Summer Fever
"This is a 142857 trap corridor."
"What's that?"
"Out of the six rows of blocks lined up ahead of us, some are deadly traps, and some are safe passage tiles you can step on. And the pattern follows the properties of the number 142857."
"...You must have way more demon lair experience than us. I've never seen anything like it."
"Yeah. My head's already starting to hurt."
"I'll explain it as simply as possible. 142857 is a fun number for math nerds. For example, multiply it by 2 and you get 285714. By 3, it's 428571. No matter what you multiply it by from 1 to 6, you always end up with a permutation of 1, 4, 2, 8, 5, 7."
"Times 4 is 571428... whoa, for real? And times 7 is 999999..."
Bilena, quick with calculations, widened her eyes in surprise. I patted her back encouragingly, and she flinched hard.
"Exactly. They used that unique pattern to set up the traps."
"...Hehe."
"Anyway. We just need to figure out the rule step by step and which blocks correspond to the safe numbers."
I said as I pulled out the Abyssal Trap Decoder. But almost at the same moment, flames erupted from the corridor, nearly making me drop the book.
Morgan, who had thrown a rock that fell from the wall, looked startled.
"...I thought we could just test them one by one by throwing stuff."
"Sure, that's a valid way to probe in some cases. For other traps. It's fine. In situations like this..."
I calmly stared at the skull-shaped blaze surging through the passage. Then I tossed the decoder book I hadn't put away yet to Esen, who had a resigned look on her face.
"...Just run backward until the flames die down. Run—!"
"Hey, you thick-headed sea pirate bitch! If it was that simple, why the hell would I drone on about the numbers?!"
"Who're you calling thick-headed, you beast-eared bitch?! ...Sorry! I'm sorry!"
Morgan and Esen screamed at each other as they bolted ahead. Reni, too busy bursting into laughter, piggybacked Nenya and followed behind. With Bilena and the sisters added to my load, front and back, Islune yelled right in my ear.
"Aren't you heavy? Give me one!"
"...What am I, a luggage bag where you pick one out? Just run for now!"
"Save your hero strength for when you need it!"
The sister in my arms shook her head slightly and gazed up at me blankly. She looked utterly blissful. I tried to glance back with a guilty expression, but Bilena, strapped to my backpack, grabbed my hair and forced my head forward.
"No bickering—run!"
Was she that desperate because of the flames chasing us right on our heels, or did she just not want to lose her excuse to cling to me? ...Lately, my love life had been going so rosily that my brain must've gone haywire. The scorching heat that could burn me alive was nipping at my ankles, and here I was, lost in thought.
Maybe messing with Nidroga and the dragon lord hadn't been bravado or anything—it was just my brain cells fried from too much sex...
Wait a second.
"Where's Nidroga? Where's Nidroga?!"
Bilena jolted with a gasp. Then she said, as if she couldn't believe it herself.
"She stayed behind... She stayed behind!"
"What?!"
"...Don't slow down. Who's worrying about who here?!"
A few minutes later, when the flames finally stopped pursuing us, Bilena's words proved true. Thankfully.
Nidroga burst through the smoke, her clothes charred black, coughing and giving an embarrassed grin. The tips of her hair were a bit singed, but she didn't seem to have any burns.
I fumbled over Nidroga, checking for injuries, then my legs gave out and I collapsed.
"What the hell was that?!"
"...I thought I could push back the flames by breathing fire at them. That's how it usually works."
"I've changed my mind. You guys are a hero party with zero systems or plans—just pure lunatics. Without that blessed physique of yours, you'd have buried half the team by now."
"As a healer, I have to say that's spot on."
"The rock-rolling idiot sea pirate threw the stone, so why are we getting chewed out too?"
"Even your serious angry face is kinda cute. Like a fawn protesting after a fish gets stolen."
"...If you think I'm seriously mad, stop laughing and listen! I'm scolding you!"
I grabbed the cheeks of the giggling Esen and Nidroga and wailed. Nenya, sitting a bit away, shared a silent look of mutual understanding with me, then squeezed her eyes shut as if she couldn't bear it.
Nidroga, having brushed off the soot, gently pried my hands from her cheeks. Then she pulled me into a tight embrace.
Through the charcoal smell, sweat and her body scent pierced my nose. I tried to push back with my pathetic strength compared to hers, but soon melted into that softness and security.
"...What're you doing?"
"Apologizing. Sorry for worrying you."
As I blinked up and glared, Nidroga smiled down softly.
"But thinking about it, you're the weird one for fretting over a dragon like me as if I were a kid left by the water."
That was because I'd seen her get hurt showing off.
"I just know that trap can burn a normal person. I never cared enough to find out what level of creature it could torch. My heart sank thinking you might be in that range."
Nidroga's hug tightened at my mumble from her kneeled embrace. I could hear Islune and Reni giggling about "heart-fluttering eye levels" or whatever.
"I won't get hurt."
"That's the bravado. Being sure you won't get hurt is the bravado."
"Not that—I promise. From now on, I'll be careful so you don't worry. Stop scolding."
"...Fine."
"But why make a trap like that number game? What if the ones who set it forgot and burned themselves?"
"I hear ancient demon nobles loved those intellectual games. They'd make paths you could only pass if you knew the numbers, keeping low-class, ignorant commoners out."
"Sounds like villains straight out of a kids' math textbook. Knowledge elitism, huh."
Islune shuddered.
"But once humans learn about those traps, the solutions spread, right? Wouldn't they vary it up a bit?"
"Demon lairs are ancient demon realm ruins and fortresses summoned here as-is via magic. Even demons can't mess with that spell easily. Like how we can't alter ancient artifacts."
"Mm. Unless I want to burn off my clothes and streak through naked, we gotta solve the trap first."
"Nah. The fire won't die anytime soon anyway. It's already hot as hell—no need to wait in this sauna. Let's find another path."
Bilena, still spooked, was the first to agree with a relieved look. The proposal to scout a detour passed unanimously.
Thankfully, the other traps were easier to grasp, and the demon lair monsters, like Mordbogs, started fleeing from our blood scent. Thanks to the scent amplifier.
Mix blood from gruesomely killed beasts with the amplifier and dab it on your collar—they think we're mass murderers and back off. Everyone with any sense was thrilled to skip fights for free.
But one person without that luxury kept whispering.
"Sorry for always wanting to fight, but I desperately need a distraction."
"...No fighting means we clear faster. Then we get home sooner."
Esen tried to be satisfied with that. At the sound of her forcibly swallowing excess saliva, a random memory hit me.
My first ejaculation—not from masturbation—was on Esen's sticky, saliva-slick tongue. The hotel room that day smelled just like her sweat now, and the image of Esen, glazed in white fluids with unfocused eyes, flashed vividly.
Watching her deliberately savor the taste sent lightning through my brain. Her fingers tracing my abs felt like electricity seeping into my skin.
I...
"Stop."
"Huh?"
"Let's take a quick break."
I brushed it off hastily, hiding my erection behind the backpack slung in front. Baggy pants, shirt tied at the waist, tight underwear—and still, I had to do this or it'd show.
Of course, stopping to calm my embarrassing bulge wasn't the reason.
The corridor was dank and muggy. Fine for monsters, but not humans. Even if you don't feel tired, your body strains in places like that.
The party dropped their packs without complaint at my urging and sprawled out.
"Sticking to the rocks feels cool."
"You'll catch cave fleas."
"...Sorry. Because of me..."
"You're not the only tired one, Bilena—no need to feel bad. Speak up if you get dizzy. There's a spell for that."
I made a mental note to ask later if there was a spell for quelling sudden arousal. Gotta separate work and private life, I told myself, when Nidroga crawled over and poked my side.
"Tired?"
"Tired from worrying about you."
"I see. I know a energizing spell."
Her joke earned her a water pouch in return. I nodded thanks as I took the bottle she tossed. Nidroga offered hers like a toast.
We chuckled, clinked bottles, and replenished the fluids we'd sweated out.
We had to.
But I froze watching Nidroga tilt her head back. It was just moments ago.
That supple throat gulping not water, but something else.
I'd taken the purity of a hole not meant for sex. The glans slit touching her throat, gurgling—no mercy as I thrust.
I'd turned that dragon-pride-spewing, heat-enduring mouth into a mere tool for my blazing lust. Her horns, symbol of that intensity, demoted to handles for rough handling.
I violated that saliva-soaked mouth instead of love juices. Savagely. Trash-like. Violently.
Intoxicated by my audacity in defiling her, Nidroga seemed ecstatic at being defiled.
Desire reveals your true self. My newly familiar rogue side was thrilled. Soaked in fear and excitement, we pushed each other into unknown realms willingly. While taking care not to scar each other's fragile flesh.
I anxiously checked Nidroga's state; she held back her fangs. And finally, I dumped filthy fluid into the palate and throat of a noblewoman akin to a princess—
"Still dizzy?"
"...Time to move."
"If it's too much, rest a bit more. Or send the non-combatants back for a—"
"Once we're in, nowhere's safer than by the fighters. We don't have to find and destroy the altar today—let's scout as far as we can."
I needed a distraction like Esen. Not separating work and desire—I needed anything to suppress private urges with duty.
Nidroga's face was flushed too, lost in thought. She'd read something in my expression.
"...Let's go. Good rest."
"Yeah. Let's go. Rested well."
That day, Nidroga's throat swelled and her jaw popped. My dick got a mystery fang scrape. No regrets.
Burying those summer-sweat-triggered memories, we pressed on.
"Lucky bastards. Reeking of fun."
Until someone snickered from the dark corridor ahead, blocking our path.
A human waiting ahead in the demon lair? Definitely not normal.
Esen stepped forward hesitantly, frowning.
"...Seen you somewhere."
"Hurt that even my lil sis doesn't recognize me."
The hooded figure clicked—the Tigress crew from Tobetan Port to our camp. Leading them...
"Garam Taiga?"
"Better memory than that bitch sis and her minions."
Garam pulled off her hood. Unlike Esen's, white hair streaked with black strands. And at a slightly lower eye level... a terrifying scar across her eyes and nose.
Her toothy grin amplified the intimidation. Even Esen backed away hesitantly.
"Why're you here?"