Chapter 62
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: An Outing with Lucy (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[Master, if I asked you to marry me, would you?]
Lucy's pupils rolled left and right as she read the words.
"Marriage with you is impossible."
Her immediate reply.
The answer came so fast it left a bitter taste in my mouth for no reason.
Lucy must think our levels don't match. I get it.
[That's how it is. I like Master, but Master doesn't like me.]
"No."
No? What do you mean no? Is she reading the room and lying to spare my feelings?
"The reason I can't marry you is 'ovulation'."
What? Ovulation...? The moment I heard it, I doubted my own ears.
Lucy continued without a care.
"Female dragons ovulate instinctively when they encounter a mating partner. It's impossible to control with willpower."
So dragons are different, huh? Different in such a spectacular way.
But something was nagging at me.
[What's the criterion for a mating partner?]
"Strength is the primary criterion. The reason I haven't ovulated is because I haven't met a male stronger than me."
Memo. Lucy has never ovulated. Very likely a virgin.
"I want to have children, but you don't trigger ovulation in me. So I can't form a marriage pact with you."
If strength is the standard, it's nearly impossible for her to ovulate just from seeing me.
Whatever. For me, it's Sera anyway.
But my face stiffened rigidly. Why am I reacting like this?
[Do you want to have children?]
I changed the subject.
"I'm curious what it's like to raise a child. When I find a suitable male, I plan to court him aggressively."
Wanting to raise a baby out of curiosity—so very Lucy.
Lucy's aggressive courtship, though... Knowing her, she'd probably just say, "Let's mate," outright.
"We've come far. You said you wanted to touch my butt."
-Nod...
I couldn't bring myself to nod vigorously.
"If it's not for mating purposes, it's fine. Touch."
Lucy turned her back to me.
Her plump rear was right in front of my nose.
Can I just... touch it like this? Now that it's on offer, I'm hesitating.
"Not doing it? Question."
Lucy glanced back over her shoulder.
Seize the chance. Here goes!
Squish. My fingers sank into the soft buttock. Yep, definitely bigger than Sera's.
A cool sensation at my fingertips.
New discovery. Lucy's butt is cool to the touch.
Knead... knead... I slowly massaged her butt.
Soft... squishy... cool... The perfect pillow to rest your head on during summer...
Quest completed. +30 SP
Cleared the butt-touching quest this easily?
Does that mean as long as it's not sexual intent, Lucy's fine with anything I ask?
What if I said I was curious if her pussy is cold inside too? Would she let me check?
[There's a possibility. How about giving it a shot, prepared to die?]
The Demon King's suggestion tempted me like the scent of fish-shaped buns on a winter day.
No way. Surely I'm not that clueless.
Even if possible, for me, it's only Sera!
Squeeze!! I clenched my fist to steel my resolve—
No, I ended up squeezing her butt tight.
"Even checking the texture, huh? Question."
Her usual blunt tone, but it felt scary for some reason.
I yanked my hand away from Lucy's butt in a hurry.
"How was it?"
[It's cool.]
"I see."
Lucy held out her hand to me. What does this mean?
"On the way back, no hand-holding. Question."
So it was an offer to hold hands. That would've been nice.
I clasped Lucy's outstretched hand. A cool temperature seeped into my palm.
To me, Lucy's hand feels cold, so maybe she finds my hand warm.
Lost in such idle thoughts as we walked, Lucy turned toward me.
Does she have something to say?
"Gob. Mind if I ask one thing?"
-Nod.
"That saying about even the weak protecting the strong—I still can't wrap my head around it."
She's still dwelling on that. Does she obsess over strength for some reason?
"Jihil told me the strong have a duty to protect the weak."
Jihil? The hero, right?
"He said if you don't protect the weak, you're not a true strong one. That's why I joined his party. Because I'm strong."
If you don't protect the weak, you're not truly strong.
Sounds nice on the surface, but isn't it just gaslighting?
The hero must've stroked her ego to lure her in.
"Does it mean the weak have a duty to protect the strong too?"
[It's not about duty. It's that they can if they want to.]
"I see."
[Also, the strong have no obligation to protect the weak.]
"So Jihil lied to me."
Lucy's eyes narrowed slightly. A rare change in expression. Is she annoyed?
Well, who wouldn't be? She probably suffered in the hero's party, and if it was all built on lies...
Should I just say yeah, he lied?
...No. Better soften it. No need to rile her up.
[What he said is neither truth nor falsehood.]
"Wordplay."
The air temperature seemed to drop about 5 degrees.
-Shake shake!
I shook my head vigorously.
[It's faith. Unproven so far.]
"Faith."
Lucy still had her eyes narrowed.
My bullshit might get called out?
I gripped the pen tight and carefully poured out my thoughts.
[He believes that the strong have a duty to save the weak.]
[That belief isn't truth or lie yet.]
[Whether his words are true or not gets proven through how he lives his life.]
[If he dies protecting the weak as a strong one his whole life, it's truth.]
[If he abandons that duty even once, it's a lie.]
I held up the note with my longest-ever entry.
"..."
Lucy read the text in silence.
Her eyes darted back and forth dozens of times. Reading until it sank in.
Did she spot the nonsense? My cheek itched; I scratched it with one hand.
"Then Jihil didn't lie to me."
Good, she bought it moderately.
[Did he live up to his own words?]
"Yes. He always protected the weak."
[Then it wasn't a lie.]
Jihil really seems like a good person. Makes sense he's the hero.
I kinda want to meet him, but honestly, he's too intimidating.
"If Jihil ever turns his back on the weak someday, then it becomes a lie."
[Exactly. That's why we can't say for sure if it's truth or lie until he dies.]
Faith takes a long time to solidify.
But it shatters in an instant.
I once believed pure love could let me live happily even with a non-virgin.
But reality proved that belief wrong.
Pure love couldn't stop an affair.
Sluts are irredeemable from the start. That's not faith—it's ironclad truth.
The truth I learned through my trials.
"Faith that's neither truth nor lie. I learned something new."
I'd just blurted it out, but Lucy murmured like she'd had an epiphany.
"You know things I don't. Gob really is smart."
That impressive, huh...? I scratched my cheek with a finger.
"Now I get it. You believe the weak can protect the strong too."
-Nod.
"In that case, you'll have to prove your belief right from now on."
[Yes. I'll prove it someday, for sure.]
Someday, there'll be a day I can help Lucy.
[If you want, I could protect you forever.]
Wrote it and immediately regretted going too far.
I glanced at her face to gauge her reaction.
"Interesting."
The corner of Lucy's mouth twitched faintly.
A fleeting quiver. Impossible to tell if it was a smile or a slight frown.
In a game, it'd be an affinity-up notification.
The moment passed, and Lucy reverted to her blank expression.
"I'll be waiting."
I stared blankly at her tossed-off words.
Fleeting as it was, Lucy had definitely smiled.
Like a desert mirage of an oasis.
Back from our walk, I returned to my room and opened my stat window.
I've got 140 SP right now. How should I spend them?
Start with length?
10 SP per 1cm, so 140 SP gets me 14cm.
But a 24cm length with super-thin thickness would look weird, right?
Height's an issue too. I'm only about 120cm tall—can't go waving around a 24cm rod.
Invest in thickness first, then length moderately.
Invested 100 SP in Thickness, 40 SP in Length.
Thickness: Large coin → Banana
Length: Erect 10cm → 14cm
My groin started to itch.
I pulled down my pants and took out my penis. Stroked it a few times to get it erect and check the size.
14cm length, banana-thick. Bigger than in my previous life. A smile crept onto my lips.
The low rigidity makes it a bit floppy, but I can upgrade that too.
I tucked my upgraded weapon back into my pants and headed for Kasha's room.
-