120. From Here On, It's DLC.
120. From Here On, It's DLC.
Let me tell you a simple story.
A very simple story, about a hero and a Demon King.
A hero who gave his all to slay the Demon King, and after he finally slew him—
What exactly was the right thing for the hero to do next?
Return to the kingdom?
Betrayal by his comrades?
Return to the modern world?
No.
None of those.
The hero who defeated the Demon King,
the heroes of the Athena Guild who subjugated the Queen Siren chose to...
"I'm dying....."
"Hooooooh.....!"
Rest.
No matter how divinely blessed they were, fatigue existed as a matter of course.
Especially since they hadn't simply been hunting monsters but had been trying to subjugate a boss monster—the fatigue and stress from that had to be beyond imagination.
To be honest, their hearts were burning with the desire to go straight home and rest, but a dungeon was a place where you couldn't relax your guard until you got outside.
If, in their exhaustion, they encountered the remaining Siren remnants and even one person collapsed, the loss would come right back as damage to the guild.
Avoiding avoidable risk was best. So everyone gathered in the safe room in front of the boss chamber to take their final rest before returning home.
"Well then... shall we get moving soon?"
While some lay down and slept,
and some relieved stress by talking with their comrades,
and some spent time gazing at their already-dead comrades—
I unfastened the bag on my back and rummaged through it.
"To be honest, it does feel a bit excessive, but..."
Still, if you're going to rest, it's best to rest properly.
I took out a cold-proof tarp from my bag, from my inventory, and spread it on the ground.
A wonderful thing that blocked the moisture and chill rising from the floor.
Next, I set up a tent on top of the tarp, went inside, laid down a bubble wrap hiking cushion, and spread a mat over that...
"....Kyah!"
Somehow it felt like the midterms all over again.
I took off my shoes inside the tent and sprawled out in a big starfish pose.
"Fuckin' amazing....."
Maybe because I was so exhausted, but just lying down made me feel sleep creeping in.
Anyway, they'd wake me when the time came, so I closed my eyes and tried to sleep—
"Why are you naturally lying down next to me?"
"? Not allowed?"
"No, it's not about allowed or not..."
At some point, Mai had lain down beside me.
Before, I would've just let it slide, but now, Mai's situation was different.
"...Could you, move away a bit?"
"At home we slept together. Why suddenly now?"
"No, it's..."
When we were at home, she was what you'd call a little girl.
Now, how should I put it—she had grown in more ways than one, and because of that, I couldn't keep my sanity.
No, more precisely, was it that my 'justification' for keeping my sanity had vanished?
'At least when she was a little girl, I brushed it off as common sense saying it was impossible...'
Now Mai had become a fully mature beauty.
The reason that she was a little girl, that I couldn't become a pedophile—I could no longer convince myself with those.
And the hopeless part didn't end there.
"If it's because of Cronus, no problem. Mai belongs completely to Big Brother now. Practically Big Brother's exclusive pet, right?"
"Ugh.....!"
Cronus's binding curse had vanished.
To be precise, through the contract with Cronus, Mai's authority had passed to me.
So I no longer needed to think she would disappear and distance my feelings.
Exactly as Mai said.
There was no longer any reason to reject Mai.
'But...'
Still, even so,
no matter what, a little,
humanly speaking, was this not a bit wrong.
Me, who already had Mars and Ur, reaching out for more—would that make me a trash bastard who'd crossed the line—yeah, it would, right?
"It's already too late, huh..."
Come to think of it, the situation was already well past too late.
I was already trash the moment I had embraced the two of them, but if I was going to maintain my principles, I should've kept them to the end.
I should have gone forward embracing only those two.
...But then why, when I opened my eyes, did I go and confess to Minerva?
"Big Brother promised Mai. When Mai was freed from Cronus and had a body Big Brother would like, he would take me into his arms."
"Grrrrgh.....!"
Past promises kept grabbing me by the ankles.
No, why had Cronus let go so readily in the first place?
Normally she was a bitch who ground her teeth, unable to devour me.
So why, seeing me with my brain half-broken from getting hit in the head, why had she backed off so obediently?
Ultimately, nothing was left but regret.
Mai gazed at me like that and quietly let out words.
"Mai knows. Big Brother is a coward."
"Hey?"
What was she suddenly saying?
I naturally looked at Mai to say something, but since what was right in front of me wasn't the little-girl Mai but the ultimate-awakened Mai, I averted my eyes again.
"But that's why I like it more. I like that."
"Huh...?!"
No, I tried to dodge.
But just as I tried, Mai immediately grabbed my cheeks with both hands and held me in place.
Mai's blue eyes stared at me, and she kept whispering to me.
"Because Big Brother sees Mai as Mai."
"Because Big Brother sees Mai as family."
"Because Big Brother tries to take responsibility for Mai."
"Uh... uuh, uh.... ah....?"
Mai drew closer bit by bit.
I could have dodged if I wanted to,
could have run if I wanted to,
"Ngh...... mmph....!"
but I couldn't dodge.
Couldn't run.
Our lips finally overlapped. What I saw under my hazy vision was Mai's gentle eyes.
Not her usual expressionless face,
but a soft gaze full of goodwill, love, and sincerity.
"──Jjo-ok."
A short kiss.
A brief distance opening between us.
Our gazes crossing without words.
"....Jjok...."
Once more, briefly.
"Jjooo-ok....."
This time, longer.
With our lips overlapping, she lightly sucked.
"Chooop..... Chureup......"
They didn't intertwine tongues.
Only the lips, and nothing further.
Naturally embracing each other in the narrowed distance.
"Tsuup.... Ngh...... Mngh....!!"
Finally, as if she couldn't endure it anymore, Mai pushed me away and raised her body.
"Mm..... Hoo.... Hooooo.....!"
Her wings trembled faintly.
Like she was trying to shake something off, she pressed strength into her lips and quivered.
At last, as if she had barely suppressed something, Mai looked down at me and spoke.
".....Big Brother."
"What."
"....Chrono, Big Brother."
"........."
That was, a little disconcerting.
"Chrono, Big Brother."
"........."
A faint pressure pressed against my heart.
"Chrono."
"..........."
"Chrono, Big Brother."
".....Why do you keep calling me?"
I wished she'd stop because it was bad for my heart.
Mai smiled slightly and approached me.
"Mai... right now, you know? Thinks she's really happy."
".........."
Today, unusually, Mai was showing her emotions.
Mai softly asked me.
"Big Brother.... are you happy?"
".....I'm just disconcerted."
"Liar."
"........."
"You lie with your mouth, but your body is honest, huh?"
"Ehei, really."
Where are you looking, seriously.
Ttak.
That's not something you should look at.
I deliberately lowered my waist to hide the awkward fold in my pants.
As if finding that sight quite funny, Mai kept leaking an affectionate smile toward me—ah-ah, no! Stop! Sexual harassment stop!
"Why?"
"Why, you ask..."
"Mai is now Big Brother's, right?"
".........."
And even though I kept saying declarations like that were bad for my heart,
when I eventually turned all the way onto my side to lie down, Mai lay behind me and hugged my back.
"Ugh...?!"
Two lumps of flesh touched my back.
Big, warm, with an unmistakable presence.
And between my sides, a slender arm stretched out, pulling me weakly but surely.
"Chrono.... Chrono, Big Brother..."
"........."
A ticklish voice sounded in my ear.
Mai kept holding me close, and at the same time, she covered my body with her wide, soft wings.
"Now... I can hold you..."
A soft voice.
Then Mai placed her hand on my head.
"Hi.... Hihit... ♬"
"....Honestly."
She stroked.
She started stroking my head.
Embracing me tightly, stroking my head, and feeling the wings covering my body tremble faintly—she must have been incredibly happy.
At least it seemed she wasn't going to do any more strange things, so I closed my eyes in relief—
"Big Brother."
"...Whaaaaaat."
"Mai is a Pegasus."
"I know."
"Pegasus has a mating season."
"..........."
Mating season, well, how should I put it,
if a character's got the beastkin attribute, they all have one, so I could let that slide.
But why, of all times, was she telling me now?
"Mai was small until now. A body that couldn't go into mating season. A body that couldn't carry a child, but now..."
".....Wait."
Mai's hand gradually went down.
"Now, Mai has a body that can carry a child. A mature body. An adult body. And right next to her, there's a 'male who wants to have a child'."
"Hey.... H-hey, heeey....!"
Her right hand burrowed inside my clothes.
Her left hand burrowed below my waistband.
"Mai thinks.... her 'mating season' has come."
"....That's not true, right?"
It couldn't be.
Couldn't be, right?
No matter what, surely...
....Ayy, it's a joke, right?
I prayed with all my strength that Mai would deny it.
And the result was...
"Big Brother.... you'll take responsibility, right? Mai's 'mating season'."
"Ah───!"
A spectacular failure.
The moment the soft sensation on the back of my neck made me realize I was literally about to be devoured—
['Trait: Enchanting Beauty' reverts to 'Trait: Wise Mother and Good Wife'.]
"Huh...?"
A status window appeared before my eyes.
And at the same time—
─Puh-eong!
The sound of something bursting.
"Kyaak....?!"
In an instant, Mai's body began to shrink.
".......Heueh?"
Her mature body turned back into the body of a little girl.
Her wings, which had been large enough to cover my whole body, were now small enough to barely cover her own.
As if she had returned to how she was back when she hadn't received strength from Athena, Mai blankly clenched and unclenched her hands and muttered.
"....Athena."
"..........."
The power given to Mai—
Athena seemed to have taken it back.
As an aside,
[Goddess Athena:....That was almost a bit dangerous.]
"Pardon?"
[Goddess Athena: It's nothing.]
Athena lightly breathed out and marveled at her own quick wits.
It had been a situation where her turn was almost stolen.
Though the child of Ares and the goddess of Muse had already established their positions, the third and fourth still had a clear difference.
[Goddess Athena: More importantly, Minerva, you must no longer hesitate.]
"......But..."
[Goddess Athena: The beauty you possess cannot be hidden by blood and dust. So be bold, and follow my words.]
"Even... so.... at the very least, I should wash my face before going—"
[Goddess Athena: A moment's hesitation can make an enormous difference.]
".......Yes, Athena."
Though she was a little uneasy,
still, since the Goddess had told her to be brave,
'Chrono....!'
Minerva decided to be brave.