Three Days Apart
“Is this an operation? You’re heading to the border?”
“Yes…”
“Hm? What’s with that half-hearted answer?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”
The blacksmith examined the sword, then picked up his hammer.
Dain shook his head lightly, trying to dispel the stray thoughts that kept rising in his mind, then took a deep breath and cleared his head.
…It’s because of Zarco. I’m still caught up in what happened that day…
Soft.
“What? You’re going to the border?”
When Ceres linked her arm through his, he felt the softness of her breasts against his arm. It was as if his arm were sinking slightly between them.
“Yeah. Tomorrow.”
“Huh? Why didn’t I hear anything about this? Gardan didn’t summon me.”
“Ah, it’s just me and the soldiers tomorrow.”
“What?”
Ceres exclaimed in surprise.
“Why? I’m going too!”
“…Hah. No, Ceres.”
Only then did a faint smile appear on Dain’s lips as Ceres clung to his arm, declaring she would go with him no matter what.
“How could I take you when you can’t even use Sword Qi properly?”
“…Still! It’s dangerous.”
“It’s not. Everyone going with me was hand-picked from the Outpost and the main force’s elites.”
“…Still.”
“It’ll be fine.”
Dain smiled and placed his hands on the Saintess’s shoulders.
“It’s a surprise raid. We strike and pull out immediately. There won’t be any danger.”
“…”
Ceres still wore a sulky expression, but even that face looked adorable to him.
“You’ll come back without getting hurt?”
“Of course.”
The doubt in her blue eyes melted away like snow.
Ever since the meeting with Gardan, Dain had decided he would only tell Ceres this much. He hadn’t mentioned that their destination was believed to be Zarco’s location.
That night, as always, the Saintess and the Hero entwined their naked bodies.
The Saintess lavished him with caresses that bordered on devotion, as if it were her fault. Even as Dain felt deep sexual pleasure from the member inside the Saintess’s warm mouth, his mind was trapped in the afterimages of the past, and he blamed himself for being unable to fully continue their union.
Chup, chuuup…
No matter how many times he heard it, the mere fact that Ceres was making those sounds filled him with excitement.
Dain tried to have one last round of sex before the operation, but the moment he thrust into the Saintess’s depths, his erection wilted just like before.
“It’s all right. It’s all right.”
Like an older sister, like a mother, Ceres stroked Dain’s head and back.
Both Dain and Ceres were suffering.
If Zarco had never existed between them, none of this would be happening.
But unlike Dain, who still carried those afterimages, no shadow fell across Ceres’s face.
…Ceres must be struggling too, but she’s just trying to move forward. I need to learn from her.
While he was lost in that thought, a cheerful voice—more bright than gentle—reached his ears.
“When are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Early in the morning. I have to stop by the main force first.”
“Hmm… Then when will you be back?”
“If nothing goes wrong, three days. Thanks to Gerta, the travel time is much shorter.”
“…Umm…”
He pulled the Saintess, who seemed lost in thought, into his arms.
“You have to be careful. Got it?”
“Haha, I told you I will.”
The Saintess lightly kissed his cheek.
Whether it was tension about tomorrow’s operation or the excitement that had risen and cooled, Dain’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
“Mm, Dain.”
Early dawn.
Grahn, eyes sunken from working through the night, handed Dain the sword.
“You didn’t sleep at all?”
“I kept getting greedy. But don’t worry—it’s in peak condition.”
The sword was heavy and sharp. The two-handed blade had a well-balanced center of gravity, and it looked as though nothing could withstand its edge.
“Yeah, that suits you better. Haaam.”
Grahn’s mouth opened wide in a yawn, then closed.
“Haha, thank you, Grahn. I really like the sword.”
“Mm. Go and do well.”
“…Grahn.”
“Mm?”
Dain spoke carefully to the blacksmith, who was rubbing his eyes.
“Please take good care of Ceres.”
The reason Dain felt the need to say this was the seed of suspicion he had felt yesterday when he saw Grahn and Ceres at the forge. He wanted to leave for the operation with a calm heart.
“…Mm. Don’t worry.”
Grahn patted his shoulder as if to give him courage.
Behind him, Ceres, clutching the hem of her clothes, approached cautiously.
“…You’ll really be all right?”
“I told you not to worry. I’ll be back.”
“Be careful. …All right?”
“Of course, of course! Naturally, Ceres. Don’t worry.”
“Okay. I’ll be waiting.”
Watching Ceres wave with a forced smile, Dain gave a short nod and walked toward the magic circle.
After joining the elite knights waiting for him at the main force, Dain headed straight for the inner side of the border without delay.
It was a somewhat roundabout route that passed through highlands and forests.
By the time they discovered clusters of monsters and wooden buildings being constructed by someone, the sun was already hanging over the mountain range.
“…”
Countless monsters.
The buildings being erected beside them did not look like defensive structures.
It feels similar to the Hero’s Outpost…
A sharp sensation brushed the back of his neck.
He was certain that the man who had once been the Hero was up ahead.
Anger and the desire for revenge surged within him.
But he knew that excessive emotion would only ruin things.
The curse Zarco had carved into his and Ceres’s relationship felt as though it could only begin to be cleansed by killing him.
That was why he could not afford to be careless.
The Hero took a deep breath, tempering his anger, and waited for darkness to fall.
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Ceres’s buttocks, struck repeatedly by Grahn’s thighs, were already flushed red.
“Hngh! Ugh! Hngh!”
Two of the lodging’s rooms had been left empty when their owners became Demons, and the Hero was away on the operation.
Still, Ceres had felt reluctant to invite Grahn into the bedroom she shared with Dain, so the two of them were now having rough, passionate sex in her old, now-vacant room.
It was not the first time Grahn had entered this room.
“Huff, huff.”
Grahn’s beard fluttered with each heavy breath.
He lifted Ceres’s outstretched legs and thrust his thick shaft vigorously in and out of her wet entrance.
All the pent-up desire they had suppressed while hiding in the cramped, uncomfortable storeroom poured out now in loud, unrestrained moans that filled the room.
“Haang! Ugh! Grahn! Hngh!”
“Ugh!”
As if wanting to feel the Saintess’s depths even more deeply, Grahn grabbed her legs and drove his hips all the way in.
His hard member reached the deepest part of Ceres—places Dain’s could not touch. It pressed against the entrance to her womb.
“Aagh! It hurts!”
“Ugh, ugh…”
Grahn’s body, which had been trembling with his hips fully buried inside her, gradually stilled.
“…Huuu.”
With a wet sound, his shaft, having pumped his seed deep into her, slipped out from between her pale, round buttocks.
“Kahaha, I came a lot. You all right, Ceres?”
“…Ugh, y-yes…”
With a squelch, her narrow entrance expelled the semen.
Smack!
When Grahn slapped her pale peach, her buttocks jiggled and bounced.
“Ah!”
“Kahaha, that was good, Ceres.”
“…Really…”
Ceres buried her face in the pillow and rubbed her hips.
Gulp, gulp.
Perhaps because he had climaxed twice inside Ceres, Grahn drained an entire cup of water, then let out a short burp.
“Aigoo, Grahn!”
“Sorry, sorry! Kahaha.”
Grahn flopped down on the bed beside the lying Ceres, but she did not lift her head.
“Hey, sorry. Did the burp bother you that much?”
“It’s not that…”
Ceres stopped speaking.
When she had seen Dain off, her head had felt dizzy.
She had a vague idea why, yet deep in the Saintess’s heart there was also a desire to turn away from it.
…As I thought, this is strange…
Yesterday evening at the forge, Ceres had been receiving Grahn’s member with her hips spread.
Leaning against the wall, she had taken the blacksmith’s shaft thrusting deep and fast from behind.
The moment she was on the verge of climax, she heard Dain’s voice. She hurriedly dressed, grabbed the doorknob, and then lied smoothly to her lover’s face.
Even though her entrance—still not fully closed after taking him—had love juices running down her thighs, she had done it.
Even while worrying what would happen if he noticed, her nipples, hardened by Grahn’s touch, grew even stiffer, as if they might poke through her clothes.
“Huu, well then.”
“…Ah? W-wait…”
Before Ceres could sort out her thoughts, Grahn climbed on top of her again as she lay prone.
“I’ve never come this many times in a single day. But I still want to do it, haha!”
“Wait, Grahn. Let’s rest a little…”
Ignoring her words, Grahn spread her buttocks.
“It’s fine. You just rest. I’ll move.”
“How is that supposed to work!”
“Haha.”
“Aagh!”
When Grahn’s member entered her again—already filled with his seed—Ceres clutched the pillow.
The shaft, not yet fully hard, swelled further inside the Saintess thanks to the Reinforcement of her Authority, pushing against her inner walls.
“…”
“Even after pounding you all day, you’re still so tight.”
“…I don’t know. Do what you want.”
“Mm, then.”
Grahn’s hips began to move slowly.
“Hngh, hngh.”
The love juices that had not yet dried inside her accepted him smoothly.
Grahn moved slowly at first, as if trying not to disturb her rest, but his hips soon began to pick up speed uncontrollably.
“…Ugh…”
The creaking of the bed grew louder and louder.