Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Hassan's Day Off
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Morning had arrived before they knew it. Birds chirping away, flowers blooming wide with dew on their petals—a morning just like that.
Since it was Sunday, people would be heading off to the sanctuaries or temples of whatever gods they believed in to hold their worship services. If not that, they'd be taking care of things they couldn't get to during the week or just resting up.
But Luna, huddled in the corner of the second-floor room, looked like she was on the verge of bursting into tears. Her pupils were shaking violently, making it blatantly obvious just how flustered she was.
Somehow, it felt like I was the one committing some grave sin. Even so, this was something that absolutely needed to be addressed properly now, or it could snowball into a much bigger problem later.
I spoke up.
"No, I'm not mad. Just tell me what exactly you were trying to do. What kind of spell was it?"
Luna had been casting some kind of spell—or whatever it was—on me in the middle of the night.
The heavy pressure I'd been feeling every night lately was because of Luna's spell. It made sense now that the nightmares of being crushed by a giant rabbit weren't just coincidence.
"It, it's... a spell."
"What kind of spell?"
"A lust-lowering spell...."
No, what the hell kind of spell was that? It was so out of left field that my vision swam for a moment.
"Wh-why'd you cast that on me?"
"But Hassan keeps coming home stinking of other women. The nymph, too. Hippolyte, too...."
Luna offered the excuse like a sulky child.
"Well, that's...."
For a split second, I clammed up, feeling a massive pang of guilt. After all, I already had a bit of a rap sheet on that front.
But it had never been my intention to go philandering or anything like that. Was Luna just misunderstanding the whole thing?
"Anyway, don't pull that crap on me. So, what's the effect?"
"It... siphons off a bit of the body's energy...."
"My body's energy?"
Suddenly, it clicked why Luna was always so chipper in the mornings. And why I—someone with no history of low blood pressure—had been such a limp rag lately upon waking.
Luna had been using some kind of energy-draining technique on me!! Who would've thought she had that kind of skill? It was shocking... and a little terrifying.
"But wouldn't a curse like that be way more useful on monsters or cultists?"
Luna shook her head at my innocent question.
"It only works if your skin touches theirs."
"Ah."
That made sense—using it on anyone but me would be pretty much impossible for her. The idea of Luna clinging to other people's bodies to cast spells wasn't something I wanted to picture.
Guess it was Hassan's exclusive curse.
"And Hassan, you ignored my curse last time...!"
"Oh, right."
The word "curse" brought back the memory of that day when she'd scrawled my name in red letters.
Come to think of it, that's when the heaviness in my body had started. I'd brushed it off as nothing, but apparently Luna had been pretty worked up about it.
"Ah, anyway, I wasn't planning to keep it up forever. I heard men cheat or run off if women don't give them their bodies...."
"What're you talking about?"
No idea where she'd picked that up, but it seemed Luna had been feeling her own brand of anxiety about it.
I'd been coasting along without a care, but I could see how it might look different from her perspective.
"Anyway, you really scared the crap out of me."
"I won't do it anymore...."
Luna looked utterly deflated, easy enough to read.
I didn't want to spend our weekend morning all gloomy like this, and I figured it'd be nice if she perked up quick, so I broached the subject casually.
"Wanna go grab some meat?"
"Yeah! Pheasant meat for me!"
Easy to please.
* * *
We demolished two whole roasted pheasants at our usual haunt, the Nymph's Wing inn.
It'd been days of this already—should be getting old—but Luna showed no signs of tiring, scarfing it down. Growth spurt, maybe?
"Not sick of it?"
"It's tasty? And this place has the best prices. The guild hall's wrecked, so we gotta pinch pennies for a while."
At least her mood had bounced back quick. That was a relief.
Someone once told me that if your girlfriend's pissed or things get awkward after a fight, treat her to something tasty.
Tried it out, and damn if it didn't work like a charm.
People get cranky when hungry, and cranky leads to anger or moping. Guess you could call it wisdom men have gleaned from long years with women.
Who knew random modern-world trivia would come in handy.
Lost in thought, I figured it was a good time to shift gears and asked casually,
"What after food?"
Normally, I'd hit the guild even on weekends for quests. But ever since the Mars Guild hall got smashed, I was unexpectedly unemployed.
Sure, I'd socked away about 50 silver, enough for two or three months if I wasn't flashy. Skimp a bit more, and it could stretch half a year to a full one for living expenses.
"Dunno? You got something in mind, Hassan?"
"Nah, nothing specific."
"Then staying home and chilling sounds best."
I nodded along with Luna's suggestion—yeah, that hit right. I'd been going nonstop without a real break lately.
A full day of doing jack squat to recharge sounded perfect. We finished up our meal and were about to stand when—
"Bro, you hear that wild rumor going around lately?"
I turned at the voice hailing me. The Nymph's Wing innkeeper was eyeing me.
"Heard some black-haired Samaritan took down a chunk of the cultists. Sodomora's got a few Samaritans, but it sounded just like you. That you, by chance?"
Word had spread to the innkeeper's ears already, just days later?
I felt a smug little swell of pride.
"Not a fairy tale—that's the straight truth. Yeah, I took 'em down."
"No kidding! That's huge! Makes me happy as your regular, bro. Having a top-tier adventurer as a loyal customer? Great for business all around."
Like shops hyping celeb visits? Fair enough—famous adventurers were basically celebs.
"You stirring up big trouble like that? That pig-nosed bard buddy of yours must be thrilled."
Pig-nosed yanked Malco's face right into my head. That bastard still kicking?
"What'd he do?"
"You haven't heard? Eh, if you're busy. Anyway, ahem... got something to talk to you about."
"Talk? What's up?"
The innkeeper leaned in close—shit, nearly jumped out of my skin. Barely stopped my fist from flying up.
Anyway, he whispered in my ear.
"It's important. Got a sec...?"
"A sec?"
"Keep it from the girl, too."
Even from Luna?
I shot Luna a what-do-I-do look, and she just shrugged.
"I'll sit here and wait."
She was used to killing time for me by now. So I followed the innkeeper down to the basement room he'd led me to before.
The basement I'd gone to before to massage his wife, the nymph Echo. Stepping into the same room, the honeymoon-suite vibe was unchanged.
Except for one thing....
"No way."
"See? Shocked, right? Bro, what the hell happened?!"
The innkeeper stomped around in frustration. Our eyes locked on the same spot: Echo, his wife the nymph, perched demurely on the bed with her hands folded.
"Hello, doctor."
But she looked nothing like the Echo I'd seen before.
The old Echo had been like a fresh, green girl in the bloom of youth. This Echo? Full-on sultry married woman, late twenties or early thirties easy.
Gone was the innocent freshness. More like a fruit baked ripe by the sun, sweetness peaking right before it drops.
Her chest had ballooned, her whole build transformed. If she hadn't greeted me, I'd have mistaken her for an older sister or a young mom.
"What the hell happened?"
"That's what I wanna know! Few days after you fixed her back, bam—sudden change!"
People don't just transform like that overnight. Like all the years she'd been holding back slammed into her at once.
"Figured you'd know what's up. Any guesses?"
Of course I had guesses. I'd massaged her chest and lifted the developmental stagnation curse, after all. Nothing else came to mind.
And yeah, that was probably it.
"So, she's even more beautiful now—what's the problem?"
"No problem for me. Sex life's tighter than ever, thanks. But the issue's that she's not just pretty in my eyes."
"Huh?"
"Sweaty thug bastards keep hitting on my wife!"
Ah, got it.
A nymph Echo looking like a teen girl? No biggie. But this ripe, married version? Even I could see she was smoking hot.
As the innkeeper's wife, she'd deal with all sorts of guests. No wonder he was pissed watching that.
"That's not even the half of it. 'Mature nymph'? Word spread to the big shots...!"
"Big shots?"
"The slimy nobles, obviously. Demanding the secret to ripening a nymph like this. Like I know jack."
"...You didn't mention me, did you?"
I felt a vague dread about rumors of my massages spiraling out of control. This world hammered illegal medical practice hard.
Sure, massages might slide, but people's business is unpredictable. No room for complacency.
"Of course not. We swore on the Styx to keep it secret. But I can only dodge so long. Got any ideas?"
* * *
Wrapped up the chat with the innkeeper.
Heading back to the first-floor dining area, there was Luna at the table, stacking the bones from her pheasant into some weird tower.
"What'd they say?"
She spotted me right away, eyes going wide.
"Nah, just some nothing stuff. Work talk."
"Yeah? Check this out—made it good, right? Bone totem!"
Luna beamed at the little bone tower on her plate like it was a masterpiece. What even was there to brag about? I glanced over.
*Boom.*
Damn, it was legit good. A pyramid-shaped tower out of bones. How?
Sign of idol worship? Wrongful offering?
"Nice work. That got any effects or something?"
Luna gave me that side-eye like I was a weirdo.
"Obviously no effects. Hassan asks the weirdest serious questions sometimes. Cultural difference?"
Ouch.
Felt like I'd taken a solid hit from her. Face still stinging.
Anyway, lunch wrapped up like that.
On the way back to Luna's shack together.
"Hassan, something bugging you?"
Her question snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Bugging? Nah. Why?"
"You've been quiet since. Innkeeper say something heavy?"
Luna's intuition had its sharp edges. Truth was, my head was full of that talk with the innkeeper.
Might as well spill a bit to Luna?
"Luna, you ever hear of Baron Fleur...."
That's when I started to say it.
"Oh my~. Who do we have here~. Bumping into cute friends in a place like this~."
A drawling, lazy voice. That sticky tone I couldn't scrub from my ears no matter how I tried—it came from behind me.
"Stars aligned today~. Running into such a precious friend here~. Hassan~. Or should I say Sodomora's little hero~? Like this~."
*Swish.*
The red hair of Nemea, the pointy-hatted alchemist witch, flickered like flames. Honestly thought I'd never see her again.
"...Y-yeah, Nemea."
"Been hearing fun rumors lately~. That's you, right~? Haven't seen you—got me worried~. Avoiding me on purpose~?"
Face-to-face like this, my limbs went all pins-and-needles like I'd committed some huge crime.
"Little miss doing well~? Seems shorter every time~. Kid thing~?"
"...."
Luna's face just darkened silently. Felt like shit was about to hit the fan, so I scrambled to open my mouth—
*Shhff.*
Luna moved lightning-fast, snagging the witch Nemea from behind and locking her arms around that waist in a vise grip.
"Guh!"
"You—what're you—? Don't squeeze the belly like that—baby's gonna pop out, kid—."
"Nggh!?"