Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: The Hero's Secret
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“...”
“...”
Awkward silence.
Yuris gazed at Niki, who sat across from her, feeling a silence unlike any she had ever experienced before.
The unparalleled hero.
The hero who was the first to subjugate and annihilate the Demon King.
The savior who brought true peace to the continent.
Even countless epithets wouldn't suffice for this hero, yet here she was, masturbating with a grotesquely shaped monster cock.
And coincidentally, Yuris had witnessed it.
Yuris, who had once been the hero's comrade and stood on the front lines alongside her.
Niki couldn't lift her face.
“...”
Her face was flushed bright red, her ears too, and she was stomping her feet in distress, not knowing what to do.
When Yuris had entered, Niki had been nearly naked.
But in her haste to change clothes...
They were disheveled, but she was properly dressed now.
She was muttering something to herself.
“What should I do? Sh-should I eliminate the witness? But it's Yuris... Fighting Yuris would definitely cause a huge commotion. People would come running, and if they ask why we fought, what am I supposed to say? Th-that I fought because she caught me masturbating...?”
It was such a faint voice that even Yuris's senses could barely pick it up.
“Niki...”
Yuris let out a deep sigh as she looked at her.
Hearing that, Niki raised her head and met Yuris's eyes.
“Y-Yuris, can you pretend you didn't see anything this time?”
Her voice trembled desperately as she spoke, her face pleading.
Her hand fumbled as if ready to draw her sword at any moment if her request was denied.
“Hero, whew, no, Niki... You don't have to go that far. I have no intention of fighting you.”
“Yuris...”
“Was this why you haven't visited Her Majesty the Emperor?”
Heavy silence followed.
Yuris waited quietly for Niki to speak.
She could afford to wait this much.
After all, Yuris herself had felt several times before how one could do anything just to feel good.
‘If I think about it, I've done even worse things myself.’
Niki had only masturbated alone in her own home.
She had just been a bit careless because it was comfortable.
That's how Yuris had caught her.
But Yuris had masturbated—and even had sex—in her own knight order's office.
She had no right to judge Niki.
She knew all too well how terrifying pleasure could be.
Niki, who had been fidgeting, finally spoke with difficulty.
“Th-that's not the only reason...”
“Then?”
“The imperial palace is just boring, you know? The same people, the same scenery every time... Honestly, I've been going there almost every time, so I was planning not to this once.”
“Is that true?”
When Yuris pressed like an interrogation, Niki couldn't open her mouth.
“Can you stake the hero's honor on it?”
“...”
She couldn't answer.
“Even so, skipping procedure is problematic. I understand your feelings, but couldn't you have spared even a little time?”
“...Why do I have to go?”
“What?”
“Honestly, there's no reason for me to go, right? The imperial palace is just boring, and I have to kneel every time, so my legs go numb. Her Majesty talks way too much. She keeps dragging on about blessings and whatnot—it's no fun.”
“Niki, you...”
“Did I say something wrong? Her Majesty does talk a ton! Her words never end. I don't know how she treats you, but in front of me, it's all 'You must uphold standards,' 'You can't treat people carelessly,' 'How should a hero carry herself,' 'Not accepting rewards was noble, but you must claim compensation for your achievements'... Augh, I thought I was gonna die from the noise!”
Was it because she was flustered about being caught masturbating?
She started spilling words she would never say under normal circumstances.
Until now, to Yuris, Niki had always been cheerful, never losing her smile, a source of vitality for everyone around her.
But today, she was like a train with broken brakes, running wild.
“A person who talks that much—I've never met one before.”
“I know, I've heard it myself. Her Majesty worries about you that much. Because you're the one who has to subjugate the Demon King...”
“The only hero, right? That's what you're gonna say again? I know this is embarrassing, but can you drop that already?”
There was even a strange hostility in Niki's attitude.
‘What is this?’
“I know it's weird. But what can I do? I can't stop.”
Niki's gaze fixed on a box in the corner of the room.
That box undoubtedly hid the grotesque dildo Yuris had seen.
There was a hint of longing on Niki's face.
Her slightly flushed face turned back to Yuris.
“At first, I wanted a normal relationship too. You, surrounded by guys all the time, wouldn't get it. How hard it is for me to even meet a man...”
Niki's face was full of dissatisfaction.
“The men I first meet always treat me like royalty because I'm the 'Hero.' Like I'm some absolute god they have to serve. How am I supposed to feel attracted to people like that?”
“Niki, that's...”
“So I vented by going on adventures instead. Hunting monsters makes you forget about that stuff. But you know what? Monsters have males and females too? Even slimes have mates.”
“...”
“But not me! I'm the only one without a mate! How frustrating is that!”
Wuuung!
‘This is...’
A new kind of power emanated from the angry Niki.
It was definitely mana.
But it had a different texture from the power the hero usually wielded.
Somewhat gloomy, and at the same time, dangerously ominous.
Almost like the Demon King's.
No way.
Was this the process of the hero falling to become the Demon King?
No, right?
Yuris asked in a worried voice.
“So you just did it with a monster?”
“Are you crazy? Th-that was just imagination! Like, 'What if?' stuff! I want my first time with someone I like too!”
Yuris felt relieved.
She had been worried that Niki's tastes had twisted irreversibly.
If it was just this, there was a way to fix it.
“I'll keep today's incident a secret. No need to let others know.”
“...Really? You won't report it to the Emperor?”
“Yeah. I'll keep it secret from Her Majesty too.”
“Thanks. You're the only one, Yuris. This is what battlefield camaraderie is...”
Niki let out a sigh of relief and chewed her lips.
“But I think you need to tell one person.”
“What? Wait, what do you mean?”
Clear hostility emanated from Niki.
“Yuris, are you trying to socially bury me right now?”
“No. I know an expert who can solve your problem.”
“...Expert?”
“Yeah. There's an expert in that field.”
“Ugh, but that sounds kinda iffy?”
“What do you mean?”
“Those crazy people who call themselves experts in 'solo monster' stuff are a bit... off-putting?”
[You?]
She barely swallowed the word under her chin.
If not for the extreme patience that made her the Goddess of Victory, she would have already let it slip.
“It's not that kind of person. Just...”
Yuris thought of Max and opened her mouth.
“There's one expert on pleasure-related matters.”
Truthfully, she didn't want to tell her.
She didn't want her own little Max to become known to more people.
But her knightly intuition told her she couldn't leave Niki like this.
If Niki truly lost control of her desires and rampaged into a Demon King, just as she sensed...
‘I'd regret this moment forever.’
So she had no choice.
Even if it meant increasing her own rivals.
“...”
Niki looked at Yuris with a face full of distrust.
“If you're that suspicious, go consult alone. You'll get good results.”
“...Okay.”
Yuris finished speaking and stood up.
“I've written down the shop's location, so go as soon as possible. And I'll tell Her Majesty you're ill and bedridden, so don't worry.”
“...Will she believe that?”
“She'll believe me.”
“...Yuris, thank you.”
“Enough. This is embarrassing, so I'll head out first. Visit Her Majesty once you've calmed down a bit.”
Seeing Yuris stand, Niki nodded.
“Got it. I'll give it a try.”
“I'll pretend I didn't hear your irreverent words about Her Majesty too.”
“Yeah.”
“This is interesting.”
I was examining the new product I'd ordered and just received.
What I got was slime gel.
It was made by hunting slimes, removing their cores, and processing them multiple times to eliminate all their acidity.
Unlike other gels made with magic and alchemy, this water-soluble gel that melted on contact with water left far less stickiness after use.
Regular gels had that distinctive tackiness once dried, making long-term use impossible, but this slime gel didn't dry easily even after prolonged exposure, and it felt refreshingly powdery once it did.
“Could use this on customers too?”
Considering illusions typically lasted a minimum of 1 hour, up to 3-4 hours at longest, this slime gel seemed highly useful.
‘The downside is it's a bit pricey...’
With the shop's finances improving lately, it was affordable enough.
Thanks to customers coming every other day, my pockets were comfortably lined.
-This is today's thank-you note. Thanks to you, human, development has progressed a lot. We've applied for a patent, so these batteries will sell soon. Here's an advance payment! Spend it well!
My living situation had improved thanks to Tio's thank-you letter and a bit of reward money.
Enough that even if Master spent money frivolously, I could handle it.
“Hmm~, wonder how best to use this.”
But is it okay to put this inside a person's body?
It's slime, after all.
I was fiddling with the slime gel I'd applied to my hand, lost in such thoughts.
“Excuse me!”
Thud!
Someone flung the door open and barged in.
“I'm here on Yuris's recommendation. This is the place that does great counseling, right?”
A woman with her blonde hair tied up on top strode into the shop.
She glanced back and forth between the slime gel in my hand and me, frowning.
“...Pervert.”
Huh? There's a bit of a misunderstanding here.