Chapter 9
Across the round table in the inn, a strange man dropped heavily into the seat opposite me.
Tousled brown hair that looked as if it hadn’t been washed in days. A rough stubble-shadowing his jaw. A hard, copper-toned, muscular build that showed through the gaps in his loose leather shirt.
It was Veron.
“All right, make your introductions, Eric. From here on out, this guy’s going to be working as our party’s porter. Kuhuheh……♡”
Erica, sitting beside me, folded her arms and smiled with a sultry little curl of her lips.
Then Veron, across from us, let his eyes run over me from head to toe.
That gaze carried naked contempt for me and coarse lust for Erica, stripped raw and unhidden.
“A pleasure to meet you, Master Eric. It’s an honor to finally see you in person. As you can see, this body of mine is good for something, so just tell me to do whatever nasty jobs you’ve got.”
“...Yeah. Erica told me about you. Thanks for agreeing to be our porter.”
I forced my expression to stay steady as I answered in a tight voice.
So this was the man.
The man Erica had gone to on her own two feet and contracted to violate her body…… he was right there in front of me.
“Oh my, that’s enough with the introductions from both of you. We should get to the real matter, shouldn’t we? You scrub……♡”
Erica leaned in close and whispered against my cheek.
Her red eyes glittered with obscene excitement.
She set a finger on the tabletop and fixed Veron with a direct stare.
“Veron. I paid you enough, didn’t I? Now I’m going to make the Netorase rules you have to follow for the next hundred days perfectly clear.”
“Yes, yes, miss.”
“Break even one of them, and I’ll cut your throat on the spot, so listen carefully.”
“My, how scary. Go on, then, honored young lady. I’m the type who always gives people their money’s worth.”
Veron lifted both hands lightly and grinned with an infuriating slickness.
Erica bit her lip once, then continued.
“First, you will wear protection, no exceptions. I will never allow your filthy semen inside me. Second, kissing is strictly forbidden. Kissing is for loving couples only. Third, no sadistic acts of any kind. If you hit me or leave any marks, I’ll tear your limbs off.”
Veron rested his chin in one hand for a moment as if considering it, then stuck out his tongue and sneered.
“Stricter than I expected. Well, fine. So long as I follow those, I can fuck Lady Erica to my heart’s content, right?”
“......”
At Veron’s vulgar wording, Erica’s brow tightened briefly.
But then she answered him as if provoking him all over again.
“Hehe, of course……♡ Go on, then, and try training me however you like……♡ If you can, that is, you scrub……♡”
Erica deliberately hugged my waist tight, needling him on purpose.
Veron only smiled wider, as if she were ridiculous.
“Still, miss. What if, say, you yourself end up so crazed on my cock that you beg me to break the rules? If that’s what you want, then I can do it, right?”
The blatant words made my blood surge hot and backward in my veins.
“Veron, what the hell are you—!”
“Stay still, scrub……♡”
I sprang up, ready to grab him by the collar, but Erica gently pressed my hand down and stopped me.
She looked almost amused by the impertinence, as if he hadn’t offended her in the least, and mocked him with eyes full of disbelief.
“Kuhuheh…… kekek!♡ This worm actually has the nerve to dream that big……? Me? The genius magician Erica, getting so wrecked on your cock that I beg you to break the rules?”
“People are full of surprises, aren’t they? I’ve never had a woman I slept with not fall apart on me.”
“Mm…… fine♡ If, as you say, I’m the one who begs first, then you can smash every one of those rules to pieces……♡”
“Meaning……”
“Yeah……♡ You could even creampie me raw and nice and deep inside if you wanted to……?♡”
It was a smile full of absolute confidence.
Because Erica had not a shred of doubt that her heart and body belonged only to me…… she could laugh off even that absurd suggestion and accept it without a flinch.
“Heh heh. Seems the talk’s about over. Then I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Veron swallowed hard and rose from his seat.
His gaze stayed fixed on Erica’s ample chest and pale thighs.
Late that night.
With that debased, treacherous situation closing in on us…… Erica and I walked along a quiet lakeshore on the edge of town.
Stars scattered across the night sky were mirrored in the water, giving the eerie impression that we were walking through space itself. It was a beautiful night.
But my heart was so heavy it felt ready to cave in at any moment.
“Erica…… you really aren’t going to cancel this, are you?”
I gripped her slender hand tightly, afraid to let it go.
At the sound of my voice, pitiful and on the verge of breaking apart, Erica stopped walking and looked back at me.
“You idiot, Eric. How many times have you asked me that already? Are you really that scared? Ufufu……♡”
“I am scared. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. I don’t even know if I can hold out for a hundred days without breaking.”
Before I knew it, tears welled up in my eyes.
My own weakness felt as though it were shoving the woman I loved into hell, and the guilt pressed down on my whole body.
“Eric.”
Erica peeled away the usual playful mask she wore and looked at me with a tenderness that almost hurt to see.
Her transparent golden hair fluttered softly in the night breeze.
She leaned her head against my chest and stayed there.
“Don’t worry, Eric. No matter how much my body gets violated by that piece of trash, my heart is still here, isn’t it? It’s still beating only for you.”
She took my hand and guided it to rest over the left side of her chest.
Beyond that ample breast, I could feel Erica’s heartbeat clearly, thudding with an intensity that belonged only to me.
“Eric. I have a gift for you.”
“A gift……?”
“Yeah.”
Erica took a small ring from within her clothes.
With great care, she slid it gently onto the ring finger of my left hand.
“This isn’t just a ring. It’s proof that you’re my lover, and the only thing keeping me standing……”
Erica pulled me close and patted my back as she hugged me tight.
As though trying to reassure me while I wavered in my unease.
“Thank you, Erica. I won’t shake anymore. I’ll trust you. I’ll definitely overcome this trauma.”
“Hehe, there’s our scrub……♡”
Once the trembling in my body had stilled, her voice returned to the teasing lilt it always had.
Erica slowly lifted her head from my chest and curled one corner of her mouth in a wicked little smile.
“But, scrub……♡ Why are you so angry down there? Hmm? ♡”
Her gaze drifted to my lower body.
Without my even noticing, the front of my pants was already straining so hard it looked ready to burst.
The stimulating situation soon to come had already been tugging mercilessly at the filthy corner of my instincts.
“Ah, th-that’s……!”
“Ufufu, how cute……♡ Just imagining my body being violated by another man is enough to make you swell up like this? You really are a hopeless little pervert, scrub……♡”
Erica seemed to be enjoying my flustered reaction, and she teasingly brushed the hardened bulge through my clothes.
“Erica, don’t tease me…… I’m serious right now.”
“I’m serious too, Eric. So listen carefully……♡”
She looped both arms around my neck and drew her face close to mine.
Her red eyes, lit by moonlight, swayed with a depravity that was almost unbearable to look at.
“Like Veron just said…… if I end up crying and clinging to that bastard……♡”
“Ugh……”
“If I get so worked up that I beg for a kiss without even meaning to…… and ask him to cum inside me……♡”
My heart pounded so hard at those outrageous words it felt like it might split open.
Even though my head knew I should reject such an image…… my lower body throbbed and swelled even harder.
“Even if…… I start thinking I want to get pregnant with Veron’s baby…… hmm? ♡”
“Haah, haah…… Erica, please……”
“Remember this, scrub♡ Even if Veron’s cock trains me into a bitch, the one my heart will love is still only you……♡”
She whispered as she softly stroked the front of my pants with her palm.
“So……♡ get thoroughly excited by the sight of me falling all the way to the bottom……♡ My precious scrub……♡”
It was a promise, and a brand I could never run from.
Erica pressed her lips lightly to mine one last time, then took my hand and slowly turned us back.
On the way from that beautiful lakeshore glittering with stars back toward the inn, the ring on my finger felt especially cold and heavy.
The hour of ruin had finally come.
My heart thudded so violently all the way up the inn’s worn wooden stairs that it felt as if it would burst.
Veron was already there, with several buttons of his shirt undone, looking back at us with a lecherous smile.
“Heh heh. You’ve finally arrived, have you? I’ve been waiting with my neck stretched out long enough.”
Veron’s vulgar eyes openly raked over Erica’s chest and hips.