Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Never to Return Again (3)
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'What was taking so long...'
I told her to interlock her fingers, but why was she hesitating like that?
I clearly said to grasp her own hands together...
The direction the Hero's hand reached for was none other than my own hand.
Not long after I asked the Hero to do it, a strange sensation crept into my hand.
It tickled the back of my hand, but since I was moving around, I figured I'd just brushed against something by mistake.
But the tickling sensation gradually spread.
And then something warm slipped into the gaps between my fingers.
Slowly, our fingers intertwined, and the area where our hands touched grew larger.
Soft skin here and there dotted with calluses.
Marks that proved she was a soldier.
In the end...
- Squeeze...
Now, the Hero's right hand and my left were fully interlocked.
As if we were lovers.
Our hands were bound tightly together.
"...Hero?"
"...Yes?"
"Your own hands, not mine."
"......"
The Hero fell silent.
Her grip tightened on our interlocked hands.
As if she wouldn't allow even a single layer of air between them.
And at the same time, the Hero's face flushed bright red.
It stood out even more against her blue hair.
The Hero's eyelids trembled.
Her gaze flicked to our interlocked hands, then back to my face.
The eyes that had been soft moments ago narrowed viciously again.
The only difference was the tears welling up in them.
A grinding sound came nonstop from her mouth.
Her expression screamed betrayal.
'Who in the world interprets "interlock fingers" like this?'
Killing intent poured from the Hero's eyes.
Before the body search, she'd been playing detective, piecing things together.
I didn't know her thought process, but she suddenly turned quirky in moments like this.
"...You tricked me."
"Pardon?"
What on earth had I tricked her about?
"Finger-locking... It's common sense to do it with a friend, right?"
"What are you..."
Since when did medieval common sense change?
Of course, when someone says interlock fingers, you do it with your own hands.
I'd inspected countless people, but not one had ever tried to interlock with my hand.
Her fingers wriggled.
"Who on earth taught you that nonsense? There's no such common sense in the world."
"Well, En..."
At that moment, the Hero's words cut off abruptly.
Was she about to say Envy?
Her lips twitched, then she bit her lower lip hard with her upper teeth.
"......"
"......"
The air froze in an instant.
The Hero's face, which had been flushed red moments ago, cooled to ice.
- Grip...!
Whether unconscious or not, the strength in our clasped hands grew.
As if refusing even the slightest gap of air.
It didn't hurt.
Just a firm pressure on my hand.
Thanks to the Hand of Abstinence, or maybe she was holding back... At this point, I could shake it off easily with my own strength.
But... for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to let go.
Her eyes looked ready to burst into tears at the slightest wrong word.
"Ha... I'm sorry."
Not long after, the Hero let out a small sigh.
"I must have misunderstood. It's been so long since I felt this... I just wanted to try it once."
"......"
"Back in the day, Envy and I used to walk around holding hands like this."
The Hero spoke with a dejected, teary expression.
Then she loosened her grip, trying to pull away.
- Grip...!
So I matched her release by tightening my own grip again.
To keep her from letting go.
"...Eh?"
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Truth be told, I hadn't planned on this either.
But...
'I didn't expect a simple finger-lock to dredge up stories of her dead friend...'
To bring that up and then try to pull away—what kind of villain was she painting me as?
Whatever. Once this was over, we wouldn't see each other again anyway.
This much didn't matter.
Though doing the oral search one-handed would be a hassle.
"No, I'm sorry. As an uneducated slave, I didn't know the common sense."
"......"
To others, I was a diligent Gatekeeper, but to her, I was just a slave with shallow knowledge.
This seemed the right way to play it.
"If it's uncomfortable, shall I let go?"
"......"
The Hero wriggled her fingers silently.
After a long pause, she gripped my hand tightly.
Our gazes met.
Clasped hands and locked eyes.
It felt almost like we were lovers.
To shake off the reverie, I resumed observing her face from earlier.
Starting with her delicately gathered features and flushed cheeks.
Then down to the pink lips that would soon undergo inspection.
How long did we stare at each other, hands clasped?
Sweat beaded between our palms.
I'd lost track of time.
The atmosphere had grown a bit awkward.
"Gatekeeper..."
"Yes."
"...You said oral search, right?"
"Yes."
Finally ready, the Hero opened her mouth.
"Roughly... how does it go?"
"First, a visual check of the mouth. Then, inserting a finger..."
I explained the entire process to the Hero without omission.
She would've gotten the official notice recently anyway.
"S-So... you insert it."
"Shall we start now?"
"...Yes."
Maybe thanks to my thorough explanation, she readily agreed to continue.
For now, the goal was to inspect her mouth, finish the front body check, then trigger recalculation to fill her pleasure to 100.
What came after... I'd figure it out.
Unlocking new effects of the Eye of Lust.
Another hidden trait visible only through the Eye of Lust.
Plenty of possibilities.
Or shame might make it vanish for good.
Her face never got old, but for both our sakes, it was time to stop staring.
She had to protect the West, and I needed liberation from slavery.
"Alright, visual inspection first."
"......"
The Hero parted her lips silently.
One hand still clasped, I bent my knees slightly to peer into her mouth.
'Surprisingly, no smell...'
Medieval folk lacked hygiene.
Lulu's breath just smelled like nuts and acorns.
Most women had foul mouth odors.
But the Hero's mouth surprisingly had none.
If anything, a faint sweet scent wafted out.
I visually checked every inch of her mouth.
Neatly aligned teeth and the cute tongue nestled within.
And her endlessly captivating pink lips.
With that done, I straightened my knees for the next step.
"We can't do the tactile search with fingers locked, so mind letting go for a bit?"
"......"
I tried to release for the next phase.
"Hero...?"
"......"
Our hands stayed firmly bound.
"...Do we really need hands for this?"
"Pardon?"
What was this now?
How else do you do a tactile search without hands?
"Gatekeeper... I'm still anxious. Answer this, and I'll cooperate fully."
"...Sure."
"You really did nothing with the Saintess?"
"Yes."
But what did this have to do with the search?
Sudden question, but I answered honestly anyway.
The Hero turned her head, gazing intently at the cradle.
"You're really just blood donors to each other?"
"Yes. I'm completely innocent. It was all for the Empire and the West."
We'd slept together in the cradle, but that was just her sucking blood.
In a way, I was innocent.
Not for the Empire or West, though.
"I see..."
She kept staring at the cradle, then her lips twitched upward.
- Soon, huh...
"Pardon?"
Her faint mutter didn't carry well.
Then a foreign weight settled on my shoulder, drawing my gaze.
Somehow, her other hand had crept onto my shoulder.
When did that happen?
"Hey, Hero... Could you move these hands..."
As I turned to tell her again...
My hand and shoulder were yanked.
And.
- Smack.
Something soft touched my lips.
"Mmgh...!"
A sweet scent teased my nose.
And plush, yielding sensation on my lips.
The intense stimulus made my eyes fly wide.
'Wha...?'
A kiss. Or lip-lock.
Even as she kissed, the Hero eyed the cradle.
Avoiding my gaze? Some ulterior motive?
No idea.
But the important part.
'My first kiss...! I'd been saving it.'
No mood, no romance—just a dry peck.
With a psycho Hero I didn't even love. It stung.
Though the air was a tad steamy.
"Hoo..."
The Hero panted through the kiss.
Not long after...
"Pha...!"
"Haa..."
Her lips parted.
We both gasped for air the moment we separated.
Our eyes met simultaneously.
'What the hell is happening?'
Her sudden move short-circuited my brain.
"Hnn... Not as hot as when our hands touched..."
"Hero? Why..."
Panting, she smirked triumphantly.
"You seem clueless, Gatekeeper."
"Pardon?"
"Oral inspections are done with the mouth."
"......"
What nonsense was this...?
Mouth-based inspections existed?
Never heard of it, even from my past life.
If they did, I'd have been arrested ages ago.
"...Who told you that?"
"You're an uneducated slave. Listen to me."
"......"
I was speechless.
Utter bullshit logic.
'Didn't expect her to use my own words against me like this.'
But they were my words from moments ago.
She'd thrown them back, and I had no retort.
Because I'd admitted it.
"...Should've watched your words."
Even now, she clung to my hand tightly.
As if we hadn't even started.
"Exactly, Gatekeeper."
Her eyes curved into rare crescent moons.
"Haa... Shall we continue? The inspection..."
The Hero licked her lips... then pressed them to mine again.
Tasting her lips once more, they were just as sweet.