Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Facing the Lions (3)
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[Phew, they're finally all here! Stay, so what exactly did you want to talk about by gathering the three of us like this? Please start with the explanation!]
[What's this all of a sudden! Where have you brought me? You better explain right now, Stay!]
[The moment I woke up, you said we had somewhere to go and moved me. I don't know what it is, but yeah, it's about time for an explanation, right? If you're planning something weird after humiliating me like that earlier, you better prepare yourself. The limit of what I can tolerate is right around that... t-, tutor level from before.]
"Ughhh."
The moment my mind-reading skill activated, all three voices slammed into my eardrums at once.
Since none of them had access to the status window ability, they couldn't hear each other, so this overlapping cacophony that left my head spinning was a side effect I'd anticipated when I planned this little lion's den meeting.
But having voices of completely different tones and intensities pour in right from the start made me regret calling this summit a bit.
No, still, better to get it all out in one go—even if it meant a touch of dizziness—than repeating myself three times.
Going around to each one separately and saying the same thing three times over? For someone like me who wanted to finish the treatments as fast as possible and get his freedom back, that kind of time-waster was out of the question.
[S-, so, if you're going to explain, could you do it quickly? You suddenly passed out earlier, and now you're calling a summit out of nowhere—I've got a ton of questions. I want to hear your explanation soon, Stay, and then maybe chat a bit afterward, but...]
[Explain already! Where the hell did you bring me?! I hate being dragged around without a word! So spill it now! Explain or, or stroke my lower belly or something—anything!]
[Stay? You know me well enough by now, right? I prefer things efficient and quick. Wasting my time is something that should never, ever happen, so if you have something to say, spit it out already. If not, just finish that tr-, treatment from before...]
Clap!
In May Luina's hospital room, where only I could hear the racket, the sharp sound of flesh meeting flesh rang out loudly.
Of course, it wasn't a sneak attack on Mir Ryuin's plump, jiggly butt—it was just me clapping my hands hard.
If it had been a smack on Mir Ryuin's bouncy behind, it wouldn't have ended with a clap; it'd have been followed by a pu-rur-rung! as the soft flesh jiggled elastically.
As I glanced around, shaking off the pointless thoughts, the sudden clap had startled all three of them into silence, quieting the room.
"Phew, that's better. With all three of you talking at once, I couldn't get a word in. Since you all want my explanation, I'll start right now. So, just stay quiet until I'm done, okay?"
Making the top three in the World Hero Ranking shut up with a single clap.
Sure, right now our dynamic was overwhelmingly skewed—I was the only one who could treat their curse-induced vegetative states, like plants under a spell—but even so, the situation felt pretty damn satisfying.
Once the treatments were done, I'd never dream of something like this, so I might as well enjoy it while it lasted.
Savoring a rare sense of superiority from being the one in control, I began the explanation they'd all been waiting for.
"First off, the reason I gathered you three together is to set some ground rules for the treatments moving forward. Just a bit ago, I passed out while trying to treat May Luina here. My yang energy reserves hit rock bottom."
[Oh, s-, so that's why you suddenly buried your face in my chest?]
[You passed out treating May Luina? From running out of yang energy? So men faint when their yang energy bottoms out...! I had no idea!]
[Hmm, makes sense. Treating the curse involves infusing your yang energy, right? It wouldn't make sense for you to have unlimited supplies for curses strong enough to turn the three of us into vegetables. But passing out suddenly like that—any other risks besides fainting? Anything else I should worry about?]
Ughhh. Their questions hitting all at once felt like my head was splitting open.
It hadn't even been ten seconds since I'd asked them to stay quiet until the explanation was over, and the moment they opened their mouths, the voices flooded in like a tidal wave.
"W-, wait a sec! To you, it might just be inner thoughts, but three at once is more noise than I can handle alone! I'll answer questions after I'm done explaining and move you back to your individual rooms! So please, just be quiet for now—it's pointless if I can't take questions anyway!"
[Oh! R-, right! The others are chattering away too! I couldn't hear Dain Adamas or Mir Ryuin, so I forgot for a sec! Got it, I'll stay quiet!]
[Kinda reminds me of school days. Yeah, I get it. You want quiet, right?]
[Ah, my bad. Hearing you'd passed out got me worried about your health for a second, and I spoke without thinking. Can't have you keeling over on me since you're the only one who can treat this. Okay, questions on hold—I'll keep silent for now.]
"Phew."
The three I knew would've said something like, 'Tell the other bitches to shut up.' and kept rambling regardless of my complaints, but thankfully, they weren't that heartless.
Was I being too harsh, seeing them as selfish beasts in human skin? Were they just like me—people who could hold a conversation if you approached them right?
For a moment, their unexpectedly cooperative attitudes sparked that thought, but nah, it was crazy.
It's like how someone seems like trash after one bad act amid a hundred good ones, or surprisingly decent after a hundred bad ones and one good. That's probably why they seemed almost human right now.
I shook off the wandering thoughts, reminded myself of what they'd done to me, and kept my guard up.
"Alright, back to the explanation. It won't take long, so don't worry."
With the three miraculously staying silent, I continued laying out the treatment plan and methods ahead.
"Yes, so to sum up: treatments will be one per day from now on. I'll focus fully on each one. They'll always end with your fainting orgasms, so no need to worry about getting shortchanged. If I push too hard, pass out during a treatment, and the Central Intelligence Department happens to drop in for a surprise inspection? I'd be a dead man walking, and your cures would go up in smoke. To avoid that nightmare, please understand."
After finishing the recap, I was relieved to hear voices from all three sounding convinced.
If I died, their curse-remover would vanish too, so they had no ground to complain about that.
[But hey, couldn't you just tell that Intelligence Department or whatever to back off since it's for treatment? Then even if you faint, they wouldn't drag you off for execution.]
Of course, questions would pop up even without outright complaints, but answering this one was easy.
"Imagine the Central Intelligence crew bursting in on World Savior Dain Adamas stripped naked, me drumming her lower belly for erogenous development. You think they'd buy it if I said, 'Treating a curse here'?"
[......No.]
"Exactly. It's a curse even the Papal Court couldn't detect, and here I am treating it—they'd never believe that part alone."
The other two chimed in agreement with Dain Adamas, affirming my point.
Emboldened by their buy-in, I pressed on with what was left.
"Looking at the curse resolution progress, it shouldn't take too long to fully cure you all, so keeping this our little secret and treating on the down-low seems best. These VVIP rooms don't even have CCTV, given the patients who come here."
[When I first heard you were assigned as our caregiver, I figured you were discarded by the Association and Guilds as useless. But now? This is a huge stroke of luck. Getting these VVIP special rooms—and you as our caregiver.]
Me becoming their caregiver was pure coincidence from getting bumped down the roster, but yeah, as Mir Ryuin said, it was a massive win for all of us.
I'd pay off my debts years ahead of schedule, and they'd be free of the curse.
Imagining my dream of opening a quiet café somewhere, living a peaceful daily life, coming years sooner? It had me buzzing a bit.
Feeling good, I tossed in a bonus they'd like.
"Oh, and no worries about me blabbing post-treatment about what went down between us. Our connection ends when the cures do—we'll be strangers after. Nothing happened between us, and you'll be the miracle heroes who recovered from vegetative states. Good for me, perfect for you, right?"
To fully dispel doubts, I added one more line.
"Ah, and don't sweat me slapping a price on the curse cures and bugging you later! Already squared it with May Luina. I said clearing my debts is payment enough, and she agreed. Verbal contract done—so once she pays them off post-treatment, you'll never hear from me again! Never ever!"