The MILF's Savior

I had barely gotten my clothes back on and hidden myself. I was about to watch from behind a pillar when a quest window materialized right in front of my face.

An emergency quest, of all things. Fail, and I'd be a eunuch.

Come on. No way.

Dinora, who had been looking at me, seemed to steel herself and opened the door.

Creeeak. Thud.

An old man dressed as neatly as a pastor stepped inside. The way he adjusted his glasses with that kindly smile plastered on his face was genuinely disgusting to look at.

"H-huh? P-Pastor? How did you…?"

"Sister Dinora. You borrowed money from our order and still have not repaid it. The Lord is wrathful, you know."

"But I already paid back the principal. You said at the start that settling the principal would be enough."

The pastor smacked his lips, bible in hand. Then he looked at Dinora's chest and smiled. It was a thoroughly repulsive smile.

"As you well know, Sister, borrowing the Lord's money is a solemn matter. And yet you mean to walk away having repaid only the principal? The Lord's love does not stop at so paltry a sum. Heh heh heh."

"Those Who Recite Sins isn't a loan shark operation, is it?"

"And what does that have to do with anything? The Lord bestows His love upon us even now. It would be most unfortunate if you kept resisting, you understand?"

"…I paid back the principal. Please keep your word."

Dinora pleaded with him. So this cult was running a lending racket on the side? What the hell was even going on here.

The pastor kept smacking his lips. Like an idiot. Then he glared at Dinora.

"Talking to you is a waste of time, you fucking bitch. You cock-sucking whore, who the hell do you think you're raising your voice at? Do you have any idea how many more bowls of rice I've eaten than you?!"

"P-please leave…!"

"I'm tasting you before I go today. Those tits of yours look stuffed full of wickedness. Strip, you fucking bitch. I said strip!"

The pastor lunged at Dinora, all pretense gone, ready to force himself on her. Why were pastors always like this? Was it a job requirement that transcended worlds?

Whoosh. Tap-tap!

I slipped behind the pastor just as he reached for Dinora's hair.

Whoosh. Thud! Crack!

A calf kick, then a high kick, and the bastard went down. The fallen pastor glared up at me.

"Ghh— y-you, who the hell are you? You son of a bitch!"

"You with Those Who Recite Sins?"

The pastor trembled at the question.

"You little shit, an adult is asking you a question and you don't answer? You filthy heretic!"

I didn't answer. Answers always came from my fists.

Whoosh. Crunch!

"Gahk…!"

I wrecked his nose until the blood burst out. And then a title appeared.

Oh, now that was nice. I'd been grabbing people from behind so much it must have triggered.

Meanwhile the pastor was writhing around, laying the agony on thick. Typical of these bastards. Voice cranked up to eleven, acting the helpless victim.

"Aigoo, I'm so sorry. Sir, I didn't realize who you were…"

I almost laughed. Sir? God, I hated these types — all bark toward the weak, all grovel toward the strong. Made me want to just kill him.

"You going to answer my question?"

I asked with my fist ready to fly at any second. The pastor put on a greasy smile and dropped to his knees.

"Pardon? Ah, yes! I am a member of Those Who Recite Sins. Haha, still a low-ranking one, of course."

"Yeah, a money-grubbing preacher who skims the tithes and tries to screw the women in his congregation being low-rank would be the real joke."

I sneered at him to his face. The pastor's whole face went red and he started shaking.

I needled him.

"What? Mad? Pride hurt in front of a woman? Funny, I didn't think you had any pride left to hurt. Not with a dick that probably doesn't even get hard."

"N-no, not at all. Heh heh heh."

"Spill everything you know about Those Who Recite Sins."

"Pardon? But, ah, who might you be…?"

"You want to hear who I am and die on a blade, or do you want to answer my questions and walk out of here?"

The words came out ugly. This wasn't some random slight — he had put his hands on a woman who belonged to me. That earned him five thousand deaths.

"I-I'm sorry, but I truly don't know very much!"

"This bastard's lying to my face."

I grabbed the bible. Then I brought it down on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the pastor's head.

"You blasphemer…!"

"Ghhhk— i-it's the truth!"

"YOU BLASPHEMEEEER!"

Thud. Thud-thud!

The bible had a decent weight to it. Heavy enough to use as a weapon in a pinch. I was starting to want to become a mage. A physical mage.

I kept bringing it down, and the pastor started crying.

"Please! I used to just handle money — one of their believers asked if I wanted to try running a business, gave me a church in the order's name, even made me a pastor! Please…!"

The pastor bowed his head, begging for his life. The hits felt so good I almost kept going, but I stopped. The top of his skull was already split and bleeding.

"What's this about you lending her money?"

"I was already a money man, so I kept doing it on the side. I'm sorry, please just spare my life!"

"Hey. If you're going to apologize, you apologize to this lady, not to me."

I pointed at Dinora, who had been watching the whole thing with a look of growing unease. The pastor glanced at me, then at Dinora, and started slamming his forehead into the floor.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

This was exactly the problem with guys like him. You do something wrong, you apologize to the person you wronged. Why was he groveling at the wrong person?

I grabbed the back of his head and forced it down so he couldn't lift it.

"This woman already paid back every bit of the principal. Slapping interest on top of that is pretty damn low, don't you think? Or should I start charging you interest on every punch I still want to throw?"

"That's— aigoo, once the principal is paid, that's the end of it. Of course!"

"So she doesn't owe you anything."

"Y-yes, that's right. Hahaha!"

What a pathetic piece of shit. A bastard just like Abeiru.

I let go of the back of his head. He stood up, watching my face the whole time. I called him back.

"Hold it."

"Eek?"

The pastor shook like a leaf in a gale.

"How about you write up a document saying the interest has been paid in full before you go?"

"Is there such a thing? Haha."

"Playing dumb. Guess I didn't hit you enough."

In the game and in the original story alike, loan sharks always carried collection papers on them. Even the greediest ones used those documents to certify a debt as settled and to call off any further violence. And a guy who ran a money-lending racket didn't know what that was?

I drew my blade and pointed it at him. The pastor's face went white.

"Play dumb one more time. I'll cut off your third leg. Wait — is it a leg, or is it just a toe?"

"Ee— eek…!"

He dropped to his knees again. Truly spineless, truly useless. Hand a guy like this a gas canister and he'd become the greatest patriot who ever lived.

"I-I'm sorry! Yes, I'll do it!"

He pulled out the papers at once and wrote up a collection receipt stating that the interest had been paid in full. I checked it over carefully. Nothing off about it, so I handed it to Dinora.

"Good work. Get out of here. You're free."

The pastor bolted for the door. I spoke to Dinora, low.

"Close your eyes."

"Mm…"

The instant the pastor opened the door to leave, I closed the distance and drove my blade through his skull.

Shunk!

"Ghk— ghhk…!"

"Stay like that a second."

I checked him over for anything worth taking. I found a pastoral identification belonging to Those Who Recite Sins, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and a strange little iron case.

The bastard dissolved into light and vanished.

"You can open your eyes now."

"Th-that man…?"

"I set him free. From this world."

I answered lightly and turned my attention to the iron case. Throat lozenges, maybe?

I opened it. Inside were little pieces that looked like bits of marshmallow — except the color and the smell were all wrong.

Smells like someone sucked on a hookah all day and then spat it back out.

I tilted my head. The longer I sniffed, the weirder it got. I picked one up and looked at it closely.

What is this? It smells even worse than tobacco. People eat this?

Then, all at once, a vicious stench stabbed into my nose. I swore without thinking and flung it outside.

Sizzle. BOOM!

"Huh?"

The marshmallow detonated the instant it hit the ground. A black smoke rose from it, unnervingly thick and dark.

What… the hell was that?

But Dinora came first.

"Nobody's going to bother you anymore. That document will have more teeth than you'd think."

"Thank you. Thank you… hhkk."

Dinora was crying. Over this? But she'd been through hell, I was sure. She'd borrowed the money because they told her paying back the principal would settle it. Then the moment she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did, they invented interest out of thin air. Anyone would be furious.

And this probably wasn't the first or second time the pastor had dropped by. The way he'd walked in like he owned the place said as much.

"Why would you help a woman like me?"

"A woman like you? Someone this capable, this beautiful? Live well from here on. You've earned it."

I patted her shoulder and even threw in a smile. She more than deserved to be protected.

Dinora wiped her tears at last and nodded.

"Thank you. Hhkk. Thank you so much…!"

She threw herself into my arms. I was just about to close my eyes against the sweet scent of her when—

For a veteran masseuse, she had a surprisingly tender heart. Even something like this bumped her affection. Fine by me — more than fine. It just meant she was a real woman through and through.

First decent pile of points I'd had in a while. I upgraded two titles on the spot. Thirty thousand points gone, and I didn't regret a single one.

Whoa — so Rin got stronger the stronger I got? We could fight like something out of the Three Kingdoms. And Presence Concealment was insane. The stat bump was secondary. Used right, I could fight like I was in Assassin's Creed.

Yeah, I'm not sitting this one out.

I gave Dinora's chest a comforting squeeze and spoke.

"I'll be heading out. That completely worked out my fatigue — I feel great."

"Mm. Ah, Lashu."

"Yes?"

"…If you ever have business in the capital, take me with you. I know the place pretty well. Hehe."

Dinora said it shyly, hands folded behind her back, like she was nervously asking me out. Cute. This mama too.

Well, they do say you can find a lot of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠non-human heroines in the capital. So that's how this is going to go.

I smiled and answered.

"Yes, Dinora!"

"Hehe. Call me Mama."

"Maman?!"

"Mama! Pronounce it properly!"

Dinora stretched my cheek out, gave me a little kiss, and I stepped out of the house.

One thing I learned for certain today. Those Who Recite Sins is bigger than I thought, and they've cultivated an image ordinary people don't find threatening. They're recruiting anyone they can get their hands on to grow the order, and they're turning a profit doing it. Parasites.

It pissed me off, the way they looked just like the cults back in the real world. Even more so when I thought about how people like them had spread the coronavirus.

You don't leave things like this alone. They have to go.

I made up my mind to wipe them all out. I'd put them on the same priority as the neighboring territory's lord.

I was walking the street, sighing, when I spotted Jeyra hurrying somewhere at a run. Still pretty, as always.

"Oh, unnie?"

"Lashu? You're only just getting here? I'm in a rush, I have to—!"

"Why, what's going on?"

Had Abeiru caused some kind of incident? Jeyra answered with a dark look on her face.

"Jaun collapsed all of a sudden!"

"The young lord?!"

This was no small thing. Hadn't they said his condition was finally improving?

I headed for the lord's manor with her at a run, an ominous feeling settling quietly in my chest.