The Summoned Person, the Priestess, and the Hunter (1)
The Summoned Person, the Priestess, and the Hunter (1)
#
"I'm all washed up!"
She'd barely been in there for a few minutes!
At Yuri's shout, we flinched and sprang apart.
I felt as though we'd been interrupted in every possible way that day. I was sure I could have done it if I'd truly wanted to, so why did it still feel that way?
"Now you wash up too!"
"Yeah..."
Wait, before that.
"Could you get some plates? We should eat."
I hadn't eaten since last night. Now that I thought about it, I was hungry.
"Oh, right. Sorry. This is my house. I should've taken care of that..."
Yuri looked apologetic and started bustling around, but there was no need for that.
"No. Just get the plates."
"Huh?"
"I have a plan."
On a day like this, you had to have an after-party.
And no after-party was complete without chicken and beer! I'd earned enough points from having sex with Reni at dawn to afford the chicken. It had been a while, so I wanted to indulge in the thrill of my Awakened ability and a little patriotic pride.
"Yeah? Got it."
"Ah, I-I'll help too."
Yuri tilted her head and got moving, with Reni following after her. Four smooth, bare legs right in front of me.
"..."
I shook my head to chase away the lewd thoughts and went into the bathroom.
#
After washing as quickly as I could, I came back and took my seat. Both women watched me expectantly. Reni in particular was practically starry-eyed, probably because she'd already experienced the mint chocolate cake.
First, I brought out Wilson's beer.
...And some orange juice.
Reni was glaring at the beer keg as though it were her mortal enemy, so I had no choice. What had happened last time must have embarrassed her terribly.
"You're not drinking?"
"Ah, I-I'm not good with alcohol..."
Drunk Reni had been adorable. She'd begged me to undress her and whimpered for me to lick her. She was incredibly lewd while insisting otherwise, so her words and actions rarely matched. It was a real shame that the mere sight of alcohol had terrified her ever since.
Wait. If beer or wine was out, then cocktails...
"..."
I'd save that for later. With her looking so innocently excited, getting her drunk so I could take advantage of her felt wrong. There would be plenty of opportunities later anyway.
Alright, then.
[Purchased Item: Fried Chicken / 1 box]
[Purchased Item: Yangnyeom Chicken / 1 box]
[Purchased Item: Garlic Crispy Baked Chicken / 1 box]
[Purchased Item: Orange Juice / 1 PET bottle]
[Order Request: Please make the chicken boneless.]
It seemed like a lot, but even if there were leftovers it didn't matter. Time stopped in the inventory, so I could pull it out anytime and it would still be piping hot.
The three boxes of chicken were soon arranged on the table, drawing an awed exclamation from Yuri.
"Whoa..."
I clearly heard Yuri gulp. She kept glancing at me like a puppy waiting for permission. When I heard tapping under the table and looked down, I found her bouncing her feet impatiently. What was she, a child? I couldn't help laughing.
But Reni had a slightly disappointed expression... Fine, I got it.
[Mint Chocolate Cake, Size 1 / 1]
Reni's face lit up.
I really couldn't understand it. Why did she like that stuff? Sometimes the fact that I had to respect all tastes was painful.
"Alright. Let's eat."
At those words, Yuri picked up a piece of yangnyeom chicken, popped it into her mouth, and—
“Hk.”
Her entire body froze as though she'd received a terrible shock.
Was it okay?! Her pupils dilated like a cat's eyes. Was it really okay? Did it taste bad? Did people in this world have different palates? Judging from the food here, it didn't seem that way.
"H-How is it?"
"Kek. Cough. Cough."
Yuri had choked after trying to chew and swallow too quickly. That was what happened when she crammed food into her mouth. At last, she looked at me with a dazed, vacant expression.
"Sweet... spicy... crispy!"
“How does it taste?”
"I dunno!"
She said that and then started stuffing more into her mouth. Her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk.
"De-licioush..."
Reni seemed to prioritize cake over chicken. She took a bite and looked blissful, then sipped orange juice and beamed.
...Mint chocolate and orange juice?
"..."
I took a sip of beer. Wilson's brew was fairly strong, but still excellent. It went down smoothly and even seemed to carry a faint apple aroma.
"Spicy! Sweet!"
"De-licioush..."
The two of them kept repeating those words like broken speakers.
Their reactions were a little different from what I'd expected, but still, seeing them eat so enthusiastically made me feel good.
...Wait. At this rate, what about my share?! No!
...
A feeding frenzy swept through the table. Afterward, Reni happily nibbled on a little chicken, while Yuri...
Yuri slumped in her chair with an uncomfortable, overstuffed expression, sipping beer as she rubbed her stomach around the navel.
"..."
For someone with such a long, sleek figure, that girl really treated her body carelessly.
Was she really the same person who had crossed and uncrossed her legs earlier to seduce me? Without the bravado, she looked a little... no, quite pathetic.
Well, I supposed natural was still good.
"A real hero... incredible... I'm jealous..."
Yuri murmured, her limbs drooping.
"Don't call me a hero. It's embarrassing."
"This is my first time... it's so good..."
"..."
She was saying things one would normally hear in bed. She wasn't doing it on purpose, was she? I could feel myself starting to get hard. No. I needed to change the subject.
“Come to think of it, you said you were descended from a Summoned Person. Was your grandfather a Hero?”
"Yeah."
"Have you never tried anything like this before?"
"Um... not really?"
Yuri continued with a languid expression.
"Actually, I don't even see him that often. He lives somewhere else. He's busy."
"Is that so? Why?"
“He works as a healer, so he gets called all over the place.”
Yuri frowned mid-sentence, as if there was something she disliked.
"And he didn't tell me the details, but... he said they don't let him use things like this at the castle? Some kind of restriction."
A restriction on points? But Yuri's wording suggested something else.
“They said that, as a condition of staying here, he wasn't allowed to use unusual abilities like those. His healing ability comes from this world, so that's fine, but abilities that don't are a problem.”
Hmm... This was something I didn't know about.
“I don’t really know either. I heard it from my mom, not from him directly. And the Hero’s quest? Apparently, most Heroes return to their original world once they finish it, right?”
"I-Is that so?"
All I knew was that Heroes were summoned periodically, and even that came from a passing line about something that had happened long ago.
"Anyway, that's it."
"What kind of person is your grandfather?"
“He's not very talkative. But how should I put it...? I guess he's always been full of drive.”
“Oh...”
Yuri suddenly looked at me, as if remembering something.
“Oh, right. Didn't you say people in your world use strange expressions?”
"What words?"
"Ah-heh-heh? Big Bro Singha? Jeul?"
"............"
...Oh... my God... please...
"...Where did you learn those words? You said your grandfather doesn't talk much."
"He didn't teach me. My mom taught me."
"Is that so..."
What a relief. It would have been truly horrifying to see an old man use those words.
Anyway, how ancient were those words? Was he summoned in the 2010s... no, the 2000s? Well, they said the flow of time was different.
She'd said he was full of energy, and if he'd been summoned around then, it made sense. People back then didn't go around saying things like, 'I'll live for myself.'
Was it a relief he wasn't from the 80s or 90s? If someone from that era had been summoned, they might have tried to do double-cropping or abolish the nobility and turn it into a republic...
...Did something like that actually happen? Was that why they were trying to control it?
"Did you say, 'Ah-heh-heh'?"
“Yeah. And ‘haetja’? I heard that’s what they called strange people, right?”
"Heh-ja? That's a weird pronunciation. Heh-ja?"
I couldn't listen to any more of that idiotic nonsense. The secondhand embarrassment was killing me...
"...Don't say those words anywhere... please."
"Why?"
“Because those expressions died out ages ago. Where I come from, using them would make people treat you like some decrepit old man whose spine couldn’t even stand—who couldn’t even straighten his back. They’ve been obsolete for about twenty years by my world’s calendar, haven’t they?”
"Ah... I-I see... I-I didn't know... it was that bad..."
At the mention of being out of fashion, Yuri's face turned bright red.
"No wonder my grandfather told me not to use them..."
So her grandfather knew shame. That was a relief. Still, I didn't really want to meet him. Values and slang from twenty years ago... just imagining it was exhausting.
"Ah, it's hot..."
Now she was even fanning herself. She had a good sense of fashion, so where had she learned such idiotic expressions...? She had to be mortified.
"Ah-heh-heh?"
Reni giggled as though she found the expression hilarious. Yuri's face looked ready to burst.
...
"A-Anyway!"
Unable to endure Reni's laughter any longer, Yuri suddenly shouted in a tone that would have sounded like a scream from a distance. Was she really that embarrassed?
"West Keep? What are you going to do there?"
Yuri raised her voice, clearly desperate to change the subject. Mm. Right. I needed to tell them about that too.
“You knew we'd been clearing outer dungeons, right?”
"Yeah. That's why I asked for your help."
“There are other reasons we're clearing outer dungeons, but the main one is that something will happen within the next few years.”
"What's going to happen?"
As the conversation turned serious, Reni wiped the silly smile off her face and composed herself.
“I don't know exactly what will happen, but you can assume incidents like the one at this goblin dungeon will start happening elsewhere.”
"...!"
The color drained from Yuri's face. Thinking about it, something genuinely dangerous was already underway. I continued my explanation carefully.
“Something similar happened in Riverbridge. Strange creatures came out of an undead dungeon there. The same thing is probably happening in outer dungeons scattered throughout the mountain range.”
"Th-Then what do we do? Isn't this a huge deal? Shouldn't we notify the Guild or the country?"
The Guild or the country? I could only laugh bitterly.
"You tried that and failed, remember? They won’t care, will they?"
"That's..."
"And the evidence is gone. Those goblin corpses disappeared."
"Then what do we do? If there are a lot of dungeons like that..."
“It's all right. We still have plenty of time. That's why we're heading to West Keep first—to collect rumors about the dungeons. Then we'll look for evidence and perhaps have Reni report it to the Church. That's the plan for now.”
"I see..."
Yuri fell into deep thought.
“But will there even be rumors about outer dungeons? I hate to say this about myself, but I doubt many other weirdos wander around searching for them.”
That was another genuine problem. I'd planned to rely on my knowledge, but what I knew was limited. We also needed some way to gather local information.
"Ah. We could post a quest. 'Looking for information on outer dungeons.'"
Yuri clapped her hands together, pleased with her own idea. That could certainly work. We could figure out the minor details once we arrived.
"But those... magic stones, can't they be evidence?"
Yuri tilted her head curiously. At that, I laid out the strange censer and magic stones on the table.
"Reni. What do you think?"
At that, Reni picked up one of the magic stones and examined it from every angle, just as Kate had. While she was at it, she checked the censer too.
“I don't sense anything unusual. It's just an ordinary magic stone.”
"See? A magic stone is just a magic stone."
"I see. But can you even tell things like that?"
Reni smiled with a mixture of embarrassment and pride. The way every little compliment drew such a visible reaction from her was both adorable and a little sad.
"It's better this way. If it were evidence, we couldn't sell it."
“You really are practical...”
How many times had I heard that that day? Was I really practical? I only wanted to establish myself quickly and live surrounded by wine and women.
"But you said it's a large magic stone? I've never seen one like this. How much do you think it's worth?"
“It would start at at least one gold coin, wouldn’t it?”
"G-Gold?!"
Yuri exclaimed and looked back and forth between the magic stone and my face.
“Oh... so much money... and such amazing abilities...”
Well... this was awkward. Hearing it stated so bluntly was incredibly embarrassing. Reni looked smug again. I still had no idea why praise for me made her so proud when praise directed at her only embarrassed her.
"But why, of all things... does it amplify like that?"
"..."
Why... why did she have to ambush me with that when everything had been going so well?
"...Th-The Goddess has her reasons..."
Neither of us could bring ourselves to continue, and Reni broke into a nervous sweat. Objectively speaking, it really was a rather... deranged ability. Yuri had gone and pointed that out all over again...
"The Goddess's tastes are quite peculiar..."
"That's blasphemy!"
"But..."
Stop, stop it!
"I-If you don’t like it, we can stop?"
"Ah, no, it's not that I dislike it! I was just saying!"
Yuri shouted, her face bright red.
This was embarrassing. The more I thought about it, the more embarrassing it became. Reni fidgeted awkwardly, while Yuri toyed needlessly with a magic stone, apparently just as uncomfortable.
"B-But this censer... what did you say again? It's not dangerous?"
While examining the censer from every angle, Yuri accidentally nudged something.
-Poof!
Pink smoke burst into the room, carrying a sweet scent.
"...Cough. Wh-what the..."
Th-This girl. She'd activated the censer!
"Nngh... wh-what is this... I feel weird..."
"Haah... Y-Yoo-jin..."
Wh-what? Why was my cock suddenly...
-Ding!
[Effect of 「Sarmane's Censer」: Status Effect 「Heat」 has activated.]
[Effect of 「Sarmane's Censer」: Status Effect 「Confusion」 has activated.]
[Time until status effect ends: 00:29:55]
"Kek."
What the hell was this?