Ep.5 - P-Please...
Ep.5 - P-Please...
***
About twenty minutes had passed since Delin blurted out that random, stupid line, "Let's just eat."
The five women and one man were actually sitting around the campfire, tearing off pieces of bread and eating.
It wasn't exactly an appetite-stimulating situation, but they chewed their bread diligently and discussed their plans anyway. Of course, they hadn't given any bread to the archbishop, and they had even cast a status-ailment spell on her that kept her from hearing properly.
The first matter was what to do about Archbishop Helen, who had suddenly appeared.
The women, every last one of them, stubbornly refused, but Delin alone struggled to somehow bring the archbishop into the party.
"Please listen to me, okay? The more allies we have right now, the better! She's offering to help us when we're on the run—why refuse?"
Delin, making his case by emphasizing the party's lack of strength, defended the archbishop quite desperately.
To him, the archbishop was an [information source] who could provide answers to countless clues about returning home.
So he couldn't just chase her away. He had to bring her into the party and make her a companion.
"I said no."
"It's a no."
"...I'm against it too."
"No, I forbid it!"
However, the women's thoughts were the exact opposite.
Having been forced to travel with troublemakers who interfered with their love, they were dead set against creating any more rivals.
There was no empty spot in the already messy party of women. It was already over capacity, so to speak!
'Ugh, seriously...!'
Still, Delin did not back down.
Helen, who was linked to things like God and whatnot, was the only clue to solving the mystery of his own isekai transfer, wasn't she!
"But... think about it. We don't have any other way right now, do we? So we need to take her too..."
"There are plenty of ways. So stop yapping and stay quiet. Don't meddle in women's business."
A rather firm refusal popped out of the thief's mouth. How could there be a patriarchal... no, matriarchal statement like that?
Fuck this shit!
Is this the kind of world where when women are talking seriously, a man has to sit aside and peel fruit for them?!
'I can't give up here.'
But despite the natural order of a world where human rights had hit rock bottom, he kept opening his mouth.
He would escape being a trembling, stupid dumbass living dildo fuckhole and show a splendid girl crush... no, man crush who could confidently demand what he wanted!
And using his [head] too!
"...P-Please listen to me! The only way we can stop this pursuit is by praying to God, really! If the queen has come within range of my ability, no matter how much we struggle, she'll keep coming after us. Until we die...!"
"We already know all that, so just rest for a bit. We'll handle it."
Sweet Neva's consideration.
But Delin did not yield even to that.
"I don't want to die like this!"
At his surprisingly bold words, the women's conversation halted.
'...Good!'
Everyone's gaze turned to Delin, and feeling those stares completely, Delin continued speaking.
"E-Even if the odds are low, I think it's better to listen to her. I want to live..."
Delin's awkward acting continued.
It seemed he had no natural talent for deceiving others.
"..."
Delin noticed his own awkwardness and immediately changed plans. Plan B had also been prepared. He was a thorough and clever man, truly!
Hic... sob...
Of course, the minor issue was that Plan B was a plan that squeezed out tears with all his might... and was a bit of a scratch to his pride.
In a way, it was a plan that scratched his pride, a minor problem, but,
Delin had long since given up on things like his [pride], [self-esteem], or [sense of identity].
He had no time to care about a little embarrassment. One must know how to bend for the greater good.
He had become a man who would stop at nothing for survival.
Perhaps that was the result of the many lessons he had learned after falling into this other world.
Looking at him like that,
the phrase "Humans are animals that desperately adapt to the situations and environments they are placed in" came to mind, which you've probably heard somewhere.
Waaaaah...
Delin, crying his eyes out with every ounce of strength he had.
He recalled sad thoughts and desperately tried to control his emotions.
The Sorrow of a math test where he got a 13 despite studying hard.
The Sorrow of being forced to go on stage in drag and dance the Zero Two at the talent show.
The Sorrow of rejecting a gloomy-looking girl's confession and being persistently stalked for months.
The Sorrow of being dragged away by the girls to join in uninteresting conversations while all the other boys played soccer.
The Sorrow of that goddamn situation when the other boys saw him sweating while working out together and the atmosphere became weird...! That dogshit situation!!!
'It's really so fucking sad...'
Recalling those things made real tears come out.
And after living like that, he got dragged into this crazy world and ended up being passed around and used by everyone—what a God-awful fate!
This is ridiculous.
This is way too harsh.
Hic... sob...
When Delin started sobbing, the women didn't know what to do. Coincidentally, the four women had rarely interacted with men, so even the way to take care of their own man was extremely clumsy and unfamiliar.
"Wh-What? Are you crying?"
Even the prickly Philmark couldn't hide her fluster, let alone the other women.
"D-Delin! Don't cry. Come on, calm down..."
"Why are you crying, huh? Let's wipe it with this. Give me your face."
"Dear husband, don't cry...! I'll show you something fun! Here! Making a heart with my tail! How's that!"
Maybe because he was born with more feminine traits than masculine ones.
Even in his original world, Delin often showed tears.
But since coming to this other world, perhaps some mechanism of his body had changed significantly—his heart and emotions had become deeper and richer, spilling out to the surface one after another.
'I-I didn't mean to cry this much...?'
Just like a tiny hole punctured in a dam lets out a massive stream of water,
once Delin's tear ducts got started, they didn't know how to stop.
'Well, whatever, it's actually a good thing...!'
Delin decided to take this unexpected physical reaction as an opportunity and squeezed out even more tears.
------------------------------
..About ten minutes mixed with tears passed.
Delin's face swelled up from the constant tears, and that brought about a significant change in the women's plans.
The recruitment of the archbishop, which everyone had opposed, became an atmosphere where everyone except the thief was in favor,
and even the thief, while going "Tch-" and making a sour face, was in a situation where she had to concede in the face of Delin's pitiful state.
A man crying his eyes out in bed gives a sense of sadism and satisfaction, but
tears in everyday life become something truly hard to endure... something heartbreaking.
"No, I don't care how much you cry and beg—it's insane to travel with that weird woman! And what, we're killing the Demon King? Ugh!"
The thief, complaining about the crazy plan of suddenly going to fuck up the Demon King and having to pray to God, walked away. Her angry footsteps echoed through the dark forest.
She still couldn't trust the archbishop.
More specifically, she was afraid the archbishop would become [a rival competing over Delin], and she was worried that a woman with unknown intentions might end up chasing after the Save&Load.
"W-Wait! Wait!"
But Delin hurried after the thief, and,
as a final measure, he swallowed his pride and threw down [God's move].
A magnificent line that a woman would dare not resist...
"P-Please... Riko noona... I can't go on like this... Please, okay?"
Ah,
Wasn't it said since ancient times that what leads a man to ruin is love with a woman, and what leads a woman to ruin is love with a man?
A person blinded by fiery love will tie themselves to it even to the point of burning themselves up.
"Ha-"
...Philmark had no choice but to stop walking.
"Fuck... seriously."
Philmark—no, Riko—roughly grabbed her hair and then turned back around, striding toward Delin.
Rather, Delin, taken aback by that sudden stride, stepped backward,
and as he kept backpedaling, he was blocked by a tree and couldn't run any further,
and finally, when they were so close that only each other's faces filled their vision,
Riko opened her mouth and growled,
"You, don't mess with me like that. Wanna see me go crazy?"
She suspected even Delin's obsession with the archbishop,
but at the sight of Delin trotting after her and calling her by her real name, there was no way to refuse.
"Son of a bitch."
And then,
finally, their lips overlapped.
Mmm... smack...
Riko, indulging in lips and tongue after a long time, continued the kiss quite passionately,
and Delin, with his eyes squeezed shut, quietly accepted the thief's kiss.
And so, the agreement was concluded.
Philmark, back at the campfire, nodded and accepted the archbishop,
and immediately the six humans gathered their hands together and recited a pledge of comradeship. (In particular, the archbishop had strongly insisted on this ritual.)
Even if it was only a formal custom, the women had surely drawn one step closer to each other.
'Hoo...'
For the first time since coming to this other world, Delin got his own way.
Although the process wasn't manly, what did that matter!
First victory is sweet.
Now!
Delin and his women accepted the archbishop and were about to head toward the Demon Continent together.
Now their full-fledged adventure was begi...
"W-Wait!"
"Huh?"
Neva suddenly jumped up and shouted.
The five companions stared at her blankly, wondering if she'd gone crazy.
"Uh... We have to bring Eva too. Before we leave, Eva first..."
"Who's Eva?"
"I don't know either."
...It seemed it would still be a while before the adventure started.
Their first destination, again, Raftel!