Chapter 281: Atonement
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 281: Atonement
My daily life has been incredibly busy lately.
This is because I'm playing the roles of both master and trainer.
Of course, this is what I wanted, so I have no complaints. It's been a while, and I'm enjoying the old feeling of raising a slave.
However, since bringing Miro here, I've been paying special attention to her, and the other slaves' outcry has been no small matter.
Jealousy and discontent.
To keep their anger from being directed at me, I had to play with the clingy slaves while also overseeing Miro's training in my spare time.
I commissioned a new fairy tale book from Doomheim and read it to Azyeth.
With Alfia, I enjoyed a cozy drinking session, which she loves.
For the very tired Narsha, I gave her a full-body massage. She was so embarrassed she looked like she could die, which made kneading her muscles all the more satisfying.
As for Elize, I accompanied her on a shopping trip. Most of it was lingerie. She said she wears it for my pleasure, so I should be the one to choose. I chose black.
Mirabelle spent a pleasant day with Naredi in a cabin in the mountains.
And then came today.
Today is the day.
What day, you ask? That day.
‘The day it's Rin's turn.’
The other girls did something similar, so Rin would probably want to do the same. On top of that, I had agreed to grant her a request on her day as a reward for helping Miro.
What on earth will she ask for?
What is she plotting?
I'm anxious.
I wonder if it's right for a master to feel this way about his slave, but it feels like our roles have been reversed.
While I was waiting for Rin in the bedroom, a knock echoed.
"Master, may Rin come in?"
"Come in."
Rin entered the bedroom.
She must have been eagerly awaiting this day, as her steps were very light. She climbed naturally onto the bed and started to whine playfully.
"A week is just too long~ Don't you think so, Master? You were waiting for Rin's day too, right?"
"Hmm..."
"You don't need to worry about the other slaves. Rin can be on duty all week. Wouldn't that be better?"
If Rin were on duty for a whole week, I’d probably wither and die from a lack of essence before the week was even over.
I have no desire to be milked dry and die.
"So, have you decided what you want to ask for?"
"Ah, u-uhm. Well..."
Rin, who would usually flirt with me without a care in the world, suddenly changed her demeanor. Her usual foxy self was gone, replaced by an uncharacteristic hesitation as she held out a headband.
"What's this?"
"Um... remember that beastkin headband we all wore last time?"
"Of course."
"Well, seeing that gave me an idea, so I asked Mirabelle to... modify it a little."
"Modify it?"
"My request is for you to wear this."
It was suspicious, but if Mirabelle had worked on it, it wouldn't harm me.
And if this was all it took to fulfill Rin's request, it wasn't a bad deal. Without much suspicion, I did as she asked and put it on my head.
Fwaah.
Just like with the beastkin transformation headband from before, my body began to change. But there was a difference: it wasn't rabbit ears and a tail.
"This is..."
The long black ears and fluffy tail were those of a fox. And there were nine of those tails.
It wasn't just a simple beastkin transformation headband, but a gumiho transformation headband. Of course, it only changed my appearance; I couldn't use magic like Rin.
"Is this what you wanted, Rin?"
The request was simpler than I'd expected, but when I turned to confirm with Rin, she was acting strange.
Her ears were drooping to the sides.
It wasn't so much that she was intimidated, but rather that she seemed shy.
She covered her face with her hands, peeking at me through the gaps between her fingers. Her face, visible through the gaps, was incredibly red.
"Rin?"
"Oh my... oh my... oh my..."
Rin muttered the same incomprehensible words over and over. Her tails, expressing her flustered state, swayed chaotically.
The Rin who would pounce on me at any given chance was gone, replaced by a reaction worthy of a shoujo manga heroine who had just realized she was in love.
Seeing Rin in this state reminded me of something. When Alfia had turned into a fox, Rin couldn't take her eyes off her either.
Rin, who would normally growl at the mere sight of Alfia.
Does becoming a fellow fox beastkin make you feel things you can't when you're human? Maybe her affinity for her own kind is just higher.
Whatever the reason, it was a reaction I'd never seen before.
It was incredibly refreshing.
My foxy appearance seemed to have pierced straight through Rin's girlish heart, and she still couldn't seem to adjust. I'd never seen Rin so flustered.
'Maybe now?'
In this state, couldn't I finally get some payback for everything she's put me through?
I decided to press my advantage.
"How do I look? Is it strange?"
I pushed my face right up to hers.
Rin covered her face with her hands, but her wide-open mismatched eyes, apparently not in agreement with her hands, refused to look away from me.
"N-Not strange at aall..."
She could barely get the words out, her pronunciation slurring. Then she turned her head slightly, avoiding my gaze.
"Why are you acting like this?"
"Y-You're too close... it's overwhelming..."
"My goodness. To think Rin finds me overwhelming. It must be strange, after all."
"N-No!" Rin immediately denied it.
"Is that so?"
"Ugh... I like it. I like it. I really, really like it. I like it more than anything in the world. As I thought, a fox suits you best, Master."
"I'm glad you like it, then."
I decided that was enough teasing.
I grabbed Rin's arms and pulled them down from her face. Her face, faintly colored by the soft glow of the mood lamp, was fully revealed.
"Is there something you want me to do?"
"..."
Something tapped against my legs from below. Rin's tails were moving.
Rin lowered her head slightly and looked up at me with half-lidded eyes. It was a look of longing.
"Tails..."
"Tails?"
"Give me... your tails."
Is she talking about these fox tails?
They felt awkward, having suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but I could move them more freely than I expected. I could control them like my own limbs.
When I extended my nine tails forward, Rin met them with her own. The tails intertwined as if they were communing with each other.
"That time we tried tying cherry stems, Rin was the only one who couldn't do it."
"Ah, right. That was unexpected. Everyone thought you'd be the best at it, including me."
"But Rin's never been kissed before."
"Huh?"
When I reacted with confusion, Rin narrowed her eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Have you ever kissed Rin, Master?"
"No, not that I recall, but you..."
"You're probably thinking of that day. Rin definitely pounced on you, Master, but we didn't kiss."
"Hmm?"
"I heard that kissing is something lovers do. I wanted you to be the one to do it first, Master."
"Aha..."
A somewhat skewed, girlish mindset.
I couldn't believe the whole "sex is okay, but kissing isn't!" thing actually existed. And to think the one saying it was none other than Rin, the gumiho.
"If I'd known that snowman would be there, Rin would have just taken your first kiss then and there..."
Rin ground her teeth, her face filled with frustration.
"So, to summarize, you want me to kiss you, right?"
"Y-Yes."
Compared to when I was first transmigrated here, it was a remarkable change, but now, a kiss was practically a daily routine.
After all, I get a morning kiss from Mirabelle every day.
But for Rin, this would be her first, a precious memory she'd cherish for a lifetime, so I couldn't be careless. Especially since the Rin was looking forward to it with such a shy expression.
I slowly leaned toward Rin. As the distance closed, Rin's mismatched eyes darted back and forth before she squeezed them shut, as if she couldn't bear to watch.
She was clearly tense.
Even more so than Mirabelle.
The gap between this and her usual self made the corners of my mouth lift into an unconscious smile. I barely managed to swallow a laugh as I pressed my lips to hers.
Her lips were soft, a fact that needed no new description. I parted her lips and began to tangle my tongue with hers.
'...Why is this so sweet?'
A kiss tastes sweet.
Not in a literary sense, but literally, sensorially sweet. And it had an unstoppable, addictive quality.
The sweet component was in Rin's saliva.
A physical trait of a gumiho, meant to efficiently absorb essence. They possess pheromones and bodily fluids that stimulate their partner's arousal.
Just her scent is effective, but now I was swallowing her saliva directly. I couldn't stop, gulping it down my throat as if drinking water.
The effect was immediate.
My body grew hot as if I'd drunk an aphrodisiac, and I could feel blood rushing to my lower body. My breathing became noticeably ragged.
I pulled my lips away.
Rin met my gaze with a deep, sultry look in her eyes and began to speak in a calm voice.
"Master, you might not believe me, but Rin is sorry for pouncing on you that day. It might sound like an excuse, but I fell for that guy's sweet-talking temptation... Of course, it was Rin's fault."
"..."
"It's long in the past, and because you forgave me, Master, we've been living normally, but I've always felt that I needed to atone to you."
"Is that so?"
"But I wasn't sure how. I thought and thought about it... but my mind only seems to work in this one direction."
Rin lay down on the bed, arranging herself demurely. She closed her eyes.
"Rin is going to sleep now. I'm going to put myself under a self-suggestion so I won't wake up, no matter what you do."
"What?"
"You can treat Rin's body as roughly as you want. As punishment for that day I pounced on you, defile me to your heart's content with your desire, Master."
Not long after she said that, I heard the sound of soft breathing.
Rhythmic breaths.
A peaceful expression, as if she were asleep.
"Rin?"
I called her name, but there was no response.
The same when I touched her.
When I pulled her upper body up, it rose without resistance, her neck bending back and her head lolling backward. Just as she'd said, she wouldn't wake up no matter what I did.
As if she would calmly accept whatever happened tonight.
The depraved thrill of being able to do whatever I wanted with an unconscious partner made me even more excited. Thanks to having drunk Rin's saliva, my reason had long since been pushed to a corner.
So this is why Rin kept passing her saliva to me.
To make it so I couldn't possibly refuse, to put me in a state where I had no choice but to pounce.
In that case, I had no intention of refusing either.
She wanted this, too.
All I had to do was pour this lust, which was on the verge of exploding, into Rin's body.