Drool.
Drip, drip.
Saliva dripped down messily below my chin.
Friede’s tongue pierced through my lips and gently licked the insides, tasting me before it reflexively wrapped around my retreating tongue.
Hot and damp, soft yet tingling. My body shivered. It felt as if all my nerves were trapped in this small chunk of flesh.
Haa…
Her tongue pinned down my retreating tongue, wrapping and teasing it like a snake.
The scent that had become familiar, the taste of her saliva filled my mouth, thick and dizzying like the scent of flowers.
Haaa, hhh…
Having completely coated my mouth in her scent, Friede pulled my tongue, inviting me naturally into her small, inviting lips.
As if begging for the same sensations I felt, demanding to share.
My tongue, twitching reflexively in a heat different from what was in my mouth, gently licked inside Friede’s mouth.
Hiiit…!
Friede’s arm, which was holding my head, shook slightly. A hot sigh escaped between our connected lips.
Then, with her tongue lightly tapping my still tongue, I shut my half-closed eyes completely and began to paint the inside of her mouth with a lemony flavor.
Uhh, hhh, haaa…
My left arm, extended unknowingly, wrapped around Friede’s back as she squirmed.
It felt instinctive. I wasn’t sure if it was my instinct or Brunhilde’s, but maybe it was both.
Haa…
A wet sound echoed in the breathy gasps, like a child’s palm resting on moist mud.
The kisses grew denser and denser.
Saliva that couldn’t be fully swallowed seeped out, soaking our chins, and for some reason, the untouched ends of our chests and between our legs grew hotter.
At first, it was lightly ticklish enough to want to scratch away, but soon it turned into a tingling sensation like touching a live wire.
Shocked muscles twitched tightly, then relaxed, over and over again. With each twitch, the sensation grew stronger, and I began to feel a heat rise as well.
It was hot.
No, it was agonizing.
An impulse akin to anxiety, something similar to desire.
The heat and tingling between my chest and legs felt so unbearable without rubbing or pressing that it might burst.
In that way, Friede and I entwined our tongues, rubbing them together while mixing our saliva endlessly through our lips.
The flavors transmitted and the scents seeping mingled into a complete blend, so indistinguishable we could no longer tell whose was whose.
After intertwining our tongues for what felt like ages, Friede finally detached her lips.
Haaa…
A long strand of saliva hung down, connecting our chins and flowing away, and our breath, filled with heat, spread like steam.
Ah…
Dazed, I didn’t even think to close my open mouth and half-lifted my eyelids to look up at Friede, perched on my knees.
Her flushed face, her hazy eyes flowing with a strange sensuality. Long eyelashes. Black hair clung to her cheeks, wet with sweat.
Sweet warmth continuously seeped from her slightly parted lips, and beneath her lips glistened with a faint sheen from being soaked.
I probably looked as flushed as she did. Embarrassingly so.
“Hilde….”
Friede murmured my name with a heated voice.
The sight of her lightly licking her lips with the tip of her tongue seemed far from satisfaction, a long way off.
…Well, sure. That was to be expected.
Kissing is one of the typical foreplays.
It’s a warming act, like an appetizer or soup served before the real dish in a course meal.
In other words, kissing doesn’t just end there…
“…Is it okay?”
It means the next step is waiting.
“……”
I averted my gaze and nodded instead of answering.
It was a silent affirmation.
It felt ridiculous to refuse now. It wasn’t my first experience, so it was just easier to accept.
…Honestly, it wasn’t particularly unpleasant.
No, what was it? It wasn’t just unpleasant, rather, it… the feeling itself, uh…
If I had to choose whether it was good or bad, honestly…
…It was good.
That was undeniable. The display I put on back then made it impossible to deny.
Anyway.
Hee…
With permission granted, Friede drew me close again, extending her tongue to lick my jaw and cheek.
Like a dog welcoming its master. Like a cat leaving a mark claiming this is mine.
Suuuu…
Friede’s sticky wet tongue traced a path of heat down my cheek, slowly reaching my nape.
I instinctively tilted my head slightly upward, almost offering my snowy neck to her.
Uhh…!
My entire nape felt like it was burning.
‘Why is she so good at this…?!’
Pleasure so clear it was undeniable.
Friede licked my neck with her tongue, gently nibbled with her teeth, marking it with exciting sensations, and caressed it with her heated breath.
“I’ll take it off. Please lift your arms.”
Then she slightly tilted her head to meet my gaze and opened her mouth.
For some time now, her two hands had been diligently rubbing my sides, placed over the straps of my breastplate.
Clank.
The sound of metal falling off that had pressed against my chest and back echoed.
My sweat-drenched clothes were slightly puffed up, the flesh within, affected by excitement, slightly swollen.
“Can I lay you down?”
With the removed breastplate set aside, Friede, one hand supporting my back and the other gently pressing my shoulder, asked.
I relaxed my waist, leaning back as her gentle touch led me, lying down. Thanks to my thick cloak, my back wouldn’t hurt.
Never did I imagine I’d use this cloak for such a purpose.
Thump. Thump.
Friede, now on top of me, began to untie the knots of my attire one by one.
From the hollow of my collarbone, gradually downwards. To the very last knot at the bottom. To wrap around and embrace my flesh once more.
…How did we come to be in this kind of relationship?
I could hardly say it was right, but it was already far too late to turn back.
I lay there, surrendering to Friede’s hand, staring blankly at the ceiling of the ruins, recalling the past weeks.
The moment my life as Adventurer Hilde came to an end.
◆◆
Weeks ago.
After driving off Irina and Imelia, Friede scooped me up by my back and thighs as I lay collapsed and ran.
Not back to my hometown of Vespians but rather in the opposite direction, running farther away from the city.
She fled like someone who had kidnapped a priestess, putting all her strength into escaping.
A desperate escape. I couldn’t muster any resistance. My body, which had barely started to recover, didn’t have the strength for it.
No, I didn’t even have the composure to attempt to resist.
At that time, my mind was engulfed in indescribable confusion, reeling as if I had just discovered I was adopted, like a teenage girl who learned the truth too late.
So instead of flailing my nonresponsive limbs begging to be let down, I relinquished my body and began spewing the questions that buzzed in my head.
Even as she dashed forward, Friede answered my questions earnestly.
◆◆
From what I learned through Friede’s explanation, I discovered that even if Irina and Imelia were repelled, going back to Vespians was practically a death sentence.
Right after I left the city, the paladins of the temple had been searching for “Adventurer Hilde,” rummaging through guilds.
It was probably Imelia’s doing.
In the brief time I had gone to the inn to leave a letter, she must have run to the temple and exposed my identity to them.
That the runaway Brunhilde from the Kingdom of Rhine was hiding among the adventurers in this city.
“…So what happened? You’re fine, but what about Amy and Kikel?”
“Uh, it’s serious so they were told to take refuge first. To the magic tower.”
Now that my identity as Brunhilde was exposed, it would be difficult for Amy and Kikel, who had been in the same party, to avoid trouble.
To avoid being dragged to the church for knowing yet hiding my identity, they took refuge immediately in the magic tower.
Judging that if they were to evade, they would first have to do so within the tower.
It was wise reasoning. Even paladins couldn’t drag someone away or interrogate them forcibly while within the tower’s jurisdiction.
It was a bit surprising that the tower accepted Kikel, but… well, Amy must have handled that part well. Friede didn’t know what measures she took.
Anyway, we had spent the entire day in flight.
From the halfway point, I also escaped the princess-carrying and began to run directly, managing to flee farther than I initially expected.
Of course, the ones pursuing us were likely just as quick as we were, so that fact didn’t comfort me.
“…Um, let’s take a break here.”
By the time the moon had set, the sun had risen again, and the moon shone brightly once more, we hid in the abandoned pioneer village’s ruins to soothe our exhausted bodies.
Naturally, we couldn’t relax comfortably like when we returned to the inn after completing a job. The circumstances and environment wouldn’t allow for that.
Sigh…
Above all, my head was a jumbled mess.
Questions and dilemmas swirling in my mind couldn’t be solved with the short conversations we shared while running.
“…Friede. I need to talk to you.”
There were so many things to ask and discuss.
It was in no way a brief exchange, enough to fill an entire night talking without it feeling sufficient.
“Talk…? Ah, yes, we should talk. Understood.”
Wiping the sweat off her face with her sleeve, Friede nervously nodded, approaching to sit beside me.
Thus began the long series of inquiries and explanations.
…It didn’t end as I intended, though.
