The Celebration and the Beginning of the Wind (10)
The first thing Franc did after our kiss was touch the ring on her finger and burst into tears.
“Hic… sob… huuueeng……”
“W-why?! Does the ring size not fit?!”
I was so fucking startled that I didn’t know what to do and just stomped my feet. Shit, on the day I met Veronica I woke up earlier than Franc and secretly measured her ring size. Did I get it wrong?!
“N-no… It’s not that… I’ve never even dreamed of something like this… I’m so happy that the tears just won’t stop……”
─Drip, drip.
Tears rolled down Franc’s face as she cried. A jolt like electricity shot down my spine, and my brain finally registered the fact that I had brought a handkerchief. I prepared a handkerchief for exactly this moment!! Well done, past Kang Buk-ho!! You’re number one!!
I quickly equipped the handkerchief and gently wiped the tears from Franc’s eyes.
“Don’t cry. It’s a happy day. Oh, and you know what? I put a special spell on your ring.”
“A spell…?”
“Yeah. Bring both hands together and focus.”
My clever attempt to change the subject and stop her tears worked perfectly. Franc fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
─Squeeze.
She clasped her hands together as if in prayer. A soft blue light bloomed from the mithril.
That must be Franc’s mana.
“They say a ring is connected to the largest mana vein linked to the heart. Franc, I engraved a rune into yours that enhances sensory perception.”
My voice was dripping with affection, like a parent reading a bedtime story. Whoa, is this really my voice? I can’t believe it. It’s so damn sweet.
“This is……”
It seemed Franc had forgotten she was even crying as she felt the change happening inside her body. Her eyes widened into perfect circles as she stared at me with her mouth open.
Did it work?
I used my intuition to locate the mana moving within Franc’s body. It was exactly as I had predicted and hoped. The core of the giant golem combined with the amplifying effect of mithril! The rune ᚲ (Kenaz) had successfully strengthened her spiritual senses.
Satisfied, I reached out and gently stroked Franc’s hair.
“That’s right. Congratulations on your mana awakening, Franc.”
“……Huuueeeeng!! Noooord!!”
“Oh no.”
I screwed up. I had just calmed her down with sweet words and comfort, but now she was crying again. I smiled bitterly and pulled Franc into my arms, soothing her.
She buried herself against my chest as if overwhelmed with emotion and sobbed loudly.
“Don’t cry. It’s a waste of that cute face. How are we supposed to go back to the party hall like this?”
“Hic… sob… Do we have to go back?”
What did she just say? Even with her face covered in tears and snot, the unbelievably beautiful Franc clung to me as if she would never let go and asked that question.
“Instead of going back to the hall… can’t we just go back to the inn?”
“…………………………Is that really okay?”
It was an incredibly tempting offer. I really, really want to do that too…….
I wanted to roll around on the bed with this disheveled Franc, stroking her all over. I wanted to enjoy the beautiful contrast between the black of her dress and the incredibly lewd black lingerie underneath it, and the pure white of her skin…….
─Sluuuuurp!!
I could even hear the hallucination of Jujicona roaring. This damn thing revived already and is acting up again.
─Rub, rub.
“Huuu…… Noooord……”
Franc had now reached the point of rubbing her lower belly against my Jujicona. Looking into her eyes, it was like hearts were pouring out of them. I felt genuinely sorry, but the phrase “in heat” literally flashed through my mind. To be precise, it was overflowing love directed at me.
Yeah, fuck it. Who cares? It’s good. Let’s head straight to the bed.
Just as I thought that and was about to carry Franc on my back back to the inn—
“……Uwaaah.”
“……Huwaaah.”
Two women who had been hiding in the building’s shadow watching us. These bitches. It’s Larilura and Tirsi, aren’t they.
“Wait, what the…… What are you two doing over there?”
“Ah! Hyaa?!”
“Kyaa?!”
The moment I spoke, the two peeping toms who had been holding their breath collapsed on the spot.
Oh for fuck’s sake.
They must have been concentrating so hard that they didn’t even notice their heads popping out like pheasants that heard a gunshot. The way they collapsed together in surprise was perfectly synchronized.
“A-ahaha♡! Sorry~? I was just waiting a bit and then… oops!”
Larilura quickly brushed off the dust and played innocent. Tirsi looked at her with an expression of utter betrayal before turning to me with an excuse.
“T-this, um, you see? We were on our way back to the hall when we ran into you two in the corridor and started talking and then… well!”
“That’s right~! Just like that♡!”
“Just like that.”
“Yes☆”
“Yessir.”
The two peeping toms who had finally read the room and shut their mouths. Gaaaaah…….
But even though I was the one who had silenced them, I couldn’t recover from the damage. The realization that my once-in-a-lifetime first proposal had been watched live made me want to die of embarrassment.
Yet Franc showed no sign of caring at all. She was completely lost in a daze, gently stroking the ring I had given her. Good thing I didn’t set a power stone in it. If I had put a gem in and it got scratched, the probability of her crying every time she looked at the ring would have been 100%.
I rubbed my face and spoke.
“Fine. Let’s move on. I’m in no position to lecture Tirsi, and Larilura, you were waiting and got curious. That makes sense.”
Come to think of it, I had accidentally overheard Tirsi talking with other people far more times than this. During the Earthslight incident I had actively gone looking for her, so it wasn’t exactly an accident, but today I had been the one acting like a peeping tom first.
Larilura perked her ears up at my words and answered.
“Exactly! There’s no need to feel embarrassed~♡? Our senior looks the coolest when he’s acting all cool and romantic!”
“Yeah. Shut the mouth, please.”
Since our Franc was still in a state of ecstasy, I borrowed an expression from her. Let’s stop talking about that.
“The sparkling clouds were dancing and shining like the night sky! It was really something to see! Couldn’t you come help with directing for our circus troupe later~☆?!”
But this girl just won’t shut up. Larilura looked like a freshman college girl who had just gotten over puberty, completely excited by the romantic situation.
“Any normal woman would faint from a confession like that!! My heart was cringing so hard while watching you☆!!”
“I get it, so please just shut your mouth……”
Larilura was overflowing with excitement like a literature girl who had just come out of a sweet romance movie full of lingering emotions. My proposal must have had an enormous impact in this other world where there were almost no pre-marriage events besides engagement.
It was probably like the culture shock of doing a movie-theater confession back in Goguryeo, whose culture and customs had continued all the way to the 21st century. Yeah, that would definitely be shocking.
Well, I did aim for that effect…….
The way people in this world only exchanged verbal confessions didn’t sit right with me. That’s why I had prepared the ring—which was normally only given after marriage—in advance, hoping Franc would be moved.
“……Well. A confession that moves someone this much with magic is something only a skilled bard could even imagine, right?”
“Right♡?! You think so too, don’t you?!”
Why the hell is the cringe spreading to them too? I was more dumbfounded by that than by the fact that Larilura was using “cringe” in a positive way.
“Senior♥! When’s the next confession project?! I’ll help you then too! Let’s combine our powers and create an event as touching as ‘May I love you’!!”
“I have no plans, fuck……”
Please shut up……. Why are you reading my proposal lines out loud in front of me?
Larilura looked genuinely shocked at my exhausted, mentally and physically drained answer.
“Ehh?! Why!! If you feel awkward confessing to Sister Franc again, then at least for the next wife!!”
“Excuse me, do you actually want to get hit?”
No matter how common polygamy was in this world, we had just shared a proposal five minutes ago. There were things you should say and things you shouldn’t! When I glared at them with that thought in mind, the two Romania natives just blinked.
“Huh? Why are you looking at us like that?”
“If someone has Nord’s level of ability… isn’t it fine?”
Is this shit for real? I never expected a culture gap to hit me here. The back of my head felt numb.
Aaah, that’s right. Dana had mentioned it before. In Romania, there were cases where wives would assassinate each other to bring in a slave husband under a polyandrous system.
Still, hearing it come from the mouths of people close to me was quite shocking. Maybe for Larilura and Tirsi, who were from Romania, such thinking was completely normal. Both of them had spent their childhoods in close contact with Romanian nobles who had multiple wives or husbands.
Wait, are all the neighboring countries like this except Germania?
Romania. Britannia. The Ulster tribes. Azteca. Even far away in Kitai and Sumeria. From what I knew, every country except Germania—which worshipped virgin and virgin-worshipping culture—was like this.
Was this a cultural difference? My head was starting to hurt.
“Ah, I don’t care about any of that. We’re leaving now.”
Fuck it, whatever. What did other people’s thoughts matter? That kind of thing had absolutely nothing to do with me. Somehow the number of women around me had increased, but I had no plans for now. Once Franc and I officially became husband and wife, the slave owners who used to throw flirty glances at me like Edlyn would disappear.
I picked Franc up in my arms and said,
“Tirsi? Don’t come find us until at least tomorrow afternoon. Larilura, when you get back, don’t come say hello to us. Just wash up and go to bed early.”
“Huh? Okaaay~.”
“……Ah.”
Tirsi’s face turned bright red as she seemed to realize why I had told her not to come too soon. Larilura still looked clueless.
I don’t care. Later is later. Tonight we’re staying up all night.
Since our Franc had awakened her mana, she should last longer than before. Even if I had to use runes, tonight would be an eight-hour full course of F (Francesca). I would show her a 140% overrun from Jujicona.
“We’re going first. Send my regards to the others.”
And so I carried Franc back to the inn like a princess. The way she wrapped her arms around my neck looking happier than anyone in the world was incredibly adorable. The cost of the dress Franc was wearing? I’d just pay for the damages, no big deal.
That night.
After ejaculating twenty times over eight hours, the source of my seemingly infinite stamina was finally revealed.
“Holy shit. Every time I cum, my mana decreases.”
I woke up in bed at 1 p.m. the next day, checked my mana pool, and let out a hollow laugh.
When my physical stamina reaches its limit, it replenishes itself by consuming mana.
Around ten shots could be covered by my balls’ natural virility, but beyond that it felt like mana was being converted into stamina. In other words, as long as I didn’t hold back and just let it all out whenever I felt like it, my dick could keep going for days and nights of sex.
If I had to give it a name, maybe Semen Creation magic?
What the fuck, it’s not like I have a magical ballsack or something.
It was an incredibly shocking truth. At this point, even if someone called me a walking semen dispenser, I’d have a hard time arguing! From now on, my balls would be classified as a magic item. No one could protest if I put them in the accessory slot of my equipment window.
How long has it been since I was this surprised?
Even when I realized in the Flash 365 soccer player raising game that the bug that increased money was actually creating debt, I wasn’t this horrified.
“Fuuu…….”
Thanks to that, Franc—who had bravely accepted my dick after awakening her mana—was now passed out from the eight-hour all-night sex session. For reference, Franc had reached her limit even after receiving a rune magic debuff past the four-hour mark. The expression on her face when I pulled out a potion after she started complaining about the pain would probably stay burned into my hippocampus for the rest of my life. It was a shame there were no cameras here.
Anyway, she’s just too cute.
─Squish, squish.
I massaged Franc’s soft buttocks while getting dressed. Then I wiped her body clean, covered her with the blanket, and left the room. The scratch marks Franc had left on my back with her nails stung a little. It was a side effect of our wife awakening her mana.
“Haaaaam…… Oh, Dorka. You got any smoked meat left?”
When I went down to the first floor and asked, Dorka paused while chewing bread and answered.
“You little shit. If you need meat, just go to the butcher’s yourself. Stop nibbling at our inventory.”
“Hehe. Buying in bulk like you guys is cheaper. If I buy from you it’s perfect value for money.”
“Brat. I’ll sell it to you at cost since you asked nicely. How much?”
“Two coppers’ worth. Today I’m planning to gather with Franc and the rest of our friends to learn some magic.”
I intended to teach Tirsi Lightning Arrow, while Franc would learn Summon Golem. As for Larilura? She was completely absorbed in upgrading Ringring No. 3. Apparently the golem core had been more helpful than expected.
“Here, catch.”
─Whoosh!
I caught the flying smoked meat. I’d have this for brunch and use the rest to make sandwiches. Cooking together with Franc would be fun too.
“Oh, right. Another letter came for you. It’s from the Sargadis Archeology Research Institute or something?”
“……Wait, what?”
An archeology research institute? That was literally what it said. An archeology research institute stationed in the city by the archeology community! Some were affiliated with universities, others directly operated by the academic world. The common point was that they were organizations perfectly designed to drive poor field workers into unemployment! Individual play had its limits against groups that moved with official budgets.
It was like having an E-mart open right next to your neighborhood corner store.
“They’re building an archeology research institute in Sargadis?”
I muttered in a daze. Until yesterday, there had been no archeology research institute in Sargadis. One of the reasons I had chosen this place as my home base was precisely because there wasn’t one. I had thought that with the low quality of ruins and lack of competitors, it would be the perfect environment for a field worker like me to operate. That’s why I picked a place without an institute.
Damn it.
Yet the invitation Dorka handed me bore the official seal of the director of the Sargadis Archeology Research Institute. It was 100% real. Even pinching my cheek didn’t wake me up, so it wasn’t a dream either.
Holy shit. I suddenly missed Veronica so much.
……Why?
Sargadis wasn’t an attractive land for scholars above the level of archeology doctorates. We archeologists were as much treasure hunters as we were scholars. Why on earth would they build an archeology research institute in a rural backwater far from any ancient civilizations?
……Is it because of the Beast Regression ruins?
It was about time the materials I had sent were starting to arrive. When I wrote my thesis, hadn’t I rushed to finish it before other research teams got assigned?! Could it be related to that?
─Riiip!
Frowning, I tore open the letter and read its contents. Dorka watched me with a bored expression and asked,
“Judging by your face, I guess there’s no need to prepare lunch. What does it say?”
“……The director, who flew here first as a special-class investigator, says she wants to meet the adventurer who played an active role in subjugating the dark mage.”
It seemed she didn’t know I was an archeologist. Or maybe she was hiding that she knew. The letter, written in neat handwriting that looked almost traced, said this:
We would like to request the cooperation of the adventurer who defeated him in the investigation of the ruins connected to the aforementioned dark mage.
I headed to the archeology research institute alone for now. My schedule for newlywed life with Franc had been pushed back quite a bit, but it couldn’t be helped.
Both the traces of that dark mage bastard and the appearance of an archeology research institute are matters that can’t be postponed.
When dealing with an incident that could grow into something big, the initial response was the most important. I judged that now was the time to move in order to properly wrap up the previous incident and secure a solid path forward.
──And so, when I arrived at the place labeled ‘Temporary Branch of the Archeology Research Institute.’
The moment I saw the person who was supposedly the director, my eyes widened and I lost the ability to speak.
“Puhuhu. Kid, you look even more handsome than the last time I saw you.”
The beautiful woman wearing the archeology doctorate badge and sitting as the research institute director spoke in an amused tone and laughed brightly.
The director, sitting with her legs crossed on an elegant chair inside the still-under-construction office, greeted me cheerfully.
“Have you been well? It’s been so damn long, you runaway master’s-degree bastard.”
……Wait, why the hell is Dana here?
The sudden, imagination-transcending entry left me standing there with my mouth hanging open, muttering blankly.
“D-Dana?”
The dark-circle archeologist with the charming purple frizzy hair. It was my former research colleague, Dana Berbeia.