68. Behind the Story
68. Behind the Story
"Not even a moron... what the hell kind of act is this?"
Having sex with a friend on a whim after falling for a cheap provocation didn't add up, no matter how much she thought about it.
She'd pressed Liber's climax button multiple times just for fun, so she'd only finished once while Liber had passed out... Was this her fault?
And that brief, hot sensation she had felt inside Liber at the very end... what was that?
The incredibly high body temperature, the faintly glowing eyes—just as one might expect of someone originally created as the protagonist's rival. Liber seemed loaded with hidden traits.
She mulled over various concerns, but from a third-party perspective, she didn't worry at all about the biggest issue: the fact that she had laid hands on the Sword Saint's fiancée.
Liber had said he wouldn't touch her until graduation... no, more precisely, he couldn't touch her.
Unless he resorted to some unreasonable stunt, a Master entering the Empire without permission would have to face the Director's Sword Control.
"When Liber graduates... or maybe even this year, I'll say something... and if it doesn't go well... fuck it, I'll just fight him."
If Sword Saint Adolf found out she'd touched Liber, he'd be furious. But her plan was to hit him with a psychological attack first by saying, 'Your fiancée was amazing, by the way.'
The Sword Saint was a Master with far more experience than her, but she didn't feel like she would lose in the slightest.
"Mm..."
Liber, who had no way of knowing her concerns, stirred in her sleep as if she'd fainted.
Illuminated by the faint moonlight, her pure white naked body was covered in the marks she had left.
Kiss marks on the nape of her neck and chest, red handprints on her breasts and waist and back—it was all proof that she had been rolling around naked with her just moments ago.
Various thoughts flickered through her mind, but they all faded away when she saw Liber sleeping soundly, breathing evenly.
As she tried to lie down next to her, she noticed the damp, sticky sheets—the result of their vigorous rolling around with no preparation at all—and it bothered her.
She decided to clean up first.
"Okay... gather the mana..."
-Woooooong
She drew up mana, something she hadn't done in a while after using only aura.
She hadn't had enough time to deeply study magic while focusing on the sword, but she had occasionally learned utility magic useful for daily life, so she had enough skill to use it effectively.
"Clean!"
The blue mana light gathered in her hand spread outward.
The moment the blue light touched them, the damp sheets and the sticky fluids on her and Liber's bodies vanished completely.
It was Clean, a utility spell that tidied up a designated area.
Right after she cast Clean, Liber, who had been asleep, stirred and sat up—as if she'd sensed the magic light.
"Ugh... Atlas...?"
"You're awake? Want to take a shower?"
"....."
The moment Liber saw her face, she shot upright and started pounding Atlas's upper body with her fist.
Atlas had no idea why, but she looked extremely angry.
She was hitting quite seriously, each blow landing with a thud.
"Ow! Ah, ah. Why are you hitting me...!"
Why was she suddenly hitting Atlas?
Was it because she had shoved it all the way in at once without caring about the pain, even though she'd confirmed she was a virgin? Or because she'd discovered her climax button and pressed it multiple times?
Or maybe it was because she'd skillfully undressed Liber...?
There were too many things to feel guilty about, so she just took the hits quietly.
At first, Liber had just been hitting her with an angry expression, but then her fists started to tremble slightly.
She was sniffling, as if she was about to cry... was she seriously crying?
"I said it hurt... it was my first time... and you just kept shoving it in wildly..!!"
It seemed the biggest reason was that she had been too rough.
Liber's eyes grew moist as she pounded Atlas's chest furiously, tears welling up.
"What do you mean, you're an Expert too."
"You don't know!! It hurt more than getting stabbed by a sword!!"
She said it as if she had actually been stabbed by a sword before.
She'd forced her way into a tightly closed space, so maybe the pain... was it similar?
She seemed genuinely upset, so Atlas figured she should soothe her.
"Alright, alright."
She grabbed Liber's arms as they flailed against her, pulled her into an embrace, and collapsed onto the bed together.
It was an unusual position, with Liber—who was taller—burying her face in Atlas's chest as they held each other.
Lying side by side, with their feet off the floor, the height difference between them could be somewhat disguised.
"There, there, that's a good girl."
"Uuuuh...."
As she stroked Liber's head and let her hear her heartbeat, the sniffling gradually subsided.
But she wasn't going to apologize.
That was the price for Liber's arrogant provocation, after all.
Liber, who had been quietly nestled in her arms, regained her energy and looked up at her.
"Don't think you can just gloss over it with this. And Atlas, you're not a first-timer, are you?!"
"Nope, I'm not."
"So unfair.. I was the only first-timer...! I thought you were a first-timer too..!!"
Liber lifted her head and said.
Apparently, the fact that she was the only virgin was a bit upsetting to her.
Had she wanted a fresh, innocent relationship where they were both each other's first?
Counting my age... including my past life and this one, it's more than just one or two.
"Why did you think that?"
But more than that, Atlas was curious about why she'd assumed she was a first-timer too.
"Well, you don't go panting after girls like other guys... and you're really straightforward with everyone around you..!"
She spilled out a bunch of embarrassingly frank words.
Seeing them tumble out so fluently, it didn't seem like a hastily made-up reason.
"Still... wasn't it good?"
"Ugh, I don't know..!"
As if remembering how she had panted, Liber blushed and turned her head sharply, showing Atlas her back.
Her slightly trembling back was expressing that she was sulking.
Atlas quietly sat up, grabbed her shoulder, and turned her back around to face her.
She met eyes that looked very angry.
"Want to kiss?"
She didn't apologize.
Instead, she made a brazen proposal.
Liber, who had looked dumbfounded at the sudden suggestion, averted her eyes and obediently nodded.
"... Yeah."
She didn't seem to have completely gotten over her anger, but she didn't refuse.
Atlas's lips and Liber's overlapped once more.
They didn't devour each other deeply.
Their soft lips brushed lightly, just enough to share body heat, and then their tongues briefly intertwined.
As the short kiss continued, Atlas could see that her mood had softened a little.
How easy.
"... Liber, want me to tell you a secret?"
"What now.."
"How old do you think I am?"
Since the topic was already on the table, she decided to reveal her age.
It would be easy for Liber to accept if she said she had more experience than she looked.
"If you're going to say you only look like that but you're over seventy, just don't even open your mouth."
"It's not like that."
"Then... how old are you?"
"I guess... around twenty-four?"
Liber was surprised to hear such a specific number.
"No way.. you're four years older than me..? Not younger??"
"Because of my height, it's not noticeable, right?"
"... Still, I'm not going to call you oppa."
"I don't expect you to."
"Hmm.. I can't believe it.... hyeet?"
Just as she let out a cute little shriek, a stream of white fluid trickled down her thigh.
"Ah... "
Liber, having confirmed what it was, wiped it with her finger curiously and stared blankly as it ran down her finger.
Seeing her own semen trickle right in front of her face gave Atlas a very strange feeling.
"Ugh, it's leaking out... if you do it inside... a baby is made... right..?"
A retort like 'You held me with your legs so I couldn't help it' nearly slipped out, but she held it in firmly.
Saying something like 'Whose fault is it that it happened' was meaningless and would only hurt both their feelings.
She was simply the one at fault, unconditionally.
Liber wiped the white fluid running down her thigh and spoke quietly.
"If... a baby is made.. what do we do.."
It was a statement that seemed oddly weak, unlike her usual self.
It seemed like she was seriously thinking she would have to handle it alone, so Atlas replied calmly.
"If one is made, I'll take responsibility, I guess."
After she had barely gotten the words out, a heavy silence filled the room.
When she turned around because there was no response, she saw Liber's face had turned bright red.
She looked far hotter than when her body temperature had flared up earlier.
"T-take... responsibility...? You... you know what that means.. saying that..!!"
"I know."
"W-with... with me...? Th-that... m-m..marriage... you're saying you'd...??"
The way her eyes went wide and she flailed her arms was extremely cute.
Atlas had only been talking about what would happen if a baby was made, but was it really something to shock her that much?
"Why are you so flustered? You're already engaged."
"That's exactly why I'm even more flustered!!"
After a moment of hesitation, Liber's expression suddenly turned grave.
"No... what do you mean take responsibility...! I.. I have an owner! Mind your own business..!!
In this day and age, just because you slept together one night doesn't mean you have to live your whole lives together..! That's dangerous talk! Today was.. just, we just enjoyed each other..!"
"If a baby is made. If. Why are you making such a fuss."
She had just meant that she would take responsibility if something happened, but it seemed Liber had heard it as a declaration of immediate marriage.
At the comment about making a fuss, Liber smiled sheepishly.
"R-right..? I went too far.."
Liber, her face flushed red, seemed embarrassed and pulled the thin blanket up to cover her face and body.
"S-so... what if..."
A moment later, Liber, who had taken all the blanket to cover herself, quietly turned her head back and subtly glanced over Atlas's body.
The golden glow in her eyes, which had stilled until now, seemed to flicker again.
"S-so... if you're.. not satisfied yet... I'm okay, so.. should we do it more...?"
After saying that carefully, she dropped the blanket she had been covering herself with.
It's crude to say, but Atlas got hard.
Was this something that should come out of the mouth of a woman who had been a virgin just moments ago?
After that, they did it four more times before daybreak.
—————————————
Liber, having finished the overtime rounds, stood alone in the shower, letting the hot water pour over her.
She was incredibly exhausted, but it hadn't hurt like the first time, and Atlas hadn't been as rough as the first time either.
In the end, she had reached climax several more times.
Even though she was completely drained, her body still felt like it was floating.
Now that she had a moment alone, the events of the night flashed through her mind scene by scene.
'I really... did it with Atlas.'
Her first experience had been incredibly painful.
She still couldn't forget the sensation when that horrifying thing had stabbed into a place that had never been opened before, without any mercy.
The pain had shot up her spine to the top of her head, and she had been a little angry at Atlas for acting so brazenly, telling her not to be childish when she didn't even know.
Was it because she'd provoked Atlas's complex, since she wasn't reacting well even when Liber came onto her...?
Atlas had been extremely rough.
But she hadn't treated her like an object, either.
When she held her, it was incredibly reassuring, and she liked the way she spoke as if patting her.
"... Well, it's what I wanted."
It had hurt terribly when she was pierced, but when Atlas had held her still like that, it got better quickly.
Was what she felt because she was an Expert, just like Atlas had said?
She still felt a hot heat in her lower abdomen.
It was the residual warmth that had remained ever since the white fluid had been sprayed inside her.
Common sense told her that this intense heat she felt now couldn't be its temperature, but now that she was aware of it, her lower abdomen throbbed.
Just in case, she had scraped out as much of the white fluid that had kept leaking after the first time as she could, but what had gone deepest inside was impossible to do anything about.
It wasn't a safe day, either.
If this warmth was because of that, she thought a baby really might be made.
How would the Sword Saint react if she carried another man's child while her fiancé was still wide awake and well?
Suddenly, the words Atlas had thrown out came to mind.
-If one is made, I'll take responsibility, I guess.
Had she known what that meant when she said it?
... Probably, since it was Atlas, she had known exactly what she was saying.
"It's okay now."
After all, her first experience had been with the person she wanted.
It was okay now.