Carrying, Dwelling, and Being Born (9)
I exchanged a manly goodbye with the motel owner and stepped outside.
Maybe it was because Veronica looked like she’d been thoroughly nourished, her skin practically glowing. Or maybe the room’s soundproofing had been shit all along. The owner kept shooting me these subtly impressed glances, and my macho pride soared straight through the roof.
“Want to grab some food?”
“No need. I’m already quite full.”
Veronica said, gently stroking her belly. Her stomach was visibly swollen, just enough to be noticeable. If she sat there with that prim expression, every old lady passing by would probably ask how many months along she was.
‘But why the hell did you ask if I wanted to eat when you’re making me this horny?’
Veronica, who loved eating more than anything, had skipped both breakfast and lunch just to suck me off until she left? Wasn’t that basically her screaming, “Master’s cock tastes way better than any fancy feast!”?
My dick was doing the popcorn dance inside my pants. It was getting hard to walk.
“It is a little disappointing, though. I was rather curious about the cuisine of this city.”
“Then who told you to drink it all down?”
“……Shut up. I was in a trance. It couldn’t be helped.”
“Ah, if you were in heat, then yeah, it couldn’t be helped.”
“H-Heat…?! Watch your language a little more, you idiot!”
─Smack!
She lowered her voice and delivered a red-faced back-smack. So this was the taste of a wife’s hand? Experiencing the daily life of a married man I’d only heard about filled me with boundless emotion.
“Huu…… Anyway, today is your fault. I admit I gave in to temptation, but my skin is still so sensitive.”
Apparently the sensation of serving me with her mouth until she came was still vivid. Veronica shuddered, stroking her forearms with clear discomfort.
I grinned and snapped my fingers beside her ear.
─Snap!
“Hyaaat…♡?!”
Veronica trembled from the spinal reflex and clutched her lower belly. But of course, none of the stored pleasure remained. I’d already dispelled all the magic, so there wasn’t even a tattoo-like mark left on her abdomen.
“……Kuh!!”
She shook violently…!!
In an instant, Veronica’s face crumpled into a tearful mess. She glared at me, trembling with rage. It was so rare to see her stare at me like this that I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You were squealing and enjoying yourself the whole time, and now you’re acting all coy.”
─Press. Press♡
“Ughk…♡”
It happened to be a quiet alley with almost no people around, so I wrapped an arm around Veronica’s waist and subtly pressed on her lower belly, right where her womb was. Even that alone made a perverted sound slip from her lips.
─Twitch. Twitch♡
With tears welling in her eyes, Veronica stood knock-kneed, unable to even walk properly. After three hours of nonstop infinite orgasms and plenty of rest, she was still in this state.
I rubbed my fingers against her lower belly and said,
“You said you wanted to cater to my tastes, right? I’ll do it for you again later. It’s a win-win. We both enjoy it.”
“……Do as you please.”
Veronica spat coldly and turned her head away. But every time I pressed on her womb, her whole body would shiver violently in response. Even that tsundere attitude was incredibly adorable.
I draped an arm around her shoulders and we returned together in a warm, affectionate mood.
Two more days passed since our date.
During that time, I beat the crap out of the low-ranking knights the commander had called in for regular training, using them as practice dummies for my techniques. I also had long discussions about martial arts with the knight commander in the training grounds.
The discussions progressed incredibly slowly. Probably because both of us had things we wanted to hide. Mostly, the commander would nod at my assessments, or I would learn knowledge from him that I hadn’t known before.
But even those sluggish days couldn’t last forever.
I had received sufficient hospitality and even secured a long-term sponsor. There was no longer any reason for our family to stay at the main house of the Armaals family.
I judged that I would need more solid evidence if I wanted to tell the family head about the Compilation Battalion, so I planned to return to Britannia for the time being and resume my activities.
〈Y-You’re leaving?〉
When I went to the training grounds and told him, the knight commander forgot his dignity and looked visibly flustered. It was understandable. We had only just agreed to polish our skills together, and neither of us had gained anything substantial yet. To suddenly up and leave?
‘This is the critical moment.’
I deliberately put on a genuinely regretful expression and said,
〈Yes. But it seems a noble I’m close with in Britannia has confirmed Tirsi’s safety. They’re urgently requesting our return, so unfortunately, it looks like we must part ways.〉
〈I… I see.〉
Once I used the noble excuse, even the knight commander was at a loss for words. When I asked the lower knights about it, it turned out he was indeed from a noble family, though an impoverished one. Apparently he understood the feelings of commoners dealing with nobles quite well.
‘So I need to reduce the risk of being found out even further and make him feel impatient.’
I feigned sorrow while my eyes gleamed.
In our meeting, I had gained almost nothing. I had come somewhat prepared today, but honestly, until yesterday I had been too busy trying not to reveal my true skill level. I had even come to the training grounds with the same mindset I used to have when showing up at the lab.
I knew it was greedy to expect results after only two days, but still.
‘From what I can see, this guy is also starving for growth. If I make him feel this regretful, he’ll probably try to take some kind of action.’
When a knight has free time, it means the person he protects is at peace. Of course, that’s a good thing. But for a warrior to grow while only doing peaceful escort duty without any worthy sparring partners or rivals to fight with all his strength? That was impossible.
There was no way the knight commander of such a great family could just grab a passing master and ask, “Hey, are you really that good at fighting?” There were probably warriors the family head could sponsor, but they wouldn’t have much free time either.
‘If he thinks he might miss this opportunity, the chances that he’ll make the first move increase.’
Of course, it was true that Lady Hennessy had sent a letter. Maybe because I had let Tirsi write a few lines in it. Her handwriting was so full of joy that I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it.
〈……In that case, Sir Nord.〉
It was right when I was thinking about the young lady’s letter.
After careful deliberation, the knight commander finally spoke. I instinctively knew he had taken the bait.
〈This is presumptuous of me, but… before you leave, would you be willing to have a match with me?〉
Got him!
I held my breath and secretly laughed. After two whole days of not even mentioning the word “sparring,” he was the one who brought it up first.
My original goal had been to see his swordsmanship with my own eyes. At this point, I could say I had achieved my objective.
〈Of course. Shall we begin right away?〉
I agreed as quickly as roasting beans in a lightning flash.
There was a chance my skills would be exposed as not quite reaching Mithril rank, but that was something I could handle by making a few excuses and being careful during the fight. Missing an opportunity like this would be far more regrettable.
〈Thank you! Rigal! Bring training spears and swords!〉
〈Yes!〉
When I answered immediately, the knight commander happily ordered a lower knight to fetch the weapons.
I watched the lower knight run off and quietly laid down some groundwork as insurance.
〈Commander. There are a few things I’d like to say in advance.〉
〈Yes. We should set the conditions for the spar. Avoid vital points, no Aura. Think of it as a friendly match.〉
Things were moving fast. I liked that.
I raised a finger to my lips.
〈Also, I’m very sorry, but when I concentrate, I tend to speak less or sometimes not at all. My Romanian isn’t perfect, so I might blurt out some nonsense occasionally.〉
If anyone who had seen me fight before was here, they’d probably gape and call bullshit. When had I ever fought with my mouth shut? I considered psychological warfare and provocation to be part of combat. Imposing a self-penalty against a stronger opponent was basically suicide.
‘But if I want to use Odin’s Eye, I absolutely need to set this groundwork first.’
What if the commander asked me something and I ignored him to his face? Or what if my tongue accidentally dropped a bomb like “your wife is on sale right now”? That would be a disaster. This time, I planned to shut up completely and just fight.
Besides, I couldn’t go around provoking someone I needed to build a good relationship with.
〈Ah, of course that’s fine. You speak so fluently that I sometimes forget you’re a foreigner, Sir Nord.〉
It wasn’t a difficult request, so he gladly accepted.
─Clack!
After waiting a moment, the knight the commander had sent came running back with the training weapons.
We took appropriate distances in the sparring area and assumed our stances. But both of us couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
The lower knight who had been sent on the errand hadn’t just brought weapons. He had brought spectators too.
〈……………….〉
The knights had surrounded the sparring ground like they were besieging it, watching the match with great interest. There were even two familiar faces.
What about Primor’s escort? Why are you here? Were you fired from escort duty for helping her run away? If so, my deepest condolences.
〈If they’re bothering you, shall I send them away?〉
The knight commander asked. It was a reasonable request. Revealing the strengths and weaknesses of my spearmanship in front of this many warriors wouldn’t lead to anything good.
〈……No, there’s no need.〉
I thought for a moment, then shook my head.
〈This swordsmanship originates from all of you, after all.〉
With those words, I decided to reveal the techniques I had prepared to show him today during this match. Even if my combat skills showed some flaws, I would make them think, “It’s acceptable to overlook that,” by displaying a certain level of genius.
I raised my index finger and carved a rune onto the wooden spear.
─Whiririric!
The rune character ᛒ (Berkanan) transformed the training spear into a single wooden sword.