Family Circumstances!
Hypno was seriously considering whether to just go for outdoor sex right then and there.
But this was the moment right after finishing their first request together, when the bond between them had grown just a little stronger.
Times like this, it's better to get to know each other more.
Even in the hypnosis games Hypno had played in his previous life, there had been combat-focused ones. And even without hypnosis, the post-battle rest events where you raised affection and listened to personal stories were basically standard fare.
So Hypno asked Wintineas, who had moved into the shade with him to escape the heat.
"Winti, why did you become an adventurer?"
"Me……?"
"Yeah."
"Mmm…… to get away from Mom……?"
"Huh?"
The unexpected answer left Hypno flustered.
Family…… trouble? If that's the case, then as her precious comrade and sex-friend angel, I've got to solve Winti's worries for her!
A sense of duty and deepening bond filled Hypno's heart.
"Winti, can you tell me…… in more detail?"
"Yeah…… umm…… it might get…… a little long…… is that okay……?"
Hypno beamed and flashed a big thumbs-up.
"As long as I'm with you, Winti, I don't care how long it is, so don't worry!"
"Umm…… okay…… so there's this……."
And so Wintineas's old story began.
Wintineas had been born to an ordinary human couple.
Yet the child born between those two humans was a half-elf.
Wintineas came into the world with pointed ears completely different from a normal human's. At first, both her mother and father had rounded their eyes in pure shock.
But Wintineas's father never once doubted his wife. Part of it was the solid love he held for her, but it was also because there were no elves in the village where they lived, and none had ever visited.
Moreover, Wintineas's mother remembered the old family tales her own parents had told her—that she herself was the descendant of a child born from the marriage of an ice-magic-wielding mage and an elf.
Wintineas's ears and pure white hair matched exactly the features of those elven and mage ancestors her mother had heard about. And so the two of them, never questioning their love for each other, raised Wintineas with the utmost care.
Wintineas grew up quickly, and in proportion to that growth her mana blossomed as well, letting her use ice magic innately from the start.
And that was where the problems began.
Wintineas hated the heat. That had been true since she was little, so when she first became able to use ice magic she was overjoyed.
But her mother was the complete opposite—a woman extremely weak to the cold. So weak, in fact, that even in sweltering heat she preferred to wear long sleeves, however thin, because she handled heat well and cold terribly.
On top of that, in the early days when Wintineas still couldn't control the amount of mana she used, she often poured out far too much chill.
"W-W-Win……ti. C-could you turn off the cold?"
Whenever the house grew even a little chilly, her mother would rub her arms rapidly and plead with her.
"But it's…… hot……."
"Mommy's cold!"
Still, her mother endured the chill as best she could and poured love onto Wintineas, and her father did the same.
Around the time Wintineas entered puberty, her mana increased even more and the variety of ice magic she could use began to grow little by little.
Then one day she was practicing magic inside the house with only a tiny amount of mana.
"Icicle Lance……."
Tak. Tadak.
She sent a small icicle spear flying toward the door of her room. The moment the spear drew close to the door—
"Winti…… do you have any laundry to—kyaaah!"
"Ah……!"
Wintineas's icicle spear grazed her mother's shoulder.
With a sharp riip the cloth tore, and a tiny bead of blood welled up on the skin.
"Oww…… ugh, c-cold…… W-Winti! I told you not to make the room so freezi—! Winti?"
Her mother didn't get angry about the wound; instead she started to scold Wintineas for chilling the room.
"A-aah……."
But Wintineas couldn't even see her mother's face. All that filled her eyes was the red blood beading between the torn fabric.
The fact that she had hurt her own mother hit her with overwhelming shock. The usual scoldings about not using cold magic suddenly weighed far heavier than ever before.
"W-Winti, are you okay?"
"Euh!"
With her mind in chaos, Wintineas bolted—not just out of the room, but out of the house entirely.
"W-Winti!"
Having reached that part of the story, Wintineas let out a tiny breath. "Huu……."
"So that was when…… I left home……."
"……And you've been an adventurer ever since?"
"Hm? No……."
"Oh, really?"
"Back then I was scared…… and didn't know what to do…… so I just wandered around nearby…… and Dad came looking for me……. So……."
While Wintineas sat crouched near the house sniffling, her father stroked her head and said,
"Winti, let's practice using strength with Dad."
"Prac……tice?"
"Yeah. So you won't hurt Mom again. Dad'll help you."
From then on her father diligently taught her how to handle mana along with dual-sword techniques. He had once been an adventurer who fought with twin blades. On top of that, he could use a decent amount of everyday magic to help with adventuring life, so he had real skill in mana control—which proved a huge help in teaching her.
Using the promise of never hurting her mother again as motivation, Wintineas threw herself into her father's lessons. She gained the new power of dual-swordsmanship and the skill to control her own strength. Her father, for his part, was happy just to be able to spend time with the daughter who normally shut herself in her room staring blankly into space.
Whatever the original reason, receiving the teachings of her former-adventurer father and hearing occasional stories of adventure eventually planted the desire to set out on her own journey. Learning that his precious daughter wanted to become an adventurer just like him left her father half-worried and half-delighted, but in the end he accepted her wish—and so did her mother.
"Ohh, an adventurer like Dad. That's a nice reason, Winti. But…… what was that about becoming one to get away from Mom?"
"Well……."
After registering as an adventurer and steadily building her record until she became an E-Rank adventurer, her father handed her some money as a celebration for the promotion and said,
"Buy whatever gear you want. Picking out equipment that suits you is part of an adventurer's skill too."
"Okay……."
And the clothes Wintineas bought were exactly the ones she was wearing now. She hadn't just bought them off the rack either—they were custom-made, paid for with the money her father gave her plus every coin she had saved herself.
Because she hated the heat so much, and because she valued agility over defense, she figured this style was better. The judgment itself wasn't bad. But by ordinary standards the amount of skin it showed was far too high—and that went for her parents as well.
The moment she heard the clothes were finished, Wintineas—who had already finished every other preparation to become an adventurer—went to pick them up first thing in the morning, put them on right away, and showed them off to her parents.
"I bought…… this."
She returned home with the same heart as a child proudly showing off a new toy or treasure.
"Uh…… umm, Winti?"
Her father was flustered, not knowing how a parent was supposed to react to his daughter appearing like that with such pride.
"Good heavens, child! Wh-what kind of shameless outfit is that! Go return it this instant!"
Her mother's face turned bright red as she scolded her at the top of her lungs.
"Mmm……."
At that reaction Wintineas puffed out her cheeks and sulked hard.
"It's custom…… made…… can't."
"C-custom-made? You ordered clothes like that yourself?! You little—! A grown girl acting like this! N-naked would be better!"
"But this…… feels nice and cool……."
"There's a limit to 'cool'! That's it! Winti! We're going to the shop right now and getting a refund!"
The clothes she had finally managed to obtain. Facing a mother who only got angry and rejected them, Wintineas was thoroughly sulky.
"Not…… doing it."
And so even Wintineas—who normally obeyed almost anything as long as it wasn't related to the heat—rebelled against her mother.
"What, Winti! What did you just say!"
"Dun……no. Mom's…… a dummy……."
"Winti?! Did you just call your mother a dummy……."
"Ble……h."
She stuck her tongue out at her mother and bolted straight for the adventurer guild.
"You little—! Winti!"
Ignoring her mother's shout, cheeks still puffed, Wintineas ran.
"So…… I took delivery requests to other cities and villages…… and ended up living mostly in Zenid."
"Ah…… I see."
I thought it was some serious family trouble, but it wasn't. Still…… even Winti has that ordinary side of rebelling against her mom, huh.
Hypno pictured Winti with her cheeks puffed out in a sulky expression.
Damn, that's ridiculously cute.
"Winti."
"Yeah."
"Puff your cheeks out for me once."
"Hm? Like…… this?"
At Hypno's request she obediently puffed her cheeks. It wasn't a sulky face—just her usual languid expression with puffed cheeks—but the sight still carried a mischievous charm.
Reflexively, as if drawn by a magnet, Hypno's finger pressed into one of those puffed cheeks.
Poke.
"Pffuu……."
Air escaped as her cheek was squished. The soft, springy feel of Wintineas's cheek made a natural smile spread across Hypno's face.
"Hehe……."
"?"
"Your cheeks are so soft and squishy. I like them."
"Re……ally?"
Wintineas tilted her head, then—
Poke.
—reached out and pressed Hypno's cheek in return.
"Hypno's is…… mmm…… smooth……?"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I like…… Hypno's cheek too……."
Winti……!
Every single one of her languid, completely uncalculated little actions sent a sharp zing straight through Hypno's chest.
My heart and my dick both keep getting all tingly. Is this the charm of an angel……?
Before he knew it, the equation "Winti = angel" was solidifying in Hypno's mind.
Pulling his finger away from her cheek, he asked,
"So after that you never went back home?"
"Hm? No……. I drop by often……."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
So she didn't just run away and say bye-bye forever, huh.
"I stopped by last time too, when I took the Boar Wolf hunting request……. Dad was happy I came. Mom…… still nags about my clothes…… mmm……."
"Oh."
Wintineas made a sulky face and puffed her cheeks again.
And once more Hypno reflexively poked them.
Poke.
"Pffuu…… hm? Wha……t?"
Only when he pressed did she realize she had puffed her cheeks again.
"Even your sulky face is cute, Winti."
"Cu……te?"
"Yeah. Super cute."
"Euh……?"
Not quite grasping that she was cute, Wintineas tapped both her own cheeks with her fingers and tilted her head.
Cute…… am I?
Even that questioning little gesture looked to Hypno like a pure angel simply moving without a thought.
I wanna turn Winti into a white-stained angel already~.
Hypno suddenly wanted to finish the request and get back to Zenid as fast as possible.
Hot…… I wanna drink cum soon……. And do lewd stuff with Hypno too…….
And Winti, for her part, felt exactly the same urge to hurry back to Zenid.