Night of Thick Fog and Soot (1)
About two and a half hours out from the capital region.
After transferring trains once along the way, we arrived at Taebaek Station.
The air that hit us the moment we stepped off the train was nothing like the air back home. Unlike the capital's summer, where even the shade offered no relief, here the mere act of standing out of the sun was enough to feel a coolness settle over your skin.
"So this is why people make a pile of money and move out to the countryside."
The clean taste of nature rising off a city ringed by mountains seemed to scrub the body clean from the inside out.
"No — your body really is being cleansed. Since you're currently contracted to me, Doyun, you're more sensitive to Solaris's mana, and that response feeds straight back into your body."
"It was real…"
So it hadn't just been my imagination?
I let out a hollow laugh and looked down at myself. I'd steeled myself for this the moment I decided to keep the contract, but still — what kind of body was I turning into?
"Well. That isn't what matters right now. Something just occurred to me, though. Coming here on impulse was fine and all, but we need a place to stay."
We left the platform, stepped out into the station plaza, and I took in our surroundings.
We'd come here to train my abilities. And since there was no telling whether that training would take days, months, or years, nobody could promise how long we'd be staying.
…Well. Realistically, years was a bit much.
"Got anywhere in mind?"
"Mm… I do have a training ground picked out, but…"
"So we're pounding the pavement ourselves. Got it."
"I'm sorry… I didn't think that far ahead…"
I told a dejected Gretchen it was fine, then set off at a brisk pace.
"Don't worry about it. It's not peak vacation season, and looking at the banners around here, some kind of tourist festival just wrapped up. If we put in a little legwork, we should be able to find at least one place to stay."
Cooler than the capital or not, standing under the full sun still got hot fast. Eager to drop our bags, we headed into town and started hunting for lodging — and before long, we found a place.
"I was worried the outside looked a little run-down, but the air conditioning works and the water runs hot and cold. That's a relief."
A proper hotel wouldn't have given me pause, but with these guesthouse-style places you could get unlucky. I still shuddered remembering a family trip years ago when we'd ended up showering in ice-cold mountain water. Summer or not, I had zero interest in repeating that.
"…"
"Gretchen? What's wrong?"
"…Ah, nothing. Sorry. I was just spacing out…"
"No, it's fine — but is something the matter?"
In the middle of unpacking I glanced over and found Gretchen staring blankly into empty air. My voice snapped her back; she quickly started unpacking the little luggage she'd brought.
A few minutes later, with our things more or less sorted, I checked my phone.
PM 1:10
"A little past lunch, but want to go grab something to eat?"
"I'd love to. What would you like?"
"We're not exactly here as tourists, but if we've come all this way we should at least try the local specialty. Phone says something called water dak-galbi is famous around here. Want to go?"
"Whatever you'd like is fine with me, Doyun."
With Gretchen's bright little smile sealing it, we left the guesthouse and headed for the restaurant that had come up in the search. Luckily it was the off-season — no catastrophic lines, and we were seated and eating in no time.
"Interesting flavor."
"Is this your first time too, Doyun?"
"I've had the regular iron-plate kind, but water dak-galbi? First time."
The taste sat somewhere between braised spicy chicken stew and something else entirely — hard to pin down. Not bad, though. Filling my stomach with a hot broth on a summer day left me feeling ready to throw myself into training.
"All right. Let's go. What do we do now? Where to?"
"Before we start training, shall we walk around a little?"
"Huh?"
I tilted my head at Gretchen's completely unexpected suggestion. We'd come here to hone my power and hold back the erosion of Desire. With every reason to start training immediately, why tour the scenery?
"Please."
"Uh… yeah. All right."
She had to have a reason for asking. I nodded.
After that, Gretchen and I wandered the city. We visited a place called Hwangji Pond downtown, then rode a city bus for ten or twenty minutes to take in the natural scenery farther out. I still wasn't sure what the point was supposed to be — but at the same time, something in me settled. Ever since meeting Gretchen, one incident after another had piled up without pause. In that light, wandering around with no particular thought in my head, just looking at the view, turned out to be surprisingly good for the nerves.
"Feeling a little calmer?"
"So you were looking out for me after all."
"You're… not someone used to this kind of fighting. I thought stress had been building up whether you noticed it or not. So I hoped… even a little… that you might find some peace of mind."
As we walked, the sun began to sink low. Mountain country — the light fell faster here. By the time the already quiet city grew quieter still, I shrugged.
"Thanks. I really did get to rest. But I'm fine now."
So let's start training. That was the meaning behind the words — but Gretchen just looked at me steadily, then dropped her gaze and gently took hold of my wrist.
"…I think we need to replenish my mana."
"W-what?… Didn't I just say I was fine?"
The whiplash in her words caught me so off guard I couldn't help blurting it back. Gretchen's face flushed as she whispered up at me.
"I thought you'd be all right, but… just in case. If we run short of mana midway through, it could become a real problem."
"Ahem… Fine. All right."
I nodded, and Gretchen beamed. Then we headed back to the guesthouse we'd booked that afternoon.
Rustle. Rustle.
The sound of clothes hitting the floor. Before I could get a word out, Gretchen had stripped the moment we stepped inside and turned to face me.
"Shall we go a little further this time?"
"Ahem…"
The memory of collapsing after nothing but Gretchen's playful, shameless blowjob last time flashed through my mind. In the brief instant I flustered and looked away, she closed the distance naked and set her hands on my clothes.
Then she undressed me, gentle and unhurried.
I didn't resist. I let her.
Gretchen peeled off my top piece by piece. After that she settled demurely on her knees and unfastened my belt. Freed of its hold, my pants dropped straight to the floor, leaving only plain underwear.
After a full day of walking they had to be unpleasantly damp with sweat — but Gretchen showed not the slightest hint of distaste as she pressed her lips to the half-swollen cock straining against the fabric.
"Chup♡"
"Ngh…"
The soft press of her lips sent a strange sensation racing through me, a shiver prickling up the back of my neck. At the same time, the feeling was so addictive that my hand found its way to her hair before I knew it.
"You like this, don't you, Doyun."
She nuzzled her cheek against me. Every so often she sniffed, kissed again, kept working me with slow, deliberate attention. Gretchen took her time caressing me until I was fully hard — and once she decided I was ready, after all that kissing and licking and nuzzling over the fabric, she pulled my underwear down.
"Ah♡…"
A short little gasp of admiration, and she buried her face against my cock.
A beautiful woman's face looking up at me with my cock resting against it — the kind of scene that belonged in dirty comics, playing out in real life. It was more violently erotic than anything I'd imagined.
Gretchen paid none of that any mind. She opened her mouth and took me in.
"Chuuup, chuuup, chop♡"
She licked the head. Then the shaft. And before long she swallowed the whole of me.
That same soft, wet heat I'd felt from Gretchen's mouth before made my hips twitch. It had felt good then, and it still did. The difference was that last time I'd had to throw everything I had into simply enduring it — now I had a little room to breathe. Enough room, even, to slowly watch the way she bobbed her head, sucking me with such earnest focus.
I brushed her hair back gently as she worked.
Gretchen faltered for a second at the touch — then started sucking even harder.
"Kh… Gretchen, I'm about to…"
I told her I was close, but she didn't stop. If anything she took me deeper, nearly to her throat, and sucked hard. The arms wrapped around my legs tightened, pulling her soft, springy breasts flush against my thighs until I could feel every bit of that pliant warmth.
I came hard into her mouth.
Gretchen kept sucking right to the end, then finally let me slip free.
"Mmm… nn… haa♡…"
She swallowed everything she'd been holding, then looked up at me with eyes that clearly wanted praise. I stroked her cheek, and she closed her eyes in pleasure, nuzzling into my palm.
"We're going to do more, right?"
The question was almost tender. When I gave a small nod, Gretchen rose unsteadily and made her way to the bed. She lay back, parted her legs just a little, and opened her arms the way a child might asking to be held.
"Come here, Doyun♡"