Merchant Escort Quest #9
Merchant Escort Quest #9
"A favor?"
"You don't remember? When we decided to form a fixed party, we set some rules. If you ask me more than ten questions, then in return, you have to grant me a small favor."
"A small favor...? Oh, right. That was a thing."
Rebecca fumbled around inside her clothes and pulled something out.
A closer look revealed it was five copper coins.
"Hey, you're not seriously—"
"I'll pay the fine."
This girl has no reverse gear.
She's actually planning to pay the fine without even hearing me out?
Of course, Rebecca seemed to think that just tossing the coins over right away would be a waste. She simply stood there staring at me, one coin pinched between each finger.
She was poised to throw them and bolt, so she had to be cautious.
"L-Look, Rebecca. Don't you think it's a waste of money? I mean, five coppers is enough for two days' worth of meals if you really stretch it."
"True, but if you try to make me do something weird, I'm ready to pay. Besides, this goes into the fixed party public fund anyway, right?"
"You have no faith in your party member..."
When I put on a gloomy expression, Rebecca clasped her hands behind her back and stealthily hid the coins from view.
She opened her mouth as if she was willing to at least hear me out.
"So, what's the favor?"
"First, shall we move? There are too many eyes here."
"Hmm, so it's the kind of thing you'd be self-conscious about."
I took a few steps and moved to a spot shaded by the public bathhouse. It was an area hemmed in by buildings where people rarely looked. I led Rebecca there and stopped at a suitable point.
"What on earth do you want to do?"
I cleared my throat and spoke.
"Could you just stand still right there for five minutes? Of course, only your feet have to stay still. You can move your hands or whatever."
"All I have to do is stand still?"
Rebecca stared at me with a questioning look. Saying she could use her hands meant that if things got weird, she could restrain me. With a body trained through exercise, holding me back would be easy for her.
"Yeah."
At my answer, a playful smile spread across Rebecca's lips.
She raised both palms and posed them forward. It was similar to the hand-slapping games we used to play as kids.
"You know what? In my kingdom, there's a game called the Push Game, where you try to shove the other person using only your palms. I've never once lost at the Push Game."
Similar to the hand-slapping games kids play on Earth.
People really do think alike no matter where you go.
So, fuck, she's basically saying she'll shove me if I try anything weird.
"If you try anything funny on your own, I'll push you."
She genuinely looked ready to do it. Rebecca wiggled her hips loosely and mimed slapping her palms together.
Sticking her tongue out at me was just infuriating.
But I was confident.
As long as my feet didn't move, I was sure I could steer Rebecca however I wanted.
"What? Why do you look so relaxed?"
"Because there's no way I'm losing to you. Now I'm going to count. Just stay quiet for exactly five minutes."
"...Mm-hm."
I stood facing Rebecca in a standoff for a moment. Without paying any attention to her palms, I just stared at her face. What I did next couldn't have been simpler. I approached her slowly, like I was out for a stroll, and reached my hands behind her.
"Y-You! You're trying to pounce on me...!"
"I'm not trying to pounce."
I pulled Rebecca into a hug.
One hand went around her waist, the other cupped her back.
I tightened my hold a little, making her lean against me.
"W-What are you doing?"
Rebecca, who had been wary, didn't seem intent on pushing me just yet.
Probably because I wasn't touching any sensitive areas.
I was merely holding her.
"A hug."
A close-contact hug, the kind that lovers do.
Shifting her posture, Rebecca's soft breasts pressed against my body.
Resting in my arms, Rebecca sounded flustered.
"A hug?"
"Just holding each other quietly. This is perfectly fine, isn't it? Even if it's not, please just say it's fine. Please."
"...Ugh."
"I've always wanted to do this if I ever got a girlfriend. Holding each other gently like this. Of course, you and I aren't like that, but we can just play a little game. Like a lover's play."
I meant every word.
A tight hug was definitely on the list of things I wanted to do if I ever got a lover. It's not exactly anything lewd; it's just a warm embrace. It was a favor that wasn't aggressive, yet could satisfy my more sordid desires.
"Well, if that's your intention..."
Rebecca didn't seem to have any major objections. Come to think of it, she had once learned a self-comfort method from me. Having received such a culture-shock education, a simple embrace was probably easy for her to accept.
"Lover's play..."
Rebecca's cheeks flushed at the phrase 'lover's play'.
Carefully, she reached out her hands and hugged me back.
From that moment, I was able to relax and enjoy the hug with Rebecca.
As I buried my face in her red hair, a lovely fragrance wafted around me. Perhaps because she'd just finished bathing, her hair was still slightly damp. The scent of sweet fruit was richer than before.
Then suddenly, Rebecca trembled.
"P-People are looking at us..."
"So?"
"They're watching us and laughing..."
I didn't need to turn around to know what she was talking about. Even in a shaded spot, we were near a bustling main street. There were bound to be a couple of people who had wandered by and spotted me and Rebecca.
"If you're embarrassed, there's a way. Just think of it as a lover's play, like I said. Use your imagination to the fullest. Imagine that it's not some flippant incubus standing in front of you, but some handsome guy who's your type."
"Hey, does that mean you're thinking of some other woman right now?"
"As if. Anyway, that's just what I'm saying."
After my advice, Rebecca's trembling subsided.
The five minutes flew by like an arrow.
"Hmm."
Rebecca stayed in my arms for a long while, then eventually buried her head in my shoulder for some reason.
I thought she looked pretty cute with her head bowed like a gentle lamb. If only she'd be this docile all the time.
Before I knew it, the five minutes were up.
As promised, I let go of Rebecca.
Since I'd only asked for a hug, I had no intention of taking things any further.
But oddly enough, Rebecca didn't let go of me.
Was she losing track of time?
"Five minutes is up."
"I know..."
"Then let go. We have to go look at the dwarves."
"Sorry. I suddenly lost interest. We don't need to go sightseeing."
"Huh?"
I tilted my head at Rebecca's words.
Didn't we come out of the inn just to see the dwarves?
Since her head was buried in my shoulder, I couldn't see her expression.
Rebecca kept her face hidden and continued talking.
"You said this was a lover's play, right?"
"Yeah."
"A game is something you do together. You asked me for a hug, so there's something I want to ask you. There's something I've always wanted to do."
What right do you have to—?
I stopped my tongue before saying it.
Because I suddenly became curious about what Rebecca would ask of me.
Knowing this girl, her request would probably stop at the level of playing house. Still, there's always a bit of anticipation, isn't there?
Rebecca abruptly lifted her head and looked at me.
The tip of her nose was slightly red.
"I want to kiss."
"Kiss?"
Oh.
In that moment, my anticipation didn't just get met—it smashed through the ceiling.
I never imagined that her request under the pretense of a lover's play would be a kiss.
It was an act on a completely different level of intensity compared to a hug.
Wait, no—fuck, did I just hear that right?
This stubborn girl is asking me for a kiss?
"I've always been curious why couples press their lips together. To me, it just looks suffocating. But if we're doing a lover's play, that's the first thing I want to confirm."
"Are you serious?"
The lover's play, which was just a flimsy excuse, seemed to have flipped some kind of switch inside Rebecca's head.
Acting nonchalant, Rebecca stared straight at me.
It was a funny thing, but Rebecca and I had never actually kissed.
We'd touched each other's bare skin and I'd even taught her how to masturbate, but we never got around to kissing.
I figured it wasn't a bad request.
Practicing kissing together would definitely help a lot when we did mana charging.
"Hold still, Luke."
Rebecca raised her hands like she was going to eat me alive and walked toward me slowly.
She was striking a weird pose to hide her embarrassment, but she wasn't scary at all.
If anything, her clumsy imitation of a predator was just funny.
Smack.
Rebecca gave me a light peck.
I felt the plump sensation of her lips for an instant before it vanished.
A light kiss, like a bird pecking with its beak.
I stared at Rebecca with a dumbfounded look after she pulled her lips away so quickly.
"Don't tell me that's it? That was a kiss, just touching lips for a second?"
"Shut up, idiot. I'll try again."
It seemed the kiss she had intended wasn't this.
Clearly, a kiss between lovers wouldn't be something this light.
After hesitating briefly, Rebecca pressed her lips to mine again.
This time, she kept her lips slightly parted and kissed me in a way that seemed to sandwich my lips between hers. The ticklish sensation on my lips felt pretty nice.
I could have used my own strength here to mix our tongues, but I chose not to.
It was genuinely rare for Rebecca to take the initiative like this.
Even if it was frustrating and clumsy, I felt like I wanted to watch.
Besides, the feeling of standing still and being kissed by Rebecca was incredible.
It felt like I was being serviced by a noble lady.
Eventually, Rebecca succeeded in pushing her tongue past my lips. Her tongue clumsily tickled mine. I felt a little guilty just letting her do all the work, so I started moving my tongue to match her actions.
Truth be told, as fitting for a virgin incubus, it was my first kiss too.
I never really knew what it felt like until now.
But with Rebecca fervently working her tongue in front of me, I felt the pleasure.
Her tongue movements were unskilled, but it felt far lewder than any kiss I'd ever seen in an adult video.
"Hahh."
A moment later, Rebecca and I finished the kiss. A thin thread of saliva connected our lips. For me, it was an immensely satisfying kiss, but Rebecca didn't seem to feel the same way.
"L-Let's do it one more time..."
"You want to do it again?"
"I still don't really get it."
Rebecca was making the request with a deeply flushed face.
She was speaking through her embarrassment; there was no way I could refuse. The moment I said okay, Rebecca pressed her lips to mine again. This time, deeper, using her tongue more often. As time went on, I could see her kissing technique become slightly more skillful.
We had long since forgotten about going to see the dwarves.
Those damn midgets suddenly seemed like the least important thing in the world compared to this kiss. Rebecca and I kept kissing until the late afternoon.
Then, suddenly, I realized something important.
"Rebecca."
"Uh, yeah? What is it?"
Rebecca was panting heavily.
She seemed completely oblivious to what had just happened to us.
Having kissed for so long, it was natural for her to be out of it.
"My mana increased."
"What?"
"Our kiss just recharged our mana. Can't you feel it?"
"Ah."
Only then did Rebecca seem to realize the change in her body.
By now, she must have noticed the warm energy growing inside her. It was a much smaller amount than an official mana charging session, but our mana was definitely growing with every kiss. But kissing had a massive advantage that doing the real deed couldn't compare to. Namely, it was an act we could do outdoors without any trouble.
Like during a quest.
I grabbed Rebecca's shoulders with an excited expression.
"We can do mana charging outside now too. So, here's what I'm thinking. Let's increase our mana by kissing at least once a day. It feels like a waste to do nothing during a quest, you know."
"O-Once a day...?"
"Why? Think it'll be tough?"
Rebecca hurriedly shook her head.
Her neck flushed red too, and she bowed her head, unable to meet my eyes.
"It's not that..."
"If it's not that, then what?"
Instead of speaking, Rebecca held up two fingers.
"Twice is okay?"
"...No."
Then why'd you hold up two fingers?
I pondered for a moment, then opened my mouth again with a look of disbelief.
"Don't tell me... more than twice?"
"...Mm-hm."
That was it.
Bingo.
'Oh, shit.'
My mouth was hanging open in shock.
More than two mana charging sessions a day was okay?
It seemed Rebecca had taken a liking to kissing much more than I expected.
She always kept her guard up, but on this particular matter, she was opening her heart.
Just what was it that put her in such a good mood?
Did she just really like the phrase 'lover's play'?
After that, I kissed Rebecca again right before we entered the inn.
This time, I was the one who asked, and Rebecca nodded obediently and accepted the kiss.
The moment I pulled her waist tight during the kiss and pressed our bodies close together.
I realized it without meaning to.
The fact that I could feel her nipples hardening through the fabric.
It was absolutely not my imagination.
With our bodies pressed so tightly together, it was impossible not to feel her stiffened nipples even if I tried to ignore them.
As we pulled apart, I subtly rubbed against the tips of her breasts, and in that moment, a faint moan escaped her.
"Haah."