Variable (2)
"What the hell are you?"
A lazy, drawling voice rolled through the room.
At the same time, Rubia's head snapped around.
"A human? No... a beast?"
The pain had vanished, but my body was still screaming. I forced myself upright anyway. My legs gave out more than once, buckling and sending me staggering, yet I finally managed to stand and clamp my hands around the greatsword.
"Not a beast either... then a magic beast?"
Rubia sucked in a sharp breath.
"Ahh... a demon, then?"
The woman's lips twisted into a crooked smirk, and Rubia's mouth opened at the same moment.
"Cha... Charlotte?"
"Huh? Who the... wait. Rubia?"
The face that had been full of mockery a second ago smoothed out at once. Those crooked lips evened into a bright, easy smile.
"What are you doing here..."
But Rubia's expression slowly curdled.
"Damn... those massive tits of yours are still going strong, huh?"
Huh...?
What did she just say?
"And that filthy mouth of yours hasn't changed either."
Rubia, who had been crying herself out only moments before, suddenly came back to life.
Vitality...? Killing intent...? Whatever it was, she was full of energy again!
"Aww, Rubia's always hottest when she's cussing me out... haah... hnn..."
"You crazy bitch..."
Rubia's face twisted even harder.
The woman called Charlotte crossed her legs tightly and shivered with pure delight.
"Hoo... anyway, what's that thing next to you?"
Charlotte's gaze, which had been locked on Rubia, swung back toward me. The voice that had been thick with heat a second ago dropped cold and flat. Clear hostility was aimed straight at me.
"None of your business."
Rubia stepped in front of me.
"From the looks of it, that little brat is the one who made this mess. Even if she's your acquaintance, Rubia, this is a bit hard to overlook."
Charlotte put on that lazy expression again and slowly lowered Hepais from her shoulder.
"Whoa... what the hell is all this? Looks like a real demon paid a visit."
She started walking toward us, still talking.
"Well, I get that they were bad guys. But this was way too much. People doing this to people—"
"They were magic beasts."
Rubia's firm voice cut clean through Charlotte's casual drawl.
"Hm? Did I hear that wrong?"
"You heard correctly. Magic beasts. No—calling them animals would be more accurate."
Charlotte's footsteps halted.
"...Is that so?"
Her hardened face turned toward me.
"Animals... animals, huh..."
She bent down, picked up one of the chunks of meat on the floor, and looked our way again.
Gulp— Rubia swallowed dryly, her face tight with tension.
Charlotte watched her for a long moment, then let out a low chuckle and spoke.
"Not animals. Bugs. Scorpions. Bright red scorpions."
"Haa... yes. Bugs."
A sigh of pure relief slipped from Rubia's lips.
So what exactly is going on right now?
Who is this Charlotte person, praising Rubia's chest like that, and why is Rubia so tense?
"Rubia. Got a reason to answer me now?"
A smile curved Charlotte's mouth.
"I suppose so... she's someone I hired— no. She's my friend."
"Hah... Ru, Rubiaaa...!"
Not a hired adventurer— a friend...!!
My body felt like it was falling apart and my mood had been in the dumps, but one word from Rubia sent me floating again.
"Heheh... hehehe... friiieend..."
"Hmm? Friend?"
Unlike me, Charlotte's voice sank low and heavy.
"Yes. My one and only, precious friend."
Rubia said it with quiet resolve and squeezed my hand tight.
Ghk...!
Rubia! Are you trying to kill me?!
"That's... pretty damn jealous-making."
Charlotte's face twisted as she walked toward me.
"She turned down my request to start as friends."
Thud—
"Didn't even blink at my money."
Thud—
"Didn't budge for my power."
Splash—
"And now it's 'friend'? With someone who isn't me?"
At last she was close enough that I could hear her breathing. Charlotte reached out a hand.
At the same instant, Rubia snatched that hand out of the air.
"Charlotte. I said she's my friend."
"Whoa... no, ha."
With her free hand Charlotte roughly shoved her bangs back and unleashed a sharp surge of mana.
Divine power flared wildly from Rubia's body as well.
Just as the air between them began to heat up—
"I just wanna feel up your friend's chest a little. Is that so bad?"
Something completely insane came out of Charlotte's mouth.
"Yes. Absolutely not."
And Rubia answered that nonsense with total seriousness...
"Doesn't look like there's much to grab, but still, just a little squeeze. Just to get the feel."
N-not much to grab...? Squeeze? Just the feel...?
"I said no."
"Then how about the ass?"
"Go fuck yourself."
"Shame I don't have a dick... but wait, what? Did Rubia already claim her? Fine, I'll back off."
"Wh-what... ha, shit..."
Rubia fumbled for words and hung her head.
"Ehehehe—"
Charlotte grinned, and her other hand reached toward me.
I tried to slip aside and dodge—
"Yes. She's mine."
From Rubia's lowered head came another strange... declaration.
Charlotte's hand froze in midair.
"...Did I hear that wrong?"
"Your ears seem off today. Same as earlier. You heard me perfectly well."
An awkward silence settled over the room.
It was so stifling I tugged lightly on Rubia's sleeve.
"Ru, Rubiaaa... wh-who is this person...?"
Who says crazy things like that like it's nothing?
"Ah, um... this human is—"
While Rubia was still forming the words, Charlotte spoke first.
"What. I thought something was up with those closed eyes... you can't see?"
"...Yes."
I nodded for now.
And then—
A truly shocking reaction came back.
"Whoa, fucking hell... that makes her even hotter."
Wh... what did she just say?
"Uh, uwaah... y-yes...?"
"Up close she's cute, and those lower half's solid, body looks soft and squishy... sss... hard to hold back."
Charlotte wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and started breathing hot and heavy. She was even rubbing her thighs together... what is this person?
"Don't look at her."
As Charlotte's breathing grew rougher, Rubia completely blocked me from view.
"Hey, no touching and no looking either? That's a bit much, don't you think?"
"Your eyes are filthy."
"I was born this way. If you've got a problem, go complain to my mom over there."
The refined tone of her voice did not match the words coming out of her mouth at all.
No, seriously, who even is she?!
"Well... anyway, you said you don't know who I am, right?"
"Ah, um... yes."
Charlotte cleared her throat, put on a serious face completely different from a moment ago, and spoke slowly.
"Ahem— ahem... My name is Charlotte von Sunrise. Third Imperial Princess, and the one in charge of being the shame of the imperial family."
Third Princess...?
In charge of the shame...?
Wait— princess???
The emperor's daughter???
"H-huuuh...! Y-Your Highness...?!"
But wait.
Why... why is she like that...?
A princess should be someone really high up...
Charlotte just seems like a total thug...
That lazy way of talking, that lazy expression... even her posture... pure thug material...
"Most people take one look at my blonde hair and bronze skin and know right away. But you can't see, so your reaction's nice and fresh... makes it even hotter... hnn... looks delicious."
Blonde... tanned...?
And a thug...?!
"Eek..."
Something... something told me getting any closer would be a disaster. I edged backward and gently pulled Rubia with me.
Ru, Rubia shouldn't get close either...
"...Haa... yes. That's right. Charlotte is a princess. Though I'm not sure something this deranged deserves the title."
Rubia spat the scathing insult right in the face of the princess who was gulping down her own spit, then stepped to my side and yanked me firmly against her by the waist.
"Anyway, don't touch her."
Because she's mine.
Rubia's quiet voice put the final period on the conversation.
"Whoa, ha... whoa..."
Charlotte kept letting out nothing but awed little sounds, then spat hard onto the floor and pulled a rectangular case from her pocket.
Cigarettes.
Tap— tap—
She lit one with a flint stone, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke mixed with a sigh, and muttered,
"Is Rubia really that ridiculously tasty..."
I couldn't see her eyes, but an incredibly creepy sensation wrapped around my whole body.
Following pure instinct, I wrapped both arms around myself and hid behind Rubia.
"Enough. What brings you to Urusphier?"
"Obviously a commission. Then I heard a racket and came to check it out."
A commission?
A princess?
"What, surprised a princess takes commissions?"
Charlotte smirked and asked me.
"Uuuum... yes."
"Princess or not, I'm an adventurer. That's why I do it."
She tapped the longsword at her hip and grinned.
"I'm Platinum, you know. Pretty cool, right?"
"Wow..."
"Got money too. Fucking loads of it."
"Wowww..."
"Got power. Emperor's little girl."
"Th-that's so cool..."
"Look at this. Smaller than Rubia's, but still big."
"Ah, auhmm..."
"Ha, fuck. Isn't this big enough? Why that reaction?"
Charlotte cupped her chest with both hands and jiggled them.
I couldn't see it, but something about it was so embarrassing I turned my head away.
"Noah, don't talk to people like that. More importantly, how does your body feel? Are you all right?"
Rubia turned fully toward me, bent her knees a little, and peered into my face.
"J-just a little dizzy, other than that..."
"Does anything hurt? Any injuries... ahh, how much must it have hurt..."
She gently squeezed my arms, then my legs.
"How's your mind? You don't... um, suddenly want to eat anything weird, do you?"
"Eh, u-um... no. I'm fine."
Rubia, face crumpled with worry, pulled me into a soft, full hug.
"So it's real... ha, damn..."
Charlotte let out a hollow laugh and shattered the tender atmosphere.
"Rubia, and uh... what's your name?"
"...Ah, is it okay to tell her...?"
"Don't tell her."
"Hey! What am I gonna do with a name? Huh? Fantasize about ramming holes or twisting nipples while thinking of it? Whoa, that's just mean."
I really shouldn't tell her.
Seriously.
But I know her name and the princess doesn't know mine, so...
"N-Noah... Shin Noah."
"Family name Shin, given name Noah?"
Nod—
"From the East?"
Noood—
"Adventurer?"
Nod—
"Gold rank?"
Nodnodnod—!
"Figures. A demon."
Tilt—?
"Y-yes...?"
"The blood-drinking demon. Never thought the rumors were real. Even I'm a little shocked..."
Charlotte pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Haa... all right, let's move somewhere else. I'm about to puke."
Rubia held me close.
"Fine. I won't touch her, so hurry up and get out. You want the knight order to catch you?"
Knight order?
I carefully expanded my Qi Sensing.
And there they were— knights pouring this way in a noisy mass.
I quietly turned my head and whispered into Rubia's ear.
"Ah, um... Rubia... th-they're really coming... twenty-one of them..."
Rubia's body flinched.
"Where are you going?"
Charlotte, already walking toward the door, only turned her head and flashed a grin.
"Safehouse. I'll even gift you a sex toy while we're there. Got used ones and new ones— pick whichever gets you going. If you need instructions, I'll teach you. Live demo."
...I don't want to go.
I'll just get caught instead...