EP.14 Healing Trip -2
EP.14 Healing Trip -2
A certain lake in the Great Wilds. Two Divine Beasts were beating up a fellow Divine Beast.
As the intensity of the beating increased, the victimized Divine Beast screamed for them to stop.
"S-Stop!!"
"Realistically, does anyone actually stop just because you say stop?"
The beating grew more intense.
"I-I said! I said I'm sorry?!"
"You should've spoken nicely from the start! And the person you need to apologize to is someone else, isn't it?"
"Ugh...!! Human!"
"Put some proper respect on it. Filly."
"H-Human... sir! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please just make these two stop!!"
The Unicorn's once-beautiful snow-white fur was being soiled with dirt.
Shoe marks were left all over her body, and the beauty that had once radiated a halo was nowhere to be found.
She had literally been beaten into the dirt, so I decided to let her go now.
"Miho, Kor. Let's stop. I'm glad you punished her for my sake, but we didn't come here to fight."
"Alright. Since you put it that way, husband, I'll let it slide just this once. But if she runs her mouth one more time..."
"Then we won't let it gooo...?"
I could see the fear in the way the white horse nodded her head up and down several times.
It was her own doing, so I didn't pity her, but it was still a sorry sight.
Anyway, I decided to wait until her breathing steadied.
"Follow me."
Before we could have a proper conversation, the Unicorn said she needed to clean herself, so we had no choice but to go to the lake to talk.
Following the limping Unicorn like that, we were able to see the clear and beautiful lake spread out before us.
"Whoa... It's so transparent you can see everything underwater! How clean is this?"
"Of course it is! It's the lake I use!"
The Unicorn dipped her body into the lake water and came back out.
With that single action, all the foreign matter and wounds on her body were washed away.
Normally, washing a dirty body like that would make the water murky.
But surprisingly, the lake water did not become murky and remained clear and transparent.
It was as though someone had cast a spell.
"Unicorns possess the ability to purify everything around them as long as they can maintain cleanliness."
"Anything?"
"Yes. Poison, drugs, contaminated water, everything. Haven't you seen the effects written in the hot spring introduction, dear husband?"
"Didn't it say your entire body becomes spotlessly clean and any fatigue or illness is healed?"
"That's because they used the lake water infused with a Unicorn's power. That's why."
"Aha."
There was a lot of information I could deduce from just what Yata told me.
The Ilgak Hot Spring became widely famous 120 years ago, after the day a high-ranking government official visited.
The high-ranking official who used the hot spring was greatly impressed by the efficacy of the spring water and spread the word far and wide.
In other words, allowing for some margin of error, it meant the Unicorn had settled at this lake 120 years ago.
"So, what did you guys come here for?"
"Before that, if you don't mind, won't you tell us your name first?"
"You seem to be mistaken about something! I'm a Divine Beast, and you're a human! We're not on equal footing, and why should I tell a filthy piece of sh——."
-Crack!
From beside me came the sound of someone loosening up.
The fox was already stretching, and the tips of the wolf's fur were heating up.
The Unicorn witnessed this scene. She swallowed the words she was about to spit out.
She had done so because leaving it alone would have been dangerous.
"Unia."
"Huh?"
"My name's Unia!"
"Ah, I see."
The white horse's attitude remained prickly.
Well, I couldn't exactly expect friendliness from someone who despised humans.
I decided to let the minor things slide and move on with the conversation.
"So, I heard that you blocked the waterway connected to the human village recently. Is that true?"
"Yes! This lake is my property, but you humans were using it as you pleased. So I blocked it! Why?"
"We humans discovered this water 300 years ago and have been using it all along. But because you blocked it, the villagers are now in a difficult situation."
"And so what? Did you humans make this lake? You've been using nature's bounty as you pleased, and now you act like you have some rightful claim to ownership?"
"By that logic, haven't you also been using this lake as you pleased?"
"I'm different from you humans who only consume the water! Granted, the source of this water does lie elsewhere, but I am the one who purified it. So the ownership of the purified water clearly belongs to me!"
"Even so, you took the water people had originally been using and purified it, didn't you?"
"If you don't like it, why don't you fight me and try to take this lake by forc—..."
Once again, Unia's words cut off abruptly.
She realized what the consequences of her words would be and stopped mid-sentence.
At this, disappointment settled on the faces of my companions, who had been waiting for her to finish speaking.
"What the hell is your identity?! What are you? How can a mere human be on such friendly terms with so many Divine Beasts?!"
"Huh? You don't know about me?"
"Why ask something obvious? It's my first time seeing a human like you, so of course I don't know!!"
That's strange.
Not to brag, but I thought I had become fairly famous in the Divine Beast world.
The Companion of Divine Beasts, who was a hot topic among Divine Beasts.
Even Kor, who was the ultimate outsider in the Divine Beast world, recognized who I was right away.
But this Unicorn just kept scowling as if she truly had no idea who I was.
"Dear husband, there are some among all Divine Beasts who are indifferent no matter what the rules are. In that sense, this Unicorn simply didn't know because she lacks interest."
"Ah-ha, so that's how it was? Then is it okay if I let her know I'm a Human Companion?"
"It won't matter. These self-centered types don't remember a single thing about what's in the rules."
"I see."
Even among humans, some people ignored anything that did not concern them.
It meant that Unicorn was the same way.
"What are you whispering about in front of me!"
"Sorry, it's nothing. We were just discussing whether to introduce me or not."
"Forget that! Just tell me what your identity is already!"
"Alright. My name is Yoo Seon-ju. I don't know if you've heard, but I'm the Human Companion of Divine Beasts, and I've formed Companion Contracts with the Divine Beasts here."
"I don't care about your name. More importantly, explain what a Human Companion of Divine Beasts is and what a Companion Contract even is!"
She was truly and perfectly self-centered.
The type to thoroughly exclude anything she wasn't interested in, so of course she wouldn't know about concepts like Companion Contracts.
"You can just think of it as a vow to be together with Divine Beasts for life."
"What? So you're saying it's marriage. Don't talk around it, just explain it cleanly!!"
"Fine..."
"Anyway, that means you're married to all these Divine Beasts?"
"Umm... I suppose you could see it that way?"
At the word marriage, the faces of all the Divine Beasts except Tia flushed red as they grew bashful.
They all understood what marriage meant, so they looked both delighted and embarrassed.
Of course, the innocent and pure Tia just climbed onto my lap and blinked her eyes blankly.
She didn't yet know the concept of marriage in detail, which was why she reacted like this.
"How degenerate!! I already knew you were an unclean human, but I never imagined you'd be this unclean!"
"So suddenly?!"
"You're saying you have four wives? That alone makes me want to vomit, but taking such a young and pure child as a wife too...! Ugh, impure!!"
"W-Wait a second?! Tia isn't like that!"
"Then what is she? Didn't you just agree that the contract is equivalent to marriage?"
"No, well, it's not exactly the same as marriage...!!"
"Didn't you say you're going to live your whole life together with these Divine Beasts? If that's not marriage, what is it?"
"That's, well..."
I was flustered.
I could not define the Companion Contract in any precise way.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't different from marriage, but it was hard to see it as the exact same concept.
However, no better expression came to mind in my head.
But I also couldn't just compare it to something arbitrary in case it would make my Divine Beasts feel dejected.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, only my position was growing more disadvantageous.
"You can't say a word because I'm right, can you? As I thought, you really are a filthy and impure human. Just talking to you makes me feel like I'm being soiled, so don't ever speak to me again!"
"Fine, but at least allow shared use of the lake water. If you do just that, I'll leave right away!"
"That doesn't even make sense! Why should I, for any reason, have to coexist with dirty humans like you?"
"No, wasn't this lake's water used by more than just you from the beginning? You can't just use what everyone's been using together all by yourself now!"
"Shut up! I've already decided to monopolize it! You people can't use it! So take that and get lost! You're making me feel filthy just by being here!"
Unia was hopelessly stubborn. No matter how calmly I tried to talk, she refused to listen.
Turning back like this was out of the question. Miho, who hadn't been able to enjoy the hot spring, would run wild.
But we couldn't forcibly unblock the waterway either.
If the Unicorn discovered the deception, she might return later and harm the villagers.
That meant the only way was to persuade her and resolve things. But as for me...
"Husband, I'll handle this!"
"Uh...? Miho, you will?"
"Yes. Let me go persuade that young nag."
"But using violence would..."
"Don't worry, I swear I'll resolve it peacefully."
"...If you put it that way, alright. I'll leave it to you."
"Leave it to me!"
Miho approached the Unicorn, intending to converse with her in my place.
Meanwhile, Unia flinched at the sight of the fox who had beaten her up and immediately kept her guard up.
Even facing the being who had inspired such terror, fierce fighting spirit flickered in Unia's eyes instead of fear.
With the will to fight, the Unicorn aimed her sharp horn toward Miho.
In the hair-trigger situation, within an atmosphere so tense it made me swallow my saliva, Miho raised both her hands.
"I have no intention of fighting. Let's just chat for a moment. You young nag."
"G-Get away! You're the one who already offered your virginity to that human! You're dirty!!"
"Yes. I already gave my virginity to my husband, so of course I am no longer a virgin."
"That's what disgusts me!! So...! Huh...??"
Suddenly, the Unicorn's eyes widened before she began to look horrified.
It was the expression one makes when witnessing something absurd.
At this, wondering if some particular change had occurred to Miho, I looked at her, but there was nothing special.
Rather, Miho even tilted her head at the Unicorn's sudden change in expression.
"H-How in the world did...?!"
"You said you love virgins to an obsessive degree, right? So I generated it again."
"This is absurd!"
"My hymen, that is."
Aha... So that's what it was.
On reflection, the Unicorn could see something that I could not.
The hymen, proof of a woman's purity. Using her ability, Miho had materialized her hymen.
"She clearly has the experience of intercourse...! Yet a hymen exists? How can such a contradiction be...?!"
"Now that you're a proper virgin again, let's go somewhere private and have a nice little chat, filly."
Miho forcibly dragged the confused Unicorn deeper into the forest.
Their figures gradually faded away, and at some point, they became completely invisible.
"Hmm, will she be alright..."
"You don't need to worry, dear husband."
"Yata, you already know how it'll turn out, don't you?"
"Yep."
"Can you tell me now?"
"Of course."
If Miho were to run wild and try to kill the Unicorn, I'd have to go and stop her right away.
But seeing that Yata wasn't particularly stopping her, that probably meant the chances of that were low, right?
"However, just telling you straight would be boring since there's a lot of time we'll have to spend waiting. Why don't you try figuring it out with a quiz?"
"A quiz? I don't mind but..."
"Great. Then first question, what's the opposite of a virgin?"
"The opposite of a virgin...?"
It was a completely unexpected question that threw me off, but I decided to give it some thought.
"Hmm... Someone with experience?"
"Pffft!! Wrong! The answer is a bitch. But 'someone with experience,' huh! You're pretty innocent too, dear husband?"
"You're the one being too explicit. Anyway, why the opposite of a virgin all of a sudden?"
"To tell the story of what's going to happen next, you need to know about virgins and bitches."
"That's so out of nowhere..."
"Now, now, don't be like that! I'm going to give you important knowledge to solve the next quiz problem, so listen carefully, okay?"
Having said that, Yata pulled out a large coin from between her own breasts and showed it to me.
Never mind her action of pulling it out from her chest, the picture engraved on the coin was strange.
On the front was Yata's smiling face, and on the back was a picture of Yata pouncing on me...
"What is this?"
"It's a coin used in the Yata Church. I'm going to use this to explain the theory easily!"
"..."
I'd have to ask about the picture engraved on the coin later.
If necessary, I would have to ban its distribution and use.
"Virgins and bitches, you see. They have a two-sidedness, like this coin. This front side is the virgin, and this back side is the bitch."
"Looking at the pictures, I definitely get it."
"A woman is unconditionally in a front-side state when first born. Then later, when she gets a taste of a man, she flips over to the back side like this."
"Isn't it an overgeneralization to say everyone who gives up their virginity becomes a bitch?"
"Not at all. Everyone knows that once a virgin experiences a man's pleasure, she turns into a bitch."
"No, no matter how you slice it, isn't that statement kind of rude to all women...?"
"The 'bitch' you're thinking of refers to girls who give their body to anyone and only pursue pleasure, right?"
"Yeah... Is it different?"
"You seem to have one misunderstanding. Not all bitches are the same kind of bitch."
"You mean there are different types of bitches?"
"Of course. It varies depending on how long they were virgins, how they had their first experience, and how many people they've been with."
"What is that..."
"Try comparing the bitch you're thinking of with that fox."
"Comparing a bitch and Miho...?"
The very first thought I had was that they're different.
Miho was not the sort of woman who slept with just anyone.
A fox of pure, devoted love who only looks at me. She was absolutely not the kind of bitch I thought of.
But the more I thought about it, the more similar parts there were, surprisingly.
The point that she frequently goes into heat and pounces on me, and even the point that she enjoys intense sexual acts.
"The common points you're thinking of right now are precisely the characteristics of a bitch."
"Th-They are?"
"Yes. A woman who wants to do it with a man, pursues pleasure, and endlessly comes on to him is a bitch. Among them, the bitches who don't care who they do it with are the ones commonly called 'sluts.' That's the 'bitch' you've been misunderstanding."
I had gained one piece of knowledge I never wanted to know.
Strangely enough, Yata's argument sounded persuasive, and I found myself listening closely.
"Bitches who only want to do it with the one they love aren't the problem. It's the slutty whores who are fine with anyone that are the problem."
"Hmm, I see."
"Anyway, just as all women who cease to be virgins become bitches, the meaning is that virgin and bitch are opposites yet close existences. Understood?"
"Yeah."
"Now then, here's the final quiz. Like virgin and bitch, what is the existence that is opposite to yet close to the Unicorn?"
"Opposite and yet close to the Unicorn?"
Such an existence existed?
Something different from yet close to a Unicorn...
Nothing immediately flashed into my mind, but as I thought about it bit by bit, only one existence came to mind.
Unlike the white horse of the Unicorn, a black horse with black fur.
A Divine Beast that possesses two horns and symbolizes impurity.
"Could it be Bicorn?"
"That's correct!"
"So? What about Bicorn?"
"Look over there."
"Huh?"
Turning toward where Yata's finger was pointing, I saw Miho approaching from afar, waving one hand.
"I'm back~! Husband!!"
Miho's bright smile.
Knowing she was safe, I should have greeted her brightly as well. But I couldn't do so.
A black horse with an odd gait was approaching from behind her.
A black horse with two horns and a flushed face.
This horse, utterly excited as if entranced by something and looking as if in heat, was...
Undeniably a Bicorn.
"L-Let me introduce myself once more...!! My name is Baina. I am a lewd mare who has awakened from a Unicorn into a Bicorn♡"
What the hell?! What did you do?!