Chapter 180: I’m Curious
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 180: I’m Curious
“Wow... it’s beautiful...”
I headed to the Northern Plaza with Sera and Theodora and took our seats in the spectator area. The plaza had the vibe of a lakefront park; being in a wealthy district, it felt like a lovely park where grass grew neatly between well-polished stone tiles.
Since it was the end of spring, the sky was clear and blue, dotted with beautifully placed, snow-white clouds. Sera seemed to really like the look of the park, as she wore a bright, excited smile.
A wide, six-story wooden bleacher, hastily constructed for the event matches, filled the edge of the circular lake park. In the center, a fountain was beautifully spraying water into the air.
We pushed through the bustling crowd to claim our spots. After a short wait, the announcer stepped out three minutes later than scheduled and gripped a voice amplification artifact.
We sat in order from the right: Sera, then me, then Theodora. Because of the crowd, we had to sit quite close together.
“Aven, your shoulders are so broad...”
“Should I sit a bit closer?”
If we sat with our thighs pressed together, my shoulders got in the way. If we spaced out based on shoulder width, there was a bit of a gap. Of course, both Sera and Theodora had wide hips, so in the end, I had to lean my upper body back slightly and rest my hands behind them.
“Yoo Eon, is it very uncomfortable...?”
“No, not particularly.”
“I-it’s okay to do this...”
Sera took my hand from behind her back and placed it on her shoulder. Not to be outdone, Theodora, who had been watching from the side, took my other hand and wrapped it around her waist.
The hand placement is a bit awkward.
Because Sera’s shoulders were slender, if I relaxed my hand, it would slide down toward her chest. On Theodora’s side, her waist was so thin that even after wrapping around it, my hand ended up resting on her thigh.
“I-it’s fine, so stop fidgeting and just leave it there...”
“If you’re okay with it, then sure.”
“I-I’m fine too! You don’t have to keep your hand in a fist!”
“Um... alright.”
Sitting like this made me look like a very bad man. I looked exactly like a lecher subtly groping the women sitting on either side of him.
“Sera? Are you uncomfortable?”
“N-no! I really like it! Ah, I mean... I meant it’s fine...!”
Well, if she says it’s fine.
* * *
“It is recognition and acceptance.”
“You’re suddenly sounding normal.”
“Allow me to correct myself. It is the female’s recognition of herself as a possession, and the acceptance of a polygamous relationship sharing a single male.”
“Ah.”
The third stage was said to be recognition and acceptance. Up until now, the focus had been on increasing the female’s desire for the male, including the typical intimacy of a mutual relationship.
“If one has successfully reached the third stage, the female now feels a high-level craving for the male’s domination.”
“I see.”
“Around the time she feels that it must be this male and no other, the woman will accept most actions perpetrated by the man. It depends on the level of completion, but... she reaches a state where she cannot let go of her feelings for the male, even if he enters into a communicative relationship with another woman.”
“Do you happen to watch a lot of adult content?”
“Yes, why?”
“No... never mind.”
Ms. Alfi’s education seemed fine in theory, but in practice, it felt utterly absurd. I wondered if anyone would actually stay after seeing their lover form a romantic relationship with someone else.
“Regardless, this part is the biggest hurdle in gaining acceptance for polygamy. No matter how much they crave the other person, a situation arises where they must deviate from a standard mutual relationship and share their male with other females.”
“I see.”
“That is why the dominant communion I mentioned previously is necessary. If the male has formed a submissive relationship, a female with a sense of ownership will not be able to endure it.”
Ms. Alfi pointed her index finger at me.
“Therefore, the most important thing is the dignity of a master. One must rule over multiple females without any lack of capability. The greatest and best example is bedwork.”
“Sigh. Right.”
“If the master fails to look after a female’s aching loins simply because he spent the night with another, it will inevitably manifest as dissatisfaction. This will then lead to a decline in the master’s dignity, resulting in an unsatisfactory romantic life.”
“Is that so?”
“The point is, even if she shares one male with other females, her own desires must be perfectly satisfied. Ultimately, sexual frustration stems from the male’s inadequacy. Thus, the essential premise of ‘it must be this male’ disappears.”
I wasn’t sure if it was entirely correct, but it made sense to some degree. An unsatisfactory romantic relationship usually leads to affairs or ruin. In the end, it meant I had to pour as much affection into each woman as I would if I were only loving one person, even while dealing with multiple.
“Unfortunately, a male has only one member. He may lack the physical stamina.”
“Well, I suppose so.”
“Let me give you a tip: make active use of manual stimulation. Before beginning mating with the male organ, you can satisfy the female’s sexual desire to some extent.”
Ms. Alfi inserted her right middle and ring fingers into a loop she made with her left index finger and thumb.
“Could you please not do that hand gesture?”
“Understood.”
Ms. Alfi, releasing the lewd gesture, stared blankly at my hand for a moment before nodding.
“Excellent.”
“What is?”
* * *
I maintained my somewhat lecherous-looking posture while watching the matches. Theodora watched the lower-grade matches with indifference but observed the Platinum-grade matches with interest. With her incredible beastkin kinetic vision, she focused intently on a total of five matches, starting from the Round of 16 in the Platinum Grade.
Sera seemed to enjoy watching the Iron- and Silver-grade matches.
“W-wow... they’re so fast...”
Every time the two explorers’ weapons clashed with a clang-clang sound, she flinched and trembled in amazement. It was the typical reaction of someone who had never been close to a blade.
“Oh my, what should I do...!”
And when someone got injured during a match, she would clasp her hands tight and watch with an anxious, worried expression.
The Gold and Platinum Grades seemed too fast for her eyes to follow; she would stare blankly with her focus blurred, only to go “Huh? What?” in surprise once the fight was over.
“What just happened...? Why did he go over there...?”
“He wrapped his arm around the spear shaft aimed at his waist, broke the shaft by striking it with his shield, then grabbed the fallen spearhead and held it to the opponent’s throat.”
“I-I see...?”
Even with the explanation, she seemed to find it difficult to understand, often tilting her head with a puzzled look. Seeing her pick up a fallen twig nearby and try to break it with both hands before giving up, it seemed she couldn't fathom how a spear shaft could be broken so easily.
“Does wood break that easily...?”
“Wouldn't it break if you struck it with a heavy metal shield?”
“Hmm....”
One winner from each grade, four in total, took home the rewards. Surprisingly, the explorer who won the Iron-grade match was so strong that I felt they would have held their own even in the Silver Grade. She was a young girl with a conventionally pretty face, so she seemed quite popular.
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Yes. Explorers are much faster than I imagined.”
“Pfft, what exactly were you imagining?”
“Um... well, I thought they would fight while shouting battle cries like ‘Yah! Yah!’”
“That’s an amusing thought.”
Since Sera’s head was filled only with battles she’d read about in romance novels, it wasn't surprising. In those, a dashing protagonist would shout, “Take my sword!” and the enemies would simply fall over, crying, “Argh, too strong!”
“Dora. You seemed to be watching closely. How was it?”
“That guy who won the Gold-grade match. It was obvious he was holding back. He probably couldn't cut it in the Platinum Grade where expectations are at their peak, so he cheated his way through the Gold Grade to sweep the rewards.”
“I felt that too. Though there’s no physical evidence.”
“W-was that so...? To be able to tell that... Ms. Dora is amazing.”
“Hmph... well. I’m a beastkin. My eyes are good, so I can see a fair bit.”
* * *
To participate in the Labyrinth Speedrun event at midnight, we went to the guild to submit our applications. Then, we stopped by the inn to get some rest in preparation for the 24-hour continuous labyrinth run.
“With the multiplier correction, aren't the lower-grade explorers at an advantage?”
Basically, it’s a solo play event, and there are corrections based on the floors reached for each grade. For example, if an Iron Grade reaches the 10th floor, it’s counted as the 15th, while if a Palladium Grade reaches the 30th floor, it’s also counted as the 15th. The corrections are quite heavy.
“If they didn't have that, the high-grade explorers would sweep everything and take first place.”
“But solo play is easy up to the 26th floor since there are base camps.”
“It can’t be helped. High-grade explorers are probably veterans at managing their food and sleep too.”
The biggest problem when going into the labyrinth alone is sleep. Up to the 26th floor, there are base camps, so you can just sleep there, but above that, there are no bases, so you have to find a suitable spot to camp.
In a party, it’s much safer since you can take turns on night watch. I suspect the guild is running this event to encourage party formation.
“Oh, Tresha. Where are the others?”
“Ah, Brother! You’re early. Father went to the brewery; he left this morning and hasn't come back yet.”
“I see.”
That made sense. I figured he would.
“What about Auntie?”
“Auntie went grocery shopping, but she said it would take a while and told us to eat dinner early on our own.”
“My mother is probably chatting with her friends.”
“I see.”
Were they the neighbors Father had mentioned before? Most of them had a similar physique to Auntie before she removed her obesity skill. I wondered if Auntie was doing okay now that she’d removed hers.
“What about you, Tresha? Aren't you going out?”
“I already went out to play! Auntie gave me some pocket money, so I ate a ton of food in the Western Sector and even bought this!”
What Tresha held in her hand was a fairly well-made fountain pen. Seeing her sitting at the dining table writing something, it seemed she was studying. As expected, seeing someone work hard always felt admirable.
“You’re working hard. But from now on, tell me. Use your pocket money to buy things you want. I’ll buy you whatever you need for your studies.”
“Really?! Thank you, Brother!”
“Sure, sure. I’m going up to the second floor to rest. Go play with your sisters for a bit.”
“I have to study, so you two should play together!”
“Uh, um....”
“Shall... we...?”
Sera and Theodora exchanged meaningful glances.
I’m curious about Ms. Theodora’s noble sexual relations...
I’m curious. Human Species mating, as Sera does it...!