Chapter 120

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 120

Chapter Title: How to Overcome Shame (1)

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Hero Ariel.

Her mind was a tangled mess.

It wasn't just because of the pleasure she'd felt moments ago.

'Who the hell am I...?'

The chaos stemmed from extreme mental dissociation.

The curse that had rigidly defined her gender in her brain had half-unraveled, bringing back her sense of self as a woman.

Was she a man, or a woman?

Her head spun.

She wanted to just pass out right then and there.

But Ariel didn't.

'...I am the Hero. The one who swore to make this world brighter alongside those two.'

Gender was just a biological classification for the human known as Ariel.

What mattered most was the duty imposed upon her.

The sense of responsibility she naturally bore as the empire's strongest kept her from giving up.

'No, that man's the real culprit.'

Meanwhile, the other half of her mind cried out.

Yi Hyun was the root of all evil.

Everything had spiraled into the worst possible state since he'd shown up.

Hadn't they seen what happened to Lumina and Minerva?

Their fates, and her own suffering—it was all Yi Hyun's fault.

'So I have to... kill him.'

That half of her mind then rationalized it, convincing itself.

It was essentially the curse's death throes before being lifted.

But to a fractured mind, it was the sweetest suggestion imaginable.

Blame-shifting all her suffering onto someone else was far too easy and convenient.

Something Ariel would never do.

"...!!!"

'These intrusive thoughts I've been having... Could this be the curse's true nature?'

The half of her mind on the verge of succumbing to confusion coalesced.

And confronted the other half.

The faction insisting she was male, versus the one desperate to believe she was female.

The two minds shouted noisily.

'Forget the curse—that man's the curse itself! Kill him!!'

'No, we can't kill someone based on mere suspicion. My thinking must be corrupted after all.'

'Then we'll just have to purify it.'

'...If you don't kill him, you'll keep suffering like this!!!'

A brand appeared on her cheek.

Agony racked her body.

It was only natural, really.

She was forcibly breaking a high demon's curse through sheer power.

And without even using pleasure as a painkiller, like Yi Hyun had.

It was like ripping a cloth fragment stuck to a wound by force.

Tears streamed down from the pain that felt like her mind was being torn in two.

Yet Ariel didn't give up.

'Maybe thanks to that pleasure earlier. It hurts, but I can endure it.'

"Nngh...!!"

The lingering afterglow of her climax still remained.

The peak pleasure Yi Hyun had given her as a woman.

Her senses had been dulled by it.

After tasting the dopamine from his 6 Vitality, even the mind-shredding pain felt bland.

In a way, Yi Hyun had custom-prescribed her the perfect painkiller.

"...Hah!!!"

'Breaking the curse on her own? Is she a monster?'

The perpetrator himself had no such intent, of course, but still.

And so Ariel began her battle.

Her first victory was minuscule.

A mere one percent.

The portion of her mind freed from the curse, truly hers again.

For enduring such torment, the gain felt far too insignificant.

-Whoosh!!

'I don't know exactly how, but it's working.'

Ariel didn't give up.

She kept drawing up her mana, forcibly unraveling the curse.

And perhaps because of that.

Status windows began popping up before Yi Hyun's eyes.

"...!!!"

'It's speeding up!?'

The release rate accelerated.

As more of her female mind returned, Ariel's wills united to draw up mana.

It was a brutally straightforward treatment, using no tricks whatsoever.

But that's why it was regal. That's why she was the Hero.

Noble blue light filled the bathhouse.

-Tremble.

"I am, I...!!!"

The light engulfed the brand on her cheek.

The curse's remnants, which had once shone evenly against it, were now barely visible.

"Whoa...!!"

Yi Hyun would later remark on it.

Standing against the curse with sheer willpower alone—that was the Hero.

'She just brute-forced it? Is she even human?'

...While inwardly thinking, 'What the hell is that? Scary as shit.'

It was a sight that evoked such sentiments.

And finally.

The Hero Ariel.

Had freed herself from the curse that had bound her.

"...Ah."

A sharp clarity pierced her mind.

At the same time, the brand vanished completely.

Her body, floating in midair from mana release alone, slowly descended.

Her eyes, shut all this time, finally opened.

It had been mere minutes—or three years.

"I... am a woman..."

"Hero! Are you okay!!?"

"Yi... Hyun."

"Phew, no dangerous status ailments at least. But seriously, what kind of solo battle were you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fighting?"

Yi Hyun rushed over the moment he saw her.

He grinned brightly.

Though his plan to use "treatment" as an excuse for sex had fallen through, it was a minor thing.

He was purely glad Ariel had been cured.

Ariel smiled back.

"Sorry for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trouble all this time. As you said, my curse was... my, curse..."

"Lady Ariel?"

"Uh, uh, uhhh...?"

But it was only for a moment.

Ariel's smile faded.

Her lips began to quiver.

Memories of everything she'd done with him flashed through her mind.

[—Since it's been a while, why don't we bathe together?]

[—These ridiculously oversized tits...]

[—Ridiculous. Are you saying I've always been a woman?]

"What the hell have I...!!!"

The words she'd uttered, utterly convinced she was a man.

The letters she'd sent to Minerva and Lumina, holding back all her sorrow.

The vulgar pose she'd struck just now, telling Yi Hyun to stop—every bit as crude as Lumina's.

And finally,

-Freeze.

'Wait, I'm still naked right now...?'

A man staring straight at her nude body.

All of it culminated in one emotion.

Shame.

Embarrassment flooded her brain.

A scream she'd never uttered even while forcibly breaking the curse echoed through the men's bath.

"Kyaa, kyaaaaah!!!"

"Why the sudden freakout!? Are you hurt somewhe—"

"Don't looooook!!!!"

And then—grip—

Leaving an afterimage, the Hero ambushed Yi Hyun from behind, choking him with her arms.

Her massive breasts didn't just press into his back—they spilled out to the sides.

"G-guhk!!"

'She said she can't erase memories, so... f-fuc...'

Thud—

Yi Hyun's final thought before collapsing was,

'But damn, these could double as airbags.'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

His impression of the breasts cushioning his back.

Good thing Ariel didn't hear it.

A short while later.

Ariel emerged from the bath, cloaked over her clothes.

Dangling from her arm was Saleos—no, Mangko.

The fainted high demon, clothes drenched in pussy juices, hung there.

"Haa."

"Young man! You okay? Heard a huge commotion..."

"...You don't have to call me 'young man' anymore."

The bathhouse owner rushed toward her.

The Hero calmly explained to the old man.

About the curse on her, and why she'd acted that way all this time.

Even as she spoke, she wanted to crawl under the covers in embarrassment.

The old man, meanwhile, beamed from ear to ear.

"Aww, all better now? What a relief!"

"Thank you. It's awkward for me to say this, but thanks to your belief in me, I could at least stay here peacefully."

"No biggie. I just figured this young lady was real sick, y'know."

"...Ngh, hngh."

'I ranted to this kind man that I was a man? I wanna burrow into a rabbit hole!!'

His kindness only amplified her shame.

It made her realize just how absurdly she'd been acting.

Ariel's cheeks flushed bright red.

"There's a man collapsed in the bath. Could you dress him?"

"That fella from the palace? Yeah, you didn't do nothin' harsh to him, right?! You're so strong, missy, and he's been famous around here lately, so I couldn't stop ya."

"He's... fine. Thanks to him, I cured my curse."

The shame intensified at the mention of Yi Hyun.

The man she'd mindlessly tried to memory-wipe—but it wouldn't work on him.

Just imagining how he'd look at her now made her tremble.

'If it had just been his lust talking, I could've comfortably hated him. Why did the curse really get lifted...'

She couldn't blame him.

As a woman, it was mortifying, but she'd been the one to entangle herself with him first.

He'd postponed his duties, his mission to find her, just to treat her.

And in the end, he'd even broken the curse.

Results-wise, he was her benefactor.

Even if the process had piled up a lifetime's worth of dark history—mostly her fault.

"Ngh, hah... hngh..."

"Young man—er, miss! Got his clothes on him. Whaddya want me to do?"

"...Hand him to me."

Pushing aside her complicated feelings.

Ariel took Yi Hyun and tucked him under her arm.

Unlike her past aversion to men, she felt no fear.

-Whoosh.

'Me, touching a man's... cock, covered in cum...'

Fear had been replaced by shame.

And,

-Squish.

'...Why does just thinking about it make me wet?'

No matter how much she wiped, her love juices wouldn't stop.

Looking at Yi Hyun now stirred shame and arousal, not terror.

But,

'Still, thank you.'

She was grateful for the curse cure.

It was her thought as she bid farewell and left the bathhouse.

Afterward, she.

Released the presence she'd kept hidden.

-Flash—

The surroundings instantly grew rowdy.

"Huh? Where'd that person come from?"

"Waa~ Mommy, look at the lady with the huge boobs~."

"Boobs? Silly child... Oh my, what is that?"

The citizens buzzed.

The Hero had been among them for three years, yet never once detected—like a ghost.

Her aura alone was overwhelming.

"What's all the commotion... Yi Hyun!? And Saleos too!!"

"Hey, who are you, carrying our darling—er, Yi Hyun like that, sword lady!!"

The knights gathered, drawn by her presence.

Hilde, who'd been sniffing around full-tilt, and Silpi, gathering info with her usual affability.

Their gazes locked on Ariel.

More precisely, her chest.

-Freeze.

"...Wait, that size—don't tell me?"

"Eek!? Is this for real?!"

"Never seen the face before—must be from the capital's knights."

Flutter.

She finally doffed her hood.

Her modest face, unbefitting her fame, revealed under the sunlight.

"——I am the Hero, Ariel. Take me to the Saintess and the Sage."

The curse fully lifted, the Hero stepped into the world once more.

That night.

-Creak, squeak.

"Mmmph♡ Yi Hyun niiim♡ Thank youuu♡"

"As thanks for saving our Hero, bro, anything you want tonight♡"

All manner of service for the hero who'd rescued the Hero.

In other words, business as usual.

"...Mmph, hnngh♡"

'Sorry for peeping, forgive me♡'

One difference from the norm.

In the room that should hold only three, an unnoticed shadow lurked.