Chapter 298: Mission Preparations
Chapter 298: Mission Preparations
“No way! How did you even come to that conclusion! That’s impossible! Logically!”
“Then are you truly refusing?”
“Yes! I already have people I love! Why the hell would I have to sleep with you?!”
“You must be talking about Lady Telluna, correct? But then why would she make such a request? Was it not you who put her up to it?”
“A request? What request?”
“Did she not strongly emphasize that I should treat you well during the mission? I believe that, of course, includes tending to your needs at night.”
Miriel’s words left me frozen for a moment.
“Wait. What are you talking about?”
“Hm? I thought you heard her properly as well.”
At her words, I tried to recall the memory.
Diana told her to tend to my needs at night?
No matter how hard I thought, we’d never had a conversation with that kind of nuance.
However, she had definitely told Miriel to take good care of me.
Could it be…
“Ah, ahh! Hey! That’s not what she meant! What she said back then was for you not to sleep with me, wasn't it?!”
“Hm? How could her words be interpreted that way?”
“And how could you interpret ‘take good care of him’ as ‘tend to his needs at night’?!”
“I’m the one who doesn’t understand how you reached that conclusion. I’m no fool. I know the rumors about our clan. A clan crazy for sex, where men’s dreams come true. To entrust a man to a clan like that and ask us to ‘treat him well’… it has to mean that, doesn’t it?”
“No, no, no. Think about it. It’s weird, isn’t it?! Diana loves me! Why would she ask another woman to tend to her man’s needs at night? It’s bizarre!”
“It’s precisely because she loves you that she wants to make you a man worthy of her as quickly as possible. That must be why she went out of her way to ask me, a high-level adventurer, for such a favor.”
“My Diana is not that kind of woman!”
“Is that so? Are you certain?”
Miriel spoke with such conviction that, even though I was sure, I hesitated for a moment before answering.
Seeing my slight hesitation, Miriel nodded as if she knew it all along and continued.
“To be honest, I’m not particularly keen on sleeping with you either. I have no need to raise my level anymore, so sleeping with you would be nothing more than me unilaterally bestowing a favor. So when Lady Telluna said that, I was frankly disappointed in her. That’s why I was planning to leave your nightly service to Lutia. But now that things have turned out this way, it seems Lady Telluna had already anticipated that you would need to raise your level. To think I doubted her even for a moment… I’m ashamed of myself.”
“If you’re not keen on it, then don’t do it!”
“I can’t do that. We need to raise your level, don’t we? A moment ago, you were struggling against a common monster. To face the master of the layer, I believe raising your level is essential. And to do that as quickly as possible, sleeping with me—the highest-level person here—is the best option. I heard from Alicia that you’re perfectly fine even after sleeping with someone of a high level, and that you can even make them feel pleasure. Is that also a power of your Saint job?”
Somehow, I had missed my chance to refute her, and Miriel’s argument was gaining more and more ground.
If I don’t properly counter this right now, I feel like I’m seriously going to get raped.
“So. Let’s stop talking and get to it. We’re wasting precious time.”
As she spoke, Miriel began to take off her clothes.
Perhaps because she had come here with this intention, she wasn’t wearing armor, and in an instant, her beautiful naked form was revealed before my eyes.
“Ugh!”
Silvia, who had been standing in front of me with her arms spread to block the way, somehow failed to stop Miriel. Instead, she seemed to shrink back, leaning her body slightly toward me.
This is bad. It’s really going to happen!
“Wait! Wait a minute! Let’s sort this out one by one. First of all, Diana is not the kind of woman who would ask someone to tend to her man’s needs at night for that reason. You asked if I was certain? I am. In fact, the butler at our mansion has a higher level than Diana, and she won’t even let me sleep with her. And next, it’s true that I struggled just now. But that doesn’t mean I absolutely have to raise my level. I have other ways of getting stronger besides leveling up.”
All I have to do is raise my Charm stat.
The next level cap is 250, and the stat cap up to level 250 is 500.
Considering that my Charm stat automatically increases by 1 each time my Saint level goes up, I’m certainly not in a position to over-invest more than 100 points into Charm.
But to put it another way, that means I can invest up to 100 points.
Dumping 100 bonus stat points into Charm would completely eliminate any potential for raising it through training, but I have no choice.
It’s a real shame, though, since the related activities for the Charm stat include sex, which is why it has the highest probability of increasing through training among all the stats.
“This other way of getting stronger… can it make you that dramatically more powerful? Let me be clear, while the Garuda we fought earlier was strong, that was only in comparison to other common monsters. It can’t even be compared to a Transcendent Species or the master of the layer. Are you sure you can become strong enough to use that ranged skill on the master of the layer?”
Ugh. W-when she puts it like that, I’m losing a bit of confidence.
Putting 100 points into Charm will definitely make me stronger, but in this world, the level correction bonus is too powerful to ignore.
Even so, if I hesitate here, the only future I see is one where I get raped by Miriel.
“Of course. It’s no problem at all. So you don’t need to sleep with me. If you understand, could you please leave?”
“…I see. Alright. I’ll trust you, for now.”
Is the ‘for now’ really necessary? What’s with that?
Miriel, who seemed to have been convinced, was apparently telling the truth when she said she wasn’t keen on sleeping with me.
She left the tent with an indifferent expression, not looking the least bit disappointed.
She just held the clothes she’d thrown off in her hand. The sight of her ass as she walked out was quite sexy, which was a little frustrating.
Hey. Even if it’s just your clan members outside, is it really okay to walk out like that? Does she truly have no sense of shame?
Anyway, what a relief. If it had been Lutia, she might have said, ‘Fine, forget the reason. I’m just curious what it feels like to have sex with a Saint. So let’s do it.’
It was a stroke of immense luck that Miriel had sent Lutia away first.
“S-Sir Guwon…”
As Miriel left, Silvia, who had been standing tensely in front of me with her arms spread, called my name in a slightly deflated voice.
“I’m sorry. I said I would protect you, but I couldn’t say a word…”
“It’s okay. If I leveled up by sleeping with her, the chances of me getting hurt would decrease. You hesitated because you were thinking about that, right?”
It seemed I was right, as Silvia couldn’t answer and just wore a dejected expression.
“More importantly, Silvia. When we get back, make sure you tell the other three my tale of heroism. Tell them that all sorts of women tried to seduce me, but I endured by thinking of you all.”
“Y-Yes, sir. I will be sure to tell them.”
Even at my playful words, Silvia’s expression didn’t soften as she nodded earnestly.
Honestly, I don’t know whether to call this girl too earnest or too deferential toward me.
Oh well. Guess I’ll have to forcibly cheer her up.
“Alright, let’s sleep!”
“Hyaaaah!”
I pulled Silvia into a tight embrace and flopped backward onto the bedding.
“D-Do we really have to sleep in this position?!”
“Of course. Get used to it. You might be having sex with me tomorrow night, after all.”
“What?! Huh?! S-Sex?!”
“That’s right. I acted confident in front of Miriel, but you never know what might happen. Even after I power up, my skills might not work on a Transcendent Species or the master of the layer. If that happens, I’ll have to raise my level by having sex with you, won’t I? Or what? Would you rather I really did sleep with Miriel to level up?”
To be honest, since there’s no guarantee that raising my Charm will make Saint’s Wave work, it would be better to raise my level by sleeping with Silvia tonight as well.
But I’m sure it would be tough for Silvia to handle me two days in a row. Especially since she’s more sensitive than the others.
See, Silvia? I’m such a considerate guy.
“Ugh. N-No, that’s not it, but…”
“Right? So hurry up and get used to it. And tomorrow morning, try not to faint again the moment you wake up like you did this morning.”
“Uuuugh. I-I’ll do my best.”
Even as she said that, the trembling in Silvia’s body showed no signs of stopping.
Well, for my part, I enjoyed the vibrations. I was lying on my side with my thing tucked between Silvia’s butt cheeks.
You might ask if it needs to be hard for that. It was already hard a long time ago!
Damn it. That Miriel… her naked body really was sexy. I think I truly deserve praise for holding back.
*
The next morning. As soon as I woke up, I invested 95 stat points into Charm.
The reason I stopped at 95 instead of 100 was my own bit of cowardice, leaving a little room for my Charm to rise through related actions.
Silvia, who must have been so tense yesterday that she ended up oversleeping, was breathing softly in my arms.
Alright. Should I just stick my face right in front of hers until she wakes up?
She won’t faint, right? I’m not inside her, so it should probably be fine.
“Guwon! Hey! Are you awake?”
But before my prank could succeed, Alicia burst into our tent.
“Huh? What is it?”
“It’s a battle. A male Ogre has appeared. Hurry up and come!”
“U-Uuungh…? Hyaaaah!”
Woken by Alicia’s voice, Silvia yelped in surprise and scrambled away from me.
Nice. I’m satisfied now that I’ve seen Silvia’s cute reaction.
“Silvia! Let’s go!”
“Eh, huh?! Y-Yes?!”
Startled by my face right in front of her the moment she woke up, Silvia was still trying to grasp the situation. I grabbed her hand and hurriedly followed Alicia out.
The battle wasn’t happening where we were sleeping, but a short distance away.
No wonder. If a fight had broken out nearby, there’s no way Silvia and I wouldn’t have woken up.
One might wonder why they were fighting so far from the camp, but seeing the monster’s size, it made sense.
I mean, I could see the damn thing from our campsite.
They must have gone out to engage it in advance to prevent any damage to the camp.
“Why is it so huge? Is that a Transcendent Species?”
“No. It’s a common monster. What? You scared?”
Wouldn’t you be? It’s so massive it looks like a single graze could kill me.
Ogres are often depicted as one of the top-tier monsters in typical fantasy worlds, but do they really need to be that big?
It was so large that it was hard to estimate its size by eye, but it definitely looked to be over ten meters tall. It was visible even through these tall trees, after all.
“By the way, between that thing and the Garuda from yesterday, which one is stronger?”
“The Ogre is a bit stronger, of course. On the 5th floor, you can assume there are no common monsters stronger than an Ogre.”
In other words, it was the perfect opponent to test my skills on for the first time after raising my Charm stat.
As we got close enough to see the monster’s lower body, Miriel, who had been fighting the Ogre, sheathed her sword and approached me.
“Guwon! You’re here. Have you gotten a little stronger like you said you would? Let me warn you, this one is stronger than the one yesterday. And we really want to obtain its penis.”
“Of course. No problem. Leave it to me.”
If I hesitate now, I’ll definitely be raped tonight.
I forced myself to adopt a confident attitude.
“Good. Then cast your skill as soon as I give the signal.”
With only those words, Miriel charged toward the Ogre again.
Just like when she attacked the Garuda yesterday, she used Jini’s greatsword to leap high into the air, landing on the Ogre’s shoulder. She moved around, striking at its head.
When an opponent is that big, isn’t it standard practice to attack the legs first?
Seriously, the way these guys fight is no help at all.
At least their teamwork was excellent; that much was worth observing and learning from.
“Guwon! Now!”
Just as the Ogre lost its strength and fell to its knees, Miriel soared high above its head and shouted.
She didn’t say it outright, but she must have felt bad about letting me get hit by the Garuda yesterday. This time, it seemed she intended to finish it off the moment I used my skill.
She pointed her sword downward and began a powerful descent toward the Ogre’s head.
Seeing this, I quickly fired Saint’s Wave at the Ogre.
Please, please work!
But even when Saint’s Wave hit its body, the Ogre didn’t turn to look at me.
Damn it! It’s not working?! I didn’t give up and fired Saint’s Wave two, three more times in quick succession.
And then, Miriel’s sword sliced clean through the back of the Ogre’s neck.
Damn. Was it a failure?
It felt like the Ogre might have turned its eyes toward me right before it died, but it was too ambiguous to be sure it was a success.
With a trembling heart, I approached the Ogre’s corpse.