The Blacksmith's Greed (2)
“...A story?”
“Mm. Haven’t you been exhausted lately, one way or another? When that happens,”
Grahn strode into the room and set a bottle of liquor down on the table with a heavy clunk.
“Nothing a good drink can’t fix. Most things can be endured after a few cups. Hah hah!”
“...I’ve never had alcohol before.”
“What? You’re twenty-one!”
The Saintess nodded at the half-dwarf, who stared at her in open astonishment.
“Heh heh, well now. Why would you pass up something this fine?”
“...Um, Grahn. I… I’m really not in the mood today…”
“I know.”
“...Pardon?”
Grahn, now seated in a chair, cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem. Truth is, the reason I came today is to apologize, Ceres.”
“For what?”
“You really were drawn to me sexually, and I’m… well, I’m used to that kind of casual relationship. Most dwarves are.”
“...”
“It was a foolish thought, but since the Hero gave permission, I figured it was fine. I thought you’d enjoy it too.”
“...I didn’t.”
“Yeah. I realized it after I saw your face in the forge once we were done. That I’d lost a friend.”
“...”
“And earlier today… that skinny young soldier who went with you. I happened to overhear him talking. I know what happened.”
“What? Yujin told you?”
“Mm. Said he was some senior’s junior. Two soldiers. You know them?”
“I think I do… Ugh…”
Not only had he betrayed his girlfriend and Dain, but the man couldn’t even keep his mouth shut. The thought of him bragging about her in front of those two filled the Saintess with shame and rage, her face flushing crimson.
“To be honest… I still see you that way. Even now.”
“Haa…”
“At the same time, I really do want to talk with you again like we used to. But the reason I came today is…”
Grahn trailed off, poured himself a drink, and downed it in one go.
“Khh~ Hoo. I came because I was worried about you, Ceres.”
“...”
“With that kid too… it was because of the Hero, wasn’t it? Just like with me?”
The Saintess gave neither answer nor nod, but the heavy silence spoke for her.
“I wish I could do something for you, but I’m not sure I even have the right. Still, from my experience, even the hardest things tend to shrink when you share them over a drink.”
“...”
“Of course, I’m not forcing you. If you don’t feel like it, I’ll leave quietly. But if there’s anything you want to get off your chest…”
Grahn looked a little embarrassed as he refilled his cup.
“I’ll listen anytime. Just say the word.”
Another silence. Even though he had laid his heart bare, Ceres didn’t seem inclined to open up.
When Grahn gave a small, understanding nod, picked up the bottle, and rose to head for the door—
Clink.
He turned at the sound. Ceres, still seated, was fiddling with a cup on the table.
“...Is this any good?”
“So you knew I was calling you in just now?”
“Mmm, you turned him down? Good for you.”
“Seriously, why is Zarco acting like this? He wasn’t that kind of person back in the village…”
“Power brings out a person’s true nature.”
“Power… It’s ridiculous that the Hero—who’s supposed to carry a sacred mission—would call it power.”
“Heh heh.”
For the first two cups, neither of them spoke. But after that, all the stress Ceres had bottled up came pouring out.
“...Anyway, if it weren’t for the Authority and Reinforcement, I would never have done it with Zarco.”
“...Being the Saintess is a lot harder than it looks, huh.”
“It really is. It’s… it’s too heavy. I’m scared I’ll end up changing…”
As the Saintess quietly filled her cup and lifted it, Grahn held out his own.
Clink. Their cups touched, and they drank.
When she set her empty cup back on the table, a strange little smile had replaced the frown on her face.
“I feel a bit lighter. Now I get why people drink. It doesn’t taste good, though.”
“Doesn’t taste good? Come on—this is a really famous brew! I brought out one of my prized bottles.”
“I can’t even tell what it’s supposed to taste like. It’s just bitter.”
“Haa, looks like I’ll have to give you a proper explanation about liquor. Listen up.”
“Hee hee, no thanks. If it doesn’t taste good, it doesn’t taste good.”
“What did you say, you little—! Kha hah!”
Thanks to the alcohol, the time they spent laughing and chatting again felt impossibly happy.
“...Thank you, Grahn.”
“Mm. Anytime.”
“Even though all you think about is dirty stuff.”
“Haha, well, not right now.”
“...It’s really hard. So hard.”
“...About that, Ceres.”
Grahn poured himself another drink alone.
“From what I’ve heard… I’m afraid you’re going to break if you keep holding on like this.”
“...Break.”
It was the perfect word. Because right now, she really was on the verge of breaking.
“Mm. Even if it’s because of the Demon King, you have no choice but to have sex with the Hero.”
At the blunt word that finally slipped out, Ceres’s face grew a shade redder.
“...Right.”
“Sorry to say it, but… that time, I could tell you were feeling it.”
“...”
She couldn’t deny it.
The pleasure Zarco and Grahn had left behind was unmistakably carved into her body.
What terrified her was the fear that this pleasure might swallow her whole—
Or swallow Dain whole.
“The vague gap between body and heart can make things even harder for you.”
“Gap…?”
“Mm. Separate them completely. You don’t want to change? Then don’t. Just don’t change.”
“...What?”
“Keep your heart completely intact. But when it comes to pleasure, it’s okay to be honest.”
“...There’s no way that would work.”
“It’s how we dwarves do it.”
Leave her heart entirely for Dain,
But be honest with her carnal desires?
That would be a betrayal of the Dain she loved, but she didn’t want to explain that.
Grahn was completely different from Yujin, but after being hurt by the Hero—who had casually thrown out Dain’s name—and by Yujin, she had become strangely cautious.
“Haa…”
“I was just throwing it out there. If there’s no other choice, maybe that’s one way.”
‘If there’s no other choice…’
Just as Grahn said, being held by the Hero was unavoidable.
So was being toyed with, just as Lilias had desperately pleaded.
She hated it, but it was something she had to do.
“...Still, Zarco… I hate him. He’s changed too much.”
“How could I possibly understand your heart? It must feel miserable. That’s what liquor is for—to comfort you at times like this. Here.”
“...Gulp. Haa.”
When she let out a sigh mixed with the warmth of alcohol, her heart felt a little calmer.
“Heh heh.”
“Feeling better? That’s good.”
“I’ve had quite a bit, but I don’t seem to get drunk easily.”
“Oho, now that you mention it… you’re quite the drinker, Saintess. Hahaha!”
“Wow, getting acknowledged by a dwarf. What an honor. Hehe.”
Knock knock.
The room, filled with laughter, fell silent in an instant.
From outside the door came the voice of the soldier who had visited earlier.
“...Um, Saintess. The Hero says he must see you no matter what…”
“...Oh, for heaven’s sake.”
Ceres frowned and let out a sigh before lifting her head.
“Tell him again that I’m not going.”
“...It’s a direct order to bring you back.”
Irritation flared toward Zarco, who refused to leave her alone.
Normally she wouldn’t have raised her voice even in refusal, but the unfamiliar buzz of alcohol gave her courage.
“...I’m with Grahn right now.”
“Y-yes?”
“Ask Zarco. Grahn is someone he already gave permission to.”
“...I heard nothing. I’ll be going.”
The moment the sound of a hand on the doorknob reached them, Ceres yanked Grahn forward and collapsed onto the bed with him.
“Whoa!”
When the door opened, what the soldier saw was
a massive man mounted atop Ceres on the bed.
“Get out.”
“Ah, aah… I’m sorry!”
The soldier scrambled out in a panic and slammed the door shut.
Ceres let out a long breath and flopped limply onto the bed.
“Haa.”
“Ah… sorry, Ceres… huh?”
Apparently her already precarious clothing had slipped when she pulled him down,
because her breasts, pinned beneath Grahn, had spilled out to either side.
But that wasn’t what surprised her.
At some point, Grahn’s cock had grown massively hard and was now pressing firmly between her legs from where their hips met.
“...S-sorry, Ceres. It’s just…”
The thick forearms braced on either side of her shoulders were trembling.
She didn’t need words to know the blacksmith was fighting with everything he had.
He had already declared that he still saw her as a woman,
yet he was desperately holding back so his desire wouldn’t win, so his body wouldn’t move.
She could tell just from his expression.
But cruelly, the pleasure engraved into Ceres’s body began to awaken again at the sight of that swollen thing pushing harder between her folds.
Creak.
A very faint footstep.
The sound of someone stepping on the wooden floor outside the door.
It was that soldier. It was obvious he was still watching, still suspicious.
At Zarco’s insistence, no doubt. Ceres, realizing someone was standing guard outside, quietly—
wrapped her arms around Grahn’s neck.
“C-Ceres…?”
“...He’s still out there…”
“Khh, khm…”
He might have his ear pressed to the door, or perhaps he was watching them through some crack.
Considering how much Zarco wanted to control everything, it was entirely possible.
The two of them remained frozen, unable to move,
yet between their pressed-together sexes, a clear reaction was building.
Against Grahn’s cock, which looked ready to burst through his pants,
Ceres felt the inside of her panties slowly growing wet.
This was simply a way to resolve the situation.
It wasn’t because she had feelings for him, just as Grahn had said.
This wasn’t a betrayal of Dain.
“...Put it in.”
“Wh-what?”
“...It’s okay…”
Whether her words excited him further, Grahn’s belt came undone with a dull clink, and his thick, fully erect cock sprang free.
As if he could no longer hold back his urges, Grahn’s body pressed down on her, but
Ceres didn’t push him away. Instead, with one hand she pulled her panties aside and guided the swollen tip to her mound.
Was this an excuse to avoid Zarco,
or had she begun to accept her carnal desires?
Even she didn’t know, but Ceres simply lifted her spread legs higher.
As her hips rose, the pussy that had been pressed against his cock lifted upward, and
as if yielding to gravity—or to impulse—Grahn’s shaft
slid in deep.
“Nngh…!”
It filled Ceres completely.
Grahn’s cock, pushing against her walls as if it belonged there, felt strangely comforting.
After burying himself to the point of kissing her cervix, Grahn soon began moving his hips without realizing it.
Quietly, both of them holding their breath,
only the creaking of the bed echoed through the room.
“Mmm, khh…”
When a moan slipped out, Ceres quickly covered her mouth.
Grahn’s cock sliding back and forth through her narrow passage was far too stimulating.
It didn’t take long for the wet, obscene sounds of their thoroughly aroused sexes to fill the air.
Squeak. Squeak.
Even as the bed continued to groan, Ceres—with her half-elf mother’s keen hearing—could make out the soldier’s footsteps moving away outside the door.
He really had been watching. He would go report to Zarco now.
“Mmm…”
Though it had begun as an act of escape to avoid Zarco,
even after the soldier left, Ceres said nothing to the man who continued to split her open.
Stopping the pleasure that had already begun was difficult even for her.
‘My heart still belongs to Dain…’
Someday I’ll give you everything I am.
So for now… could you understand that I’m enduring like this?
Dain.