Chapter 724: An Unexpected Return
Chapter 724: An Unexpected Return
No matter how much of a hopeless pervert she was, one who’d lose all reason just from having her kink stimulated, she couldn’t possibly fail to distinguish between the time and the place.
Of course, judging by how Diana had acted so far, that wasn’t a very convincing argument.
She had a history of losing her senses whenever her exhibitionism kicked in.
But all of that had happened up above.
Even if she were caught, it was in a place where she could make some sort of excuse.
No, of course, she could make an excuse here, too—claim she had no choice because she was low on mana… but even so! This was the dungeon! In terms of danger, it was on a completely different level from the world above.
Sure, the turtles were basically fixed in place, and there hadn't been any night raids, so one could argue it was safe… but, anyway! The point was, there was no guarantee that something unexpected wouldn't happen.
In a place like this, our great Archmage, of all people, couldn't possibly lose her mind completely, no matter how stimulated her kink was.
It might have just been what I wanted to believe, but I held on to that belief and did my best to calm Diana down.
“I-I-I, I know! O-Of course I do!”
And thankfully, my efforts seemed to be paying off to some extent.
Diana’s body was trembling finely and her eyes were shooting daggers of heat at me, but she bit down hard on her lower lip and put on a brave front.
At the same time, however, I didn’t miss how that heated gaze traveled back and forth, sweeping over my eyes, my lips, and my crotch.
Hey. Archmage. Why are you making a conflicted face over there?
There’s nothing to be conflicted about. Just endure it! You can do it!
Since I was also responsible, I desperately cheered her on.
I mean, it was my fault for constantly teasing her and bringing up Healing Sex.
And above all, the fact that she’d become like this was half my responsibility.
To be sure, Diana had shown a talent for exhibitionism from the moment we first met.
But I couldn’t say I wasn’t responsible for pointing it out and developing her kink through our continued exposure play.
No. To be blunt, it was mostly my fault.
If I hadn't meddled, Diana would never have gotten this worked up over exhibitionism.
“Uggghhhhh!”
Feeling an even greater sense of responsibility, I cheered her on harder. In the end, after a moment of deliberation, Diana pulled the blanket completely over her head and curled into a ball.
W-Wait a minute! Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!
The girl who had been straddling me had just curled up.
Naturally, Diana’s new position was between my legs, with her head right by my crotch.
D-Dammit! So she couldn't overcome her exhibitionism in the end!
F-Fine. If it’s come to this, I’ll just have to hope Silvia can hold out for as long as possible while I calm this one down as quickly as I can…
“Ngh! Hah! Haaahng! Ugh… I… I…!”
I figured that any second now, the front of my pants would be undone and a pleasantly slick object would envelop my Dick.
I braced myself for it, but surprisingly, nothing of the sort happened.
Instead, Diana’s desperate moans echoed from under the blanket.
This is dangerous. Despite the situation, just hearing that sound got me a little excited.
On top of that, the blanket was visibly rustling, as if Diana was squirming around inside.
“I… Ugh… want to go ouuuut!”
As I sat there with a rock-hard erection, unsure of what to do, Diana’s shout, laced with a sensual, nasal tone, came from under the blanket.
“Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah. I should.”
R-Right! It’d be less suspicious if I go out first and make excuses!
I circulated my mana to reduce the size of my Dick, summoned a water spirit to suck up the moisture dampening the front of my pants, and stepped outside the magic circle.
“S-So, inside right now… um… something is happening that you probably shouldn’t go into…!”
And there was Silvia, still standing with her back to the magic circle, arms spread wide, desperately trying to block the others.
I’d heard that Silvia usually maintained an expressionless, emotionless demeanor when I wasn’t around, but it seemed even she couldn’t remain composed after seeing… well, that.
To calm the flustered Silvia down, I placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Hiek!”
Ah, right. Of course, this wasn’t going to calm her down.
Not only had I touched her, but she also thought I’d just been having sex with Diana moments ago.
Yeah. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. I guess I’m still not in my right mind either.
“…Silvia was trying so hard to stop us. What on earth were you doing in there?”
Looking at me, Sara stepped forward as the group’s representative and posed the question.
“It was something… important. You all have a rough idea, don’t you? About what Diana and I were talking about.”
They had deliberately put me last and discussed it amongst themselves, deciding to have Diana, the eldest, check on my condition as their representative.
So when I answered, they all nodded with expressions that said, ‘Just as I thought.’
Silvia, of course, just looked awkward.
“So, you’re going to tell us the details too, right?”
“Yeah.”
The most important thing right now was to buy time until Diana came out.
And since everyone already knew something was off with me yesterday, there was no way I could avoid this conversation anyway.
This might actually be for the best.
I nodded and slowly began to speak.
“You idiot!”
And as soon as I finished telling them what I had told Diana, Sara’s shout was, unsurprisingly, the first thing to ring in my ears.
“What kind of foolish idea is that!”
Even Matilda chastised me, her expression quite heated.
I guess in times like these, the pink-hued atmosphere vanishes completely, and she’s all stern Cardinal.
She’d softened up recently from spending time with me, so it was a rare sight, but it reminded me of the almost arrogant demeanor she had when we first met.
Well, it wasn’t so much that she’d softened up, but that her original personality was the gentle one, and the other was just an act brought on by the curse. Anyway.
“I-I refuse to be separated from you, Guwon, even if it means death!”
Even Silvia, who had been acting awkward just moments before, was now clinging to my arm and shouting.
For the girl who usually freaked out, saying she’d die if I so much as hugged her, to say something like this… it had quite an impact.
And this was Silvia’s reaction even though she had seen Diana and me moments ago and must have known our conversation had ended amicably.
But well, I guess it was a natural reaction. Since I had already talked it over with Diana and reached a conclusion, I decided to just apologize honestly.
“I’m sorry. I just… you all…”
Smack!
The moment I tried to bow my head, a pale white palm flew through the air and struck my cheek.
Of course, it didn’t hurt at all. It looked like she’d put her all into it, but there was no physical impact whatsoever.
However, my heart shattered into a million pieces.
D-Did… did my angel just slap me?
Okay. I’m gonna die. Right now. Let’s just die right now. I’ll go find a puddle and drown myself.
“From now on, please don’t ever, not even for a second, think like that again.”
Paying no mind to my crumbling mental state, Leia spoke to me in a firm voice, her eyes sharper than usual.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one surprised; Sara, Silvia, and Matilda, who were watching, all gasped in shock.
Sara, in particular, looked as if she’d been about to slap me herself but had been beaten to the punch; she was frozen in place with her hand still raised.
“…Okay. I promise.”
“You really mean it?”
Leia, who would normally never doubt a single word I said, was now pressing me for confirmation.
“I really mean it. After talking with Diana, I realized just how wrong I was. I’ll never make a strange decision like that on my own again.”
“…Thank you. And I’m sorry.”
When I answered seriously, Leia’s stiff expression finally softened. She spoke as she gently caressed the cheek she had just struck.
“No. It’s my fault for thinking something so weird.”
“Still. It must have hurt a lot, right?”
A faint light began to emanate from Leia’s hand as she stroked my cheek.
There really wasn’t any injury, but it seemed Leia felt so guilty for having raised a hand to me that she wanted to heal me as much as she could.
“…He’s built like a tank, so I doubt it hurt that much.”
Watching us from behind Leia, Sara pouted and muttered in a slightly sulky voice.
It seemed she was a little disappointed that Leia had stolen her role and was now watching us have a tender moment.
“Honestly, you’re always so… perhaps that personality of yours is why the Goddess appointed you as the Saint.”
Matilda pressed a hand to her forehead, looking as though my meek apology wasn’t enough of a sermon, yet as a Cardinal, she didn’t know how to react.
“No, it’s not like I was going to go alone out of some desire to sacrifice myself for everyone. I was just being selfish, trying to go alone and reduce the chances of completing the mission because I didn’t want anything to happen to the people I love. If anything, doesn’t that make me a failure as a Saint?”
“Th-That’s not something to be proud of!”
As I looked at her and replied nonchalantly, Matilda’s face flushed slightly as she yelled.
She was just about to slip into her pink-hued mode, wasn’t she?
“So, why isn’t Diana coming out, anyway?”
And then, Sara finally asked the question.
“Hngh!”
“Right. About that.”
The moment she heard the question, Silvia’s body, still clinging to my arm, flinched.
And as I opened my mouth to answer, she shot me a look that screamed, ‘You’re not actually going to tell them, are you?!’
“Well. I said a lot of stupid things, right? I admit now that it was a foolish thing to do, but I wasn’t like this from the start of my conversation with Diana. We argued, and because of that… you could say she needs a little time to compose herself…”
“What? You don’t mean you actually…”
I thought it was a perfect excuse, but for some reason, Sara’s gaze immediately dropped downwards. To be precise, towards my crotch.
And what’s more, her gaze is getting more and more… no. Hey! Don’t you start, too!
“Wait! No! Why would you jump to that conclusion! I meant she was crying!”
“I-I know that! Who said anything?!”
When I yelled in a hurry, Sara jumped and pretended she hadn’t been thinking anything of the sort.
This girl, she definitely thought I had soothed Diana with sex!
Wait a minute. Come to think of it, Silvia peeking inside the magic circle was suspicious from the start.
Knowing Sara’s personality, it wouldn’t have been strange if she had been the first one to stick her head inside.
But for Silvia, of all people, to have peeked inside could only mean that she had been chosen as the representative by group consensus.
Does that mean… even Leia and Matilda had considered the possibility that Diana and I were having sex in there?
Sara couldn’t look because she’d get aroused by her kink, and Leia and Matilda couldn’t look at such a scene because they were clergy.
Come to think of it, when Silvia was desperately blocking the front of the magic circle, they were all blushing and couldn’t get close.
Wait. Now that I think about it, Leia’s body has been strangely close for a while now… d-don’t tell me she’s sniffing me?
N-No. Let’s not panic. We didn’t actually do it.
There might be a faint lingering scent of her fluids on my body, but they wouldn’t assume we had sex just from that.
No. If anything, it could lend more weight to my claim that we didn’t do anything of the sort.
All I have to do is act as nonchalant as possible.
Silvia, standing beside me, was a bit of a concern, lost in her own confusion and muttering to herself, “Eh…? W-Was she crying…?” wondering if she’d seen wrong, but this was still a manageable situation.
Now, all I need is for Diana to come out and play along with my story.