99. The Significance of a Cell Phone's Existence
99. The Significance of a Cell Phone's Existence
Minerva Site Quest──Siren's Tears
The strategy method was very simple.
Break through the dungeon filled with Sirens using force.
Along the way, a choice appeared asking if you wanted to assault a Siren when she collapsed. At that point, you were supposed to save, enjoy it, and then turn back time.
The moment you screwed a Siren, a debuff against the Siren race was applied, leading inevitably to a bad NTR Ending.
Anyway, after that, approaching the Siren Queen to defeat her? Not a chance.
As if to prove a boss monster wasn't a boss monster for nothing, a guaranteed defeat event occurred.
After being robbed of everything you had, a choice popped up asking if you wanted to be lightly reverse-raped by a Siren.
And the save you saw above was not a choice but a necessity.
After rejecting Queen Siren's temptation and somehow returning to the guild, you pondered how to defeat the Siren.
Eventually, realizing it couldn't be done alone, the Protagonist's group decided to take all the guild members and run a raid──and the moment the Queen Siren raid began, they tried to stab you in the back.
The reason was simple.
Because only the people who had screwed the Sirens escaped alive, and all the rest died.
After that, to lift the Siren's curse, you needed something to counter it, or perhaps that power was in Minerva, and so on, strategizing somehow until the event concluded.
'This feels like playing a game with a strategy guide.'
Was this what it felt like to have Future Sight?
Although I could actually use something akin to Future Sight, it was effectively sealed, so let's move on.
"So,"
I slowly turned my head and asked.
"Why are you following me?"
"...I can't?"
"Of course you can't, right?"
I peeled off Mai's tightly gripping hold on my sleeve.
Mai just quietly looked up at me.
"It won't even take a week at most, so just stay home and guard the house."
"Then it can't be helped."
"You accept that fast?"
I figured she'd resist a bit, or try to negotiate.
Mai nodded while watching my reaction.
"Mai had already anticipated Big Brother's answer."
"Really?"
"So Mai took measures in advance."
"Measures?"
What was she suddenly talking about?
"Mai is the Heavenly Demon. And the Heavenly Demon is an existence that turns the impossible into 'possible'."
Mai struck a 'Heavenly Demon Pose', something that had become rare lately.
Soon after, Mai pointed her finger at me and said.
"Today, I will overcome the wall called Big Brother."
"...What are you going to do, exactly?"
"Iijeoi. Also called using a tiger to scare the breath."
"..........???"
What was she talking about?
Kids these days don't know Chinese characters well.
Could she explain it in easy, simple plain Korean?
"Simply put, if it's impossible with Mai's own power, then just borrowing external power is the answer."
"...Hey, no way?"
A thought suddenly flashed through my head.
It was a no-way, could-it-be thought...
"Nice to meet you, Mai. My name is Minerva, Chrono's close friend."
"Nice to meet you. Mai is Big Brother's exclusive pet created by the Main God."
".....Chrono?"
"I don't know anymore...."
No wonder
She had been eyeing my cell phone so eagerly lately.
*******************
An unexpected accompaniment from Mai.
Anyway, having one more person like Mai wasn't a problem.
No, rather, since she was my Servant Demon, she would have combat power of her own, so it might be much more convenient than moving alone.
'The problem is she might pull another weird stunt...'
I quietly looked at Mai.
"...It's embarrassing if you keep staring like that."
'She might be surprisingly okay?'
Come to think of it, the times I had taken Mai outside after she noticed Cronus's fraud were very few.
Even at the academy, we did go out for exercise or whatever, but during the vacation, we were cooped up at home the whole time, so she must have felt stifled herself.
In reality, since Mai herself didn't bother me until I paid attention to her, this might have really been a truly pent-up request born from enduring and enduring.
"Um... So, that story about how you two stayed up all night watching 'those kinds' of videos...?"
"Mai poked my butt repeatedly, so it was a bit annoying."
"....A-As expected...!"
"A controller! I'm talking about a controller!"
Or maybe she just did it because she wanted to tease me.
It didn't seem like she would do anything particularly problematic.
'Still, you never know.'
I decided to wrap this up as quickly as possible.
I took Mai and Minerva and entered the Athena Guild branch located by the beach.
"We're here regarding a mission."
"Yes~ Please wait just a moment!"
After showing the mission warrant, we waited for about 5 minutes.
Since it was a mission received through the guild, we were given lodgings within the guild branch.
"A 4-person room..."
There were three of us, but it was a 4-person room.
Looking at the warrant, it stated 2 people including me and Minerva, so giving two people one 4-person room was fairly reasonable administrative handling.
Considering the maximum party size was 4, it was exactly faithful to the setting, but...
"Ugh."
I'm a man, you know?
And they just put the two of us in one room?
"I'm fine. Because I can feel safe with Chrono."
"You may be fine, but I'm not."
I tossed the room key to Minerva.
"I'll just go find a hotel or something outside, so you sleep here."
"What? I truly am fine. And since it's summer, all the hotels around here will be expensive. If we're splitting hairs, that's the tail wagging the dog...."
"...What would you do if I actually pounced on you?"
"............"
"Hey?"
Why did she suddenly stop talking?
"If... you truly find it hard to endure..."
Minerva squeezed her eyes shut, then looked at me as if she had made up her mind.
"Please... finish with my hand or mouth."
"Yah?"
"And so that Mai can't see, please, by all means, go outside to do it."
".....That, what."
Should I be dumbfounded by how calm she was?
Should I find it amazing that she was thinking of Mai amidst all that?
Or what kind of bastard did she see me as?
I felt like picking apart each point would yield no answers, so I just ignored it and closed the door.
[...Chrono? Chrono!]
"Use it yourself."
I left the lodging and went outside.
"W-Wait a moment, over there, intern!"
"Huh?"
No, I tried to leave.
But at that moment, the front desk employee who had given me the key earlier came rushing toward me.
"Lodg... *huff*, lodgings! Lodgings! Key!"
"It's not me, Minerva has the key. She's probably in the room, so go there."
"No, that's not it, I only gave you one key, right?"
"What?"
What was this about now?
The staff member pulled out another key and handed it to me.
"It's a bit awkward for a man and a woman to share a room, isn't it?"
"......??"
As far as I remembered, this event didn't exist separately.
In the case of NTR events, there were times when a heroine went to a man in another room, but there was never a case where the Protagonist was completely banished.
"It's a special order from the Guild Master. He said an intern ranked 1st in work performance shouldn't be treated like everyone else."
"Ah....."
The Guild Master.
So it was that NTR villain's order.
If it had been simple goodwill, I would have been on guard, but since he came out this brazenly, it was actually reassuring.
"Oh, and it's a secret that I said it was the Guild Master's order? He asked me to keep it a secret."
"....You really work hard."
Anyway, this settled it.
Even from this distance, the NTR villain seemed to be relentlessly trying to gaslight Minerva.
'If I leave her alone like this, I feel like something might happen to her without my knowing...'
"...Huh?"
While I was pondering what to do next, I felt someone grab my sleeve.
I turned my head to see Mai pointing at herself as she spoke.
"Mai, shall help?"
"....Oh."
You were here, weren't you?
I stroked Mai's head.
"Can I ask you to?"
"In return, grant Mai one favor... no, two favors."
"If it's something weird, it's cut immediately."
"Understood."
A conditional permission declaration.
Mai made her request to me.
"Buy Mai a cell phone too."
"That's simple enough."
Would a roughly free phone do?
"Galaxy S23 Hyper+."
"Mai. Just because it comes out of your mouth doesn't make everything a valid word, you know?"
No, not a chance.
She demanded the latest smartphone, which I half-expected.
"Data unlimited."
".......Well, that's..."
"With no speed throttling."
"...You really are a child I can't let my guard down around, aren't you?"
The latest phone.
Unlimited data.
With no speed throttling, she said.
I got goosebumps wondering where she had gathered such information, but thinking about it, I had been providing her with plenty of material to get that info.
'It'd be strange if she didn't know that much.'
Not just TV, but Mai was instantly watching all sorts of things on my phone every night.
She had more than enough space in her head to hold the latest cell phone models.
"Haaaaa...."
An unanticipated expense.
Anyway, fine. I could spend that much.
I pressed down firmly on Mai's head and said.
"Don't even dream of asking for a new one if this breaks?"
".......Big Brother."
Mai looked up at me and said.
"I also request a Heavenly Demon case."
"....Alright, do whatever you want."
She was really milking it, really milking it.
I lightly pushed Mai's back as if tapping it and asked next.
"So, what's the second favor?"
"The second favor is....."
Mai slowly raised both hands near her chest area.
"Mai's body, beginning to approach perfection as the Heavenly Demon."
"So?"
"A request for Big Brother."
Mai looked at me with unwavering eyes and said.
"On the day Mai becomes perfect as the Heavenly Demon, embrace Mai."
".....As long as I just hold you, right?"
"Amending the request. Together with Mai, se──"
"──Stop."
Right.
Ah, geez, this, that, ah geez.
...I'm telling you in advance, don't you forget it?
"What I like are women who are stacked on top and bottom?"
"It's planned to become so soon."
".......Soon?"
Was she someone who served a god of time, so she didn't know the meaning of 'soon' well?
No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't understand how asphalt cliff chewing-gum tits were supposed to evolve into melon-level ones like Mars.
"So, the answer is?"
"....If you fit my taste."
"Accepted. Don't forget those words."
"........."
You don't forget my taste either.
As a side note.
"Cell phone....!"
"Are you that happy?"
Mai's eyes sparkled at her first-ever cell phone.
Soon after, she fiddled with the phone this way and that──then turned on the camera app and quietly looked at me.
"...Big Brother. Mai has a request."
"What request?"
"Will you grant the request?"
"First, let me hear it."
".....That is..."
Mai showed the phone toward me and said.
"With me... please take a picture....."
"......*Sigh*"
I took pictures.
About 100 of them.
Slow motion, and this and that, and I took a bunch of selfies too.
"Hee..... hee....!"
"He's totally dying of joy, dying."
On the way back to the lodging.
Mai, bouncing along, looked at the bunch of pictures and said.
"Masturbation material acquired."
"....???"
"I'll be fine for about a month now without Big Brother."
"..........."
I had been instantly classified as masturbation material.
I never knew she needed a cell phone for this....