Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: How to Overcome Shame (2)
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Truth be told, the Imperial 2nd Knight Order had half-given up on the search for the Hero.
That made sense. Even the Saintess and the Sage had stepped in, and they hadn't found her.
No one could hold out hope after seeing that.
Everyone figured she'd gone into hiding due to some circumstances or had simply died.
Even Yi Hyun, the man who got along unusually well with the Hero's party.
He'd told the knights:
"You don't need to search so diligently."
"Just take it easy, maybe enjoy a hot spring soak."
No one took those words lightly.
He knew something but couldn't speak it outright, so he was skirting around it.
That's what everyone believed.
Even Blanc thought the same, so that said it all.
"I'll handle all the work, so everyone else, take a break~."
The truth was the complete opposite, but anyway.
So there was no way they'd throw themselves into the search.
Among the entire 2nd Knight Order, only two hadn't given up hope to the end.
Hilde, who had been provocatively taunted by Yi Hyun, and Silpi, who had been dragged along by her.
Those two alone threw themselves into the search every day.
And that seemingly fruitless effort finally bore results today.
"Hey, where's the Captain!!"
"Vice Captain Hilde? If you mean Captain Blanc... Eek!?"
"Those breasts... Hero!? Where did you find her!?"
The knights' gazes all focused on Hilde.
From disbelief that it couldn't be true, to admiration that even in defeat, she was still the vice captain.
All of it was praise directed at the woman who had found the Hero.
Pride swelled, and Hilde's shoulders rose automatically...
-Whispers.
"I heard she lost a bet with Yi Hyun over accounting, but she's good at stuff like this."
"Brains and work ability are separate things."
"Even so, losing to that Yi Hyun is kinda..."
"......Kyaaang!!"
Her shoulders didn't rise. Instead, her ears and tail shot straight up.
Ever since losing to Yi Hyun, the perception of her as having "intelligence below Yi Hyun" had taken root.
It was utterly humiliating.
Of course, the Hero trailing behind her had no idea.
"Hilde. If you mean the Captain, are you referring to Ms. Blanc?"
"...Yes."
"It's been a while since I've seen her. A reunion after five years... I'm looking forward to it."
She stepped forward naturally.
Thanks to that, the violent stares aimed at Hilde scattered.
Just then, Blanc came running after hearing the commotion.
"What happened, huh?! Lady Ariel!!"
"Blanc, congratulations on your appointment as Captain of the 2nd Knight Order, even if it's late."
"My goodness, where have you been all this time... Why is Yi Hyun passed out!?"
"...It's a long story. Let's move somewhere else and catch up while we resolve our pent-up feelings."
Whoosh—
Ariel lightly nodded toward it.
At the end of that gesture was one of the finest hot springs in Eisenhardt, a place she'd desperately wanted to visit over the past three years.
"If possible, please call Minerva and Lumine as well. I'll tell you everything that's happened."
The Hero party's reunion was hardly touching.
Lumine and Minerva, who knew the circumstances, shed tears nonstop. Ariel hugged the two of them, apologizing for everything that had happened.
Even Blanc, watching from the side, felt warmed by the heartwarming scene.
That warmth flipped 180 degrees the moment they entered the hot spring.
"...A curse that makes you think of yourself as a man?"
"Embarrassing as it is, yes. Because of it, I've been living as a man for the past three years."
A gender misperception curse.
It seemed like nothing major, but...
"But Lady Ariel, weren't you afraid of men...?"
'Why her of all people.'
Even Blanc, who had only sparred with her once, knew it.
The Hero had a fairly severe fear of men.
To her, this curse was on the level of waking up one day to find herself a cockroach.
It was a curse that instantly explained why the Hero had secluded herself, but...
"I've overcome it to some extent."
"Really? Overcoming a heart demon like that... As expected of Lady Ariel!"
"...Ow! Hn, hnn!"
'How do I even say it? That I got used to it by thinking of myself as a man and even entering the men's bath!'
It was a shame trigger for the Hero.
Her body twisted involuntarily.
It was behavior all too obvious to the Hero party duo.
"Ah..."
'Our Hero's been doing some seriously embarrassing things.'
'She's such a shy person. Better not pry.'
The two exchanged glances.
Nod. They nodded at each other.
After the silent agreement, Minerva stepped in.
"Captain, let's not dwell on such trivial talk~ It's the Hero we admire, whom we haven't seen in ages? Nothing else you want to ask?"
"Hn!?! H-how did you..."
"Hehe~ The title of Sage isn't just for show! Right, Lumine?"
"Yes, there's no need to be embarrassed. Admiration leads to growth, after all."
"Ahh..."
Splash—
Blanc dunked herself fully into the water.
Her puffed-up cheeks revealed the childishness of a noble lady.
On the other hand, Ariel smiled.
'They're changing the subject because they're worried I'll be embarrassed. As expected of Minerva.'
"I'm not that impressive a body to warrant such thoughts, but I'm glad. Let's spar sometime when you have time."
"...You promised."
"Of course."
Thanks to that, the mood shifted again.
Back to the relatively warm atmosphere of the early bath.
An environment where Ariel could relax a bit more had been created.
Riding the momentum, Minerva spoke up.
"Ariel, I won't ask about what happened. We're just happy you're back."
"Thank you."
"But you know? Coming back with Hyun... Did something good happen with him? Hm?"
She asked in a sly tone.
A question probing the relationship between Yi Hyun and Ariel.
It was something they never would have brought up during the Hero's era of male phobia, but...
'It was bound to happen.'
Minerva was certain.
Those two had already been sucking and fucking like crazy.
It was certainty born from experience.
Lumine nodded in agreement.
"Mmmph...♡"
'Well, Yi Hyun's curse treatment involves naughty stuff, after all♡'
The two directed expectant gazes at Ariel.
'These eyes... Don't tell me Yi Hyun again?'
Blanc narrowed her eyes too.
The atmosphere felt suspicious.
And under the three gazes.
The Hero Ariel...
-Tremble.
"Eek! Ah, hit! Uh-hit!!"
...was convulsing from shame.
Her face flushed beet red.
'That place is throbbing again...♡'
Her privates twitched, leaking into the water.
Just thinking of the "treatment" he'd given her brought extreme shame and arousal.
It was a reaction even Minerva and Lumine hadn't seen before.
"Hero, what's wrong?"
"Was that question too teasing...?"
"N-no, it's... Hn! Hit!"
But Ariel didn't stop.
No, she couldn't stop.
Her whole body spasmed like hiccups.
From excessive shame.
'And those two...'
And another layer.
Just yesterday, Ariel had watched them intimately entwined with Yi Hyun.
Maybe that's why. It was hard to look at their bodies.
Looking brought back those memories, and worse, her own vulgar pose in front of Yi Hyun.
'How must I have looked...'
"Heek, hn...♡"
She had no idea why her privates got wet every time she recalled it.
"It seems the curse's aftereffects are still lingering, so rest another two days before you go."
In the end, Ariel decided to join the 2nd Knight Order and return to the capital with them.
It was Blanc's decision.
It was consideration for Ariel, and...
[—Captain. This was supposed to be a secret, but she gets stronger through sex.]
'It's obviously Yi Hyun's doing anyway. Might as well have Ariel benefit too.'
The original leg-spread haven could spot it at a glance.
Those legs parting naturally in the bath, and who had made them that way.
So, stay a few more days.
Let him fuck the Hero and make her stronger.
Blanc's own way of supporting him.
'...We can't take it all, after all. Better her than some harsh woman he cheats with.'
And a thoroughly realistic reason: she couldn't handle his stamina score of 6.
Of course, Ariel had no clue.
She just thought it was pure consideration.
"...Thank you."
'I have to do something about this body in the meantime. Just thinking of him will be a hindrance like this.'
And with that, she resolved.
To somehow fix this convulsion of hers.
It was a serious vow on her part.
...The method was just a bit too radical.
-Creak, creak.
"Mmmng...♡"
"Kyaaak!!? O-Oppa♡ S-slowly♡"
"......"
'Sorry for peeping, so sorry...!!'
Ariel's chosen treatment.
Peeping on her comrades' sex.
Even she thought it was a weird solution.
Doesn't that just make me a pervert?
Even self-loathing crept in.
Yet she kept peeping because...
[—How to overcome trauma from a shocking event? The direct way is facing it head-on. Start with small stimuli, gradually building tolerance...]
It stemmed from Minerva's loose lips.
...Though calling it loose lips was unfair; she was right.
Though she didn't know it, this was "exposure therapy," a psychological treatment.
Even in the modern world Yi Hyun came from, its efficacy was proven.
Of course, it required expert supervision.
It was too much for Ariel alone, and...
'Forgive me just this once; I'll overcome it in one go!!'
Her stubbornness worsened things.
Facing her heart demon head-on by herself.
To be precise, not exposure therapy but flooding.
Like cauterizing a wound with fire.
Naturally, it wouldn't go well.
That was why Ariel returned from peeping with a dark expression.
"Haa...♡"
'It didn't get any better.'
On the contrary, fluids dripped from her privates.
With sensitivity doubled and in heat, directly witnessing sex was inevitable.
And above all...
-Gulp.
'Is it that pleasurable?'
Thanks to "resonance," she'd only tasted sex's pleasure briefly.
Her womb clamored for more.
Just watching was tantalizing.
That was why she agonized alone in the lodging where Lumine and Minerva stayed.
-Freeze.
'Right now, it's just me here.'
Then a sudden thought.
The other two were far from finishing sex and returning.
Meaning, she was alone in this room for a while.
No one to see whatever she did.
Her aroused body moved as if entranced to the mirror.
'H-how did I look back then?'
What she recalled was what happened with Yi Hyun in the hot spring.
The vulgar pose she'd taken, trying to stop him amid the curse's aftereffects—Lumine-level trashiness.
How had she looked then?
She was purely curious.
Curiosity soon became poison.
"...Eut, haeut, hn! Hnnh!"
'Did I stand before a man in such a pose?! No, how does Lumine even take such an embarrassing position!?'
Ariel, injected with red pill, couldn't get over the shock.
She'd imagined it vulgar, but not this much.
Excessive shame made her body tremble.
-Drip.
'But why is that place getting wet...!!'
Only a single thread of love juice from her pussy to her underwear revealed her true feelings.
The next day.
Ariel finally made up her mind.
'I'll never lay eyes on such filthy acts again for the rest of my life. Time will make me forget.'
She would distance herself from sex from now on.
She'd live out her days without ever tangling with a man.
It was a revival of the vow she'd made during her male phobia days.
"Yi Hyun, nice to... Heek!?"
'W-what is this!!'
But there was one thing she didn't know.
-Squish squish squish.
"Yi Hyunniiim♡"
"Clara, hold on. Hero? Why that look on your face?"
"Wh-what are you doing right now!!"
"What do you mean? Just receiving a thank-you."
"That's righttt♡ I'm so grateful you're safe, haaa♡"
"......!?"
'It's clearly just a normal greeting, so why is my face burning up!?'
Avoiding sex around Yi Hyun was impossible.