Chapter 128: Bonding
Chapter 128: Bonding
The atmosphere grew heavy the moment I mentioned the seal on the Evil God was breaking.
Iris, having experienced the War of the Gods firsthand, asked me to clarify several times.
"Why is everyone so down? I said the seal is breaking, not that the world is ending."
"What? But Master, there’s no one left to stop the Evil God this time. Do the Good Gods descend again the moment the seal breaks?"
"No. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't. The wounds they sustained during the Great War are one thing, but they used too much of their power sealing the monsters in the dungeons."
That was the reason the dungeons had to be cleared.
A portion of the power used for the seal is absorbed by the one who conquers it, but the rest returns to its original owner.
Thanks to that, if one clears dungeons with enough intensity, the Good Gods can eventually recover enough to at least appoint an Apostle.
Though descending personally is still out of the question.
For the record, that was also why Helena was still a Saintess Candidate and not a full Saintess.
They had selected a few promising candidates, but Righteous Light hadn't recovered enough power to actually create a Saintess yet.
Carla, who had been tilting her head as if struggling to process what she was hearing, suddenly shrieked.
"That means it's incredibly dangerous after all! Master, why don't we just run away to a far-off island? No matter what happens to the continent, we can live together just the five of us, have five or six kids, and live happily ever after..."
"Carla. You learned this at the Academy. What happened to the royals and nobles who tried to flee at the start of the War of the Gods?"
"Ah."
It wasn't as if no one had ever thought of running away.
However, those people ended up surrounded by cultists and monsters, meeting an even more gruesome end.
Every single one of them.
They likely had some method of tracking people down.
"Th-then what do we do, Master...?"
"What do you mean, 'what do we do'? I told you, didn't I? I'm going to stop it."
That had been my plan from the start. If running away wasn't an option and leaving it to others was impossible...
The only viable path was to break through head-on.
Fortunately, I had the knowledge of H&A's walkthroughs and the gold I'd accumulated over my long playtime.
The world might not work exactly like a game, and I might not be able to fight exactly like a game character...
But I still had to try. I couldn't just sit around and wait to die.
Perhaps because those thoughts bled into my voice, my tone came out more determined than I expected.
Seeing the women staring at me blankly, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
"Now that I think about it, I'm not doing this alone; I'm doing it with all of you... So, what do you think? You'll help me, right?"
"..."
Silence filled the room, just as it had when I first mentioned the seal.
But this time, the atmosphere wasn't heavy.
Starting with Carla, everyone began to nod.
"Master, you don't need to ask for my permission. Just give me an order. I will follow you gladly. In exchange... you know, right?"
"My, I feel the same, Yandel. As you said, if it's unavoidable anyway, we might as well go down swinging."
"Hmph... I thought I'd never have to face an Evil God again no matter how long I lived... but for the sake of my cute disciple and my master, I can't just sit idly by."
"I-I'm not a combat alchemist, so I can't fight alongside you. But if there's anything you need, Junior, just tell me! Weapons, accessories, potions, magical tools... I'll make absolutely anything for you!"
Fortunately, no one said no.
...Well, three of them are slaves, and the other one might as well be one even without the imprint, so it's not like they could easily refuse!
Still, it was true that my heart felt lighter after revealing the secret I'd been keeping.
I fought back a grin and nodded.
"Thank you, truly. With this, we're all in the same boat in the truest sense, right?"
"...What kind of weird nonsense are you about to spout now?"
Sensing something ominous, Elisha narrowed her eyes and took a step back.
How mean. I really didn't have anything in mind.
But seeing Elisha's guarded attitude made a mischievous urge crawl up from deep within my chest.
We'd finished the snacks and the teapot was empty, so it was about time to move anyway.
I shrugged and continued nonchalantly.
"It's nothing much. I just thought we should all sleep together tonight to do some bonding."
"You were thinking of something weird!"
"Hey now. 'Weird'? You, Carla, and Iris have already done it together once. Senior Fay should get a turn too."
"What kind of logic is that?!"
"Why are you so against it? Don't tell me... are you ostracizing Senior Fay? Domestic bullying is a bit much..."
"Who's ostracizing who?! And the one bullying Miss Fay right now is you, Yandel!"
Elisha shouted, pointing a finger at Fay.
Suddenly put on the spot, Fay jumped, pointing at herself.
"Huh...? Uh, what?!"
Her eyes darted around at the other women before her expression hardened with resolve.
"This is like an initiation, right? It's okay, Miss Elisha! I'll do my best!"
"No, that's not it... I mean...!"
Elisha clutched her chest with a frustrated expression, looking like the only sane person in a world of madmen.
Meanwhile, Carla watched Elisha's swaying mana tanks with a smug smile.
"I guess mine are still bigger. Are you just chicken?"
"..."
Elisha seemed to have lost her words entirely, simply biting her lip and glaring at me.
I gave her a bright smile and whispered.
"Just give up. There are no normal people here."
*
Since I had to give Fay a tour of the mansion anyway, we started with a walk through the garden.
Perhaps because she was an Elf, the landscaping she did as a hobby was quite beautiful.
Anyway, after touring the mansion, we headed straight to the second-floor bedroom.
It was still bright outside since we'd started early... but what did that matter?
With more people, it was bound to take longer anyway.
Click.
As I closed the bedroom door, Elisha asked in a reluctant voice.
"Really? Are we really doing this, Yandel? Weren't we just talking about something incredibly important?"
"Bonding among ourselves is also important."
"I suppose, but... sigh..."
Iris patted the back of the sighing Elisha.
"Don't be so impatient, disciple. Our master surely has a plan. More importantly... he seems to have already made up his mind, so refusing will only earn us his resentment."
"Ugh. That's true. Yandel is the type who has to see things through once he's decided... Wait, why is everyone undressing?!"
"Well, we can't exactly do it with our clothes on, can we?"
"Exactly. Or do you prefer doing it with them on?"
"Ah, well... everyone else was stripping..."
While Elisha lamented whether this was truly right, Iris—who had quickly stripped down to her underwear—and Carla and Fay—who were just starting to unbutton their clothes—replied in turn.
I also shed my clothes and asked Iris.
"Why are you so proactive? Were you looking forward to this that much?"
"They do say there's no thief like an old thief. To be honest, I still haven't forgotten the first night I spent with you, Master."
"Well... it was pretty intense."
She'd completely lost consciousness from the very beginning, after all.
As I nodded, I heard Carla's impressed voice from behind.
"Wow... seeing them in person, they're really no joke, Miss Fay."
"You're quite large yourself, Senior Carla..."
"Oh, stop. It's been ages since I left the Academy, so why the 'Senior'? Call me 'Sister' instead."
"C-Carla Sister?"
"Hehe... I was a bit sad because Elisha won't call me Sister anymore... I'm so glad Miss Fay is here!"
The two of them chatted amiably while naked.
Yes. This was exactly what I wanted to see.
Iris also seemed to realize why I'd set this up and trotted over to Fay.
She looked like she was about to say something... but her gaze dropped slightly, and she spoke with a deeply depressed expression.
"...They are magnificent."
"Um... it's embarrassing if you stare so much..."
Fay tried to pull back shyly, but it was meaningless since Iris followed her just as closely.
"This makes no sense. We're about the same height, so how can you have these...?"
Iris suddenly reached out and began fumbling with Fay's breasts.
Her small palms were instantly buried between them.
Squish, squish.
"L-Lady Iris?!"
"So soft... and even at this size, they have enough elasticity not to sag..."
A flustered Fay twisted her torso this way and that, but every time she did, her chest swayed violently.
Boing, boing.
Carla and Elisha were both on the larger side, but Fay's were truly on a miraculous level.
"You said you were from the Yarnshard family? If I recall correctly, they were quite a famous family among the Dwar—ahem. Among the Dwarves."
"Th-that's right... so please, your hands... hngh!"
"Hey! Don't move! It's hard to feel them! By the way, if you're a Dwarf, you should have a shabby physique similar to mine... so where did these breasts come from? Did you perhaps brew a potion to enlarge them?"
"There are potions for hair loss... eek! But there's no such thing as a breast enlargement potion..."
"Then how are these possible?!"
Iris persisted, gripping Fay's breasts and interrogating her.
Finally giving up on escaping, Fay answered with a weary look.
"...It's just genetics. I'm a Half-Dwarf. My mother was large."
"...!!"
Thud!
Iris staggered back, looking as if a sound effect for a mental shock should have played.
Forgetting even to breathe, Iris retreated before turning and running toward me.
Even with her frantic movement, her chest showed a "Simmons-like" stability.
"Master...!"
"Yeah. Simmons... I mean, Iris, what's wrong?"
As I pulled Iris into my arms and patted her bottom, she began to whine.
"Breasts... breasts are scary!"
"It's okay, it's okay. You have your own charms, Iris."
"Is that true?"
"Of course. On that note..."
I continued, stroking Iris's plump backside.
"Shall we try the back door today?"
"...I felt this last time too, but you really have no talent for comforting people, Master."