Royal Capital Barga (9)
The wave of power pouring from the young master's body crashed over me. I braced my legs, fighting not to be shoved back, yet still I was forced back little by little. Fortunately the surging force began to weaken, and as the light flickered, my vision slowly opened up. After rubbing my aching eyes, I took stock of the situation.
As the light dimmed, the world ahead came into view. And right before my eyes………!
"Kyaa!!!"
I screamed without meaning to.
I couldn't help it.
The young master was completely naked. He had clearly been wearing clothes, yet they were gone. Could it be… that the clothes had failed to withstand the force being released and simply vanished?!
Not only that—he was floating in midair. He had been sitting in a chair, but the chair had disappeared along with his clothes. The table looked slightly damaged as well. I had no idea what on earth had happened.
One thing I did understand: I absolutely should not be looking.
I covered my face with both hands, especially my eyes, trying not to see. But my gaze kept drifting over of its own accord. It was far too embarrassing a sight to look at openly, so I parted the fingers covering my face just a little and peeked at the young master through the gaps.
His body was solid. Not the kind with muscles piled on thick, but clean and well-defined? Not bulky, yet the lean muscle stood out clearly, giving him a firm, toned look.
"Whoa, how indecent…."
It was completely different from my own body back when I had still been a man, before becoming a woman. I had never been particularly tall to begin with, and my muscles had never looked that nicely defined. His weren't overly bulky—just clearly solid at a glance. And he even had a six-pack on his abs….
And when I let my gaze drop a little lower….
Heat rushed to my face. An utterly mortifying sight….
Even as a fellow man, looking at that felt wrong.
B-but…. It looked… really, really b-big…….
Having been a man myself, I could tell just how large it was. If I had been a pure virgin girl, I might not have known… but because I had been a man, my face burned even hotter. Th-that was before it got hard, right?
I swallowed the saliva that had pooled in my mouth without thinking.
I tried to splash imaginary water on my face to snap out of it, but my eyes kept going back. I wasn't even gay—why was I like this? Because my body was female now? Was my mind turning into a woman's too? Was I surrendering to hormones?
Gulp….
I swallowed again.
Why……!
Goosebumps prickled all over my body and heat surged through me. This—this couldn't happen. No matter what anyone said, I was a man.
I had been a man!!
I turned my body away, averting my gaze. But the image I had just seen kept flickering before my eyes.
I urgently searched for some scrap of cloth to cover the young master's body.
"W-will this do…?"
After some deliberation, I grabbed the tablecloth. Then I slowly approached and draped it over the young master's body, which had settled back onto the floor. Even then, my eyes kept straying to his form.
I-I'm not a pervert—why am I like this? It had already been a year since my body became female. Was the influence of the body finally turning even my mind into a woman's? Considering my age, was this puberty?
It was the age when interest in the opposite sex ran high, after all.
But… I was going to become a man again, right?
"Th-this isn't right…."
I couldn't surrender to my mind—no, to my hormones!
B-but… would it feel good if that went in? This was just unavoidable curiosity.
How would I, who had been a man, know a woman's pleasure? In the hazy memories of my past life there had been dirty videos and books and such, and from those, women seemed to go wild with pleasure when that went inside them.
Right now I was a virgin without even any experience of masturbation, but….
I-it wasn't as if I had zero curiosity. I was just holding back because I was going to become a man again, and because there were other people around.
Yeah, at this age, curiosity about sex is only natural, right? On top of that, I had been a man and become a woman! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say my curiosity was greater than most people's.
I had been holding it in with extreme willpower, but….
"Hah, damn……."
My eyes kept going back there.
I roughly gauged the size by eye. Why was it so big? I had heard a man's thing could get at least one and a half times to more than twice as long when erect. Factoring in girth and such, the expansion rate was nearly five times? Or so I had heard. Could be wrong knowledge, but….
I compared his current size against my hand, marking it out.
This gets twice as long? When I roughly doubled the size I had measured, I couldn't even express the full length with one hand anymore.
I swallowed hard.
Unconsciously, I brought my hand to my lower abdomen.
"C-crazy…."
It would almost reach the navel. Could something that size even fit inside a human body? A size like that…….
My already hot body grew even hotter, and my mouth went bone-dry.
At this rate—at this rate I felt like I wouldn't be myself anymore.
I squeezed my eyes shut and fled the spot.
"Ugh!"
Like an idiot I walked with my eyes closed, tripped over a chair and fell, but that wasn't important right now. I scrambled up and left the dining room. Then I sank down onto the floor.
"Wh-why am I like this…."
My face, my neck, my whole body was far too hot.
What on earth was I….
The earlier scene kept flickering, and I couldn't clear my head. Was I… was I a pervert?
I don't know how much time passed, but I sat in the hallway for a long while.
"Haa…."
I felt a bit calmer now and tried to get up, but….
"H-huh?"
My legs wouldn't take my weight. Strength had drained from my entire body; I couldn't support myself.
Why was this happening?
I had no idea.
I tried somehow to get up, but the more I tried, the more my posture went weird.
Just as I was about to give up, the dining room door opened.
"What are you doing?"
Young Master Maximilian appeared, the tablecloth wrapped around his body.
"Is something wrong with your body, by any chance?"
He lowered himself, trying to help me.
But there was a very, very small problem. He was currently covering himself with only a tablecloth, and I had my face planted on the floor.
When I slightly turned my head and looked up, I saw it again.
The moment I saw it, I went dizzy and just squeezed my eyes shut.
He didn't ask me any further what was wrong and simply helped me. He corrected my posture and got me leaning against the wall.
"Are you all right?"
A little—just a little more rest and I would be able to stand.
"I-I'm f-fine, so please, please put some clothes on."
After speaking I grew so embarrassed I covered my face with a hand that could more or less move.
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Sh-shh!"
If you make noise Sister Mary or my sister will come! I heard the sound of his quick footsteps receding.
Now I could catch my breath a little…….
We gathered again three hours later. No matter how embarrassing things had been, we still had to eat….
I couldn't look the young master straight in the face. He seemed embarrassed too and didn't look this way much.
The atmosphere between the two of us was awkward, and with no conversation it grew even colder.
Only after the food came out did the mood ease a little, and we ate dinner. Even then, neither the young master nor I opened our mouths.
After the meal, once the dishes were cleared, everyone gathered at the table again.
"Is something the matter?"
Sister Mary looked at me and the young master as she spoke.
"Th-ah, ah, nothing happened."
Yeah, nothing happened. That was force majeure, right? It couldn't be helped…!
"How was the medicine?"
My sister asked, looking at the young master.
"Ah, you mean the effects of the medicine?"
When my sister nodded, the young master pondered slightly.
"My mana barely increased at all."
Huh?! His mana didn't increase?!
"It seems the vessel had reached its limit, so the medicinal effect acted in a different direction."
"Th-that—what do you mean?!"
I asked in shock. Was embarrassment the big issue here?! I had given up an expensive elixir and it had no effect?! Then what was that phenomenon earlier!
"You need not worry. The vessel itself has grown larger, after all."
From his explanation, the vessel that had already been filled to capacity had expanded thanks to this opportunity.
"It changed the vessel—that is, the physical body. I've undergone Marrow Cleansing and Rebirth."
It seemed this world also had the concept of Marrow Cleansing and Rebirth.
"Wh-what kind of effects does Marrow Cleansing and Rebirth have?"
"First, the body becomes stronger. You could say the muscles have become compressed muscle. The mana vessel has also grown larger, so there's more room to grow further."
Oh… so he could become even stronger.
"Frankly, so few people experience Marrow Cleansing and Rebirth that I'm rather dazed myself."
That just showed how potent the elixir's effects had been.
This world had no concept like Sword Master. So I couldn't tell how much stronger the young master had become.
"On top of that, the mana pathways seem to have changed as well, so my ability to control mana has improved."
"Is that so?"
I let out a sigh of relief. So it had worked properly after all? Then it was fine. The difference in effects between my sister and the young master must have been because of the difference in their levels. What if we had used a whole one?
Would my sister have undergone Marrow Cleansing and Rebirth then? Thinking that, I felt a little regretful.
"To so readily hand over such a fine elixir—I am truly grateful."
The young master bowed his head so deeply it nearly touched the table. Well, it was a little regrettable I hadn't been able to give it all to my sister, but the young master was a good person too. So I didn't feel it was a waste at all.
"It's fine."
I could finally relax a little. Looking at the young master's face, I suddenly felt embarrassed again.
The earlier incident—the one I had thought I'd forgotten—came back to me.
No! I can't stay like this!
"Th-then! I'm tired, so I'll head to my room first!"
I fled the spot as if running away.
Aaaah! I'm not a pervert!!