Chapter 33: Battle Honors
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 33: Battle Honors
The 180-million-degree Sun God descended upon the earth, accompanied by a typhoon. The only reason anything survived its power, which burned and blew away everything around it, was thanks to the barrier that had been set up beforehand.
“Whoa— Wa, waaaah… I didn’t think it would be this powerful…”
Even with magic that made all attacks miss her, Evangeline couldn't help but tremble at the sheer, immense power.
Then, she gazed intently at the part of the forest that had been cleanly blown away, leaving not even a pile of ash behind, despite the barrier she had gone to the trouble of creating.
A part of it was gone, but compared to her expectation that the entire forest would be incinerated, it could be considered very minor damage.
“Anyway… she must be dead, right? Yeah. I can’t see her, so she must be dead…”
Evangeline looked for the Witch of Fire, who was nowhere to be seen, and assumed she was dead. Even if she wasn't dead, knowing that a witch capable of such magic was in this forest, she wouldn't dare come near here again.
Convinced, Evangeline approached Fenrir, who had fainted from the shock of the explosion, and woke him up.
[…Master, what in the world did you do?]
“Hm? Why?”
[This kind of magic— I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Perhaps only the breath of the dragons from legends could possess such power…]
Fenrir said, wondering just what Evangeline had unleashed. Hearing this, Evangeline hummed thoughtfully for a moment before giving a simple answer.
“The fruit of our love?”
[…What’s that supposed to mean?]
“If you don’t get it, that’s fine. Ahh, I miss Yohan. Why did I tell him to come back tomorrow? I should have just told him to come back today…”
Ignoring his dumbfounded reaction to her absurd answer, Evangeline thought of Yohan, who was probably in the city by now, and longed for him.
“Gasp, haah…!”
The Witch of Fire, who had been swept away by the intense nuclear explosion, had somehow survived a direct hit from the fireball. She stood there for a moment, blankly trying to recall what had just happened to her.
She remembered something like the sun itself—something she couldn't imagine another witch being capable of.
“What in the world was….”
Her brain refused to recall what she had endured. Having suffered such an immense shock from it, her brain feared that remembering would cause it to break under the considerable stress.
Nevertheless, the Witch of Fire managed to force the memory to the surface and recalled the nuclear explosion that had mercilessly incinerated everything.
As befitting the Witch of Fire, she became able to replicate the very same nuclear explosion she had just experienced.
“Ha, haha—! With this…!”
There would be nothing to fear, not holy knights, not other witches. She could burn the entire world to the ground, just as she had always wanted.
She could make every human feel the same pain and terror she had felt.
“Burn, everything—.”
Slice!
Just as the Witch of Fire was thinking of burning everything, she felt a cold blade slice through her neck. But by the time she realized it, her head was already flying through the air. With a dazed expression, the Witch of Fire looked at the one who had beheaded her.
A red-haired holy knight. The witch’s eyes took in that face as death claimed her.
Elesis, who had cut off the witch's head, panted for a moment before realizing the witch was no longer moving.
“…Is she… dead?”
Realizing her target was truly dead, Elesis took a pouch from her robes and carefully placed the severed head inside.
The moment she secured the head, the other rookie holy knights who had been lagging behind rushed over to her.
“Sir Elesis! What was that sound just now….”
“This is….”
Seeing the headless corpse, they realized Elesis had accomplished something. Watching her silently store the head in the pouch, they figured the body must belong to the witch.
The holy knights gaped in awe, amazed that she had hunted a witch all by herself.
“A-Amazing! How did you do it alone….”
“It must be thanks to God’s protection.”
“Then let’s head back now!”
If there had been more experienced holy knights or an army unit present, someone would have surely tried to take credit for Elesis’s achievement.
But everyone here was a holy knight on their first assignment this year. Noble knights who had earned their positions through overflowing faith and hatred for witches alone.
They felt no greed for Elesis’s accomplishment, content with the fact that they could now return and that a witch had been slain.
“Yes, let’s go back.”
Elesis said, picking up the head and getting to her feet. Leaving the body behind wouldn't have been a problem, but the other holy knights, insisting that even a witch's corpse must be cremated, lifted the body themselves.
And so the rookies, who had been stuck with the grunt work by their seniors, returned with the achievement of having slain a witch.
My teacher had told me to come back after a full day had passed, but as soon as I thought the day was over, I pestered Margaret until we returned to the mansion.
“Teacher!”
“Yohan!”
As if she had been planning to stay awake until I returned, my teacher was sitting in the living room, blankly passing the time.
Seeing my face, she broke into a wide smile, rushed over, and nuzzled her head against my chest.
“Yohan, Yohan… why are you back so soon? Hm? I told you to come back tomorrow.”
“So, are you unhappy about it?”
“No! I’m happy. But… what if I had still been fighting?”
“I heard a rumor. A rumor that a giant mushroom cloud was seen in this forest.”
After confirming that such a rumor was circulating in the city where I was staying, I realized my teacher must have attempted the nuclear fusion I taught her.
And I figured that no matter who the opponent was, they couldn't possibly survive a nuke. Margaret, who had witnessed the power of nuclear fusion firsthand at the beach, agreed, so we came back as soon as the day changed.
“Mmm—! Good boy! If you were that certain, then…”
“Teacher, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Yohan, what do you take your teacher for? Your teacher is….”
My teacher, who was about to say she was fine, paused, pressing her lips together thoughtfully and twitching them.
After muttering to herself for a while, she cautiously touched her cheek and spoke.
“W-Well… I think I got hurt a liiittle bit. Just a teeeeeny tiny bit.”
“What!? Where? Where are you hurt….”
“Here….”
Evangeline said, tapping her cheek. I moved closer to her face and realized there wasn't a single blemish on it, let alone a wound.
As I got closer, I saw her face turning redder and redder, and just when I started to feel something was off—Evangeline explained the cure.
“I-It’s not a big wound, so I think putting some saliva on it will heal it. But, um, my tongue can’t reach, so could you put some on for me, Yohan…?”
“…Aha, Teacher.”
“I-If you don’t want to, you don’t have to! Really, it’s just a tiny little scratch you can’t even see!”
Only then did I understand what she wanted. She wanted a medal for her battle honors.
For catching a witch who had mercilessly slaughtered humans, it was an incredibly trivial reward. All she wanted was a kiss on the cheek….
But if that was what she wanted, I could grant it as many times as she wished. I nodded in understanding and moved closer to her cheek.
I could feel Evangeline squeeze her eyes shut. Her blushing face grew even redder, until it looked just like a beet.
Just as my face was inches from hers, I realized I had never once kissed her.
‘Wait, does that even make sense? We’ve given each other handjobs….’
Apparently, it did make sense. I realized that not only had I never kissed her, but this was the first time in my life I was kissing any woman, and my own face began to turn red.
And so, despite being only a centimeter from her face, I couldn't take that final step. Then, I mustered my courage and went for it like a man.
With a soft smack, my lips met Evangeline’s cheek. Her cheeks, which looked plump and soft, were even softer than they appeared. They reminded me of a newborn baby’s skin, which I had only touched a few times….
“T-Teacher?”
After the kiss, I carefully pulled away and called out to her. But Evangeline, who had received the kiss, remained perfectly still with her eyes closed.
Feeling something was wrong, I nudged her, and at that moment, Evangeline collapsed, still in the same pose with her eyes shut.
I managed to catch her before she hit the floor and carefully checked her condition.
“Wh-What the!? What’s wrong with her?”
“…Sh-She fainted.”
“What? No way—over a stupid little kiss…!”
Ignoring Margaret, who was letting out a hollow laugh of disbelief behind me, I carried my teacher to her room.
Margaret couldn't seem to understand how my teacher could have fainted, but I understood perfectly. When you experience something you never imagined could happen to you, the shock is on a level you can’t even fathom.
I had never imagined kissing such a beautiful woman, so my own heart was pounding as if it would burst.
‘Damn, I feel like I’m going to cum just from a single kiss….’
I gazed at my teacher for a moment, then sighed and left her room. If I stayed there any longer, I felt like I might do something I'd regret.
After finally making it back to my room, I let out a deep sigh. My heart was still pounding, and my erection hadn't subsided… but I had no desire to relieve such trivial lust.
“…How can I get a little stronger?”
I wanted to protect my teacher with my own strength. Not like this time, where I was helpless and had to run away without doing anything. I wanted to fight by her side, and better yet, protect her completely.
However, I didn't know how.
I was just an ordinary person who had awakened some magic power but didn't know how to fight.
Deciding I should at least start exercising, I dropped to the floor right then and there and started doing push-ups. I felt like I could go all night without getting tired, but I figured it was better than doing nothing but breathing….