Chapter 70: Establishing Discipline (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 70: Establishing Discipline (2)
Around the 10th floor.
Naturally, dungeons are structures where sunlight never reaches.
Up to the floors that have been fully explored, the Adventurer Guild replaces natural light with artificial sources, placing torches or magic stones that emit light.
Consequently, adventurers cannot see the sun rise or set, so they set up camp and rest solely based on their body’s level of fatigue.
I was still full of energy, but I checked the stamina of the other party members and ordered them to camp whenever I saw them flagging.
Rune was mentally exhausted and dejected because I still hadn’t let go of my anger, and I could feel Lady Narupa walking on eggshells around me, even though she tried to act like she was fine.
Among them, Diane, being a Ranger, naturally consumed a lot of stamina since she had to stay alert in all directions.
As I mentioned, there is no natural light. Since the artificial light only fitfully wards off the darkness, it’s difficult for a person to truly relax, so their exhaustion likely accumulated at double the speed.
But above all else…
It had been over three days since I’d spoken anything more than the bare essentials after getting angry on the first day.
“Here.”
Since we hadn’t reached the deep layers yet, the meal prepared at the camp was relatively luxurious.
I handed out seasoned beef sirloin seared in oil, along with soup and bread, but even Rune, who usually had a good appetite, barely managed to finish her portion slowly.
“I-I’ll go take a look around the perimeter.”
Diane, who had an even bigger appetite than Rune, couldn’t even finish half her meal before getting up.
Right, she should at least work hard.
If possible, I want to find another skilled Ranger after we finish clearing the Dakuren Dungeon. I know it’s nearly impossible, but I still want to hold onto that hope.
“You can use this for washing up.”
Lady Narupa’s magitech items were proving useful in exactly the right places.
The various stones and towels she pulled out were rare items I’d never even heard of in Lukart—stones that produced water or towels that came pre-lathered with soap.
“Impressive.”
“They’re still prototypes. As you can see, the stones and towels take up too much volume, so I’m looking for lighter, smaller materials to replace them.”
However, it was clear that everyone was still very intimidated by me.
That included Lady Narupa, whom I just spoke with.
“Alto, I was wrong. Can’t you stop being mad?”
The same went for Rune, who shared a tent with me.
My anger had already subsided to some extent, but I didn’t answer.
If I forgave her at a halfway point just because she acted pitiful, Rune would perceive that appeasing my anger was relatively easy. That would only increase the likelihood of something like this happening again.
“Alto, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
When I simply held her in silence, Rune began to sniffle.
“I know… I know I can’t monopolize you forever…”
This woman, who held the immense status of the next Great Lord, began a tearful confession just to quell the anger of a mere commoner like me.
“But to me, you’re the only man I love, the only family I have who is just for me, who thinks only of me.”
I wondered if the old man and the Countess would feel hurt if they heard that.
“I only remember my mother from her portrait, and my father and brother left me behind to go save the world. The Count and Countess Dakuus raised me, and I’m truly grateful for that, but there was always an empty space in a corner of my heart that couldn’t be filled.”
A sobbing whisper, barely audible, drifted into my ear.
“Only now… only now have I met a man I want to love, and that hole has been filled. Is it so wrong for me to want to monopolize you just a little longer?”
However, because her words turned into self-justification, my heart, which had been softening, hardened once more.
“I wanted to be loved… I wanted a man who would cast everything aside to come love me. Because I would cast everything aside to love only him. I wanted us to always be together, always loving each other, never apart…”
Still, I did not answer.
Establishing discipline is, in other words, the cruel act of forcing complete submission.
“Alto…”
A faint hand shook my body, but I didn’t budge.
“Alto…”
Even as she shook me with both hands, begging for attention, I remained still.
“I was wrong…”
Finally, Rune poured out her true feelings and sent a signal of surrender.
“I’m very greedy… so if possible, I wanted to keep you all to myself for a long, long time… I was scared. Narupa said she liked you from the moment she saw you… I hated the idea of you bringing in another woman when it hasn’t even been that long since you took me in.”
She buried her face in my chest and confessed honestly, hot tears streaming down.
“I know how unsightly it is for a woman to be jealous of a man… I’m sorry, I was too greedy… I thought if I threw a tantrum, you’d hold me and soothe me like you did at the salon… I believed you’d look only at me while doing that… I know I acted inappropriately for the time and place… and I know I went too far and made you angry…”
Honestly, I wanted to sigh.
They say one reason men these days treat women harshly is to break their spirit, and I believed I would never have to do that.
I would never hit Rune or treat her cruelly, but it was true that I didn’t want to make her cry by burdening her with psychological pressure and guilt like this.
While this incident was entirely the fault of Rune and Narupa, it was also true that I, as the one doing the scolding, didn’t feel comfortable either.
Perhaps because of that, I unconsciously tightened my arms around her.
Taking that as a sign of forgiveness, Rune quickly pulled me closer and rubbed her cheek against mine.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I’ll accept it. I’ll accept that I can’t have you all to myself… but please, love me the most. Make me your number one…”
Only after her final, desperate plea as a lover who had laid everything down did I finally open my mouth.
“Rune.”
“Yes, Alto!”
“You took all my ‘firsts.’ From our first date to our first kiss—everything a man does with a woman, you were the first.”
“Heeing…”
She seemed moved by those words and cried for a long time while clinging to me.
“I really was being loved enough…”
“……”
“But love me even more.”
Huh?
“Since I’m greedy, love me the most out of all your women.”
“Alright.”
“Mmh, thank you for answering.”
I could feel a deep sense of satisfaction in Rune’s tone just now.
Her sniffling breath also quickly regained its stability.
“I’ll behave from now on… hic!”
Rune, trying to speak as calmly as possible, let out the inevitable short gasp that follows a crying fit and looked embarrassed.
Finding that cute, I kissed the crown of her head.
“Ah… Alto, you’re not mad anymore.”
“…No, I am.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I’m not.”
“But you told me before that you kiss the top of my head when you find me so cute you can’t stand it?”
Those were words I’d said in bed, under the covers.
It was the answer I gave her after a vigorous session, when I had exhaled ragged breaths against her stomach and released my seed inside her; she had looked so proud and confident that I found her adorable and kissed the top of her head.
“…I want to do it.”
I tensed slightly at the words Rune let slip.
This is one of the reasons why having a man in the party carries so much weight.
Once you enter a dungeon, you have to spend days and nights inside depending on the quest.
Men and women live and eat together, and naturally, fatigue and sexual desire build up, making it inevitable for relationships to form with the women in the party.
Unfortunately, that never happened in Mirei’s party.
Mirei, who got excited by battle; Resin, who got wet watching the power of her own magic; and Krima, who was normally interested in lewd things.
Those three never suggested sleeping together, let alone any kind of skinship.
They just handled it themselves at night, glancing around to make sure no one was watching.
How did I know?
After the countless nights we spent together, it would be a lie to say I never heard a single moan.
‘Alto, I think Mirei is sick!’
Surprisingly, Diane, who I thought would act the most on instinct, was so innocent and pure that whenever she heard a moan, she would come to me in secret, looking worried.
That’s right, Diane didn’t know anything, and she wasn’t the type to have those urges, so she was never ruled by lust on her own.
Ha, but what does it matter?
In the end, they all slept around with other guys and treated me like a total sucker.
As my thoughts reached that point, I felt nauseous.
It was a useless trip down memory lane.
Right now, I have such a beautiful woman clinging to me, begging for my love.
A woman far too good for me.
Whether she knew my heart or not, Rene yawned and pressed her lips to my neck.
Mwah.
“I want to… but I’m too tired from crying…”
Mwah.
“And just having Alto hold me like this makes me so, so happy.”
Mwah.
“You know, Alto. If you want, you can go to Narupa.”
“What?”
Did I hear that right?
When I asked back in surprise, Rune gave my neck one last, deep kiss.
Sluuurp.
“Narupa seemed to be struggling a lot because she wants your love, too.”
“I didn’t expect you to be the first to say that… are you okay with it?”
“Of course.”
Rune affirmed in a provocative, sultry voice.
“No matter how hard Narupa tries, she can’t take away the ‘firsts’ I took from you.”
There was confidence in that voice.
“And since I’ll be getting pregnant soon, we’ll need a second wife to satisfy my husband’s healthy appetite, won’t we?”
And added to that, a sense of victory.
It seemed Rune’s conviction had taken a very strange turn.