32. Hyosung's Thick and Hot Sausage~♥
32. Hyosung's Thick and Hot Sausage~♥
Odd jobs like hauling luggage were nothing special for low-ranked adventurers like me.
Unless you were a Hero, most never even made it to veteran status and ended up stuck as laborers. That was just the way things worked.
If I had to say why it grated on me, it was because we became adventurers to get away from grunt work, but well... entry-level working stiffs who wanted to save money had to do these chores without complaint.
"Alright, good work, everyone! The farm said they'll treat us to a meal, so come on over!"
The one silver lining was that farms like this didn't need to ship their ingredients out, so they were incredibly generous with the local specialties. Honestly, they were slaughtering a whole premium steer on the spot and offering it up. Who in their right mind would turn that down?
"Oh man~ the color on this meat is fantastic! We're eating good today!"
"Hey, Mister Merchant. Would it be alright if we cracked open a cask of beer?"
"Did you louts come here to work or to sightsee?! If you sneak drinks and get caught, I'll report you to the Guild and tank your ratings, so go ahead and try me!"
A little festival had broken out in the village we stopped at on our way to the mission site. Not being able to drink was a shame, but just getting to grill and eat some heavily marbled meat was more than enough to be grateful for. Right as I was thinking that, Marilyn approached me, smoothly presenting something on a plate.
"Here, Hyosung. Please eat."
"Oh, is that a sausage?"
"The lady over there was grilling them, so I brought one over."
The moment I spotted the homemaker cook busy grilling sausages on a grill not far away, I recognized it.
Sausages are relatively labor-intensive, so the supply seemed to be limited on a first-come, first-served basis.
And she went out of her way to grab one and try to feed it to me first.
She could be mischievous and difficult at times, but wasn't she warm-hearted after all?
"Ah, yes. Then I'll gratefully acce—"
-Slip.
But the second I reached out to accept her goodwill, Marilyn pulled her hand back.
The motion of her raising the sausage toward my mouth carried the same teasing, playful intent I'd seen from her many times now.
"Uh, um, Marilyn?"
"Ahh~"
"...No, I mean."
"Aaaahh~"
Marilyn pressed on, urging me to put the sausage in my mouth.
She was smiling, but her unwavering hand made it clear she was absolutely determined to feed me this sausage no matter what.
It was her way of showing affection, so I didn't feel bad about it.
The only issue was that having someone feed me was painfully awkward, and I was extremely conscious of the eyes on us.
"Marilyn, well. People around us are watching, so maybe cut back on the conspicuous— Mmph!"
"Hehe, it's hot, so be careful when you eat it."
She pushed the sausage right into my open mouth.
Contrary to what she said, she must have blown on it to cool it down, because the sausage wasn't as hot as I expected.
That's right. A sausage cooled by her breath was now inside my mouth.
-Gulp!
As I realized that and the sausage slid down without resistance, Marilyn looked up at me and let out a soft chuckle.
"How is it? Is it good?"
"Y-Yes. It's tasty."
"That's a relief. Now then, you should keep eating. Ahh~"
"No, no. I'll just... Mmph."
"Hehe, you look so blissful when you eat. It's lovely to see~"
Eventually, Marilyn finished feeding me the whole sausage and chuckled to herself.
She seemed satisfied that I played along, but I still felt too awkward to just let this slide. This fox of a lady. Every single thing she did was so sly and infuriating. Wasn't she just the worst?
"Then let me just get a taste... Huh?"
"Marilyn."
Let's see how you like it.
I snatched up the sausage she was reaching for, held the stick out, and spoke carefully.
"Ah, ah... Go ahead."
"......"
Marilyn stared at me without a word.
Her reaction was faint, but the fact that she didn't act immediately told me my move had caught her off guard.
That's right. Doing this yourself is embarrassing, isn't it?
I was just thinking that if she refused, I'd use it as an excuse to keep teasing her back. But that thought was fleeting.
"Aah!"
"H-Huh?!"
"Ack, hot!"
She impulsively bit into the sausage, flinched in surprise, and quickly opened her mouth as she recoiled.
"A-Are you okay?"
"Ehehe, I was in such a rush I burned my tongue. I'm sorry. After you were kind enough to offer it."
"No, no. That's..."
Damn it. I'd held it out to give her a taste of her own medicine, but I never expected her to open her mouth so eagerly.
Does this woman not have an ounce of shame?
"...You don't need to rush. Take your time and eat it."
"Okay, then... if I eat it slowly, will you hold it for me for a bit?"
I resigned myself to my fate, thinking I had no choice. She then bent slightly at the waist, swept her bangs aside, and brought her mouth to the sausage. And rather than chomping down like before, she carefully stuck out just her tongue and started licking the surface.
"Hahh, haah..."
Marilyn let out a breath outside her mouth, her tongue flickering precariously as if afraid of getting burned again.
After lapping at the surface, she opened her mouth and enveloped the tip of the sausage with her lips.
Maybe it was still too hot to just bite and swallow?
"Mm, h-mm~"
Marilyn just kept putting the long surface of the sausage in and out of her cheek, repeating the motion over and over.
"...Um."
"Hahh, haah... Mm~♡"
I called out to her because it looked incredibly suggestive, but Marilyn had withdrawn her attention from me and was solely focused on that act.
Repeatedly inserting and withdrawing a thick sausage that was hard even to fit in her small mouth. So persistently that the grease on the surface was being replaced with saliva...
-Drip. Dribble.
Eventually, the grease from the sausage dripped down her lip along with her saliva. Unable to endure any longer, she pulled the sausage out of her mouth and swallowed the pooled liquid with a gulp.
As if entranced by the taste created from the blend of sauce and spices just from sucking on it.
"Pwahh~♥"
She stroked her flushed face with her hand. Then, in an ecstatic voice, she whispered softly.
"It's really good~ Hyosung's thick, hot sausage...♥"
Phrasing.
For the love of god, watch your phrasing.
"It's kind of addictive. I can taste more, right?"
"Ah, yes..."
"Okay, I won't hold back, then..."
Slurp, mm.
Marilyn finished licking the sausage, then repeatedly put it in and out of her mouth.
I probably wasn't the only one who felt stimulated watching that scene.
"Hey, Mister Merchant. Can I go hit the bathroom?"
"Y-yeah, I'll come with."
...Damn it.
See? I knew this wasn't the kind of thing people should be seeing.
***
I don't know if she's self-aware, but objectively speaking, Marilyn is an incredibly attractive woman.
You could tell that just by seeing how every single man who watched her eat that sausage had to cross their legs.
I was no exception. After Marilyn finished the sausage, I had to go to the bathroom and relieve myself before I could calm down.
Last night it couldn't be helped, but this time it was by my own will... Damn it. I really am trash.
"Hyosung, are you feeling alright?"
"Yes, yes. I'm fine."
By the time we boarded the wagon to head toward our destination again, the space had emptied out after dropping off the luggage in the village. But even with that room, my mind was far from at ease.
No matter how confident I was in my stamina, it was ultimately just short of a B-rank level. At best, I had the endurance of a semi-elite laborer, so it wasn't easy to perform physically after taking care of myself multiple times a day.
On top of that, the rough forest path caused wagon sickness and intensified my exhaustion. It was practically a foregone conclusion that I'd start wobbling soon after we got moving.
"...Hehe."
Marilyn giggled at the sight of me, finding something amusing, and then softly reached a hand out toward me.
Was she going to pull another prank?
But whatever it was, I could probably endure it now.
Whether it was her teasing remarks or risqué pranks, I didn't have the mental energy left to be swayed by any of that. I closed my eyes, thinking that, for a moment.
-Rustle.
She pulled me toward her with the hand she placed on my body, then laid only my head down on the floor and began stroking my forehead.
No, now that I felt it more carefully, this wasn't the wagon floor.
There was a layer of cloth, but it was softer and warmer than that...
"If you're going to rest, isn't it better this way?"
Right. She had placed my head on her lap.
She was casually doing something usually reserved for family or lovers, even gently stroking my head.
"...Marilyn."
"I don't do this for just anyone."
Marilyn covered her eyes with her hand as they began tearing up.
I couldn't see her expression, but the tenderness in her voice let me imagine what kind of face she was making in this moment.
"It's because it's you, Hyosung."
Right, she had always been smiling since the first moment I saw her.
And if what she just said was true, it was a smile meant only for me...
"How long has it been since we met?"
But could I really take that at face value?
Building a relationship between people takes that much time, after all.
"Hmm, it's been about a day."
"Yes, barely a day..."
Over the course of just one day.
And without any real opportunity to build a proper bond, could simply being helped out of a crisis really be enough for someone to regard you so specially?
"...Why are you going this far for me?"
Of course, my own feelings toward her were, in many senses, and all of them leaning toward the positive.
But that was purely because I was starved for human warmth.
The people I'd encountered since coming to this world had mostly been those who couldn't accept me or couldn't be trusted.
Even when I met someone who acknowledged me, they were usually beings beyond the realm of human common sense...
"Whatever do you mean?"
"What you're doing right now."
But unlike me, who said anyone would do, she had told me again and again. That her mischievous pranks and bold actions... were not for just anyone. They were kindness offered solely because it was me.
"Honestly, it's even a little scary. Everything you've shown me up until now has been easy for someone like me to misunderstand."
How could I not be suspicious?
What could be the reason for her to treat me, a mere Foreign Worker and not even a Hero, so unreservedly?
"...Yes, I find it quite strange myself."
She answered my question quietly.
Still placing her hand over my eyes, still stroking the head resting on her lap.
"When you're on a journey, people are no different from the leaves you pass along the road."
In a voice softer than the gentle breeze washing over the wagon, she whispered fragments of the journey she had lived.
"No matter how unique or outstanding a person's abilities may be, the impression they leave can never compare to the majestic scenery you gaze down upon from a mountain peak. The more I travel the world, the less I feel from meeting people, and the memories I share with them inevitably fade."
"...I thought you treasured your connections?"
"I do. But there is a limit to the memories and emotions one individual can carry..."
Only the very first time is ever intense.
Any experience becomes familiar the more it piles up, so the awkwardness and novelty vanish, and beyond a certain threshold, it all starts to feel meaningless.
No matter how beautiful a gemstone is, if it falls among a steadily growing pile of pebbles, it's ultimately just another shiny fragment of rock.
"As the value of relationships gradually dimmed for me, I felt that your presence alone remained stubbornly in my mind."
Because she was that kind of person.
Because she had accumulated so much experience that even the most precious and beautiful jewel looked as trivial as a pebble kicked on the roadside.
"As you said, our meeting lasted only a day. It was a trivial encounter, one among countless others... As you said, it held no special feeling whatsoever."
And amid all that, I, whose presence was always noticeable, was seen as exceptionally special.
"...Marilyn."
"But during the time I was apart from you, a memory that should have gradually dimmed instead felt like it kept burning without being extinguished."
Rustle.
The moment the hand covering my eyes was pulled away.
"Even right now, as we're facing each other..."
As that darkness bloomed, what entered my vision was. Her half-lidded eyes, slowly opening after being closed. It was her eyes.
"As if my long journey pales in comparison, I feel a corner of my heart slowly swelling at this very moment of close contact with you."
Glossy amber pupils.
Despite their otherworldly oddity, a loneliness that even they could not conceal was clearly reaching me.
"Can you feel it? My feelings."
Even though the trembling of the hand caressing my cheek had stopped, the flow of blood stirring within it... I felt the force pushing it surge stronger, felt its warmth transmit into me.
"......"
Without a word.
I closed my eyes, as if to turn away from her face, while silently ruminating on that sensation.
The reason... I have a vague idea.
Because even though what I possess is worthless, it's a power that definitively falls outside the common sense of this world.
Even my infamy is permanently imprinted...
This power, which normally harms my ability to live in peace, must apply differently to a woman who wanders the world collecting stories.
"Hyosung, do you know?"
But could I really tell her?
"Why I, who should have just let you pass by, am being drawn to you like this?"
Did I have the right to tell her, with my own lips, that the basis of the affection she had shown me... was actually something artificially created?