The Incompetent Hero's Triumphant Return (3)
The Kingdom of Pruin was currently in the midst of a grand festival.
At the very moment the kingdom teetered on the brink of annihilation, a hero had appeared as if by miracle, crushed the Demon King's forces, and saved the realm from ruin.
A story that belonged in fairy tales had unfolded in real life — who could fail to be stirred? Who could fail to rejoice?
Baekryeon and I stood atop the royal castle, watching the capital's nightscape still roaring with festival fervor well into the small hours, the corners of our mouths lifting.
"Now this is what they call a triumphant return."
"Hm? Doryeong, you know a bit of the Yeom Kingdom tongue?"
"…Well, I picked up a little, somehow."
Baekryeon looked at me with mild curiosity. I deflected her gaze and brushed it off with a vague excuse; she didn't seem particularly bothered and let it slide.
"At any rate, the king of this land is quite the generous sort."
"Well, a son he thought had gone astray came home a success. Anyone would be glad."
"Hahaha. So Doryeong was the wayward son, was he?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
A hero who had appeared in the kingdom — only to be written off as the Incompetent Hero. That was more than enough to earn the label of a disappointment. They had even gathered talented people and built him a party, only for every last one of those "talents" to abandon him for greener pastures. The king's stomach must have been rotting from the inside out.
Ah… speaking of talent…
I'd been so busy soaking up the extravagant welcome and meeting the king that it had completely slipped my mind. I was fairly certain Tiris was locked up in the dungeons beneath this place.
I'll have to bring it up with His Majesty tomorrow.
Truth be told, even the audience with the king hadn't involved anything particularly deep. It had mostly been about the merit of crushing the undead legion, and that was about it.
I was fine, but Baekryeon was visibly exhausted, and the people inside the royal castle — though no one said it out loud — had been under siege by the undead and were carrying a heavy load of fatigue. So the day had been spent declaring a grand festival, both to let everyone rest and to announce to the populace that the crisis was over.
The real, in-depth conversations were scheduled to begin tomorrow.
"Did Doryeong know the legion of the dead would come here?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Because you were determined to come here even before hearing a word about this place. And in quite a hurry, at that."
"…"
Well, she wasn't wrong. Anyone looking at it from the outside would think the same.
"If you do not wish to say?"
"Then that would be a pity. But I shall not press the matter overmuch."
"…Not everything, but sometimes I get a sense of things yet to come."
"Indeed. I see. Thank you for answering."
Baekryeon rose from her seat. We had been told to speak up whenever anything was lacking during our stay, and she seemed to be giving some instruction to the head lady-in-waiting assigned to attend us. Were we short on food? Or wine?
Baekryeon always did have a strong head for drink.
In the game's settings she was extremely resistant to alcohol — giving her liquor as a gift was one of the better ways to raise her affection.
"What does Doryeong intend to do from here?"
"Me? …I'll do what I have to do, I suppose."
"What you must do — as a hero, then?"
"That's right."
Baekryeon nodded as if she understood, then drew out a bottle of wine.
"And this is?"
"Baekryeon wine. A liquor that shares this one's name, and thus a favorite of mine. Fortune smiled — they had it in this country as well."
"Oh…"
Baekryeon wine… I'd never seen it before. Come to think of it, since arriving in this world, this was the first time I'd laid eyes on anything finer than ordinary beer.
I looked at it with open curiosity, and Baekryeon smiled faintly as she held out a cup.
"Shall we share it?"
"Gladly."
I accepted the wine she poured and drank. The characteristic bitterness of liquor, followed by a faint sweetness, then a smooth finish down the throat. So this was what the finest wine felt like — the thought hit me all at once.
"This is good."
"Is it? I am glad it suits Doryeong's palate. Here — another cup."
"What about you?"
"This one… would rather speak with a clear head, not under the influence of wine. Once I have said all I mean to say to Doryeong, then I shall drink."
Something she wanted to say?
I watched Baekryeon as she poured. She filled my cup with quiet, formal care, then returned to her seat.
"As Doryeong already knows, this one has been gathering strength for the sake of hunting the monster who slaughtered my entire house… Red Oni."
"Yeah. I know that much. You told me yourself."
"The reason I came to this place… was, in truth, because of something the old shaman told me — that I should seek someone out."
"The old shaman?"
"A mudang under whose care this one lived, back in my homeland."
According to her, the shaman she called "Granny" had urged her not to pursue revenge. The end of vengeance, she had said, would not be a kind one. But Baekryeon could not simply abandon her vendetta on those words alone; she had continued her training while gathering every scrap of information on Red Oni's whereabouts.
She's not wrong, though.
In the original route, chasing that revenge to the end got her toyed with by Red Oni and turned into his sex slave. Not a happy ending by any measure.
"In the end, perhaps concluding that this one's stubbornness would not yield, Granny offered a single piece of counsel. She said there would be a guide who could set the fate of my star upon its proper path — and told me to go to the center… to seek out the heroes."
A guide to set her fate right…
I could tell that this "Granny" was someone formidable in more ways than one. But a shaman granny… had there even been a character like that in the game's lore…?
"And so I came here and encountered the heroes."
"What? Those bastards?"
"Well… the only one I met in person was Doryeong. The rest I could judge well enough from the rumors alone. No matter how I considered it, the other heroes did not strike me as ones who would guide this one. But Doryeong was different. The grounds for dismissing you as merely 'incompetent' were far too thin. So I had no choice but to meet you myself."
"How did you find out where I was?"
"That was pure chance. A miracle, truly."
Having stumbled upon me by accident, Baekryeon had collapsed in my path and pretended to be unconscious. But at that moment, she said, she had been thoroughly startled.
"I could not hear your footsteps."
"…"
"Few are those who employ a distinctive footwork even while simply walking a mountain trail. More than that… I could not see the end of Doryeong. You spoke as if ordinary, yet left not a single opening; you walked as if ordinary, yet continuously used footwork designed to maintain distance against an enemy who might appear from anywhere, at any time. Watching that, I thought: the guide Granny spoke of — the one who would lead my fate — must be Doryeong."
…That was just the Sword King Footwork and Grand Counter, but…
No need to mention that.
"What gave me the greatest certainty was this last battle. That divine technique… I have neither seen nor heard of its like. The sword-ki with which Doryeong eradicated that black-wave legion of the dead in a single stroke… it is the most ideal sword this one has ever conceived."
Having said that, Baekryeon bowed her head. Not the light, casual manner she usually spoke with — but with deep, earnest gravity.
"I entreat you. Teach this one your sword. No… you need not teach me. Simply allow me to remain at your side. Even watching Doryeong's blade is of great help. If I stay by you… I feel as though one day I might grasp the sword that cuts all things under heaven… no. The Sword That Cuts What One Desires."
"…Haa."
When she put it like that, turning her down would make me garbage, wouldn't it?
More than that… I got lonely wandering around by myself!! I'd been reborn into this world with this kind of power — was it so wrong to have one or two beautiful companions?
"Fine. Do as you like."
"! Truly?"
"Well… if I'd meant to shake you off, I'd have done it ages ago… ugh?!…"
In that instant, something went wrong with my body.
I couldn't… move properly. What the hell was—
"Kh… Don't tell me— Baekryeon, you—!"
"…I did not expect Doryeong to agree so readily… but I suppose it matters little."
Wait — a betrayal flag, here?! What did I even do to deserve this!!
A soft rustle of fabric.
"…Uh. What are you doing?"
"Mm… originally this was a paralysis silk Granny gave me for when things did not go as planned. But Doryeong accepted far more easily than expected."
"No, I'm asking what that has to do with you taking your clothes off—"
"Do not worry. This one has kept her maidenhood for the sake of a single husband."
Baekryeon began to undress, slowly. Her hanbok slipped to the floor without resistance, and before long her body — white as polished jade — was fully revealed.
It was a body I could confidently call more perfect than any woman's I had ever seen. Because she was a swordswoman, not a single ounce of excess flesh marred the clean lines of her figure; at the same time, her full, beautifully jutting breasts made me swallow hard on pure instinct. Any man would have wanted to dive face-first into those soft-looking breasts right then and there.
"The original plan was… to create a fait accompli and travel with Doryeong that way. But since you have given your permission, I shall serve as your bed partner in exchange."
"Hey — who said you get to decide that on your own?!"
"Hm…? Don't tell me Doryeong prefers men? That would be a blind spot I failed to account for…"
"I do not!!"
You crazy woman! Don't call me gay!!
"Hmm? Then what is there to object to?"
"Who the hell just says 'I'll be your bed partner' out of nowhere and expects a guy to go 'Oh, wonderful~'?! And while he's drugged with paralysis, no less!!!"
Damn it. A paralysis drug… I hadn't seen that coming. I'd gotten complacent because I could shrug off most physical interference. There were any number of indirect ways to weaken someone…!
My body still wouldn't move. The most I could manage was the faintest twitch of a fingertip.
"There is a saying, is there not — that heroes are fond of beauty. In all the time we have traveled together, you have shown no such inclination whatsoever. If that was out of consideration for this one, then you need not hold back with me."
"Argh, she doesn't listen to a word I say!!!"
Whether I raged or not, Baekryeon settled into my arms. She was taller and more solidly built than the average woman, and I was on the smaller side for a well-built man — so she fit into my embrace as if she'd been made for it.
"…As expected. A thoroughly tempered body."
I'd heard that line before, when Syr was entertaining me at the brothel.
Baekryeon rubbed her body against mine in small, deliberate motions and began undressing me in turn.
"S-stop that!…"
"Do not worry. Though this one is a maiden, I have studied the joining of man and woman in writing."
"That's not what I'm worried about!!!"
Ah, no—! Sh-she got them off!!!…
"…?"
"Ah."
Having stripped away my trousers, she tilted her head at the thing that was making its presence known with rather unimpressive confidence.
Ah, fuck. I wanted to die.
"…Pfft…"
Why did Baekryeon's laughter sound so especially loud? Why else? Because she'd just discovered the pathetic state of my cock, that's why. What was even the point of living anymore.
"I understand now. So this is why Doryeong has been so reluctant."
"…Yeah. Fuck."
"I do not believe the joining of man and woman is decided solely by the size of this… but such comfort is meaningless to a man, I suppose. Do not worry. The ways of joining man and woman are not limited to this one alone."
"W-what are you planning to do…?"
"What indeed…?"
Baekryeon slowly caressed my body. It was just like what I had once done to Syr — heightening the sensitivity of the flesh while grinding her body against mine. The soft, full sensation of her generous breasts spread across my skin, and a pleasant feeling I couldn't put into words took over my entire body.
"Kh… you…"
I was about to ask how she was better at this than a professional when I noticed one difference from last time.
"That drug… had an aphrodisiac in it too, didn't it?"
"Mm… well, yes. Thanks to it, even the inexperienced can feel quite a lot, no?"
So saying, Baekryeon closed her eyes and quietly pressed her lips to mine. First lightly, then more deeply the second time; on the third she slipped her tongue in with dense, lingering heat, kissing so thoroughly that my breath caught for a moment. She lingered in the aftertaste of the kiss before speaking.
"…I will say this in advance. I am doing this because I decided it would not matter if I offered my body to Doryeong. I am a woman who knows shame as well."
"…Ah. Is that so?"
"You do not believe me…"
Ah — my body was starting to move again. The paralysis itself didn't last all that long. I seized both of Baekryeon's arms — the same arms that had been running wild over me so freely until now.
"Eh…"
"You've had quite the free rein until now, Baekryeon."
"Ah… has it already worn off?"
"Yeah."
Killer Spot
I could see them. Baekryeon's weak points.
I gripped her ass hard.
"Hiiit♥"
"You always talk like some little old lady, but it turns out you can make some pretty cute sounds."
"Euut…"
A soft give under my hands.
Soft. Genuinely soft. Soft enough that I could have spent a lifetime touching it — and at the same time, a hand-feel that clung perfectly to the palm.
"Eut… euk♥… Do-Doryeong… you've… handled women… quite a…"
"What was that?"
"Hik♥♥"
I pinched her nipple and shut the mouth that was still trying to play it cool.
"I've changed my mind."
"Euhng…?"
"Until tonight is over, you are absolutely not allowed to pass out."
"Hkeuut…♥… w-what… are you…"
Wherever I touched, Baekryeon's body was soft and good. Soft beyond what you'd expect from a swordswoman's physique, yet with a subtle firmness that made her a pleasure both to look at and to handle — and the more I touched her, the more she came undone, heat building in her body, panting in a way I found thoroughly satisfying.
"If you faint, I'm canceling the part about taking you with me. You said you'd be my bed partner, right? Then you can last until the end, can't you?"
"Th-that's…"
"Ah, and for the record — I won't let you leave either. So relax."
Baekryeon's expression darkened. But at the same time, I could see it: the heat nested deep, deep in her eyes.
And so, until the morning sun rose, I played with Baekryeon's body to my heart's content…
"…"
"Ah… now what do I do about this."
I looked at the room steeped in the thick scent of a female in heat, at the floor soaked in love juices and urine, and let out a long sigh.