Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Mother-Daughter Donburi Served Generously!
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Shieeeek!
The boss Tentacle Lizard's tentacles, now thrashing even more desperately, whipped toward me.
With no shield to protect me, I had no choice but to dodge.
I put extra force into my legs—more than usual—and leaped out of the attack's path.
Then, by putting even more distance between us, I made sure Kagura and Yume, who were behind me, entered the boss monster's line of sight.
Even as a monster, a boss monster had higher intelligence and survival instincts than the rest.
In this situation where it was being toyed with, the only way it could resolve things.
Or at least, it was the best chance it had to inflict some damage on the enemy.
-Kieeeek!
The boss Tentacle Lizard didn't miss the opening I'd created.
Two tentacles shot out at high speed, one toward Yume and the other toward Kagura.
"Yume! Kagura!"
I spun around and shouted urgently, hurling my katana at the tentacle heading for Yume.
Slash!
I'd infused it with mana and thrown it with all my strength, so the Tentacle Lizard's tentacle snapped off mid-lunge toward Yume.
But.
Whirrr!
"Ugh!"
"Kagura!"
The tentacle aimed at Kagura swiftly coiled around her and hoisted her into the air.
It was just like the tentacle restraint scene with Yume from the game, but the Kagura version.
The only difference was that these were boss monster tentacles, so they were even thicker.
"Chisaki! Eli! Hurry and finish it off!"
"Got it! Reverse Heaven!"
"Elemental Sting!"
Bzzzzt!
Whoooosh!
At my command, Chisaki and Eli immediately unleashed their skills on the boss monster.
"Number one!"
In the meantime, I drew my straight sword to replace the thrown katana and sliced through the tentacle wrapping Kagura.
Slash!
The timing of my cut synced perfectly with Eli and Chisaki's attacks, bringing the boss monster crashing down.
At the same time, the tentacle around Kagura dissolved into light and vanished.
"Kyaa!"
I swiftly caught Kagura in a princess carry as she plummeted from midair.
"You okay, Kagura?"
"Y-Yeah... Th-Thank you."
I asked with a worried look, and Kagura nodded, her face flushing red.
"Sorry. I should've been more careful."
"No, it's my fault for not dodging. Besides, thanks to Yume's shield, I'm not hurt anywhere."
"That's a relief."
I gently set Kagura down.
Kagura tried to stand on her own,
but.
"Huh?"
Her legs gave out, and I caught her before she fell.
"Wh-What's wrong...? Why...?"
"I heard Tentacle Lizard tentacles have a paralyzing effect. That's probably it."
In the game, Yume got tightly bound by the tentacles, got paralyzed, and couldn't move, so there was an event where you had to carry her on your back to return.
A brief brush was fine thanks to the shield's effect, but getting fully wrapped like that triggered it.
"Kagura! Are you okay?"
Yume rushed over to check on her.
Having witnessed Kagura get wrapped up from so close, she must have been pretty shocked.
"I-I'm fine. But my body's paralyzed, I think."
"Wh-What do we do?!"
"Resting for a bit should help. Can you move your arms, Kagura?"
"My arms? Yeah, a little..."
"Good enough. Hold on tight."
"Hold on tight to wha— Eep!?"
I hoisted Kagura onto my back.
This bountiful volume pressing against my back.
The soft, squishy sensation of these massive marshmallows, just a tad smaller than Ayame's, was pure bliss.
Something this great shouldn't just bless my upper back—the lower part deserved some love too.
"R-Rubelt! What are you doing?!"
"What does it look like? You can't move, so I can't just leave you. I'll carry you until the paralysis wears off."
"B-But...!"
Kagura's embarrassed voice came from behind me.
Her face was probably beet red right now.
"Huh? What's going on? Why are you carrying Kagura, priest?"
"The tentacle's paralysis effect has her unable to move right now."
"I see."
"Getting carried by Lord Rubelt... I'm so jealous!"
"We've taken down the boss, so let's head back. Kagura should get some healing just in case."
No one objected to my words.
Kagura, embarrassed, tried to find an excuse to get down but ended up silently accepting.
Yagitsune Kagura was anxious.
What she was anxious about was whether the pounding of her heart, going off right now as she rode on his back, could be heard through to Rubelt.
Kagura had relaxed, thinking the battle was nearly over, and while watching Rubelt, Eli, and Chisaki handle the boss monster, her mind had wandered to a recent worry.
The source of that worry was something weighing on her mother, Yagitsune Ayame, lately.
Her grateful, kind mother who had raised her alone was troubled.
Even when Kagura directly asked if something was wrong, Ayame just brushed it off and wouldn't tell her.
Ayame had never hidden anything from her daughter, so Kagura couldn't help but worry even more.
'What on earth is Mom worried about...?'
And while fretting over that.
"Yume! Kagura!"
"...!?"
Kagura failed to dodge the tentacle lunging at her, got wrapped up, paralyzed, and now she was being carried on Rubelt's back like this.
The shame of letting her guard down.
Rubelt's worried face as he caught her in his arms like a princess.
And now, this close contact while being piggybacked—all of it combined to make Kagura's heart race wildly.
'Please...! Please don't let him hear it...! Yorugitsune, please lend me your power...!'
Kagura prayed desperately that the sound of her heartbeat wouldn't reach Rubelt.
"Rubelt, am I... heavy?"
"Not at all. You're light as a feather."
"Eep...!"
Rubelt gentlemanly addressed her one point of insecurity.
Regretting having spoken up at all, Kagura felt her heartbeat quicken even more.
To Yagitsune Kagura, Rubelt was like a prince on a white horse.
The Yagitsune Shrine was on the brink of total ruin.
Life was growing harsher by the day, and if things continued, the shrine she'd grown up in might truly vanish.
At that moment of crisis, Rubelt had appeared.
He extended a helping hand under the guise of sponsorship.
At first, she was grateful but suspicious.
She even wondered if he had ulterior motives.
But Rubelt visited the shrine regularly to pay respects, brought gifts, and always acted with perfect decorum.
As she let her guard down, what remained was gratitude toward Rubelt and.
A fondness for the man who had saved her.
If anything, her affection grew day by day with time.
It didn't stop even knowing he was the heir to the Eldra family.
A sponsor and the sponsored.
The nation's top conglomerate heir and the daughter of a crumbling shrine.
Before she knew it, Kagura had immersed herself in romance manga and novels where their situations were similar, seeking vicarious satisfaction for her growing feelings.
To avoid guilt from stories too similar, she favored ones where the bad-boy conglomerate heir—unlike Rubelt—devised schemes to claim the body and heart of a poor woman.
Among them, Kagura's favorite scene was like this:
-Now you know your place, right?
-Y-You coward...!
-If you don't want your shop crushed, obey me nicely. Like this...!
-Kyaa! D-Don't! No...!
It started with rough, steamy scenes, but the woman gradually fell for the bad heir, who in turn loved her more deeply and softened up bit by bit. On days she read or watched such scenes, Kagura got so excited she'd stay up late, rereading the same part ten times over.
Knowing she could never be with Rubelt made her dive even deeper into that vicarious thrill.
And for Kagura, a situation had arisen that felt like shattering her distant dream.
Rubelt's fiancée, Eli Glassner, whom she'd seen at the entrance ceremony.
A total heiress type, perfectly matching Rubelt.
'Ah... Of course, he has a fiancée...'
She didn't show it outwardly,
but Kagura had thought the time had come to steel herself and cut off the budding feelings she'd harbored for years.
But.
During a casual café chat with the four girls, Kagura was shocked again and again.
After Rize called Rubelt a total womanizer, came the fact that he'd already been with not just Eli, but also his maid Rize.
The fact that Rubelt could embrace other women besides Eli and Rize.
And the fact that if a close friend like her or Yume seduced him with real intent, he'd fall for it.
It felt like her budding feelings weren't just pruned—they were bulldozed, then force-fed super illegal growth hormones.
That night, Kagura went home, dove under the covers, and let her imagination run wild.
Fantasies of seducing Rubelt and doing this and that with him.
Or Rubelt turning into the bad-boy type from her favorite genre, demanding her body in exchange for continued sponsorship, leading to this and that.
Finally, joining Rubelt's harem and living happily ever after.
The more she thought, the more her heart raced and her body heated up, so she overslept the next day.
And since she'd indulged in such fantasies, it didn't end after just one day.
Even yesterday, while worrying about Yagitsune Ayame, the moment bedtime came and she pulled up the covers, her mind naturally filled with various scenarios involving Rubelt.
And now, in the midst of such wildly complicated emotions, Kagura was.
Being piggybacked by Rubelt, the object of her affections.
In an outfit that was pretty revealing, even by her own standards.
'P-Please don't hear it! My heartbeat! Please...! But what is Rubelt thinking right now? M-My chest is pressing against him. If he's the lustful playboy they say, he'd love having my breasts against him... N-No! Rubelt's a gentleman! He wouldn't think like that in this situation...! B-But it might be nice if he did just a little... Eek! What am I even thinking at a time like this?!'
Pssshhh... Kagura's mind grew ever more chaotic, as if steam might pour out of her ears.