Chapter 127
Marian's timing couldn't have been worse. She was fuming from head to toe, her head spinning with rage. She'd turned down Dalshinyang's plea to heal her tribesmen and rushed over anyway, half-expecting the Hero to be tangled up with some other woman. It wasn't the first time, and she'd long since told herself that turn-taking didn't matter anymore. But the scene that greeted her after all that effort was beyond imagination.
What first seized Marian's gaze was the Hero astride a dark elf, thrusting his hips wildly, with a line of other women queued up behind him. The shock was so profound that her brain couldn't process it at first. But Marian wasn't stupid; it didn't take long to grasp the situation.
"Wh-what... what the hell is this?"
She swallowed her grievances and directed the question at the Hero. Naturally, she knew exactly what he was doing. It was just resentment boiling over—toward a Hero who casually embraced battle-worn dark elves without a second thought for her.
In a world where a feast of dishes graces the table, etiquette demands at least a taste of each. But was there something rotten about her that not even his chopsticks would touch? Marian tasted utter defeat.
"Oh, Marian? What's up?"
The Hero pulled his cock from the dark elf's body and turned to her. She could see the woman's juices glistening as they dripped down his shaft. No hint of shame or apology in his response—Marian ground her teeth.
She'd endured up until now, but this was too much.
"Some of us have been pouring our souls into healing the wounded, while you're lounging around balls-deep in women? Even for a Hero, don't you think this is a bit much for me? If you had any conscience, you'd at least pretend to be sorry."
Once the floodgates opened, her emotions swelled beyond control, pouring out as a torrent of nagging.
"Ah, this? Looks like there's some misunderstanding..."
"Misunderstanding? Misunderstanding? I saw it with my own two eyes, and you call it that? You were just pounding that slut's pussy like there was no tomorrow, and now it's a misunderstanding? What, does that make it all better?"
"Marian, hear me out first..."
"No! I don't want to hear it. This is all kinds of wrong. Why am I the only one suffering while you get to have all the fun?"
"Hey, I fought in the battle too..."
His baffled stare only furrowed her brow deeper. Truth be told, he'd borne the brunt of the fighting, and she'd done next to nothing. But righteous indignation didn't have to be fair. Seeing him rendered speechless only fueled her irritation.
"Fine, sure. You're amazing. Soloing a Demon King lieutenant, then banging dark elves like it's nothing? And not just one—how many is this now? Huh?"
"What does that have to do with me deserving a lecture...?"
"Shut up and take it! I've had it piled up too! Can't you do that much for a comrade?"
Marian shouted in heated frenzy, and the Hero fell silent.
"That enough?"
"...Yes."
I'd listened quietly to Marian's tirade for a good while. Getting chewed out in front of the dark elves was embarrassing, but I wasn't oblivious to her building resentment. And when she asked if I couldn't do that much as a comrade, I had nothing to say.
I'd planned revenge on her once, but between one thing and another, I'd come to see her as a comrade too.
"Clear up the misunderstanding first. I had my reasons for handling these women."
I explained the circumstances to the now-calmer Marian. Sure, I'd still fucked my way through the dark elf girls, but justification mattered in situations like this.
"Th-that's..."
Her reaction proved it. She looked dissatisfied, but my explanation about confirming the World Tree's energy shifted her expression to something intrigued.
"Any lies in what I said?"
"No."
I asked Gania the dark elf, and the quick-witted girl nodded, backing me up. With her eyes—and those of a few elves—changed as proof, the evidence was ironclad.
"S-sorry. I didn't know..."
Momentum was key in these things. Even with the dark elves on my side, Marian got swept up and apologized.
"See? Simple, nya?"
"Dalshinyang. What're you on about now?"
I scowled at the catgirl who'd popped up out of nowhere. She'd ruin the mood.
But she glanced at me and the saintess, then offered an unexpected solution.
"Saintess feels hard done by, so Hero just fucks her once, nya?"
"Wh-what? How can you say something so vulgar..."
Marian reacted fastest, legs twisting as her face burned crimson, mumbling in shock.
Her reaction was cute, and reflecting on how I'd tormented her lately, I held back to hear her out. If she wanted it, taking her now wouldn't be bad.
But trouble came from an unforeseen angle.
"Hero, there are still many dark elves who haven't received your grace..."
Grace. I burst into absurd laughter at Gania speaking like I was the empire's emperor. But her words rang true—the intense stares from dark elves yet to absorb the World Tree's energy bored into my cock.
"Marian, what'll it be?"
"Wh-what do you mean, what?"
In the end, I left it to her, and she yelped in protest.
"If you want, you too..."
"N-no, I don't want anything! I didn't say..."
Her stammering blush was adorable, but opportunity only went so far. Without her admitting it, I had no intention of forcing her. I turned to the dark elves instead—they weren't bad options.
"W-wait. I haven't answered yet..."
But Marian grabbed my wrist in a panic. Her grip hurt a bit. I stared blankly at her surprising strength, watching her lips tremble.
"Why hesitate, nya? If you're in heat, best to just do it once, nya?"
"H-heat? Do you think I'm some animal?!"
Marian bristled at Dalshinyang's peanut gallery. My patience wore thin; I moved toward the dark elf again.
"I-I'll do..."
Just as Marian's lips parted—
The forest echoed with horses' neighs. The sudden noise tensed the dark elves, who scanned around. Marian and Dalshinyang did the same.
Already here? Must really hold a grudge.
I smirked. The punishment I'd prescribed for Elf Queen Isabela—who'd foolishly discarded my gifts—was arriving sooner than expected.
"Let's go, Marian. No time."
"Huh? Where...?"
Even now, she misunderstood, staring tensely. She'd seemed about to say yes, but it didn't matter anymore.
With Duke Capella here, no time for leisurely fucks with Marian or the dark elves.
"Where else? To see our pitiful queen with no power left."
Disappointment flashed on Marian's face, but timing was everything in life.