The Innkeeper's Strategy
The stinging glare of the morning sun assaulted his eyes the moment he stepped out of that wretched forest. Hellish training, an orc extermination, and the miserable death of his one-sided crush. The turbulent northern forest expedition was finally over.
At the village entrance, an extravagant carriage already waited. Every spoke of its wheels gleamed as if gilded, and the count’s crest emblazoned on its side marked it as the highest-grade transport available.
“Master…”
Cecilia offered a polite bow to Kane’s companions before seizing both of Kane’s hands. The usual icy mask had completely melted away. Her eyes shimmered, on the verge of spilling tears, burning with obsessive devotion toward her mentor.
“Next time… let’s spend time alone. At your house, Master.”
Kane broke into a cold sweat and forced an awkward smile. “Uh, yeah, sure. Safe travels. You’re busy, so don’t push yourself to visit. Take your time. Really, take all the time you need.” Inside, he was screaming, Please don’t come, please don’t come.
Cecilia kept glancing back with visible reluctance as she climbed into the carriage. Then her gaze landed on Hans, who stood there blankly, loaded down with luggage like a pack mule. Hans straightened his posture instinctively. Sure, the difference in status was vast, but hadn’t he cooked for her, prepared her bed, and attended to her every need for days?
Right. Even if it was just a bit of reluctant affection, she’ll at least say goodbye.
Hans looked at her with a deliberately composed expression. But the words that left Cecilia’s lips shattered his expectations, ground them to dust, and scattered the remains.
“Hey, porter.”
She rested her arm on the windowsill and tossed the words out carelessly, as if regarding a pebble on the roadside. “You worked hard. I’m leaving.”
Bang.
That was it. She closed the carriage door without a shred of hesitation.
“Yah!” At the driver’s whip crack, the carriage rumbled away. A cloud of dust swallowed Hans’s face.
“......”
Hans stood with his mouth agape, staring blankly at the shrinking carriage. Porter. She hadn’t even used his name. Being rejected after his confession with the line “You’re too easy” had already been humiliating enough, but to be treated as nothing but a tool until the very end?
“Wow… seriously…” A hollow laugh escaped Hans’s lips. “There are limits to looking down on someone. Porter? Am I your damn servant?!”
He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. Deep in his chest, dark venom boiled up. Right now he was weak, a commoner, with nothing to his name—that was why she could dismiss him. But he wouldn’t stay that way forever.
“Cecilia…” Hans clenched his fist tightly. When I succeed and appear before you again, you’ll beat the ground in regret. Even if you cling to me then, I won’t spare you a glance. Never.
His eyes blazed. Kane, who had been watching from the side, sidled over and patted Hans’s shoulder.
“Heh heh, kid. Don’t take it too hard. Cecilia may look like that on the outside, but she actually cares about you a lot. She’s just bad at expressing herself.”
It was an absurd attempt at comfort. Cared about him? She had treated him like he was invisible. Still, Hans didn’t refute it. Instead he lifted his head with grim resolve.
“Master.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll come visit often from now on. Please make me stronger.”
Flames sparked in Hans’s eyes. I’ll become strong enough to make her confess, then reject her like a dog. Take that, Cecilia.
Kane’s eyes flashed as well. Perfect! I’ll train this guy into a monster fast, raise him to Cecilia’s level, and then dump her on him!
It was the moment their completely different delusions aligned perfectly.
“Of course, of course! Come anytime! I’ll show you hell… I mean, paradise!” Kane laughed heartily. “Gordon will handle the report to the guild as the leader, so you go rest. You worked hard. As the youngest, you took on all the dirty work without complaint. Good job.”
“Thank you, Master. And thank you to all my seniors for your hard work as well.”
Hans executed a perfect ninety-degree bow. The uncles immediately swarmed him, slapping his back.
“Aigoo, our youngest. You’re really leaving?”
“Here, take this.”
They rummaged through their pockets and bags, stuffing pocket money and snacks into Hans’s arms.
“Ah, no, seniors, you don’t have to…”
“Shut up and take it! How could we send our youngest off empty-handed after all that work?!”
Hans felt a lump rise in his throat. The wound Cecilia had left was being soothed by the uncles’ rough but genuine affection.
“Thank you! I’ll do my best!”
“Good. Now go on! We’ll settle the quest rewards and set your share aside. Rest well and we’ll see you next time!”
Arms full of the uncles’ love (?), Hans ran toward the village.
Moonlight Shelter Inn.
The lobby was quiet during the morning hours. Warm sunlight spilled across the tables by the windows. Hans took a deep breath outside the inn door.
Hoo… As soon as I walk in, I’m going to get an earful.
He had disappeared for days without a word. There was no way Masa would let that slide. He steeled himself to be grabbed by the collar or locked up somewhere and “purified” day and night.
Still… better to get it over with here than be looked down on out there.
Resigned, Hans carefully opened the door.
Ding-ling.
“Welco— Oh my!”
Masa, who had been organizing the ledger behind the counter, looked up. Hans hunched his shoulders, bracing for a barrage of scolding.
“Um, Miss Masa. About that, I…”
But his expectations were spectacularly off the mark. The moment she saw him, Masa tossed the ledger aside and rushed around the counter.
“Hans! You’re back?”
Instead of anger or venom, her face bloomed with a radiant smile like spring flowers. “Goodness, you’ve lost so much weight. Are you hurt anywhere? I heard you went into the forest… You must have suffered so much.”
Masa wiped her hands on her apron and cupped Hans’s face. The touch was so warm and gentle that Hans froze for a moment.
“Ah, yes… Well… it wasn’t too bad…”
He had expected her to yell, yet here she was being this affectionate. Masa’s attitude had done a complete one-eighty.
“You must be hungry. Go upstairs and unpack. I’ll prepare warm water. Once you’ve washed up, I’ll make you something delicious.”
Masa naturally took his heavy backpack and led him to the second floor. While helping him organize his luggage in the room, she spoke softly.
“Leaving without a word… I was actually a little hurt.”
She folded clothes with her head lowered. “I missed you so much. I kept wondering if you were sick, if you were eating properly…”
Masa lifted her head and looked up at him. Her eyes were moist. “Hans… didn’t you miss me at all?”
His heart sank with a thud. On top of the cold wound Cecilia had inflicted, Masa’s warm comfort seeped in like healing salve. Unlike that ice witch who had treated him like a porter, this woman had genuinely worried about him and waited.
Yeah… There’s no woman like Miss Masa. She cherishes me this much. I must have been too full of myself.
Emotion surged through him. On impulse, Hans grabbed Masa’s shoulders and pushed her against the wall.
Thud.
“Oh my… Hans?”
Masa’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit, but she didn’t pull away. Hans gazed deeply into her eyes.
“I missed you. Truly.”
Without hesitation, he captured her lips. Chuuup. Shlup. Their tongues intertwined, saliva mixing. The familiar rose scent from Masa’s body swirled at the tip of his nose.
Normally it would have been Masa pouncing and Hans being overwhelmed, but this time was different. Hans was leading. When their lips parted, rough breathing filled the room.
“Haa… Haa…”
Hans pressed his forehead to hers and whispered, “I… held back a lot in the forest… Would tonight be possible?”
Excluding the time he had been under the influence of the drug, this was the first time Hans had suggested it while fully sober. Masa cheered inwardly.
Just as I thought! Instead of scolding him, I loosened up a little and he came crawling back on his own? Operation success!
She hid her sly inner smile completely and looked up at him with the most bashful, maiden-like expression in the world.
“Oh my… Hans, really.”
Masa widened her eyes in feigned surprise, then lowered her head like a shy newlywed and gently pushed at his chest. “You’ve been through so much in the forest and must be tired… You shouldn’t overdo it.”
She fiddled with his collar and whispered in a tiny voice, “Still… if that’s what you want, Hans… I’ll wait.”
With flushed cheeks and downcast eyes, she looked every bit the pure-hearted heroine. Hans’s heart pounded wildly.
She’s an angel. A real angel.
As Masa turned to leave the room, she paused as if remembering something. “Oh, right. All the empty rooms on the second floor are taken. Workers from outside are staying here while they restore the abandoned temple.”
Hans’s expression hardened instantly. “The abandoned temple… restoration? Don’t tell me… that woman Lucia?”
The memory of risking his life with desperate cunnilingus flashed through his mind—the dizzying recollection of vacuuming that unwashed, aged pussy. Cold sweat ran down his back.
“Is Miss Lucia staying here too?”
“No, the priestesses are staying at the security force’s women’s quarters. Only the workers are here.”
Hans let out a sigh of relief. At least she’s not here. Being summoned every night is the last thing I want.
He clenched his fist. No more cunnilingus. Especially not the life-risking kind! Cunnilingus is just foreplay for insertion! I need to satisfy my own desires too!
He vowed that tonight’s union with Masa would be purely for his—or rather, their—pleasure.
At the same time, in the Magic Tower near the imperial capital. In a corner of the Third Research Lab filled with swirling purple chemical smoke—
“Kyaaahaha!”
The women’s laughter echoed through the gloomy laboratory. Yuria and the new researcher Evelyn had their heads together, giggling. What had seemed like a rivalry at first had turned out to be a perfect match. The common thread that bound them was “19+ romance novels.”
“Hey, be honest. Have you ever actually had an orgasm?”
Evelyn waved her hands dismissively. “Come on, Senior. What do you take me for? That’s just literary exaggeration. Brain melting, fountains gushing—where does that even happen in real life? It’s all made up by the authors.”
Yuria snorted. “Pfft. Clearly you’ve never had one. No experience with men either, right? Total rookie.”
Evelyn slammed the desk in indignation. “That’s not true! At social parties, men line up like trucks to approach me! I just have high standards, that’s all!”
She counted off her conditions on her fingers. “First, his face has to be like a sculpture. His family must be at the ducal level. If not, he needs the soul-deep devotion of a slave, and at night he has to be like a beast while during the day…”
The conclusion was that her standards were so absurdly high she had essentially forced herself into permanent virginity. Yuria clicked her tongue and spoke with a serious face.
“Orgasms are real, Evelyn. If anything, the books don’t even capture the full feeling. I’ve experienced it myself.”
Her eyes grew hazy. That night with Hans. The moment she had been taken like a beast while drugged. The hot, overwhelming fullness that had swelled deep inside her belly.
Evelyn’s eyes sparkled. “Don’t tell me… it’s that man you’ve been muttering about like a crazy woman lately?”
“Ahem. Well… he’s just a research subject.”
Yuria cleared her throat. Calling her senior a crazy woman—typical of the Magic Tower Master’s granddaughter, zero manners. But she had to endure it.
Evelyn tapped the previous business trip request form that Yuria had left on the desk. “Ludel village, right? I saw it.”
Yuria stammered in panic. “Kek… W-what? No! The countryside air is just nice, so I’m going for a rest cure…”
Evelyn leaned in close with a meaningful smile. “Hmm~ I’m getting curious how skilled that man is to make even you act like this, Senior. Take me with you next time you go on a business trip.”
Yuria screamed internally. No! If I bring this bitch along, my share will shrink!
Evelyn was pretty and had a great figure. That beast Hans would definitely lose his mind the moment he saw her.
Absolutely not. Next time I’ll use up precious vacation days if I have to—just go see him alone. Ah. I already used all my leave for summer vacation this year. Damn it!!
Yuria smiled awkwardly and nodded, but her eyes were screaming desperate refusal.