After visiting the labyrinth yesterday, today is a day off. For that reason, I headed to the Fairy and Silver Coin…
Ding-dong—
“Hello! I’m back after just a day!”
“Oh my? I didn’t expect to see you so soon. What brings you here today, Jonah? Is there… a problem?”
Did you finally pick up on that? It’s something I did (X)
Glad to see you and worried (O)
“No problem at all. In fact, only good things happened. I guess it’s all thanks to the necklace I got from Eve?”
“That’s a relief. But remember, luck and misfortune are only a paper-thin difference.”
Next time, I will definitely kill (X)
Thank goodness (O)
“It’s okay. I remember everything Eve said. By the way, it’s still open, right? I’m a little worried I came too early.”
On the couch, Lemon and Apple were tangled up and fast asleep. Seeing them still deep in slumber, Eve’s smile grew even brighter.
“The business hours are correct, but… it’s the first time someone has come this early… I feel a bit embarrassed.”
I saw things I shouldn’t have (X)
It’s really embarrassing (O)
“Come on! It’s true I showed up early, so please don’t feel that way.”
Shaking her head, she looked for a place to sit. But no matter how much she scanned the small shop, there was no seat available.
After all, Lemon and Apple must have been sleeping on the same couch because there wasn’t space.
Noticing this, Eve paused her leisurely tidying of the shop and stood up.
“Ah, it’s about that time. Could you please wait a moment?”
Watch carefully to see what I’m up to (X)
Well, the sun is up, so I’ll wake the twin elves (O)
“Eve, you don’t need to go through that trouble. Can’t we just do it like this?”
With a grin, I plopped down right onto the sprawled Lemon and Apple.
“W-who are you?!”
“Is this an invasion?”
Lemon and Apple, having their bellies pressed by my rear, woke up babbling nonsense. Their eyes were still foggy, indicating they weren’t fully awake yet.
“An invader? That’s a bit too much! Is there any cuter invader than me?”
“…Gah! There’s something scarier than an invader!”
“Why are you here…?”
As our eyes met, it seemed like they were fully awake, their gaze sharpening.
Lemon flailed around as if genuinely terrified, while Apple cautiously asked about my intentions.
It felt like ever since Lemon had that lemonade incident, she’d been overly sensitive whenever I was around.
I hastily gathered Lemon’s messy long hair. Then, swinging it around like a duster, I lightly tapped both twins’ faces.
“Yap yap.”
“Y-you’re tickling me!”
“The smell of Lemon’s hair is unpleasant…”
Lemon and Apple struggled but couldn’t quite push me away. I chuckled at their predicament and said, “I just came for a little visit, but there was no seat, so I was sitting here… Did you dislike it?”
“Not at all! I quite distinctly felt your rear’s sensation, and actually enjoyed it!”
“…Lemon. You shouldn’t be so honest.”
“Haha! That much is fine. Consider it the price of becoming my cushion.”
“Surely, Jonah is generous.”
“Are you not offended, Lemon…?”
“What? Well, I did clear our grudge with the necklace from Eve yesterday. And Lemon was already feeling bad, so I just accepted it.”
“There’s an angel here…”
“Get a grip, Lemon. Have you already forgotten about what happened yesterday? It’s definitely a monster in angel disguise.”
Lemon wore an overly impressed expression while Apple poked fun at her. Who’s the monster here?
Pressing Apple’s thigh firmly as a hint to keep quiet, she quickly returned to being calm.
After settling the cushion agreement, I relaxed briefly before Eve, watching all of this, spoke up with an unusually intimidating voice.
“…You seem quite close, don’t you?”
That’s your weakness, huh? (X)
I’m jealous, do it to me too! (O)
I nodded, ignoring the failing mental translator.
“Well, we’ve seen each other naked in the dungeon, after all. In Lemon’s case, there was something even worse… So it just feels about right now, you know?”
“Aha?”
Understood! (X)
So when do you do it to me? (O)
While I felt my mental translator going haywire, Eve got straight to the point first.
“By the way, what brings you here today, Jonah? Unless it’s about the side effects of Lucky Strike, I can’t guess…”
“Of course, I came to see you, Eve! …Though actually, I wanted to ask you for a favor.”
I pulled out the unicorn horn from my pocket. It had been calm while in my bag, but as soon as I touched it, it began to shine brightly.
“This is…”
“The unicorn horn?!”
“Oh wow. As expected of Eve. You know it just by looking at it.”
“I never expected the unicorn horn to shine this brightly…”
It’s really fascinating (X)
Wow! Virgin! (O)
No wonder Eve’s gaze felt like it was sweeping over my body rather than just the horn. I grinned at the tingling sensation and spoke.
“I happened to find this, and I was wondering what would be a good use for it?”
“The unicorn horn? It can’t be…? No, I won’t delve into that too deeply.”
Don’t lie to me! (X)
Wow! Virgin! (O)
“Uh… Could you just tell me? I didn’t even know unicorns were extinct.”
“It’s simple. Unicorns are creatures that favor maidens. However, due to the aftermath of the Deity War, mortal notions of chastity and lust got twisted. The value of maidens dropped, and unicorn populations dwindled.”
Don’t you know this? Seriously? (X)
Wow! Virgin! (O)
“Hmm, so that’s how they became extinct?”
“No. If it were just that, they might have managed to survive somehow. The problem arose because their traits were twisted along with the distorted concepts.”
What kind of creature is that? (X)
Wow! Virgin! (O)
Summarizing it, unicorns also got caught in the gender-bending beam and started liking virgins instead of maidens, but their bodies still reacted sensitively to maidenhood.
As a result, touching a non-virgin would cause them to bleed and die or corrupt into a bicon, and the same fate awaited any non-virgin they happened to touch, which caused their numbers to plummet. Now, they’re basically extinct.
Of course, unicorn horns from the past still exist, but… they trade for a very high price and aren’t easily obtainable.
“…That’s why it’s been such a long time since I’ve seen a unicorn horn. And a shining one at that.”
This is astonishing (X)
Wow! Virgin! (O)
“Wow… What a peculiar preference unicorns have.”
Nodding, I glanced down at Lemon and Apple, who were looking at the horn with unpleasant expressions, and asked,
“Are both of you maidens?”
“Uh, no! Despite being young for an elf, I’ve lived many years…”
“Lemon is a maiden.”
“Apple?! Why are you spilling my secrets?!”
“And I’m a maiden too.”
Lemon shook her head vigorously, denying it, while Apple calmly stated the facts. It seems Apple is right. After all, the anticipation for their first experience had to have made them completely fall for Gale’s looks.
They were told to strip and prepare as they washed up, only to end up getting overpowered by other raiders while waiting naked in the dungeon.
Nowhere to run… Oh wait, a snake would be more appropriate. Despite being properly taken by a man, they still send me those passionate glances.
Seeing their confident attitude, I cheerfully brought the unicorn horn closer to them.
“Yap yap.”
Every time the horn touched Lemon and Apple, its light grew stronger.
With Lemon wanting to die from embarrassment and Apple letting out a deep sigh, I proclaimed with a serious expression.
“I believe you. You really are maidens.”
“Kyyaaa! N-no! I’m an experienced, adult woman!”
“Lemon… the more you plead, the worse it gets.”
“Ha ha! That much is fine. Just consider it the price of being my cushion.”
The two were in a flurry of chaos, and I giggled, then turned toward Eve, offering the horn.
“How about you, Eve?”
“…Hehe. What do you think?”
Are you daring to dig into my past? (X)
At this age, I don’t want anyone to find out I’m a maiden! (O)
Finally, the mental translator got back on track. Sneakily pulling back, I lunged for the horn towards Eve.
Thud.
As the unicorn horn touched the back of Eve’s hand, the entire shop was enveloped in a bright light.
Woosh—!!
As if my eyes might go blind, the immense brightness enveloped everything. Suddenly revealing that Eve was a 1,000-year-old maiden, her face flushed red.
It’s a pretty rare sight since Eve usually carries a relaxed atmosphere.
Beaming at the dazed Eve, I exclaimed.
“Wow! A maiden!”
“……”
It was a small act of revenge.
