The Attitude of Asking (1)
April 25th.
Morning sunlight spilled through the windows.
The office that had once been called the Speaker of the National Assembly's private chambers was now the personal office of a man named Jeong Hoon — which is to say, mine. And on the luxurious full-sized sofa arranged within it...
"Haaah... hnn..."
"This is..."
A man and a woman lay there, their naked bodies covered by nothing but a blanket. One slept soundly; the other had woken to the morning light and was staring up at the ceiling.
The man, of course, was me. And the woman...
Was not Han Sora.
"Alcohol is the problem."
Recalling the events of the previous night, I let out a sigh thick with regret and turned my gaze toward the woman sharing the sofa with me.
Long black hair that reached all the way to her hips. A mature face and a figure steeped in seductive allure. And then... the largest breasts in our entire party — no, breasts so massive they defied ordinary description.
Without her glasses, her bare face radiated an effortless sensuality even in sleep. A shiver ran through me at the realization that last night's thorough release of desire had done absolutely nothing to diminish that aura.
Yes.
Last night...
It had been a night that left me convinced, once again, that alcohol was the root of all evil.
April 24th. Evening.
Lord Jeong Hoon's — my — office.
We had held a simple tea party to celebrate the afternoon's accomplishments. Those accomplishments being, of course, the sweeping extermination of the monsters and zombies that had packed the main thoroughfares just as thickly as the day before, netting us an enormous haul of experience and gold.
Thirteen thousand six hundred experience points, and one thousand eight hundred sixty gold apiece. In a single day, our party's combined gold had hit thirty thousand total. At this rate, installing a generator in the territory was no longer a distant dream.
"Sora-sunbae! Congratulations on hitting level twenty-one and becoming the second strongest person in Korea after Orabeoni Jeong Hoon! Ah, and Seeun too — congrats on hitting level twenty!"
"Th-thank... I told you not to call me sunbae!"
"It's weird getting congratulated for this. Feels kind of... anticlimactic..."
Naturally, the tea party had mostly become a celebration for Han Sora and Park Seeun, who had both broken past level twenty and could now more or less handle solo hunting.
In the original Brave Saga Online, hitting level twenty was supposedly the point where hunting started to smooth out for most classes, with a few exceptions. Archer was one of those still-miserable exceptions — but Han Sora was different. Armed with legendary-grade gloves and a top-of-the-line compound bow procured (read: looted) from a specialty archery shop, her Archer-Sniper class had been blowing the heads off zombies and goblins well before she even hit twenty.
And now she had hit twenty. No — she had surpassed it. She held the highest level in our party aside from me. Yet her only comment, upon realizing she was a mere one level ahead of Park Seeun the Warrior, was a flat, "Archers really are an unlucky class, huh," and she didn't seem particularly thrilled.
Park Seeun's reaction upon hitting twenty was much the same. Though according to Sora—
"F-from now on, I think we could split into two hunting groups if we wanted. If S-Seeun and Oppa each take a group... putting three people with Seeun should make mass hunting totally doable. O-of course... I'd be with Oppa..."
Having a Warrior who could tank was clearly a huge asset. Seeun did have one problem Sora didn't, though — her equipment wasn't particularly good.
I had been ready to buy her a proper blunt weapon from the shop, even if it set back the generator purchase, but Seeun herself stopped me.
"It's fine, really. Street-found clubs still work okay for now. Unlike Sora-unni, blunt weapons are super easy to scavenge off the street, and monster drops are easy to steal and use too."
I could read the absolute resolve in her eyes — generator first, no exceptions — so I didn't push further.
The next windfall was new skill acquisition. Han Sora at twenty-one, Park Seeun at twenty, and Yun Mina at fifteen were all given the happy burden of choosing.
After some deliberation, Sora passed on Tracking — a core Archer-Hunter skill — and chose to upgrade Multi-Shot instead. She was delighted to report that her three-arrow Multi-Shot could now fire twice in a single cast.
Park Seeun picked a skill called Ground Slam, which sent a shock through the earth to knock monsters and zombies off balance. She chose it without hesitation, saying it would be useful whenever we split the party.
And then there was Yun Mina, who had hit level fifteen a mere two days after joining us.
"Being an Elementalist is honestly great. Every skill I can pick is ridiculously useful, you know? And if I learn this one, it'll be even better on rainy days."
The skill — or rather, the magic — she chose was Lightning Burst. It dealt bonus damage to wet enemies and, on rainy days, splashed damage onto adjacent targets as well. A thoroughly practical pick.
At any rate, we held a light tea party in my office to celebrate the level-ups, the new skills, and the gold haul. We chatted warmly until it was time to head back to the lodgings — at which point Kim Seyeon asked me for a private meeting, just the two of us.
I glanced at Han Sora, intending to suggest we put it off until later, but—
"I-if it's Seyeon-unni, it's fine. It's important, right?"
Sora agreed far more readily than I had expected and simply walked out of the office, leaving me looking rather foolish.
"What is the matter, Miss Kim Seyeon?"
Watching through the window as the other women led Minji back toward the lodgings, I turned to Seyeon with the question.
"It's because of these, Jeong Hoon-ssi. Or should I say, Your Excellency Jeong Hoon?"
"...Please address me as you normally would."
Kim Seyeon teased me with the title as she reached into the bag she had left on the sofa and set something on my desk.
Three books. One was Understanding Politics. Another was The Role of Medieval Local Lords. And the last...
"Understanding Law Through Precedent...?"
"Yes. I had the butler fetch books from the National Assembly Library that I thought would be useful for the future lord of Yeouido. Ah — I suppose we should call it the Archives from now on? That's the official name that was decided."
Ugh... studying. Actual studying!
I understood that someone who had never given politics a second thought needed at least a little knowledge in this area. But I had only ever planned on learning a little!
I had never intended to stare down books whose very covers radiated crushing pressure!
"You don't need to read them deeply. In fact, please just skim them."
Apparently even Kim Seyeon herself, the one who had brought the books, didn't want me studying them cover to cover.
"Hmm? Does that not rather defeat the purpose of reading them?"
"Not at all. This is the right way. Getting obsessively attached to three books and relying on them alone is far more dangerous. These are just reference materials for when you govern the territory. The truly important decisions you make as lord are ones no book can make for you."
Ah. So she meant I should flip through them in my spare time. Like right now, for instance?
I reached for a cover to open it — and a woman's soft hand settled gently over mine.
"Ah, not right now. Later. Read them later. Heehee..."
The way Kim Seyeon stopped me with a smiling glance made my heart skip an irregular beat.
Oh, for heaven's sake...!
I had almost forgotten, what with the two of us no longer sharing a room lately... but this woman, Kim Seyeon, possessed the natural sensuality of a succubus. I was only just remembering it now.
She rummaged through her bag again. I wondered what else she could possibly have brought — and then my eyes went round the instant I saw what she pulled out.
"That is..."
"I found it in the National Assembly Members' Hall. Our esteemed representatives had stocked some truly fine things, it turns out."
Alcohol. Western liquor — whiskey, specifically.
I was no expert in English, but the elegant bottle design, the lettering, and the numbers alone made it obvious. This was premium whiskey.
"Single malt whiskey... and a thirty-year-old, no less."
"Is that a good thing?"
"Ah, you don't know whiskey. A thirty-year single malt from this brand can't even be bought domestically — it has to be imported. And the price is nothing to sneeze at. It starts at three hundred thousand won at minimum."
Three hundred thousand won for a single bottle of liquor?
The luxurious exterior certainly looked expensive, but three hundred thousand?
Kim Seyeon wasn't finished. She also produced two carefully wrapped whiskey glasses.
"The truth is, before I got married, collecting things like this was a real passion of mine. I used money from part-time jobs to import expensive whiskeys directly from overseas... After marriage I was too busy to even try, but when I surveyed the Members' Hall with the butler today, there it was. Heeheehee. I never imagined I'd feel genuine gratitude for the tastes of high-ranking officials."
With practiced ease, she lightly wiped the glasses with a napkin, carefully uncorked the whiskey bottle, and poured.
A pale amber liquid filled both glasses. The distinctive scent of alcohol mingled with something faintly reminiscent of oak barrels, spreading through the room.
Whoa. What was this subtle fragrance? Was whiskey always supposed to smell like this?
Years ago, after turning twenty, I had swaggered into a bar on a whim and tried whiskey for myself. The only impression that bottle had left was that it was strong. This was on an entirely different level.
The color wasn't much different, but the aroma was worlds apart. It was fantastic.
"No ice, so we can't do it on the rocks... but something like this is best savored in small sips anyway. Here!"
Kim Seyeon beamed as she handed me a glass.
Wow. I had never seen her this excited. This really had been a hobby she was deeply into.
"Hmm, what shall we toast to?"
"In gratitude for this day. How does that sound?"
"Oh, that's heavy... but it suits the moment perfectly. All right. In gratitude for this day. Cheers...!"
Clink!
The two glasses met.
I was startled. The sound was nothing like soju glasses or beer mugs colliding. It was like the clear, ringing tone you get when you tap differently filled water glasses with a spoon — pure and crystalline.
And the pale liquid inside carried a fragrance that was almost intoxicating in itself.
Carefully, I set the glass to my lips and let a little of the liquid flow into my mouth.
Whoa — strong! A fierce alcohol burn bloomed across my tongue and drove straight up into my nose. And yet... what was this? Fruit and wood notes weaving together perfectly... barely any raw ethanol taste at all.
I carefully swallowed. It was smooth. Insanely smooth. The claim of thirty years of aging was no lie — the thoroughly matured whiskey slid down my throat with almost criminal ease. For a moment I wanted nothing more than to put the glass back to my lips.
"Haaah... that's it. That's the stuff. Well? Pretty good, right?"
"'Pretty good' does not begin to cover it. Whiskey like this... I have never tasted its equal."
It was a world apart from soju's distinctive bitterness — that aggressive, in-your-face alcohol presence.
This was a taste that proved exactly why premium Western liquor earned the word premium. I let a little more whiskey flow into my mouth.
Ohh... deep in my stomach, the whiskey that had reached my gut made its presence known.
It burned. Just how high was the alcohol content for it to announce itself this forcefully?
"Forty-seven point five degrees of fire. First time feeling it, isn't it?"
"Indeed."
"In that case — ah! You've already finished yours? Mine's gone down a bit too, so..."
This time Kim Seyeon poured the expensive premium whiskey into both our glasses without the slightest hesitation. Far more freely than before.
Huh? Don't tell me...?
"Come, come! To our lord, tasting fine whiskey for the first time. Cheers once more...!"
She was inventing her own toasts now, thrusting her glass toward me.
Another clink.
Savoring the aroma and flavor of the thirty-year whiskey, I gradually began to feel a pleasant haze settle over me.
Ah. Here it comes. The buzz is rising!
"Haaah... I never thought I'd get to leisurely enjoy whiskey in an age like this. Thank you, Jeong Hoon-ssi. Or should I start calling you Lord Jeong Hoon from now on?"
The grateful smile Kim Seyeon sent me made my heart pound again.
Thump!
Irregularly.
An elegant drinking session with a beautiful older woman — one blessed with a figure that defied comparison.
The alcohol hit me all at once.
The strong liquor I hadn't tasted in so long sent a reckless boldness surging up of its own accord. A boldness that crumpled up the values of Lawful Good and tossed them aside without a second thought.
Don't turn away from people who crave Oppa's affection. I'm not saying you have to accept everyone.
If there's someone you can get drunk with and it'll be okay... then just get drunk.
At the same time, Yun Mina's whispered words from yesterday rose in my mind once more.
It's okay to get drunk. Yeah. I...
Was drunk.
"I have heard it said."
"Heard what, Jeong Hoon-ssiii?"
Even the slight drawl in her speech was unbearably cute.
"That liquor tastes better when shared between people."
"That's right. The taste of fine whiskey drunk while clinking glasses like this is truly—"
"That is not what I meant."
I decided to show her with actions rather than words.
I moved. I took a mouthful of whiskey. Without hesitation, I closed the distance to Kim Seyeon.
"Uh, uh? Jeong Hoon-ssi. Tha—"
I reached for the hand holding her glass.
I set it down on the table in front of the sofa.
And in its place, I delivered a different whiskey into her mouth.
The whiskey held in mine.
"Churp, chuuup..."
"Hnnngh...!? Churp...!"
The liquid in my mouth — the fragrant whiskey — rode my tongue and flowed into Kim Seyeon's.
Despite the flustered look in her eyes, she parted her closed teeth and moved her tongue to meet mine. Our tongues tangled together. The scent of alcohol bloomed gorgeously through both our mouths.
Churrrp, chuuup! Chuuup!
Our tongues wound around each other with a hunger that bordered on vulgar, almost crude.
We shared a deep kiss thick with something close to pure instinct — a raw, primal hunger.
The kind of deep kiss only two fully grown adults, both thoroughly mature, could manage. A kiss that came dangerously close to the act of mating itself.
Yes. Mating.
No other word could capture the essence of what I was doing right now.
"Hnnngh...!?"
My hand slipped smoothly inside Seyeon's clothes. It pushed past her suit blouse and undergarments without the slightest resistance.
Hands that had learned from nights spent with Han Sora moved with natural ease, cupping the fruit beneath her bra from below.
What the—!? Even filling my entire hand, there was still more left over?
Was this... a human woman's breast? Had I somehow grabbed a dairy cow's udder that had wandered into the room by mistake?
Even while lost in the kiss, I rolled my eyes downward and looked at the place my hand had burrowed into.
It was real. Those were breasts so massive that calling them "enormous" when attached to a human body would still be an understatement. A woman's breasts — a married woman's breasts. The milk-bearing peaks meant for nursing a child. Twin mountains a man was obligated to conquer.
The hand that had cupped them from below began to explore in earnest.
"Hnn... hnnngh...!?"
Kim Seyeon let out a muffled moan against my mouth.
But there was no resistance whatsoever. The kiss continued unbroken, and I felt not the slightest push of her body trying to shove me away. I had known from the moment she poured the whiskey so freely earlier. She was properly drunk too. Which meant her true nature was running the show.
I registered that the whiskey in our mouths had almost entirely gone down our throats. Now we sucked and pulled at each other roughly, as if determined to absorb even the last lingering traces of whiskey still coating our tangled tongues. As if each of us meant to seize the other's tongue and swallow it whole.
No — that wasn't mere fantasy. The desire buried deep in my heart, forced into hiding by Lawful Good, came surging up without restraint.
That desire roared inside my skull and seized control of my body.
Take Kim Seyeon — the mother of a little girl —
No... take this woman tonight...
Ravage her until you're satisfied. All night long.
But then—
No.
Suddenly, Lawful Good intervened.
Ah, fuck! This goddamn piece-of-shit value system! Weren't you supposed to be suppressed by the alcohol!?
Why the hell are you slamming the brakes now? A man is this close to summiting the mountain! You have the worst fucking timing of any moral compass alive!
This is not a brake.
Whaaaat? Not a brake?
Then what is it? Huh? Why are you trying to interrupt a man's grand endeavor at a moment like this!
Can't you see how busy I am moving my tongue and working my hands right now? I need to take this further, so why the hell are you butting in at—
This is not a brake. The essence is different.
What?
Fulfilling your desire is not the essence.
Lawful Good left behind advice that barely sounded like Lawful Good at all, then sank back into silence within my chest.
Fulfill her desire.
Until she is satisfied.
Give it everything you have.
What... did you just say!?
"Mmph...!?"
In that instant—
Thud!
My body, which had been gradually pressing Kim Seyeon down, was suddenly thrown in reverse. I toppled backward onto the sofa, landing on my back.
Kim Seyeon had abruptly seized the offensive.
"Haaah...!"
"Pwah...!"
The deep kiss finally broke, and I managed to collect my wits.
And there before my eyes, a woman's form was revealed in vivid detail. She had cast aside her necktie and suit jacket, and was now unfastening the buttons of her dress shirt one by one.
Straddling my lower body, she fixed me with a look that promised nothing ordinary.
"Jeong Hoon-ssi..."
And her voice spilled out low and dark. Dripping with a sensuality so thick it barely seemed human.
"You're the one who flipped my switch..."
"So you can't regret it now, okay?"
"Did you know...?"
"One of the reasons my husband and I grew distant..."
The dress shirt fell completely open.
Sway! As those massive breasts shifted with the motion, even the bra containing them came undone.
She discarded the last line of defense herself, boldly baring those two enormous fruits before my eyes.
"...is that my sex drive is at least twice that of an ordinary woman."
The alcohol had broken not only my limiter — but Kim Seyeon's as well.