Caught Wet-Handed
"Ugh, I'm so hungry..."
The moment I woke up, my entire body felt completely drained. I couldn't tell if it was from hunger or just sheer exhaustion.
Fuck, where am I...
I definitely met an elf yesterday, wandered around the forest for a while, arrived at a village, and... my memory cut out after that.
Did I black out from exhaustion, or did nothing else actually happen?
Still, just waking up in a normal bedroom instead of a prison cell was such a relief that my body went limp again.
"You fainted, so I thought you wouldn't wake up until tonight, but you're up early."
Right then, the door opened and someone walked in. It was the silver-haired elf who had greeted us yesterday.
How long do elves live again? Seven hundred years? Eight hundred? She looked like she was in her twenties or thirties by human standards.
Since human lifespans are around a hundred and seventy or eighty... wait...
"I'm still tired, but I guess my body just woke up out of habit. Um, by the way, where is Meria...?"
"She's still knocked out cold in the next room."
Silence.
"......"
"......"
Should I say something first?
I had a ton of questions, but asking about them without Meria felt rude. Plus, I had a feeling that if I asked now, I'd just have to repeat the whole conversation once she woke up.
After filtering out all those questions, I ended up not knowing what to ask at all.
I lay there, pretending to be exhausted and avoiding her gaze, but I could clearly feel the elf stealing glances at me. It made it impossible to relax.
"Are you hungry? It looks like you haven't had a proper meal in days."
"Actually, before eating... would it be okay if I washed up first?"
I hadn't been able to wash properly for weeks, and I'd been able to smell my own body odor for quite some time now.
Feeling this filthy, I wouldn't be able to focus on food or conversation anyway.
And since I'd lost my hair ornament, I felt doubly uncomfortable.
"Ah, let me show you the way. It happens to be right in front of us. I'm Milia, by the way."
"I'm Syaruen."
The village was larger than I expected, and there were more people than I'd thought.
Since humans were a rare sight here, and I was dressed in rags looking like a total beggar, I could feel the elves' eyes locking onto me.
Some stole quick glances, some pretended not to look while squinting out of the corners of their eyes, some stared openly, and some couldn't care less.
Without realizing it, I shrank behind Milia—who was shorter than me—and followed her with my head bowed like a criminal.
"Take your time washing up. Shall I have a meal prepared for you right away?"
"Ah... I'll eat with Meria."
For some reason, Milia looked at me with an anxious expression, opening her mouth to speak before scratching her head, repeating the cycle. Finally, she told me she would wait out here and guided me inside.
Have we met before or something?
"Phew..."
From my perspective, dealing with elves who notoriously dislike outsiders on our very first meeting was a bit overwhelming, but I wasn't in a position to be picky.
I was starving to death, but maybe because I knew my body couldn't die anyway, that problem felt trivial. Soaking in the warm bathwater made my time locked in the basement feel like a distant dream.
Though, speaking of which...
I hadn't paid attention while imprisoned, but looking now, the two small scars I had on my arm before the surgery were gone, and my skin felt strangely smoother.
Despite not eating or washing properly, once the dirt was gone, my skin was softer than ever before.
Seriously, was this immortality surgery or a cosmetic procedure?
Besides, even if they called it immortality, so far I'd only survived severed limbs, stab wounds, and starvation. I had no idea what would happen if I was burned to ashes, decapitated, suffocated, or had my heart pierced.
There was too much information to process right now. My mind was a jumbled mess of what to think about first, whether I even needed to think about it, or if I was forgetting something.
I had so much to ask Meria. I didn't know how to tear down that cathedral either. And I wondered if I should head back to town first.
For now, I decided to just enjoy this bathwater, which felt incredibly silky compared to normal water.
"Haa..."
But before I could fully appreciate the scenery or the water, the suppressed lust I'd forgotten about began to creep up on me.
I looked around. Reassured by the temple-like stone walls surrounding the bath, I slipped my fingers inside myself.
"Ngh... Ah, hngh..."
A faint, trembling moan escaped my lips.
If my libido could flare up even in that horrific dungeon, of course it would be raging now.
I'd always had a sex drive, so I couldn't tell if this was because of the succubus blood or just because it had been too long since I last masturbated...
Maybe because I'd chosen an open-air bath with a view of the sky, it felt like I was masturbating outdoors. I submerged my face up to my mouth in the water.
"Blub, bububub..."
Usually, just rubbing my clit or fingering myself was enough to satisfy me, but now even my breasts felt so sensitive that I couldn't bear it without squeezing one tightly with my free hand.
My breasts felt a bit larger than before, too.
Fuck, I hope I don't end up like this every single day.
Aren't succubi supposed to be perverts who drain other people's energy? What's the point if my own body is the one going into heat?
Unable to hold back any longer, I crawled out of the tub and began rubbing my cunt right on the floor, my toes curling as moans spilled from my throat.
Trying to muffle my voice with one hand meant I couldn't massage my breasts, which only made me crave it more. Even as I felt pathetic, the sheer desperation took over, and my fingers moved faster and faster.
"Hngh, ah... mmph...!"
I squeezed my eyes shut as a sudden wave of pleasure crashed over me. My entire body tensed up, curling inward before my legs stretched out straight as I climaxed.
"Excuse me... Oh."
As I slowly opened my eyes in the afterglow of the orgasm, my gaze locked right with Milia's. Mortified, I scrambled to get back into the tub, but my legs gave out, and I plunged headfirst into the water.
"Syaruen-san!"
"Pfft! I-I'm fine. What brings you..."
"I brought some things for you to wash with. Um, I don't mind that sort of thing at all, so please feel free to... I mean, that is..."
Fuuuuuck, I want to die...
Why did I have to masturbate just because I was horny? I could have at least done it inside the tub. Why did I crawl out like some dog in heat?
"Thank you..."
"I'm so sorry! I'll leave you to it!!"
Milia rushed out in a panic. But what annoyed me even more than the embarrassment of getting caught was that, in the brief moment I saw her, my eyes had locked onto her massive breasts, and now my horny, pathetic piece of shit that I am was already fingering my wet cunt again...
Reaching a second climax even faster than the first, I hurriedly washed my body and hair before stepping out into the changing room.
Milia flinched when our eyes met. I quickly threw on the clean clothes she handed me and bolted out of the bathhouse.
"......"
"......"
My skin was squeaky clean, the grease was gone from my hair, and my physical condition was at its absolute peak—but the atmosphere was at its absolute worst.
Earlier, I'd been too busy worrying about the elves' stares to notice, but now my eyes kept drifting toward Milia's chest.
Since I'd literally shown her a front-row view of me fingering my own pussy to a screaming climax in her bathhouse, the air was thick with awkwardness.
I feel like I'm going to suffocate.
"Ah, Syaruen!"
My savior appeared just as I was about to suffocate to death.
"Are you feeling okay? Are you still tired?"
"I'm fine! I was able to rest comfortably thanks to Milia. But are you okay, Syaruen? You're the one who went through the most."
I just shrugged. Meria told me she'd be right back and asked me to wait for her to eat, then dashed off.
"......"
"......"
...And the silence returned.
"She's quite energetic, isn't she? Is she twenty now? She still acts like a child despite her age. When Armeria's parents told me she was going on an adventure, I thought she'd grown up a bit, but..."
It was an obviously forced attempt to break the ice, but her awkward smile soon softened into a comfortable one.
"She can be a bit overwhelming, but thanks to her, it's never boring. It's not so bad."
"How did you two meet? She's so bright and naive, I was worried she'd get tricked by bad people or fall in with the wrong crowd."
Honestly, I'd thought the exact same thing at first. She was so innocent that I worried she'd get herself into serious trouble one day.
Which is exactly what happened, of course.
Judging by how they treated Meria here, if they heard about the cathedral incident, she'd get scolded to high heaven, and this might be her last journey.
"It was nothing special. It was my first time traveling too, and I just happened to run into Meria. She started following me around like a puppy, and we ended up staying together. It's been... about three or four months now?"
Since we'd been sleeping together from the very first day we met, wandering around before getting kidnapped, that timeline sounded about right.
"If you've been together that long, then I'm glad Armeria found a good person. To be honest... you looked a bit scary when I first saw you yesterday."
I'd been told I looked intimidating even with a blank face, so I could only imagine how terrifying I must have looked yesterday when I was completely exhausted.
"I get that a lot. My personality isn't exactly the most cheerful, either."
"You had absolutely no luggage and looked like you'd been sleeping on the streets for days. I was so shocked. Once I hear the full story, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."
I hope I don't get scolded along with her.
"We can talk about the details after we eat. If you need any help, just let me know."
If I wanted help, it would be to raid the cathedral immediately. But since two of their people died and we escaped, they wouldn't make any rash moves.
Even if nothing was going to happen right away, lives were still on the line, so speaking up now was technically the right thing to do. However, it was human business, and it didn't feel right to drag the elves into it.
I should at least ask for a sword and some basic supplies.
"And... would it be alright if we talked privately tonight?"
Milia looked up at me, a shy flush on her face.
What is with this atmosphere?
No way... right...?