Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: EP19. I Don't Like It
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"From that moment on, the Hero threw herself entirely into hunting monsters. She didn't even spare her own body."
The Saintess's eyes welled up with tears as the story came to an end.
Hmm... To sum it up.
That red-haired bitch Mare, the one who sliced off my wrist, cost the Hero her friend too. And from obsessively hunting monsters like a maniac...
She eventually turned into the psychopathic lunatic Hero we see today... That must be the conclusion.
Those skimpy clothes I saw earlier? She bought them on her dead friend's recommendation.
No wonder they seemed too slutty for a Hero.
"She said from then on, she couldn't feel any sensations in her body at all... You saw how she just picked up my arm earlier."
Sure enough, the Hero hadn't changed expression at all.
It wasn't like she was enduring the pain.
It was more like the pain itself didn't register.
"But why are you suddenly telling me all this...?"
"Oh, that..."
The Saintess avoided my gaze and scratched her head.
"The Hero's still obsessed with Mare. So, um..."
The Saintess hunched her shoulders and made a request.
"Could you maybe do for the Hero what you did for me?"
"That might be a bit difficult."
Me touching the Hero's body? Am I insane?
I could still vividly feel that razor-sharp blade of hers grazing my neck.
She might be a close friend tormented by PTSD for years, but to me, she's just a psychopathic nutcase asking if she can be friends with a pile of shit.
"The Hero hasn't been sleeping at all lately either. You owe her one, big bro."
For starters, my ability isn't about putting people to sleep.
And it's not something that activates just from casual touching.
I need to clear up this misunderstanding first.
"My ability isn't really..."
"The Hero left a marking on your glove, right? Do you know how much mana it takes to maintain that?"
"......"
"To keep it active during your shifts, it drains half my mana pool."
The Saintess frowned and scolded me when she saw my reaction.
Who knew that rune on the glove was such a big deal.
Looking at her face, refusing might be tough.
She was starting to look pissed.
"Not to sound petty or anything, but... she didn't even put one on me."
The Saintess seemed particularly salty about that part.
The fact that she'd given it to some random guy instead of her longtime friend.
"Normal Gatekeepers have to just die if demons show up like earlier. You know that, right?"
I knew it all too well.
I would've died for sure if the Hero hadn't shown up just now.
And if the Saintess hadn't been there, I'd have been dead even after the Hero arrived.
I'd lost too much blood.
"Why? Because the Empire figures they can just replace them anyway."
"......"
"Sorry to say it to you, big bro, but that's just how the Empire is."
The Saintess sighed in frustration.
She clearly despised this rotten Empire.
"You asked earlier why I was telling you all this?"
"......Yeah."
"That rune means trust to the Hero."
Trust?
The kind of trust I know?
What do friends and trust even mean to the Hero?
What part of me did she trust enough to give it to me?
Our encounter was a total disaster by any measure.
There were too many things that didn't add up.
"I thought you were some secret boyfriend she was hiding until just now. She hasn't used it even a few times since making it..."
The Saintess tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.
I didn't get it either.
Why would someone like that shove a sword to my throat first thing?
I wish someone would ask her.
"But now it doesn't seem like that's the case either..."
Yeah, I wondered why she was spilling all this so easily.
Turns out there was a reason she was telling a guy she'd met just yesterday.
She must've misunderstood my relationship with the Hero because of that rune.
"So! I've told you all about the Hero like this~ Just do it once."
The Saintess pressed her face close to mine, pleading earnestly.
Now that I noticed, the Saintess had zero sense of personal space.
It was like she didn't even register that she was a Saintess.
"Ha... Alright, fine."
"Then I'll swing by during your shift tomorrow~"
I had no choice but to agree to another Body Search with the Saintess tomorrow.
...
I walked toward the gate, refocusing my goals.
I couldn't stay long in this western region.
Three months at most.
On the third month, I had to handle the key event for escaping slavery.
Then head straight north.
Before that, I needed to solidify my position as Gatekeeper here.
Without getting outed as a slave.
Get it together.
My Life Points were at 2.
Just one more chance.
Luckily, I saved one yesterday, but from now on was the real issue.
If something like yesterday repeats, I'd need 100 Life Points and still come up short.
For starters, that scrawny terrorist bastard from yesterday.
I didn't even interrogate him.
Now that I knew about the rune, maybe I didn't need to...
But he was probably one of Mare's underlings.
Better check if the chance comes up.
"Ha..."
I suppressed a sigh and headed to the gate.
Then I spotted a silhouette lingering in front of it.
"Saintess...?"
"Mm... Took you long enough."
It was the Saintess.
She'd arrived at the gate even earlier than me.
"Hehe. I got here quick."
"But why the cradle...?"
The Saintess grinned and spoke to me.
She was carrying the cradle on her back.
Hauling that heavy thing from morning all the way here—she must be really curious.
Or maybe she came early to nail me down before I could back out.
"You never know. I might suck you dry again."
She had a point.
Without the cradle last time, I'd have ended up a desiccated husk for sure.
"Ah... So you're planning to sleep here?"
"You told me to come here. Gotta sleep here, right?"
The Saintess sleeping at the gate?
What about her actual duties?
"What about the supply base...?"
"It's not a tough day today, so it's fine. I already handed over the bandages I made."
The Saintess waved it off like everything was settled.
Like she was telling me to hurry up and open the damn door.
I unlocked the gate with my key.
"Whoa... You really did a number on it."
The Saintess peered inside and looked shocked.
You could kinda tell from outside, but the gate interior was half-destroyed.
Walls split left and right.
Floor riddled with holes.
Entrance half-smashed.
And various other traces of destruction.
'Looks like the soldiers cleaned up most of the bloodstains.'
The only intact things were the desk and the exit.
At least the two most important ones were fine.
The Saintess stepped inside and set the cradle down by the entrance.
"So, wanna tell me now?"
"......"
How do I even explain this?
Telling her about my ability is too risky for me.
How do you say, "Touch a woman's body and she feels good"?
I'm not a succubus.
"Showing you might be better than explaining."
"Huh?"
"You're inside the gate now, so let's start with the inspection."
I made the excuse that body searches were needed to activate Hand of Abstinence's conditions.
"Ah... That kind of play..."
The Saintess's lips curved into a sly smile.
She seemed to be misunderstanding in a whole different direction.
Please don't look at me with those eyes.
I have no choice here.
"Big bro's into this kind of play, huh?"
"No. It's to recreate last time's situation."
"True, you passed out mid-search last time. Wanna check the Body Search again?"
The Saintess eyed me suspiciously but seemed to accept it.
Perfect excuse.
For her, the inspection itself would act like a trigger.
I could've just put her to sleep barehanded like last time, but I was curious too.
Was it the ability's intensity? Or did the Saintess respond to pleasure itself?
I pulled out my gloves thinking of testing with them this time, but put them back.
Experimenting on the Saintess was too dangerous.
I was curious, but no need to put myself in peril.
After this, better keep distance from both the Saintess and Hero.
Too many entanglements here in the west with them.
The kind you wouldn't see in the game.
In short, unknown territory I didn't know about.
Better steer things quickly toward what I know.
"We'll proceed like last time, Saintess."
"Okay."
The Saintess stood still and replied.
"Then hands on the wall..."
"Nah, I wanna watch how you do it."
The Saintess stared at me with sparkling eyes.
"Start from the front. You're not really doing a proper inspection anyway."
"......"
She wasn't wrong.
Not like this was a real inspection.
"Body Search commencing."
I steeled my nerves and placed my hands on her shoulders like last time.
And then.
- Thud.
"......"
Just like before, the Saintess collapsed to the floor like she'd been hit with a tranquilizer dart.
"Why does this happen?"
I truly couldn't figure it out.
Her pleasure should've spiked, so why sleep?
I opened my status window for the first time in a while.
[Hand of Abstinence] [Irreversible]
[During Body Search, favorability and pleasure increase.]
[????]
No major changes to the ability.
Just a straightforward skill that boosts favorability and pleasure.
The [????] below was a sealed ability with no effect for now.
Not some hidden power.
"Ha... Beats me."
For now, I had to move the Saintess collapsed on the floor.
As if sensing my mood,
She slept soundly with a blissful smile, looking utterly content.
I slipped my hands under both her shoulders, facing her.
The soft flesh of her underarms transmitted through my fingers.
"Hng...!"
"Grrm..."
Just like last time, she purred and wriggled.
I ignored her reactions and lifted her up.
As expected, her small frame was easy to carry.
I dragged her over to the cradle.
"Quick, into the cradle."
To avoid getting bitten like last time, I opened the lid again.
The Saintess in my arms then slithered smoothly into the cradle on her own.
Still an amazing sight no matter how many times.
She curled up sideways in a shrimp-like sleep inside the cradle.
Like a cat nestling into a bed.
"This won't let me close the lid..."
"......"
Her body stuck out, preventing the door from closing.
This could cause issues during inspections later.
I had to close it...
The concern was the same as last time—any dangerous situations?
To straighten her body, I slipped my hands between her thighs and calves.
Pushing through the soft flesh, I grabbed her calf.
"...Grrm..."
The Saintess wriggled, perhaps from my cold hands.
I watched her reaction and extended her leg straight.
Unlike last time when she clung to me, her body straightened easily.
Finally, to get her lying flat instead of sideways, I grabbed her shoulder.
That moment.
The Saintess grabbed my face with both hands and pulled me toward her.
"Wait..."
She yanked my face right up to hers.
So close that the slightest move would make us touch.
Her moist breath warmed my face.
I frantically pushed against the floor to get up, but couldn't escape her grip.
- Sniff... Sniff...
Then her nose twitched like a predator scenting prey.
A wave of uneasy dread hit me.
No way, right? It won't happen.
Then drool trickled from her lips.
She smacked her lips.
I knew it.
Just like last time.
Should've left her alone.
And now inside the cradle, no solution.
"Looks fun."
"I'm about to die and it's fun? ...Huh?"
"Ha... Why's it always a near-death every time I see you. I'll get you out."
It was the Hero.
Perfectly timed again, showing up in my crisis to save me.
What the... This early in the morning, sneaking into the gate without a sound?
Something felt off.
How'd she know I was in danger...
"Right glove."
The Hero said quietly.
Curious, I pulled out the glove. Sure enough, the right one had the same rune as the left.
"In case it got risky like yesterday, I added an extra one just in case."
"......"
"You heard all about the rune from the Saintess, right?"
Ah, so my entire convo with the Saintess was already bugged by the Hero.
Her rune ability—a modern body cam and GPS.
I was already under her surveillance.
"Be grateful. I don't do that for just anyone."
"Thank you..."
No wonder she arrived so fast.
She must've been lurking nearby.
So she knew everything about the Hero's past I heard yesterday too.
"Pretty amazing, that hand of yours."
"......"
"The Saintess sleeping so soundly like this, and even trying to suck blood in her sleep—first time I've seen it."
The Hero poked the Saintess's cheek curiously.
"So... Could you give me a quick inspection too?"
"......"
The Hero's eyes narrowed slyly again.
Ah, this... No way out.
Foxy eyes.
How many times have those eyes screwed me over.
"I'm kinda curious about your ability..."
"I don't like it."
I pulled myself together and cut off the Hero.
If this kept going, I'd end up not just failing to free myself, but becoming the Hero's dog.
"Pardon?"
"I said no."
I tossed the glove at her and said.
I couldn't live like this.