54. Can a Non-Virgin Become the Legal Wife?
54. Can a Non-Virgin Become the Legal Wife?
Now, there was this one girl.
An overall red, fiery girl.
She was just like fire. A fiery personality and fiery actions.
Because of that, many people tried to get close to her, but ended up burning their hands and drifting away.
The girl was lonely.
She always burned herself to shine a light, but there was no one to stand beside that light.
Then, one day,
A boy came to her side and stayed with her.
The girl felt attracted to him and approached, while he felt burdened by her and drew away.
An ambiguous distance. An ambiguous relationship. That, rather, became a boon for the girl.
Because a blazing flame, if you just keep the right distance, can become a comforting flame that gently melts a frozen heart.
And so, the boy and the girl approached each other, learned from each other, and became not a 'boy and a girl' but a 'female and a male'... no, not that, 'a man and a woman.'
They became proper adults.
Up to here, it was all a very good thing, but...
...Regrettably, that bitch—I mean, that 'woman' still had the 'girl' that was herself remaining.
The girl wanted to hold onto the man.
She wanted him by her side forever.
She wanted to keep holding onto him, have him sit beside her, and burn together with him for all eternity.
Even if that meant burning the man up as well.
——Therefore, she would dare to say it.
"The basic condition for a harem is the 'Harem Legalization Sign' stamped by the Primary Partner!"
"...So, why did you follow me, huh?"
I asked Ur.
Did she even know where I was coming, to dare follow me?
A slight misstep could cause serious trouble, yet here she was, leisurely taking time off to follow me.
As I stared at Ur, dumbfounded by her execution ability, she puffed up her cheeks and interrogated me right back.
"Lately, I haven't been feeling any 'affection' in the way you treat me."
"Huh? Since when?"
Didn't I spend time with Ur every week?
Granted, seeing each other once or twice a week might feel a little lacking, but at least during those times, I remembered sharing love more passionately than anything else.
'Ur seemed satisfied too...'
Why was she suddenly trying to take up more screen time—no, anyway, why did she suddenly show up?
"...I came to save you if Chrono gets into danger."
"Huh?"
Ur's voice trembled.
She soon honestly revealed her true feelings.
"Actually, the [Harp] I gave you is connected to me, so I can observe everything Chrono does. But when you suddenly said you were going to the dungeon alone today... I thought it might be dangerous, so I followed... you..."
"....You're saying, this is connected to you, Ur?"
I pulled out the harp and asked.
At this, Ur nodded.
"Actually, when you play the harp, it even gets transmitted to me in real time...!"
"....Why would you give me something like that?"
"But...!"
Because if I didn't do at least this...
I wouldn't be able to listen to the music Chrono plays, live in real time...!
"Uh, Ur. This might sound a bit harsh, but... are you crazy?"
"Yes! I'm crazy! A slave to Chrono! A prisoner of your performance! I, I can spread open my mouth, my bottom, my back hole, whatever, whenever Chrono wants it!"
"..............."
Come to think of it,
In NTR Academy, non-virgins appeared occasionally too.
Prime examples were the succubus appearing in Mars's upcoming summer quest, the Siren appearing in Minerva's summer quest, or otherwise——Ur, who appeared as an Easter egg.
'She was a non-virgin, wasn't she...'
Rather, as an experienced older sister, the rodeo she pulled off on top of my waist had left a lasting impression.
So, looking at it that way, Ur didn't like me as much as she liked my performance...
"...I'll ask you for a favor later."
"As expected of Chrono! True artists must always be free♪"
Ur smiled brightly and gently caressed the outside of my pants.
I wished she'd be a little more careful since we were still on the bus.
"So, let's be a little more free, shall we♪"
"Whoa...?!"
Soon after, a subtly suggestive rubbing sound spread through the bus.
Fortunately, there weren't many people on the bus.
****************
Cave Ants.
Literally, ants that live in caves, monsters mainly inhabiting mountains with flowing rivers.
The difference from ordinary ants was that they were disgustingly large, and since they dug their own caves, they often caught people to use as nutritional supplements, causing all sorts of trouble for the big folks in the construction industry, or something.
Most of all, the worst part was that they never ended no matter how many you killed.
Unless you defeated the boss inside the nest, the 'Ant Queen,' the subjugation would never end.
"There's no place like this for proficiency grinding."
Of course, the request would be processed as a failure since I couldn't return to the academy, but the key was discovering the location and being dispatched.
Right now, was my ranking the issue? It was proficiency that mattered.
And it wasn't all downsides either.
For one, the money earned through byproducts while grinding proficiency was quite decent.
At least in the early game, I could FLEX most things. Actually, I didn't even need to do that since money wasn't an issue thanks to Ur——but I'd never heard of anyone having problems because they had too much money.
"Anyway, there sure are a lot of people..."
With monsters spawning continuously, this must be a gold mine for skilled individuals.
And probably——among them, there were NTR extras too.
"Ugh."
If you got wiped out fighting the ants, nearby NPCs would come to rescue you.
And the price for rescue was a small sum of money and some damn NTR CG.
It was a scene where the heroines, paralyzed by formic acid, were forcibly violated, and they all swallowed their pain, saying they couldn't bear to tell the male protagonist. A situation truly perfect for raising low blood pressure.
"So, where are you going, Chrono?"
"I plan to start proficiency grinding on the 1st floor for now."
"Proficiency grinding?"
"It means I'm sharpening my practical combat sense."
I brushed off the explanation and secured a suitable spot.
After telling Ur beforehand to stay somewhere safe, I slowly scanned my surroundings.
"Hmmmph....."
In the actual game, you'd move around like crazy following a random encounter format, but here, you'd just——
——Taaang!
"Sounds good."
A gunshot rang out noisily from a single bullet.
At the same time, an ant reaching about thigh-height raised its head from a shadowed area across the way and stared at me.
Rehu?
"What are you glaring at?"
[Holy Weapon]. After imbuing the gun with holiness,
Taaang!
Reppit.....
"One-shot kill."
A single bullet. Pierced right between the eyes.
The ant lost its life on the spot.
Seems the firepower was better than I thought.
If that's the case, I could proceed with the next step.
Rehu, Reppyaat?!
"You caught the scent of blood and came, didn't you?"
A creature trembling, its antennae twitching as it looked at the ant's corpse.
Soon, it bared its teeth at me and let out a ferocious cry.
Reppiiiiit!!
"Damn, you're noisy."
This time, I aimed for the leg, the joint, not the forehead, and pulled the trigger.
Taaang!
Re, rhehing? Reppyaaaaaak!!!!
Losing its leg and its mobility, the ant collapsed to the ground and cried out loudly.
With its screeching cries as yellow blood dripped down, countless ants began swarming in before I knew it.
Rehu? Repepepe!
Rehuuuuuu!
Ret, ppiit....!
"....Look at these guys' eyes."
The bastards rolled their eyes at me, seemingly driven wild by the death of their comrade.
Soon, as if acting in concert, the ants charged at me, and I pulled the trigger without rest.
Taaang! Taaang! Taaang!
A pleasant pressure felt in my wrist.
Even before feeling proud that I could now easily control the recoil I couldn't handle before, one brave ant unafraid of bullets approached and tried to sink its teeth into me.
Re, ppiyaaaak!!!
"[Double Step], hup——yah!"
An easy dodge, then following up with
"[Counter]"
Ret, ppiit....!!!
I thrust my fist out and blew the ant's head away.
Half its head was crushed, its red eyes trickling down the Cave Ant.
'...Alright.'
Right now, at this point, experience had been accumulated for 'Holy Mastery,' 'Firearm Mastery,' 'Dagger Mastery,' 'Bare-Handed Combat Mastery'—all of these skills.
And since there was no one in my party, all experience was exclusively mine.
"My rank already went up by one... This is why I can't stop playing solo."
The efficiency was insanely high.
I trampled the remaining ants coming up and continued leaving just one alive to lure back its comrades.
"Chrono, you got this! When it's all over, I’ll give you a tight hug as a reward♬"
"No, I told you to stay back!"
Midway through, Ur felt a bit like a hindrance, but——
[Performance with Ur's Favor]
-Proficiency correction (Minor) for a set duration
-All stats enhancement (Minor) for a set duration
-Stress reduction
"——Call me if you're in danger, okay!"
Ah, damn. I can't resist buffs.
With the 1.2x experience bonus stacked on, there was nothing to block my path.
As a side note,
In Minerva's case,
"You fucking bastard tank! Can't you manage aggro?!"
"You crazy bitch, are you deliberately trying to team kill?!"
"......Everyone."
She formed a party with Class B members and executed a raid strategy.
Watching the party fall apart disastrously, she was weeping in her heart.
In Mars's case,
".................."
She was waiting for Chrono to come.
She was silently swinging her sword in the training grounds.
In Yuno's case,
"Kyaaaak....!"
Her wrist was grabbed.
She was pushed against the wall and knocked over.
"Te...rrreu....."
Why
why
are you doing this to me?
Yuno looked up at Ter with tearful eyes.
"Crying? Hah, who's the one who wants to cry right now...!"
"Ah, paaa....!!"
Her wrist hurt.
His gaze hurt.
Why
why
why
As she struggled to somehow pull away, Ter asked Yuno.
"So, who did you do it with?"
"Wh-What are you talking about!"
"There must be someone. The bastard you rolled around with."
"............."
H-How does he
In the fleeting moment her gaze wavered, Ter said:
"Chrono——"
"——Ter, you,"
".....?"
No, she tried to say it.
But she couldn't.
"Why don't you go out with Merk?"
"......You...."
Yuno said:
"You always ignore me, treat me like I'm invisible, and every day get pushed around by that girl Merk. I don't want to see that Ter anymore!"
"You... what the hell——"
"——If you're going to be Ter like that, I don't want to go out with you anymore!"
"..........Yuno..."
One loud outcry.
In the moment his grip on her wrist loosened, Yuno fled from Ter at full speed.
"Haa, haa, hik, hup.... Haaa....!"
In a secluded spot behind a classroom.
With her back against the wall, Yuno quietly caught her breath.
"...Haaaah......."
I
why did I say something like that?
It wasn't like me.
I did something that wasn't like me.
".....Chrono."
But why was it?
She felt no guilt.
Rather, she even felt a little good.
"This is... strange..."
Her heart pounded when she thought of him.
Even knowing it was wrong, her heart pounded on its own accord.
In a different sense than with Ter, a deeper, thicker pulsation resounded.
"Hk..... Heuh...?"
Suddenly, feeling something trickle down below,
Yuno quietly slipped her hand inside her skirt to check.
"...It's... wet...?"
At the tips of her fingers, a slight but unmistakably warm moisture.
Yuno couldn't define her own feelings.