The Hero's Misguided Advance
The image of pro wrestlers locking hands in the center of the ring, locked in a fierce contest of strength, suddenly flashed through my mind.
"Hero. What are you doing right now?"
"Hm? I was trying to take off my top."
I managed to stop her just in time—her hands gripping the hem of her shirt, ready to yank it skyward—but the gap in our strength was painfully obvious. It was clear this stalemate wouldn't last long before collapsing in the worst possible way.
"Why?"
A question of the purest kind, spoken as if it came straight from her soul rather than her head. Yet the only response she gave me was a slight tilt of her head, followed by a slow, questioning lean backward.
"Hah! Would it have been better to remove the bottom first?"
"No, that's not it."
In an instant, her hands abandoned her shirt and darted toward her lower garments. As a result, my left hand—which had been resting atop hers to restrain her—naturally followed along toward her hips.
"W-wait!"
I tried to pull my hand away, but she had already seized it. My left hand ended up firmly pressed against her pelvis, unable to escape.
"Ah! I see! You wanted to undress me yourself!"
"H-Hero, wait! Just hold on a second!"
Even when I tried to create some distance, her posture—pinning my stomach down with her rear—left me completely immobilized. The weight itself wasn't particularly heavy, but the superhuman strength she had honed with magic effortlessly suppressed any movement I might have made.
"I've heard that ordinary adult men become incredibly happy when a woman shows them her bare skin! I thought you had no such desires, Father, but I was wrong! Please look at me! I'm quite confident in my body!"
Her voice was high with excitement, her breathing ragged. There was no doubt she was in a state of intense agitation.
"Hero… Who on earth told you something like that…?"
Just moments ago, this innocent girl had believed babies were born from eggs. What kind of scoundrel had filled her head with such shameless knowledge? My fists and lips trembled with an emotion I couldn't quite name—whether it was embarrassment or anger.
"I learned it from books! All by myself!"
"What?"
"Apis and Dawna! Even Victim! For some reason, whenever I tried to read that kind of book, they kept interfering! It was incredibly difficult to obtain knowledge in that field, but in the end, I overcame every obstacle! Even if it was only fragmentary information, I acquired proper sexual knowledge! As an adult! As the Hero!"
"Ah…"
She had always absorbed new knowledge at an astonishing speed. That was precisely why the rest of us in the party had to be so careful whenever the topic of sex came up around her. Unlike beastkin or elves, who had periodic mating seasons, human males were essentially in a constant state of arousal—or so the information that reached her claimed. Whenever I tried to do anything, she would loudly ask if I was "in heat," forcing me to endure no small amount of humiliation. That was why I had lied and told her that clerics had no sexual desires. Even now, the memory made my face burn. Every time I so much as spoke to a woman, she would come charging at me like a wild boar, shouting, "Father, you mustn't go into heat!" Those reckless scenes still occasionally appeared in my dreams.
"Hero, could you calm down a little?"
"Yes! I'll calm down just a little!"
She folded her hands neatly over her chest and waited expectantly, as if anticipating that I would undress her. I pressed down on her excited demeanor with a heavy voice.
"Hero, do you know where we are right now?"
"Yes! A dungeon!"
"Correct. Then do you remember why you're here?"
"I don't remember! I was confronting a suspicious figure who kept changing appearance, and the next thing I knew, I was alone in this dark place! Ah! My comrades! Are they all safe?"
"Yes. Fortunately, everyone is unharmed. Thanks to quick action, there shouldn't be any lasting damage to their lives or any serious aftereffects."
"That's a relief! Truly a relief!"
"So, what happened after that?"
"I lost my will to fight after being subjected to a mental attack from those black figures that looked like you, Father! I was in a pathetic state, completely helpless and unworthy of being called a Hero! Then the real you suddenly appeared and saved me from danger!"
"I see. Then you should understand that we don't have time to be doing this here…"
"So when are you going to undress me?!"
I was wrong. Words weren't getting through. She still had the habit of ignoring others when her blood was up. I had been thinking such trivial thoughts without fully grasping the gravity of the situation.
"D-don't tell me… You don't find my body attractive at all…?"
"What?"
The bold confidence she had shown just moments ago had vanished. Suddenly, she let out a damp, anxious breath and asked me a question.
"Father… You don't feel excited by my body…?"
Tears began to well up again in eyes that shouldn't have had any moisture left. Her emotions shifted and clouded with every passing moment, like a small boat tossed in a violent storm. It reminded me of the Saintess from when we had first met.
That was when I noticed it. The Hero's golden hair, which I had thought had completely shaken off its ominous white hue and regained its original brilliance, now had a faint white ripple of holy power stirring at the tips once more.
"H-Hero!"
"Am I… not an attractive woman to you, Father…?"
The violent holy power that had been seeping into her pure soul was once again beginning to manifest in her body.
"I-I'm excited! Extremely excited!"
I blurted out a desperate lie to avert the crisis. A blatant falsehood. But there was no other choice. It wasn't uncommon for adventurers who had faced death together to develop romantic feelings for one another, but our party had been through far too many life-or-death situations. There had never been any room or energy for such emotions to take root. Maybe back when the party was first formed, but now I had long since become someone who felt nothing even when seeing my former comrades naked. And certainly not toward the Hero of all people. I knew she was one of the most beautiful women among all the humans I had ever seen, but sexual excitement was an entirely separate matter. To me, she was someone I had to protect. A younger sister. Or perhaps a niece—someone precious, like family.
"R-really…?"
The moment I spoke that false confession, the movement of holy power trying to invade her from within once again began to stagnate. It seemed that this kind of holy power intrusion was heavily influenced by the Hero's emotional state. In that case, the top priority was to soothe her heart so she could maintain her composure.
"O-of course. Where else in the world could there be someone as attractive as you, Hero? Any ordinary man would be desperate to make you his partner."
"Heh, hehe…"
The Hero smiled bashfully at my flattery. It was flattery, but not a lie. Objectively speaking, there were few people in the Capital as sincere as the Hero—even half as sincere. Aside from her loud voice and excessive honesty, she had the looks, the ability, and an impeccable personality. She would have made a first-rate bride.
"Then! Which part of my body do you find sexually attractive? Please explain in detail!"
Ah, there was one more flaw I couldn't overlook. This girl was far too direct about everything and had no idea how to speak indirectly.
"Which part of my body turns you on? Please explain specifically! Point by point!"
"……"
Mother.