The Witch's Coercion (7)
The Witch's Coercion (7)
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The Witch demanded an explanation from me. What my abilities were. How I had made it all the way here. What I had done. Everything.
She was saying that after what I had done to her, I could at least tell her my story. If that was enough to settle things, I was getting off lightly. But...
"Why are you curious about that?"
The Witch wore a smile that was impossible to read.
"Who knows? Let's call it curiosity."
Hmm. Curiosity, she said. They said curiosity was the shortcut to discovery, but also the shortcut to ruining your body. Well, that didn't apply to the Witch. I had already ruined hers... Hm. Was she really all right?
Anyway, I told the Witch about everything that had happened to me.
I told her how I had failed to awaken after being summoned, been cast out onto the streets in despair while the other Summoned Persons completed their training and left for the royal castle, and then awakened that very evening.
I told her how, after meeting Reni, I had killed the Skeleton Fucker in the Skeleton Dungeon; after meeting Yuri, the Goblin Fucker in the Goblin Dungeon; and after meeting Ariel, the pedophile.
I even told her that I now had a sense of what the Goddess wanted from me.
"...So in my opinion, I think hunting down and eliminating those bastards might be the mission the Goddess has given me."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. I am almost certain. I receive system messages. Ah, the system is—"
"I know what that is. In any case, it's quite intriguing..."
After saying that, the Witch wiggled her finger. Ah, right. That meant "pour me another glass." She seemed to be taking quite a liking to this.
For some reason, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
Right. Reni had fussed and fidgeted for me to feed her like this before too. But their attitudes were substantially different.
Reni's was more like the petulant whining of a spoiled child; the Witch carried herself as though service from an inferior was only natural.
If Yuri could've managed even half of the Witch's manner, by now I might have ended up licking her feet.
...That actually sounded pretty nice. I'd have to try it next time. She'd definitely gloat about winning at first, but as time went on she'd start struggling against the pleasure... I'd make her toes into an erogenous zone.
While I indulged in those sordid fantasies and stared at the Witch's feet, she said nothing, seemingly organizing her thoughts. Every so often, however, she gestured for me to keep serving her.
I obediently played servant while stealing glances at the Witch’s naked body. Perhaps the aftereffects of our rough sex hadn't entirely faded, because her formerly pale skin was faintly flushed and brimming with vitality.
...A Witch who absorbed semen. That was obscenely lewd.
"...!"
When the Witch crossed her legs, her cleft was lewdly emphasized. To think a woman who had been a virgin only moments earlier would sit with such composure. I couldn't believe it.
"My glass is empty."
"Ah, yes. Yes."
The Witch pinched my arm with her fingers. It was an attitude that said she didn't mind me stealing glances, but not to forget my duties. After draining her glass again, she opened her mouth.
"Indeed, the people of this world probably would not notice that pattern. The concept itself may be somewhat ahead of them."
I understood what the Witch meant. The category of paraphilias was a fairly modern concept, after all.
Pedophilia was one example. Even in the Joseon era, early marriage had been commonplace. Without a modern education, a pedophile would probably be viewed as someone distasteful rather than as a criminal.
Out of everyone I knew, even Yuri, who had the closest thing to a modern sensibility, had only thought about it to that extent.
...But how did the Witch understand it? I hadn't even given her an explanation.
Suddenly the Witch spoke.
"Do you know why Summoned Persons are brought here from other dimensions?"
"Huh?"
"Why are they granted those powers? Why do you think things work that way?"
Why did they summon modern people here?
"Hmm. I wonder. To fight the demon race? To defeat the Demon King? That's what I was told, at least."
The Witch laughed, then made a gesture. Fill her glass? Was this woman an alcoholic? She sure was chugging it down. But she didn't seem to be getting drunk. Maybe her detoxification ability was proportional to the size of her chest...?
Once more the Witch emptied her glass. When she looked up at me and folded her arms, her massive breasts were emphasized even more, stealing my gaze....This felt like a deliberate gesture to make me look...
Suddenly the Witch asked.
"Do you think that's true?"
"..."
I wished she'd pick one or the other. It felt like we were having an important conversation, so why did she keep making gestures that felt like she was seducing me? I shook my head hard to chase the excitement away.
The Witch was asking whether I thought Heroes were summoned to fight the war against the demon race.
Of course not.
I hadn't experienced it myself, but the war with the demon race was nothing if not a stalemate. They called it a great war, but rather than a war of attrition like a world war, it was more like the relationship between North and South Korea. An impasse with no end in sight. That was the case despite the periodic summoning of asymmetric military power like heroes.
Most of all, even though the heroes had such overwhelming power, they were hardly ever deployed in battle.
The only things they did were sternly rebuke and correct "lax military discipline," "sloppy security," and "shoddy equipment," then receive "excessive praise" for it.
Their exploits consisted of quick, satisfying payoffs and cheap, instant power fantasy.
If you removed the fictional exaggerations and looked only at the objective facts, what the heroes did was close to passing the time.
Summoned for the war against the demon race...? There was no way.
After reading my expression, the Witch posed a different question.
"Do you know that a Summoned Person’s special ability is granted directly by the Goddess?"
"...Yes. That's what they say."
"Then why does the Goddess go to the trouble of summoning and awakening people from other dimensions instead of using her own creations?"
"..."
The Witch’s words made me feel that something was off. There were certainly contradictions everywhere.
A hero was summoned for war, yet no war was actually being fought.
It was a war between the Goddess and the Demon God, yet the Goddess granted special abilities not to her own creations, but to humans from another dimension.
Why?
"...I don't know. It's confusing."
The Witch smiled brightly. She seemed to know the answer and was deliberately withholding it. It was frustrating.
Even before I could say anything, the Witch spoke first.
"That is not something I am permitted to tell you. I can remind you of facts you already know, but I can't say more than that."
"No..."
The Witch cut me off.
"That is not true only of me; the same applies to the Goddess. Until now, you've acted on speculation, have you not? Why was that necessary? Would it not have been easier if the Goddess had simply told you everything? Then why did she not?"
"..."
That was true. Everything I had done so far depended entirely on speculation—speculation based on pitifully meager knowledge of the future.
If the Goddess wanted something from me, why did she not give me a straightforward quest?
"She cannot."
The Witch answered as though she had read my mind.
"The Goddess is already intervening with you to the greatest extent possible: you awakened after being expelled from the castle, and she gives you system messages."
The Goddess was intervening in the life of a mere individual.
The Witch was saying something similar to what I had told Kate a while back.
The Goddess didn't interfere with her own creations, but because I was from another world, my relationship with her was different. What I'd told Kate back then had merely been an excuse improvised to escape the situation. To think I'd hear the same explanation from someone else.
But... she was already intervening to the maximum extent?
I furrowed my brow.
"For this to be the result of the Goddess’s intervention, it seems rather strange. Honestly, I'm not sure the ability I received is all that useful. It is extremely enjoyable, of course, but whether it's actually useful for carrying out the mission she gave me..."
Hearing that, the Witch stroked her lips. It was the attitude of someone who clearly knew something, but was agonizing over how to phrase it.
"The Goddess is... yes. It seems she is using a loophole. No, more precisely, she must be in a situation where she has no choice but to do so."
Resorting to a trick. That was the type of blasphemous phrasing that would've made Reni flip out if she'd heard it. But why was she resorting to a trick?
Without even listening to me, the Witch answered first.
"I can't tell you any more. More precisely, I am unable to. If you have further questions, ask the Goddess herself."
"...Huh?"
She spoke as though I could simply call a friend. The Goddess, of all people?
Seeing my expression, the Witch made a gesture. Come closer? Bring my ear close?
"Take good care of that cute sword. Then you'll be able to meet the Goddess."
The Witch whispered so quietly that it sounded like an enormous secret. She was right: the Holy Sword had a skill called Avatar Descent. But I still didn't know the conditions...
Hoo—
"Wuh-huh?!"
Th-this woman, she blew into my ear!
When I pulled back in surprise, the Witch laughed playfully.
"Let's stop this conversation for now. I'm a little tired. Please move me to the bathtub."
Move her? After what I had done to her earlier, she was giving me permission to touch her body?
"...Yes."
Even when I lifted her, the Witch didn't react. She simply enjoyed it as a privilege she was entitled to and seemed utterly unconcerned about what I had done to her.
I carried the Witch in my arms and headed for the bathtub. When I laid the Witch's body down in the bathtub full of warm water, her massive breasts floated up into view.
...Alright. The mood wasn't bad.
I carefully gauged the Witch's reaction as I opened my mouth.
"Um, Witch, actually, I know a massage that's good for loosening up the body...."
The Witch gave me a benevolent smile as generous as her enormous breasts.
"Very well. Give it a try."
"Yep."
Elated, I rushed at the Witch—
"I have no intention of permitting anything beyond that."
"Yes...."