The Priestess's Lewd Indulgence (3)
The Priestess's Lewd Indulgence (3)
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"There aren't any rooms?"
"No. Didn't say there aren't any rooms. There's just no double bed. Exactly two singles left."
The inn in Emils where I'd stayed before was bustling. A merchant caravan was passing through and they'd booked it as a group. Whatever, that wasn't the point. The problem was that the only rooms left were two singles.
"...May I take a look?"
"Follow me."
I followed the innkeeper and checked the rooms, but three people trying to sleep in one room would definitely be cramped. The bed was just barely big enough for one person to lie down and fill the whole thing. But...
"What about that room?"
"Ah, that room is under repair. A while ago, some blond, dark-skinned man smashed all the furnishings to pieces..."
The innkeeper trailed off, glanced around, then whispered in my ear.
"That man made an unbelievable mess of the room. He sprayed it everywhere... and whatever had made him so furious, he wrecked the bed and everything else. Just remembering the sight gave me chills. Yet when he left, he was gaunt as a skeleton. I had never seen anything like it. Just how much had he done...?"
"...I see. Then we'll take the two singles."
Gold Sun... So that was what had become of him. He reaped what he sowed. The next time we met, it would not end there.
"Now, the ladies come this way. The gentleman goes this way."
"..."
Damn. Before I could say anything, the innkeeper finished assigning the rooms. Tch. There was no helping it.
"Here. The luggage."
"Ah, thank you."
"What is that?"
"A dimensional pouch."
"A dimensional pouch? I'm seeing all kinds of odd things today. You an experienced adventurer, sir?"
"Weeell, something like that."
"Is that so. How much does that cost? My daughter's set on becoming an adventurer too. Looks pretty handy."
"W-well, I couldn't say. I got this from an acquaintance, so the price... I only know that it's quite expensive."
I'd dodged the question pretty vaguely, but luckily the innkeeper seemed to let it slide.
"This way."
"Ah, yes." "Nnneehh..."
Yuri followed the innkeeper in a half-asleep daze, while Reni followed with her eyes gleaming in alert interest.
Anyway, I hadn't expected her to ask about the dimensional pouch's price. I'd have to think about how to disguise an Awakened's abilities once we got to West Keep. It'd be trouble if a problem cropped up in the details. I'd have to think about the Holy Sword's origin, too. And give some thought to how I'd hide my identity.
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After washing up, I came down to the first floor for a meal, but the girls hadn't come down yet. Well, they were girls, so they'd take a while. With nothing else to do, I looked around and noticed a printed notice on the wall that hadn't been there before.
*** Looking For Someone ***
"..."
It was about searching for a wizard who'd vanished while supposedly conducting research in the area. His last contact had been from this inn. Find the wizard and contact the Magic Tower, or send him back, and there'd be a reward. But how could you find someone with just this? There were way too few clues.
"That won't do you any good."
"Huh?"
At some point, the innkeeper was right behind me.
"It's a quest notice posted by the caravan. Adventurers went out looking for him just a bit ago."
"Is that so?"
"They set off in the afternoon today, so they should be back by night."
They went to search based on this? How?
"You seem to know quite a bit."
"Ah. My daughter's an adventurer. She came home to rest for a bit and went out to take that quest. Said the wizard with her seemed to know where he was."
"I see..."
"Have you ever heard of the Lamia Clan? That's where my daughter got accepted this time..."
"..."
The innkeeper went on bragging about her daughter for quite a while. That middle-aged woman was a real chatterbox.
Anyway, Emils. Something about it rang a bell. Something had happened in Emils, but it was only an indirect reference, never from the main hero party's point of view.
"They say the clan's gotten pretty famous. Two of them got promoted to Platinum-class adventurers this time..."
The woman kept cutting off my train of thought. She'd said a caravan came in. Wasn't she busy?
"Yoo-jin. We're here."
"Ah. You're here? Then please get our meal ready. Beer, too."
They'd come at the perfect time. The tiresome innkeeper cut off her blathering and disappeared.
We took seats at an open table. The girls seemed to have washed briefly; their hair was still damp and their cheeks flushed, creating a strangely suggestive atmosphere.
Reni was wearing the same slightly baggy, shabby robe she used as everyday clothes, and Yuri was in a comfortable-looking t-shirt and somewhat tight-fitting pants.
Yeah, good choice. Revealing clothes only needed to be shown to me. Anyway, that Yuri was stretching again like she was stiff...
I was observing Yuri's armpit with a satisfied heart when Reni suddenly spoke.
"What were you looking at?"
"Ah, nothing."
"?"
Reni tilted her head. Fortunately, that didn't seem to be what she meant. When I briefly summarized the notice, Reni looked as though she understood.
"No, it says they're looking for someone. Some wizard lost contact, apparently. But there's nothing written here about where to go. How would you even find someone with this?"
"Hmm. Maybe he's in the Slime Dungeon?"
Yuri, who'd been deep in thought, suddenly spoke as if something had just occurred to her.
"Really? Why?"
"There's a Slime Dungeon near here apparently. And some wizard is doing some kind of research there, I heard?"
"How do you know that?"
"A few weeks ago, when I was on my way to West Keep, I stayed here and saw him. He bought a huge amount of food from this inn before leaving. Apparently, he said he would eat and sleep in front of the dungeon. Maybe he did not find it uncomfortable."
"Really?"
Wait. Something caught my attention. What did she just say?
"When did you go to West Keep?"
"...Why do you ask?"
"You went a few weeks ago? Does reporting on a Goblin Dungeon take that long? What exactly were you doing there that took so much time..."
"Ah! Beer! The beer's here! Here, cheers! Reni, you're not drinking?"
"Ah, I-I don't drink..."
...Forcibly changing the subject, huh. Anyway, she'd been there alone for weeks?
This girl had apparently played hard and eaten well there. Did she swipe some secret funds? If Yuri's dad came looking, might it have been for the money and not for Yuri?
"Oh! Yoo-jin, this is so cold!"
"...."
Yuri grinned and laughed with a ridiculous sound. To have that attitude while stretched out like that. Reni was diligently refilling Yuri's beer every time she emptied her glass. The two of them were having a great time...
Anyway, the Slime Dungeon of Emils. Something about it felt like I almost remembered, and also didn't.
"Yoo-jin, what are you thinking so hard about? Wanna go check out the Slime Dungeon?"
"Hmm..."
"But can we even hunt slimes?"
"What do you mean?"
Yuri took a sip of beer and went on.
"Well, slimes are troublesome in a lot of ways. They're not the kind of opponent swords or arrows work against. You just hit them and they recover right away. But our party doesn't have a wizard. Holy Fire? Seems like that might do something, but..."
Right... So slimes had physical resistance. I'd have to keep that in mind.
I was not the Hero. Those Hero bastards could supposedly split mountains with a single sword stroke, so resistances meant nothing to them, but I had no such power. Should I use Semen In, Can't Move? But what would I do with a slime familiar?
"Ah... u-um..."
Reni made a face that looked somehow regretful. She raised her hand as if she had something to say.
"What's up?"
"If I could learn offensive Holy Magic..."
"How would you learn that? Do you have to go back to Kate?"
"No, I wouldn't."
According to Reni's explanation, you could learn that kind of magic at places with a Church branch, like West Keep or Guardian's Fort. But you'd have to prove it was necessary. And...
"To learn dangerous magic, you need achievements."
Those achievements meant completing Church quests properly, going into dungeons to hunt monsters, and even making donations.
Right... That was a bit... mercenary.
"S-so... to learn offensive magic, I'd need to register as a free priest..."
Reni kept stealing glances at me, watching my reaction. She looked like she wanted to say it but was worried about what would happen if I refused.
"What's a free priest?"
"That's..."
Reni explained in a somewhat roundabout way.
Normally, priests received rotational assignments to various cities and villages or settled in one place. So they did not need that kind of offensive magic. True, in a peaceful village, where would a priest ever need to use such a thing? Their main work would just be counseling people and providing healing.
But free priests, who did not settle down, mostly wandered the world and worked alongside adventurers, and that required separate procedures.
Come to think of it, I'd told Kate I'd send her back. Of course, I had no intention of sending her back, and I'd confirmed Reni's true wishes in the Church basement. Still, I needed to address it.
"Reni. What's your status right now? Do you want to settle down like that?"
"I-I'm currently... in a form of long-term dispatch..."
Right... In that case...
"How about registering as a free priest once we reach West Keep? We'd have to anyway if we're staying together."
"...Yes!"
Reni beamed. She smiled brightly, as if that was the only thing she'd been waiting to hear.
"Th-then... once I learn offensive magic, things like slimes won't be a problem!"
"Whoa...!"
Reni chatted excitedly, and Yuri clapped for her. It was a picture-perfect little moment of happiness.
Anyway, the Slime Dungeon of Emils.
"..."
Right. Now I remembered. I had a rough idea of what was in there.
"There wasn't anything special in that dungeon. Nothing particularly dangerous, either. No people, just slimes."
The female warrior spat the words out as if disgusted. But their appearance was a little strange. For a place that supposedly had nothing dangerous... they looked hard to describe.
A warrior breathing heavily, a wizard holding her staff between her legs, and a priest walking on tiptoe with little flinches.
Well, they said it was fine, so there shouldn't be a problem.
The Hero thought so and went to bed. But that night...
"H-Hero? You asleep?"
=====================================
....
But he didn't write the smut scene then, either.
It was really a strange thing. How could you set up that kind of situation and still not write a sex scene? Because he was an idiot?
"Agh, hot!"
...Judging from the Goddess's behavior, it didn't seem as though she disliked lewd things. There had to be another reason. It was not merely that she couldn't write smut because she was a virgin. There was some reason she couldn't write those scenes...
Anyway, based on the circumstances alone, that Slime Dungeon had apparently been some kind of erotic trap. But then there was a wizard there? Then it probably had not turned into an erotic trap yet. In that case, there was no real need to go.
"Hey, guys. That Slime Dungeon, there's no need to..."
A very bizarre scene was unfolding before my eyes.
"He-here, please try some of this, too."
"Here. Say ahh. Ahh."
"Ugh.. a-ahh.. "
"Fufufu."
Reni was... Reni was fawning over Yuri!
Reni was making weird noises and feeding the drunk Yuri. The clumsy sight was funny, but that wasn't the point. The problem was Reni's attitude.
Reni's manner wasn't the nurturing care of a mother bird feeding a chick.
Judging by the intensity, the scene resembled foie gras production: a funnel forced down a goose's throat and feed pumped inside. Except Reni was giving Yuri almost nothing but alcohol! Yuri was happily gulping it down, though.
What on earth was this...
Yuri noticed my incredulous gaze and started mumbling.
"Yoo-jin is... I think he's a bit too much... nneuu..."
And now the arrow was pointing at me?
"How can... a person... when I-I say don't do that...!"
Th-this girl, what was she saying while drunk..!
"Sh-she's right. There are times when you go a bit too far. "
Reni backed her up. But she paid absolutely no attention to me, talking only while looking at Yuri. Why the hell?!
"At this rate, someday I might really n-not be able to get up."
"Totally... nneuu... scary.... scaarryy..."
"Yes. He's frightening."
"Scary... shcary.... nbhh...."
Yuri, spouting more ridiculous nonsense, passed out cold with those final words.
"..."
Seeing that, Reni's eyes flashed.