The Wizard's Story (6)
The Wizard's Story (6)
#
Sivter had assigned me a Silver-tier adventurer. So that was why he'd been smirking when I said I was Iron-tier. The shameless pig.
My opponent was a brown-haired swordsman who looked seasoned at a glance.
Of course I couldn't take him on with Basic Swordsmanship. But I couldn't zap him with an electric shock the way I would a monster, either. Openly revealing a supernatural ability would obviously end badly.
In that case, my only option was... a little cheap, but I had to cheat.
I used my Invisible Hand to tug lightly at his arms and legs from time to time, disrupting his movements without letting him realize I was using a strange art.
"Hm...?"
He took the bait.
At the same time, I applied Pleasure at minimum output through my Invisible Hand, steadily stacking arousal on him.
Of course, I could only do it when the Silver-tier was fully focused on his sword strokes. If I did it openly, he'd obviously notice.
All I had to do was focus on defense. I waited like that, and when the right moment finally came...
"Th-this man is trying to rape me!!!!!!!!!"
"What?!"
This was how it went down.
"That bastard got hard looking at me!!!"
At my pointing finger, the Silver-tier glanced down between his own legs, and his whole body stiffened rigid.
I did feel bad, but I had no choice. Hiding all my various abilities while still winning—this was the best play.
"You, you shameless degenerate freak! You came at me planning to screw me, didn't you?!"
"N-no, I..."
"Shut it! No wonder you kept staring at me with those greasy eyes every time!"
"N-no, that's not— I'm telling you..."
"Make that dick go down before you talk!!!"
Even at that moment, my Invisible Hand was still applying Pleasure, so there was no chance of his erection subsiding.
Sivter and the rest of the onlookers had their mouths hanging open. But the most shocked seemed to be the Silver-tier himself. His face was going pale with horror...
Right, you must have been more shocked than anyone. You'd turned gay without even realizing it. Horrifying. I knew because Reni had done it to me before.
"Sivter! What is the meaning of this?! Answer me!"
At my shout, the Silver-tier broke out in a cold sweat, face ashen.
"N-no, no! Th-this is—!"
With his attention completely fixed on Sivter, the Silver Tier stammered in confusion. Now was my chance!
"Like hell it's nothing!"
'I'm sorry!'
Seizing the opening while he was rattled, I drove a Sex Warrior Kick straight into his groin!
-Thwack.
"Kuhhnk?!"
The Silver-tier seized his crotch and collapsed facedown right there. Good. Now I just had to scram before the situation got sorted out.
"Sivter! The bout is settled!"
I shouted it out toward everyone present, like a declaration.
"Keep your word, Sivter! If you refuse, I'll file a formal complaint that you ordered this man to rape me!"
"Wh-what?!"
Naturally, I had absolutely zero intention of reporting anything. I'd only thrown out the bluff to fluster him. While Sivter was stammering, I snatched Ariel by the wrist and bolted right out—
"Ah. I won, so I'll be taking this too."
Before running, I swiped the coin purse the maid had conspicuously set on the tray, then hurried out of the mansion with Ariel in quick strides.
Behind us were a dazed-looking Sivter, murmuring maids, and the Silver-tier, twitching with his ass pointed at the sky.
I wondered whether he had accepted my heartfelt apology. I hoped so.
#
"Hold. This way."
The moment we'd escaped Sivter's mansion, Ariel guided me into an alley. She kept looking around as she walked, as if she was wary of being followed. But honestly, fretting about other people while wearing a pointy hat like that was kind of ridiculous.
We picked our way through narrow lanes for a while, and at last caught our breath in a dead-end alley.
"I am in your debt. Thanks to you, I was able to slip away from that man."
"Well, sure. But..."
"It has grown late."
What?
"I apologize, but would you return for now? We can speak in detail tomorrow, in the dungeon."
"..."
I was a little incredulous. We hadn't even finished what we were talking about. I still wanted to know why she'd grabbed my offer to team up so readily, and I needed to know why she'd summon the ice spirit Naias and wreak havoc in a hot-spring city up north. Granted, that was something she'd do in the future, but surely she wouldn't flip out and go on a rampage just because she felt like it one day.
Maybe she read my expression, because Ariel's face turned slightly apologetic.
"Did you not say you were going to the dungeon? I will be at the dungeon entrance tomorrow morning. Too many ears here."
...Did I say I was going to a dungeon with her? Ah, I did toss out something like that while bullshitting my way through that situation with Sivter earlier....
"No, I am going, but I don't even know what you can do... we need to work out the details..."
"You are not very bold for a man. Such details can be handled in the field."
"..."
What was with this? Her tone was weird, too. Was she not right in the head?
"You need not see me back. Until then."
Ariel looked at my incredulous face, said her one-sided goodbye, and simply turned around.
...Something, something about just letting her go left me unsettled. It felt a bit like I'd been used. I needed to find out why she'd cause that huge mess later, and walking away now with nothing to show for it stung a little.
I immediately activated Silence and tailed Ariel. Whenever she flinched and glanced behind her, I hid myself completely, but never worried about losing her—the minimap showed me everything.
Following her like that, I arrived at an old mansion. Ariel opened a rusted iron gate and vanished inside. Was this where that pint-sized elf lived?
"Hm..."
So this was where she lived.
Ariel's mansion was quite dilapidated. A half-broken, rusted iron gate. Beyond it, a garden choked with weeds. And covered in ivy vines. If just one window were broken, you could believe ghosts lived there.
An obvious cliché came to mind. An elf sold off to pay a debt to a pig.
No wonder she'd told me not to follow. It figured. Honestly, with this kind of atmosphere, plain water instead of tea wouldn't have surprised me at all.
I took one more look at Ariel's mansion, imprinting it into memory, then turned my steps away.
#
I headed toward the Church to meet Reni.
I still had time until evening, so while I did want to meet and jump straight to sex!... there were things we genuinely needed to talk about. Though, talking while having sex was an option, too. But Reni... hm... once she got fired up, if you tried to talk, she'd obviously get whiny.
First, what had happened when I met Sivter today. Even though I could swear I was not a pedo, my dick had reacted on its own. Something similar had happened before. That Goblin Fucker.
But my dick hadn't reacted to the Bone Fucker in Riverbridge. There was one difference between then and now.
The presence or absence of 「Respect for All Tastes」.
What if Respect for All Tastes had been given to me as a kind of radar for perverts with bizarre fetishes? But... what was I supposed to do about that? Suppose my dick got hard over a Wood Fucker. I could not kill someone merely because he was a Wood Fucker, could I?
I needed to think more about this trait.
And the Goddess. I had to meet the Goddess.
It hadn't been my imagination that the Goddess's interference with me had dropped off lately. For example—
'This damn Godd—'
"Agh, hot!"
Like that. Static still zapped me if I cursed the Goddess. But...
'This Goddess damn! Goddess damn! Mother-in-law!'
If I just swapped words around a little like that, the penalty didn't trigger.
When I'd first arrived in the other world, the Goddess had been zapping me with lightning over every petty nitpick. The way I could now evade it, almost like getting around a banned word filter... don't tell me!
D-did the Goddess get so lazy that she was running a macro now?!
I'd thought we were communicating, even if limitedly. Had she just gotten sick of it? Or was there some reason she couldn't communicate? Wait. If that were the case...
[Specialized Skill Proposal Form]
[Skill Name: Goddess-Descent Sex]
[Skill Effect: The Goddess descends during sex with a Saintess.]
[Skill Intent: Wouldn't you like to meet me sometime?]
[Would you like to submit?]
[▶Yes / No]
[Under Review...]
...
[Under Review...]
...A skill proposal had never taken this long before.
Even by the time I left the wealthy residential district, the skill proposal was still stuck on review. I had no idea if something had happened to the Goddess or if she'd decided to leave me on my own now.
Neither option was particularly welcome. If the Goddess stayed unresponsive, using the system might become an issue...
"Ah, Yoo-jin!"
"Hm?"
Reni was walking straight toward me from up ahead. Wasn't the Church still a fair distance away? Why was she here?
Reni came trotting over to me and latched right onto my arm as if it were her designated spot. Only then did she speak.
"Didn't you say you had business at the Magic Tower? Why are you over here...?"
"Something came up. It's a little complicated to explain..."
"Ah, right! Come this way!"
"Huh?"
I didn't know why people kept dragging me around today. Where was my agency?!
"What is it?"
"There's something I want to show you!"
Saying that, Reni led me to the Church. Once we arrived, she did unlink her arm out of embarrassment, but she still held onto my sleeve and tugged me around. The place she took me was the top of the tall, massive spire at the Church. Several other people who looked like tourists were there besides me.
"It's about to start."
"What is?"
"Look over there."
Where Reni pointed were the moon and its satellites. The pale face of the moon visible beyond the dusky twilight glow... and that necklace with a rather ominous legend attached to it. Supposedly proof of having subjugated the Demon God?
"What about it..."
"Shh. Now."
Reni pressed close to me, her eyes sparkling. Following her lead, I quietly watched the moon...
The moon's satellites began to glow.
The satellites formed lines of light linking one to another, and soon that light converged into a single beam that shot up somewhere into space.
It was a breathtaking sight. If launching a rocket into space was a human miracle, this was nothing less than a divine miracle. Seeing a phenomenon on this grand a scale, I could truly feel the caliber of a godly existence.
'The Goddess really is a cut above, even in decline—'
"Agh, hot!"
"Yoo-jin?"
"Ah, no. It's nothing. That really is amazing. But what is it?"
At that, Reni set her fists on her hips with a "hmph" and started showing off again.
"That is the Goddess extinguishing the Demon God's authority. She cannot simply leave a being of equal standing unchecked. Do you understand a little of the Goddess's greatness now, Yoo-jin?"
"...Ah, sure."
It was an impressive feat, but the way the Goddess and her priestess both acted so high-and-mighty only cheapened the dignity.
-Ding!
[The 「Goddess-Descent Sex」 skill has been rejected.]
[Rejection Reason: Conditions not met.]
The review had finally finished. But the reason given was a little peculiar.
Usually, rejection reasons were things like: not sexually relevant, something she hadn't seen before, or blatantly overbalanced.
But this said... conditions? Did that mean it was possible if the conditions were met? Then what were the conditions? Right, that reminded me—there was something I'd meant to talk to Reni about, regarding meeting the Goddess.
"Re—"
"Nnng... mm..."
An abrupt moan. But it didn't come from Reni.
Reni's face was flushed bright crimson. I looked around... every couple was glued to each other! Did they think that spectacle was romantic? I mean, it was magnificent, but! N-no wonder Reni's breathing was turning a little sweet... h-here of all places was not okay.
"L-let's go down, first!"
"Ah..."
Hearing her let out a slightly wistful little noise, I grabbed Reni's arm and quickly descended the stairs.
...
"A way to meet the Goddess?"
Reni frowned. Her objection came right out.
"The Goddess does not..."
"Yeah. I'm sick of hearing that. You said she doesn't intervene directly in her creations that way, right? But she applies it differently to me. Isn't there some way?"
At that, Reni furrowed her brow and rolled her eyes around. She shouldn't do that—it'd give her wrinkles. I should think up a skill for skin care. Maybe combine it with a massage while I was at it. Lately I'd been doing nothing but sex and felt like I'd been slacking on massages. If I gave them a legitimate-sounding excuse, the girls couldn't exactly refuse, either...
"...I'll look into the Church's records on heroes. But it's a very old matter, so I'm not sure how much..."
"That's fine. A lead is all I need."
"...No! I'll definitely find something! Starting now!"
Reni was suddenly brimming with motivation, as if she'd just thought of something. But...
"Starting now?"
"It's not my turn today, anyway..."
"R-right. Just don't stay out too late. I have to go to the dungeon tomorrow. I've got something to do with a wizard I met at the Magic Tower."
"Okay..."
Staring down at the ground, Reni wilted a little. Maybe I should've just done it earlier after all...?
"Then maybe just for a bit..."
"......What are you saying inside the Church?!"
With that, Reni blushed and disappeared somewhere. To think she'd say that. You'd hesitated too.
Feeling a bit incredulous, I set off back toward the inn.