The Unyielding Hero's Will
It appeared the moment I cured her. [You have learned Unyielding Hero's Will.] A reward for treating her, I suppose.
"Lucky me."
I simply couldn't walk away from a crying child. Many people would ignore it, but that's not the kind of person I am. "Is this how Isabella feels when she can't give up on talented people?"
If that crying child had actually been an assassin targeting me, I could have died right there. If it had been a kidnapper after my black hair, I might have been captured on the spot. Even so, if I went back in time, I would make the same choice again.
'If I don't like that possibility, I just need to become stronger than I am now.'
In this world, if you want to overcome crises on your own, you need the power to do exactly that. I have to keep growing and build the strength to win no matter what situation comes my way. Just like Isabella, who built her own trading company.
-Creak…
"Mister…!"
The girl called Chika emerged from the slum. Following her came a woman whose presence filled the air. A platinum-blonde woman possessing the Unyielding Hero's Will. I could feel it immediately—this woman was anything but ordinary.
"Thank you for saving me, benefactor. My name is Shana."
"Kang Seo-ja."
In that shabby slum, she was the only thing that seemed to shine.
"Thanks to you, Kang Seo-ja, I get to see Chika again."
"If someone's suffering, isn't it only human to help?"
"I don't believe simply wanting to help is enough to make it happen."
As I looked at the platinum-blonde woman, I felt a tremor I had never experienced before. It was similar to the first time I met the S-rank adventurer Helga, yet somehow even greater. The golden mana radiating from her was far too threatening and beautiful to belong to an ordinary person.
"Why do you think that?"
"My illness was never a simple disease."
Not simple… I had seen the recovery potion reject her entirely. What stood out even more was how she spoke as if she already understood her own condition.
"How do you know it wasn't a simple illness?"
"Because your method of treatment was so unusual, Kang Seo-ja."
The woman named Shana touched her lower abdomen and smiled. Did she remember everything I had done to her?
'There's no way she wouldn't.'
This woman literally possessed the future of a hero. I had succeeded in obtaining one of her abilities… but I could sense far more power still sleeping inside her body.
"A disease that can only be cured by losing your virginity…"
"..."
So that's how she interpreted it. I noticed Shana's cheeks had turned a faint shade of red.
"If I had known sooner, I would have found a man."
"That's not what I meant. The disease is cured by sleeping with me."
"So it only works with you, Kang Seo-ja?"
"..."
She was testing me. She truly lived up to the title of a woman with a hero's future. That insight capable of reading hearts and that effortless composure were not things one could simply learn.
"I'd appreciate it if you kept this a secret."
"I will protect your secret until the day I die."
Suddenly serious, she placed a hand over her heart and made the vow. Her actions were impossible to predict compared to normal people. Was this what having a hero's power looked like? One moment she was playfully testing me with a joke, the next she was more earnest than anyone. She was not someone I should ever make an enemy of.
"Now that I've seen you awake, I'll take my leave."
"Wait a moment, Kang Seo-ja. Are you really not going to ask anything more of me?"
When I stood up, Shana looked at me with eyes that said she must repay this debt.
"No, nothing. I helped the girl because I wanted to."
"But…"
"..."
Shana seemed to view receiving grace as a heavy burden. Anyone else would have accepted it—after all, I had gained an ability—but she clearly hated carrying that weight.
Then there was no helping it. I thought of a way to lighten her load.
"Shana, sis…"
The girl Chika was still clinging to the woman. And there were many children like her in this village.
"All right. There is something I want from you."
"What is it?"
"The children."
"Pardon?"
"There are many children left alone in the village."
"Ah… so Kang Seo-ja, you…"
Shana's gaze burned into me with almost painful intensity.
"Save the children the same way I saved you."
"I will carry on your will, benefactor."
Shana smiled, satisfied.
"Then…"
I turned away from the slum. Of course I wanted to recruit the woman who possessed the Unyielding Hero's Will into my party. But the place she belonged wasn't some small adventurer group. She was a hero destined to become a light for the entire world. Caging someone whose fate had been decided from birth in the cage called "me" felt like a foolish idea.
That woman would soar into the sky far faster without me. Having directly obtained her power, I was certain of it. And most importantly, if I stayed with her… my stats would rise like crazy, but I didn't think I would survive in this world. I'd be forced to watch her shoulder everything alone while I only received help.
'I don't like that.'
If we met again someday, maybe things would be different. But for now, I felt the losses outweighed the gains.
-Step. Step.
"I will diligently fulfill the role given to me, Kang Seo-ja…"
Shana felt her heart racing as she watched the black-haired man walk away.
"Then the day we meet again will surely come."
-Creak…
I returned to the inn.
"Hm? Black-hair."
I ran into the female warrior Damo, sitting alone at the central table.
"Where have you been since dawn?"
"I went for a short walk."
"You're diligent."
"You're up early yourself, aren't you?"
"That's… because the room next door was crying so loudly."
I hoped it wasn't our room.
"So the black-hair incubus rumor was true."
Seems like it.
"Sorry about that."
"Thanks to you, my body got all hot… Which brings me to this."
Damo stood up and walked straight toward me.
"How much to sleep with you?"
The early-rising Damo wanted to share my bed. A female warrior with a solid, healthy body. Sleeping with her would definitely grant me good abilities. As I always say, sex was a two-birds-one-stone deal for me.
"I'll charge a lot."
"Is ten gold enough?"
"Ten gold… You must have plenty of money."
"I don't spend it well. I use it for food I want and weapons I need."
Damo pulled out ten gold coins and showed them to me.
"You seem impatient."
"Thinking that you're as good at night work as you are at cooking made my body burn up."
"You're very honest."
I took the gold Damo offered, slipped it into my pocket, and took her hand.
"Damo, let's go to your room."
"Understood."
When we reached her room, I took off my clothes. Damo gazed at my body with open admiration and reached out with both hands.
"To think a man's body could look this magnificent."
She ran her hands over my muscular chest and shoulders, marveling.
"To survive as an adventurer, you have to train constantly."
"True enough."
Blushing, Damo continued touching my body before she began removing her own clothes. Her physique was like that of a female trainer you'd see at a gym.
"You have an impressive body too, Damo."
I grabbed her breast. She lowered her head slightly and trembled.
"The incubus rumor really was true…"
"I haven't even done anything yet."
"Just from you touching my chest, my whole body shakes on its own."
"Is it that difficult for you?"
"No… it's not difficult… it feels good… too good…"
Damo wore an expression like she might melt away at any moment. It looked similar to the face I must have made when I first faced Shana.
"It feels so good… I can't do anything."
"Don't worry. I'll soothe every inch of your body without leaving anything wanting."
"Please…"
"The pleasure is all mine, Damo."
I laid the naked Damo down on the bed. The way she shyly turned her head under my steady gaze was adorable.
Before they met me, the women of this world acted rougher and even more cruel than men. Thieves like Syucali treated kidnapping and robbery as everyday business. Warriors like Damo charged first into battles splattered with blood. That was simply how the world worked.
But the moment these superior women slept with me, they turned into girls experiencing their first love.
-Slide… squeeze…
"Hngh… ah… aht… not there…"
"Move your hand, please."
"O-okay…"
Even without a slave brand, she obeyed my words.
-Squish…
"Hngh…! Ah!"
Every place I touched, she reacted honestly and let out sweet moans.
-Squelch…! Squelch!!
"You're very sensitive, Damo."
"Hngh… uuu… To cum so helplessly…"
Damo spurted her juices. She tried to cover both her most private place and her eyes.
"How cute."
"If you say things like that…! Uuugh…!"
The female warrior's legs gave out and spread open on their own, making it easy for a man to enter.
"Experience the same happiness you heard from Syucali in the next room."
"Ah… ah… aaaaah…"
-Thrust…!
"Haaang♡"
Damo pulled me into her arms. She held on tight and refused to let go. Between her powerful embrace, I moved my hips the same way I always did.
"A-amazing…! To think a man like this exists in the world…! Hnngh!"
Damo had thought defeating me was impossible. So she approached it with the mindset of simply receiving me well, making me as comfortable as possible.
"Again… like this aaah…! I can't!"
She couldn't decide what to do. Instinctively she began acting coquettish—the gestures meant to please a man, the expression that begged to be loved.
She had become a woman for my sake, shaking and shaking again. Watching her, I knew I was performing the black-haired incubus role perfectly.
-Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
"Hyaaaang!"
Strength has increased by 4
Strength has increased by 2
Strength has increased by 3
Again and again, I poured myself into her.
Physical Endurance
"Haa… haa…"
Damo lay with her hips raised high, breathing hard.
-Drip…
I could see my semen and her fluids mixed together flowing from her.
"Is this enough to satisfy you?"
"S-stop it…"
"Understood. I'll give you one more as a finish."
"Ah… no…"
She was already a body that could no longer move. So I could do as I pleased.
-Thrust!
"You shouldn't get excited during a march, after all."
"Hngh…! If you do it again… you can't…!"
The female warrior Damo clutched the pillow in front of her.