The Wise Sheep Is My Friend (1)
#138
"...What do I do now?"
A belated wave of regret for what had already been spilled washed over me.
Seriously, seriously, what was I supposed to do?
First of all, I couldn't just leave Lily in this state...
『Unique Magic—Equivalent Exchange』
『Purification—淨化』
Saaaa——
I honestly didn't know how many times I'd cast this damn purification spell in a single day. What was I, some kind of janitor?
Anyway.
The top priority—no, the only priority in the current situation—was strictly the following.
『Fix Lily's busted asshole before she comes to.』
Why was this important?
Setting aside that I couldn't leave her in this state for long, the moment she woke up... the moment she woke up...
Things probably weren't going to end well.
At the very least, being half-dead was practically guaranteed. I'd never experienced her fury head-on—
But everyone's had moments like that, haven't they?
Like speaking to an unfamiliar classmate for the first time at school, or kicking a soccer ball into the wrong place and shattering someone's window.
Even without firsthand experience, the results were vividly clear in my mind's eye.
Lily's wrecked asshole would almost certainly produce consequences far beyond that.
I was not suicidal, thank you very much!
So, the options I could take here were—
Probably something along these lines?
1. Find a diaper somewhere in this ruined world and present it to her.
2. Just wait until Lily wakes up, and honestly tell her that her asshole is fucked.
3. Try to fix it with my unique magic.
4. Ask someone for help.
First off, options 1 and 2 were rejected.
Option 1 went without saying, and option 2 might not actually be so bad—but why was that? Hadn't Lily told me, when they were fucking upstream on the Letherion River, that she'd learned from her mother, Countess Sione Rosenheim, how to make a medicine for fixing a loosened shithole?
Maybe she'd wake up and make the medicine herself.
The problem was, I simply didn't want to tell Lily. The reason? It was the same as what I'd thought earlier, so I'd skip it.
Everyone's time was precious, after all.
Anyway, that left options 3 or 4...
Each had its pros and cons, you could say.
First, healing Lily myself with my unique magic, Equivalent Exchange, would be the best option of all—if it were possible.
The only question was whether it was possible.
If I went with option 4, asking someone for help...
The candidates I could turn to immediately were Rubel, Estelle, and Lucien.
Ha. Either way, it was going to lead to an outcome that wouldn't be easy. And did I know what the worst-case scenario was? For instance, suppose I asked Lucien for help.
After somehow enduring the ordeal of explaining everything, Lucien might attempt treatment, only to conclude, "I-I don't think I can do it with my powers... M-Mister Do-yun... sh-should I ask Estelle or Sister Rubel for help?" If that happened, I'd be completely screwed.
The moment of choice—
The time granted to me wasn't exactly generous.
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#139
In the end, the choice I'd made was to ask someone else for help.
And that someone was Estelle.
I trudged down the forest path leading to the cave, muttering to myself.
"If I mess with Lily's body for no good reason and something goes wrong, that's big trouble..."
Asking Estelle for help was arguably the most hopeful option among those I could have chosen.
Why?
I absolutely could not tell Lucien.
Things were already awkward between them because of Lily. And I was supposed to show her the state of Lily's ass now?
That might genuinely bring about the ruin of their relationship. Lucien might never want to associate with me again.
Confessing to Rubel was truly the last thing I wanted to do.
But Estelle... what about Estelle?
Trudge— trudge.
True, Estelle already had the dark history of catching me having sex with Lucien, but in a way, that very point made her the easiest person to confide this secret to.
I was already terrified of the way Estelle would look at me as if I were pathetic, but she was someone who would sigh and still do her best to resolve the situation.
Furthermore, among the three of them, her unique magic was the most versatile, so the possibility of a cure was also high.
After walking in solitary anguish like that, the familiar sight of the campsite began to reveal itself before my eyes.
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When I arrived at the campsite, the first sight to meet my eyes was Rubel and Estelle sitting on a tree stump in front of the tent, chatting away.
Estelle, wearing what looked like a pajama-like shirt she must have brought from somewhere—a shirt so large it completed a no-pants look—was chattering, while Rubel wore clothes not much different from the mage's traditional garb I'd seen the previous day.
The first to notice me walking up and speak to me was Rubel Valenor.
"Subject 601— No, Ha Do-yun."
"Good morning."
Though it felt a little too early to call it morning.
The blonde girl next to Rubel tilted her head and asked me,
"Mister Do-yun, where did you go? You weren't there when I woke up, so I was looking for you for a while."
"I'm sorry. Did you happen to see the note Lily left? I went out for a bit, following after Lily as well."
"Sigh... Please, refrain from such impulsive actions. What would you have done if you strayed beyond the range of my stealth magic and were ambushed by an enemy?"
Judging by Lily's free-spirited movements, there probably weren't any enemies nearby... but I couldn't exactly say that.
As my lips quivered for a moment, Rubel, for some reason, took my side and retorted.
"Well... I think it's possible."
"What do you mean, possible... do you realize how dangerous this action is—"
"Estelle... don't be too hard on him. Everyone feels stifled and depressed sometimes..."
Why are you acting so unlike yourself?
"This man must have had a hard time too. I heard he's been through a lot. Just, from now on, I wish you'd at least tell Estelle before you do something like that."
Looking at Rubel's red eyes, I felt a sense of unknown trust directed at me.
Ah. Did her personality soften because I'd agreed to go rescue her mother? The way she seemed to be subtly watching my reaction, her frame trembling slightly.
She probably didn't realize it, but she was a woman whose inner thoughts were fairly easy to read. She was worried I might call off the Risie Valenor conquest if she rubbed me the wrong way there.
But that wasn't what was important right now...
I briefly agonized over how to separate the two of them so I could talk to Estelle about Lily, and in the end, decided to just come out and say I had something I wanted to consult about. Because I was short on time!
"Um, Lady Estelle."
"Yes?"
I felt the sensation of her golden eyes staring up at me as if they could see right through me.
"Well... I have something urgent I'd like to discuss with you."
"What is it? Please, speak freely."
"Ah, that is— I'm sorry to Lady Rubel, but I'd like to talk with just the two of us. This is quite a personal matter... so I'd like to consult with you."
"Mm... Sister, is it alright if I go talk with Mister Do-yun for a moment?"
Rubel, perhaps worried this was about giving up on Risie, looked momentarily flustered— then, as if steadying her heart, opened her mouth.
"S-sure. You two go ahead. I'll prepare some food or something! You haven't even had a proper meal up until now, right? I'll be making breakfast, so you two go on!"
It was truly pitiful how she tried to force herself to sound cheerful and volunteer as a kitchen maid... but I was sorry, Rubel. It wasn't that kind of serious talk. It was about Lily's torn asshole... I was really sorry.
"Then, Sister. Excuse us for a bit. Let's go, Mister Do-yun."
With that, I withdrew to a corner quite far from the campsite with the blonde girl and began the conversation.
Seeing Rubel far off in the distance, diligently kindling a fire with magic, this distance was probably safe for laying bare this dark truth.
"Lady Estelle."
"Yes, tell me. I don't know what grand consultation you want to have at this early hour..."
Ah—shit. My mouth wouldn't move.
"That... is Lady Lucien asleep?"
"Lucien's asleep. She's always been a heavy sleeper. After the expedition of the past few days, it doesn't look like she'll be getting up at all. Why, are you planning to make a move on Lucien too?"
She glared at me, her radiant golden eyes gleaming.
No, it wasn't like that...
"Wake up— I still haven't come to terms with what I saw last time—"
"It's about Lily."
"Lily?"
She looked up at me, as if taken aback.
"Yes, Lily. There's been a bit of a problem regarding Lily's... personal state."
"Hmm... Let's hear what kind of problem it is. If it's something I can help with, I'll help."
Ah— I had no choice now. I was going to say it.
"So... I had intercourse with Lily..."
"............"
"And a bit of a problem occurred... Lily's back— no, her anus is a little..."
"........."
With every word I forced out of my mouth, I felt her gaze cool and settle in real time.
"Ah. Not a little— it tore very, very badly. So I was wondering if you could perhaps help with the treatment."
Honestly, what could I do...
".................."
A look of contempt.
Her gaze, which had once seemed as warm as a radiant sunset, had already set, and only a stare that felt colder than an arctic glacier cut into me.
Breaking the brief silence, Estelle opened her mouth.
"Mister Do-yun."
"Yes?"
"Haa... I don't care who Mister Do-yun does what with. But isn't this going too far? It was only the night before last that you made love to my friend!!"
"...... I'm sorry."
"I don't need apologies from a worst-case man like you. Hoo... So, what about Lily's anus?"
"I think it's torn..."
"Doing what?"
Ah, you just heard it, why are you like this, seriously.
"As I said... that... we were having anal intercourse."
Slaaap—!!!!!
Ah.
They did say that short women have heavy hands.
As expected, old sayings are never wrong.