Chapter 217
Chapter 217
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: Enlightenment
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"No... that... what...?"
I had been taken in by Master and slept for just ten days, and during that time, she'd done that to me...?
The shocking truth made my head spin just hearing it. I couldn't find the words easily.
'How old was I back then...?'
It wasn't fair to blame the Sword Empress's disciple for anything.
The real culprit was right here.
"Th-then, from the start, did you bring me here with that intention...?"
"No... It's true that I took an interest in your condition at first and brought you along. Before cleaning you up after bringing you here, I didn't even care what you looked like. Since I'd be training in the mountains for a while anyway, I figured taking in a dying guy, nursing him back, and raising him would keep things from getting boring."
"But why after just ten days...?"
"..."
Master seemed to have no excuse for that part and couldn't open her mouth easily.
At least it wasn't her intention from the very beginning(?), which lessened the sense of betrayal a bit, but it didn't erase it completely.
After all, it was a fact that she'd done all sorts of awful things to me while I slept, from way back when.
'Sh-she could've at least done it while I was awake.'
I was already furious about losing my virginity in my sleep, and now it turns out it wasn't just once or twice.
If it was Master, I could've easily given her that much of my body.
No, that's not the point.
"Why... why did you do it?"
After going through so much of this, I knew my body's circumstances were going haywire, but I never imagined Master was involved too.
And from way back then, no less.
I thought she didn't even see me as a man usually, but now it seemed like she just did whatever she wanted while I slept and hid it when I was awake.
I couldn't help feeling betrayed, but since it was Master, it didn't feel that repulsive.
She was my lifesaver from the start, and though she hid it well, she was also my first love...
If I thought of it as payment for raising me, it wasn't impossible to accept...
Still, I waited for Master to speak, hoping to hear some kind of excuse.
"...It just so happened that my heat cycle hit right then."
"...?"
"Usually, it's just a vague, odd feeling even when it comes, but with you right there, nothing else was in my sight. Your treatment was nearly done by then too, so your energy had mostly recovered, and there was no reason to hold back."
...What was this supposed to mean?
I knew the concept of a heat cycle, but I'd never heard it applied to humans.
If anything, I'd heard women's libidos spiked during ovulation, but calling that a heat cycle felt like a stretch...
"Master's not some animal. Where's the heat cycle?"
"...Mm..."
"You don't need to make weird excuses. I'm not that mad..."
-Poof
"...Huh."
"I didn't mean to deceive you..."
Behind Master's back, I saw fluffy lumps that made me blink twice, wondering if I was seeing things. But they were still there.
Nine fox tails, white at the tips and shimmering gold like Master's hair lower down.
"...A nine-tailed fox?"
"So you know about it."
In the martial world, it was something you'd only heard of in legends, appearing now and then in tales.
On Earth, it was depicted as the martial world's succubus.
And now, one was right in front of me.
.
.
.
"..."
Were we shocked that a legendary being from martial tales had appeared?
Dang Ayoung and I stared silently at Master's tails.
"...You've seen enough. Stop staring."
-Whoosh!
"Ah!"
Master, uncomfortable with our gazes, made the tails vanish in an instant, just as they'd appeared. Dang Ayoung and I let out disappointed sighs.
They looked so fluffy and fun to watch—I even wanted to touch them.
But that regret was short-lived. Realizing Master was a legendary yokai brought a flood of thoughts to my mind. Dang Ayoung spoke up first.
"B-but isn't a nine-tailed fox an evil yokai? Doesn't it seduce people, drain their essence, and eventually eat them...?"
"Nonsense spread by hunters. I won't deny the word 'yokai,' but harming humans builds killing intent, which corrupts the pure energy you've cultivated for centuries, wasting all your training. Why would I do that? Sure, I might take some essence without risking lives, but that's mutual enjoyment."
"Th-then you too...?"
"...If you're thinking what I suspect, let me say I've never built my energy through such crude methods."
"O-of course! Haha... I made a rude assumption..."
Master shot Dang Ayoung a displeased look, and I sheepishly bowed my head too.
I'd had the same impolite thought briefly upon learning Master was a nine-tailed fox, but reconsidering, it didn't fit.
She gave off a virgin vibe, you could say.
Even though she'd done those things to me long ago, she always seemed clueless about men.
Living together, it felt like she was learning bit by bit, but she still had plenty of awkward spots...
'Now that I think about it, maybe I was her practice dummy.'
Practicing on a sleeping person would naturally leave rough edges.
Looking back, there were so many odd things.
Living with a woman like that, no wonder my libido barely stirred—it was all drained in my sleep.
My height didn't grow, but my dick got abnormally huge from constant use(?), so...
"Wait a sec, Master."
"...What is it?"
"Is my stunted growth because of...?"
"Ahem."
You crazy woman.
"D-do you know how much I've suffered because of this body...!"
"Everything you ate, I hunted and brought back. I farmed, I hunted, I gathered herbs... You only helped with farming after you grew a bit, but I did most of it."
"That's not the point...!"
Do you know how much I suffered because of this damn height?
Being short, I got mistaken for a girl sometimes, couldn't resist when women grabbed me, and even Yeo Socheon mocked me for being smaller than her tiny self...
"G-give it back! My height! Give it back!"
-Thump thump!
I pounded Master's shoulder in frustration while clinging to her.
"How am I supposed to give it back? Your growth plates closed ages ago!"
"Who made them close?!?"
"If I hadn't taken you in, you wouldn't have grown that much! I took a street rat scavenging scraps and fed you rice and meat—be grateful you got this tall!"
"Urgh..."
Without Master, my life would've been even bleaker.
I might've frozen to death on the streets, or worse, been dragged off by scumbags for child prostitution—the most likely fate.
I'd heard stories of real lowlifes grooming pretty orphans from young to exploit them.
That's why you couldn't expect Earth-level public safety in this era.
Being taken in by Master in such a world was definitely lucky.
But this one thing? Unforgivable.
"Why... do it secretly...?"
"..."
"I wouldn't have resisted if it was you... Why...?"
In truth, this twisted the situation so badly.
Over ten years as master and disciple, like parent and child, and now this happens.
If our relationship had started that way from the beginning, I might never have left Master and gone out into the world alone.
No, I definitely wouldn't have.
After over ten years like that, couldn't she wait just 2-3 more years?
And I meant it—I wouldn't have resisted Master.
Ten days after she took me in, my mental walls were already down.
During treatment, I'd hugged her crying from pain, so no real wariness left.
In that state, if Master had said her heat came and asked for help, I'd have been embarrassed but complied.
No reason to refuse anyway.
Not like rape from the start; she'd have asked consent, and back then, no resistance to her overwhelming beauty. If such a woman said yes?
I'd have stripped first.
Hell, I'd have been grateful.
Body was weak, but men are creatures who get hard even on death's door.
So why sneak around and mess things up like this?
I had to hear the reason for this at least.
"...Back then, I didn't know I'd grow this attached."
"...Pardon?"
"At first, I planned to raise you until my training ended, then send you off. By then, you'd be grown enough. So I thought just once, while you slept... But starting wrong made it hard to fix properly."
"..."
"...If this makes you lose affection for me, so be it. I did wrong to you, after all... If you find someone new in the secular world you like... You're old enough to be independent, so you can leave your master's side..."
"...You real idiot of a woman..."
Still clinging to Master, I shifted my body.
"Mm."
I barely managed to kiss her.
After defiling me plenty, now what? Hate me? Go independent?
Selfish to the end.
-Pah
"You call that an excuse now?"
"My disciple...?"
"You had your fun whenever, and now that it's out, you wanna run? Even if I'm wronged, I deserve payback."
"...I see..."
My harem was already overflowing, but what could I do?
One more overload wouldn't change much.
120% or 140%, both over 100% anyway.
Just a bit more hardship...
"I'm glad you see it that way."
-Thud
"Huh."
My vision flipped instantly—a familiar sensation.
The feel of the floor against my back, the ceiling pattern in view.
"Since you regret only getting it while asleep, as apology, today I'll make you feel it properly awake."
"...Huh."
"If you're free, watch closely. I'll teach you exactly where and how to touch him to make him happy this time."
"Y-yes... Sure..."
Wait, hold on a sec.
Shouldn't you stop this? Why agree?
-Gulp
My body remembered already. Even before starting, a tingling anticipation rose as I thought.
I'd picked the wrong option, it seemed.