Hah…
Hoo…
Haah…
One thing was clear.
Last time, Elise said she practiced kissing, and she really nailed it. I don’t know how she practiced, but she definitely succeeded.
The way she was eagerly indulging in it was a bit scary.
“Hah, hah.”
Elise’s eyes lost focus as soon as she opened her mouth. Half out of it, she was already taking off her dress.
“It’s delicious. So delicious! Too delicious!”
“Wait, hold on. Just calm down a bit!”
“Calm down? Then it wouldn’t be delicious!”
Immediately, Elise lunged again. The important thing is, I was also somewhat tipsy from whatever strange thing was in the food, and it didn’t feel all that bad.
My body was melting away.
Her body heat, scent, gaze, everything turned into a solid yet forceful affection that settled heavily like violence.
I felt like I might lose consciousness.
Was I swept away by the atmosphere? Or was I losing to whatever she put in the food?
Regardless, the thought that it would be really comfortable to let my body indulge in this kept hitting my mind, and slowly, I raised my hand to grab her shoulder.
At that, the expectation on Elise’s face swelled up. She sensed it was finally time, and grinned provocatively.
“Stop!”
I immediately shoved Elise aside and jumped up. Only then did my spinning head start to feel normal.
Elise looked up at me with a bewildered expression before shouting.
“Th-That’s impossible! Do you know how strong that drug is? It’s something that dragonkin use on wyverns!”
“You fed me that stuff?!”
This crazy girl.
If it’s a drug meant for a wyvern, just how strong is it?
I mean, calling it a drug is softening the blow; if it’s meant for a wyvern, it’s practically livestock estrus…!
“Hoo, hoo!”
I swung open the giant window, and the cold air rushed in, refreshing my head. It was sunset when we started dinner, but suddenly it was pitch black outside.
Checking the time, it had already surpassed an hour.
“It feels like we’ve only been eating for about 10 minutes, right?”
So, you’re saying we did that for 50 minutes?!
I felt dizzy for a moment. It felt like only about 5 minutes had passed.
And it seemed Elise felt the same way, staring at the clock with a bewildered expression.
“We were too focused on the small fry…! Ah! In trying to get a little something, we missed the most important thing!”
Elise banged on the ground, genuinely regretting it.
It struck me that she had no idea what mistake she’d made, and I felt a wave of irritation rising.
“You! If you do this again later, I won’t let you off easily.”
“You won’t let me off? Right now! Do it right now! What should I do? I’ve got leashes and whips all ready, you know? Right here!”
Elise pulled out a leash from under the table, biting it and started crawling towards me on all fours. The madness coming from her was honestly terrifying.
“Whoa, whoa, wait!”
(Hurry, hurry, help me!)
I paused Elise’s time for a moment, cautiously approached, and struck the back of her neck to knock her out.
As Elise flopped down, now in her underwear, I took off my outer garment and covered her with it, then brushed my fingers across her forehead, shouting.
“Bertiaaa!”
*
“I’m so bored.”
Having been cooped up in her room for weeks, Rin sprawled on her bed and complained.
After yesterday’s odd incident with Elise, being so defenseless naturally led her thoughts in that direction, so she tried to keep her composure.
“I’m bored, Daniel.”
Rin turned her face towards me while lying on the bed, a whine that reminded me of the days we used to live in the village together.
“Should I bring a card or something?”
“We already played a lot with the others.”
“Hmm.”
“Ahhh, I was waiting for my turn all excited, but it was just the same as always.”
With a smile on her lips, Rin playfully grumbled. I wanted to do something special for her, but I couldn’t think of anything and stayed silent.
But Rin slowly gestured with her hand.
“Sit here.”
“What for?”
Remembering that I had a bad experience with Elise the day before, I instinctively took a step back, but Rin clicked her tongue and patted the bed.
In the end, I awkwardly sat down, a bit stiff, and Rin wrapped her arms around me from behind.
“…”
“I have nothing else to do, so we might as well fill the time with our bodies.”
“You’re really something.”
“I’m not doing any more than this. Were you expecting something?”
Laughing playfully, Rin asked. I wore a wry smile, but I didn’t push her hands away.
“You don’t need to go around; just stay here and be with me.”
“Okay.”
It was a simple request, but strangely her words felt heavy. I felt her warm hands slightly trembling.
“Daniel, are you really okay?”
“What’s up?”
Rin gently rested her head on my thigh. But I involuntarily turned my gaze elsewhere cautiously.
Not liking that, Rin made a strange sound but continued speaking.
“After blocking my calamity and stopping Ares, you’re still going to be with us, right?”
“……”
I suddenly felt a lump in my throat.
I didn’t reply right away but evaded the question with a casual remark.
“I can’t stay together forever. After graduation from the academy, we’ll all have our own paths to walk.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
Rin’s hand that had gently wrapped around my neck suddenly tightened. It was so warm that I felt like I might spill everything I had hidden in my mouth.
“I’m going to be with you anytime. To me, you’re more important than this world.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“……You know?”
To be honest, one could easily write that off as mere flattery. Saying someone is more precious than the world is something you’d encounter freely in novels.
But from my standpoint, knowing she once brought about destruction to save me and this world, those words were anything but trivial.
“Well, whatever you’re thinking or choosing, it means I’ll ultimately be with you.”
“That sounds a bit heavy.”
Rin smiled and rested her chin on my shoulder when she sensed that I found her words a bit burdensome.
“So don’t go running away and making me develop some strange obsession.”
“Shouldn’t the solution be to just not have a strange obsession?”
“Hehe, that’s not allowed.”
After that, we shared some stories from days gone by that had become memories now. Just like the time when we lay together in a bed at the Murder Hotel in Bethel.
We unraveled each sweet yet bitter memory one by one. What had seemed serious back then was now just a thing of the past, and we laughed it off.
As we spent quite some time reminiscing, I began to feel a bit hungry. Rin also fluffed her messy hair and said the maids would be bringing food soon.
At that moment, the door swung open all of a sudden.
But it wasn’t a maid bringing in food. It was a flustered elf, Eris, with disheveled blonde hair and blue eyes filled with confusion.
“D-Daniel?”
As soon as I saw her, I jumped up.
To be honest, I had hoped she’d come a bit later, but time came knocking a tad earlier than expected.
Confused, Eris started rambling while gripping her staff.
“What… what’s wrong, Daniel? We were supposed to be training, right? But when I came to, you were gone, and the staff had already been missing for three days…!”
“Yeah? It’s been three days. I paused your time, you know.”
It was exactly the third day since I paused Eris’s time.
And while I had never released her time pause, the staff made from Yggdrasil had freed her on its own.
“Huh? W-Why did you do that?”
Lying beside me, Rin also sprang up, looking at me seriously. I forced myself to ignore the demanding gazes of the two and said,
“Let’s start right away. I’m ready.”
*
The royal palace buzzed with activity.
What had slowly turned into boredom with all the waiting exploded into motion following my declaration.
This hurriedness wasn’t limited to the royal palace; it spread rapidly across the continent to elves, beastmen, dwarves, and dragonkin.
“Preparation for the spire repair comes first; make sure to check its operation periodically, just in case.”
“Yes, the orders have already been given.”
“Where’s Shakallim? I need to talk to him right away.”
“He should be sleeping in the back mountain. Should we have Bertia prepare the carriage?”
“No, it’s better if I just run there myself. He gets annoyed if someone else tags along.”
Even after yesterday’s incident, Elise was undeniably quick to handle her tasks. She understood just how critical the situation was.
“Let’s start early this morning. Being the sun god, it’s much easier to proceed at night rather than during the day.”
“Understood.”
“I’m heading off to find Shakallim.”
With that, I put on my overcoat and immediately moved out. The cold air pricked my nose, and my white breath puffed out.
It’s almost time.
It can be finished soon.
As I moved confidently towards my destination…
“Hey, wait a sec, let’s talk.”
May, wearing a brown coat with her hands shoved deep into her pockets, was waiting for me outside.
