"Whoaa! Incredible!" Leonard was looking at my claws with sparkles in his eyes.

 

I had neatly peeled an orange with my claws.

 

"They can do more than that." I had a smug expression on my face.

 

It has been an hour since I met Leonard, Elise's little brother. In other words, he's my brother-in-law.

 

For some reason, he has gotten quite attached to me...

 

"Here." I gave half an orange to him.

 

"Ah… Thank you…" He accepted his half while blushing.

 

Leonard is a good kid. A bit shy and passive, but a good kid. He has been showing a lot of interest in my race.

 

He has asked about my claws, my fangs and what evolving feels like. He looked extremely excited when he asked me all of that.

 

"Hihihi!"

 

"Hehehe!"

 

(Fufufu!)

 

Silvia, Tomoko and Sae were laughing and occasionally whispering something…

 

"Sigh… It seems like some things might never change… Though, it concerns me that Sae also joined your delusion…" Suika smiled bitterly. 

 

She was sitting at the table while reading a book and drinking tea.

 

"Hmm… So tasty…" Leonard muttered while shyly eating his orange.

 

In the last hour, I have realized that Elise and Leonard are polar opposites.

 

Leonard is more delicate while Elise is as durable as concrete.

 

I mean, the other night at the inn in Norvek she fell down the stairs and simply laughed as if it didn't hurt at all.

 

Leonard is way more polite while Elise can act really overly familiar.

 

In this whole hour that I have known him, he has talked to me with the utmost respect… He was treating me like I was his boss or something like that.

 

I can't imagine how he would treat me if I told him that I am a Hero…

 

"You're right. These oranges are really tasty. Do they grow them here?" I asked after eating my half of the orange.

 

Leonard nodded shyly.

 

"T-T-T-There's a few orchards on the northern gate… I-I-If you want… I can take you there…" Leonard stuttered while talking shyly.

 

That sounds interesting. I don't see why not.

 

"Sure. We can go there later." I smiled at him.

 

Leonard smiled back shyly.

 

For some reason, Silvia, Tomoko and Sae started squealing and giggling again.

 

"Forty years without them… They were a good forty years… I'm gonna miss those days…" Suika said with an annoyed expression.

 

"Suisui-chan! That's so mean!" Silvia was pouting.

 

"I'm just kidding! Although I would like you to stop shipping your husband with his brother-in-law, who is still a kid." Suika said with a blank expression.

 

Excuse me… What?

 

I was about to ask what Suika meant about shipping us, but…

 

"Catch me!" A wild Elise suddenly appeared.

 

She had run at full speed and launched herself towards me...

 

I thought that the two of us would end up on the ground, but I was actually able to catch her.

 

I was now carrying like a princess. Thanks to the difference in size, it looked extremely ridiculous…

 

Elise immediately wrapped her arms around my head…

 

"I'm so glad that you woke up! Astera said that you would be fine, but I was still worried!" Elise said enthusiastically.

 

"I'm fine now, I think…" I smiled bitterly.

 

My body just trembles a bit just by looking at Tomoko's spider legs!

 

"Elise… Umm…" Leonard was twiddling with his thumbs.

 

He was looking at the two of us while blushing...

 

"Oh? So you're already getting along with Leo? You have no idea how happy that makes me!" Elise hugged my head tightly.

 

"Yeah. He's a really nice and interesting person." I smiled.

 

To be honest, this is the first time I have gotten along with a brother-in-law.

 

In my former life, most of the brothers of my girlfriends never really liked me for some reason…

 

I dunno why though…

 

"Elise… Are you going to move out…?" Leonard asked her sister with a shy expression.

 

"Hmm? Why are you asking that all of the sudden? Ru, could you…-" Elise said with a bitter smile.

 

"On it." I replied instantly.

 

I moved closer towards Leonard while carrying Elise.

 

Elise then started patting the head of her little brother.

 

"I don't know where you got that weird idea, but I'm not planning on moving out yet. Going out on adventures, yeah. Just as usual. But I won't leave you and mom alone." Elise said to her little brother while smiling warmly.

 

"Elise… I really thought you were leaving us…" Leonard started tearing up.

 

"Dummy. Of course I'm not leaving you!" Elise said with enthusiasm while patting his head.

 

That was a very sweet interaction, not gonna lie…

 

"Sniff…"

 

(Buuaaaah…!)

 

"..."

 

For some reason, Silvia, Tomoko and Sae were crying… It was very strange seeing a horse with a runny nose.

 

"Good grief…" Even Suika seemed to be tearing up a bit. She was clearing her tears.

 

"Jeez Leo… You're always crying about every little thing… What am I going to do about you?" Elise smiled warmly.

 

"Sowwy…" Leonard said while still crying.

 

"C'mon cheer up! You don't want the girl you like to see you like this, right? We're going to have a party so please show me your best smile!" Elise said with enthusiasm.

 

Leonard immediately cleared his tears using his sleeve and smiled from ear to ear.

 

For some reason, I wanna hug my sisters and my little brother now…

 

"That's certainly better! Now go and get ready for the party! I wanna show everyone how handsome my little brother is!" Elise winked at Leonard.

 

"Yeah! Thank you, Elise!" 

 

Leonard nodded enthusiastically before happily walking away.

 

"Cute kid. Him and Nozomi are very similar." Suika said after taking a sip of her tea.

 

"I would like him to be less polite. A lot of the kids in the neighborhood have made fun of him because of it… Of course, They stopped as soon as I "kindly" told them to fuck off!" Elise smiled from ear to ear.

 

Yeah, I don't think she was kind to them…

 

"I get it. That's why Nozomi and I had to leave the cities and live in secluded areas. Well, there were other reasons, but Nozomi had a bad time getting along with people her age. I was actually really surprised when she started to speak so enthusiastically about all of you." Suika smiled warmly.

 

"Both of them are good kids." I said.

 

"Nozomi is 19 years old…" Suika said with a blank expression.

 

Huh? What the fuck? She's already an adult...?

 

"Is that so? I thought she was younger than that… Then does that mean that she might be able to join...?" Elise muttered the last part.

 

Before I was able to ask what Elise meant about that, a woman with long brown hair approached us.

 

She's 1.66 meters tall, her long hair is arranged in a ponytail and her eyes are big and blue. She has freckles on her cheeks. She's a bit chubby. She has a mature and gentle expression on her face.

 

She's wearing a blouse with a long yellow skirt that reaches her ankles.

 

"Ah! Mom! Let me introduce you to…-" Before Elise could even finish her sentence, her mother had already started running towards us.

 

"Catch me!" Elise's mother jumped at us just like Elise had done.

 

"Oh no…" Elise and I muttered as we realized what was about to happen.

 

Naturally, I was not able to catch her while carrying Elise… The three of us ended up landing on the ground…

 

I was buried underneath the two of them…

 

My vision was stolen from me...

 

"Mom! Why the hell do you jump at us when we can't clearly catch you!" Elise said with annoyance.

 

"Ah… Now that you mention it… Silly me!" Elise's mother said with a happy-go-lucky attitude.

 

"You're such an airhead!" Elise was still annoyed.

 

"By the way, where's your new husband? I swear I saw him a few moments ago..."  Elise's mother asked with a curious tone.

 

You see… The things that have robbed me of my ability to see are the breasts of my new mother-in-law…

 

"How curious…" Elise's mother seemed to have fallen deep in thought.

 

"Mom… Can you take your breasts off my husband's face, please?" Elise asked with annoyance.

 

"Ah! So that's where he was! Nice to meet you! My name is Rose Crelet! I was looking forward to meeting you, Ru!" Rose said with a lot of enthusiasm.

 

She didn't take her breasts off my face…

 

Well… This is quite an uncomfortable way of meeting your mother-in-law…

 

I'm trying my hardest to not have an erection…

 

I guess I should have mentioned this before, but… Rose has bigger breasts than Elise… 

 

That fact is making things way harder for me...

 

"I'm Ru…" My voice sounded muffled because of the pair of breasts that were covering my face.

 

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you… Can you repeat that, please?" She pressed her chests against my face even more…

 

"Mom! Just stand up! You're going to suffocate my husband to death!" Elise then finally stood up and forced her mother to stand up as well.

 

Ah… Well, it is true that I was running out of air...

 

Anyway, I had finally regained my vision… The warm feeling from before will remain for quite a while…

 

Rose was looking at me and smiling warmly and saying things like: "Silly me!"

 

Elise, on the other hand, had a very embarrassed expression… She was blushing a lot.

 

"Hahahaha! That's one hell of a way to meet your mother-in-law!" Suika looked extremely  amused.

 

Silvia, Tomoko and Sae were whispering in Japanese… They were making some very interesting expressions…

 

I stood up and started to clean up my clothes…

 

"I knew that you liked the small but cute type~!" Rose said to Elise while she was playing with her hair.

 

"Mom!" Elise got extremely embarrassed.

 

Rose simply walked towards me and…

 

“Huh?” I was dumbfounded.

 

Rose had raised me in the air and then hugged me.

 

“Thank you very much for saving my Elise! Her party members are always telling me that she’s really hard-headed and reckless. Because of that, I was extremely worried when she got in trouble and was sent with those two guys to take care of the bandits…” She was walking around the patio while hugging me…

 

“Mom! Put my husband down this instant!” Elise got pissed off.

 

“But to think that you would save her the same way my husband saved me when I was a youngster like you two! I’m a bit sad that I wasn’t present in your wedding ceremony, but don’t worry, we will have a lot of fun tonight at the party I will be hosting for the two of you!” Rose was still walking while hugging me tightly…

 

“Mom! Are you even listening to me!?” Elise was following behind.

 

Okay, I have realized two things…

 

The first one is that my mother-in-law is a bit weird… I like her.

 

The second thing actually hurts my pride as a man a bit… Can people just grab me like Rose did and run away with me?

 

I hope that if I keep evolving, I will be able to grow even taller… I mean being small has its perks, but…

 

“Ru, you and I have a lot of things to talk about! You must be hungry, right? I’ll make something special for you! Let’s go inside shall we?” Rose said happily.

 

“Mom! Stop ignoring me!” Elise said angrily.

 

“Elise, Ru and I have to get to know each other! Why don’t you go to see your party members while Ru and I have a meal?” Rose didn’t stop walking…

 

“Hey! Wait!” Elise followed after us.

 

And just like that, I was kidnapped by my mother-in-law… Silvia and the others abandoned me… I could hear Suika laughing in the background...

---

“How is it?” Rose asked me with a gentle smile.

 

“It is incredible! Thank you very much!” I thanked her from the bottom of my heart.

 

I was eating a steak made with the meat of an animal called “Faren Bull” with some steamed potatoes, a salad, and bread. It is preeeeeeeetty tasty!

 

Rose had brought me to the dinning hall of her inn. The place is very cozy and the atmosphere is very warm and welcoming. Rose sent Elise to the kitchen to help with the remaining meals of the current customers...

 

The furniture and the ceiling are all made out of wood, while the floor and the walls are all made out of brick or stone. The walls are decorated with a wide variety of paintings. There was a particular painting hanging over the fireplace that caught my attention at first.

 

It is a painting of Rose, a very young Elise and baby Leonard. Elise was smiling from ear to ear while she was holding Leonard. Rose was smiling warmly.

 

I had asked Rose about it and she simply said that she wants to get a new one done… This time with me and my other wives in it since we are family now…

 

“I’m glad that you liked it! This is also Elise’s favourite!” Rose wrapped her arm around my neck and hugged me.

 

Ah… Right…

 

I have learned not so long ago that Rose, my mother-in-law, is socially oblivious… You could call her an airhead and you wouldn’t be wrong.

 

There were lots of gazes focused on me right now… Most of them belong to a large group of men and women who were looking at every little thing I did. They seem to be locals.

 

“Your sisters are really polite and cute! Are you married to them as well?” Rose asked with a smile.

 

I nodded.

 

“Yeah. Don’t you consider it weird?” I asked.

 

“Should I? I was an adventurer when I was the same age as Elise, I have seen my fair share of things. Fufufu!” Rose giggled and hugged me tightly.

 

That only made the people who were looking at me quite angry apparently… 

 

My mother then ran towards our table and brought me a second plate of meat. She was wearing an apron over her white blouse.

 

“Ru, I thought you would still be hungry so I brought you more food!” My mother smiled before bringing a chair closer to me and sitting on it…

 

“Thanks mom.” I smiled at her.

 

“Hehehe!” She hugged me while I was trying to eat…

 

Jeez…

 

“Oh? So this is your mother? I thought she was your sister! Nice to meet you, I’m Rose.” Rose smiled at my mother while still having her arm wrapped around my neck.

 

“I’m Fa! Nice to meet you… Erm… You have a lovely inn!” My mother introduced herself with a lot of excitement.

 

“You two have the same lovely pair of eyes. It is really cute! Fufufu!” Rose giggled again.

 

“Of course it is cute! My son is very cute!” My mother snuggled in my chest…

 

It was now kinda difficult to eat for two reasons… One, my mother and Rose hugging me makes it very uncomfortable for me to try and eat.

 

Two… The once warm and welcoming atmosphere of the inn had turned hostile for some reason…

 

I might not be safe in this place…

 

“Fufufu!”

 

“Hehehe!” 

 

But, it seems like my mother and my mother-in-law just created a weird bond between them…

 

“Jeez… A flower on each hand and a lot more in your pocket... I guess that being handsome has its benefits.” A woman with short white hair, dark skin and pointy ears walked towards us and winked at me.

 

It was Laura, the dark elf knight from before.

 

“Laura, are you already on your break? That’s a bit weird, you usually take your break much much later…” Rose tilted her head.

 

“Ah, well… Today is a special occasion after all. Mind if I join you?” Laura asked while looking at me. She even stuck out her tongue...

 

“Sure.” I nodded.

 

Laura grabbed a chair and sat close to us.

 

By this point, the atmosphere in this place was completely unrecognizable… I’m scared that someone might try to stab me soon…

 

“Is it me or has the atmosphere changed a lot here…?” I asked with an uncomfortable expression.

 

I was on alert thanks to the hostile gazes that were focused on me…

 

“Well, considering that you’re currently sitting with three beauties, two of them which are part of the Ten Unreachable Roses of Alorari and the fact that you already married another one of the roses, it is pretty normal.” Laura explained with a playful smile.

 

Ten Unreachable Roses… I do remember that there was one female knight who ran away because she wanted to tell everyone that one was claimed… And that one was Elise…

 

Now I think I get what is happening here…

 

These people are jealous apparently…

 

“Is that a tribe?” My mother tilted her head.

 

“I don’t really like being called a ‘Rose’, you know? I would say that I’m more like a sunflower!” Rose smiled innocently.

 

“And I consider myself a Lily but we can’t do much about it... Ah! You must be wondering what the Ten Unreachable Roses are, Right?” Laura stuck out her tongue and winked at me.

 

I simply nodded.

 

“To put it simply, the Ten Roses are the most desired bachelorettes of our wonderful town! These bachelorettes are apparently quite difficult to conquer, hence the name of Unreachable Roses.” Laura explained to me with a lovely smile.

 

“I see… Now I get why I feel like everyone wants to stab me…” I smiled bitterly.

 

“The Ten Roses is a foolish concept in my opinion… Just putting us on a pedestal just because we have standards… Sigh…” Laura sighed heavily.

 

“I agree.” Rose smiled bitterly and nodded in agreement.

 

“The one that really matters is the male counterpart of the Ten Roses… The Ten Beasts! Just by your appearance alone, I would definitely put you in the first place!” Laura said playfully. Her eyes were literally sparkling...

 

Oh… Now Elise’s friend is flirting with me…

 

Well, that was apparently the last straw for some guys…

 

A trio of bald guys suddenly walked to our table…

 

“You… What do you think you are doing?” The boss of the bald guys was looking at me with disdain.

 

“Talking and having a meal like everyone else?” I replied.

 

One of the bald guys suddenly stuck a knife in the middle of the table.

 

“You are not respecting the pecking order of this town… You really must have some big balls to try to claim one of the roses for yourself.” The boss said with disdain.

 

Great… This already smells like trouble so I should be careful in dealing with this… I don’t want to hurt Rose’s business so…

 

Before any of us were able to say anything back, the third bald guy had tossed my plate at me…

 

I was then covered in grease and sauce because of that…

 

Slight change of plans… I think I’m in the mood for tasting some human meat today...