Sensory Blocking Magic (5)

"Nngh... stings a bit."

"What? Where?!"

"Ah, I had a sparring match during Applied Mana Basics."

"You what?!"

Yu-ra nearly jumped out of her skin. And when I told her who I'd gone up against, she looked even more stunned.

"W-with Annelise?"

"Yeah."

"A real brawl?"

"Yep. Here's the spoils."

"I haven't even done that with you yet, Nah-ho..."

"..."

This girl, I swear...

Anyway, I showed Yu-ra the sky-blue lock of Annelise's hair I'd grabbed on the way out. Trophy from my first real victory — I'd decided to keep it as a family heirloom.

"Whoa... with that hair color, yeah, that's definitely Annelise."

Yu-ra's eyes swept the cafeteria around us, hunting for someone who might be inside. Then they lit up like she'd found her mark, and she dropped into a lower stance. I tilted my chin up a little.

"Well?"

"...I can't really tell?"

"Her hair was ridiculously tough. Thick, too. Still — the girl who got it ripped out would know."

"True."

"Yu-ra-san, I saw it as well. Nah-ho-san's magnificent hair-ripping technique."

"Ah, so we have a witness!"

Anaru offered her testimony with quiet composure. Yu-ra clapped me on the shoulder, beaming with pride — and my body, no longer under Sensory Blocking Magic, registered a faint protest of pain.

"Nngh... yeah, yeah."

"That's our Nah-ho! I'm so proud of you!"

Anyway, that was that. Lim Yu-ra, Anaru, and I were having lunch together, the three of us — precious friends I'd made in less than a week since possessing this body. Eating, laughing, chatting like this... I was so, so happy.

I hope you'll stay by my side, no matter how I change.

Even if everyone else pointed fingers and called me vulgar, lewd, filthy — I just hoped these two wouldn't look at me with contempt. Holding onto that small hope, I finished my meal.

Next up was mana training. The only real difference was that Yu-ra and Anaru had taken the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seats on either side of me. Anaru on my right, Yu-ra on my left — I felt thoroughly reassured.

What's this...? The color changed?

As I sank into my inner self, I found mana glowing with a platinum light. The first time I'd seen it, my mana had definitely been blue. Come to think of it, it'd been like this during the sparring match earlier, too...

Why would it... wait. No way?

Saintess.

Now that I'd calmed down enough to actually think it through, there was only one thing that had changed, no matter how I looked at it. I had become a Saintess. The nature of my transformed mana was warmer and brighter than before — almost the way people compared the Holy God to the sun.

As if.

Sun, my ass. That bastard was every bit as filthy and perverted as Fatty.

Anyway, I had a lot to do. I needed to find the Hole, and I needed to deal with Fatty. First things first, though — after we ate, Yu-ra and I would take a walk around the academy entrance. There was stuff over that way. A checkpoint-looking thing, since it was the entrance. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Academy Commercial District for students and visitors. And beside that, a vast lawn for the occasional big event — an absurd stretch of grass, befitting the greatest academy on Earth.

Nngh... they're not making people mow all that by hand, right?

No way. There had to be a lawn-cutting spell. I shoved the grim image out of my head and kept up my Mana Respiration.

"Hoo... haah..."

Warm platinum mana filled my whole ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠body, circulating gently before flowing back out with my breath. Pure mana gathered in my heart; impurities were expelled. That was the essence of Mana Respiration.

"All right, that's it. Everyone, come back to yourselves!"

Apparently some people slipped into a trance and never came back. The various anecdotes Professor McDonagall pulled from her long teaching career were actually pretty fascinating.

I was putting away the mats and desks when the others came over.

"Nah-ho, did you eat something good?"

"...Huh?"

"Nah-ho-san, when you do Mana Respiration, you like, glow. Like, a lot."

"..."

Come to think of it, people had been glancing my way again. I'd figured it was the usual and let it go — but Anaru was twirling her hands around by way of explanation, so I must have lit up pretty bright.

"For real?"

"Yes, Nah-ho-san. It was like... you were a saint."

"Yeah. This soft dawn-light just radiating off you... I thought you were a holy knight or something."

Oh, come on. I was pulling aggro with Mana Respiration now? If this happened every time I used mana going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forward, I was going to have a headache...

It'll work itself out somehow...

I had enough to worry about already. Spending brainpower on something this small felt like a waste of perfectly good skull space.

We each showered in our own rooms, then gathered again. After dinner, we said our goodbyes once more.

"You've got something to do?"

"Yes, Yu-ra-san. I'm sorry. Next time, let's definitely take a walk together."

"Aww, fine. Next time for sure?"

"Of course. Well then, Yu-ra-san — go have fun with Nah-ho-san."

Anaru exchanged a furtive look with me and headed off. Off to dig up dirt on Fatty, probably. Those horn-rimmed glasses of hers put me in mind of a brat blasting away with a tranquilizer gun.

After seeing her off, we slipped out of the academy grounds. I linked my arm through Yu-ra's and spoke up.

"Right — Anaru. Doesn't her voice kind of echo?"

"A little? Maybe because her mouth is small."

"Yeah, maybe... but what's with you, Nah-ho? You're the one who suggested we go for a walk."

"Ah... I always said we should hang out in the evenings, and then I was the one who bailed first."

"Heh. So you do know."

Even this was actually because of my own business, if I was being honest. But I also just wanted to hang out with Yu-ra, who was always trying to help me.

"Yeah. Sorry, Yu-ra."

"Don't be. Our Nah-ho's got one of those faces that just screams 'trouble magnet.'"

"Ah..."

I couldn't even argue. How many times had a single day felt like a whole week? And I'd only been at the academy for four days.

"Come on, come on! First stop, cosmetics shopping for our Nah-ho!!"

"...Okay."

Just like that first day, Yu-ra locked her arm through mine and dragged me along in a whirlwind. Do I even have any money, though? That worry followed me all the way to Olive Ten.

A shop packed with affordable cosmetics aimed at students.

"Oh my, welcome~."

A clerk greeted us warmly, and we picked up a basket and started browsing. Then Yu-ra proceeded to dump things in like she was looting a dungeon. Sunscreen, foundation, mascara... uh. Hmm.

Ugh, what even is all this...

Just the stuff you put on your face — we'd already grabbed more than five items. I clung to my fading sanity and somehow made it to the end of the trip. Yu-ra, however, stared into the basket and voiced her discontent.

"Hmm... not enough."

"...This isn't?"

"You don't really wear makeup, do you, Nah-ho?"

"...No."

"Well, fair. Skin like this without even trying. So unfair."

"Auuugh... nooo—"

Yu-ra pinched my cheek and stretched it out. I clutched the stinging spot and glanced at the text that had just come in.

Okay. So the card worked, at least. I probably needed to sit down and actually go through this phone at some point.

By the time we finished shopping and stepped back outside, it was already eight.

"...Ah?"

And there, on the street, I spotted a bulk I knew and didn't know at the same time.

"What? Did you see someone?"

"...That security guard."

"Ah."

Thomas. Academy security. The bastard who'd tried to rape me. Wonder if he'd enlisted in the STD alumni club by now.

"Nah-ho. Want to follow him?"

"...What?"

Thomas was heading toward a corner of the commercial district with his neck craned forward like a turtle. Yu-ra tugged me along, pointing out that we'd come out for a walk anyway.

I am curious. But... something's off about that guy.

He wasn't quite the bulk I remembered. Then again, he'd been lunging at me from point-blank range at the time — maybe he'd just looked bigger.

Thomas pushed deeper and deeper into the alleys, and then, at some point, he vanished.

"Ah... he went this way— hup..."

"What? What is it— hk..."

Around the last corner he'd turned, a vivid red neon sign was glowing.

A simple red sign, lettered with just that.

"...That's one of those, right?"

"Looks like it...?"

No matter how you looked at it, that was an adult novelty shop. Not that it was strange — this was an academy that took in adults bound for the battlefield and trained them. If anything, the weird part was that this was an eroge and I hadn't even known a place like this existed in the game.

Proof the guy who made this is an idiot.

I threw a casual curse at the developer and waited. Before long Thomas came back out — and took off at a dead sprint, eyes bloodshot and everything...

"Uh... yeah. Looks like he's in a real hurry."

"No kidding."

"...Nah-ho."

"What?"

Two adult women's eyes met. Silently agreeing that changing out of our uniforms before coming out had been a great call, Yu-ra and I stepped inside.

And the first thing we saw was a notice board.

"Um..."

"W-well, if you get pregnant, that's one less combatant, right? I mean... you gain one later so it's a net positive, but..."

"Yu-ra, you don't have to make excuses."

What the hell did "you gain one later so it's a plus" even mean. I gave Yu-ra a light poke and headed further in.

A clerk who looked about our age gave us a cursory glance and left it at that.

Love the disinterest.

If this were a forum post I'd have slammed the upvote button. With that thought, I looked around. Right from the entrance, condoms of every type and contraceptive pills were on display. Sanitary pads, too.

...Does this body even get periods?

I mean... I was pregnant, so maybe not?

Haaah...

The fact that I was standing here worrying about this at all made me want to cry.

Then an excited voice drifted over.

"Oh... wow, ah... whoa... this, down there..."

What Yu-ra was staring at was an extra-extra-large dildo. She picked one up, turned it over, and held it against her lower belly. Even against her tall frame, the thing was outrageously huge.

"Whoa... would this even fit?"

"...Look at the label. It says it's for anal."

"A-anal?! That'd tear your ass right— mmpf..."

"Hey!"

I clapped a hand over Yu-ra's mouth in a panic. What was she being so loud and proud about, yelling that in here...

Anyway, we browsed the shop like a pair of girls who'd just discovered sex for the first time. Vibrating massagers I'd seen plenty of times before. Black beads you put in the ass. Nipple suckers, a piston machine — they had everything.

I guess that's modernity for you. They've got all kinds of stuff...

And then, all at once, a familiar and violently intense sensation hit me. A thrilling, ferocious pleasure of penetration I still couldn't get used to. I felt my panties soak through on the spot.

"Ahhk!?"

"...Nah-ho!"

I barely stayed on my feet, knees ready to buckle. I chanted in a rush.

I barely got the spell off before the Hole-pounding session that followed right on its heels. The electricity that had been climbing my spine felt like it discharged into the air. The sudden comfort between my legs was every bit the equal of sex itself.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Maybe because it was my first PE class today... my legs just went a little."

"Phew. Glad that's all it was."

Kind-hearted Yu-ra was at my side in an instant, and I leaned on her arm to stand — for about a second. Then the clerk's lazy voice drifted over.

"You can't use the products in here~."

"..."

"..."

A wave of mortification hit us both, and Yu-ra and I bolted out of the shop.

"Hoo... haah..."

Yu-ra caught her breath, then whispered, very small.

"...Want to come again next time?"

"..."

"...There was something I wanted to buy."

"...Yeah."

After that furtive little promise, I asked Yu-ra to wait a moment and closed my eyes. Someone, somewhere, was probably thrusting away at my Hole right this second. But I'd cast Sensory Blocking Magic, and I focused my mind with the clarity of still water.

Oh. The sensation's pretty strong.

Whether because we'd gotten closer to the Hole, it was far more intense than it had been in the classroom. And the direction it was coming from... was the direction Thomas had gone running.