First Impressions (7)
Since the old days, mage characters who stacked survivability always had low damage output because they knew how to do so many different things, and it was only natural that they weren’t popular. After all, what people expected from a mage was damage. If you could kill enemies faster by just pumping out the DPS, what was the point of investing in survivability? As a K-gamer who had always thought exactly that way, the shock I felt when I realized Theo was a jack-of-all-trades character went beyond anything I could have imagined. But after thinking it over carefully, it made sense. In this world, once your HP hit zero, that was it. This was hardcore mode, plain and simple. Even a casual player like me knew that in hardcore mode, building for survivability was essential—even if it meant sacrificing damage. Yeah. So let’s cut him some slack. …Of course, that didn’t mean we shouldn’t raise his damage output more.
While I was lost in these thoughts, the sparring match raced toward its conclusion. As expected, Faye held the upper hand. Theo fought pretty well, but he still came up short against Faye, who had trained exclusively in swordsmanship.
“That was fun! This is the end!”
Just as the match was about to be decided—
“Huh…?”
The sparkle in Faye’s eyes dulled, and strength drained from her body. It lasted less than a second. But that tiny window was more than enough for an attack that should have landed to miss and for a counter to come flying back.
Theo’s staff slammed hard into Faye’s wooden sword. An attack that would normally have meant nothing became the decisive blow that flipped the entire match now that Faye had lost her strength.
- Crack!
Faye’s wooden sword spun wildly through the air. Her grip had gone limp, so she couldn’t withstand the impact and let go.
“Eh…?”
Faye, snapping back to her senses a beat later, looked momentarily confused about her lost sword. But she didn’t flounder. She immediately launched a counterattack with her fists and feet. Unfortunately, Faye wasn’t a trained martial artist, nor did she possess the superhuman strength of a beastman. Her hand-to-hand skills couldn’t overcome Theo’s staff. Unable to close the massive reach gap, she ended up desperately dodging. In the end, her clumsy kick missed, and Theo swept her supporting leg with his staff, sending her tumbling. The spar was over.
“Ow ow ow… This isn’t easy at all. It looked so simple when Luna does it.”
Theo reached out and helped Faye up as she rubbed her backside, which had slammed hard into the floor.
“She’s a rabbit beastman. You’d probably be better off just using your fists.”
“Think so?”
Faye threw a few quick punches into the air. Then, as if remembering something, she stepped right up to Theo.
“But what was that in the middle? My head suddenly went all fuzzy!”
“Hmm, that?”
Watching from the side, I knew immediately. It had to be hypnosis. I hadn’t expected him to use it to disrupt concentration during a split-second critical moment in battle. It was an application I could have thought of if I’d given it any real consideration—maybe I’d been too focused on the whole “adult game” aspect.
Theo hid his hypnosis ability and answered casually.
“It’s mind-type magic. I am a mage, after all.”
“A mage… Oh, right! You were so good with that staff I completely forgot!”
Fortunately, Faye didn’t seem suspicious at all. If she had any real knowledge of magic, she might have noticed it was different from normal mind magic, but since she was purely a swordswoman, it slid right by. Still, it wasn’t good to let the topic linger. I jumped into their conversation.
“Faye. You tired? Want to push our spar to tomorrow?”
“Huh? …No! I’ll do it! Just give me three minutes—no, five!”
Faye shook her head so hard it looked like she’d heard something horrifying. The sight was so perfectly her that I couldn’t help but smile.
After finishing two spars in a row, Faye’s entire body was drenched in sweat.
“That was so much fun! It’d be great if we could fight like this every single day!”
She was beaming, completely happy. But the fact that she could smile so brightly without a hint of discomfort—while breathing hard and with sweat-soaked clothes clinging to every curve of her body—was a talent in itself. Of course, she probably wasn’t completely unbothered. Maybe I should tempt her a little.
“Faye. There’s a place nearby where we can wash up. Want to go together?”
The “place nearby” I mentioned was obviously the bathhouse in the basement of our hideout.
“Wow, really? Where is it?”
Faye took the bait instantly. Guess it really had been bothering her.
“Perfect. Follow me!”
I led the way out of the training ground. Theo fell into step beside me and spoke in a low voice.
“…Is this okay? Isn’t it a bit early?”
He was asking if it was too soon to bring her into the hideout space. Secrets are safer the fewer people know them, so it was a fair question. Still, I thought it would be fine to bring Faye now.
“It’ll be okay. She doesn’t seem like the type to go around blabbing other people’s secrets, right?”
“She doesn’t, does she?”
“If you’re really worried, just hypnotize her. Making her keep a secret shouldn’t exactly weigh on your conscience.”
“You…”
Suddenly Theo stared straight at my face. What the hell?
“…So you do realize that ordering someone to do weird stuff with hypnosis is something that should prick your conscience?”
“…….”
Thump. I gave his leg a light kick. I kicked him because I had nothing to say. How cowardly, hitting me with facts like that.
As I bickered with Theo, I felt a gaze on my back that felt strangely lukewarm. But whatever. It probably wasn’t important. Shrugging it off, I stepped into the hideout space.
The moment I passed through felt like slipping through thin soap bubbles, and the scenery changed completely.
“Whoa…!”
An awed gasp slipped from Faye’s lips as she followed me in. A proper building hidden away in a secret space really was the stuff of dreams. Yep, yep. For some reason I felt proud, like it was my own accomplishment.
We headed straight for the bathhouse in the basement. After a week of cleaning and maintenance, the place looked spotless. Faye’s mouth fell open.
“It’s huge!”
“Right?”
Objectively speaking, it was actually smaller than the bathhouse in the girls’ dormitory—maybe half the size. But unlike the dormitory baths that were always packed with naked female bodies, here it was just me and Faye, so it felt incredibly spacious.
“Go ahead and wash up as much as you want.”
“Huh? Luna, you’re not washing with me?”
“I’ll wash after you’re done.”
“Aww~ Luna, you’re shy, huh? Got it!”
It wasn’t rare for women to feel embarrassed about showing their naked bodies even to other women. Faye seemed to interpret it that way and let it slide. In reality, though, it was the complete opposite.
I wasn’t particularly embarrassed about showing my body. What I found embarrassing was seeing another woman’s body. Embarrassment aside, what if I got excited looking at her and my nipples got hard? Just imagining how mortifying that would be made me shudder. And if I didn’t get excited, that would be its own problem. I’d have to start seriously questioning where my masculinity had disappeared to.
Leaving Faye, who had begun undressing, behind, I went upstairs.
“Theo, Theo!”
“Yeah?”
Theo was lying on the sofa, resting. What is this guy always doing at the perfect timing?
“Now’s the time. Get in there right now!”
“Get in? Me? Where?”
“Where else? The bathhouse!”
“……?”
Theo sat up and met my eyes. His gaze clearly said, What crazy thing is she saying now?
“Faye just went to wash up, didn’t she?”
“Exactly. When else is she going to be this defenseless?”
“No, why do I have to attack her while she’s defenseless?”
“Well… isn’t it obvious?”
I made a circle with my thumb and index finger and thrust my other index finger through it repeatedly. Theo’s face soured in an instant.
“Do you think I’m some kind of sex-crazed pervert?”
“Aww, I don’t think that badly of you.”
Theo gave me a suspicious look, but I really didn’t think that badly of him. Still, I knew his sex drive was stronger than most. He was the protagonist of an adult game, after all. And the protagonist of a harem story on top of that. I knew perfectly well he was a bedroom tyrant who could embrace multiple women several times a day. …Wait a second. But in the game, that only happened because the player chose those options, right? So maybe the protagonist’s original personality had nothing to do with it? Continuous sex was just stamina. And stamina and sex drive are two different things. Huh? Wait? The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like I might be the one in the wrong here.
“Um, Theo. Sorry. It was such a good opportunity that I got impatient. I don’t actually think of you that way.”
“I know. It’s fine.”
“…Huh?”
For someone saying it was fine, Theo’s mood seemed a little off. His expression was stiff, and the corners of his mouth looked strangely awkward. Yeah. The word “offended” fit perfectly.
“I’ll do what you said, Luna.”
“Uh, yeah? No, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. We can wait for another chance…”
“Instead.”
“Instead?”
A bad feeling crept over me. My intuition screamed that whatever was about to happen wouldn’t be pleasant for me at all.
“Instead, you come in with me, Luna.”
“Eek.”
A weird noise slipped out before I could stop it.
“M-me? I don’t think that’s necessary, right? You’d probably feel awkward using your abilities with someone else there too…”
I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore. I just needed to dodge this. The thought made me babble.
“No. Come in with me. I’m asking you nicely.”
“…Ughhhhh……”
But at the same time, another thought occurred to me. Was it really right to back out here? No matter what, shouldn’t I watch and make sure Theo didn’t do anything weird to Faye? The fact that Theo and Faye needed to end up together hadn’t changed. That didn’t mean it was okay no matter what happened to her. You never knew. What if Theo actually had abnormal tastes and started with hardcore stuff like choking or whipping right from the start? Of course, after watching him this long, I was 99% sure he wasn’t that kind of guy. But fetishes could be surprisingly unexpected.
It couldn’t be helped. Someone needed to stay nearby and be ready to hit the brakes. And right now, the only person who could do that was me….
Really. It really couldn’t be helped.
I nodded with great difficulty.