Soothing the Slave's Mood (1)
I had no idea where to even begin. So much had happened in a single day that my head was pounding. For now, I decided to cut out all the pointless worries and unnecessary concerns. With that in mind, I brought up the most important topic first.
“Elphy… what would you think if I ended up working in the other world…?”
“Huh? The other world?”
“…”
As expected, Elphy’s bright smile from just moments ago quickly froze over. Of course, I already knew she’d hate the idea. That was exactly why I hadn’t immediately agreed to the company’s offer.
“Why are you suddenly saying this? Don’t tell me that company is forcing you to go to the other world?”
“Well… if you don’t like it, you can stay here. I’ll come back to this side every weekend…”
“I don’t want that.”
“…”
Her firm rejection cut me off mid-sentence. An awkward silence settled over the dining table. I let out a mental sigh as I looked at her.
(Sigh… poor thing…)
(She’s going to have a really hard time if we go back to the other world, isn’t she?)
Of course, humans here weren’t exactly kind to demons either, but over there… just saying the word “demon” could get you beaten to death. The fact that she could occasionally let her broken red horn—barely visible thanks to her hair—peek out into the world was only possible in this human realm where no one had ever seen the Demon King in person.
If we returned to the other world, she’d have to endure hatred and disgust on a completely different scale. She’d need to hide her red horns and eyes with strange clothing again, just like when we first met. At the same time, she’d have to live like a branded criminal, quiet as a mouse.
I knew it well. Elphy wasn’t the Demon King, nor was she some evil bitch who deserved condemnation from people who didn’t even know her name. But to the people over there, it was engraved into their very genes—the terror of the Demon King and the hatred for all demons born from him. It was something humans like me could never fully understand.
“…Should I turn it down after all?”
“No. There’s no need… They’re giving us a house, right? I’ll just stay inside anyway.”
“The conditions are pretty good, aren’t they? And your master is pretty reliable… You’ll always stay by my side, right?”
“…”
Yeah. That’s how it should be. As her master, I’d do everything I could to make sure she could at least move freely within the village where we’d be staying.
When I said that, Elphy’s expression brightened a little.
“Oh… You sound confident?”
“Yeah… You’ll be shocked when I tell you what happened today.”
“What? Did you really get stronger after that level-up nonsense?”
“Of course. Obviously.”
I exaggerated a bit and threw in plenty of bravado. I left out the part about that pathetic bastard dying and causing a shitstorm. Just like always, I told her a nicely edited heroic tale straight from my head.
“For real?”
“Yeah… I beat it with my bare hands…?”
“You’re not lying, are you?”
“I’m not.”
In reality, I’d smashed it with a pistol. But hey, getting up close and hitting it was basically the same thing, right?
I tried my best to cheer her up, but even though she was smiling, something about it looked forced. I couldn’t help but notice.
It was eight in the evening when I called Team Leader Kim Minhyuk. He answered in a cheerful voice.
“Then could you start packing right away? I’d like to leave as soon as tomorrow if possible?”
“What? Leave tomorrow?”
“Yes. The sooner we leave, the better, right?”
“The sooner you start earning that salary, the better for you too, right, sir?”
“Well… that’s true, but… we still have to deal with this house… and the moving stuff…”
“Don’t worry about that. Just send over the documents I asked for, and we’ll handle everything without any shortcomings…”
I wasn’t sure if this industry was just unusually kind to hunters or if they were just desperate to get me working as fast as possible. Listening to this guy, I was pretty sure it was the latter.
“You know everything’s done electronically these days, right? I’ll send you an email, so just reply there.”
“Then have a good night, sir…”
“Wait, hold on! Isn’t the accommodation completely empty?”
“At the very least, I need to bring some essential household items…”
“Don’t worry. Everything’s already prepared.”
“It should be fine for the time being. We’ll even transport your luggage for you… Just tell us what to throw away and what to keep…”
Just how badly did they want me to start working that they were going this far? At this point, it was starting to get a little scary…
Ha… Well. A broke guy doesn’t have much of a choice. When someone offers to do it for free, you just accept.
“Alright. Got it. I’ll start packing now.”
“Understood.”
“And you mentioned you have your own car, right? I’ll send you the address, so head straight there.”
“What? Right now?”
“Yes. When you arrive, give me a call and the person in charge will come out to greet you.”
“Then have a wonderful evening~!”
“…”
What the hell? Was this how everyone handled things these days? It was so fast it felt almost wrong. I was genuinely flustered.
Anyway, I needed to hurry. The moment the call ended, I rushed upstairs.
“Elphy!”
“?!!”
“What… what is it all of a sudden?”
“There’s no time for games! Start packing right now, okay?”
“Uh… I get it, but… where are we going?! Weren’t we packing together?”
“Hey?! Where are you going…!!”
If she asked where I’d gone while we were supposed to be packing together, I’d proudly say I went to the management office. But if she asked why I went to the management office, I’d probably be too embarrassed to say anything.
“What? You’re throwing out the mattress and sofa?”
“Yeah. That’s why I went to the management office just now.”
There was no way we could let anyone see the traces of all our bodily fluids on them.
I held the bulky waste disposal sticker in one hand and began peeling back the clean sheet that had been hiding our debauchery.
“But… if we throw that out…”
“Don’t worry. They said they have all the basic household stuff there.”
“That’s not what I mean… Then are we doing it on the floor tonight?”
“…?”
What? Why the hell did I have to have sex with her tonight…?
Don’t say such terrifying things and just help me lift this, damn it.
I tried to dodge the question, but this girl just stared at me with a strange look in her eyes.
“…What are you doing?”
“You’re really not… going to do it with me?”
“Elphy. I have to drive tomorrow, and I’m still sore from…”
“Haaang… I’m so sad… If we leave like this, I’m going to be really depressed.”
“…”
Bullshit. She was just playing games a minute ago. If anyone’s depressed, it’s my poor bruised dick, not her.
Normally I would’ve told her to stop talking nonsense and just spread her legs already… but damn it. I kept remembering what happened earlier, so I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
“Sigh… Fine. Just once, okay?”
“Really?”
“Yeah…”
“Great! I’ll go wash up real quick then.”
“…”
Fuck… Was it normal for a guy to soothe a girl’s mood with sex? Living with this succubus had completely shattered my sense of chastity.
I sat down weakly on the mattress, feeling a strange sense of self-loathing… and in the middle of it, my dick started to wake up again, slowly lifting its head.
(That white tank top with the visible bra strap…)
(Those black dolphin shorts that look like they’d show her panties if she lifted them just a little…)
Fuck… Who the hell designed such slutty clothes? I swear to god, I had zero thoughts of breeding a second ago… but now that I’m looking at the soft flesh of her thighs slightly squeezed by those shorts, I can feel all the blood rushing downward.
I lowered my head, desperately trying to suppress the instincts boiling inside me.
“What are you doing?”
“Huh? No… I was just thinking about something…”
“Thinking with your head down? Are you having dirty thoughts?”
“…”
Even with her blatantly throwing out sexual jokes, I had to stay calm. I had to stay calm. The moment I gave in to instinct, tonight would be over, and so would my dick.
With that thought, I took a deep breath in my mind.
“No… I’m just feeling a bit anemic, that’s all.”
“Anemic? Does your head hurt?”
“Yeah… I’m already getting tired just thinking about having sex with you.”
“By the way, didn’t you say you were going to wash up? Aren’t you going?”
“…”
Did she leave? She went to wash, right? While she’s washing, I should mentally prepare myself and think about how to survive without getting completely drained by that monster.
I kept staring at the floor, waiting for the sound of the bathroom door closing… but then this girl suddenly sat down right next to me.
“What…? What is it?”
“Nothing… Want to shower together?”
“Huh? Ah… no, I’m fine.”
“Why? What’s with that lukewarm reaction? Don’t you want to have sex with me?”
“…”
What the hell did she want? She deliberately pressed both her breasts against my right arm and started stroking the inside of my thigh while saying all this. I had no idea what she was trying to do… but maybe if I said no, she’d let me off the hook?
“Elphy… I… um…”
“Wow… it’s really big… It looks even bigger than usual? Did your dick get bigger after the level-up too…?”
“No… this is just a physiological reaction, completely unrelated to my will…”
“Really?”
“…”
Fuck… I didn’t want it to go this way.
Elphy began stroking the inside of my thigh—no, more precisely, my already fully swollen penis—at an increasingly rapid pace.
“Wow… you’re not kidding, it’s this big?”
“Hmm~? Hmm~?”
“…”
Every time I twitched, her red eyes gleamed strangely. I swallowed hard, feeling my heart pounding.
“Doesn’t it hurt? Doesn’t it hurt when it’s bent like this?”
“Should I use my mouth first?”
“…”
Her hand slowly slid down my thigh. Like she was caressing a baby, she teased my glans with her fingers.
“Want me to…?”
“…”
Fuck. I shouldn’t. For the sake of tomorrow, for the sake of my future, I really shouldn’t.
But I surrendered to my instincts. In the end, I took off my underwear.