What? Pregnant?

"Thanks to you, Oppa, I think I'll be able to do a much better job with my boyfriend later."

Kaho said this as she linked her arm through mine and walked along, cheerfully offering to show me the way to the shrine.

I'd taken her virginity before her boyfriend ever got the chance, and the satisfaction sat warm and full in my gut.

Yeah. Stealing someone else's really does taste better.

Still, she wasn't a girl I planned on seeing regularly, so I needed to tidy up any loose ends before they came back to bite me.

"But Kaho, what we did today—the sex—has to stay a secret from your boyfriend."

"Why?"

"Boyfriends get jealous. If you tell him we had a nice friendly fuck, he might end up hating you for it."

"Aw… I don't want that. I really like Yuto…"

"Exactly. So what we did stays our little secret."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!"

She was already under the effects of Hypnosis—common sense lowered, affection boosted. She would follow whatever I told her without question.

I'd also set it so the lowered common sense would lift the moment we parted ways. She'd go back to normal soon enough.

Though, given that this was a girl who asked a complete stranger if he was good in bed… would she really be fine?

"Just keep going straight up that path from here."

"Oh, right—that's the road I saw earlier. Thanks. If we run into each other again, let's hang out."

"Okay! Bye, Oppa~"

Healthy, energetic, and completely unbothered. She bounced off down the path with that same bright energy.

Even though her hymen had only just been torn minutes ago.

"You're early."

Kaede stood in front of the torii just as she had the first time we'd met. Like some NPC frozen in place, still wearing the exact same look.

"Yeah. Where's your husband?"

"He's finishing up a bit more work in the fields. Looks like it's just the two of us~"

Her eyes drifted straight to my crotch, and she licked her lips.

"Not happening."

"Pfft. Who said anything? I already got one round earlier—I'm good for a while."

She turned and walked off, looking mildly sulky.

Might as well look around the shrine a little more.

Tsukikage Shrine.

The more I looked at it, the more mysterious it felt. The grounds were surprisingly spacious. Stone statues of a child and a fox stood side by side—an odd pairing. Were they always meant to coexist like that?

For such a small shrine, the torii was massive. The red paint was peeling in patches, showing its age. Back when this place was just part of a game, I never paid this much attention to the details.

"Satoshi. Nothing to do until dinner, right? Come help me with this."

"What? You stormed off sulking a second ago."

"Sulking? I'm not a child. I've lived for hundreds of years."

"Ah… so I slept with a grandma."

"You little—!"

She came after me, and I ran, teasing her the whole way. Honestly, this was way more fun than sightseeing.

Even in the game she'd come off as a little lighthearted, so maybe this was just her real personality all along.

"Ugh… if only I were ten years younger."

"Wow. You actually said that out loud."

"Hmph."

"It's gotten dark. Where's your husband?"

"At this hour he prays inside the shrine."

"That so? But is this really the spot? There's nothing here."

We were standing behind the shrine in a space that was, quite literally, empty. Not even a hint that anything was supposed to appear.

"It's time. The moon's about to slip behind the clouds."

"And when it does?"

"That's when a new shrine entrance appears right here."

"Weird. Okay, but it already hid—so why isn't anything showing up?"

I pointed where she indicated. Nothing. Still waiting?

"Huh? Why isn't it coming out?"

"Kaede. You do know, right?"

She looked at me blankly.

"This is the real world. Not a game. Stuff like that doesn't just—"

"You know that too?"

I gave her the same blank stare right back.

"I told you I saw it myself here. You absolute dumbass."

"Ah… right, you did. So then why isn't it appearing?!"

"I mean, it definitely—wait. There! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Look, it's out!"

It was real. She hadn't been lying.

"See? I told you so!"

"Yeah, yeah, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get it. Stop shaking me. Any more of that and I'm going to throw up."

"Tch."

Only after she let go of my neck could I properly approach the shrine entrance.

A huge, deep-red torii. Beyond it, something seemed to connect to somewhere else, but the darkness made it impossible to see. This had to be the gate to the shrine Kaede had mentioned.

"Alright. Let's go."

"I can't."

Kaede looked at me.

Huh? Wait—is this the other side of Tsukikage Shrine?

"I tried going in before, but I get blocked at the entrance."

"Got it. I'll head in for now and be back."

"Okay. Be careful, just in case."

A faint worry was plain on her face.

One of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Lord's army—no. Former Four Heavenly King now, I supposed. Someone who used to be my enemy was having sex with me and worrying about me. Life really does throw you curveballs.

I waved and stepped inside.

Dark. A dark passage stretched on and on. Trees lined the sides as if to announce a forest, but something kept me from veering off the path. It felt exactly like a game—graphics that looked like you could hop over and explore, except the way was blocked.

A little farther on, stone steps appeared. I counted as I climbed.

One hundred and eight.

Earthly desires? Was there some meaning to it?

At the top, everything was black. An enormous space painted entirely in darkness. And right in the middle of it stood a stone statue.

Why the hell did it have to be shaped like a dick…

I walked up and touched it. Cold. Stone. Not a dream, then—but what was this thing?

Making a wish here was supposed to free Nanami from the effects of Resonance, right?

Hmm?

At the base of the statue sat an offering box that looked completely out of place. Something was written on it.

What kind of helpful little notice was that? Charging money?

It reminded me of the stat reset in Heart-Pounding Adventure Fantasy. You had to pay for that too.

Conveniently, I had a single thousand-yen bill in my pocket. Coincidence? Who knew.

But still—this was bus fare home.

Ah, screw it. Just go for it.

I dropped the money into the offering box, laid my hand on the statue, and called out:

"Please remove the Resonance affecting a woman named Nanami."

Wrrrrrrr—

What the—?

The statue suddenly began to glow. A giant stone cock lit up and sparkled.

And along with it, a system window I knew all too well—one I'd seen countless times in the game—popped into existence.

It startled me a little, but given that a status window could appear, I figured something like this was possible.

Still… it felt almost anticlimactic. And what the hell was with that "Ta-da"? Cheap as hell.

The moment I took my hand off the stone, everything vanished.

"Huh? What? When did you get back?"

"Eh?"

Kaede was staring at me. So the shrine ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had disappeared and dumped me back here?

"Did you make your wish?"

"Yeah. I think it worked."

"Good. It's late—go get some rest."

She patted my shoulder. Almost like we were actual comrades.

…

A warm blanket. Not a bed, but a thick layer of soft cotton underneath made it comfortable enough. Kaede's doing, no doubt.

I never would have imagined ending up on these terms with her.

Still, a few things were bothering me.

That sense of wrongness I'd felt the moment I first arrived here. The way a status window could open. The fact that I could use Hypnosis at all. I'd just written it off as an otherworld gift and moved on.

Now I was starting to worry that this place might still be the game world after all.

I kept tossing and turning, trying to sort through my thoughts, but nothing came together cleanly. My head hurt.

I'll sleep on it and think again in the morning.

"What did you just say?"

"Ugh, why are you so bad at listening? I said I can leave!"

"What are you even talking about all of a sudden?"

The second I woke up, Kaede came charging into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my room yelling. What the hell did she mean, leave…

Wait.

"Outside? I thought you said something was blocking you."

"It used to. But this morning I tripped by accident—on the stairs."

The evidence was still all over her clothes.

"And those stairs lead to a place I could never go before. There was a wall sealing it off, so I never worried about it."

"But you rolled farther down, and that's why your clothes look like that?"

"Exactly! When I checked, the wall that had been stopping me was gone."

Could this be connected to the wish I made at the shrine yesterday?

"Maybe it's because of the wish I made at the shrine last night?"

She was clearly thinking the same thing.

"There's a chance. Anyway, congratulations. You can finally get ou—"

I stopped mid-sentence and stared at her. She understood immediately and laughed.

"Don't worry. I told you—I'm happy with my husband right now. So I'm not leaving this place."

"You can finally leave and you're choosing not to?"

"Yep. Well… maybe a little stroll around the neighborhood."

She covered her mouth with both hands and laughed. A smile I never once saw from her back when she was one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

"That's what you're worried about, isn't it? That if my husband dies again, I'll go and do something crazy."

"I can't exactly say no."

"Think about it, though. I don't have my skills here, and I can't research anything either."

"True, but you never know."

She shook her head.

"My heart's changed. I'm going to live here with my husband and raise a child. If he dies, I'll be sad, of course—but everything that has a beginning has an end. I think I can accept that now."

"If that's how you feel… wait. A child? You two have a kid?"

"Not born yet."

I looked at her stomach. She gently stroked her belly, then stepped closer and whispered:

"You came inside me. I'll raise the baby well."

"You said it was a safe day."

"Don't you remember asking me to get you pregnant? Who was it that finished without pulling out?"

"You crazy—"

She laughed.

"Don't worry. I'll raise it as my husband's and mine. Truth is, my husband doesn't have any seed of his own…"

"Azoospermia?"

"That's right. I can see other people's status windows, remember?"

"You can see that too? Wait—did you plan this whole thing?"

She shook her head and laughed again.

"I had no idea you were even going to show up here. Anyway, I can feel it now. Your seed has implanted in my womb. Thank you."

"What the hell is this…"

"Don't worry about a thing. Don't even think about it. And that body wasn't yours to begin with, right? So technically, that seed isn't even yours either, is it?"

"…When you put it that way, I guess you're right?"

"See? And you were never exactly the ethical type of character to begin with."

"That… is also true."

When I just went along with it, she laughed.

"Still, that cute side of you hasn't changed."

I gave an awkward little laugh of my own.

"I should head out. Your husband's probably in the fields, right? I ought to say goodbye at least."

"Most likely. You'll see him as soon as you go down from the shrine."

Smack.

She kissed my forehead and looked at me.

"I had fun meeting you. We probably won't see each other again after this. Consider that a farewell kiss. Take care, Satoshi—mage of the Hero's party."

"Yeah. You take care too. Be happy here with your husband, Belzeris."

"It's Belzeria, you idiot…"

I laughed and parted ways with her like that.

Ah!

"Hm? Did you forget something? Or are you already missing the sex with me that badly?"

She grinned and tossed out the joke. I scratched my head and muttered:

"…Can I borrow some bus fare?"

What a pathetic goodbye…