Yume Side: Stains of Suspicion
Once suspicion begins to bloom, it never fades easily.
At some point the demon had taken my hand, thoughtfully dressed me in fresh clothes, and seen me safely outside. Marbas waved lightly in my direction, wearing a strangely gentle smile.
"Then let's be off, miss."
With that soft voice, a woman in a rather luxurious suit walked ahead of me. I trailed after her with a dazed head, replaying what had just happened in my mind.
"Ngh…"
Because of that memory, I couldn't help squirming where I stood. Well, we had just done quite a lot of… that sort of thing.
"Hnnngh…"
Letting out a soft breath, I had sunk so deep into that whispering voice and that approaching warmth that, in the end… I had set out to defeat the demon, only to be bewitched by him and hand over my heart and body both. The real problem was that it hadn't been bad at all.
Ah, honestly? It had felt good. No, really—held in that embrace until I was a complete mess…
Still, he's a demon. Can I really swallow everything a demon says, hook, line, and sinker?
Even as I thought it, for some reason I found myself shrugging. Well, I'd already gone and done it, so seeing it through to the end might not be so bad.
And… honestly, it's true he barely spares me any attention anyway.
It wasn't one or two of us, but twelve. Handling all of those women was, frankly, close to impossible.
"Um… please head toward the back mountain. There's a shrine near there."
"Yes, of course, miss."
With that, the luxurious sedan began to glide forward. It barely made a sound at all; what little noise did reach my ears felt almost gentle. And the seat was endlessly plush—I found myself sinking into it without meaning to.
"Huaah…"
Sliding along at a surprising speed, the cityscape beyond the window looked oddly surreal. As I sat there quietly, a remark drifted up from the front seat.
"Are you the chairman's lover?"
My whole body flinched. Come to think of it, this woman was just an ordinary civilian, so of course she wouldn't know—thanks to the Repelling Wards I'd layered thick around the area.
"Ah, w-well… haha…"
No matter what, I couldn't exactly come out and say, Actually, I'm not his lover, I'm his onahole.
After everything we'd done, I'd even taken his number—a walking onahole who has to come running whenever he calls…♥
Oh… wait. That might not be such a bad deal, actually?
Hehe—I laughed lightly and rubbed my thighs together, and the woman who seemed to be his secretary tossed out another remark.
"How fortunate. The chairman does need to start planning for an heir soon, after all."
"Huh…?"
My head tilted on its own. Heir plans? What was she talking about?
"You didn't know? How old is the chairman this year…? He only just turned twenty. And yet he still hasn't given marriage a single thought."
"Ah…"
"You'd be shocked how many marriage offers cross his desk. I'm the one who handles every last one of them, but honestly, I think he ought to meet at least one or two of these women."
"I-I see…"
So the offers really did come flooding in. Well, he was a demon with the technology to build nuclear fusion plants—it would have been stranger if nobody was interested.
Hold on. Twenty? He was a demon; he should be at least several hundred years old.
"Twenty? Wait, why is he so young?"
"That's exactly why I was shocked too. Someone who only just turned twenty essentially built this entire company. And from what I know, he didn't even inherit it."
Hmmm—she tilted her head lightly, then shrugged. I wasn't imagining it; something about her seemed oddly charmed.
These people genuinely believe that demon is barely twenty years old!
What, have they all gone mad together? Or had he worked some demon trick on them? No—come to think of it, a trick this tame was actually rather restrained, for him. At the very least, he wasn't holding anyone's soul as collateral.
Maybe he'd never intended to in the first place.
"Still, it's a relief he finally has a lover. Please do work hard! You need to give our chairman plenty of descendants!"
"Ah, no, wait…"
Something about this was careening in a very strange direction. Honestly speaking, I… decided I didn't need to say anything just yet. Leaving the thoroughly delighted secretary to her fantasies, I quietly turned my gaze to the window. A faint rumble reached my ears, and for some reason, the image of him from moments ago surfaced in my mind.
How long had we driven? At some point we arrived at the foot of the stone stairs climbing toward the shrine on the back mountain. I rose from my seat, stepped outside, and offered a light bow; the secretary beamed at me and soon slid away down the slope.
"See you again soon!"
"Yes~ thank you!"
Not a single soul had come out to greet me. Why did that leave such a peculiar ache behind? It felt like being an abandoned dog. I'd come all this way because of that person's request—the least someone could have done was show up to meet me. Not that it mattered anymore, of course.
If anything, I could let it go with a strange sense of relief. These days I was… loved as a thing, after all.
"Ehehe…"
The smile crept onto my face before I could stop it. I wasn't even treated as a person anymore, but it was true that I was getting attention.
Hurrying up the path, I found the shrine appearing before I knew it. This place was charged with handling the demon and every manner of apparition and monster in City A, but by now only its symbolic meaning remained—because nearly all of those creatures had already been exterminated.
I wanted to believe that was all thanks to him… but honestly, the truth was he didn't do much of anything. One of his people made the money, another did the actual work, and the exterminations were nearly all handled too…
Come to think of it, why did I ever like him?
I genuinely could not understand it. Why on earth had I been in love with that man? I couldn't figure it out at all. It was as if I'd been wearing some thick, suffocating blindfold of infatuation that had suddenly been ripped away…
"Huh? Yume, you're here?"
Then—a familiar voice. At the sight of the young man hurrying toward me, slightly shorter than I was, my body flinched and shuddered before I could stop it.
"Ngh—"
"Aaah—sorry…?"
He'd caught his foot on a stone and toppled toward me as if to fall straight into my arms; I stepped back a pace and let him miss entirely. Hiding the contempt that bled onto my face was quite the struggle.
"Yume?"
"…N-no, it's nothing."
Up close, he was worse than I remembered. Slightly below average, even—and I was only now realizing that a man like this had deliberately tripped, angling for a lucky pervert moment. Just how blind with love had I been?
Compared to him, Lord Marbas was… aah…
My lower belly gave a sudden throb. Still holding the seed that thick, massive thing had poured into my womb, I stood face to face with the man I'd called my lover.
"You okay? You look like you're in pain."
His name was Ken. I tilted my head, unable to comprehend why I had ever liked this man.
"It's nothing. I just tripped by accident."
He picked himself up, playing it cool, and brushed off his knees. Honestly, it was off-putting. A guy a head shorter than me, and a year older on top of that. At this rate, the demon was the better option… If I was going to be with an older man anyway, a demon who actually looked good beat this by miles.
"Ahem—so how did the demon extermination go?"
At Ken's question, head cocked, I glanced aside. My answer was simple.
"I failed. He was too strong—I barely escaped with my life. It's lucky he didn't see who I was, at least."
"I-is that so… That was close, but at least you made it back alive."
Why did he sound disappointed? I came back alive—shouldn't he be saying he's glad? I found myself glaring at him before I knew it. Not for long, of course; there was no point in getting caught. Still, the unpleasantness was real. His whole attitude said my survival had been an inconvenience—that he'd hoped I'd vanish for good.
"Haah… I'm going to bed, then. Wash up first, Ken."
"O-oh… sure…"
With a chilly little smile, I hurried off toward my room. As I brushed past Ken without a second glance, someone suddenly popped up in front of me.
"Yume? Why the rush? Did something happen?"
The brown-skinned woman asked it in a gentle voice, head tilted in mild puzzlement. Looking at her, what rose in me was…
"Nelly."
"Hm? What is it all of a sudden…"
"You said you've been short on money lately, right? Well… I found a really good part-time job. Want to come with me?"
I crept closer and whispered into her ear. Mm, that's right—I'm his onahole. And since I belong to him, shouldn't I be drawing the others in as well? Besides… honestly, it hadn't been bad at all. No, it might even be wonderful.
Right! That's it—I'm rescuing my friend from that idiot! A-and… we'll do lots and lots of naughty things together…
Hehe… hihihi…
"Really? What's the job? I have been strapped for cash lately!"
Watching her beam and clasp my hands in hers, I shivered from head to toe. Ah… she's caught. The thought of offering this oblivious girl before me to him—and of being loved for it—set my heart pounding all on its own.