Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Roxy’s Declaration

“FAY! FAY!”

From the moment I heard my name, I opened my eyes to see Roxy with her cheeks puffed up in anger. She was ready to hit the road at a moment’s notice, fully dressed in her newly acquired white adventurer’s garb, her sword dangling from the sword-belt at her waist. I, however, lay in bed, still in my pajamas.

“Sorry,” I said. “I guess I must have slept in.”

“I’ve no issues with that. We’re not that far behind schedule, so the time isn’t a problem. However! How do you explain this?!”

“Huh…?”

Roxy pointed to my armpits, and as I looked, I realized with dawning horror that I wasn’t alone.

“What?! How?!”

On one side lay Memil. She was making a habit out of collapsing into deep slumber after she drank my blood, and I’d pretty much abandoned any hope of improving her behavior. But I couldn’t believe what I saw on the other side. That lustrous, beautiful blue hair…it could only belong to one person.

“Eris!”

I sat up in sheer shock, taking the blanket with me and revealing… 

“Eh…?”

I don’t know what went through her head, but I couldn’t believe the way Eris chose to sleep. She wasn’t wearing a single shred of clothing. Not even underwear! She was as naked as a newborn.

Roxy covered my eyes with both of her hands in a flash. “What is going on?! Fay!” 

“This…I have no idea! I really don’t!”

Memil slowly woke from all the commotion. She had drooled in her sleep, and I heard her wipe her mouth as she yawned. “What’s all the fuss about? Did something happen?”

“Of course something happened! You happened!” I shouted. “Isn’t it about time you started sleeping in your own room? You’ve landed me in a world of trouble!”

“Oh, dearest me, it seems that I was so drowsy after drinking your blood last night that I must have fallen asleep right in your bed. My apologies. But we’re siblings, after all, so I don’t see any problem with it.”

“I see a problem with it!” Roxy replied immediately, her objection falling on deaf ears. 

“Oh, Lady Roxy! Good morning. It’s so nice to see you and Fate so chummy so early in the morning. But…why are you covering his eyes?”

“Well—you can see for yourself! Her Majesty is right there, and look how she’s sleeping!”

“Her Majesty? Hm? What?! Master! What is the meaning of this?! What on earth were you up to while I slept innocently by your side?! I demand a detailed explanation this instant!”

Now not only were my eyes covered by Roxy, but I could feel Memil grab my shirt collar and pull it toward her.

Give me a break, I literally just woke up! I swear to you that I didn’t do anything! Even I want to know why Eris is sleeping next to me in the nude!

“I don’t know, I swear!” I protested. “Eris! Wake up! Eris!”

I don’t know how many times I called her name before she finally began to awaken from her slumber. I couldn’t see it because my eyes were covered, but I felt her putting her hands all over me.

“Morning, everyone… What’s all the ruckus about? You’re all so noisy.”

“The ruckus is about you!” I shouted. “What are you doing here?! And why are you naked?!”

“Hm? This is your room? I must have mixed up the rooms last night and slept in your bed. Pardon me. But I’ve always slept like this, especially now that it’s getting warmer. You didn’t know?”

“Of course I didn’t know!”

“Oh. I see. Well, I suppose you do now.”

There was palpable joy in Eris’s voice as she threw her arms around me. I still couldn’t see a thing because of Roxy’s hands, but I felt the softness of Eris’s body as it pressed into me. 

“Well, good night then!” said Eris.

“No! Wake up! Get dressed!” 

Roxy pushed against my eyes with more force. Meanwhile, it seemed that Memil had decided to bite into my arm. Those easygoing days of refreshing mornings in Barbatos Manor suddenly felt like a distant memory. This was the total opposite, like being thrown straight into chaos. I suddenly missed waking up to Sahara’s voice.

Before this, I had only traveled by myself or with Myne. Traveling with three women suddenly seemed much more challenging than I thought. I’d never survive if this was what every morning was going to look like. 

Somehow, I managed to get Eris to explain that nothing had happened during the night, and that was enough to convince Roxy and Memil that it was all a big misunderstanding.

“Your Majesty, you really mustn’t sleep with Fate,” said Roxy. “Especially not without some sort of clothing.”

“Oh?” said Eris, shocked. “Sleeping naked isn’t allowed?”

“Of course not!”

“Next time I’ll wear some clothes then. Problem solved.”

“Objection!” said Memil. “Your Majesty, I must insist that you sleep in your own room!”

Eris let out a groan of disappointment. “I might not look like it, but I get pretty lonely, you know. Besides, Fate seems to love the attention.”

“Is that true, Fay?”

Hey! Don’t go blaming me all of a sudden! I shook my head vigorously.

Roxy nodded. “It’s indecent. Your Majesty, from now on please sleep in your own room.”

“Whaaaaaaat?”

“That means you too, Memil. However sedated you might get from drinking Fay’s blood, that does not grant you permission to join him in bed.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?”

Neither Eris nor Memil were particularly pleased with Roxy’s decision. For my part, I really wished she’d asked Eris to get dressed before they had this debate. I felt like I was going to be stuck with my eyes covered forever. 

Eris spoke before I could voice an opinion.”But you’re always spending time with him, Roxy. I feel like it’s only fair that we get to spend some time with him too.”

“I…”

“And don’t forget you spent half the day with him going to his village yesterday,” said Eris.

“That’s true, that’s true,” added Memil. 

The two of them kept pressuring Roxy, but she raised her voice and shot them both down. “No! I will not stand for it! And Memil, you’re here to assist Her Majesty, are you not? Please get her dressed!”

Eris and Memil wilted a little under the glare of Roxy as she showed a rare flash of anger. They slunk out of the room, cowed. Roxy really was the only one I could rely on in situations like this, and I nodded appreciatively, my eyes still covered.

“You’re also partially at fault, Fay. You make it too easy for them to do such things. Please try to stay out of trouble.”

“I’m truly sorry, Roxy.”

Eris and Memil acted in such mysterious ways that I could barely guess what they’d do next. I could be as careful as humanly possible, but I had no way of knowing what nonsense they would pull. Not to mention that sleep brought its own unique challenges. Whenever I was talking or sparring with Luna and Greed, it was practically impossible to wake me up.

When Roxy finally took her hands from my eyes, she looked at me with a sly grin. I’d seen that look on her face before, and it usually meant she was up to no good. When Roxy was like this, she wasn’t all that dissimilar to Eris and Memil. I felt myself getting nervous as her smile widened.

“It seems to me there’s only one way to solve this,” she proclaimed. “At our next inn, you and I will share a room, Fay.”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean, ‘huh’? Are you saying you don’t like my idea?”

Roxy’s brow creased as her face drew closer to my own. In truth, I was ecstatic. It was a great idea.

“It’s not that,” I stammered. “I’m just…I’m a bit nervous…”

“Well, s-so am I! But I can’t just sit on my hands and watch this sort of thing go on! At this rate, they’ll be barging into your room just as soon as the next opportunity presents itself!”

“I don’t think I could survive this every day…”

“Well, you won’t have to, with me watching over you.”

Roxy’s cheeks flushed pale pink, but she was clearly pleased with her idea. Warmth bloomed across my face. Progress between us was slow and steady, but now we’d be sharing a room, and it was too late to worry about whether it was a good idea. Luna would have her complaints, but for me, sharing such intimate space with Roxy was like something out of a dream. 

“Thank you, Roxy,” I said.

“You’re most welcome. We’ll start from this evening.”

Roxy reached a hand toward me, and I realized I still hadn’t gotten out of bed. I gripped her hand and pulled myself up.

“I should get changed,” I said. “Did you have breakfast already?”

“No, I was waiting for everyone else to wake up. I’ll see you in the dining area when you’re ready.” Roxy shot me a grin and left. 

The room went completely silent now that I was alone. I didn’t want to leave everyone waiting, so I equipped my gear as quickly as I could. Once I had the black sword strapped to my waist, I was good to go.

“Quite the energetic start to the day,” said Greed as I walked to the door.

“What’s with that tone? I bet you were just sitting there watching the whole thing happen last night.”

“Well, Memil is Memil. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Eris, on the other hand, was probably more shaken by Libra’s appearance than she let on. She plays it tough sometimes, but I think she wanted to share your bed because she was scared.”

“You think so? This Libra…They have something of a long history, don’t they?”

“That they do. Funny, it’s quite unusual for you not to pry into that sort of thing. You didn’t even ask Luna.”

“When I saw Eris’s face, I realized there was a great deal roiling around inside of her. I didn’t feel like it was right to ask.”

Greed laughed. “Look at you, finally learning some manners! My boy’s growing up!”

“Ugh, I told you to quit treating me like a kid.” I wasn’t in the mood to be teased, so I changed topics. “Luna’s lonely, you know. She said you didn’t visit the other day.”

“Hmph. What’s that got to do with me? I don’t care.”

“Really? Not at all?”

“N-not in the slightest!”

“Stammering much?”

“The mighty Greed would never! I did no such thing!”

Greed’s mood soured in an instant and he sank into self-conscious silence. Whenever I mentioned Luna, he became oddly dismissive and stubborn, which only made me more curious. I didn’t have to worry about manners when it came to Greed, so I figured I would just keep hassling him. As I walked toward the dining room, I considered some potential strategies to get him to open up.

Roxy was quite interested in Greed, so perhaps I could ask her for advice. She was sure to be intrigued if I told her about his relationship with Luna. It felt like the perfect topic for breakfast conversation. I could already picture Greed writhing in his scabbard as he realized he was being made the center of attention.