Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Hero Niki's Return
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Hero Niki.
She had countless titles praising her.
The first female hero.
The strongest hero in history.
The only hero who subjugated the Demon King.
The savior who brought peace to the world.
The exterminator who wiped out the demon race.
And so on.
She was a hero who freed not only humanity but most races on the continent from the threat of demons.
She achieved the subjugation of the Demon King, something no one else had ever done, and even turned down the Empress's offer of a territory and a noble title.
"I'll go adventuring. I don't like being tied down to anyone."
It was said that the Empress smiled in satisfaction at her straightforward answer, even in her presence.
"Isn't that the epitome of a hero? I think many in the Empire should emulate that child."
Hoping others would follow the hero's decisive choice, the Empress even erected a statue in her honor.
It was the first.
The first time a statue of someone who wasn't royalty was placed in the imperial capital.
Her feat of subjugating the Demon King was an unparalleled achievement that no one could hope to surpass.
After the statue was erected in the capital, she left without any regrets.
Unlike Eirin, who had to stay with the church as a saintess, she belonged to no organization.
"I'm going on an adventure. I want to see things I haven't seen and have new experiences."
No one knew how cool she looked with that grin.
Eirin the saintess was bound by her positions of "Divine Word" and "Saintess," unable to go anywhere, but she could.
"Instead, I'll bring back all sorts of stories! You'll love them too, Eirin!"
And every two months, she would visit the church to share and introduce her free-spirited adventures.
'Has it really been that long already?'
Eirin hadn't realized.
Normally, she would have been eagerly awaiting her return and remembered exactly when she was due.
But this time, worried about the lewd mark engraved on her lower abdomen being discovered, she hadn't noticed at all.
That today was the day she would come.
"That's disappointing. I thought you'd be waiting for me at the church entrance again today."
"S-Sorry..."
"No, it's fine. I saw you just now reciting prayers for the believers. You were busy, so it's understandable."
There wasn't a hint of resentment in Niki's smiling eyes.
Eirin looked at the hero, Niki, who was smiling brightly at her.
Her golden hair was neatly tied up high, revealing her soft neckline, deeply carved collarbone, and everything in between clearly.
And that wasn't all.
The thin leather armor clung to her body, so short that her navel peeked out slightly with every movement.
Back when they traveled together, Eirin had been so embarrassed by Niki's navel showing every time she stretched.
In the past, Eirin would blush and lower her head at such sights.
And that wasn't all.
Her shorts were short too.
They only covered the upper part of her thighs, clearly exposing her lower thighs, knees, and calf lines.
The hero had no aversion to showing off her body.
In fact, she took pride in it.
"It's stuffy. And it gets in the way when I move."
Even when Eirin asked if it wasn't embarrassing.
"What's there to be embarrassed about? It's better to show off this well-trained body. Like saying, 'Look how hard I worked out.'"
Eirin had truly admired her confidence.
She thought she was amazing.
And she still did.
The leather armor, worn for ventilation and mobility, exposed her shoulders and blatantly revealed her collarbone line.
She's still so cool.
The saintess inwardly admired her smooth, toned body lines.
"Long time no see. You look good. Your face is much brighter than before. What happened?"
"R-Recently, I found a way to relieve stress."
At that moment, Max flashed into her mind.
The kind person who recently gave her back her lost hobby.
The scary person who turned into a devil and raped her.
The person who engraved the lewd mark on her lower abdomen but took no responsibility and now even closed his shop.
And...
The person responsible for her current arousal, rubbing her thighs together.
Just imagining Max made her body heat up.
Her face flushed, and her lower abdomen itched.
She even felt an intense desire for someone to scratch that itch for her.
'No more of this.'
She stopped her imagination and hurriedly changed the subject.
"What about you, Niki? Was this adventure fun too?"
"Ah, want to hear about it?"
Niki approached with a smile, glanced around, and lowered her voice.
"This time, I went to some really amazing places. There are still a lot of monsters in the Empire's outskirts. So I went around subjugating them here and there."
"You must have been busy."
"I was. But it was that much fun. You know what? Slimes are softer than I thought. Like the bath lotion we used in the capital back in the day. A while ago, I took down an orc village terrorizing a town, and they were bigger than I expected. Shoulders way wider than humans. If those monsters had human intelligence, it would've been a real disaster."
She exclaimed excitedly.
"If you had been there, Saintess, it would've been easier, but I really felt how alone I was that day."
Niki sighed as she spoke.
"And the monsters have gotten weaker. Probably because there are no demons anymore. It wasn't as fun as I thought. I wanted to fight strong opponents. Of course, the weak ones have their own appeal, but no real thrill. If we'd gone together, at least we'd have had conversations to enjoy."
Such a Niki buried her face in Eirin's chest and hugged her.
"Haa... this soft feeling... It's so good. I missed you a lot."
When they adventured together, on tough days after the hero fought, she would hug her like this.
It melted away the exhaustion not just from physical contact with people, but from the heart.
And it became a habit; whenever Niki had a hard time, she would bury her face in Eirin's soft chest.
After Niki started adventuring alone, coming back and clinging to her chest like this became a routine.
Eirin watched Niki deeply inhale and exhale against her chest.
Was it because of the statue?
People often mistook Hero Niki for a stern, strict person.
It was natural to think someone who subjugated the Demon King must have perfect self-discipline beyond imagination.
That's why hardly anyone approached Niki easily first.
But Eirin knew she was the type to feel loneliness more than anyone.
Her adventures, meeting other people—it was all because of that.
To forget her loneliness by encountering others.
"Huh?"
"What's wrong?"
"There's some unfamiliar smell..."
"Huh? W-What do you mean..."
"A smell that shouldn't come from the Saintess's body. A man's scent mixed with a faint mana aroma..."
Her heart sank at those words.
Mana and a man.
It was a direct hit at the secret Eirin was hiding.
The lewd mark engraved by the real Max with his hand after being violated by the illusory devil Max.
His words came back to her belatedly: it was made of mana, so it would faintly smell of mana.
"No way, Saintess..."
"I-It's..."
A saintess mingling her body with a man.
Even if it wasn't true intercourse, just the fact that she did would drag the man to trial for blasphemy.
A grave matter that must never be discovered.
Eirin bit her lip, desperately searching for an excuse.
If it really got out...
Would she have to use Divine Word on Hero Niki?
That's what she was thinking when...
"Are you training with a sword these days?"
"Huh?"
Eirin blinked at Niki's words.
"A man using mana can only be a knight. I thought maybe you're learning swordsmanship from a knight lately. Makes sense—even if you're blessed with divine power, you still need exercise. Not a bad idea."
"Ah... Y-Yes. Ha, haha."
Perhaps it was natural, but Niki didn't suspect that Eirin, of all people, would be with a man for private reasons.
Feeling relieved, Eirin felt a tingling in her head.
"Let's go inside. Today, I'll make sure the nuns and holy knights don't drag you away by force!"
Niki grabbed her wrist and led her.
I'm sorry, Niki.
While you were gone, I've become a really lewd woman.
The kind who masturbates to fantasies of having sex with a devil.
If Niki saw the half-faded lewd mark on Eirin's lower abdomen right now.
If she knew the man's scent on her body came from mingling with a man who wasn't just some knight.
What expression would she make?
...She started imagining it.
'God, please forgive me.'
She continued her lewd thoughts while offering a prayer that had now become a tool to justify her lewdness.
In the end, Eirin couldn't even focus properly on what Niki was saying.
"...So this magic circle shows illusions?"
Tio, having heard my explanation about the magic circle, looked around it with a stunned face and asked.
"Yeah."
"But no matter how I look, I don't see a slot for the mana stone that powers it. Are you using your own mana directly, human?"
Tio seemed to grasp the core of the magic circle in one go.
She wasn't a mage, but as a dwarf with expert knowledge in spells, she had a good eye for magic circles.
"Right. I power it directly with my mana. When I need mana stones, I make a temporary additional circle and attach it."
"Then the mana storage you're planning to make with the mana core this time..."
"Lately, I've been adding all sorts of features, increasing mana consumption, so I applied to retrofit it to use mana even if I can't supply it myself in an emergency."
"That's impossible..."
Her jaw dropped.
"I'm not a mage, but I know how human magic works. I know that's not possible..."
She trailed off, then stammered at me.
"N-No wonder you were grinding through mana stones with insane output... Y-You're not actually a dragon in disguise, are you?"
"I'm human."
"Really?"
"Yeah. If I were a real dragon, would I ever run short on mana?"
"Ah... True. Dragons have mana like an ocean."
Tio nodded as if convinced.
"Then you must be human. Sorry. These magic circles are just so ridiculously advanced, it surprised me."
"I get it. Even I think they're impressive."
The circles themselves are complex, but after the saintess's visit, combining magic and divine power made them vastly more powerful.
To a dwarf, it must look like impossible code linkages.
"Could I maybe experience it too? I want to see how intricate the tech is."
Tio looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
"...That might be a bit tricky."
"Why?"
"Because it handles videos not suitable for minors."
"Ah..."
She clamped her mouth shut, rolling her eyes awkwardly as if understanding.
"I-I'm an adult by human standards, though...? Dwarves have longer lifespans, so it should be fine... right?"
"How old?"
"23 in dwarf years. Oh, dwarves are considered adults at 25."
"Oh?"
Still, she's past the 19-year-old adult benchmark...
Might be okay?
"You know it's not for that purpose! It's for research! Research..."
"Got it. Experiencing it once won't hurt."
Showing it to a guy isn't ideal...
'But if I don't touch it myself, it should be fine.'
I handed her the questionnaire form.
"What's this?"
"A required step before viewing illusions with the magic circle."
Tio took the paper from me, blushed, and pointed to one item.
"...Why is there 'virgin or not'?"
"Men write 'virgin' or not."
"...Ah."
And she checked that yes, she was a virgin.