Five Desires and Seven Emotions (3)

Heh heh heh.

In the end, Esmeralda wouldn't have been able to resist the book's temptation. Irina was certain her plan was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clicking into place like the teeth of well-oiled gears as she cracked one eye open.

"Ugh... th-that's..."

When she opened her eyes, there was Esmeralda, exactly as predicted — her face flushed scarlet as she devoured the book page after page. Irina smirked and crept toward her, inch by excruciating inch. Esmeralda was so absorbed that she didn't even notice Irina approaching.

"......"

The very moment Irina, having crept close enough, reached out her hand with the gleeful intention of startling her—

Wait. She's this focused? What on earth is in that thing?

Even with Irina's hand hovering mere inches from her face, Esmeralda couldn't tear her eyes from the pages. Considering the senses of the Hero, she should have been caught ages ago. There was no explanation for it.

"......"

So Irina simply kept creeping closer, and this time slowly leaned her head in beside Esmeralda's shoulder. And then a fair stretch of time passed.

"Aaah, h-how can anyone— Hol-, Heavenly God above... This is blasphemy. This is outright blasphemy. How could anyone commit such a depraved..."

"People do... that? Wha— no, wait, that's actually possible...?"

And so the two of them finished the book, cover to cover.

Jim was still driving the carriage, gazing up at the warm sunlight. The two women sitting in the cargo compartment behind him had not exchanged a single word.

Not Esmeralda, who had sworn she wouldn't fall for Irina's scheme. Not Irina, who had planned to tease Esmeralda to her heart's content. Neither of them could say a thing to the other.

It was simply too awkward to look each other in the face.

Jim... all this time, he was genuinely holding himself back when he looked at me.

Esmeralda understood Jim now. That wasn't to say she approved of his daily routine of sexual harassment, mind you.

Ah... th-that... how could anyone... what am I supposed to do about this...

And Irina agonized. The book had been a gift from Milia to Jim — which meant, in other words, that the two of them were on terms where they exchanged books like this. Irina had no choice but to raise her guard against Milia to an entirely new level.

The woman she'd written off as clumsy, dim-witted, and socially inept had been sitting in the most dangerous position all along.

That lecherous woman and those enormous breasts of hers...

Once everything was over and the time came to claim Jim for herself, that woman would be the obstacle in her path. But Milia was stronger than Irina. Unlike Irina, her disciple's master in name only, Milia was practically a strategic weapon specialized in pure firepower. There was no winning against her by force.

And as for influence and political power — it was hard to imagine the current Heavenly God Order surpassing the Magic Tower. Yes. She was falling behind.

"...Sir Jim?"

So what was she to do? How could she secure the upper hand against a woman whose depravity had sunk from her mind all the way into her chest?

Frankly, she considered herself the more attractive of the two. She was a bit behind in the chest department, but hardly flat. She trailed in power and authority, sure, but her refinement and character were flawless.

Which left exactly one option.

"...Shall we test this out?"

The knowledge of how to seduce a man.

"Irina, what are you saying? Have you finally lost your mind? No, I already knew you were crazy, but..."

"You are obligated to cooperate with me, Sir Hero, for the sake of our contractual relationship."

"I never signed a contract with you..."

"You agreed to give me Jim."

"I said I'd think about it."

"So it's a no, then?"

"Yep."

"Then there's nothing to be done."

Irina gave a small nod. It wasn't a nod of acceptance or resignation. It simply meant she was going to force the issue.

Light began to gather around her. She poured physical force into her divine power, weaving it into long, supple cords. Though made of holy energy, those ropes writhed in a distinctly unsettling way, and in an instant they bound Esmeralda's arms and legs where she sat, the Hero watching Irina with an expression of pure contempt.

Esmeralda, who had been idly wondering what the woman intended to do, finally turned her gaze back toward the book she'd stashed away and nailed into a corner as if sealed far from her sight.

And she understood. She understood exactly what Irina was planning to test on her right now.

"Um... if you're going to do that sort of thing, you should be doing it to yourself, not me..."

"To maintain my mental fortitude, I must remain composed at all times."

"HYAH?!"

The writhing tentacles soon began crawling over Esmeralda's body, exploring every curve. It didn't feel good. It was simply creepy and deeply unpleasant.

But considering how the nun in the book had delivered much the same monologue at the start, it was painfully obvious what would happen if she let this business go any further.

"Don't make me laugh..."

Esmeralda scoffed. She was a being who had overcome every trial set before her. She was the Hero.

"If you're that curious, then you should be the one testing it on your own body."

In a blink, she mimicked Irina's technique with mana of her own, binding Irina's limbs in exactly the same way.

"My, Sir Hero. Release me."

"You let go first."

The two women smiled sweetly at each other across the space between them. And yet, neither dispelled the ropes binding the other's limbs, nor the tentacles slithering over their bodies.

"Let go."

"You first."

A petty battle of egos.

In practice, they were simply toying with each other's bodies more and more fervently.

"In the first place... nh, you started it... hyah?! You did!"

"I may... hyah?! But I wasn't planning to do anything as lewd as you, Sir Hero... nnh! Hahnn!"

The two of them poured a startling amount of concentration into teasing one another. It never even crossed their minds to simply dissolve the tentacles coiled around their own bodies.

From the dialogue alone, one might have imagined two women squabbling with fists full of each other's hair — but the reality was nothing more than obscene, base conduct. Yes. Offense over defense, as it were.

Gradually their breathing grew ragged and their faces flushed crimson. Spit dribbled shamefully between words, and their moans began to fill the interior of the carriage. For the most chaste Saintess in the world and a Hero who had lived her whole life by nothing but work, the sensation was utterly, overwhelmingly foreign.

Tears welling in their eyes, the two of them still refused to bend their pride. Because backing down and removing the tentacles here would make them look... weak. Or something.

What exactly "looking weak" meant was a question only the two of them could answer — but they were at least taking it very seriously.

"Haah... haah..."

"Nnh, hnngh..."

And then, at the exact moment when they could no longer even bring themselves to speak—

CRASH!

With a tremendous sound, the carriage slammed into a tree and shuddered to a halt.

"Oh, dear."

Only then did the two of them notice Jim, eyes bulging wide as he stared at them from the driver's seat.

"Please, don't mind me. Do carry on."

"Did you sleep well last night, Sir Hero?"

"Ah, yes..."

Esmeralda bowed her head politely to Jim as she came down the inn's stairs and ran into him.

Once again, Jim had not run away. Well, even if he'd tried, he would only have smacked into Irina's barrier and suffered for it — but the fact that he was unharmed meant he hadn't attempted it at all.

Esmeralda tilted her head at the change she'd been seeing in Jim lately.

Yes. This. Exactly this.

What on earth had happened to him? He carried himself like a sage who had glimpsed the fundamental truths of the universe.

Ever since that depraved war with Irina, every time Jim ended up sleeping alone at an inn, he would appear the next morning in exactly this state. Mind you, it never lasted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more than three hours, but wasn't that strange?

Unfortunately, Esmeralda had learned all of her "holy knowledge" from books, so she couldn't begin to guess the reason.

Well, it beats him having dirty thoughts. Honestly, I hope this is all I ever see from him.

Truly and most unfortunately, Esmeralda had no way of knowing that in Jim's mind, she had long since been smeared head to toe in every manner of sexual depravity imaginable.

Had she known, how would she have reacted? Well, whatever she did, the sexual harassment directed at her would never have stopped.

Though with Irina around, at least half of that gaze was diverted elsewhere. Small mercies.

Yep, this guy's definitely changed.

More precisely, his lust had increased. And his intelligence had declined.

Only one suspect came to mind: that mysterious trait Jim possessed. She still regretted fainting that day before she could see the true extent of that power.

Honestly, I doubt there's any connection, though.

Jim's appearance back then — rising even while mortally wounded — had carried a certain transcendent air.

Jim is the Heavenly God. Yes. His memories are surely muddled because of that filthy demon blood he carries now...

Irina's nonsense suddenly flickered through her mind. At the time, she'd assumed Irina had simply broken down completely. These days, though, she found herself wondering too.

Not that she believed Jim was the Heavenly God. It was more the thought that he might be something similar — a being of genuinely, literally special lineage.

...The Demon King's illegitimate child?

She couldn't honestly deny it was the most plausible hypothesis. A Lieutenant General had tried to rescue him, and a Legion Commander had come in person to take his head. She herself had been on the verge of reaching the same conclusion as a certain aide she knew of.

But if that's true, the half-blood part still bothers me.

Still, she was different from that aide. A little smarter than Lilith, at least.

Granted, if it ever came to a contest of strategy, Esmeralda would probably get the army she commanded slaughtered. They simply excelled at different things.

If I consult Irina... ah, right, that lunatic keeps insisting he's the Heavenly God. Ugh.

No conclusion was coming. Esmeralda ultimately had no choice but to shelve the question and stop thinking.

"Good morning, everyone."

"Irina. Did you sleep well last night?"

"Of course. Someone so kindly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠locked the door from the outside so I'd sleep deeply, and I truly did sleep like the dead."

"How wonderful. It was worth all the effort of hammering quietly so as not to wake you."

Esmeralda had devoted herself, night and day, to preventing Jim's escape. This party had to stay together. That was why she'd thrown everything into stopping him.

And the result of all that effort? Now the other one wanted to run away too.

Worse, she intended to run away after kidnapping the first would-be escapee.

What in the actual hell is going on? Every time she solved one problem, a bigger one came bounding back in.

She knew the reason, of course. Irina had judged that kidnapping the Heavenly God (self-proclaimed) and fleeing beat the alternative of capturing the Demon King.

Esmeralda was suffering badly at the hands of a completely unhinged Irina.

And unlike Jim, that woman actually has a functioning brain.

There was no room for carelessness. That saccharine smile she was wearing right now was nothing but unsettling.

She could not allow Irina to abscond with Jim. Beyond the loss of fighting power, Milia would go completely berserk. That was precisely why Esmeralda had decided to go collect Milia herself instead of waiting for her to arrive as she normally would.

I have to keep the balance.

Two women harboring feelings for Jim. She had to checkmate both of them at once.

It would be even better if Jim agonized over which one to choose — though of course she'd have to sabotage him so he couldn't actually pick either.

Wow, so much to do! This is great! I'll never be bored again!

For someone who, mere days ago, had found the carriage journey unbearably dull, Esmeralda couldn't have been more delighted at the prospect of walking a tightrope over death itself from here on out.

As if she wished she could behead the Demon King that very instant, she secretly burned with fighting spirit.

"Ah, Lady Saintess, please take this. Sir Hero, you as well."

While Esmeralda was making quiet, tearful faces at the future ahead of her, Jim handed fur-lined coats to both of them.

The domain of the Glacies Magic Tower was bone-chillingly cold — fitting, perhaps, for a place devoted to its particular fields of study. Even in the heat of summer, the air around the Glacies Magic Tower stayed crisp and cool.

And in winter, it was far crueler still.

"Oh, thank you, Jim."

Autumn had settled in, which meant the weather here was already no different from deep winter anywhere else. If he'd planned ahead with all this in mind, his preparation was impressive.

And the thoughtfulness was nice, too.

Well, as a porter, he passes.

Love him or hate him, Jim never cut corners in his work. It would have been nice if he'd taken his own life half as seriously.

Since he couldn't — since he wouldn't — that was why Esmeralda found him so exasperating. If he'd acted as diligently as he was meticulous in ordinary matters, if he'd made fewer reckless blunders... how much better would things be for both of them?

"Ah, I arranged for breakfast earlier, so it should be out shortly. Since it's morning, I asked for a simple warm soup."

"Oooh..."

Esmeralda marveled at Jim's thorough preparation. She had thought of him, until now, as a demon spy and a supplement for her party members' mental health at best — so this consideration struck her as newly, strangely touching.

And the reason she was only realizing this now was almost certainly Irina, who was at that very moment staring at Jim with honey practically dripping from her eyes.

No, wait. That's not honey. She's actively casting Brainwashing.

She'd wondered why the woman's eyes were sparkling so unusually — she was casting Brainwashing. Esmeralda quietly wedged herself between the two of them to interrupt. That much was sufficient.

And so began another day of Esmeralda's anxiety-riddled existence.

Except...

"Jim."

"Yes, Sir Hero?"

"Isn't this... a bit much?"

"Is it? Doesn't this seem normal to you?"

Esmeralda gaped at the sheer volume of food covering the inn's table. It was a lot. No matter how she looked at it, it was a lot.

Considering what he normally ate, it wouldn't have been strange to conclude that Jim was staging some manner of silent protest. But judging from his expression and his surface thoughts, there was no such sentiment to be found.

He was, quite sincerely, convinced that he could eat every last bite of it.

"Let's eat first. If it's not enough, we can always order more."

"Ah, yes..."

How would it possibly not be enough?

Pressed on by Jim, Esmeralda sat down at the table without a moment to think. She exchanged a glance with Irina, who had likewise taken her seat — but neither of them could make sense of the situation.

"Thank you for the meal."

And so the meal began.

Jim polished off the entire spread that both Esmeralda and Irina had privately agreed was far too much. To watch him, you'd almost think he was obsessed with eating.

After the meal, they took a short rest before setting out once more for the Glacies Magic Tower. They could have departed immediately, of course. But as the porter by default, Jim had to finish his preparations before the two of them could leave.

Which meant — yes — this was, legally speaking, the perfect window of opportunity for the two women to conspire.

"What do you make of it?"

"He was adorable."

"Not that, you lunatic. Come on. Doesn't it strike you as obviously strange?"

"It does, yes."

Esmeralda glared at Irina as she spouted yet more nonsense, then asked in a serious tone:

"Honestly, from that alone I can't tell what the actual problem is. It's not as though I can just blast him with divine power right now and claim I'm curing him."

"Why couldn't you? He's the Heavenly God, isn't he?"

"The Heavenly God has been weakened by the venom of insects at present."

"...I see. So that's the lore now."

"It's not lore. It's the truth."

Esmeralda read something borderline deranged in Irina's eyes and gave a docile nod. Arguing over this topic would accomplish nothing. It would only needlessly provoke her.

"And what about you, Sir Hero? Any theories of your own?"

"A theory... well, there is one thing."

Esmeralda opened up to Irina about Jim's condition. His mysterious unknown trait. And the fact that even the two of them combined would likely struggle to subdue him now.

Irina's expression hardened as she listened, and she asked in return:

"Was there nothing else unusual?"

"......"

"There was, wasn't there?"

Esmeralda hesitated over whether she should actually say it. It was his private life, frankly. Of course, it was a bit rich for Esmeralda — who could peer into that private life without so much as a filter — to raise the objection. She only saw it because she couldn't help it, after all.

"Whatever you tell me, I promise I will not despise Jim. So perhaps you should simply say it?"

"...He seems a bit more... lustful than before."

"Oh my."

Watching Irina smirk — a far cry from her earlier solemn vow — Esmeralda felt a pang of entirely unnecessary guilt toward Jim.

"Hmm, I see. Lust and gluttony together... Then perhaps—"

Irina, as if struck by a sudden thought, walked over to where Jim was preparing the carriage.

"Might we inspect your luggage?"

"Ah, of course."

With Jim's permission granted, Irina circled around him, examining him diligently. Disgusting.

"Mm, no problems here. Would it be all right to check the cargo as well?"

"Ah, yes, go ahead."

"Then excuse me."

As Esmeralda watched this entire shameless display through half-lidded eyes, Irina clambered laboriously up into the carriage and began rummaging through the cargo hold.

"Sir Hero?"

Before long, Irina beckoned to Esmeralda. Esmeralda hopped lightly up onto the carriage as well — and Irina opened one of the countless cargo boxes, showing its contents to her.

"What do you think?"

"It seems like there's more than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there used to be."

"Things Jim has been quietly restocking every time we passed through a village."

"I never paid attention, but now that I look at it, this is..."

Isn't this a lot?

Before Esmeralda could finish the sentence, she turned to look at Irina. Irina met her gaze with an expression graver than any Esmeralda had ever seen on her.

"Sir Hero — are you familiar with the concept of the Five Desires and Seven Emotions?"