Incurable Disease (4)
Letisia fixed me with a thoroughly sulky look. I couldn’t possibly miss the reason for that stare. Still, I had to answer, so I asked a little nervously.
“…Why?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know?”
“….”
Letisia puffed her cheeks slightly as she spoke.
“You said she was pretty… and then you sat there grinning like an idiot….”
I hadn’t been grinning like an idiot.
I felt a little wronged, but acting that way in front of Letisia probably wasn’t very polite. Of course I hadn’t meant anything by it, yet imagining how it must have looked to her made the problem obvious enough.
…I’d better be careful.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Mersius, sitting beside us, tilted her head slightly.
“Benefactor, I’ve been curious since last time— is this person… your lover?”
“…What?”
“What!?”
…You can’t just say things like that so casually. Considering the feelings Letisia held for me, I had to be even more careful.
Our reactions must have looked strange, because Mersius seemed to realize she was wrong and immediately continued.
“Ah… I’m sorry. Judging by your reactions, it seems I was mistaken.”
She gave a slightly awkward smile.
“I just thought… the two of you came together, and she seems to treat you so carefully… so I assumed.”
“….”
Mersius’s words surprised me a little, while Letisia’s face flushed bright red and she turned her head away. Then Caesius, who had been tearing into meat beside us, spoke up.
“They’re comrades, Mersius. Both of them are members of the same hero’s party.”
“Ah, so they’re comrades? That makes sense… they didn’t seem like ordinary acquaintances.”
“Well….”
She wasn’t wrong. And it was certainly true that Letisia… treasured me.
I already knew that, but hearing it from someone else’s mouth left me with a strange feeling. I glanced sideways at Letisia. At some point she had been peeking at me too, and our eyes met.
“…!”
Letisia flinched in surprise and whipped her head away again. Mersius must have noticed the conspicuous reaction, because she smiled a little awkwardly.
“…So they’re not just ordinary comrades after all.”
…No, we really are just comrades.
I wanted to say that, but Letisia’s behavior was practically announcing the answer, leaving me no room to make excuses.
An awkward atmosphere settled over us. I couldn’t stand it, so I opened my mouth first, deliberately changing the subject.
“…More importantly, Gergius. How much longer will your daughter’s treatment take?”
I wanted a rough idea of the schedule. Gergius examined Mersius’s condition once more before answering.
“If we push as hard as we did today, three days would be enough. But if we keep overdoing it like that, there won’t be anything left of you. I’d say five days at a comfortable pace.”
“Ah, yes.”
“If there’s something urgent….”
“No, nothing like that. I was just wondering when we might head back.”
Gergius smiled lightly.
“I see. Worried about your comrades, are you?”
“…Yes, well. Something like that.”
The thought of the others still not fully recovered and remaining on the front lines worried me. Clara especially….
Then Mersius asked beside me, sounding mildly curious.
“Benefactor, are all your comrades women, by any chance?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Are they all… pretty?”
“How did you know that?”
“Ah, I see…? Of course….”
Mersius reacted as if she had expected it. When I asked why, she glanced briefly at Letisia before speaking.
“You’re a man, Benefactor, yet you keep someone like her at your side and still hesitate. I found that strange. So it was because you had so many options?”
“…….”
…Mersius was more straightforward than I’d expected. “Options”? The wording felt weird…!
“It’s not like that… I already have someone I’m seeing. That’s all.”
“You already have a lover, Benefactor?”
“…Yes.”
I answered while carefully watching Letisia’s reaction. She wasn’t looking this way, but the slight flinch and the trembling of her shoulders spoke volumes about how she felt.
….
Feeling a little guilty, I turned my gaze away. Then Mersius spoke again.
“But I’ve heard that humans can take multiple spouses.”
“…What?”
Why was that coming up all of a sudden? As I wondered, Mersius continued.
“Having several spouses isn’t considered strange by human social norms, is it? And isn’t it only natural that females flock to an outstanding male?”
…Dragons had a more open-minded outlook than I thought.
And “male,” “female”—the words were so primal that my face heated up. I wasn’t the only one; Letisia was staring at Mersius with a completely dumbfounded expression.
Yet Gergius and Caesius, being dragons themselves, didn’t seem to find anything odd about it. Their faces didn’t change in the slightest.
“Did I… get something wrong? I’ve never left the lair, so I might have learned incorrect information….”
She wasn’t wrong… at least not in this world of Dungeon in Evil. If this had been reality, that kind of statement would have caused all sorts of problems, but here it was different.
Still, there was one thing I needed to correct.
“Haha, I’m not particularly outstanding….”
“What? Hmm, do dragons and humans have different standards of beauty?”
“Pardon?”
“They’re not very different, my daughter.”
When Gergius answered that way, Mersius’s eyes widened slightly.
“Then Benefactor is clearly an outstanding male. Wouldn’t it be fine for him to keep many females?”
“…….”
Could we please stop with the “male” and “female” talk already…?
When I showed a hint of discomfort, Caesius spoke simply.
“Use the words ‘man’ and ‘woman,’ Mersius. To humans, those other terms sound vulgar.”
“…Ah?!”
Realizing her mistake, Mersius flushed slightly.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know….”
“…It’s fine.”
Well, she might not have known….
Just as I thought that, Caesius spoke again.
“Of course, I don’t think Mersius was entirely wrong.”
She continued.
“Watching from the side, there are some frustrating aspects.”
“…What?”
I asked back in disbelief, and Caesius rose from her seat with a light laugh.
“Was I wrong?”
“…!”
She delivered that parting shot and leisurely left.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Just a short walk. I won’t go outside, so don’t worry.”
…I hadn’t been worried.
Anyway, Caesius had been eating nonstop, yet there was still a lot of meat left. How much had they hunted…?
“Benefactor, please eat plenty of meat.”
“Ah, yes.”
“…And please give careful thought to what Caesius said.”
“Huh?”
When I asked what she meant, Mersius just smiled and brushed it off.
What was that about…?
After that, Mersius’s treatment continued. From the next day onward we worked at a more moderate pace, carefully erasing the crystals from her body.
Every time a crystal that had pierced through her skin vanished, her beauty shone even brighter. Even when I tried not to notice, my eyes were momentarily stolen by it.
It was similar to the first time I saw Caesius after she had polymorphed. There was something aesthetic that only dragons seemed to possess—something mysterious.
That was the feeling, anyway.
“Albrecht, that’s enough for today.”
“Ah, yes.”
At Gergius’s signal I withdrew my mana and wiped away the sweat. Mersius smiled bashfully and expressed her gratitude.
“Thank you so much, Benefactor.”
“You’ve worked hard, Albrecht. We’ll prepare a generous meal again so you can recover your strength.”
“Ah, yes….”
I answered with a laugh, but once the treatment ended I was quite exhausted, and it was hard to hide. Then Letisia, who had been watching quietly, spoke.
“…Albrecht.”
“Hm?”
“Want to rest?”
She asked as if it meant nothing, yet my gaze naturally drifted to her thighs. Noticing the direction of my eyes, Letisia’s face turned faintly red.
“W-why are you looking down there…?”
“Huh?… Ah, no. That’s….”
I floundered for a moment, then let out a sigh and steadied myself.
“No, I’m not that tired today. I don’t think I need to lie down.”
“…All right, I understand.”
Letisia nodded and called to Gergius.
“Gergius, could you open the entrance to the lair for a moment?”
“Hm? Why?”
“I need to let our comrades know we’ll be staying here for about five days. I’m going to send a spirit.”
“Ah, I see. I need to go hunting anyway, so I’ll come with you.”
Gergius agreed with a nod, and Letisia thanked him. After the two of them left for a short while, I remained alone with the two dragons.
I was about to plop down in a corner and rest comfortably when Mersius approached.
“Benefactor, you must be very tired.”
“I’m fine. Better than yesterday.”
She sat down beside me naturally and spoke.
“If it’s all right with you, Benefactor… would you let me make you a little more comfortable?”
“Pardon?”
“A dragon’s lair isn’t very soft for humans.”
Mersius lightly patted her own legs.
“Would you like to lie down?”
“…?”
“Yesterday, when you rested your head on Lady Letisia’s lap, you looked extremely comfortable.”
I had been, yes… but if even a dragon had noticed, I must have slept pretty well.
“I want to repay you somehow, but this is about the only thing I can offer.”
The reason I had refused Letisia’s offer earlier was because I knew what kind of feelings she held for me, and that made it awkward.
But Mersius was a dragon; she wouldn’t have any interest beyond simple goodwill toward a human, so I felt more at ease.
A dragon’s lair really wasn’t ideal for resting. Unlike humans, dragons with their hard scales had no need for soft bedding, so there were no plush sofas or beds.
“Then… may I take you up on that?”
“Of course. I would offer my lap to you for a lifetime if you wished, Benefactor.”
Mersius smiled gently.
“You are the one who saved my life, after all.”
Her sincerity came through so clearly that I found myself smiling a little bashfully. Hearing that I had saved someone’s life felt incredibly rewarding… and also a bit embarrassing.
Mersius offered her legs, and I carefully rested my face against her thigh. I must have been more tired than I thought. My eyes began to close on their own.
“Mersius.”
At that moment Caesius approached. Drowsy as I was, I registered her presence but couldn’t muster much interest. My eyelids slowly shut, and only her quiet final words brushed past my ears.
“Refrain from that sort of behavior.”