Chapter 18. What Are You Doing to My Woman (1)
Chapter 18. What Are You Doing to My Woman (1)
The city where the two were staying was known as a sanctuary for adventurers.
So naturally, the streets were filled with armed adventurers—but wherever large numbers of people gather, money and goods inevitably flow in abundance.
In other words, the market here was bustling and thriving.
No shortage of things to see, and just as much to eat. Simply walking the streets was enjoyable enough without any trouble.
"Now that I think about it, have you eaten yet, Serika?"
"Ah, no. Not yet... It, it took a long time to get ready, so..."
"...Ah-ha."
Dave let out a sound of immediate understanding at Serika's words.
Anyone could see just by looking that Serika had put more effort into dressing up today than usual.
"You must have been looking forward to today quite a bit, then."
"H-Huh?"
"It's a vacation that's finally come around after a long time. You probably spent a while getting yourself worked up for it, didn't you?"
"Ah, a-ah, yes. Th-that's right. It was a vacation. My date with Dave... I-I mean, a vacation together with Dave!!!"
Serika hastily covered up her slip, her face flushing red. Wondering if he'd caught on, she glanced over at him, but Dave was just looking at her with a smile.
"Yes, exactly. Because today is a day off for the both of us."
Was it just her imagination, or did that smile look oddly teasing?
After that, his gaze drifted toward their surroundings, but his eyes, scanning the lively city, held more than a little disappointment.
"Still, the problem is there's nothing really worth doing even out on the town. We're novice adventurers with poor earnings, after all, and on top of that, the practice dungeon doesn't offer any rewards to speak of..."
"Ah, that's not a problem! I have plenty of allowance I got from Miss Berdia!"
Serika immediately pulled a coin pouch from her breast and held it up. The clinking sound and the weight of it made clear it held a substantial sum.
"Allowance, is it?"
"...Ehehe, well, she actually gave it to me for equipment."
No matter how much of a Hero she was, she was still inexperienced, so Berdia had told her to swap out her equipment regularly to match her growth.
The funds had been given for that official purpose, so they shouldn't be wasted—but Berdia had also told her to enjoy herself today, so spending them right now shouldn't be a problem.
"Hmm..."
Whether that would look good to other people, of course, was another story.
"Wh-What is it?"
"Nothing. It just made me think—'Ah, so she's an adventurer who still gets an allowance, huh.'"
"Huh? Ah, th-that's..."
Come to think of it, Dave had only known that Berdia was acting as her guide, hadn't he?
But anything concerning the identity of the Hero was to be kept as secret as possible.
"It's fine. I've more or less figured it out."
As she hesitated, wondering whether it was okay to explain the full situation to someone she'd known for less than two weeks, Dave relaxed his expression and spoke as if it were no big deal.
"Having someone of Berdia's caliber looking after you means that you, too, shoulder a lot of responsibilities. You can tell me about all that when you're comfortable."
"Ah, yes..."
Serika gave a dazed reply to his considerate attitude. Even in the midst of that, she could feel the pounding of her heart growing stronger.
What was this sensation?
She never felt it when facing other people. So why did her breathing grow shallow whenever she met Dave's smile?
"Oh, look. A perfect spot just happened to catch my eye."
At that moment, Dave pointed toward a street stall propped up in the distance.
When she turned her gaze that way, she spotted a merchant grilling skewered meat on a hot plate.
"We could eat those while we walk. I happened to be in need of a little snack myself—could I get you to buy me one or two?"
"Ah, of-of course! You can ask for as many as you like today."
What was money for if not for times like this? Why hold back? A single one, a hundred, a thousand—she'd buy them all for him. Serika made that resolution, then excitedly bought up a whole bunch of skewers and began stuffing them into her own mouth.
"You really do like skewers."
"Y-Yeah, I do like them... Aha-ha."
The stimulating taste and aroma unique to street food...
But even in that moment, Serika's attention was fixed on Dave beside her, taking small bites of his skewer and gazing around the street without a care in the world.
Enjoying food while taking in the sights of the bustling avenue.
Unlike her, he was fully immersed in this leisurely moment.
Yes, unlike her—who couldn't stop thinking about him even amidst this noisy street.
Am I the only one who's so conscious of him?
Perhaps.
Just as the thought crossed her mind—that maybe this feeling she had for him right now was strange—
"Ah. Serika? You've got a little something, right here."
His hand suddenly reached out and brushed across Serika's mouth, wiping away the sauce that had gotten on her lips.
Belatedly noticing it, Serika turned to look at Dave.
And in that moment, Dave was already bringing his own hand, smeared with the sauce, toward his own mouth.
The very same sauce that had been on her lips.
—Lick.
The instant she saw Dave lick his hand with his tongue without the slightest hesitation, her eyes began to widen until they were perfectly round.
"Oh..."
What had just happened?
A kiss... Yes, it was clearly an indirect kiss.
And one where he'd directly brought what had been on her lips to his own mouth...
An act that couldn't even be compared to swapping the mouth of the water bottle back in the dungeon.
"O-oh, ohh, oh, oh-ohhh..."
Something that had been in her own mouth had now passed into his and was seeping into his body.
The very moment she realized this, her thoughts came to a halt, and her fair skin was instantly dyed crimson.
"O-oh, oh-oh-oh! Oh-oh, ooh!!"
"...Serika?"
"Over there!!"
Immediately after, Serika shot her finger out toward a spot far away.
Then, the moment her words cut off, her eyes, which had been darting around wildly, combed through the shopping district before finally focusing on one place.
"Th-There just happens to be a place selling drinks over there!! Dave, you're thirsty too, aren't you!?"
"Ah, yes, but..."
"Let's go buy some right now and drink up!!"
With that, she grabbed his hand and pulled him along.
The action was deeply flustering from Dave's perspective, but Serika herself wasn't even conscious of the fact that she was holding his hand and moving forward; she was completely focused on the sensation of her hand pressed against her own pounding chest.
This is weird. This is so weird. Just what is wrong with me?
Thud. Thud.
A noise too violent to be merely the beating of a heart.
Anxious it might leak out for others to hear, she broke out in a cold sweat and began pursing her lips.
***
Inexperienced with men...
That kind of self-awareness had never existed in Serika's life until now.
Even before she'd left her hometown to follow Berdia, plenty of men had frequented the training ground, and before that, she'd mingled with the village kids in one way or another.
If she'd truly found men disconcerting in the first place, she never would have approached Dave of her own volition that day.
Indeed, at least during their first meeting, Serika hadn't been this conscious of Dave, either.
The trigger for her excessive awareness of him had been, of course, having sex with him without even realizing it—and ever since then, he had been on her mind in all sorts of ways. Not to mention the kindness he had shown her during her training...
As I thought. I can't help but take him seriously.
Berdia's training and discipline were brutal, and that was exactly why his warmth had touched her heart even more.
So it was only natural that she'd become overly aware of him.
Though she still didn't really understand why her body grew so flushed every time she thought of him...
...What about Dave, though?
In any case, she could admit she was paying a lot of attention to him.
Because of that, Serika couldn't help but want to know the answer to the question that followed.
What does Dave think of me?
Was he also conscious of her—the one he'd had relations with that day?
Or did he simply view her as nothing more than an object of consideration, as his behavior up until now seemed to suggest?
Was the consideration he'd shown so far, in truth, born from nothing but a sense of guilt over the accident that had occurred that day?
—Murmur, murmur.
While she was mired in such worries, Serika belatedly became aware of how noisy her surroundings had gotten.
She was surrounded by a sea of people. Something like a flashy performance was taking place before their eyes.
Had some street performers chosen this exact moment to appear? A performance would be the perfect thing to enjoy—but the problem was that the person who should have been beside her was nowhere to be seen.
"Dave? Dave, where did you... Eek?!"
Just like that, Serika was swept up by the crowd and pushed further inward. It seemed that in her concentration on calming her anxious heart, she had ended up separated from him.
To think she'd come out to enjoy themselves together, and ended up in this state.
She had to find him somehow, she thought, and was just about to push her way through the crowd when she suddenly felt her body pinned in place by the pressing weight from all directions.
"E-Excuse me, let me through for a sec—Hyeeek!?"
In the process, she felt a rough sensation against her rear. Someone's hand had slipped under her skirt.
"W-Wait, not there—!!"
It was just an accident. That was what she thought.
"M-Mmph!!"
Just as she was about to brush it off and move on, something clamped over her mouth.
Sensing that her mouth had been completely covered, Serika froze, not knowing what to do—and in that moment, the sensation crawling over her bottom gradually traveled lower, penetrating the cleft between her cheeks.
—Slick. Slick!
This was no accident.
This person was targeting her deliberately. He had ambushed her.
"Mmmph, mmph!!!"
She tried to resist that loathsome touch, but the pressure created by the crowd was still holding her body captive in this moment.
And most of all, as a consequence of the nightly acts of comforting herself to cool her heated body down, her flesh had become far too sensitive without her even realizing it.
~~~!!!
The moment her scream of resistance turned into a cry of pleasure.
But from her mouth, clamped shut with full force, only a faint breath barely managed to escape—and with nothing more than that trifling struggle, Serika was brought to the moment of climax and finished right then and there.
—Drip.
As the strength drained from her body, having been unable to put up any real resistance, the man who had violated her released the hand covering her mouth and showed her his other hand right in front of her face.
His fingers, glistening wet with the arousal that had come from her own body.
"What's this, missy?"
The moment the hawk-nosed man showed her that and whispered with a swagger into her ear—
"Don't tell me you actually came from being groped?"
At that, a terror that surpassed even the pleasure she'd been lost in.
Began to crawl its way up her spine.