Don't Mark Your Territory

It might be unfair, but the time that easily passed when I followed behind the Hero Party all day without even being able to join the conversation, now, at this moment when my trauma has flared up due to a nightmare, seemed unwilling to flow easily.

It was still a long way until sunrise, but an itch crawled all over my body, and I repeatedly scratched my neck, which was the most difficult to reach.

While scratching for a long time, it eventually became too painful to stay up all night like this, so I rustled, grabbed the Veil I had placed beside me, and slowly wriggled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of my sleeping bag.

After roughly wiping my damp hands on my clothes and emerging from the tent, I didn't know where to go, so I let out a sigh, embracing the cold night air.

And eventually, I cautiously entered the tent next to mine, where Kylon was.

No matter how much I disliked seeing a man's naked body, it was also true that a man was the most comfortable when sleeping, and I knew well that he could erase my trauma, so I had no choice but to do this.

He would be sleeping anyway, so I just needed to wait a moment, just a moment, for this itchiness to disappear, and then I could leave.

Rustling, I grabbed the zipper to open the tent, and after carefully opening it, I crawled inside and looked at the spacious interior.

My eyes, accustomed to the dark, caught sight of Kylon sleeping alone in the spacious tent, and I felt a strange sense of resentment.

Well, it wasn't exactly cramped on my side either, but the thought of him using such a large tent all by himself made me narrow my Glabellum for a moment, wondering what kind of luxury this was. However, more than that, I realized that the itchiness in my neck had disappeared, so I prioritized letting out a sigh of relief.

"...Hoo."

If someone carefree like him had a nightmare, he'd just brush it off as a bad dream, but because I had it, it only served to stimulate my trauma.

So, it wasn't the fear of not knowing when I might die, but the terror of not knowing when I might be captured, when I might be tortured again, that was choking me.

In the meantime, I must have broken out in a cold sweat, as my whole body was damp.

I must have clawed at my neck repeatedly, as the fabric around my neck was damp and cooled my body.

But the wounds on my neck from my fingernails had long since healed, and the remnants under my fingernails only caused unnecessary discomfort, so I fiddled with my hands repeatedly to remove the foreign matter stuck in my nails.

And after that, I cautiously curled up in a corner.

He was a crazy lesbian, and a guy who couldn't control his male body and masturbated repeatedly, so he wasn't very trustworthy, and only caused discomfort or anxiety, but I had no choice but to do this.

I just didn't know.

I never dreamed my trauma would be so severe, so deeply ingrained.

My first encounter was with the Hero, and recalling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I was able to escape that torture chamber with his help, and seeing that I was still being helped and not thrown back to the King, my mind felt different, and my body itself seemed to feel stable.

I pulled my legs in and curled up my body.

I was tired. But I couldn't sleep here.

There were others around, and if I were to sleep and wake up in the Hero's tent from the second day, I would receive looks questioning what I did during the night, and I would rather die than be misunderstood like that, so I struggled to fight against my closing eyelids.

But that was only for a moment; unable to resist the temptation to "just close my eyes for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a bit" due to exhaustion, my consciousness scattered.

*

Jjaek, jjaekjjaek.

At the sound of birds chirping to announce the dawn, I let out a groan, then opened my bleary eyes and tried to steady myself.

...How long did I sleep?

Startled by the brightness that indicated the sun had risen, even through the tent, I opened my eyes wide.

I was sure I had curled up in a corner and tried to catch a quick nap, but now I was lying down, making me wonder if I was crazy. I quickly turned my head, and there was Kylon beside me.

Kylon was lying down, facing me, and staring intently, propping his chin with his hand.

And what he said was.

"Darling, did you sleep well?"

Goosebumps erupted all over me, and I shivered, my shoulders involuntarily rising, then quickly composed myself and sat up abruptly.

"Crazy... What are you talking about?"

Flustered, I let out a curse, looked around, wondering if anyone was watching, and instinctively directed my gaze towards the outside of the tent.

But there was only the closed fabric, with the zipper pulled down.

I fell asleep just like that, so why am I lying here? Did Kylon lay me down?

As many thoughts, anxiety, and the discomfort of being called "Darling" mixed together, Kylon raised the corners of his mouth and told me.

"It's a joke. You came into my tent first and were dozing off, so I laid you down."

"......."

My guard raised, I groaned, then let out a heavy sigh and brushed myself off.

And as I tried to leave again, Kylon looked at me once, then groaned, got up, and sat facing me.

"Veronica."

"...Why?"

"Are you having a hard time? If you just say the word, I can stick by you 24/7."

I wasn't an idiot to hear those words, and I immediately understood why he said them.

I fumbled at my neck and lowered my gaze.

I pulled the fabric around my neck and barely caught sight of it, and it seemed Kylon had used Cheonggyeol Mabeop to clean away the blood that had soaked it.

All the cold sweat that had soaked me overnight too.

But I felt that I wasn't in a situation to listen to such words, and I twitched, thinking of immediately getting out of this tent.

Kylon, as if noticing even that, told me.

"The kids are still sleeping. They'll wake up in an hour. It's only five-thirty."

"...So?"

"......?"

"So what are you trying to say?"

At Kylon, who had made a silly joke, and who I hadn't found particularly pleasant from my first impression this morning, I sharpened my gaze and glared at him.

Then he rolled his blue eyes around, then fixed them on me and shrugged.

"Honestly, even if you say I'm a crazy bitch for women, I have nothing to say, but now that I know this is a game, I wouldn't neglect someone who came from the same reality as me just to screw game characters, would I? And it looks like your trauma is pretty severe..."

Still, seeing him genuinely express concern instead of just acting like a crazy lesbian, I could see him in a slightly new light.

But I couldn't just nod my head happily at Kylon's words.

"It's fine. I just want to get out of here quickly, more than dealing with this kind of trivial trauma..."

I don't know why I was trapped.

But if I thought there might be a way out, there was no reason not to try hard.

So, I didn't want to do something foolish like floundering in the game with a mere trauma obtained within it and missing the chance to leave.

As I groaned with my Glabellum furrowed, Kylon let out a "Huh," and exhaled.

"...Just this kind of trauma? There's not a single thing labeled 'trauma' that deserves words like 'just' or 'this kind of trivial'."

"......."

I hadn't expected Kylon to say such a thing, so I flailed in the air with wide, surprised eyes, then quickly glanced up at Kylon.

Even though we were sitting together and looking, I met his gaze, which was slightly higher, and with my Glabellum furrowed, I quietly, so quietly, stared at his face.

Of course, I knew how severe my trauma was.

But hearing such words directly from someone like this made me feel strange.

I pressed my lips together, bowed my head deeply, and sighed.

"Yes, you're right. Thank you. Thanks to you, I slept well."

Then, nodding and roughly settling the situation, I brushed off my knees and moved to carefully exit the tent.

Just as I grabbed the tent's zipper, pulled it up, opened the closed fabric, and was about to leave, Kylon's voice reached me.

It wasn't a farewell like "Goodbye," nor was it a comforting word to rest a bit.

"...Uh, Veronica, I got an erection this morning, what do I do...? You didn't make it stand up, did you?"

"How could I make yours stand up while I was sleeping...?"

Between absurdity and embarrassment, I was so dumbfounded that I turned to look at him from my crawling position, about to leave.

Then Kylon raised the corners of his mouth bitterly and told me.

"Come here for a moment."

"......."

"Ah, I won't touch it, I'll just look."

"...Seriously, don't touch it."

"I really promise."

In the end, I sighed, and had no choice but to crawl back inside, following his words.

As I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sat with my back to him inside the tent, he cautiously told me.

"...Can you just move the fabric covering your butt behind you? Then I won't touch it."

"...You're really doing all sorts of things."

Even as I said that, I carefully grabbed the fabric, pulled it forward, and placed it on my knees with my hands to hold it in place.

I wondered if my panties and Garter Belt would be clearly visible from behind, and the shame of it made my face flush with heat, but there was nothing I could do.

If the condition was that he wouldn't touch me, I'd rather just let him see. That's what I felt.

But even so, comparing the two, it was merely a matter of which was preferable, not that this was good, so I couldn't help but feel dissatisfied.

This is why I shouldn't have fallen asleep here.

If I had made a mistake, if Kylon hadn't restrained himself, there could have been a situation where I was attacked while sleeping, and I felt I had been too careless.

Still, I mumbled, thinking it was a relief that the ticklish feeling in my neck had disappeared.

"Hurry up and capture Linda and do it with her..."

It was the most urging I could do.

More than that, he was trying to capture another girl, but he couldn't wait that long and was using me as masturbation material, which was absurd.

With my Glabellum furrowed, my head bowed low, and my back to Kylon, Kylon took off his pants and, with a tapping sound, grabbed his Dick and shook it.

"...Hmph, I'll try."

Hearing that, it seemed he was still trying hard to 'get' Linda in his own way.

Thinking of Linda, who blushed just at the mention of training yesterday, it seemed like it would happen soon enough.

The Hero, who had been masturbating since morning, after waiting for several minutes, seemed to be reaching climax, and began to pick up his pace.

At the sound of the man's masturbation, which I couldn't help but hear even though I didn't want to, I furrowed my Glabellum, and soon, he ejaculated Semen onto my back once again.

"......."

The chillingly cooled space.

The cold, settled silence.

The sensation of something damp flying and landing on my back sent shivers down my spine, and I opened my eyes wide, then quickly turned my head to face Kylon, who had his Dick pointed towards me.

"You, you crazy... Did you do that on purpose? Uh, yesterday too?"

"No, yesterday was really an accident..."

"So now it's intentional...?"

"......."

Seeing him raise the corners of his mouth with an awkward, stiff expression, I was truly dumbfounded, so I voiced my complaints and grabbed him by the collar.

But that also yielded no answer, and in the end, I couldn't do anything in this state, so all I could think about was getting out of the tent after receiving Cheonggyeol Mabeop from the Hero.

"...Sorry, sorry. After seeing it once yesterday, I felt a sense of conquest."

"Don't mark your territory on me or anything like that."

"Wow, fuck, now that you say 'mark your territory,' I feel like I'm going to get hard again."

"I, I, I'm leaving!"

Seeing Kylon squirming, trying to get his dead penis erect again, I was horrified and had no choice but to quickly exit the tent.

Crazy bastard...! He's a real crazy bastard...!

It was the moment I realized how foolish I was for thinking, even for a moment, that he might be kind for showing me consideration.