A Sweet Morning

I felt someone's warm and soft presence beside me and woke up.

Breathing, a slight rustling of clothes… and a soft, warm hand that's

touching my cheek. I didn't feel any hostility, killing intent, or malice.

Just gentleness.

"It's time to wake up, My Lord."

"Nn…"

When I opened my eyes and turned toward the direction of the voice,

my gaze met two bright, golden irises staring back at me. The owner of

those beautiful irises joyfully squinted her eyes and smiled gently at

me.

"Good morning, My Lord."

"Yeah, good morning."

I exchanged greetings with the other person, closed my eyes again for a

bit, and eventually got up from the bed. Un, my clothes weren't

disheveled. Well, I always slept in just my boxers, so yeah. Anyway,

there weren't any signs that I've engaged in anything sexual last night.

Kugi, the silver-haired, fox-eared girl with golden irises who woke me

up, blushed red when she saw my current appearance. Un, I've ended

up exposing my upper body when I got up from the bed after all. It

seems Kugi blushed due to seeing my naked upper body. Hahaha, how

innocent.

By the way, Kugi was also properly dressed. Obviously. She doesn't have

that kind of relationship with me yet. Given Kugi's apparent devotion to

me, there's a good chance she wouldn't refuse if I did ask for something

like that. Or rather, she probably would agree unconditionally. Well, it's

not like I feel like doing something like that right now anyway.

"M-My Lord? Please don't stare at me so seriously like that. Um, I

cannot compose myself if you do…"

Her fox ears fluttered above her head as she turned away from me, but

she did throw some sideward glances from time to time. What is with

this utterly cute creature? She makes me feel like bullying her. It's not

like I would though. I'm a rational and gentlemanly person after all.

"Sorry. Since I already woke up, I'll go ahead and get dressed."

"Y-Yes… I shall take my leave."

Kugi bowed her head and ran out of the room. Un, she left a lingering

scent. It was a kind of 'fluffy' and nice smell. Rather than perfume, it

smelled close to incense. Just how do girls manage to smell so good?

Well, a man like me who doesn't have a speck of fashion sense wouldn't

probably understand anyway.

"Well, since Kugi already woke me up, I guess it's time to get out of bed."

It was a pretty nice start to a new day.

"Morning guys."

"Good morning, Hiro-sama."

"Morning."

I put on some clothes, fixed myself a bit in the bathroom, and went to

the dining room. Mimi and Elma were already in the middle of

preparing breakfast. Well, all they needed to do was take out some

drinks though. The tableware would come together with the meals after

ordering them from the auto-cooker.

"Huh? Kugi didn't come here yet? I thought she went ahead of me."

"Did you do something naughty to her?"

"I didn't. I'm a well-behaved gentleman."

"A gentleman huh…?"

Why are you looking at me like that, Elma-san? Well, I did get my claws

on Mimi and Elma straight away after all. And then, I welcomed Mei,

Tina, and Whisker one after another and did 'this and that' with them

without any reserve as well. So, it couldn't be helped if she doubted my

claim of being a well-behaved gentleman.

"Well, her circumstances are a bit special after all. I think I should

observe her for a little while longer."

"Is that so? Well, if Hiro thinks so, then I suppose that's how it is. For

you anyway."

"I also need time to resolve myself you know."

"You sure didn't need time to harden your resolve in my case though?"

"I guess. I wonder why? I'm not sure why, but I didn't feel any of that

sort of hesitation when it came to you, Elma. Maybe I was sure you'd

take good care of me, so I just went for it."

"What the heck are you going on about, mister?"

Even though she retorted sharply, Elma's expression told me she

couldn't get enough of me buttering her up.

Mimi seemed like she would just up and die if I didn't take her in back

then, or maybe she would have faced an even worse fate. So I was

prepared when I responded to her feelings, and Mimi herself also knew

what she was getting into, so we were both resolved from the start.

That's how I and Mimi were able to enter into an intimate relationship

right away.

Then how about Elma? I helped her out when she was absolutely

cornered and didn't have any more options, but once she'd overcome

her troubles, she was a strong and reliable comrade who also had a lot

of experience under her belt. That's probably why I didn't need to

resolve myself and just looked forward to her spoiling me.

"I can also spoil you a lot, Hiro-sama!"

"Waaah, Mama–"

"What a big kid we have here…"

I jumped into Mimi's outstretched arms and plunged right into her

ample chest. Ah, how amazing. Truly wonderful. Overwhelming. I was

absolutely overwhelmed. So this was motherhood… It felt like I was

about to regress into a toddler and cry out.

"Mornin' everyone… Whoah, gettin' hot and heavy this early in the

mornin' huh."

"Muu–…"

A cheerful voice echoed around the dining room followed by a grumpy

groan.

"Hey. Good morning you two. It's a great morning huh."

"Can ya stop burying your face on Mimi's breasts first before ya greet

us?"

"Big Brother, me too. Let me do that to you too!"

The owners of the voices approached me. One lightly slapped the back

of my head and the other began to pull on my arm. But Mimi didn't let

go of me. She continued to hold me tightly. Un, how wonderful. It felt

wonderful, but also a bit stuffy. I could still take my breath thanks to the

fabric of Mimi's clothes though. Ah, but how wonderful. It smells so

good and feels so soft. It makes me wanna stay like this forever.

"C'mon. Stop messing around over there and eat your breakfast already

guys."

"Yes ma'am. Good morning, Tina, Whisker. Thanks Mimi."

Because Mama Elma got angry, I obediently left Mimi's embrace and

greeted the dwarven mechanic sisters Tina and Whisker. I also thanked

Mimi properly for the early morning pampering. A whiff of breasts a

day keeps the doctor away. It might even serve as a cure for cancer one

day… Well, I suppose something like cancer should already have a

proper cure in this world though. Maybe even a med-pod would do the

trick.

"Yes, yes, good mornin'."

"Good morning. Please let me hug and stroke your head later as well,

Big Brother."

"Sure!"

After the three responded, we went over to our trusty auto-cooker,

Tetsujin V. By the way, Elma had already started eating her breakfast

meal. She's eating food resembling chunky steak and mashed potatoes

so early in the morning. Her stomach was strong as always.

"I-I'm sorry I'm late."

When I got in front of the auto-cooker, Kugi also arrived in the dining

room. Hm? It kinda felt like she just took a bath, didn't she? Well, the

baths installed in the Black Lotus were fully automatic from bathing to

drying, so you wouldn't appear moist after taking one. Even so, I've

already spent a lot of time in this world so I could kinda already tell if a

person had just taken a bath from their atmosphere and stuff.

"It's not like you made us wait for you so you don't have to apologize."

Well, purposefully pointing something like that out was a tasteless act.

So, I just let it be and beckoned to Kugi so she can order breakfast from

Tetsujin. I planned to come to the training room after this for a

workout, so I entered that info on Tetsujin V's interface. By doing so,

Tetsujin V will be able to come up with the optimal meal set by

analyzing data such as my physical condition and then picking

appropriate dishes to prepare from its massive library. Science really

was amazing huh.

I enjoyed the delicious meal Tetsujin prepared for me with everyone,

then went to the training room for a light workout. So far, it was just my

usual morning routine. Oh, and just to clarify, my usual morning routine

also includes the next thing I'm about to do.

"Good morning, Mei."

"Good morning, Master."

When I stepped inside the cockpit of the Black Lotus, a beautiful

woman in a maid outfit standing in the middle of the cockpit turned

toward me. She was a beautiful woman with long, black hair that

reached her waist. She also wore red-framed glasses. The white

mechanical devices that extended from the spots on top of her ears

were polished to a shiny finish as usual. Un. The strongest maid I came

up with was doing fine today as well.

"How's the Black Lotus doing?"

"Good. The overhaul and upgrades have improved its total firepower by

28%, its shield performance by 31%, and its maneuverability by 12%."

"Sounds great. There are no downsides to improving the performance

after all."

"It's just as you say."

Mei nodded while a thick cord stretched out from the back of her neck.

The cord was connected to the Black Lotus. That meant that Mei and

the Lotus were directly interfacing with one another. The purpose, of

course, was to allow Mei to take control of the entire ship. The entire

Black Lotus was easily managed and operated by Mei alone.

"Any other problems?"

"None so far. Thanks to the overhaul, I cannot detect any problems. The

detailed checks performed by Tina-sama and Whisker-sama also

showed that there were no problems."

"I see. That's good. I'm always troubling you, Mei. You also put in some

work processing Tina and Whisker's official transfer of employment."

"No, this much is no trouble at all. Above all, I am simply happy to be of

service to you, Master."

Mei lightly shook her head and replied with her usual deadpan

expression. Well, for an AI with immense data processing power like

her, I suppose it would be a piece of cake to process Tina and Whisker's

official transfer of employment from Space Dwerg to our crew.

"Even so, I want you to accept my feelings of gratitude at least. Do you

want a reward? You're always working hard for us, so I'd like to thank

you in some way."

"No, I do not particularly need anything. I am already satisfied with you

purchasing Black Lotus and allowing me to manage it, Master."

"I see…"

"But if you still wish to give me a reward…"

Mei stretched her arms out while still sporting her deadpan expression.

"Can I also ask for an opportunity to spoil you, Master?"

"…Do you really treat that as a reward, Mei?"

"Yes."

But wasn't that more of a reward for me? However, Mei nodded with a

resolute attitude.

"I have some plans after this, so just a bit, alright?"

"Yes. I am well aware, so you do not have to worry."

Mei stretched her arms further as if she was beckoning me to hurry up.

Well, don't mind if I do then.

Afterward, I found myself within a veritable paradise and almost fell

asleep. Mei's spoiling was really dangerous, as expected.