Chapter 172: Revenge
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 172: Revenge
A few days later.
“Haa… I want to die.”
Pots muttered gloomily as he drank.
“What on earth happened? Why are you like this? Where’s that girlfriend you couldn’t live without? Why are you drinking alone?”
Sitting opposite him across the table, Guwon asked as though he knew nothing.
They were in the dining room of an inn on the 2nd Floor. Returning from a hunt, Guwon had found Pots sitting there alone, drinking.
Even after Guwon’s party finished eating, Pots was still drinking with an expression that suggested he was one step from death. That was why Guwon had come over to his table.
“Kate is the problem! Aaaaah! Kaaate!”
Shut up, you bastard. Don’t shout just because you’re drunk.
And even without you saying it, I know better than anyone that the problem is between you and Kate. How could I not? I’m the one who made it happen.
Though this idiot apparently couldn’t imagine that.
Pots had begun suspecting Kate of cheating when I knocked on their door and exchanged looks with her.
Even after that hint, the idiot still didn’t suspect me at all.
It wasn’t that he trusted me. It was more that he didn’t even recognize that moment as the starting point of the current situation.
That was why he could complain to me so casually like this.
Anyway, ever since then, Guwon and Kate had tried various things to intensify Pots’s suspicions.
First, Kate always sought Guwon out after sleeping with Pots. Once she learned that I disliked inserting myself where another man had ejaculated, she said she’d started taking all of Pots’s semen in her mouth.
In this world, oral sex was something you did for someone you loved. That left Pots spending each day in a complicated state: suspicious of Kate, yet still trusting her in another sense.
And because he couldn’t properly satisfy Kate, he apparently hadn’t been able to level up much lately, either.
There was even a time when Pots tried to set the mood and kiss her in the dining room, but before their lips met, she slipped away and sucked Guwon’s cock. Once—only once—she even went straight to Pots and embraced him immediately after Guwon had ejaculated inside her.
Honestly, when I came inside Kate, we’d thought of it as the decisive day.
But while Pots was thrusting, foamy white fluid emerged from where they were joined, and the idiot mistook it for thick arousal fluid from Kate enjoying herself too much.
Naturally, Pots became even more excited and went wild. Watching that foolish display from the ceiling, Guwon and Sara lost their enthusiasm, returned to Guwon’s room, and had sex themselves.
No, seriously. Seeing another man’s semen inside her had actually reduced his suspicions? Did that make any sense?
Because Pots was far more foolish than expected, Guwon and Kate had to keep escalating their actions. Only then did they gradually make the relationship deteriorate.
The sickeningly affectionate couple had now reached the point where they fought whenever they met, day after day.
So for Pots, whose life revolved around Kate, things were unbearable. His relationship with the woman he loved kept getting worse.
His love for Kate even seemed sincere enough that he felt ashamed of himself for suspecting her.
Though it was fact, rather than mere suspicion.
His face grew more haggard every day, to the point where I wondered whether he might kill himself even if we did nothing else.
If he did, that would be a fitting outcome in its own way. Still, it was better to make certain.
And I thought this was the opportunity.
Tonight happened to be Sara’s turn. It was a perfect day to act.
Guwon’s party was also about due for another visit to the city, so there was no need to drag things out.
We’d eaten away at his mind like this. Now it was time to make him deliriously happy.
“Well, what’s happened with your girlfriend?”
“I’m the one who wants to know! Kate’s been enjoying sex so much lately, our compatibility keeps getting better, her insides feel better than ever, and she serves me so devotedly! So why does she keep acting suspiciously?! And she gets angry at every little thing! Just now, too…”
That’s exactly why she’s angry, you idiot.
She isn’t enjoying herself with you. She looks satisfied because she’s been with me first. Your compatibility hasn’t improved; her level rose because I came inside her once, so she feels better. And she isn’t serving you devotedly; she uses her mouth to stop you from coming inside her.
“Tsk, tsk. After bragging so much about your girlfriend, you can’t even manage the one you have? Learn from your big brother here. I have three…”
“If you’re just here to rub it in, get lost!”
This bastard had done practically the same thing to me every time we met…
But I let it pass.
“Phew… Listen carefully. Your big brother, who gets along peacefully with three women without a problem, will offer one piece of advice to a pitiful bastard like you.”
“…What is it?”
Perhaps desperate for anything to cling to, Pots looked at Guwon earnestly despite his arrogant tone.
“Sometimes a relationship with a woman goes a little wrong. But if you share an unbreakable, true bond, it becomes no more than a passing incident. If things with Kate are strained and you don’t know why, creating a true bond might be more effective than trying to discover some reason you can’t understand.”
Guwon talked as though he were an expert on love.
With things like this, any nonsense sounded convincing if you phrased it well. It was particularly effective on someone drunk.
“What’s this true bond you’re talking about?”
“You idiot. How many truly inseparable bonds can there be between a man and a woman?”
“…I see! I should get Kate pregnant! Ah, but the contraceptive magic is still…”
“You idiot! Is that all you think about?! There’s something you need to do before getting her pregnant!”
“What? Something I need to do?”
“Propose. Propose to her!”
At Guwon’s shout, Pots sprang up with a look of sudden realization.
“Pro… pose…!”
“In the world I came from, people say one successful proposal can make an entire married life happy. Women are weak to that sort of thing. A romantic proposal with a sincere promise to look only at her and take responsibility for her for the rest of your life. However strained things have been lately, Kate still likes you, doesn’t she? Then one romantic proposal will solve whatever problems you two have.”
“I see…! I see…! Ah, but…”
“Hm? What’s the problem now? Don’t tell me you don’t want to get married yet. You’re so crazy about her, but you don’t actually want to marry her? That’s completely…”
“No! Of course I do! But the money…”
“…Where did you spend everything you’ve earned?”
An adventurer capable of hunting on the 2nd Floor would naturally earn a considerable amount.
He should have savings. This idiot alone might not, but he had Kate with him.
“I enjoy every moment of my life to the fullest! Of course I don’t have savings!”
“Is that something to brag about? Kate just let you do that?”
“Of course. Kate manages most of our income anyway. The money I spend is the allowance she gives me to spend, so there’s no problem.”
So he lived on an allowance.
She really had him firmly under her thumb.
“…Fine. I’ll lend you enough to buy a ring.”
“What?! Really?!”
“Yes, you idiot. What are friends for?”
“Y-You… You’re a good guy!”
Pots tightly grasped both of Guwon’s hands.
Let go. I’m not interested in physical affection with some sweaty man.
Especially not trash like you.
“So, how much do you need?”
“Hehe. As much as possible…”
Seeing Pots put his hands together ingratiatingly, Guwon casually pulled a handful of gold coins from his inventory.
I could recover the money later anyway. This much was nothing.
“Here. Take it.”
“Th-This much?!”
“I’m lending it, not giving it to you. Make sure you pay me back.”
“O-Of course! Don’t worry! If things work out with Kate, I’ll treat you as my lifelong benefactor and repay you twice over!”
“Right. Then hurry. You’ll have to go up to buy a proper ring, won’t you? If you don’t leave now, you won’t be back today.”
“R-Right! Then I’m off!”
As though he’d never worn that half-dead expression, Pots ran out of the inn with a bright smile, having found a thread of hope.
And that would be his final smile.
Laugh all you like now. There was only despair waiting ahead.
First, Guwon went to Sara’s room to explain what had happened.
“…I see. Then, at last…”
“Yes. At last.”
“…Understood.”
It would take him quite some time to buy a ring and return.
After discussing what would happen with Sara in detail and making sure their stories matched, Guwon headed to Pots’s room.
Pots had been drinking alone downstairs, but Kate probably hadn’t gone anywhere.
More likely, they’d fought and she’d driven him out of the room.
Guwon opened the door without knocking.
As expected, it wasn’t locked, and Kate was alone inside.
“Pots, you… G-Guwon!”
As the door opened, Kate started shouting irritably, then saw Guwon’s face and immediately changed to a bright smile.
“Quite a performance…”
“Well, yes. What’s going on?”
“The time has finally come.”
“I see. Then…”
“Yes. First, accept Pots’s proposal as planned. Make him as happy as you possibly can. I’m counting on you.”
“Haa… So that is the plan. Fine. But in return… you remember, don’t you?”
“Yes. I’ll give you pleasure you’ll never forget. See you later.”
I said that and opened the door.
Did you think I was leaving after those few words? Of course not.
I’d opened the door to the room’s bathroom.
And I had to wait there for quite a long time.
Dammit. Had I come too early? No, it was still better than being late.
Our lengthy plan had finally reached its conclusion.
I could wait for hours.
“K-Kate!”
“You’re too loud! What is it?! Why are you suddenly shouting?!”
With my ear against the bathroom door, I could hear their conversation clearly.
“Kate. There’s something I need to say.”
“What?! What have you done now?”
“That’s not it. Please listen, Kate.”
Despite her sharp response, Pots persisted, speaking more calmly than usual.
“I’ve thought a lot about why things suddenly became like this between us.”
“Because you’re always, always, always suspecting me!”
“Yes. I didn’t trust you enough. And I wasn’t very dependable myself. But Kate, please understand. Even those suspicions came from loving you.”
“Anyone can say sweet things like that…!”
“So, Kate. Marry me—no, please marry me. From now on, I want to trust you in every situation and become a man you can trust, too. I want to keep living with you, always.”
“Ah…!”
Oh, well done, Pots.
He’d copied about half of my advice, but even so, it was a fairly good proposal.
Congratulations. I mean that sincerely.
Ironically, Sara and I were probably the ones wishing hardest for your happiness at this moment.
“Y-You… You really…”
“Yes. I won’t suspect you again. So, Kate…”
Nothing had been proven, and he still had reason to be suspicious, yet he rushed into saying he would never suspect her again.
Well, his foolishness was what made things so easy.
“Will you… m-marry me?”
He asked in an uncharacteristically trembling voice.
“…I’m sorry.”
“K-Kate?!”
“I’m sorry… for getting angry for no reason all this time… I… I didn’t know you felt that strongly about me…!”
“K-Kate! Th-Then…!”
“Yes. I want to marry you, too!”
“Kate!”
What a happy-sounding voice.
Sara, probably watching from the ceiling, must have been furious enough to want to beat him to death immediately.
“And… there’s something else I need to confess.”
…Hm? Wait. What? Confess? This wasn’t part of the plan.
“The reason I kept getting angry was…”
Wait! Fuck! She wasn’t going to betray us, was she?!
I was about to burst out of the bathroom, but Kate spoke a little sooner.
“Because I’m pregnant with your child.”
…Huh?
“Wh-What? Kate?! Really?!”
“…Yes. I miscalculated the dates for the contraceptive magic… I haven’t had much appetite lately, and I keep getting irritated, so I had a test… And I haven’t slept with any man besides you…”
“Th-Then…!”
“Yes. There’s… a child of yours and mine inside me.”
“K-Kaaate!”
Phew. What a fright. That really startled me.
Kate, you little… If you’re going to improvise like that, tell me beforehand.
This wasn’t revenge for all my improvisations so far, was it?
I’d nearly jumped out.
“Kate! I love you!”
“Yes. Me too. Come here…”
“H-Huh?! But the baby…”
“It’s alright. In fact, in a few days we probably won’t be able to anymore. So we should do plenty now. Besides… if not on a day like this, when would we?”
“Kaaate!”
Pots called Kate’s name in a voice so happy that hearing it alone conveyed how close he was to dying of joy.