Chapter 146
Chapter 146
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Return
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The dryness skimming over my skin vanishes. Even the thick, unpleasant stench of that painful sand dust is nowhere to be found.
Instead, a moist humidity carries with it an incredibly familiar fragrance.
The scent of trees, flowers, and fragrant tea leaves...
And boldly wedged in between them, the unique aroma of women...
"...Joo-ho?"
And atop it all, a voice I'd longed to hear.
Just as my long and grueling journey had been arduous for me, she'd spent that time in a coma, enduring her own hardships.
"My God. Joo-ho, that's you, right?"
"Isaac!"
Isaac has awakened.
After a full month,
he'd fought off death itself and risen once more.
"He's awake. Thank goodness... really..."
"Ugh—hold on a sec. Was my strength always this much? Damn it, you're gonna break my bones."
We share the joy of reunion after so long. Both of us look so different from how we were on the Paradise Ship that even a faint sadness tinges the moment each time our eyes meet.
He has no lower body,
and I seem to be drifting further from humanity bit by bit.
Yet we're still comrades.
Comrades who tread the line between life and death together.
"...Wait, hold on, just a second."
But Isaac turns pale at the sight of the three women standing beside me. Only then do I recall the last thing he saw.
Was it the moment Amy cleaved him in two? Is he still trapped in that horrific instant?
"What the hell happened?"
I ponder how to explain it all. It wouldn't be strange at all if Isaac showed extreme rejection toward Amy—or any of the other women—right here and now.
"...Nah, forget it. We're both alive for now, and that's what matters. I'm just glad."
But rendering my worries moot,
Isaac sets everything else aside and genuinely rejoices at my survival.
He shows no particular aversion even to Amy, who crippled him, or to Nephyr, whom he's meeting for the first time, or to Jenny, who's grown so much more. He even says this:
"I owe those ladies big time too. Thank them for me in my place. I won't pry into the details right now. Tell me when we've got time someday."
Isaac knows how to adapt to reality swiftly. And just as quickly, he grasps the relationships at play and intuits the hardships I've endured.
He knows when to bury his own revulsion or fear and seize the practical gains.
"We've got a lot to catch up on. I owe this one my life too. She's gotta be your comrade, right?"
"Yeah. Haha..."
In truth, from Isaac's perspective,
he's already cheated death when he should have died, thanks to me and Alraune.
So perhaps he can afford to be a bit more magnanimous.
"Alraune, you did great. I'm really glad you were here."
Alraune, who had been nursing him all this time, bows her head slightly with a gentle smile.
She still shows her generous, mild temperament. At least these two are presences that put my mind at ease, so I can proudly declare them as such.
"Shall we become one again now?"
"Uh, yeah... sure..."
That said, Alraune wanting to live inside my body makes it feel a little burdensome.
There's no real reason to refuse,
but the very idea of allowing something to parasitize me feels off-putting. It's an instinctive revulsion I can't help.
"Ow."
Alraune pricks the base of my fingernail with one of her vines. It's an unpleasant sting, but she inflicts no other needless pain.
At my brief groan alone, Amy and Nephyr frown and glare at her, but the body Alraune had been using to tend to Isaac gradually withers, crumbling into a handful of dust.
The gazes of the two displaced women turn to the fresh vines sprouting from my body. Alraune has returned to me.
Her full consciousness has taken root in her [Spare Body]. She seems quite pleased with this cohabitation, blooming a flower on the back of my hand like a housewarming gift.
"Oh my."
Nephyr slumps to the ground as if her tail has gone limp at the sight. The others are all used to it and show no reaction, but only Jenny clutches her gurgling belly and devours the flower in one bite, chewing it with relish as if it looks delicious. It doesn't feel great to be eaten like that.
"These folks are even more... unique than I imagined..."
It's still too early for all the surprises.
In truth, Alraune isn't much of an issue. Her personality has no rough edges, and her heart is plenty warm.
"Dr., what will you do with the other natives?"
"Well... I'll have to explain things properly."
But the women I'm about to meet are a bit different.
Unlike Nephyr, they retain their wild instincts intact. More like Jenny, really.
Even just Jenny must give Nephyr headaches in all sorts of ways—what will happen when she meets those two, I have no idea.
Still, we parted on relatively good terms before I left for the desert...
Maybe she'll be unexpectedly forgiving?
"Nephyr, stay here and wait a bit. Jenny and Amy, do your own things... I'll go see Arachne and Aria alone. It's not like I'm heading into a fight... If you all come along, it'll just put me in an awkward spot."
"You're back."
Arachne greets me calmly. It seems she'd been quietly enjoying her tea in the spiderweb home her half-sisters had woven for her, waiting for my return.
Even without knowing we'd reunite today, two teacups are already set out before us.
"Glad you made it back safe. Now we won't have to waste tea leaves anymore."
She says she'd brewed two cups every single day without fail and set them before her. Knowing how much she'd worried about me weighs on my heart.
"Relax your expression and rest easy. You've come home after so long—why do you look so cowed? It's bothering me."
I carefully sip the fragrant tea that melts away the harshness of the dry desert, sharing an intimate reunion with her.
Though her posture—delicately holding the handle with her right hand, pinky extended elegantly as she sips—seems refined, she's somehow grown even more seductive and mature in the time apart.
Is it because it's been so long since we sat face-to-face?
I find myself hypersensitive to every little gesture she makes. I'm not some fish caught in her web, so why am I like this?
"Your skin's gotten so tanned. The desert really is scorching hot, isn't it?"
She extends her idly playing left hand,
and slowly pulls mine toward her.
Arachne's deep gaze sweeps over my bare skin. Her eyes traveling up my arm feel so palpably sharp.
"Yeah... it was hot..."
"Must've been tough. Well, it was all stuff you didn't have to go through, but you insisted on going anyway, so no helping it. Was it hard?"
"Nah. I managed."
Is it mockery or concern?
It'd be nice if it were just one or the other,
but Arachne always complicates my mind.
Even trivial conversation drains me. Am I preemptively scared because I'm hiding so much?
I have no idea how to bring up Nephyr or the succubus. Well, the succubus isn't here, so maybe no need to mention her.
Otherwise, should I treat Arachne as a comrade now and tell her everything honestly...? Would honesty really benefit us? Or would it just make things awkward for me, her, and everyone?
Now that Isaac's awake, we need to prepare to search for the Paradise Ship survivors, but I'm afraid she'll get mad if I say I'm leaving again—
No.
Hold on.
There's no need to be this scared. It's excessive worrying.
And even if Arachne gets angry, I'm still going to go search. Better to come clean early and persuade her than keep hiding it.
"So, what is it our little baby daddy wants to say?"
"..."
The nickname bugs me a bit, but I take a deep breath and muster my courage to speak.
"You're fidgeting your lips like that because you have something to say. Or maybe you want our lips to greet each other after so long—"
"I-I brought back a girl!"
Arachne's eyebrow twitches upward in an instant.
"Oh? Well... that's fine."
She takes a few more sips of tea and regains her composure. It seems Arachne too has become a more mature woman with some emotional leeway over this past month.
"We can talk about that later. For now, it's been so long—let's just spend some time alone, the two of us—"
"And Isaac's all better now...! If possible, I plan to gear up and head out to find my other comrades!"
"Haha, how amusing."
...Or not. Was it just my imagination?
"Come here."
What do I know about dating anyway?
Still, I'd managed okay up until now...
Women really are tricky creatures.
Was I... too hasty? Probably?