Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Improvement? (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
『Sera's Perspective』
The person who rounded the corner spotted Sera and perked up her dog ears.
"Sera?"
The moment Kasha saw Sera, she hurried over with quick little steps.
"Why are you sitting here like this? Are you okay?"
Kasha bent down and checked Sera's complexion.
She placed a hand on Sera's cheek, then on her forehead to check for fever.
"No fever... But let's not stay here. Come on, let's go to your room. I'll take you."
"No, I'm fine. I can go by myself. But thank you."
Sera refused, not wanting to be a burden.
"What are you talking about? Leave you here alone like this? Do I seem that heartless to you?"
Kasha said seriously.
"That's not what I... "
"No arguments. I'm taking you. Come on, let's go."
Kasha stuck right by Sera's side as if to say no more words, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Thank you..."
Sera leaned against Kasha with a wry smile.
Sera suddenly had a thought.
What if it had been Lucy in the same situation? What would her reaction have been?
Wouldn't she have turned and walked away without a second thought the moment Sera said she could go alone?
Thinking that way made Kasha's kindness hit home all the more.
...
Sera's room.
Sera lay on the bed, nestled in Kasha's arms.
"So, what exactly happened?"
Kasha asked.
"Nothing happened. I just didn't sleep well and got tired."
Sera burrowed into Kasha's embrace, seeking warmth.
Kasha's arms carried a sweet, tangy cherry scent.
"Nothing happened? Really? Sniff sniff. But you smell all upset."
"I really can't hide anything from you."
Sera let out an involuntary wry smile.
Lucy didn't understand feelings at all, which was the problem. Kasha understood them too well, which was also a problem.
"Hiding scents is tough. So, what happened?"
"Well..."
Sera recounted what had just happened.
"What? That guy's working as Lucy's assistant?"
Kasha's eyes went wide.
"Yeah. I was shocked too."
Seeing Kasha's reaction eased Sera's mind a bit.
Yeah. That was the normal reaction to using a monster as an assistant.
Lucy, with her carefree attitude, was the weird one.
"Then Lucy will have him stuck right by her side. That's going to be a hassle..."
Kasha muttered to herself.
"A hassle? Why?"
"Oh, nothing. So what happened next? Did you go yell at her?"
"Yeah. We argued, and I even asked if she was sane. I might have been a bit harsh..."
Reflecting on it, Sera's voice grew quieter, wondering if she'd gone too far.
"Wasn't wrong, though, right? Honestly, who'd in their right mind use a goblin as an assistant? I wouldn't even want one nearby."
"True, but... my tone was pretty bad."
"That was gentle. If it were me, I'd have straight-up called her crazy."
"Hehe... I can picture it."
The corners of Sera's mouth curved up slowly.
Talking with Kasha was always like this.
She always took Sera's side and chimed in, so Sera rarely felt bad after their chats.
"So, what happened after that?"
"She asked me and the goblin who she'd save first if we both fell in the water."
"Pfft, really? Like 'mommy or daddy' stuff? That's cute."
Kasha giggled and stroked Sera's hair.
"I know it was childish."
Sera pouted and rubbed her face against Kasha's chest.
It was bandaged, but the ample volume made it quite soft.
"So what did Lucy say?"
"She said she'd save both me and the goblin at the same time."
"She didn't say you'd come first?"
"Yeah..."
"No wonder you're upset."
Kasha patted Sera's back like she was soothing a child.
"But that's just how she is. Kinda emotionally dried up, you know?"
"True."
"Oh, right. That reminds me. Remember what she said to me last time?"
"What did she say?"
"She said I got aroused from smelling goblin."
Sera's ears twitched.
For a moment, she thought she'd misheard. After her brain processed it a few times, her lips finally parted.
"...Really?"
"For real. Why would I lie?"
"Why say something so rude..."
It was beyond comprehension by Sera's standards.
How would anyone feel hearing they'd gotten aroused from a dog or cat's smell?
And a goblin was even worse.
Dogs and cats had owners sometimes, but goblins? Eye contact meant kill or be killed.
"That's just how she talks. You know that. We've known her forever."
"I know."
They'd known each other for nearly a century, so how could she not?
"What exactly did you say to her?"
"I asked who she'd save first if the goblin and I fell in the water at the same time."
"And she said she'd save you both at once."
Her tone was like she'd known all along.
"How else should I ask?"
"Just be direct with her. Ask straight-up who's more important, me or the goblin."
"Isn't that too blunt?"
"Blunt is necessary. Remember when we first met her? We fought all the time."
"Yeah. We fought over every little thing."
Sera smiled, recalling those days.
They'd fight so seriously each time that she'd worried the party might disband.
Looking back now, they were fond memories that made her chuckle.
"We fought every day, but once I got to know her, it was fine."
"What do you think of Lucy?"
"Just an idiotically honest girl. Doesn't know how to beat around the bush, stay silent, or hide anything."
"..."
Idiotically honest. That described her perfectly.
She never lied, even if it hurt someone or left her alone.
She wasn't as comforting as Kasha, but she had a straightforward charm.
"...Kasha."
"Yeah?"
"If I'd asked her directly from the start, what do you think Lucy would have said?"
"Obviously, that you're more important. ...Or maybe not. She's so unpredictable, even I don't know."
"I see..."
Sera's voice trailed off weakly.
Lucy might say the goblin was more important. Thinking that made Sera not want to go ask her again.
"That goblin's stressing you out for no reason. Want me to go beat him up?"
Sera's heart shrank at Kasha's sudden words.
"No need to go through the trouble."
"No! I'll give him a piece of my mind. Even if it wasn't for you, I was planning to anyway. That's where I was headed."
Sera imagined Kasha mercilessly beating the goblin.
The image made her chest ache sharply again.
"Well, I'll be off then. Rest easy."
Kasha released Sera from her arms, got off the bed, and headed for the door.
"Kasha."
Sera called out to the departing Kasha.
"Yeah? More to talk about? Should I stay?"
Kasha turned back to Sera.
Sera hesitated, lips parting and closing.
If she let Kasha go like this, she'd beat the goblin. But she had no reason to stop her.
"What's wrong?"
Kasha tilted her head. Sera had dragged it out too long.
"...Want to take a bath together?"
In the end, Sera couldn't say what she meant to and offered a temporary excuse instead.
It was the same ploy as last time, but since Sera bathed often anyway, Kasha didn't suspect anything.
And so, the two headed to the bathhouse together.
Bathhouse.
"Haaah... My body's all loosened up."
Kasha leaned back against the bath wall and sighed.
"Right? Baths feel good even every day."
Sera settled in the center of the tub, eyes gently closed, savoring the hot water.
When she sat, the water came up to her chest.
"Just sitting here's kinda boring. Wanna play around a bit?"
Kasha's voice brimmed with mischief as she splashed through the water toward Sera.
"Hey!"
Kasha hugged Sera tightly from behind.
Squish. Sera's breasts were caught in Kasha's grasp.
"Ah, what are you doing?!"
"You knew it'd happen. It's like this every time we bathe together."
Kasha kneaded Sera's breasts without a care.
"I figured it'd end up like this..."
Sera yielded to Kasha, pretending reluctance.
The Demon King's curse blocked desire for human men, but with women, it felt the same as always.
So Kasha's touch wasn't unpleasant.
"Asking me to hold back seeing these is too much. Guys ogled you plenty on our trips."
Kasha circled Sera's areolas with her fingers.
"Ngh... Not so blatantly..."
Sera let out a soft moan and grabbed Kasha's hand.
"What's wrong? No one's here but us. Chu..."
Kasha kissed Sera's nape.
"Oh yeah, remember that vagrant who came to you before?"
"Vagrant...?"
"The crazy guy who came up calling you 'Saintess, Saintess' and straight-up asked to grope your chest."
"Ah, him... He was a bit unique."
Sera tried to put it nicely, but anyone could see the man had mental issues.
He was unkempt, face caked in grime, and spoke with a heavy stutter.
"Total psycho. Showed up with a raging hard-on and everything."
Kasha pinched Sera's nipple lightly.
"Eek... Don't say it so harshly. He wasn't right in the head... And don't pinch."
"You're too nice, that's your problem. Couldn't even refuse trash like that, just hemmed and hawed."
"I did refuse... But he said it was his lifelong wish..."
"That's the issue! Because you can't say no, I had to kick his junk and chase him off."
Kasha irritably twisted Sera's nipple.
"Hii!"
Sera shuddered.
"Without me, you'd have let that creep grope you?"
"Maybe... I might have."
She struggled to refuse requests, so she might have allowed it once.
"Ugh... Can't stand the thought of that filth touching my Sera."
Kasha slid one hand down to Sera's crotch and began gently rubbing her clit.
"Hii...! Why touch there all of a sudden..."
"Answer properly. Have you let anyone besides me touch your chest?"
"Well..."
Sera hesitated.
"What? You actually have?"
"Not until recently..."
As a kid, she'd lived in the convent, and after forming the party, her comrades blocked advances, so no men got close.
But the goblin she'd met recently was the problem.
"When I lost my memory and met that goblin... I let him touch them."
Truth be told, Sera still thought of the goblin even now.
Every time Kasha kneaded her breasts, she involuntarily recalled his touch.
Her nipples tingled as if waiting for someone to suck them.
"..."
Kasha stopped all movement upon hearing Sera.
"Kasha...? What's wrong...?"
The moment Sera mumbled blankly,
"Annoying annoying annoying!!"
Kasha screamed wildly and stimulated Sera's nipples and clit frantically.
Her hands were so skilled that Sera quickly approached climax.
"Higguuht...♥♥"
Even at her peak, Sera pictured the goblin in her mind.
Her lower belly tingled as if yearning for someone.
Bathhouse entrance.
Sera and Kasha walked side by side, chatting.
"Did I push you too hard today when you're not feeling well?"
Kasha asked.
"No. If anything, I feel better now."
It wasn't empty words. Maybe because her race was succubus, climaxing seemed to restore her condition.
"Heh heh... Glad to hear it. Nice and refreshed, right? I'm off to teach that goblin brat a lesson~."
"You're going right now?"
Sera's stomach dropped.
"Yeah. After hearing all that from you, I can't just leave it. Daring to eye my Sera? No forgiveness."
She tried to stop Kasha, but it only seemed to fuel her anger more.
"...Kasha."
Sera hesitated but finally called out.
"Yeah? What?"
But the moment their eyes met, her words retreated.
"...Thanks for listening today."
In the end, she couldn't say what she'd meant to and just bid farewell.
"What are you talking about between us? I'll head out first. Rest well~."
Kasha smiled leisurely and strode away quickly.
Was she really heading to the goblin?
'Whatever she does to the goblin, beat him or not, it's none of my business.'
She'd thought that clearly, yet Sera's head throbbed for some reason.