Potential MILF, Uehara Aki (2)
After we finished having sex, I sat down to a cup of tea with Uehara Aki.
The people of the East in this world had a culture not so different from the East Asians I knew. Aki, being of the Japanese strain, was especially fond of tea. She drew her lips from the cup, and those thin lips began to move.
Huh.
I sat there stunned as I listened. Characters I'd never heard of. Settings I didn't know. Backgrounds that had never been explained. All of it came through so vividly I could almost see it.
"So..."
She'd been born into a shrine maiden family, she told me. From the time she was little, she'd studied every manner of god and steeled her heart for the path ahead. Being a shrine maiden wasn't just about sweeping a shrine with a broom — you had to take part in every kind of ceremony, and even house a god inside your own body.
She had the aptitude for it. The talent, too. Mention a gifted apprentice shrine maiden in that region and there wasn't a soul who wouldn't know her name. But then she crossed paths with the Lord of Weverpool on his journey around the world, and at some point she followed him all the way here.
"I can't quite recall that part, I'm afraid. It's all jumbled up... like they're my memories, but also not mine."
Aki frowned and shook her head. No matter how hard she tried to remember, it wouldn't come back to her. Not that I could blame her. Lao had done a number on her.
"I understand. That's because Lao used this necklace to mess with your mind."
I held up the necklace I'd brought along without even thinking. Aki let out a quiet sigh.
"I had become some unknown man's woman before I even realized it. Of course, I never bore him a child."
"Aki..."
"I've been... defiled, haven't I?"
She asked it with a face so gloomy it looked like she'd already decided there was no saving her. I put on an easy smile and tossed the question back.
"Then what about me? Did I defile you too, Aki?"
"W-what?!"
Her face went scarlet and her eyes flew wide. Those silver irises shone as luminous as the moon in a night sky.
"Ah, no! It was wonderful with you, Hero. I-I mean it, truly!"
"Haha, is that so?"
"Yes. Especially the way you asked if I was all right afterward..."
"I liked it too. Even your scent, Aki. Ahem."
The words were barely out of my mouth before I felt embarrassed. Aki's face went red all over again. Even her ears flushed, to the point it was almost hard to look at her.
Man. This MILF sure got embarrassed easy.
"Well, at least you didn't end up carrying that cult leader bastard's kid, right?"
"That's right. I come from a shrine maiden bloodline, so I reject any seed except that of a man I've accepted."
A pretty unusual constitution. She rejected any seed except from a man she'd accepted. Flip that around and it meant that even if she were raped, at least she wouldn't get pregnant.
"Is that so? Wow, so you've rejected everyone until now?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"Except... yours, Hero."
Aki snuck a glance at me, then whipped her head away like she was fleeing. She fussed with her teacup for no reason, then clasped both hands together and lowered them to her lap.
She took my seed? She didn't reject it? That means...?
I looked at Aki for a moment. Then I let my gaze drop a little lower.
So in there... my child...?
"Fwooo — hah!"
I drained the rest of my teacup for no good reason. I slurped it down and it was so goddamn hot I thought my insides were on fire. Still, I needed to change the subject.
"Whew, I'm thirsty. Hahaha!"
I went to pour myself more tea. The pot was empty. Aki's eyes smiled at the sight.
"Oh my, you've already finished it all..."
"Oh. So I have."
"I thought you might, so I brewed another pot. Heehee!"
Aki brought over a second teapot. Thank god. Time to drink some more. My throat was burning for no reason. Though, did drinking something hot even help when your throat was already on fire?
No. Just drink it!
I reached for the pot, and Aki slipped in a quiet word.
"But Hero."
"Yes?"
"This tea is actually rather expensive, you know? I'd prefer if you drank it slowly. You have to be frugal with things if you want them to last, don't you?"
"Uh, ah, yes...!"
I answered before I even knew what I was saying.
Hold on. Even if it was against her will, a nobleman's wife pinching pennies over tea? Was Aki always this frugal?
A shrine maiden family... I couldn't do the math exactly, but they might not have been wealthy. Political correctness wasn't something that only existed back on Earth. There were always people looking to pick a fight — A servant of the gods, hoarding that much wealth? And sure, Korea was pretty lenient with those shaman con artists, but Aki was from the Japanese side of things. They'd be a different story over there.
Wait — is Aki a bin-dere?! Hell, even better. A MILF with some actual flavor!
Yeah. That was a good thing, actually. The bin-dere type — the broke, penny-pinching kind of girl — wasn't exactly common. I found myself looking at Aki in a whole new light.
I sipped my tea with a grateful heart, and then it occurred to me to wonder what she planned to do now. She wouldn't be the lord's wife anymore. How was she going to live?
"So what are you going to do now, Aki? Are you going to stay here?"
"I can't remember where my hometown is. I want to go back, but I can't..."
"Ah, so you can't go back. Wouldn't you find it if you went to the East?"
She shook her head. Her wine-colored bob swayed with the motion.
"I heard the road there has been blocked recently. Some kind of mysterious incident. And also..."
Aki's face grew grave. She looked frustrated, like she was groping for an answer she couldn't reach.
"It's a bit complicated, but the place I lived was where the shrine maiden bloodline was passed down in secret, so even if I went to the East, there's a good chance I wouldn't find it right away."
"Hmm. That does sound like a problem."
"So I've decided to do what I want to do! Heehee."
"Oh, so you had a dream. What is it?"
She had a dream. The more I learned about this MILF, the more she surprised me. Aki beamed.
"Adventure!"
I briefly doubted my own ears. Adventure?
A noble lady with a secret shrine maiden bloodline... wanted to go on an adventure?
I tilted my head and asked again.
"Uh... a-adventure...?"
"Yes! Ever since I was little, just hearing the word 'adventure' would make me tremble with excitement! And earning money with your own skills, using that to cover your living expenses... how wonderful is that!"
"But it would be hard to do that on your own."
Hero work might have been a red ocean, but it was still no joke of a profession. It was every bit as dangerous as the hunters you saw in those hunter novels. And Aki here was about to take it one step further.
"Then... would you take me with you?"
"Whaaaat?! But that's...!"
I doubted my hearing all over again. She wanted me to take her along?
Did that mean she wanted into the party? Hold on. Lumina and Jayla were party members, technically, but if you counted the ones who hadn't actually joined up yet... Aki would effectively be the very first member I recruited.
But this was a bit much.
"A shrine maiden is essentially a saintess of the East! Hero Lashu, I heard everything from Fieri. You're an apostle of the gods, aren't you?"
"Y-yes..."
It came out of nowhere. So fucking out of nowhere I couldn't even hide how thrown I was.
She just came in swinging like that? I genuinely could not have predicted this.
Aki should've been the one fighting Lao, not me. That bastard wouldn't have seen her coming even with his foresight.
I let out a breath and thought it over. I didn't really have a reason to turn her down. If anything, wasn't this a good thing?
Having a MILF this pretty and this thorough at my side would be great. And she's already accepted my seed.
Yeah. No reason to refuse. A secret shrine maiden bloodline had to come with something special, too.
I decided to say yes.
"All right. If you join us, Aki, you might just become a huge asset."
"Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! Thank you so much! I'll give it everything I have!"
Whoosh!
Aki threw a fist toward the sky in an over-the-top pose, and my eyes went straight to the way her chest bounced with the motion. The enthusiasm was nice and all, but...
That might be a little too much enthusiasm...
I laughed on the inside. Still, seeing her this fired up really did make her feel like a Japanese character.
Then, as if something had just occurred to her, Aki startled and nearly jumped out of her seat.
"Oh no, wait. What about Fieri? She won't have anywhere else to go if not here!"
Aki, worrying about someone else.
She's got such a warm heart. And those breasts — big, plump, and hot...
Beautiful women really were the kind ones. It was like that back in my country too, wasn't it? Not that ugly women were automatically terrible people, but among the kind ones, the pretty ones made up the overwhelming majority.
"Couldn't she just keep living here? I think that'd be fine."
She was the head maid. She'd work hard. Aki shook her head.
"Ah... I suppose you wouldn't know, Hero."
She spoke with a worried look.
"This fief will soon be taken over by an acting lord sent from the Imperial Palace."
"What? Who said that?"
"Inspector Calsas."
Right. I'd forgotten.
That pointy-eared inspector!
That guy came running to snatch up the credit, didn't he.
I'd been wondering why something felt off. I'd completely forgotten about him. I was a little worried whether he'd been causing trouble.
I sighed, then tilted my head.
An acting lord, huh... It makes sense. A fief without a lord can't keep going. From the Empire's perspective, it's also the best way to keep the losses from getting any worse.
I scratched my chin. It was clearly the best option, but then what would become of Weverpool Fief?
No. I didn't need to know the political side of things.
"What about just continuing to work, or something?"
"Well... if they were residents of the fief it might be different, but Inspector Calsas reported that the servants who worked in the mansion may still suffer aftereffects from the mind control. So they're all being dismissed, apparently?"
"Ah, so that's why you... but isn't that a little too cold?"
It was cold, honestly. Not that I couldn't see the logic.
Wow. This really was a messy situation.
It was like getting kicked out of a place because you'd come from a plague zone, even though you never actually caught the disease.
The mind control was entirely the artifact's doing.
People who didn't know any of that could absolutely overreact like this. Calsas was a person before he was a civil servant. And he was a selfish bastard, wasn't he?
Aki nodded with a pained look.
"I know, right. Even if it is government business... hah."
One worry piled onto the next. What was going to happen to Fieri?
It'd be a shame if that capable, beautiful head maid ended up as a prostitute or something.
"Oh!"
Aki's eyes met mine, as if something had just occurred to her.
"Um... I mentioned that I received your seed, didn't I, Hero?"
"Y-yeah."
"I think that may be why I've... blossomed. Heehee."
"Blossomed?"
"Oh, do they call it awakening here? Ufufu... With this, I may be able to help you in even more ways, Hero."
Aki wore a smile so sweet it almost had a scent to it. I was dying to know what her ability was.
"Then would you show me?!"
Beaming, Aki nodded.