Chapter 189: Skins are a Serious Matter (4)
Chapter 189: Skins are a Serious Matter (4)
Usually, gacha characters express their individuality through their personalities or professions.
Why?
Because most of them are adventurers.
When you're trying to clear a labyrinth, you can't exactly summon a "Water Safety Instructor" or a "Bunny Girl Who Became a Casino Dealer to Pay Off Gambling Debts."
Still, characters with enough plausibility to enter a labyrinth are released as gacha pickup characters, and each has their own unique combat style.
Among these traits, the most overwhelming form of individuality is their "Job."
While some characters get jobs like [Bunny Girl] or [Butler] as skins or limited versions, others are designed from the start as specialists in that profession.
Nero, who stands before me now, is one of them.
"Miss Nero. Who are you working under currently?"
"...Are you trying to scout me, by any chance?"
"Yes. Right now. I want to make you my exclusive maid."
If it's Nero—this high-spec Sadistic Queen—she would undoubtedly show sufficient capability as the leader of my exclusive maid team.
After all, the concept of this woman named Nero is the "immaculate and elegant Perfect Maid."
Does she remind you of someone?
The developers of P.A.O. likely created her with that specific motif in mind.
While her actual abilities differ significantly from the original inspiration, her combat prowess is also outstanding.
Her skill with daggers.
Her mastery of wires.
And her technique of gracefully treading on enemies with her heels like a queen.
I remember that.
A certain NSFW illustration flashed through my mind—one where she and Charlotte performed femdom sex on the [Male] Player.
It was drawn by an artist who loves the "Mesugaki" trope; they had dressed the two up like a Queen of a Kingdom and an Empress of an Empire while they ravished the player.
Charlotte sat on his cock.
Nero sat on his face, forcing him to eat her out.
I remember that image vividly.
—Oppa, did you jerk off to this?
—N-no. Well, I mean...
—You want me to do this for you, right? Fine. Lie down. I'll put an Onahole on your dick.
I had no choice but to remember it.
Ever since then, I’d been trapped in the fan-fiction frame of "Nero is a Queen-type character."
Of course, in reality, this woman is a maid.
A truly magnificent and exceptional maid.
"Are you renting an Adult Video on your employer's orders?"
"......!!"
That had to be why she was here renting porn.
There was no way she was renting it for herself; someone must have ordered her to do it.
"Come this way. If you return it here, it'll be processed automatically."
"This place is...?"
"It'll be marked as returned the moment you drop it in."
I pointed to a box placed in front of the porn rental shop.
It was bolted to the ground so it couldn't be stolen, with a hole at the top designed for magic stone spheres to be rolled inside.
"It's an unmanned return box."
"...Are you saying it will be processed automatically if I put it in here?"
"It's not fully automated. The clerks will periodically take out the magic stones and collect them. Then, they'll process them as having been returned that day."
Compared to high-tech electronic systems, it was quite primitive, but in this world, even this was cutting-edge.
"What do you think?"
"This... would be quite excellent if introduced to the library."
"Hmm? Ah, right. Libraries usually have set morning and afternoon hours."
There is a library in Fermaton.
They don't have anything like this there.
Is that a bit much?
I felt a slight pang of embarrassment that a system useful for a library was first implemented at a porn rental shop.
Even though it could easily be used for the library, I felt foolish for not having actually put it into practice.
"Thank you, Miss Nero."
I had told myself I wasn't a Sex Parrot—that I wouldn't let everything boil down to sex.
And yet, I had sat idly by, failing to think of how to expand these ideas into non-sexual fields.
As expected of the Perfect Maid.
She truly is immaculate.
Even though it was her first time seeing the system, she immediately knew how to apply it elsewhere to improve convenience in life.
"Miss Nero. I am asking you seriously. A talent like you is the most suitable fit for our Fermaton, more than anyone else."
"M-me...?"
"Yes. Naturally."
Nero scanned her surroundings with a look of utter bewilderment.
People had already begun to linger and watch as I pinned a woman against the wall, seemingly hitting on her.
Actually, this was better.
The public gaze would act as pressure.
"Won't you become mine? I truly wish for you to be by my side."
I proposed the recruitment with a purely masculine and self-centered mindset, believing that if I did it in front of others, she wouldn't be able to refuse.
"If you wish, I will give you the opportunity to organize a branch of my exclusive maid team. No, eventually, you could even aim for the position of Head Maid."
"...Head Maid?"
Her reaction was somewhat lukewarm.
"Your ambition is grand indeed. Is the mere position of Head Maid not enough to satisfy you?"
"No, it's not that."
"And humble to boot. Even your heart is the perfect paragon of a maid."
Truly the Perfect Maid.
She didn't rank #1 in the "Woman I'd Be Happy to Be Stepped On By" poll for nothing.
"Shall we go to the Lord's Castle and talk for a bit? If you're willing, we could drink some Fermaton special milk tea while discussing the discipline of the employees at Fermaton Castle."
"...I am merely an ordinary maid."
"That's exactly why."
It was a shame she kept playing hard to get.
However, I already knew exactly what she was interested in—her "Affinity Item," so to speak.
"I wish to have an in-depth discussion regarding appropriate and excellent methods to keep maids from going into heat, and how to punish those who are promiscuous."
"...Pardon?"
"I'm seeking your counsel as a maid. On how maids can maintain their 'chastity'."
Nero.
"Shall we talk about how to calm women who are sexually excited and in heat, and how to make them 'abstinent'?"
Considering this woman's disposition, she seemed like the polar opposite of me—or more accurately, Laura—but I could adjust this to suit my convenience.
"...I'm talking about censorship."
She was a woman who loathed the lewd and the promiscuous.
* * *
"Young Lord. What are you plotting now?"
"Nothing."
"Is a maid with a black bob cut your type?"
"Not particularly. Why?"
"Just wondering."
Yoanna, dressed in one of the maid uniforms, asked me while twirling her long hair with her fingers.
"I heard as I was passing by. That the Young Lord was wooing a maid with a black bob."
"Wooing?"
"Yes. I heard you even leaned down with your hand against the wall."
"Like this?"
"...Yes."
When I performed a wall-slam on Yoanna, she glanced down at my crotch.
"Are you erect for me right now?"
"I am always erect for you, Yoanna."
"Does the Young Lord wish to impregnate me?"
"Of course."
I didn't beat around the bush like some shy novice.
"If I had my way, I'd lead you to the bedroom this instant, kiss you, and have creampie sex."
"You're quite blunt."
"That's what it means to have me by your side."
"Hmm..."
Yoanna scanned me from head to toe as if lost in thought.
"I am afraid."
"What are you afraid of?"
"I am terrified that if I have sex with the Young Lord, the priorities in my heart will change. That is what I fear most."
Yoanna placed her hand over her chest.
"I have a goal I must achieve. There is a place where I must burn the flames of hatred that have curdled in this chest. Even if I were to find happiness as a woman, even if I were to be soaked in pleasure like a bitch, I must unleash the light of ruin engraved upon this soul."
Yoanna's pupils began to slit vertically.
"My happiness begins only after I have resolved the hatred deep within my heart. If not, this resentment will last forever, even passing down to my children. This eternal karma engraved upon my soul."
Like an enraged dragon breathing out the hatred of losing its kin, or a soldier betrayed by their country committing an act of terror against the state, Yoanna's fury made my skin prickle.
"Can the Young Lord suppress my hatred and anger?"
"I'm not going to suppress it, Yoanna."
I lowered my head and buried my face in Yoanna's chest.
"I will take on your anger as well."
"......."
Though I buried my face against her soft breasts, Yoanna said nothing.
Inhale, exhale.
"Yoanna. Why do you think you have to choose between the two?"
"Because..."
"Do you really think I'm the kind of man who would abandon a person for the sake of a 'great cause'? No. I am a man who can abandon a great cause for a person—or commit one for them."
I, Ruji Fermaton.
Am a man of my word.
"If the condition for making you mine is to burn everything down so your flames of revenge can roar, then I will do exactly that."
"Young Lord."
"I won't tell you to let go of that hatred. I won't spout bullshit about how forgiveness is the answer. Rather..."
I reached down and gently cupped the underside of Yoanna's breasts.
"Not for the sake of your hatred, but for mine—I will show you first. The sight of the Empire crumbling."
"......!"
Yoanna gulped.
Her heartbeat vibrated against my cheek, and I buried my face even deeper into her chest.
"Listen well. As always, I have only one thing to say to you. I will shake the Empire to its core."
"Even if that leads to a future where the Empire is destroyed?"
"That's exactly what I'm hoping for. No, actually..."
I wanted to ask if that wasn't exactly what she wanted.
"Destroying the Empire is... fufu."
But seeing the smile on Yoanna's face as she looked down at me, I said no more.
"Yoanna."
"Yes, Young Lord."
"For your sake, I can even tear down the Empire."
Because that's what Yoanna wants.
It ended up sounding like a proposal, but this was a process of reconfirming our contract.
"So, will you continue to work with me?"
"...If you fulfill my wish."
"Of course. I will definitely help you with your revenge."
All for the sake of having sex with Yoanna.
"...Oh. It seems we have a guest."
Perhaps it was because my face was buried in her chest.
I only just noticed that the door had opened.
"Ah. I didn't expect you to arrive so soon."
"......Young Lord."
The Perfect Maid, Nero.
"It is a pleasure to meet you again."
For the first time, I saw a warm smile on her face.