Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Behemoth - 7
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Kaikilia sat on her bed in her room, taking a rest. Up to this point, it was no different from her usual self.
Except for the faint thrill etched on her face as her body shivered with chills.
The reason Kaikilia was like this was simple. By now, Iris the Knight Commander would have arrived at Delta with that edict.
The arrival of the edict meant Delta was reading it, and reading it meant the events Kaikilia had imagined were actually unfolding.
She pictured Delta holding the letter and reading it. Just that simple action sent a strange, chilling sensation rising in her lower abdomen. Her hands gripping the bed tightened firmly.
Her shoulders twitched at the dizzying sensation creeping through her entire body. It felt like her vision was turning pure white.
“…….”
With a face that was half ecstasy and half arrogance—closer to that of a female animal than a woman—Kaikilia let out a ragged breath. Warm air mixed with a sigh escaped her mouth.
Even she thought it was utterly lascivious. That thought swirled through her mind, which was starting to grow hazy.
Kaikilia was no woman ignorant of sex. Thus, she knew all too well that the emotion she was feeling now was pleasure.
The Emperor of the Iterum Empire was twitching her body and reveling in mental pleasure just from recalling her own actions. It was something she could never have even imagined.
For instance, gently caressing her soaked underwear, coating her fingers in sticky honey, and then picking up her pen. Or deliberately sealing the letter between her thighs to ensure it wouldn't come undone.
Every one of them was an act that would earn her nothing but scorn if discovered by anyone.
At first, it had started as something she did because she couldn't contain her elation upon hearing that Delta had kept his promise when they parted. But before she knew it, the priorities had completely reversed.
“Kuh…….”
Realizing what she had done made her body twitch again. The already damp underwear grew even wetter as sticky fluid seeped deeper in.
Just from such a trifling act, proof of feminine pleasure had spilled out once more. Even without touching her body directly.
She knew full well that what she was doing was absurd. But she couldn't stop her thoughts.
Having discovered the pleasure from the sense of depravity in committing this forbidden transgression that must never be found out, stopping now was impossible. Kaikilia knew that better than anyone.
Since seizing the throne as Emperor, since slaughtering all her own blood kin with her own hands, Kaikilia's world had been nothing but dull monotony. Now, light and color had returned to it.
Like a traveler crossing the desert who couldn't leave the oasis behind, Kaikilia could no longer return to that monotonous world.
“……And now this again.”
Kaikilia slowly, very slowly, brought her right hand between her legs. She curled her middle finger slightly, brushing against the black silk underwear made of the finest material.
A sticky, transparent fluid faintly coated her fingertip. Just from lightly touching it, so the state inside was obvious.
She wiped the slick finger on the bed and closed her eyes. Then she imagined her scent seeping into that man's nostrils.
—Chill!
Kaikilia's body twitched again. The finest black silk, at the limit of its absorption, expelled the sticky, slimy fluid onto the bed.
—I heard the news. You slew the demon called Behemoth.
The beginning was fairly normal. It wasn't like the last letter with just a single line telling me to go to the Holy Kingdom. I continued reading.
—I praise your achievement. A reward will arrive soon.
‘……?’
And that was it.
‘What is this?’
Thinking I might have missed something, I scanned it from the beginning again carefully, but no matter how many times I checked, those four sentences were all there was. The size of the stationery felt wasted.
Kaikilia was still Kaikilia, through and through.
‘At least it's straightforward to read…… Huh?’
In that moment, a faint scent brushed past my nose. I froze. It was a scent that absolutely shouldn't be here, so I wondered if I'd imagined it.
But it was too faint to identify for sure, yet too distinct to ignore. I glanced at Iris and cautiously wafted air in front of my nose.
A light peach scent rode the breeze toward me.
‘…….’
I wanted to dismiss it as just some fruit scent drifting from somewhere, but the memory of first encountering this scent was too vivid for that.
It was the scent I'd inhaled while my head was buried between Kaikilia's smooth thighs, admiring the slick black lingerie underwear.
After such a shocking experience, it was natural for the peach scent to immediately bring back that memory. Who could have imagined Kaikilia doing something like that to me?
I forced myself to stay calm and spoke.
“Iris, did you happen to smell any fruit scent while bringing the edict?”
“Fruit scent? What fruit do you mean?”
“Uh…… well…… like, peaches, for example.”
“Peaches? I'm not sure. Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
Iris tilted her head. She seemed genuinely unaware.
“……It's nothing. I misspoke.”
I quietly rolled up the edict. I decided it was just me imagining things. Yeah, I must have been so craving fruit that I hallucinated a nonexistent peach scent.
An emperor's stationery wouldn't smell like fruit anyway. As if she'd rubbed it against her crotch or something. It was utter nonsense.
“No real content this time either. Iris, you still remember, right? Before going to the Holy Kingdom, His Majesty the Emperor sent us that letter.”
I awkwardly changed the subject. I didn't want to dwell on it further.
“I remember. It just said to go to the Holy Kingdom.”
Iris nodded as if she understood the situation.
“Seems like more of the same this time.”
“Yeah. Said I did well slaying the demon. A reward's coming.”
Iris nodded, affirming it was an edict from His Imperial Majesty. I eyed the neatly tied, rolled-up edict with a faint unease before stuffing it into my inner pocket.
I ignored the sweet scent brushing past my nose.
“Do you have anything else to do after this, Delta?”
At Iris's question, I shook my head slightly.
“I do, but it's all stuff that can wait. Why?”
“His Majesty issued another order. I wanted to ask if you could help.”
“If it's something I can do, of course I'd help. What do you need?”
“His Majesty said to confirm the demon's corpse directly.”
“……The demon's corpse?”
“Yes. He wants to know more precisely what the demon called Behemoth looked like. Of course, only if the corpse remains and is safe. If it's already been purified or if even viewing a dead demon is dangerous, just return.”
“Uh…… the corpse is still there, yeah. Not sure if viewing it is dangerous, though. From what I know, it should be fine?”
Demons do corrupt their surroundings just by being alive, but I'd never heard of a corpse harming viewers.
Worst case, I could ask the battle nuns.
“In that case, I ask you. Is it possible?”
“I'll go check. I'm not entirely sure myself.”
“Understood.”
Iris quietly followed behind me. The two of us chatted idly about this and that as we headed to the building storing Behemoth's corpse.
No matter how thoroughly we'd purified the area, we couldn't keep a demon's corpse near the city, so the building was quite a distance away.
“Over there. The white building.”
I pointed to the white building encircled by a holy barrier. It was pure white, as if plucked straight from the Holy Kingdom. Ten battle nuns guarded the perimeter.
We'd gone to the trouble of building that storage facility and keeping the corpse precisely to investigate the nature of the power I'd used. The investigation wasn't fully complete yet, so we hadn't dismantled it.
Stella and Selene had said they'd purify the corpse anytime if I wished, but I was curious about that power too, so I'd let them continue their research.
“Welcome, honored guest. What brings you here?”
As I approached the building, the battle nuns bowed in unison. At least they no longer knelt on the ground like when I first arrived here. A relief.
They had at first, but I'd freaked out and stopped them.
“I was wondering if I could view Behemoth's corpse directly.”
“Behemoth's corpse…… you say?”
“Yeah. Oh, and just to be safe, is there any weird incident from viewing a demon corpse?”
“No, nothing like that has ever happened…… But who is the person beside you?”
“A knight from the palace came to relay the news to me. His Majesty ordered to confirm the demon's corpse directly. He's curious what it looks like.”
“The Empire's Emperor…… the one with the holy sword? Yes. Understood. Please enter.”
The battle nun let us in without issue. Thinking about it, the conversation had proceeded under the assumption I could enter from the start. She didn't even ask why we were going in.
Part of the holy barrier parted, and Iris and I entered. Opening the door revealed an interior carved like a temple.
Behemoth's corpse lay between statues symbolizing the sun and moon. A thick veil covered its face. The bloated, pig-like body remained unchanged.
As I grimaced at the sight, Iris stopped right in front of the corpse and cautiously lifted the veil. As the white cloth fell away, the creature's face was fully revealed.
The grotesquely ugly face was intact. A goat-like head, tusks protruding jaggedly from half-open lips, vertical pupils glaring straight ahead.
Iris carefully observed the corpse. Unlike me, not a single eyebrow twitched. Her gaze was meticulously detailed, as if intent on conveying every feature precisely.
“……Eek?!”
Then, as she peered at its face, she suddenly let out a faint scream and stepped back. I jolted in surprise and quickly covered it with the veil.
Iris, staggering back, bowed her head deeply and panted heavily.
“You okay, Iris? What happened?”
“…….”
No reply came.
Iris wrapped her arms around herself below her chest, gripping each opposite upper arm, her body trembling. She looked plainly off.
Sensing something was wrong, I reached to support her shoulder.
“Iri—”
“Eek?!”
Her reaction was so violent that I was far more startled, pulling my hand back in bewilderment. Silence fell.
What was that sound just now? Did I hear wrong?
“…….”
While my mind reeled in confusion, Iris, who had been clutching herself and breathing raggedly, slowly lifted her head toward me.
“Iris, your condition…….”
Iris, with glazed eyes, mouth half-open, cheeks flushed bright red.