Side Chapter — A Day in the Life of Niku Kuroinu

The day of a slave starts early. But a slave working as a dakimakura gets up when Keima does, so their day starts fairly late. Since Niku did not have such work last night, her day unfortunately started early.

Niku, upon waking up in the morning, picked her socks. That choice was very important to her. Reason being, her master Keima looked at her feet more than anywhere else. Niku didn’t really understand what a foot fetish was, but if her beloved master desired it, she had no problem wearing the same socks for three days without ever using {Purification} on them.

...Yesterday, she wore socks with light blue stripes on them that reached up to her thighs, but today she decided on wearing plain white ones. It seemed that Keima didn’t particularly like striped socks. She had no way of explaining why, but judging from experience, she felt that she was assigned dakimakura more often when wearing plain socks of a single color.

“...Mmm.” After getting the socks on, she started performing light stretches and such to loosen her body. In order to avoid wrinkling her maid uniform, she did the stretches wearing nothing but the underwear she slept in and her socks. Only after thoroughly stretching did she put on her maid outfit, the Maid Outfit Golem that her master had given her. It assisted her movements, allowing her physical potential to shoot upwards.

...Even the socks she just put on were both Golems.

“...Okay.” With her morning preparations complete, it was time for her to go to work. Since the chief residence she lived in was connected directly to the inn, her commute took less than a minute.

Her morning duty was to work as a waitress in the cafeteria where adventurers ate. She and the other employees of the inn took turns doing this job in shifts. Niku couldn’t always participate in the morning due to her dakimakura duties, and in that case someone else took care of her shift. Ichika had expanded upon Keima’s normal shift system by introducing a special “Hot and Steamy Bedroom Shift” (named by Ichika) for Niku to take when busy. So far, she had only used it when working as a dakimakura.

As an aside, none of the other employees were unhappy about having to occasionally cover her shifts. Rather, they suggested that she stop working in the cafeteria entirely in order to lessen her overall workload.

In any case, the inn offered free sandwiches for breakfast. It helped that the only other place to eat in town was the bar, but still, the sandwich was quite popular thanks to how good it tasted. The secret was using white bread instead of cheap rye bread.

Niku started by eating such a sandwich and got to work handling customers.

“Fwaaah. Morning, Kuro.”

“Oh, good morning.”

Generally, the first person to wake up and visit the cafeteria was the Guild receptionist Cilia. Reason being, as a Guild receptionist, she needed to wake up before the adventurers did.

Cilia glanced around and, after confirming that they were the only ones there, put her hand on Niku’s head and rubbed it.

“...Haaah... This gives me the energy I need to survive all day...”

“I see...” Niku personally wasn’t fond of someone other than Keima patting her head, but she tolerated Cilia because she gave her a tip for it. Niku’s plan was to save the tips and eventually present them to her master to make him happy.

She took the five copper tip and brought Cilia a sandwich. Since Kinue wasn’t there yet, it was a simple job involving only going into the kitchen to withdraw a sandwich she had in her {Storage}. Since time was stopped within the {Storage} subspace, the sandwich was fresh as new. It would be a problem if others discovered she knew {Storage}, however, so she used it only after entering the kitchen.

Eventually, the adventurers who were staying in the inn came pouring in. Most of them weren’t too worried about the threatening monster. They figured they’d be fine and could at least manage to run away, but Niku knew any of them would die in an instant if Rin actually fought them. Unfortunately for those adventurers, Niku didn’t care enough about strangers to warn them of this.

After cleaning up the remnants of their breakfasts, Niku began her own daily training. When training with magic skills or practicing commanding Golems, she would first go into the dungeon, but generally she practiced within the town or a field near the inn. She had a lot of mock battles with Ichika in particular. The hidden intent there was to show the townsfolk her training, and intimidate them with the knowledge that Keima commanded strength as powerful as hers. Though recently the intensity of her training had shot up, as she wanted revenge against that black wolf.

She knocked the knife out of Ichika’s hand and pressed her own against her throat. Both of their knives were wooden training knives that Keima made in ten seconds.

“...Whew lad. I dunno if I can keep up with you much longer, dude.”

“You think so?” Ichika was wearing a Maid Outfit Golem as well. Since Ichika already had the strength of an experienced C-Rank adventurer on top of that, she had a huge advantage over Niku. And indeed, Ichika had been stronger than Niku when they first started training together. But after two months, they were equal, and now, Niku was stronger.

The difference between them was how effectively they could use the Golem’s assistance. Ichika had developed her own style of fighting over the years and thus the Golem assistance was basically just a boost of power to her muscles. But Niku’s training had begun from zero with Golems. She knew how to use the Golems to fight better and faster. As a result, she could use the Golem’s senses to block attacks from blindspots and even dodge arrows after seeing them get fired, both things no normal fighter could do.

Normally, performing such ridiculous maneuvers with a Wearable Golem would damage the wearer’s body, but beastkin were especially tough and had latent regenerative powers perfect for dealing with the bodily stress. Thus was born a small warrior capable of acrobatics beyond human comprehension or ability.

“You’re stronger than me without Golem assistance, Ichika.”

“For now, man. For now.” Ichika knew that Niku would soon be stronger than her even without Golem assistance. Niku had talent. Developing that talent was one form of entertainment for Ichika. It’d be a lie to say she wasn’t envious at all, but still, she liked seeing Niku get stronger. Why? Because the stronger Niku was, the better she would be able to protect Keima, and that meant she’d get to eat a ton of tasty food for a lot longer.

Niku continued her training until lunchtime at noon, whereupon she returned to working as a waitress in the cafeteria. The inn had only recently started to hold lunches, at the strong request of those staying in the inn and the towns people. It served as good practice for Kinue to improve her cooking, and the townspeople got to eat a fairly large amount of food for cheap. Any leftovers could be put into {Storage} and used the next day, so Kinue didn’t need to hold back at all.

Once the customers thinned out, Niku ate her own lunch. Today she had onigiri filled with mayo hamburg steak. She had asked Kinue to make them especially for her, and recently it had become one of her favorite foods. She particularly liked using her mayonnaise hand-made by her master.

Rice and meat went particularly well together.

After licking up the last of the rice, Niku headed to the front desk. She worked as a receptionist throughout the afternoon. That said, there wasn’t much actual work she had to do. Put some money into the piggy bank-esque box Golem, hand over the change, food tickets, room keys, etc. to adventurers, and that was about it. Niku could do simple mental math herself, but she left the calculations to the Golem since it never made mistakes. Plus, it was easier that way. Keima had called it a Register Golem, and even Niku knew what a ridiculously big deal it was, technologically speaking.

Resting was an important step to growing stronger. (To this day, she regretted training so hard that she collapsed and put a burden on her master). So, while waiting at the desk for customers, she put a Golem that had the {Create Golem} incantation recorded against her ear and listened to it on loop. Hearing her master’s voice filled Niku’s heart with warmth and made the struggles of the day melt away. That she could now listen to it at will thanks to this Golem was a miracle to her and reinforced her belief that Keima was a genius.

As an aside, the Golem was made to look like a Pavella seashell. If anyone asked her what she was doing, she could just reply that she was listening to the sounds of the ocean.

When a visitor checked out, she took the key from them and put it into the Register Golem. The keyholder stick was a Golem as well, and returned each key within the box to its original location. She sometimes watched it to make sure it didn’t move the keys to the wrong place, but so far, that had never happened.

“Heya, little girl. We wanna rent a room.”

“It’s fifty copper coins a night. We offer free sandwiches in the morning. Other meals cost extra.” Some new, first-time visitors came to the inn. It was a party of three male adventurers.

“Fifty coppers?! And food costs extra? That’s damn expensive, how about you make it a little cheaper?”

“No.”

“C’mon, don’t be like that. Please?”

“If you aren’t staying, leave.”

“Whaaa?! This is the only fuckin’ inn here! Gimme a break, I’m desperate here! You’re gonna turn away li’l old Slay?” Niku looked up and saw no desperation in his eyes. Just arrogance. From that she determined that he would not be a paying customer and got to work booting the cheapskate out, by pressing a button on the underside of the desk. Immediately, a Clay Golem came forth, wielding a wooden training greatsword and wearing an arm band adorned with the crest of the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Huh? The fuck is this, a Clay Golem? He’s even got a weapon, now that’s funny.” The cheapskate, surprisingly enough, kicked the Clay Golem and knocked it down. It seemed that he either had poor eyesight or was just an idiot. That arm band had been officially given to the inn by Cilia the receptionist... rather, Cilia the Branch Chief in return for a lower room price. As a result, the Clay Golem was technically an official employee of the Adventurer’s Guild. Most adventurers understood the significance of that and quieted down, but the cheapskate had actually attacked the Golem.

Basically, the moment he did that, he became a foolish criminal that defied the Adventuer’s Guild... in other words, a foe that Niku was fully in her rights to take down.

“Nnn.” Niku jumped over the front desk, grabbed the cheapskate’s legs, and using the Golem assistance, threw him at the door. He hit the other members of his party in the air and they all tumbled out of the inn together. The three of them blinked in surprise, unable to comprehend how a girl as small as Niku had managed that.

Niku unsheathed her steel Golem Knife and casually walked outside of the inn.

“Fucking hell! Rittin, Dogi! Surround her! We’ll take her on together!” The three of them got so angry they basically started acting like bandits. There were more than a few stupid people like them working as adventurers. But even with that said, their stupidity was something special. They were probably thugs that became adventurers to get a form of identification to get a loan, then wasted all the loaned money on nothing, and ultimately came to a recently discovered beginner dungeon after hearing they could make some quick cash there.

Technically, even F-Ranks could enter the [Cave of Greed] due to its limited C-Rank status, but it was doubtful whether they even fulfilled the requirements for that. Given how the leader recognized the Clay Golem, it was possible that they had done a bunch of smaller jobs to survive for awhile and ended up as E-Ranks before the debt got to be too much.

“...Gray Rats are smarter than you three.”

“What was that?! Fuck her up!”

As an aside, the Gray Rats performing in the rat races were aware that they were providing entertainment and thus intentionally set the races to be more exciting for the viewers. They even recently held a meeting among themselves, a sign of just how abnormally intelligent they had gotten. Niku had just let out a murmur about that after it came to mind, but to the cheapskate, it felt like she was goading him.

The two lackeys came at her from the sides, but swung their clubs so slowly Niku almost yawned while slicing them apart. She then ducked and did a leg sweep to knock the three of them onto the ground. They fell right in front of the Adventurer Guild’s branch office.

“And a bonus.” While she was at it, she grabbed the cheapskate in front of her and threw him again, right against the Guild door. She immediately regretted that decision, since there might have been someone right behind the door, and a slave that causes problems for others just puts a burden on their master.

In any case, she entered the Guild. Inside was the receptionist and four adventurers who were staying at the inn. The cheapskate was on the ground.

Niku gave a slight bow.

“...Did he hit anyone?”

“Oh, not at all. Don’t worry, Kuro.”

“Nnn. That’s good. He’s more stupid than the usual troublemaker. He kicked the Golem with the arm band. I’ll leave the rest to you.” Niku left it at that and returned to the inn, entrusting the cheapskate’s treatment to the Guild. He would at best receive a firm warning and at worst be expelled from the guild. Being banned from the entering the [Cave of Greed] was a likely possibility. But either way, it had nothing to do with Niku and she didn’t care.

Niku sat behind the desk again and listened to her master’s voice.

...Occasionally, a dim-witted adventurer would try to intimidate or threaten Niku after seeing that she was a Beastkin child. They must have thought that they could stay for free by making the receptionist mark them as having paid when they hadn’t. Ichika would probably have been able to shake them off more elegantly, but Niku handled things as well as she could. She finished her shift at the front desk with no other issues.

Evening came and she headed to the cafeteria, reflecting on how much good rest she had gotten today as receptionist. Working as a waitress required her to memorize the faces and orders of customers, so it was actually a good workout for her brain.

Suddenly, Keima entered the cafeteria holding a D-Rank food ticket. Niku dashed with extreme speed to the cafeteria, got a D-Rank meal from Kinue, and brought it straight to Keima.

“Master.”

“Oh, Kuro? Working hard as always, I see. Good job, good job.” Keima rustled Niku’s hair. She gave a small smile. Well... In her head, she was grinning ear to ear, but her face muscles weren’t very good at their job. In return, her tail swooshed through the air, wagging happily. If she had one complaint, it was that he didn’t call her Niku since other adventurers were around.

She noticed his eyes briefly glance down at her feet. To tell the truth, she wanted to strip her shoes right off and expose her feet to him, but he had told her not to do that. So, she held her desires in. Her master did not prefer to express his love for feet in front of strangers.

“...Come to my room tonight.”

“Ah! Yes!” Niku trotted back to the kitchen and told Kinue that she had pillow duty, who nodded in return. She would thus be put on a Hot and Steamy Bedroom Shift for the morning.

She finished her waitress duties in a good mood and started cleaning her body to prepare for her pillow duties. It was important that she focus on only cleaning the visible dirt and such on her body, nothing more. She also needed to keep her socks on.

Niku took off her maid outfit, lightly wiped her body with hot water from the onsen, and changed into her pajamas... a dress sewn from soft cloth. She generally slept in her underwear when alone, but she made sure to wear the dress when working as a dakimakura. Perhaps due to her old lifestyle, she felt uneasy sleeping with a lot of clothes on her body, but that wasn’t the case when she was in bed with her master.

...Also, Ichika had told her it was best not to be so indecent.

With all that done, she headed to her master’s room. After making a stop at the bathroom, that is. Her master went to bed early and woke up late. She needed to prepare such that she would neither wet the bed at night nor need to leave bed early to relieve herself.

After finishing up there, Niku was completely ready. She walked up to her master’s bedroom and took deep breaths in front of the door. Her heart always beat so fast.

She knocked and entered the door. Her master always already snug inside her blanket. Each day, he had to manage the dungeon and inn, study Golems, cooking, and magic, and on top of all that, he had his duties as town chief. Anyone could be a waitress, receptionist, or adventurer, but only her master could do everything he does. He was busy every day. Niku thought he was amazing for that. Amazing and unbelievably cool.

“Nzzz, you’re here...? Zzz...”

“Yes!” Niku took off her shoes. Her master’s room was Japanese-styled, and thus it was important that she removed her shoes before entering it. Actually, no. It was important that she strip her shoes off and make a show of it. She wanted him to see the fruits of her sweaty labor.

...Yes! He was glancing at her feet through the blankets! Niku had somewhat perverted hopes in her heart, as prayed that by showing off her appeal, her master would finally treat her like a proper “niku” and approach her sexually. (Keima just assumed that her tail was wagging because she was in a random good mood. He didn’t know what her true desires were. Or maybe, he did know and was just ignoring them.)

She slowly peeled off her knee socks to prepare for sleeping. As an aside, her plan was to “accidentally” leave her socks in Keima’s room. Ichika had advised her to do so, as it would make him very happy, and so Niku naturally made a point to do so.

...To tell the truth, she wanted to take off her underwear and “forget” it as well (to leave more of her scent in his room), but unfortunately, she hadn’t found a good opportunity to do so yet. She had thought about just not wearing the underwear and sneaking it in, but her master had told her to always wear some.

Niku replaced the thick futon cover with a lighter one, turned off the lights, and slid into the futon. She then had Master squeeze her. His heat felt nice.

...When adjusting her position in the futon, she made sure to rub her body against his to mark him with her scent. The fact her dress flipped up during that process was entirely incidental. She didn’t do it on purpose so that she could feel her master without a layer of cloth in the way. Yep. It was just a simple accident.

Niku absolutely loved the scent she smelled on master while rubbing his body. She needed to stay awake as long as possible to enjoy it more.

Keima’s breathing grew steady and from that she knew that her master had fallen asleep. In the end, he had once again not fallen to her temptations. Despite how much she had rubbed him with her feet to try and seduce him, he was sleeping with a peaceful expression on his face.

Niku gently rubbed her body against his more, taking care not to wake him up, and even gave him love bites. Love biting was a very common display of affection among beastkin. The slave collar didn’t react to them, so there was no problem whatsoever.

After taking her time and love biting him to her heart’s content, Niku decided to go to sleep. She would work hard for her master’s sake again after waking up. And tomorrow for sure, she would get him to have sex with her! Or at least, that’s what she prayed while falling asleep.