The Second Tower (1)
"Is Charlotte really going to be okay?"
Hyunseok had been heaving sigh after heavy sigh for a while now, fretting endlessly over whether Charlotte would be all right.
"Could you cut it out already? I've told you a dozen times—she's just worn out. That's exactly why she told us to head over to Seonyudo with Pedro, isn't it?"
"Even so... when I think about how she looked back then, she kept flinching, and her face didn't look good at all. Her breathing was unsteady, and her eyes seemed glazed over."
"Haaah—hey! Just stop already! We're almost there, so you can see for yourself!"
I snapped at Hyunseok like that as we reached the botanical garden where the tent stood waiting.
Hyunseok and I opened the tent flap to check on Charlotte—only to be hit by a sudden whoosh of scent that made me wrinkle my nose.
This... fox girl... just how much did she do?!
"Huh? Oranges...? Apples...? Something like that... a fragrance... is that what I'm smelling? Did we even have anything like that...?"
"I'll look over Charlotte's condition, so could you check around the area for a bit? Looking around the tower would be fine too."
"Huh? Ah, yeah. Since you're a woman, Charlotte will probably feel more comfortable with you. Then I'll take a look around here and the tower."
With that, I sent Hyunseok out and gazed down at this perverted little fox girl, snoring softly with nothing covering her lower half as she slept.
"...et...up...fox...!"
At the voice that kept drifting in, I frowned, rolled over, and clamped my hands over my ears before drifting right back to sleep.
Then a sharp smack landed on my backside. My eyes flew wide open and I twisted around to find whoever had hit me—
There stood Yeonseo, her face faintly flushed.
Only then did the situation click into place. I snatched the blanket beside me and covered myself before managing to speak.
"Ah, um... so... you're... here...?"
Of course, the moment I remembered exactly what I'd been doing before I blacked out, I couldn't look Yeonseo in the eye and turned my head away.
"Haaah, finally awake. Right—so even someone like you knows enough to feel ashamed and look away."
"T-Teacher...! This is... I mean... th-there's a reason for this...!"
Yeonseo pointed a finger at me with the angriest expression I'd ever seen on her and raised her voice.
"The reason you sent us off was so you could play with yourself alone?! Even so... this is too much! This is...! From now on, you're a perverted fox girl!"
"W-Wait a second, I—I can explain!"
"And how much did you even do?! The whole blanket is soaked! No—more than that, there was already moisture on the floor when I walked in... wow... you really are something else, you know that?!"
Yeonseo yanked the blanket off me and pointed straight at the damp patches. I hung my head in pure mortification.
But that shame barely registered. My body, which had tasted a woman's first pleasure so sweetly, began to heat up all over again the moment those memories resurfaced.
At the same time something started to trickle down below, and Yeonseo's eyes dropped to look.
"Wow... you really are a total pervert, aren't you? Even so, right now? Here...?"
"Nnh... ah... n-no... it's not... this is... I mean... hhk... hnnngh, it's not... I'm not a... pervert..."
Ah, but maybe I am a pervert...? After all, even with someone watching me, just recalling that sweet sensation is enough to make me this wet, and instead of feeling only shame I'm actually savoring the thrilling edge of it...
Ah, I'm going crazy... uuugh...
"Haaah, enough! Clean it up already! Last time I saw you use fire to get rid of stuff like this. If you don't want Hyunseok seeing it too, hurry up and clean! Got it?!"
"Y-Yes... yes!!!"
I scrambled up at once, summoned the Holy Fire, and purified every place I had dirtied.
Watching the flames race here and there, devouring the evidence of what I'd done, I could only think:
Wow... I really lost my mind last night...
And of course, Yeonseo standing right beside me and flinging clothes at me while yelling to get dressed already was just the cherry on top.
Once I'd changed, I quickly explained to Yeonseo why I'd done what I did.
At first she just kept calling me a pervert and refused to listen... but still.
Ah, but the way she looks at me like that is pretty... good... haaah, are the side effects still lingering...?
I shook my head hard, slapped my cheeks a few times, and forced myself back to my senses.
"Haaah, so you're saying it was because of that evil god's energy?"
"Yeah. That evil god's energy. Simply put, demonic energy repels divine power, so when it entered my body and mixed with the divine power, it reacted like that."
Yeonseo listened, pressed her fingers to her brow, let out a long sigh, and looked at me.
"Hey, you know it's honestly more comfortable to just think you're a pervert than to buy that explanation, right?"
"Nnh... th-that's... I mean, this is... I..."
"Fine. I'll believe you. But if you're going to do something like this again, tell me ahead of time. I need a decent cover story for that guy who keeps fretting over you."
"Thank you...!"
Only then did I notice Hyunseok was nowhere in sight. I peered behind Yeonseo and glanced around.
Apparently my searching face was funny, because Yeonseo let out a dry laugh and pinched my cheek, stretching it out.
"So our little pervert's master is finally gone and you've only just noticed?"
"H-He's not... my... mas...ter..."
What nonsense was that, calling Hyunseok my master?
But now that I'd tasted a woman's pleasure, my mind spun off into ridiculous fantasies all on its own.
Hyunseok tugging a collar and treating me like a pet...
Ah, th-that would feel... no, what am I even thinking?! Besides, as if that guy would ever act like that! If anything, I'm the master here...!
Right in the middle of that fantasy, Yeonseo's grip suddenly tightened. I grabbed her arm and yelped.
"W-Wait... i-it hurts... it huuurts...!"
"Ha! It hurts? Hey! Do you even know what kind of face you were making just now? Huh? Isn't this pure, total perverted fox girl behavior?"
I glared at Yeonseo as she finally let go of my cheek and started rubbing the sore spot.
"What kind of face was I even making for you to say that?"
"Haaah, better if I don't say. Anyway, once Hyunseok gets back we're heading into the tower, so get ready. Got it? Our little. Per. Vert. Fox. Girl.?"
"Nngh, yes! Understood!"
Not long after, Hyunseok returned. The moment he saw me he asked if I was really all right.
"I... I'm really fine... yeah..."
"Yeah? That's a relief. Honestly... before we left you kept flinching and your eyes wouldn't focus, so I was worried."
I'm grateful he was worried about me, but... um, if Yeonseo hadn't been here... I might have wanted to die for real. No, even now I'm so embarrassed I still want to die a little...
"Thanks for worrying. It was because of the evil god's energy, so don't worry about it."
"Okay. More importantly, we're about to head into the tower—are you up for it?"
"Yeah. How's the area around the tower looking?"
"We cleared everything last time, so we should be able to walk straight in."
"Really? Then let's go already! Strike while the iron's hot, right?"
I quickly took Yeonseo's and Hyunseok's hands, left the tent, and headed for the tower.
It was definitely not because I was terrified Yeonseo might say something stupid to Hyunseok.
Yeah. Definitely not.
The moment we stepped inside the tower, the atmosphere was completely different from last time.
Before it had been a dungeon's interior; this time it was a place made of islands floating in the sky.
"Wow~ the vibe here is nice, isn't it? If you ignore the fact that it's a tower, that is."
"Right? Perfect for taking pictures too."
Yeonseo and I snapped photos while wandering through the tower's dazzling interior.
Small islands were linked by paths of transparent light, and below them the view was blanketed in clouds, making it even clearer that this was a sky island built above the clouds.
Unlike the dark interior last time, the sun shone brightly here—so brightly it was almost dazzling—but aside from that, the scenery was so beautiful I almost wanted to live here.
"Enough sightseeing. Time to start the clear."
"Any idea what kind of gimmick this place has?"
Hyunseok began examining the writing on a stone tablet set in front of the bridge leading to the next island, using his device to read it.
Watching him, I asked Yeonseo if the device even had a function like that.
"Usually it comes out in a language we know, but sometimes it shows up in a tricky form like this."
"Really? Does that mean the gimmick itself might be tricky too?"
"Who knows. Tower gimmicks differ from tower to tower, but they usually aren't that complicated. There have been cases where people struggled just because the device's translation tech wasn't good enough, though. That was a long time ago, of course."
Hyunseok finished and told us to head to the next island, walking ahead of us.
"So what's the gimmick this time?"
I stepped up beside Hyunseok, laced my fingers behind my back, tilted my head, and asked.
"This one could be a little tricky, or it might not be. Clearing all the monsters works, but taking down a specific one is faster."
"A specific monster?"
"Yeah. Among the monsters on the islands ahead, one of them is holding a key. So we have to kill that one and get the key to open the door to the next island."
"Ahh~ so we have to take down a specific monster and grab the key? Hmm, the difficulty will change depending on how the monsters spawn, then?"
"Pretty much. Of course, once you kill the one with the key, the other monsters in that room disappear and it counts as cleared."
"Well, with you here it'll be over in no time, right?"
I said it with a smile—and Hyunseok suddenly stopped, turned his head away, and raised an arm to cover his face.
Huh? Why's he doing that?
I tilted my head at both the sudden stop and the way he was hiding his face, staring at him, when Yeonseo came up from behind and whispered in my ear as usual.
"Wow~ already charming him again? You perverted fox girl."
"What?! What are you talking about! More importantly, d-don't call me a pervert in front of...!"
When it was just the two of us it was one thing, but being called a pervert where someone else could hear was mortifying enough to kill me.
Hyunseok was right in front of us, so I nervously checked his face in case he'd overheard—but he still had his head turned away, so I relaxed.
Of course! I wasn't a pervert, so that made it even better.
Yeah! Definitely not!