The Scramble for a Master
"Answer me, Artin Ludwig!! Declare right now that you will accept the teachings of the Taesan Dojo as my granddaughter's husband!!"
After that, the Heavenly Demon stayed mounted on top of me and continued her sit-in protest for over ten minutes straight.
"Huff...! Huff...! Cayen! I even cast a blessing on you, so put some actual effort in!"
"I'm... giving it everything I've got!"
Cayen, who was desperately trying to pry the Heavenly Demon off me, was already drenched in sweat and starting to flag. He's not the kind of guy who gets tired this fast even if he goes all out. Did this old bat do something to him?
Ah, shit. The moment our eyes met she gave me a sly little smirk. No doubt about it—she'd pulled some kind of trick while Cayen and Olga were holding her down.
"I have zero intention of accepting! You could sit on me for an entire month and I still wouldn't change my mind!"
"Hehe... My husband said the exact same thing before we got married! And yet after I chased him for ten years, he eventually caved."
"You crazy—get off me, you damn grandma!"
"I told you I'm not a grandma! Call me Heavenly Demon or Big Sis!"
Judging by those fiercely sparkling eyes, she had every intention of clinging to me until I surrendered. Of course, there was no way a single woman sitting on me was going to change my mind, so this was really just the Heavenly Demon throwing an extended tantrum.
...Fuck. I'm screwed.
The real problem was Little Artin. He didn't understand the situation and was gradually starting to react. Honestly, when a woman with a body built for sin is straddling you, grinding her ass against you, only an idiot wouldn't respond. It was a perfectly natural reaction.
Especially when you considered Shao Mei's dress. That cheongsam might as well have left her lower half completely exposed. The firm, supple texture of bare skin was transmitting directly through the thin blanket.
The actual problem was that the person currently mounted on me was my woman's great-grandmother.
Grandma is off-limits. Grandma is off-limits...
If I got hard right here, what would happen? No matter how the stubborn Heavenly Demon reacted, it would be a disaster. If she calmly climbed off? Yeah, right—like the woman throwing this ridiculous tantrum would suddenly behave. And if my dick got fully erect, this flimsy blanket wouldn't hide a thing. Cayen and Olga right beside us would definitely notice.
...And if Olga finds out, won't the rest of the harem's favorability tank?
It was possible. Cayen, who could never stand watching me get along with women, and Olga, who had once tried to tear my harem apart, might exaggerate the story and spread it everywhere. Or worse—if the Heavenly Demon noticed I was hard and used it as leverage, telling me to follow her or she'd tell the others? Could I really hold out?
Wouldn't that basically be suicide...?
No, before that, the fundamental issue was the title "guy who got hard for his wife's great-grandmother" being attached to me. If Agnes, Violet, and the others started looking at me with awkward, uncomfortable eyes whenever they introduced their families, I might actually choose suicide.
Please, my dick...! Don't get hard...!
I summoned transcendent patience and recalled every single fucked-up memory from my previous regressions. The torture. The mountains of corpses left by the Demon King's army. The plague monsters. The laboratories of those insane villains...!
...It's working. It's going down!
I could feel Little Artin slowly losing steam. But to shake off this seductive old bat who was currently shaking her hips on my pelvis while her breasts bounced right in front of my face, I clearly needed something stronger...!
...Right. It's Cayen. This is all that fucking gay bastard's fault...!
If someone asked me what the most disgusting thing in this world was, I'd say it was Cayen looking at me with those moist eyes. The moment I imagined the person on top of me was actually Cayen, Little Artin shriveled up and lost all strength at record speed.
Yes! That's it! I can't possibly get hard for Cayen! No matter how soft and feminine the sensation is... wait?
Then, out of nowhere, a scene I'd never seen before flashed through my mind. A beautiful Eastern woman nestled in my arms, whining cutely while seducing me with her massive breasts. For some reason, the image suddenly popped into my head.
No, fuck. My dick is getting hard again...!!
For reasons I couldn't understand, it was rising again. At this rate I was definitely going to be branded as the guy who gets hard for grandmas...!
I'm sorry, everyone! I've failed you...! I'm so sorry...! Shao Mei...! Your great-grandmother's body is straight-up cheating...!
In that moment I had to make a choice. Either stay hard and die socially... or concentrate mana into my dick and explode it like I was blowing up my own heart.
Might as well just die. What's the point of living?
Both options were the worst. Wouldn't it be better to just die? Honestly, the second regression where I went bald seemed peaceful in comparison.
"Now, answer me, Artin...! Hurry—wait, what exactly are you doing under that blanket...?"
Ah, shit. The Heavenly Demon had noticed.
Goodbye, my harem life...!
I couldn't bring myself to choose either option, so I began gathering mana toward my heart, preparing to blow it up. Holding onto the faint hope that regression would continue...!
——KWAANG!!!
At that moment, the door to the church infirmary suddenly burst open with a violent crash.
"Are you seriously trying to snatch away my disciple right now, you old Heavenly Demon hag?"
"Wh-what... Heavenly Demon hag...?!"
The person who kicked the door open and strode in with flowing orange lion-mane hair was none other than Marianne.
"How dare you call this lady Heavenly Demon hag! This lady is one of the foremost figures of the Republican Federation!"
"Hah, you're still just a shut-in old woman, aren't you? Get off my sworn brother and disciple right now!"
"Kgh?!"
My savior, Marianne, exploded with magic power and charged straight at the Heavenly Demon. She wrapped her arms around the old woman's waist and delivered a powerful tackle, successfully knocking her over! Of course the Heavenly Demon braced herself right before falling completely off the bed, but the important thing was that she was no longer on top of my dick. That alone was worth celebrating.
"Not bad for your age...! To think you could break this lady's balance!"
"Hmph, grappling is the kingdom's specialty. It's far more efficient than the Republican Federation's flimsy dancing martial arts!"
"And why do you keep speaking so casually! You really are a pathetic master who doesn't even know basic etiquette!"
"I'm a princess, you know! Don't lecture me about manners when you're not even royalty!"
...Is this seriously the level of combat between the world's strongest? Is this real life?
As far as I knew, these two would easily rank in the top five strongest people in the entire academy, yet the way they were fighting was pure childish nonsense.
"Come here, Artin. This way!"
"Ah, thanks... ugh."
Someone pulled me out from between the two of them and I started to thank them, only to realize it was Cayen.
"...Ah, you still hate it when I touch you? S-sorry..."
"No... it's just... fuck..."
I had no idea why thinking about him made me think of Karen or why my erection had gotten even stronger, so I could only make a complicated face. Anyway, having escaped from between the two women, I moved to the corner of the room with Olga and Cayen's support.
"I raised Artin myself! Some random old woman who just showed up should piss off!"
"Hmph! For Artin's future, it's clearly better for him to receive my teachings! Give up already, you low-skilled fool!"
"Low-skilled? You saggy-titted old hag...!"
"S-saggy?! They're still bigger and perkier than those of girls in their teens! You ignorant bitch!"
...Should I just leave?
I couldn't bear to watch the majestic Heavenly Demon I once worshipped and the admirable Marianne degrade into this. Continuing to witness this disaster would be far worse for my mental health than dragging my injured body out of here.
"Both of you, stop it right now!!!!"
It was then that a familiar high-pitched, beautiful voice rang out from behind us. I slowly turned my head toward the door.
"...S-Senia?"
"Artin! I came to visit you after hearing you were injured, but what on earth is all this commotion?!"
Senia, who felt like someone I hadn't seen in a very long time, rushed over to me and immediately began checking my condition.
"Ow... that area's still really sore..."
"Just look at the state of him...! The child is this badly hurt, and you're fighting in front of him? And you two still dare to call yourselves Artin's teachers?!"
"N-no, it's just... she kept being so stubborn that I was trying to persuade her!"
"I was trying to rescue him from this damn stubborn old bat..."
What happened next was truly astonishing. Senia, who would rank near the bottom in combat power among everyone I knew, began scolding both the Heavenly Demon and Marianne.
"What kind of teacher torments their disciple so much that he can't even rest when he's in this condition?! And Heavenly Demon, since you were the one who injured Artin, you should be showing some restraint! This isn't the Republican Federation!"
"S-Senia...!"
When I looked at her with tears welling up from some strange sense of pathos, Senia simply pulled me into her embrace and began patting me gently as if to say everything was fine.
Boing. Boing.
Ah... I'm melting...
When I buried my face in Senia's unbelievably large and soft elf breasts—the biggest and softest in the entire academy—the pain that had filled my body seemed to wash away completely.
"There, there. It was hard, wasn't it, Artin? You can lean on me as much as you need."
Apparently thinking I was simply exhausted, Senia continued patting me with a compassionate touch before turning to glare sharply at the other two again.
"...I was only trying to test him..."
"I'm the one who's actually wronged here..."
"What was that?"
"Ah... n-nothing... I'm sorry..."
Even the Heavenly Demon, when stared down by Senia, began fidgeting and apologizing. This was the true power of an "educator," huh?
"B-but I still can't give up! Artin and Cayen—at the very least, Artin must come with me to the Republican Federation!"
"This old bat still hasn't come to her senses...!"
Just as the two were about to start fighting again, another wave of killing intent suddenly rose from somewhere else.
"...How long do you two plan to rampage around in the Church? Hm?"
When Olga Virtus, the current master and authority of the Church, spoke in a low voice completely unlike her usual tone, both the Heavenly Demon and Marianne froze.
"...For now, let's change locations. Understood?"
"Y-yes, let's do that."
"I don't really care either way..."
In the end, both of them left the infirmary following Senia's suggestion.
"What are you doing? You need to come too, Artin."
"Huh? Me? I think I need to rest a bit..."
"Still, this is a discussion about your future. Don't you think you should be there?"
"Ah... well, I guess so..."
I didn't really have any grounds to refuse, and I could still move, so I nodded. Now that I think about it, not going might cause even more problems.
Marianne thought of me as Agnes's fiancé, the Heavenly Demon thought of me as her great-granddaughter's husband, and Senia didn't know anything about any of it...!
"Artin... will you be okay?"
"...I'll be back soon. Just clean up here a bit."
"...Got it."
When I spoke with serious determination, Cayen seemed to understand my feelings and nodded gravely in return.
"...Nothing bad will happen, right, husband? That Heavenly Demon doesn't seem mentally sound."
"Don't worry, Olga. I'll make sure to drive the nail in properly this time."
"I believe in you, husband. You can accomplish anything."
After exchanging a few quiet words with Olga, I began moving slowly with Senia's support.
"There, lean on me a little more. Teacher will support you properly!"
"...Thank you, Teacher!"
And the entire way there, I was able to secretly enjoy the softness of those enormous elf breasts. I considered it a small reward for all my suffering.