Ep.6 - Secretly.. (2)
Ep.6 - Secretly.. (2)
A mysterious hand, flouting the cold war that simmered among the women, slipped straight into my underwear and began kneading my left buttock.
Deep down, everyone was probably after me, but on the surface they must have thought we were in the middle of a [ceasefire agreement]!
How could she be so bold...!
"Heut, hieut...!"
"That bastard's got me so pissed off I can't take it. Let me just touch you for a bit."
Of course.
The only one who'd dare do something this bold was Riko noona.
Exploiting the blind spot of walking at the back of the group, she started groping me just enough that none of the women would notice.
If there was one silver lining, it was that she was kneading my backside rather than the front, but being groped as if I were being sexually assaulted left me in a truly awkward position.
No matter how much I'd adapted to this other world, being touched with such lewd hands, like some kind of molestation, left me utterly stunned and flustered.
"Th-this... we're gonna get caught!"
"If you just stay quiet, we won't get caught."
Riko's quiet yet stealthy handiwork began to dominate the inside of my pants.
Not a single sound escaped. It was an astonishing level of skill.
Just how many treasures had she stolen pulling stunts like this?
As if dodging even the wind,
as if scoffing at the very weave of the fabric,
her touch kneaded me relentlessly.
"If we get caught like this, it's big trouble. You know? Just stay still. I'll just feel you up a little and then let you go."
Riko cunningly used my awkward predicament as a threat.
The sensation of being softly stimulated without knowing why, and the blankness it brought to my head, sealed my mouth shut. I clamped my lips tight, determined to suppress the moans that leaked out without my realizing.
My pace gradually slowed, but thanks to Riko's exquisite control—kneading my butt while pushing me forward—there was no worry of falling behind the group. Whether that was a good thing or not, I wasn't sure. Anyway, like a young buffalo at the back of the herd being eyed by a lion, I became Riko's prey, desperately stifling my moans.
No, it wasn't as if a little butt-kneading would normally make me moan, but
her electrifying touch was enough to twist even obvious truths...
It felt way too good. Unbelievably so.
"Keut... keu-heut..."
I looked around, wondering if the other women might have noticed our secret rendezvous, but
they were each absorbed in their own tasks and didn't turn their eyes toward us.
Neva and Eva were riding the broom with their heads bowed low,
Chichi was persistently asserting her innocence to Neva and Eva,
and Kaede was lecturing Chichi to clearly establish the pecking order...
"...Heup! Heu-eut...!"
Everyone seemed fine, but
there was one chilling thing.
It felt like Helen's deep, serene eyes, as she walked demurely, had briefly met mine.
"S-stop. Noona, stop...!"
"Stay still."
Did Riko feel Helen's gaze too?
Her amber eyes, heavily lidded, glared fiercely at Helen.
"That little shit. Been looking at you from the start."
"At... me?"
Embedded in Riko's words was
her own [intuition], forged through countless hardships.
"Don't get involved with that bitch. Stick close to me."
No, telling me to stick close while kneading my butt like that... groping...
"Eu-heok..."
"Fuck. Holy power is essential for fighting demons, and of all people she had to get tangled up with that bitch..."
Riko gave my intimate skin one last thorough feel and withdrew her hand. She didn't seem entirely satisfied, but seeing her grin at my weakened legs, it didn't seem too lacking either.
"Anyway, be careful from now on. If that bastard tries anything, call me right away."
She soon patted my butt— todak-todak— and left my side with a whistle.
Even after her hand was removed, it felt like Riko's touch still lingered on my butt.
As if I were still being touched...
"Eiit..."
...What was even more unsettling was
that it didn't feel all that unpleasant.
--------------------------------------------
We set out on a long journey, walking beneath the moonlit night.
How long it would take,
if we could even make it,
the first step of this long journey, where nothing was certain, was dreadfully sluggish.
Even though it was a fairly large party of seven,
we couldn't unite and walked awkwardly at ambiguous distances from each other.
It was a peculiar party where even the always cheerful Kaede could hardly keep a conversation going with the other women. A peculiar relationship.
Could we really reach the Demon Continent like this?
"We must rent a carriage near here."
What somewhat eased my worries was Neva, who was being transported on the broom.
Neva finally lifted her bowed head and began to address all of us in a rather cold voice.
"If the seven of us walk together like this, we'll definitely get caught at checkpoints. Moreover, word of seven people wandering without even a carriage or horses will surely spread quickly."
"What do you mean?"
I, wanting a more detailed explanation and also hoping to lighten Neva's gloomy mood through conversation, approached the broom and posed a question to Neva.
Neva looked at me sadly over the broom for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued.
"...It means we're not normal. A group of seven wandering around without any means of transportation is bound to draw attention. Only fairly strong people travel faster than horses or reach the next village in one go without resting once... that's the kind of thing only such people do."
"Ehh? Is that so? But I've always wandered around with just a greatsword, you know?"
"If seven of us do that stupid thing together, eyes will follow us everywhere. Do you realize we're supposed to be hiding?"
Kaede pouted and let her tail droop. Perhaps she was quite disappointed that her plan to subtly show off her strength had gone awry.
"I agree. If we're going to keep walking at this shitty pace, it's better to disguise ourselves as a merchant caravan or something."
Surprisingly, it was Riko who sided with Neva.
Riko immediately trudged to the front of the group and poured out her thoughts to everyone.
"And even if we run for it from now on, it's just as dangerous. That crazy queen has probably already issued a wanted order across the whole kingdom. It'll take a day at most. In a day, forces from all over will swarm to catch us. It's right to disguise ourselves as inconspicuously as possible."
The one to oppose Riko and Neva's opinion was Chichi.
Chichi shook her head and tried to dissuade this reckless plan.
"So you want to rent a carriage and pretend to be a merchant caravan? If it's a direct order from the queen, they'll comb through every single load. It's impossible."
"If it's impossible, then how about you come up with another idea? Or are you all just going to ride your broom and flutter away weakly?"
"...I don't even have the energy to argue."
Hmm.
A merchant caravan, huh.
I'd seen it a few times in fantasy comics.
It always felt like the extras the protagonist helps...
They traverse the continent with several carriages.
From village to village,
city to city,
nation to nation,
transporting all sorts of things to make money.
Hm.
It didn't seem like such a bad idea.
If we could fool them well, wouldn't we be able to travel [at least the most] safely during this long journey?
"Hey, bubble-gum tits! Why do you keep wimping out? I've seen you use disguise magic before. Just fool them with that."
"Bu-bubble-gum tits... ahem! You really are bottomlessly vulgar. Well, of course I could use it, but..."
"But?"
"It's not my specialty... Besides, there's barely any research on disguise magic compared to other magic. I can perfectly disguise my own body, but transforming such a large group is unprecedented. If they search properly, the magic will definitely break quickly."
Ah.
That's a shame...
"What. So you're useless then."
"Useless! I've been doing everything by myself from the start!"
"What do you mean everything! You shameless bitch! I've done everything from beginning to end!"
"What are you talking about! As the leader, I, Kaede, have been handling numerous roles!"
Leaving the noona brawl that had erupted again behind,
I walked slowly and began to picture in my head what it would be like to travel as a merchant caravan.
"Umm..."
How could we shake off the knights meticulously searching everything because of the queen's order?
To make the knights simply pass us by as we traveled with horses...
"Then I should ride in the front of the carriage."
"Hik!?"
With the heavy scent of a cigar, Helen whispered into my ear.
Startled, I grabbed my ear and turned around to find her gazing at me with a mysterious smile...
"Wh-what! You startled me...!"
"Oh my. I seem to have been thoughtless. Will you accept my apology? However, what I said is sincere, so please consider it seriously."
Hoo, hoo...
First, calm down.
If Helen-ssi rode in the front...?
"...Then even those knight bastards would be cowed."
"If they can't search properly, my magic would work well enough too."
"Tell me what you're talking about... I was briefly staring at that firefly..."
It was plausible.
Really.
Besides, the queen didn't know about Helen, did she!
"..."
We furtively exchanged glances, trading that fact.
Using Helen, we could definitely escape the encirclement the queen had set up.
Definitely.
"If it's an archbishop of the Holy Kingdom, certainly... there's a possibility they'd let us through without much inspection."
The decisive blow!
Neva's subdued voice quite actively accepted Helen's opinion.
If it was a stratagem that even she, who had served as Knight Commander, saw possibility in...!
The women's eyes,
and my two eyes,
all turned toward Helen.
"Hoo hoo. Need you look at me? I always move according to your will..."
Ep.6 A Chaotic Departure
end.