been. As a result, Gyes's entire family began wanting to learn more about her.
Minnie even began learning swordsmanship from Eris. While playing with Nona, Ash continued his own studies, while Roxy researched magic on her own and also began teaching magic to that dog-eared girl.
During this period, Ash also learned that the tribe's Sacred Beast was a special magical beast that was born only once every few hundred years.
It had no official name, and its sex was difficult to determine... because Ash had risked being mistaken for a pervert and secretly parted the fur between its legs, only to find nothing at all. The only thing he could determine was that it wasn't male.
However, it was worth mentioning that whenever a Sacred Beast appeared, the world had faced a crisis since ancient times. Once the Sacred Beast matured, it would set out on a journey alongside a hero and use its powerful strength to save the world. As for how long it took to fully mature, that would take more than a hundred years.