Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Saint, You’re So Vulgar! – Chapter 59
Asher couldn't help but feel embarrassed by the sound that had escaped his own mouth.
The moment her fingertip touched the small of his back, a chilling tickle swept through his entire body.
Really, he hadn't meant to put it that way, but the sound mingled with the rising sensation was unmistakably an expression of the most mortifying state.
His heart seemed to drop.
His mouth hurriedly came up with an excuse.
"I-it's not like that..."
"I know. It's because of the lewd tattoo, right?"
Versia let out a sigh.
Her expression turned deadly serious.
But there was nothing the two of them could do right then.
No matter how much they wanted to help, they needed more investigation into this lewd tattoo first.
So, for now, they called it a day.
And the very next day, they went to see someone who might have answers.
None other than Judith.
"...Ha, this is a new one."
Judith let out a hollow laugh as she repeatedly ran her fingers over Asher's back.
Asher had no choice but to tense up.
Forget the shame of baring his skin to another personthe anxiety about the immediate issue at hand, combined with the lab's atmosphere, was pressing down on him from all sides.
'Why the hell is there dried blood on the wall?'
There was what looked like human blood dried on the lab wall.
What is that? A dying message? It looked like someone had written letters on the wall with blood.
As his body began to tremble, Melvin spoke up about what it was.
"Aigoo, I was gonna clean it up... Heh heh, it's my blood, so don't worry!"
Didn't he realize that only made it worse?
It was the moment Asher let out a hiccup.
"Well, I get the gist of it for now."
As she spoke, Judith poked at the tattoo.
Asher's body jerked.
"Hic?!"
The tingling sensation returned once more, and with the feeling of something hot filling his insides, Asher's toes curled up.
As the tremors rose all the way to the insides of his thighs and he bit his lip hard, Judith said,
"Don't touch this tattoo with your hands."
"What do you mean?"
"See? The snake's gotten a little longer. It's a tattoo that reacts to physical impact. Just like you thought, it's a lewd tattoo, and if it reaches your nape... Well, I don't even want to imagine what happens then."
With that, Judith pulled out a few needles and sterilized them in boiling water.
Her eyes sharpened.
"At least it's turned into a latent form. Means we can do something about it."
"Wh-what are you going to do?"
"Seal it. Of course, curses like Galae's are so rare that I can't guarantee how effective this will be. And even if the seal works, there'll be side effects."
Asher's face twisted.
At that moment, Judith silently jabbed a needle into his spine.
"Hoo... Gulp?!"
"I'll minimize the direct effects as much as possible, but I can't stop your libido from increasing with the tattoo's length. Something like getting lewd thoughts just from seeing falling leaves?"
Before he could even retort to that ridiculous statement
Szzzzz!
"Eek!"
More needles went in, and his back burned hot.
Judith grabbed Asher's shoulder.
"Hey, hold him down."
At her words, Versia came over and grabbed Asher's arm.
Right after, a few more needles pierced him.
"For now, let's try the physical approach. First, I'll paralyze just the pleasure centers around your spine. Mix in some magic and medicine..."
"Gek! Egek?!"
Asher couldn't come to his senses.
It was a pain more alien than any torment he'd endured in his life.
"It's my first time dealing with this curse, so I'll take it slow. Tsk, come see me once a week. I'll look into other methods too."
"Nuuuek?!"
Asher screamed bloody murder, but Judith didn't stop.
And so, the ordealseal or torture, he couldn't tellfinally ended.
"Why... why...!"
After everything was done, he glared resentfully at Versia for not helping, but her response was this:
"...But we can't just leave the curse alone, right?"
He had no comeback for that.
Asher felt a little aggrieved.
* * *
Judith's treatment wrapped up without a hitch, thankfully.
The result: no issues for now.
As long as he didn't touch the tattoo before or after, it wouldn't interfere much with daily life, and now with the treatment and safety measures in place, Asher could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Versia seemed to feel the same.
Though it manifested in a peculiar way.
"How is it? Anything different, like Judith said?"
"...No different."
"Do you feel like something's falling when you see leaves? Like your dignity or something. Purity... "
"Nothing's falling!"
Versia's playfulness was bubbling up again.
Asher grumbled inwardly.
What's with snapping right back to this the moment she relaxes a bit.
His head throbbed at how the frequency of these antics, which had been decreasing, was picking up again.
But on the other hand, it was a relief.
As sad as it was to admit, he was glad to see her teasing like thissometimes, he caught a deep shadow lingering over her.
He was lost in these mixed emotions when
"By the way."
"...Don't if it's nonsense."
"No, it's a serious concern?"
Asher eyed Versia suspiciously.
He jutted his chin as if to say, go ahead.
And her response came.
"She said it temporarily blocks pleasure responses."
"...Yeah?"
"So does the pleasure keep building up unperceived during that time? And when the block lifts, it all hits at once...?"
"No way!"
"There's a genre called sensory deprivation, Sir Knight."
"I don't want to know! More importantly, where the hell do you even learn this stuff?!"
"Oh, you know."
Asher let out a hollow laugh.
At the same time, he resolved himself: there had to be some shady book exerting a bad influence on Versia hidden somewhere in her quarters.
He'd find them all and burn them as kindling.
With that determination, Asher sat at the garden tea table, his face sullen as he said,
"Anyway, now we know the mechanism, so just be careful with that. We'll go about our daily lives and search for a complete cure."
"Sure, whatever."
"Physical contact with others will be tricky for now. No more having Dalin assist with baths..."
For the moment, the weird sensation only surged when touching the tattoo, but who knew about the future.
Galae's curse was infamous in records, but not much else was known about it.
He couldn't let his guard down.
What if it suddenly intensified out of nowhere? That'd be a disaster.
Lost in those thoughts, Asher's expression grew serious.
It was then.
"It is pretty dangerous, yeah. Eventually, your whole body turns into an erogenous... "
"Tch!"
"Ow."
Asher sternly scolded her and smacked the back of Versia's hand.
Sparks flew from their eyes.
Versia chewed her lip for a moment.
Asher put on an even sterner face.
Then, Versia cautiously touched his fingertip and said,
"I was just trying to lighten the mood. Sorry."
"Wh-when you say it like that...!"
"I was worried."
A shadow fell over Versia's face.
Asher felt his insides lurch.
"If the curse worsens, we won't even be able to hold hands like this."
Asher flinched at the sight, then let out a sigh.
She only pulled the pitiful act at times like this, which was infuriating, yet he couldn't just leave her like thathe hated how it shook him.
His tone softened.
"...It's serious, so no more jokes."
As he soothed her, Versia nodded.
The way she fiddled with his fingertips held a hint of anxiety, just as she'd said.
As he stroked her index finger in return, her face relaxed a bit.
Unthinkingly, the thought crossed his mind.
At times like this, she seems like a kid.
And what if Versia, in her unchanged body, had done the same?
'...Kinda cute?'
It was then.
Zing
"...?!"
Asher jolted.
His chest tickled.
Embarrassment surged alongside a flush of heat.
Caught off guard by the sudden reaction, Asher hiccuped.
A dazed expression, lips pursed.
Versia tilted her head when she noticed, and Asher whipped his head away.
"N-nothing!"
"You okay? Your face is red."
"R-really, it's nothing!"
Asher shot up from his seat.
His eyes spun like he was dizzy, as if he'd had some lewd thought.
Versia's brow furrowed.
She reached out and touched his forehead.
"W-wai...!"
"You have a fever. Come here. We'll go straight to Judith's..."
"N-no, that's not it!"
He couldn't say it.
Curse or no curse, there was no way he could admit to anyone that his heart raced imagining Versia leaning on him.
As Asher floundered, not knowing what to say, the increasingly worried Versia tried to scoop him up and head to the lab.
Realizing it was too late to stop, Asher unwittingly shouted,
"I-I had a lewd thought!"
Screech
Versia's movements halted.
She froze and looked at Asher.
Asher covered his face with his hands and confessed.
"Y-your hand... holding it... felt lewd...!"
His voice trembled.
Asher wanted to crawl into a hole.
"......"
"S-sorry..."
Silence fell over the garden.