The Villainess Wants to Scold the Commoner Girl
In the lingering aftermath of that prolonged climax, I had no choice but to keep gripping Erina's thighs, pressed flush against her body as I rode out the aftershocks.
"Nngh...!"
Even as the torrent of semen poured into her womb until it was more than full—overflowing—Erina kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut and simply received every last drop.
"Haa, haa... ha..."
With a slick pop, I pulled my cock free of Erina's pussy once the ejaculation was finally over, and a sudden wave of emptiness washed over me.
Well, of course it would, after something that size had left my body...
But then, there had never been a satisfaction quite like this either.
And at the same time, another thought struck me...
...Have I actually lost my mind?
I'd had the same thought when I first came all over Erina's breasts, but this time I'd crossed a line that didn't even compare.
Inserting my cock into Erina's pussy...
That alone was already a massive incident—and yet I hadn't even pulled out. I'd come inside her vagina as naturally as breathing.
Even with a contraceptive tool in place to prevent impregnation, wasn't this still way too blatant...?
Erina had given permission, sure, but had my brain really been completely hijacked by my lower half?
"Erina..."
"That felt good... Professor..."
"...Huh?"
"I think I could feel your warm affection... That warmth feels so, so good right now."
"U-umm... Erina..."
"So please don't make that face like you've done something wrong. You and I both enjoyed it, didn't we?"
As if she knew exactly what I was fretting over—what I was worrying about—Erina encouraged me.
Why was I, the professor, being comforted by my student?
Just how much of an idiot was I?
By this point, I ought to be acknowledging the girl's true feelings.
That stupid disciplinary risk. What the hell was I trembling over it for?
If I got caught and fired, I'd just start over somewhere else.
Kyle was a war hero, after all.
Surely at least one place would take him in.
"...Yeah. We did."
When I smiled as I spoke, Erina smiled back the same way.
"Professor."
"Hm?"
"Kiss me, please."
Apparently the afterglow of the sex we'd just had still lingered.
"...You little..."
Not like I couldn't.
If it was kisses she wanted, I'd give her so many today she'd get sick of them.
A few days later.
"So basically, this part—"
"Could you explain it a little more simply, Erina Crossbell? Your explanation is so complicated I can't follow a word of it."
"That's because you're dense. What do you want me to do about it...?"
"What did you just—! Y-you...!"
It was one of the occasional Holy Healing Studies classes I conducted myself.
Today Linea had come to sit in as well, and she seemed to be getting Erina to fill her in on the parts she couldn't keep up with in my lecture.
Which made sense—Linea was primarily a Holy Combat Studies major.
Most of those students went on to become holy knights after graduation, and Linea was no exception.
A holy knight needed at least a basic grasp of healing holy arts, so on days when her main classes were free, she apparently came to mine.
But still...
There they go again.
Those two bickered the second they got the chance.
"That concludes today's class."
The moment the lecture ended, I heard—
Scraaape.
"I can't take this anymore. Come with me, Erina Crossbell!"
"Why?"
"You still don't seem to understand who you're dealing with. It's high time I taught you a proper lesson."
What.
A short while later.
"Well? Is the food to your liking?"
Slice, slice.
At a table in a restaurant, Erina sat across from Linea, cutting into the steak on her plate with a knife.
It was lunchtime, right after morning classes had ended.
Even as she sliced through the large cut of meat bisected by its T-shaped bone, Erina's platinum-blonde hair caught the sunlight pouring through the window and shone so brilliantly that anyone looking couldn't help but think of elegance.
"H-hmph. At least you've learned enough etiquette at the academy that you wouldn't embarrass yourself anywhere... but so what?"
Watching her, Linea pressed her again, clearly impatient.
In response, Erina cut a bite-sized piece of meat, lifted it carefully on her fork, and tasted it.
She chewed thoughtfully.
"Geez... what's the big hurry?"
"How does it taste? Does the meat suit your palate?"
"Mhm! It's delicious. This place is really good."
"...Hmph. How fortunate. So... now you understand, don't you? If you keep mouthing off and looking down on me, this is what happens. You'll get another lesson just like this one."
"...I was getting a lesson?"
I was getting a lesson?
That single remark from Erina seemed to flip a switch. The chopsticks in Linea's grip snapped in half like soft candy and bent double.
"Ugh. You still don't grasp your own position, do you... you."
"Mhm."
"You just let me treat you to a meal?"
"Mhm. And?"
"After eating food this delicious at my expense, do you really think you can keep messing with me?"
"I... can't?"
Erina put on a face that said she genuinely didn't understand.
I'd followed them out of half worry and half curiosity, slipping into a nearby seat to watch—and this was what they were doing....
Still, I got the idea.
"How can you be this shameless...!"
In other words: I bought you food, so you should feel sorry or grateful and stop messing with me.
That was the pitch.
The intention was good enough.
But didn't that just mean that if you messed with her, you got free meals?
"This is why commoners are...!"
Having lost all interest, I left the two of them bickering far behind and stepped out of the restaurant.
But then.
A crowd had gathered outside.
And their attire was anything but ordinary.
...The Lumière Holy Church? ...Ugh, there's even an archbishop?
What were they doing all the way out here?
Just as I spotted them, they seemed to spot me as well. The assembled crowd began moving toward me.
Step. Step.
"Sir Edelrein. It has been some time."
The man who came to a stop before me already had a good deal of gray in his hair—an older gentleman entering his later years.
He had the face of a kindly grandfather, but... well.
"I trust you have been well."
"You look well yourself. That is a relief."
The archbishop stroked the gray-streaked beard along his jaw as he returned the greeting.
Raphael Mordian...
The man who had done more than anyone to drive me—well, Kyle—out of the Church, and he had the nerve to talk like that.
And then Raphael Mordian, this archbishop, simply kept prattling on by himself.
"I hear that, against all odds, your recent research papers have been rather well received."
"..."
I'd merely used material from a Holy Healing Studies class as research data.
"And not long ago—yes. You protected the students from an attack by those heretics, I hear."
"...I was simply lucky."
"Yes. Good that you understand. Do not get your hopes up that a lucky achievement or two will be enough to reinstate you in the Church."
Damn old man....
"What brings you here, Your Grace?"
"Heh heh. Playing dumb even after coming all this way?"
......?
What the hell was this old fossil talking about?
"Among the students you teach here... there is one named Erina Crossbell, is there not?"
"Why is that girl's name coming up here?"
"Truly, you are incorrigible. You haven't entered into some private relationship with the child, have you?"
No.
I'd been listening patiently, but just as I was about to step in—how far did he intend to go with this?—Mordian opened his mouth again first.
"Even for someone like you, you hold a professorship at the academy, so of course that cannot be the case. ...Enough joking. I came after receiving a report."
What? He was just spewing things that made no sense.
"...What report?"
"Still denying it to the end. I already received the report from Priest Bloomrein and came here."
...From Bloomrein?
"...Well. I understand. After the way the Church treated you, you must feel bitter, and you may have wanted to keep it hidden."
"......"
"But that is a separate matter from this. Even so, to have a candidate for Saintess—someone who will represent the face of the Church—appear, and then to play games about it... you went a little too far."
......What? Saintess?
What on earth was he talking about.
As the old man in front of me kept spouting incomprehensible nonsense and my thoughts spun into chaos, Mordian continued.
"You cannot hide your expression. That must mean I struck the mark, yes?"
Talking as if he owned the place.
"...So why did you come here?"
"I told you. Twenty years since the previous Saintess vanished without a trace. If she is blood of the great Elysia Crossbell herself, how could I possibly stay away?"
Elysia Crossbell...?
...Wait. That's right.
That had been the previous Saintess's name.
I'd wondered why I hadn't caught on sooner—Crossbell was a fairly common surname, that was why.
And it had been twenty years.
During the years Kyle was active, there had been no Saintess at all, so the lack of firsthand experience meant it never really registered.
"But before we celebrate that fact, we must first verify the Holy Power that student Erina Crossbell carries."
"Is that so..."
"In any case. You did splendid work finding the Saintess. Sir Edelrein."
I was listening to words that brought me no joy whatsoever when a voice called from behind me.
"Professor?"
I turned. Erina and Linea had finished their meal at some point and come out of the restaurant together.
...Tch. Already out, huh.
"Both of you, greet him properly. This gentleman is His Grace Raphael Mordian, Archbishop of the Lumière Holy Church."
One of only five archbishops in the entire Lumière Holy Church.
Besides, Mordian was also the one responsible for the Belhart branch—the city where Belheim Magic Academy stood.
Better to take the hit early. If we were going to keep running into each other, introducing them now wasn't a bad idea.
"Yes..."
"Y-yes? Ah, h-hello...! I-I'm Linea of House Albrecht...!"
Erina and Linea both bowed at the waist.
Mordian received the two young ladies' greetings with a kindly, approving smile.
"Oho... so you are the young lady of Imperial Count Albrecht's house. You appear to be aiming for holy knighthood—truly an example to others."
For now he was fawning over her as some Imperial Count's daughter and showing respect.
The moment she enlisted in the Holy Knights and fell under his command, all that respect would go out the window, and he'd talk down to her and work her like a dog.
"But... and the young lady beside her?"