Chapter 342: Bread and Dagger (40)
Chapter 342: Bread and Dagger (40)
Senior Elsie, lying on the bed, let out a surprisingly cute scream.
It was clear that, at her core, she was still a girl. Pinned beneath me, Elsie’s eyes went wide.
The bed was soft, so it couldn't have hurt.
However, there was nothing I could do about my own breath, which was growing ragged. In her wide-set eyes, two conflicting emotions—fear and expectation—coexisted.
I flashed a faint smile and whispered to her.
"…You’ve been pounced on, haven't you?"
"Ah, ugh… Hieeeek?!"
Even at my sly question, Senior Elsie couldn't find her voice for a moment. Then, as my lips drifted toward the crook of her neck, she let out a soft shriek.
I had merely pressed my lips against her neck.
My intentions were pure. This was a spot where she had shown a particularly strong reaction whenever I stroked her jaw in the past.
It was the perfect place to tease her.
But her reaction exceeded my expectations.
After that small scream, Senior Elsie let out a faint moan and rubbed her thighs together. Her heated breaths were now laced with a sweet, nasal tone.
She spoke, her voice trembling on the verge of tears.
"W-wait… it tickles… Hngh?!"
Of course, her resistance vanished the moment I pressed my lips to her neck again with a soft mwah.
Elsie now looked like she didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
Eventually, I couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into laughter.
"Pfft, hahahaha! Senior Elsie, what was that? You acted so tough, but you’re terrified now that I’m actually doing it."
Her sapphire eyes, brimming with tears, glared at me resentfully.
The way she shot me a sharp look made it clear she was fuming.
Even that was so adorable that I only laughed harder.
In truth, I had no intention of actually ravishing her.
As she had said, we hadn't washed yet, and we were both drunk. The situation with Senior Delphine before was different from this.
Senior Delphine had simply wanted all her worries to be erased.
But Senior Elsie was different.
If she and I were to cross that line, it had to be as the fruit of our love—not something decided impulsively in a tent in the middle of a freezing wilderness.
I didn't know much, but I’d heard that women have fantasies about their first time.
At the very least, that fantasy wouldn't involve an impulsive encounter in a tent.
The future was uncertain, but I wanted to give Senior Elsie only good memories.
Of course, Elsie seemed frustrated either way.
"You… you meanie…."
She inhaled, exhaled.
And then, a sudden outburst.
"A-are you going to keep playing with a maiden's pure heart?! You really startled me!"
"It was less startling than waking up with both hands tied, wasn't it?"
Senior Elsie fell silent at my logical retort.
However, her huffing breaths still signaled her discontent. Ultimately, I had to pull her into my arms to soothe her.
It was a funny thing.
A man and a woman lying alone on a bed, embracing each other, yet nothing was happening.
But this wasn't bad either.
A senior who had a foul mouth but couldn't resist with her body.
It gave me a strange sense of decadence.
Elsie, who had seemed angry at first, soon quieted down.
The way she buried her blushing face in my chest was proof enough.
Still, her tongue remained sharp.
Though she had become a bit more polite, perhaps out of genuine virtue.
"Y-you’re really mean… In the end, am I not even a woman to you?"
I didn't know what she wanted from me.
She was scared when I tried to pounce, and disappointed when I didn't.
I once again engraved Reto’s maxim into my heart.
'Don't try to understand women. Just accept them.'
At the time, I thought it was hilarious how he spoke as if women were some kind of natural disaster, but now that I was experiencing it, I understood his sentiment.
I decided to follow my best friend's advice.
"If that were the case, I would have rejected you the moment you confessed… And I was in a dangerous spot too, you know."
At my soothing tone, Elsie shot me a coy sidelong glance.
Regardless, I continued my consolation.
"Senior Elsie, you were sitting on top of me earlier. When you kept, well, pressing down like that…."
"What was?"
Elsie tilted her head and asked back, seemingly genuinely confused.
Did she really not know?
She could be surprisingly airheaded sometimes.
That was why she got teased by a junior a year younger than her and mocked for being a bedwetter.
I couldn't bring myself to give a blunt answer.
I simply cleared my throat and let my voice trail off.
"Y-you know. When you were sitting on me, the part that was touching…."
"……Ah."
With a small gasp, Elsie’s face turned beet red again.
She tried to cover her rear with her hands behind her back—even though I couldn't see it anyway since we were embracing face-to-face.
Elsie stammered, putting on a hollow show of bravado.
"R-really? I-I guess you liked it?!"
"Yes, I liked it."
Of course, her bravado didn't stand a chance.
At my shameless response, Elsie’s face turned even redder. When I started chuckling at the sight, her eyes filled with indignation.
It seemed she was quite frustrated at being unable to seize the initiative.
Eventually, in a fit of pique, she started saying something strange.
"Then prove it!"
"Huh? How am I supposed to prove that?"
If I liked it, I liked it.
Despite my bewildered reaction, Elsie didn't stop her rampage. She swatted away my arms that were wrapped around her and turned her back to me.
Then, she pushed her hips back toward me.
Her target was obvious.
It was my groin. I had no choice but to be flustered by the soft sensation touching me again.
"No, I told you I liked it! Why would I lie to you, Senior?"
"T-then prove it! Men like this kind of thing, don't they!"
Elsie’s hips twitched, rubbing against my clothes.
Though there were two layers of fabric between us, it wasn't enough to completely offset the sensation. Above all, her scent was too close.
The finishing blow was her breathing.
As she rubbed her backside against me, Elsie’s waist suddenly jolted.
"……Hngh."
And then, a wet breath.
The way her eyes looked at me, filled with a hint of surprise, was pitiful. It might be a strange preference, but I found that sound of hers even more erotic.
The change was instantaneous.
Elsie, who had been demanding 'proof,' soon realized the change.
"Oh?"
It was a very humiliating situation for me.
I sighed and covered my face with both hands. The single sentence I managed to squeeze out was short.
"……Satisfied?"
Elsie looked at me with an inquisitive gaze.
To her, it probably felt like a hot, hard rod caught between the cheeks of her buttocks. It seemed she hadn't quite guessed its identity yet.
However, with a puzzled expression, her hand reached back and fumbled over my groin.
And a moment later.
"U-uh, uhhh……?"
Elsie could only let out a dazed sound, her face turning crimson.
"Did you, did you visit the tent beforehand? Why is a two-headed snake here…?"
"What tent? And what do you mean, two-headed snake?"
At my annoyed retort, Elsie tilted her head in confusion.
"T-that’s strange? I brought it because it was weird to see a creature that should only be in the Southern Great Forest here in the North…."
What was she talking about?
The environment of the Southern Great Forest was worlds apart from the North. There was no way a creature living there would be here.
If that were the case, there was only one possibility.
Someone had intentionally brought a two-headed snake to the North.
But why would anyone travel from the Southern Great Forest all the way to the coniferous forests of the far North?
I couldn't think of a reason.
Unless they were exiled.
Yes, those exiled from the Southern Great Forest.
As soon as the deduction clicked, I let out a shout.
"Wait, you should have told me that first!"
I immediately stood up and headed toward the tent where she said she had kept the two-headed snake.
I intended to interrogate the elves while I was at it.
Behind me, Senior Elsie followed with a bright red face.
Blushing, she was using her hand to measure the length down to her navel.
After that, Senior Elsie became remarkably quiet.
"M-Master."
The title had returned before I knew it. I paused in my tracks and glanced back.
I gave her a somewhat annoyed look, but Elsie didn't even care.
"I am lacking, but I will do my very best……."
What on earth was she talking about?
I shook my head and quickened my pace again.
Regardless, Elsie just kept measuring the length with her hand behind my back.
Letting out little sounds like "Wow" and "Gosh."
"It’s a sacrifice brought by Lord Leoric."
It was a statement obtained deep in the night, inside a tent lit by a single lamp.
It came from the elf woman I had fought. The one who had resisted me with a unique archery style that controlled the wind, only to be defeated.
Was her name 'Beneta'?
The moment I heard that unfamiliar name from her lips, I had a gut feeling.
That’s the one.
The person I have to kill.
Finally, the story had found the throat it needed to pierce.