Crisis of Chastity
It had already been half a day since I'd woken up after collapsing from medicine of completely unverified ingredients.
"How are you feeling?"
"...Still tingly, but I can move at least."
I was spending a thoroughly uncomfortable stretch of time. For some reason no flames would come out, which meant I'd lost every means of healing myself.
"More importantly..."
"Yes?"
I turned toward the witch currently nursing me—Frederica—after she'd driven Huey and Lucy out of the room. Something had been bothering me for a while, so I decided to ask.
"What the hell is that getup supposed to be this time?"
"Ah, this?"
She was wearing a white outfit that clung to every curve of her body, nothing like her usual clothes—a skirt so short it barely covered her thighs, and a top so poorly sized she'd given up fastening it, leaving half her chest exposed. She beamed at me.
"Well? Cute, right?"
"No idea."
...Looking closer, it wasn't any different from usual. Either way, if you left her standing on a street corner she'd get treated like public indecency.
"An otherworlder I met a long time ago gave it to me."
She claimed it was a gift—clothes they supposedly wear when nursing the sick in that other world...
"What kind of insane world nurses people dressed like that?"
"Aww, such a world could exist. You're so prickly."
"...Do whatever you want. Sigh."
Apparently she'd never once worn it in front of the person who'd actually gifted it to her.
"More importantly—by your standards, 'a long time ago' means when exactly?"
I asked out of sheer disbelief, and Frederica lightly smacked my head as if she'd been waiting for the opening.
"Tsk."
"Ugh. Hitting a patient?"
"I'm going easy on you because you're a patient. How many times do I have to tell you that asking a woman that is rude?"
Rude, my ass.
"You're a hundred and fifty and still fretting over that?"
"...Witches live to five hundred! I'm still in my prime!"
I really don't get the sense of time for people born into long-lived races. Ah, wait.
"Well, in human terms you're past thirty, so I guess it's understandable you'd be—"
—Thwack!
"Peep!"
This time she hit me properly.
"You sure talk a lot."
With a knife-hand strike so strong I saw stars for a moment, I forced my tingling body to move and clutched my head, half-convinced a dent had been left in my crown.
"Peeeeep..."
"Honestly, you just go looking for a beating."
After that we chatted about this and that while Frederica carefully checked over my body.
"Well, nothing major for now. The reason your body won't move properly is just strain on the bones and muscles. A few days of solid rest and you'll be fine."
"When did you study medicine?"
"If you want to be a dollmaker, you need to know the structure of the body at least. It's basic."
Having said that—
"Shall we get to the main topic, then?"
She dragged a chair over from by the window, sat beside me, and asked with a serious face.
"At the end—what conversation did you have?"
"Ah, that."
Recalling what I'd already told Huey and Lucy earlier, I opened my mouth.
"He told me to be careful of a blue-skinned incubus named Balor."
From the moment he'd fallen for the guy's persuasion, he said he had no memories. A blue-skinned incubus—that had to be the bluish guy I'd glimpsed last time.
"Probably mind-control abilities. Being an incubus, something related to dreams."
"Well, I don't know about that. At least he asked me to let him die with his mind intact."
After doing all that, he said he had no confidence left to keep living, or something of the sort.
"Ah, right. Speaking of that man reminded me of something."
"Huh?"
Right after, Frederica clapped her hands as if it had just occurred to her.
"I found something interesting on that man's corpse."
Saying so, she produced a red fragment about the size of a fingernail that looked vaguely familiar.
"Things like this were embedded in both his eyes."
"That's..."
...It was definitely the same thing that had been growing on the forehead of that mutant ogre I'd seen not long ago.
"I notified the client that the contract was over and did some investigating yesterday. The results were pretty interesting."
"What?"
"This seems to be a medium for receiving a god's power."
Lately I keep getting tangled up with these so-called gods.
"But... I couldn't figure out which god's power it was drawing."
"Is that even possible?"
"Well, that's what the results said."
She'd compared it against samples she kept—items each containing the divine power of the six gods—and not a single one matched.
"Anyway, I'm planning to look into this a bit more."
Right after saying that, Frederica's expression changed. From serious to a face that made it glaringly obvious she was thinking something lecherous.
"...Stop."
"Mufufu, I haven't said anything yet?"
"That's why stop."
Frederica casually rested a hand on my belly.
"Our Ren, now even raising an egg in your belly. You've grown so much, haven't you?"
Looking at that—
"Judging by the situation, it'll be a day at most. Shall I take it out for you?"
The terror that seized me made me scream at last.
"PEEEEEEEP—!! CAPTAIIIIIN—!!"
"Fufu. The captain went to Arcadia for the regular report and isn't here right now, you know?"
With eyes gleaming with desire fixed on me, her face flushed, tongue flicking out as she breathed heavily—anyone could see she was a perfect picture of a traitor.
"It's all because you've gotten so cute, Ren. Right...?"
I tried to move my tingling body somehow and escape, but—
"Mufufu. Don't worry. You know who I am, right? I'll make you feel good..."
Faster than that, Frederica's mana threads bound my body.
"PEEEEEEEP—!! HELP—!! HELLLP—!!"
"Screaming won't help, you know. I set up a barrier ages ago. Fully prepared, as they say."
At the thought that at this rate she'd use removing the egg as an excuse to thoroughly violate me, I was screaming my throat raw when—
Pfft. Serves you right.
Not content with pouring oil on a burning house—the voice that had been sulking and silent ever since I drank the medicine butted in.
If you say "I'm sorry. I won't drink medicine like that again. I'm a dumb idiot," then I'll help...
"I'msorryIwon'tdrinkmedicinelikethatagainI'madumbidiotAAAAAH—!!"
"...Ren?"
Pride be damned—I hated this one more than anything! I knew it'd feel so good it'd drive me crazy, so I hated it—!!
Uh... um... well, okay. First, try relaxing your body a bit?
This time I decided to obediently follow the voice's instructions. And the moment I let the strength out of my body—
Fwoosh.
Flames rose from my wings.
Well, there will be a few side effects. But getting out of this situation comes first, right?
With that, the flames spread and burned away the mana threads. Then, regardless of my will, my body started moving.
"...Hah."
Far from running away, my body charged straight at Frederica and hugged her.
"Re-Ren? Suddenly getting proactive is nice, but... if you do this, this big sister is really going to go wild, you know?"
Frederica's voice in my ear gave me the chills. Right after—
What are you talking about. Just go to sleep.
With those words spat out as if it were absurd, my body pulled away from Frederica and settled onto the bed, and—
Fwoosh.
From Frederica's body—specifically, from her back, where my body had just stroked her with a wing—
"Wh-what...?"
Flames rose as if wrapping Frederica's body like a cocoon.
Healing Cocoon. A healing technique that maximizes a living being's regenerative ability.
The downside is that you fall asleep while being healed, it said.
Well, sleep for about a day and your shoulder stiffness should be gone at least.
The voice sent the cocoon-shaped flames flying out the window.
There, all done!
Listening to the voice cheerfully humming as if pleased, I opened my mouth at the sense of wrongness I felt.
"...Hey. Why is my body like this?"
Just a moment ago it had only been tingling. Now a pain like being stabbed with needles was rising through my whole body.
I told you. There'd be side effects.
Saying that, and vanishing with a "have a nice time"—I was staring blankly at the ceiling in disbelief when—
"Ren. Some weird fireball fell in the yard... why does the room look like this?"
Whether the barrier had come down when Frederica fell asleep, Huey walked into my room as naturally as anything, without even knocking.
"One idiot went berserk."
"...Are you okay?"
"For now."
Forcing my gaze away from where it naturally wanted to go toward his fingers, I answered roughly.
"Well, if you're okay, that's good."
As if he had something to say, Huey sat in the chair Frederica had occupied moments before.
"I've got something to talk about—is now okay for a bit?"
"Does it absolutely have to be today?"
Even if I tried not to care, my lower belly was trembling on its own, making it impossible to focus on conversation. I suggested talking later if possible, but—
"Mm... I need to write a letter as soon as I can."
Huey only scratched his head with an apologetic, troubled look.
"Ugh. Then keep it as short as possible."
"Okay. Once you're fully recovered, before we head north, there's a place I want to stop by briefly."
And so Huey's story began.
"Ever since I used my power this time, my condition's been a bit off."
Whether using his power twice in a short span was the problem—even though he'd properly used sealing talismans, more power was leaking out than usual, he said.
"I think I should go back and get examined."
And here I thought it was something big.
"Then we should go."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Doesn't matter."
Even if I went north, all I'd be was a test subject for Beatrice's experiments anyway. My absence wouldn't hinder the research for now.
"So, is that all your business?"
"Ah, and for dinner tonight..."
"I'll skip today."
Huey hesitated, looking at me with lingering concern to the end.
"...Alright. Call me if anything happens."
After watching Huey leave the room for a moment, I let out a long breath as if venting the heat building up inside my body.
"Haa..."
From around the time Huey came in, the pain I'd been feeling throughout my body had been gradually turning into pleasure.
"Damn this body."
Wondering just when I'd be free of this damned body, I decided to prepare for what would be my fourth egg-laying.