The Haughty Maid's Stern Lesson (2)
After washing Hecate's back and slipping out of the bathroom, Adrian naturally joined Petunia and Senya—who had just woken up—for a meal. Afterward, he asked the two of them to oversee his training at the training ground. They were one of the Three Knights and a knight evaluated as equal in skill to the Three Knights, after all. He couldn't waste this opportunity.
"Ehh, training? That's such a hassle."
"You don't have anything else to do anyway, right? Can't you help me out?"
"...Well, without orders from Lady Renes, we're mostly free."
Fortunately, Petunia overcame her laziness and agreed to watch over his training.
They headed to the training ground together, and as they walked, Petunia let out a drawn-out yawn and tossed him a question.
"So, what do you want me to teach you?"
"Hmm, what would be good to learn... I've learned how to handle mana from Helia and how to use my body in real combat from Martina. So if I'm going to learn something new, I'd like to pick up a technique in a different direction from those two."
Among those, what could Petunia teach him...? Right. Come to think of it, she'd shown off quite a few tricks during the match.
"Can you teach me some special techniques?"
"Techniques?"
"You know, like when your body vanished during the match."
"Vanished...? Like this?"
Petunia tapped the ground lightly with her toes at his words. Mana rippled from her body, and in an instant, her figure disappeared from view.
Then—pop pop pop!—sand sprayed up from spots all over the training ground. At the end of it, she reappeared in the exact opposite direction from him across the wide field.
"A-amazing, Lady Petunia. As expected of one of the Three Knights..."
"Eh, this is just basic stuff."
Senya gasped in admiration while Petunia brushed it off nonchalantly. She then shuffled over to him with her usual lazy gait.
"Alright, you try it."
"...Try what?"
"What I just showed you. I did it once, so you should get the gist, right?"
"You call that an explanation?"
Seeing is believing, sure, but how was he supposed to learn from something that happened in a split second?
"If you're gonna teach me, explain how to circulate the mana, what stance to take... Be detailed about it."
"Ughhh, explaining it that precisely is such a pain."
Damn this lazy slacker. Still, she couldn't just let it slide, so Petunia reluctantly wiggled her hand in the air as she explained.
"Like this... Focus your power in your legs, and the mana gathers with a shwooo, then step in the direction you want to go, and it shoots forward with a boom..."
"...How am I supposed to understand from that?"
"Sigh, this is why slow learners are such a drag. They whine 'I can't' without even trying, and that's why they never improve."
Oh yeah, must be nice being a genius like you. But she had a point—he couldn't complain without at least trying once. Pushing down his irritation, Adrian stepped forward as she described, channeling strength into his legs and focusing.
Gather mana in both legs, then thrust in the direction he wanted...
—Shwooo!
Bang!
An explosion erupted beneath his legs, launching his body forward. Everything blurred into afterimages for a split second. Panicking at the uncontrollable speed, he crashed face-first into the ground.
"Cough..."
"Adrian! You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
With Senya's worried help, he stood up and glanced down at his legs. Control was off, but actually trying it gave him a rough sense of the feeling. Better to do it once than see it a hundred times, indeed.
"Shwooo, boom... Just a bit more practice, I think. Senya, can you help me out?"
"Ah, sure. Got it."
And so, with Senya guiding his stance and mana flow, he focused on replicating Petunia's technique. By the time the sun hung high in the midday sky...
—Shwooo!
Boom!
His body followed the exact process Petunia described, zipping from one end of the training ground to the other in the blink of an eye.
"I did it!"
"Incredible, Adrian. I can't believe you copied Lady Petunia's technique in such a short time."
"Nah, it was your guidance that made it possible."
He probably wouldn't have grasped it so quickly alone. Satisfied, he approached Petunia, who had been watching from nearby.
"Petunia."
"Huh, wha?"
Petunia snapped out of her daze, eyes widening. She looked like she'd seen something unexpected, so he spoke his honest feelings.
"Thanks. I learned a useful technique thanks to you."
"Uh, uh... N-no big deal."
Her voice sounded uncharacteristically flustered. Her blushing face and bowed head even seemed shy.
Did she not expect him to copy her technique? Or was she just unused to thanks?
"Um..."
Then Petunia turned to him, fidgeting as she made an offer.
"Want me to teach you some other techniques? I've got a bunch besides that one."
"Other ones?"
"N-not like I'm interested 'cause you're talented or anything. Just... got nothing better to do, y'know? Kill some time."
Kill time, huh. Not a bad fit for her naturally slothful self, but whatever—her active involvement in his training was more than welcome.
"Sure, looking forward to it today then. Thanks for the guidance, Master."
"M-Master?"
"You're teaching me, so you're my master. That okay?"
"...Uh, whatever. Call me what you want."
Petunia grumbled half-heartedly but continued the lesson. Her explanations were vague and sloppy, but with Senya's support, he quickly picked up each technique.
And during the break that came as he steadily acquired them...
"Oh, ooh, oooh... ♥"
Petunia, now straddling him and rocking her hips on her own while panting, suddenly started whining at him incomprehensibly.
"Hah, oooh... Wh-what the hell? How did this happen again? Why are we suddenly fucking...?"
"Eh, felt unfair learning techniques alone, so I figured I'd teach you some sex skills?"
"I don't need that kinda shit... ♥"
"Says the one shaking her hips like crazy. Want me to take over if it's too much?"
"N-no, that's not... "
Slap slap slap slap.
"O-oh, oh, oh, oooh, ooook~ ♥"
Petunia climaxed, gripped by his hands on her waist. Feeling her already tight pussy clench even harder spurred him on, and he pounded her small body more fiercely.
"Our genius Petunia has talent in sex too. What a cock-squeezing monster pussy."
"Heeek, heeeh, haaang... ♥"
"Um, Adrian. Me too..."
"Yeah, after Petunia, I'll fuck you too, Senya."
They fucked like that, then trained some more, then fucked again when they had a breather... By sunset, after repeating the cycle, an exhausted Petunia was slung over Senya's back at the entrance, whimpering tearfully.
"Ughhh... N-no more sex... My head's all messed up, gonna lose my mind... ♥"
"...Haha, Lady Petunia must be really tired. I'll take her home, so you head in."
"Yeah, sure. See you later."
Senya carried Petunia away. Alone at the entrance, Adrian turned to head to his room, his fatigue finally catching up as he reflected on the fulfilling day.
"...Master."
A shadow silently blocked his path. Backlit by the sunset streaming through the window, it took only a moment to recognize the familiar face.
"Oh, Hecate."
"Heading to bed already?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Trained hard all day."
"Training..."
Hecate trailed off, staring at him intently. Curious about her reaction, he was about to ask when she pressed him.
"You look more exhausted than that suggests. Same as this morning—you must've been worked to the bone by those two knights."
"...Worked to the bone?"
"Same in the arena, and probably with the other knights too. Men like you can't be treated well by all those starving women."
Worked to the bone? Why phrase it like that? Did Hecate think he'd been ravaged by Petunia and Senya all day? Or even Helia and Martina...? Did she misunderstand the arena fights as him being forced?
"Wait, I think there's a misunderstanding..."
"Master."
She cut him off with a smooth request.
"Could you visit my room at midnight tonight?"
"What?"
"Come alone, without telling anyone. I have something private to discuss."
With that, she turned and vanished down the hall.
Come to her room alone? What for? Was she signaling him? Wanting to hook up tonight?
Gulp.
Thinking about it, the signs weren't zero. She'd entered the bathroom herself that morning and bared her naked back to him, after all. And he was pretty popular with women in this world, so flirting from someone he'd just met wasn't out of the question. If that was it, he'd welcome it.
"Hoo, alright."
And so midnight arrived. Avoiding prying eyes, he slipped through the mansion and reached Hecate's quarters in the basement—the most secluded spot in the estate. A bit too isolated for the head maid who managed the staff, but that secrecy might aid whatever came next.
"Hecate, can I come in?"
How long after knocking? The door creaked open, and a hand shot out, grabbing him firmly. It yanked him inside and tossed him onto the floor.
"Keh!"
What the hell? An intruder?
"Apologies, I don't want to rough up a man... but the situation leaves me no choice."
No, the voice was Hecate's. Still haughty in tone, but heavier than during the day. And her appearance—gone was the prim maid; now her muscular body, hidden under her uniform before, was clad in scandalously skimpy slingshot armor.
"H-Hecate? That outfit..."
"No surprise there. These horns, this tail... All alien concepts to a human like you."
He wasn't shocked by the sudden horns and tail. It was the barely-there outfit exposing her ridiculous muscles.
"Now that you've seen my true form, allow me to reintroduce myself."
She loomed over him in her outrageous slingshot getup and continued.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hecate, former general of the Demon King's army and now an executive of the Resistance—a secret society I formed from the remnants of the fallen Demon King's forces."
"Hecate? Not Yekaterina?"
"Merely a disguise to infiltrate human society. Hiding under that vile lord's roof let me make contact with someone like you."
"W-wait, hold on. I'm not following—what the hell is going on...?"
Boom!!
Her swinging fist smashed the wall beside him, cracks spiderwebbing outward. Her arm bulged with veins, muscles straining.
"Adrian. To you, the pitiful man toyed with by that foul lord and her knights—I extend this private proposal right here."
Feeling the menace, she leaned in with a low offer.
"Join our society. Help us purify this corrupt kingdom."
He didn't know the full story, but it felt like a merciless threat with no real choice.