Establishing the Hunters' Pecking Order (1)
Establishing the Hunters' Pecking Order (1)
#
"Nghh-hnn!!"
Wanting a little more before I left her, I tormented her nipples a bit longer, and even while unconscious, Rebecca's body trembled as she kept moaning.
It wasn't like I had some particular taste for sleep sex. This was all her fault for being so wicked. Inverted nipples, can you believe it? It was this inverted-nippled butler's fault for having a body so perfect to toy with. Besides, when was I ever going to get to touch a pair like this again?
"Ngh-hihk... hihk!"
Most importantly, what I was doing could qualify as a legally justified act.
Before she fainted, we'd agreed to go all the way, so fooling around with her like this was perfectly legal. And that was absolutely not something I was saying because I felt guilty about playing with a woman who was out of her senses. I had nothing on my conscience...!
"Haah... haah... ha-hngk!"
...Even as I said all that, tormenting an unconscious partner did prick my conscience a little. Agreement or not.
Wait.
Touching an unconscious person bothered me this much. So what about Reni, the professional sleep-sex artist? Did Reni ever feel a single twinge of conscience while she was ambushing me in my sleep? One... two... more times than I could count on both hands?
Now that I thought about it, her insolence was beyond words. Completely shameless. These cheeky inverted nipples were shameless, and Reni was shameless. Reni needed to suffer a little more. I was planning to head over to Yuri then, so I'd let it slide tonight, but next time, absolutely!
"Haah... ah-hngk!"
Anyway, to think she'd been hiding such springy, plump nipples all this time. A body so infuriating it beggared belief. I channeled my anger towards Reni into tormenting Rebecca's nipples. They were engorged with blood and firm and taut, but if I stopped stimulating them even for a moment, they'd surely retreat and hide in embarrassment.
"Hn-nghk!"
She was unconscious, and yet she still cried out so well.
...Was this one really knocked out? A system message did pop up earlier, but could she have woken up again since? Especially with me tormenting—giving her all this stimulation?
"Ha-nghk! Haah-nngh!!"
-Ding.
[Acts performed while the target is in an Unaware State do not award points.]
"..."
Yep, she was well and truly out.
"Nng-guuuuhh!!"
At last, Rebecca reached her climax, her back arching up in a violent spasm. Consecutive climaxes from her chest alone. This one was pretty damn lewd, too. If I kept sending her over the edge like this, she'd end up conditioned in her subconscious and really become a sex sla—
"...Huhk?!"
In an instant, a chilling sensation ran down the nape of my neck. A shiver went through me, and I looked all around, but there was nothing there.
What the hell? Was I just imagining things?
...Either way, I should stop playing with the inverted butler. The night felt long but was actually short. Time to hurry to Yuri and have a delightful time with my di—
"...!"
Strange. The door was open. Had I forgotten to close it earlier?
...No. I definitely shut it. The memory of Rebecca flinching when I closed the door was still vivid.
Had someone been peeping? Just in case, I opened the minimap, but I didn't see any particular movement.
Could it have been... a ghost?!
Goosebumps erupted all over my body. No. It couldn't be that.
The place I was in didn't look like a guest room, but rather a room used by the servants. Maybe that was why it didn't feel as neat and tidy as the room I'd been assigned.
That was it. This was just an old room, so the door must have been a little loose. Rebecca said she took care of the mansion by herself, so keeping up with the servants' quarters would've been difficult. Just like the ruined garden outside, the door must've popped open from lack of maintenance.
...Shaking off the creeped-out feeling, I hurried out of the room. Rebecca... well, she'd been living here all this time, so she'd be fine.
#
The girls' rooms were at the end of the third floor, right? From the minimap, Yuri's room was... here.
-Knock, knock.
"..."
No answer.
Was she sleeping already? It wasn't even midnight yet. That assassin butler had come far too quickly and passed out before I could even get started. Because of that, my body was on the brink of exploding. I needed to cool down, and this Yuri girl was already asleep?
There was no way she went to bed this early.
-Creeeak.
I quietly opened the door to find a dim night-light illuminating the room, and Yuri lying on the bed with her back to me, perfectly still.
I perched on the edge of the bed and tried talking to her again.
"Yuri, are you asleep?"
"..."
Still no answer. But I knew she was awake. If she were really asleep, the bed would've been a complete disaster already. She was a terrible sleeper.
I gently placed a hand on her shoulder...
"Don't touch me."
Huh?
#
Without even turning around, Yuri shot me down.
"What'd you come for?"
"Ah, no, I..."
"Why? Go to Reni."
"..."
Her voice was so utterly icy that I just froze on the spot. What was with her? I'd never experienced this before. Whenever Yuri and I talked, it was always a half-joking vibe, but right then, the atmosphere was completely different. This wasn't a joke.
-Gulp.
Faced with this cold demeanor I'd never seen before, I couldn't say a word and just swallowed hard. Why the hell was she acting like this? My plans for a fun evening evaporated in an instant.
"..."
"..."
"Wh-what's wrong...?"
After a brief silence, I barely managed to open my mouth. Pathetically, my voice quavered a little.
"What's wrong? You really don't know?"
"..."
"Hmph..."
While I stood there at a loss, Yuri spoke again, still with her back turned to me.
"Fine. I can put up with how Reni keeps cutting in line like that. It seems like she's been doing it all along, anyway."
Order matters, after all. Yuri muttered that under her breath. It seemed she didn't hold much of a grudge about Reni secretly ambushing me without waiting her turn. Then why...?
"That sick elf... you're saying you have to do that with her, too?"
Was she unhappy that I had to amplify Niniel? But still...
"Hey... you know as well as I do. As long as my abilities manifest like that, it can't be helped—"
"I know that. Still... I'm in the same party, aren't I? From what I saw earlier, it looked like you'd already finished talking it all over with Reni. I could tell from how calmly she was taking it."
Her tone was confrontational, but her voice was so thick with hurt feelings that... all I could do was stand there in silence.
"Why did you leave only me out and discuss that with just Reni?"
"..."
Mm... so that was it.
Yuri had been feeling pretty left out. Last time, she'd even grumbled about being in the way or whatever. I'd managed to smooth it over then, but if this kept happening...
"...I didn't mean to do that..."
At those words, Yuri whipped her head around and glared at me. Seeing those eyes made my heart ache. The light wasn't very bright, but I could still easily tell that her eyes had gone red.
I'd screwed up. When you wanted to apologize, you weren't supposed to say things like "it was a misunderstanding" or "that wasn't my intention."
"...I'm sorry. For talking about it without you. It won't happen again."
"..."
Yuri stared at me without a word, and I continued my explanation, feeling a little frustrated.
"That visit from Reni last night... that was just... um... she didn't come to j-jump the line. She came to talk about Niniel. She said my ability might be able to cure her illness. When I heard that, even I wasn't sure. So I was planning for us all to talk it over together..."
"You were planning to?"
"...After seeing her cough up blood like that... it seemed like we couldn't really afford to wait. I got impatient, too."
"..."
"I'm sorry. We still should have discussed it together. From now on, I'll never talk about things or make decisions leaving you out."
At that, Yuri bit her lower lip. We had talked about Niniel's future before. Deep down, she probably knew about the priorities and the urgency. But having her mood improve was a different matter, and her lips were still set in a pout.
"Hmph... For someone claiming that, you sure looked excited to go and sleep with that woman."
No, what on earth was she saying. This was truly an unfair accusation!
"No, that's not it at all. Didn't you see what that butler was doing to me? I didn't want to do that with her either. I didn't even go all the way with her."
"...You didn't go all the way?"
"That's right! With her, it was just... um... a m-massage, and then I ended it!"
Yuri cocked her head to the side, skeptical. The disbelieving look she gave me, as if to say there was no way I'd stopped at a massage, was a bonus. No, she was looking at me like I was some kind of dog in heat! Which was accurate, but still!
"Why? Didn't you say you were going to test the amplification on her?"
"Remember when I said before that there are multiple levels to the amplification? Don't you remember?"
"..."
Yuri rolled her eyes upward. A look of trying to recall. Well, considering that all she ever got was se—no, I mean! Considering she only ever received the highest-grade amplification, I supposed it made sense she might've wondered if lower levels existed. Couldn't be helped. The magnanimous me would just have to give her a little nudge.
"Amplification isn't only applied through th-that direct act. Even something like a massage can trigger it. I told you that back at the inn, remember?"
"..."
"So I didn't go all the way with that one. There was no need to."
"...Really?"
"Really."
The moment I said I hadn't slept with Rebecca, Yuri's voice softened a little. Er, it felt like the result and process of what I'd just said had gotten swapped around, but shedding light on that then wouldn't do any good. Best to just stay quiet.
"So then..."
"Hmm?"
"Back then... w-would just a massage have been enough for me, too?"
"What do you mean, back then?"
"In front of that goblin dungeon..."
"..."
Th-this girl. Why was she dredging up ancient history? At the time, I didn't have the luxury to weigh this or that, and there wasn't any time, either...
Yuri was gazing at me steadily. As if yearning for something... seeing that look in her eyes, my mouth opened before I could stop it.
"T-to be honest..."
"To be honest?"
"I w-wanted to sleep with you... and it s-seemed like the perfect excuse... so..."
At that, Yuri whipped her head around to hide her face.
"...Really?"
"Yeah..."
"..."
"..."
Silence flowed between us once more. D-did I mess up? I was breaking out in a cold sweat when I heard Yuri mutter something under her breath.
"Hmph... what an animal in heat, looking for any chance to pounce..."
She was slandering me like that, but her voice didn't sound angry. No, if anything, I thought I caught a hint of enjoyment in it...
"Pervert in heat... rapist..."
Truly unfounded insults with no rhyme or reason, but I just stayed quiet and listened. For some reason, Yuri seemed to grow progressively more delighted with each word she spat out. Maybe that was why I didn't actually feel bad, like I was really being cursed at. In fact, I almost felt something stirring inside me...
"So. You didn't go all the way?"
How many times was this girl going to make me say the same thing? But I answered obediently. I'd decided tonight was for cheering Yuri up.
"That's right."
"Then what'd you come to me for?"
-Gulp.
"Ah, th-that's..."
"What is?"
"E-earlier at dinner, you seemed like you were in a bad mood, so I thought we could talk..."
"We could've talked tomorrow. Be honest."
"T-to be honest..."
"Just say it."
A strong, commanding tone. Yuri forced the answer out of my mouth.
"T-to be honest, I didn't go all the way with that one earlier... s-so I wanted to do it with you..."
At that, Yuri sprang up and looked down at me. The bed was old but incredibly plush, and yet she stood there without even making it wobble.
"Hmph... so you stopped halfway with another woman just to come and ask me to finish you off? That's brazen, even for you."
"..."
That stabbed deep. Faced with the naked truth, I couldn't lift my head. I-I was trash... I really was...
"Lie down."
Saying that, Yuri shoved me with her foot.