A New Companion
So, what the hell was that?
Scrambling my brain, poking a hole in my stomach... Seriously, that thing was out of its fucking mind.
First, I peeled off my soaking wet panties, but...
How the hell do I get rid of this?
Leaving them somewhere was embarrassing enough, not to mention littering in a public space, but stuffing them into my bag felt incredibly gross.
"Ow, prick..."
In the end, I shoved them into my bag, pulled out a handkerchief, and pressed it against the hole in my stomach. The wound was bigger than I thought; the bleeding wouldn't stop.
My legs were covered in slick juices, my stomach was drenched in blood, and everything felt sticky and disgusting.
"Feels like my stomach just got its fucking hymen violently ruptured."
When I was traveling with Mirael, I never really had moments where I thought, Man, traveling alone must be a pain. But of course, this shit has to happen now.
A wound like this should heal in about an hour anyway. I just need to find a place to hide and rest for a bit.
Biting down on my shirt to keep my stomach exposed, I wrapped a bandage around my waist to at least stem the bleeding.
The faint outline of the eleven-line abs I'd worked so hard to get from swordsmanship was completely gone now.
"Fuh, focking thit... (Sigh, fucking piece of shit.)"
I should have studied more medical magic. I was too busy enthusiastically learning other things, so I barely remember any of it.
About thirty minutes later.
It wasn't that the monsters were spawning in massive numbers, but there were no safe zones nearby, so I ended up fighting way too many of them.
I didn't know if my internal organs were torn up or what, but it already hurt every time I moved. Putting strength into my swings made it feel like my stomach was literally ripping open.
Ah, I just want to lie down.
"Ugh..."
Just as I was about to take a brief breather—
"Snort!"
"Gack."
Something small but heavy slammed into me, and I went flying with a pathetic little yelp.
When pain surpasses a certain threshold, it actually prevents you from letting out a proper high-pitched scream.
I mean, it wasn't that getting rammed directly in my punctured stomach didn't hurt. It was just that I literally lacked the strength to scream.
Droharturik
"Are you... fucking... crazy..."
It was a four-legged beast I'd never seen before. Why the hell was something that massive in a place like this?
I guess my impression of it being "small" was just an illusion because it was low to the ground.
"*Cough.*"
When it hit me, I felt a sudden surge of visceral blood rushing up my throat, and now it finally spilled out.
I guess I should count myself lucky to only be this hurt after getting hit by a beast of that size.
"*Blegh...*"
Scratch that.
A torrent of blood, far greater than what had leaked from my stomach, gushed out like a running tap. My head throbbed, and a wave of dizziness washed over me as anemia set in.
Why the fuck can't these goddamn monsters just leave me alone?
Well, I guess it's a dungeon, so it's only natural.
Despite the agonizing pain, I watched the monster through a blur of tears and blood. Instead of pouncing on me, the creature bolted in the opposite direction.
"...Phew—*cough!*"
The rising blood didn't even give me a second to breathe a sigh of relief. The moment I tried, I hacked up another mouthful of red.
Was it a herbivore, or was it...
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
The sound of multiple beasts galloping echoed from a distance.
Fuck, it was running away from those things.
In my dazed state, I must have instinctively slipped through a door nearby. Fortunately, it led into an empty room.
It was a room divided down the middle by a partition.
*Thud!*
The thundering footsteps of the beasts passing by outside were clear. I pressed my ear against the door and waited until everything went quiet.
Haa...
I slid down against the door, collapsing onto the floor. Even then, the blood pooling in my mouth showed no signs of stopping.
I'd been so glad that my clothes hadn't gotten ruined while I was being violated, but I guess that didn't matter anymore.
"*Gurgle, glug...*"
The sound wasn't coming from the beasts outside, but from my own throat.
The rising blood choked my throat. Since I didn't have to worry about actually dying of blood loss anyway, I sat there and forced myself to cough it all up.
"*Hack...! Cough! Urgh!!*"
Blood sprayed from my mouth, staining my shirt, my pants, and the floor.
Forcing myself to vomit blood hurt like a bitch. Fuck.
Ah, what a waste of a perfectly good outfit...
I had a spare set, but this was the last outfit I'd bought from the elven village. I had no choice but to say goodbye to it.
Seriously, who the hell ruins two outfits in a single month?
I was already exhausted after my ordeal with the tentacles, and fighting off those monsters had drained the last of my energy. At least I'd found a place to rest...
"Ah...!"
I drifted back to consciousness, the lingering tension instantly jolting me awake. Realizing I had passed out in a safe zone, I leaned my back against the door again.
I must have kept bleeding while I was out; my chin was caked in dark, dried blood.
My clothes were so heavily soaked in blood that they still felt damp and unpleasant against my skin.
I opened and closed my mouth, stretching my jaw, and wiped the crusty blood off my chin with my hand.
What a wonderfully refreshing way to wake up.
"Nnnrgh..."
How long had I been out? A few hours? A few minutes? I couldn't tell, but I felt surprisingly refreshed as I stood up and stretched.
Was this thanks to my slime side, or my succubus side? When I fell to my death before, I woke up feeling perfectly fine the next day too. Back then, I just thought I got lucky because there weren't many scars.
By the way, this place must be incredibly deserted. I didn't know how long I was out, but I hadn't seen a single soul on my way here, and no one had stumbled upon me while I was unconscious.
*Thump, thump.*
...I shouldn't have thought that.
Sighing, I loosened up my body and opened the door, thoroughly annoyed.
"Aaaaah!"
"Kyaaaah!"
......!
Holy shit, you scared me!
Letting out a silent scream, I stared at the group: one guy and two girls.
Ah, is it because of the state I'm in?
......
......
Should I explain myself, or should I just walk past them?
"U-Um, are you alright?"
The one who cautiously spoke up first was the purple-haired girl.
I suppose anyone would be terrified seeing someone drenched in blood inside a dungeon like this.
It's not my blood.
I almost blurted out that excuse out of sheer laziness, but then I remembered my chin was literally caked in dried blood. That wouldn't fly.
"I'm fine. It's already healed, but I didn't have anything to wipe it with, so I just left it."
"Ah, I see..."
"Well, I'm fully rested, so I'll be on my way."
"Wait! If you don't mind, we can help you clean up. And... if it's not too much trouble, maybe we could travel together...?"
Normally, I would have refused out of sheer annoyance. But even though my body was fine, I was mentally exhausted after being violated twice, and my clothes were in such a state that meeting another group would definitely lead to a misunderstanding.
Ultimately, I had no choice but to accept. I quietly knelt down and let the girl wipe my face.
Whenever Mirael got drunk and threw up, I was always the one wiping her face. It felt strange to be on the receiving end for once.
"I'm Liriel. I'm twenty-two."
She was a girl with a purple ponytail.
"I'm Rania... I'm eighteen."
A girl with pink twintails, holding a staff.
"I'm Draian... eighteen."
A boy with short black hair, carrying a shield.
"Syaruen. I'm twenty-two."
Two girls, one guy.
Except for one, they were all younger than me.
"Rania and Draian were already traveling together, and I met them at a nearby adventurers' guild. Since all three of us are beginners, we've been stumbling our way through, even though it hasn't been too dangerous. We were hoping we could ask you to join us."
So that's why they were desperate enough to ask someone who looked like a bloody mess.
"I haven't been adventuring for very long either, so I don't know how much help I'll be. But if you don't mind that, sure."
It worked out perfectly for me since I was exhausted, but in situations like this, it's always better to act like you're doing them a favor.
"Rania and Draian are childhood friends. Though they deny it—hey, boy over there, turn around. No, go over to the other side. I need to wipe off the blood, do you mind if I help you take off your top?"
"I have a change of clothes."
I'd felt so refreshed the moment I woke up that I completely forgot I needed to change.
Rustle...
"Ah, no. Aquel?"
When the girl—well, Liriel—clasped her hands together, a small, blue, fox-like creature materialized.
A spirit.
"The blood will wash right out in a bit. For now, cover yourself with this."
Stripped down to my underwear, I wrapped myself in a blanket and watched the spirit wash my clothes.
I'd never taken the spiritology classes at the academy, so I was a complete novice, but this wasn't the first time I'd seen one.
Still, is it really okay to use a spirit just to wash clothes?
We split the safe zone with the partition, the girls on one side and the boy on the other, to rest.
"Anyway, Rania and Draian keep insisting they're just childhood friends and not dating, but seeing how he always looks out for her..."
"Ah, Liriel...!"
Rania's face flushed bright red.
The room was spacious, but it was still an enclosed space. I was pretty sure the guy on the other side could hear everything.
"Ah..."
"What's wrong?"
A sudden, sharp pain flared in my abdomen.
Did the wound from getting rammed earlier not heal properly?
But it didn't feel like that.
"Sya-Syaruen!"
"Kyaaaah!"
I was in agonizing pain, and now they were screaming. What now?
Liriel pointed at my stomach. I looked down and saw my abdomen writhing.
I had definitely seen this before.
The tentacles.
Don't tell me... what it did when it poked a hole in my stomach was...
My face contorted, my hands began to tremble, and my breathing grew shallow.
My body's healing ability was supposed to be top-tier. Why the hell wasn't it curing this?
"W-What did this to you? What should we... how do we..."
"Draian! H-Hurry! Ah, can I call him in? Hurry!!"
Liriel and Rania were completely pale, stammering in panic, looking far more terrified than me—the actual victim with a parasitic tentacle squirming inside her stomach.
Draian rushed over, flinched at the sight of me in my underwear, and quickly averted his eyes. But at Rania's frantic cries, he hesitantly shuffled closer.
"W-What's going on?"
I'm in fucking agony, and all three of you are being so goddamn loud.
Feeling the sickening sensation of tentacles squirming inside me, I pressed my forehead against the floor, took a deep breath, and collapsed onto my side.
"I was attacked by tentacles... I think they parasitized me. My stomach hurts like hell, so don't talk to me... Urgh...!"
Even lying on my side was painful.
Drenched in sweat, I rolled onto my back. As I tilted my head, my eyes caught sight of something.
"My sword... get me my sword..."
I snatched the sword that Draian hurriedly brought over, and—
Stab...!