The Hunter, the Goblins, and… (2)
The Hunter, the Goblins, and… (2)
#
I alternated between carrying them on my back and in my arms as we traveled, then set them down at a suitable point. Any longer and it felt as though my cock would explode.
Now we had to return to the dungeon. I was mentally exhausted, but with Whitebeard having sent the goblins out, this was our chance. We had to deal with him before he tried anything else.
"Huh?"
Yuri tugged at the hem of my clothes.
"L-let's rest a moment..."
"Sure."
Stamina wasn't the issue. All three of us had received Reni's Cure, after all.
Still, the fatigue from battle probably lingered. The aftereffects aside, there had been a lot of shocking events in a short time today. Especially for Yuri.
She'd seen a half-goblin, had her first experience, and lured a goblin pack by herself. The fact that she'd held on this long was impressive.
...
I took a blanket out of my inventory, spread it out, and sat down. I brought out simple rations, but neither of them touched them. Their worries about what lay ahead were plainly written on their faces. Yuri suddenly spoke up.
"Again... you said we're going to the dungeon? What are you going to do there? A... wizard who can make something like that? W-wouldn't facing that be... dangerous?"
A wizard? I didn't know what he truly was, but Yuri was right: confronting him would be dangerous. In Riverbridge, I hadn't worried much because I knew the strategy. I had no idea how Whitebeard might act. In that case...
"I've thought of something. You saw me injecting them over and over earlier, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'm not planning on facing him directly. You don't need to worry."
...
When I gave them a simple explanation of what I was going to do, the two of them finally let out a sigh of relief and began to nibble at the food.
The rations we had were cheese, dried fruit, hardtack-like biscuits, and so on. Things I'd bought at Guardian's Fort.
It'd be a good idea to pack some hot food in advance. Since time stops when I put something in the inventory, there was no need to be stuck with adventurer-style rations.
Well, the two of them had expressions that said even this was more than they could ask for. Seeing them munching away made me want to buy them something to eat from the Dimensional Shop, but... now wasn't the time. It wouldn't be too late to do it after everything was over and we'd returned.
-Grark. Gorrk.
A short distance away, the last familiar goblin I'd posted as a sentry was there. The guy looked worn out in his own way, so I tossed him something to eat, and he ate it readily. Just as I'd thought.
Yuri's eyes went wide when she saw the goblin eating.
"That's amazing. I've never heard of a dungeon monster eating anything."
"Maybe it's because this guy's a hybrid?"
"What do you mean by that?"
I'd been suspecting something ever since we explored the dungeon. Now I could be certain.
"You said you've never seen a dungeon monster eat anything, right?"
"Yeah."
"Probably the ordinary monsters in a dungeon live... well, by eating the dungeon's mana, or something like that. But these guys had human blood mixed in, didn't they?"
"So?"
"That means they need to eat. Remember how inside the cave there were no bats, not even a single bug? And you said the nearby wild animals had vanished too, right? These guys must have eaten them all."
"I... I see... Then..."
"Yeah. In the end, these guys had no choice but to invade the village. For food. They probably would’ve attacked before winter, don’t you think?"
"So it wasn't because I stirred things up for nothing..."
"That's right. It was because you, Yuri, suggested we investigate the dungeon that we were able to stop it quickly. Good job."
Hearing that, Yuri's face brightened a little. That must have lifted a weight off her chest.
"Yeah..."
"..."
Reni had been quiet since earlier. When I turned to look, she had an expression like a puppy caught in the rain. Why did she look so pitiful...
"Reni, you did a good job, too. Without your Holy Magic, we couldn't have done anything."
"..."
Reni's face reddened a bit, as if embarrassed.
"And Reni kept watching over my side, didn't you? I was scared of the goblins swarming me like that, too. I could endure it because you were next to me."
Even though I'd blocked a narrow choke-point, it was a situation where any normal person wouldn't have been blamed for running away, but Reni, trembling as she was, had tried to guard my side somehow.
Hearing that, Reni broke into a goofy smile.
"Th... that... i-it was thanks to you, Yoo-jin... Because you gave me so much strength..."
"Yeah."
"If it were my old self..."
Reni's goofy smile suddenly crumbled.
"If i-it were my old self, I... that sort of thing... hhic..."
Oh no.
"Come here."
I put my arm around Reni, and she buried her head against my shoulder. Her body was trembling a little.
Seeing that, Yuri's expression became slightly forlorn. Right. It was your first time too. I should have looked after you.
"Do you want to come here, too?"
"N-no... uh... no?"
She was saying something stupid again. When I snickered, she narrowed her eyes at me, then cleared her throat.
"Ahem. B-but, hey?"
"Hmm?"
"Your se... that..."
Yuri hemmed and hawed, her face gradually flushing.
"Se? That what?"
I snickered and seized on her unfinished word, drawing it out.
When we first met, she'd radiated a peculiar sex appeal, but that had turned out to be a persona. When it actually came time to do it, she'd trembled in fear—despite arriving in lewd underwear, completely shaved and plainly intending to go all the way.
She acted shameless and loose, yet couldn't even say the word sex. The way she behaved was endearing in many ways.
"Anyway!"
Her face turned as red as a carrot as she shrieked. This girl made me want to try a roleplay someday where she had to say embarrassing things.
"Anyway! That ability really was amazing. Just doing it once... does it keep being like that?"
"No. It goes back to normal after a while."
"Huh? Then what!?"
I straightened my posture and slowly began to explain.
"It's okay. It doesn't disappear that quickly. It'll stay like this for about two days, so there's no problem until we finish dealing with the whole dungeon."
"...Really? Well, that's a relief, but... th-that state... what did you call it?"
"Amplification. Buff."
"R-right. Amplification? That amplification thing... i-is that it?"
Yuri was vacillating. I could roughly guess what she wanted to ask. Come to think of it, Kate had asked a similar question. I'd lied to Kate to avoid sending Reni back, but... with this girl, there was no need to do that.
"It doesn't all disappear. It wasn't like that today, but normally, your potential should increase little by little."
"Really? So then?"
"If you do it a lot, your abilities will keep building up."
"Huhh... I see."
When she heard that, Yuri's expression turned composed. It was the look she got when drawing her bowstring. Eyes like a wolf... tracking its prey! F-for some reason I got goosebumps.
"?!"
Did she just lick her lips?!
"What's wrong, Yoo-jin?"
"N-no, nothing..."
The way she said "Yoo-jin" was too terrifying!!! N-now that I thought about it, didn't this girl say something about a leash earlier?!
"But today... it didn't increase?"
"Uh, yeah..."
Yuri looked at me like that, and then her face suddenly went poof and turned red.
"E-even though you did it three times..."
She was keeping count!? I was so taken aback that I couldn’t speak, but then Reni abruptly jerked her head up. Eyes wide open as if in shock.
"Y-Yoo-jin..."
"Yeah?"
"Yoo-jin... d-did you really do it three times?"
"Uh... yeah?"
"Hnng...!"
Suddenly she glared at me, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Wh-when you do it with me... e-every time... you keep going so long... until I pass out...!"
"N-no..."
"With Yuri, in that short time... three times...!"
That was because I used the Premature Ejaculation Skill! It was definitely not a good thing! Why are you angry about something like that!?
Reni's expression was something hard to describe... jealousy? A tantrum? Resentment? At any rate, it was a complete mess.
Why would she? The reason Reni was like this... if I swapped perspectives for a moment and thought about it... ugh.
I quickly pulled Reni close and whispered in her ear.
"N-next time, I'll do it faster than her! Ten times! Ten times in the same amount of time!"
"....Hnng...!"
At those words, Reni turned into the familiar tomato. Phew. Barely managed to catch a break. I never knew that color could feel so reassuring.
"...To the point you pass out each time?"
Yuri's voice sounded puzzled. When I looked at her face, her expression was exceedingly subtle.
"I don't think that's right... if anything, rather than that... no, it was ridiculously fast..."
"...!"
Th-this wench thought I was a premature ejaculator! I'd finished fast because it seemed like it'd hurt her, and now! She thinks I was a premature ejaculator! When she was the one shaking like a leaf in fear!
-Grark.
A loud noise made the familiar goblin turn this way. Yes, you were the one telling me it was time.
"...Let's head out now."
"Yeah." "Yes..."
#
Still, maybe because we'd eaten and rested a little, the mood was much lighter than before. Yuri began chattering again. She had a lot of questions, too.
"Come to think of it, that, that goblin turning to our side. How did you do that?"
"...Just because. There's something like that among the abilities the Goddess gave me."
I couldn't exactly say I'd injected my semen, so I'd have to gloss over it.
Wait. Could it be that I... had become a Goblin Fucker? Even if indirectly?
...I must be going crazy.
Yuri sounded as though she had witnessed something astonishing, regardless of the fact that I was tearing my hair out internally.
"But isn't that, like... a huge deal, that ability? Turning a goblin into... um..."
"A familiar."
"Right. A familiar. If you have an ability like that..."
"If I had it, what were you going to use it for? I can't go into a village bringing a goblin, can I?"
"Oh... that's true... So what do we do with him... that..."
"Wilson. Let's call him Wilson."
For some reason, this goblin looked rather stupid, like that volleyball from the desert-island movie.
At my response, Yuri's eyes went wide.
"You even gave him a name in that time?"
"I just made it up."
Reni stared at me with a vaguely uneasy expression.
"Wilson... you said? Wasn't that the innkeeper? The one with those bad rumors..."
...So the rumors were bad! No wonder she'd freaked out when she heard that name in the carriage!
"Why did you give him that gentleman's name?"
"Huh? No, just..."
When was I supposed to explain the whole desert island and volleyball story? Come to think of it, did this other world even have movies?
"Yoo-jin...?"
Reni suddenly had a dire look on her face.
"Yoo-jin! Did something happen with that gentleman!?"
"N-no, nothing happened."
I suddenly remembered something and averted my eyes from Reni's gaze. The way the bastard had grabbed my hand and licked his lips, the way he'd tried to spank my ass.
...Actually, was that a really dangerous situation?!
"What are you talking about now?"
At Yuri's question, Reni began recalling old events as if explaining to herself.
"Th-there's an inn that Yoo-jin was always insistent on..."
"N-no! Since when! Since when was I insistent!"
"B-but... as soon as we got back to Guardian's Fort, you w-went right there, didn't you!"
"That was to buy beer!"
"You'd been staying there all along before that!"
Th-that part was true! But it wasn't for that reason!
"N-no... I didn't have money back then, so..."
"Yoo-jin... don't tell me?!"
Th-this priestess's complexion was gradually turning pallid. That damn delusion of hers! I could laugh off her seeing me as a slave or a beggar, but I absolutely could not allow this kind of misunderstanding!
"Reni! Get a grip!"
"Ack! Arrrrghrrrghrrghrghrgh... ugh!"
I shook Reni by the shoulders until she was practically motion-sick and had lost her wits, then crammed a haphazard torrent of words into her.
"Come on, Reni. There’s no way I’d do that, right? If I were interested in men, I would’ve latched onto that innkeeper and let him support me. Right? Good girl."
"Haa... haa... yes... I'm a good girrrl..."
Reni looked as though her soul might leave her body. Fortunately, she tended to take my words at face value. I had a feeling that might cause some kind of incident later, but that was a problem for another time.
As I was patting Reni's back like that, I felt a tug on my side. I turned my head and Yuri was blushing.
"Yoo-jin... b-between men, you said... b-but I'm fine with that sort of thing!"
What was this girl going on about now?!
"I-I'm asking because I'm curious... Later, could you show me you doing it?"
Wh-what kind of nonsense was this girl...!
[Yuri Fogswaithe's trait 「Curiosity (A)」 has been identified.]
"!!!"
Right! Come to think of it, she'd have to have Curiosity to go poking around a dungeon in the middle of the mountains like this! But was that kind of curiosity in there too?!
When I couldn't find words, Yuri added with a beet-red face.
"...Wh-what, wh-why, what, why? You're a pervert who does it until people pass out, too, aren't you?"
So you knew you were a pervert too...
"...No... Let's stop and go... Reni, get up too..."
"Yeah..." "Yes..."
A slightly awkward silence passed.
-Grark
Wilson was watching us with a subtle expression on his face.