Chapter 745: The Journey for the Turtle Cave Key
Chapter 745: The Journey for the Turtle Cave Key
“Alright, then.”
“Heek?!”
After sending Alicia and my girls down into the Turtle Cave, I immediately turned and strode toward Silvia.
Of course, that alone was enough to make my dear Silvia flinch and start trembling.
It seemed the courage she'd squeezed out earlier to cling to me, as if competing with Matilda, had already vanished without a trace.
Right. In the end, Matilda took on the role of the tank going down with Alicia.
It wasn't that Silvia had won the competition against Matilda to see who could cling to me more fiercely.
If it had continued until a winner was decided that way, I guarantee I'd no longer be in this world.
When I was on the verge of death, Sara, Diana, and Leia, who had just been watching, finally stepped in to pull Silvia and Matilda apart. In the end, their contest was decided by a simple game of rock-paper-scissors.
Besides, blunt attacks are more effective against that turtle than slashing attacks, so Matilda with her mace was a better fit than Silvia with her sword.
Well, she just went down to protect the rear guard, and Alicia would be the one fighting the turtle, so it wasn't a particularly meaningful point. That's why we had them decide with rock-paper-scissors.
Anyway, they went down to learn about the turtle's characteristics and how to fight it.
They'll probably just fight one or two at most and come right back up.
This was the first time I'd ever had the experience of just waiting around doing nothing while my girls went off to fight monsters. It felt strange and made me restless, but I decided to calm myself down and wait.
And if I teased Silvia a bit, I'd be able to forget this odd feeling and wait.
“What's wrong? You can cling to me like you did before. Come on, into my arms! With all your strength, just like before!”
“I-I'm sorryyyy!”
As I approached with my arms wide open, Silvia looked like she was about to cry and bowed her head repeatedly in apology.
No. I'm not scolding you for what happened earlier, I'm telling you to actually hug me.
I could have cleared up the misunderstanding right away, but Silvia looked so cute trembling in fear over her mistake, not knowing what to do, that I decided to let her stew in it for a bit.
Hmph. Isn't this what they call a "bad boy" who's popular with the ladies?
“Silvia.”
“Ye-Yehik?!”
“No matter how much you back away, there's nowhere to run. Not in this enclosed space.”
“U-Uuuuut….”
As I took another step forward, speaking wickedly, Silvia finally stopped backpedaling with an expression that said she'd given up on life.
“Kukukuk. Yes. That's more like it.”
Of course, it goes without saying that I immediately pulled the now-still Silvia into an embrace.
I wrapped my arms tightly around her body, pressing her flush against me as if to bury her in my chest, and nuzzled my face into her fluffy, soft hair.
“Hieut?!”
I lightly bit the cute ear I'd exposed, then whispered sweetly into it.
“Let your poor body tremble obediently and let me taste some of that Silvia-therapy. No. That's not all. I've used up a lot of stamina these past few days. You know very well how I can recover my stamina quickly, don't you, Silvia? Until the others get back, just the two of us, let's get sticky….”
“A-A-Aua, aaaah….”
At my words implying Healing Sex, Silvia's jaw began to tremble as she grew visibly agitated.
“Hey. Did you forget we're here too?”
But there were obstacles here, ready to shatter the fatally sweet atmosphere between Silvia and me. Three of them, in fact.
“No. I'm deliberately treating you like you're not here, so could you please shut up and stay quiet? You're ruining the mood.”
“How can you even say that?! We're going to interfere with all our might! What the hell are you trying to start?!”
“It would be rather troublesome if you two suddenly started getting all sticky right in front of us.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“Tch. I guess I can't help it with all these pests around.”
Since not only Kanna but also Serena and Amy had started to chime in, I lifted my face from Silvia's hair with a look that said my hands were tied.
“Ha, haah… I-I'm saved….”
Thinking my actions meant I was done playing with her, the tension drained completely from Silvia's body.
Oh, Silvia. Your muttering is cute, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you off the hook.
“Don't worry. I'm still going to hold you.”
“Uuuut…!”
With that short whisper, I cranked Silvia's tension back up to the maximum. Savoring the effects of the Silvia-therapy I could feel from her in my arms, I looked up at the trio again.
Kanna looked dumbfounded. Serena looked slightly troubled. And for some reason, Amy's eyes were sparkling.
This was the first time I'd spoken with just them, without Alicia, since that day when a series of small misunderstandings led to me hearing about Alicia's feelings.
“So, have you all been well?”
“Do we look like we've been well to you?”
“Haha. Not at all.”
I'd clearly seen them getting rolled by Alicia every day with faces like death, so of course not.
As I roared with laughter, Kanna ground her teeth and shouted as if she was about to lunge at me.
“This is no laughing matter! Because of you, we've had to…!”
“No, sorry, sorry. It was my first time dumping a girl, so I didn't have the presence of mind to think about you guys.”
“That's surprising. I would have thought that, from experience, you'd be quite used to standing up women.”
No, Serena. What do you mean, "from experience"? Don't tell me you're still talking about that time I suggested a foursome and then bailed on you?
“U-Ung…?”
At Serena's meaningful words, Silvia, still trembling in my arms, tilted her head in confusion.
It must have sounded very strange to Silvia, who didn't know the circumstances.
“No way! I'm so….”
Before the conversation could take a weird turn, I decided to change the subject.
To my women, I only want to be known as a charming man devoted to love.
Not some degenerate who'll hit on any woman he can have sex with, even if he has no feelings for her.
Damn my past self. You really have to hand it to him for his foolishness. "Guwon of the Red Foot," my ass.
“Alright, alright, can you two separate already? I seriously can't stand the sight.”
But thankfully, I didn't have to do anything; Kanna stepped in and changed the subject for me.
It seemed Kanna hadn't quite grasped the meaning behind Serena's pointed remark.
“That's right. Or you could let us join….”
But Kanna was the only one who hadn't caught on.
Amy understood what Serena meant, and furthermore—perhaps because she still had some lingering feelings—she subtly dropped a bombshell, demanding a foursome. No, with Silvia here, would it be a fivesome? In any case, she was openly asking for a group session.
Just as you'd expect from a debauched priestess who openly breaks a cleric's taboos.
No, wait. When I first met you, you were lewd, sure, but weren't you fundamentally a bit more reserved?
When did you start making such direct demands? Did you get corrupted by hanging out with Alicia?
No wonder your eyes were sparkling while you watched Silvia and me earlier.
Were you planning to subtly join in if Silvia and I had actually started having sex?
Even I wouldn't do it right in front of you all! I was just kidding!
“……! W-What did you just say?”
“Ah, it was nothing… A-ahaha….”
I was so dumbfounded that I was rendered speechless.
But Silvia, held in my arms, was different.
Silvia, who just moments ago had been curled up and trembling in my embrace, snapped her head up the instant she heard Amy's words.
Then, somehow moving her tongue, which had gone completely limp from being in my arms for so long, she threatened Amy in a stiff tone I rarely heard from her.
Whether Silvia's sudden transformation was that intimidating or not, Amy immediately tucked her tail between her legs.
Well, it's only natural when you think about it.
Silvia may only show her cute, trembling side in front of me, but in many ways, she's no joke.
Her family is high nobility, enough for her to be friends with a princess, and her own skills are those of a Royal Guard knight. A knight skilled enough to be entrusted with the princess's protection, at that.
If someone like that threatens you, that's the usual reaction.
“Calm down, Silvia. She was just joking. We've known each other for a long time.”
“Ye-Yeheeeet….”
But when I placed a hand on her head and stroked it to calm her down, Silvia immediately replied in a giddy, weak voice and started vibrating again.
“……”
Don't look at me like you don't know what to even comment on first. She's cute, isn't she?
No. She might not look cute to you, but she's cute to me, and that's all that matters.
“Anyway, I'm sorry I couldn't cover for you with Alicia.”
“…Well, it doesn't matter. The instructor isn't the type to hold a grudge over something like that.”
No. Her secret feelings of love, which she'd treasured all by herself, were blabbed about by someone else and reached the ears of the person she likes. That's not exactly a light matter you can just brush off as "something like that," is it?
Then again, if the people involved don't care, I guess it doesn't matter.
Anyway, you have to admit, Alicia is incredibly easygoing.
I think I could see why she's so hot-tempered, yet so absolutely beloved within her clan.
Anyway, after that, I continued to chat about nothing in particular with the trio while holding Silvia. Until my girls and Alicia returned from the Turtle Cave.
During that time, the male penguin didn't resurrect or anything, and it seemed the party that returned from the cave hadn't run into any particular trouble either.
However, for some reason, Sara had a slightly serious look on her face when she returned, and that was the only thing that bothered me.
“What's wrong?”
“…It's nothing.”
No. Your expression says it's not nothing.
But it didn't seem like she'd tell me easily if I just kept asking.
No choice, then.
“Diana.”
I went over to Diana and whispered.
“Hm?”
“What's up with Sara? Did she fight with Alicia?”
“No. There was no particular friction. Rather, if anything happened, wasn't it on your end?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I'm talking about you. Can you really say that after seeing that?”
Where Diana pointed, Silvia lay sprawled on the floor, having turned white as ash from being in my arms for too long.
She looked for all the world like a corpse, but I could tell she was still breathing from the subtle rise and fall of her back.
“No, that's a common occurrence.”
“For now, we don't know when the male penguin might resurrect. Refrain from excessive teasing.”
“Yessir.”
Even if the male penguin did show up, I could take it down in one shot using my Saint skills, so it wasn't a big deal.
Diana probably knew that too, so she likely didn't intend to be too strict, ending her warning by lightly tapping my head with the staff in her hand.
“So, what's up with Sara?”
“It is truly nothing. Merely….”
“I can hear you, you know.”
At that moment, Sara grabbed my ear and jumped into the conversation.
With her sharp hearing, she must have heard everything even though we were whispering.
Well, I was kind of counting on her hearing me anyway.
“Then you should have just told me when I asked. What is it?”
“It's really nothing. I was just thinking… that I shouldn't get complacent.”
Ahh. So that's what it was.
Only after hearing Sara's words did I finally understand why she'd been making that face.
Come to think of it, this was the first time Sara had seen Alicia fight seriously.
And Alicia probably defeated the turtle by herself without breaking a sweat.
In a cramped cave, with a greatsword that's hard to swing, using slashing attacks that aren't very effective against the turtle. She probably even blocked a rampaging turtle on her own.
It was a battle made possible because Alicia is a damage-dealing tank who wields a greatsword, a weapon perfect for both offense and defense. But there's no way my highly competitive Sara wouldn't be spurred on by seeing that.
“You don't have to get so competitive. She's someone who hangs out on the 6th Floor, anyway. When you get to that level, Sara, you'll also be able to….”
“Idiot. We don't know what will happen in the future, so how can you say that?”
It seemed my attempt to comfort her wasn't getting through to Sara at all.
“No, really. If you get any stronger, my sides and back will seriously be in danger….”
“Then stop doing things that deserve to be hit in the first place, you idiot!”
“Hmph. I can't do th—Gahk?!”
In the end, Sara pinched my side, and her expression seemed to have softened a little.