Chapter 786: Strengthening Period
Chapter 786: Strengthening Period
If being submissive doesn’t work, maybe taking a more assertive stance is the way to go.
With that thought, I cupped Vanessa’s face with both hands, turned it to face me directly, and called her name again in a firm voice.
“Vanessa.”
“……”
But once again, Vanessa didn’t answer.
Not only that, she was averting her gaze with all her might, refusing to meet my eyes.
Is it… is it that bad? Fine. In that case…
Let’s try being just a little more forceful.
With that in mind, I thrust my hips upward with all my strength.
For the record, even in this situation, Vanessa and I were still connected.
It seemed she had tried to pull away the moment she woke up, but thankfully, I had woken up just before she could.
For that reason, we had remained in this standoff, unable to separate. When I moved my hips like that, Vanessa, who had been keeping her lips tightly sealed, gasped as a moan escaped her.
“Ngh?! Hh… Kgh…!”
The moment she realized such a sound had escaped her, Vanessa reflexively shot me a cold glare.
Then, as if realizing she had just made eye contact with me, she blushed slightly and looked away again.
Seeing that, however, I actually felt a bit relieved.
To my eyes, she didn’t look like someone who was angry.
She just seemed too embarrassed to meet my gaze after showing me that side of herself yesterday.
“…If you do this again.”
While I was smiling to myself at that thought, Vanessa, still avoiding my eyes, tried to say something to me.
“Hm?”
“……Prepare yourself.”
Vanessa hesitated for a moment as if choosing her words, before finally spitting out that half-hearted threat.
However, contrary to her vague choice of words, her voice was filled with sincerity.
Va-Vanessa? You’re really just embarrassed, right? My eyes aren’t deceiving me, are they?
No, more importantly, what does she mean by ‘do this again’?
“…Do what again?”
Is she talking about pushing her hard like last night? Or about thrusting my hips just now?
“……”
Vanessa gave no reply to my question.
And until Diana arrived to take her turn, we didn’t exchange another word.
“…What in the world did you do?”
And that, of course, was the first thing Diana said when she saw us, a completely fed-up expression on her face.
Come on. From that look on your face, it seems you already have a good idea, so why bother asking?
“Just what did you do, and how much of it, to make Vanessa like this?”
“Hehet. This is nothing. If you’re that curious, tonight with your body…”
“That was not a compliment! And I will absolutely not!”
“……”
As I grinned and scratched my head, Diana adorably raised her tiny fists and lightly tapped my head a few times.
Of course, she had to stand on her tiptoes and stretch her arms as far as they could go just for her fists to reach my head.
The sight was so heartwarming that I reflexively felt the urge to pat her on the head.
But I couldn’t, for two reasons.
One was that patting her head would only make Diana angrier. The other… was that Vanessa, glaring at me from behind Diana, was absolutely terrifying.
Did… did she just run a finger across her throat?
What? What does that gesture even mean? D-Don’t tell me… you’ll actually kill me if I keep pushing my luck?
Va-Vanessa? You’re not my butler yet, are you? You’re still my woman until we get back to the mansion, right?
You’re clear on that, aren’t you?
“Hmm?”
Seeing my slightly frightened reaction, Diana, who had been scolding me while tapping my head, tilted her head with a slightly puzzled expression.
She then turned her head to look at Vanessa.
Of course, Vanessa had, at some point, returned to her perfect deadpan expression.
“Hmmmm?”
After checking Vanessa’s face, Diana stared down at her own fist that had been tapping my head, then tilted her head again.
Hey. Diana. Why are you thinking so hard about it?
Can’t you just assume I got discouraged because you were scolding me? Trust yourself.
Well, considering my usual reactions, her being puzzled was probably natural.
“W-Was that… painful?”
“Aaargh! My head…! My head…!”
The moment Diana asked with a worried look, I clutched my forehead and collapsed onto the floor.
You owe me one for this, Vanessa. I covered for you doing weird things behind your master’s back.
“You were faking it! I am not playing around!”
Needless to say, Diana started tapping my head with her fist again.
But you say you’re not playing around? Even as you were scolding me, you didn’t think for a second that I’d be discouraged by it.
“Hoo… hoo… You truly are… Vanessa, are you alright?”
After scolding me by tapping my head a fair bit, Diana, as if her own hand hurt, got teary-eyed, blew on her fist, and then turned to Vanessa with concern.
“…Yes. I am fine.”
Vanessa answered nonchalantly with a deadpan expression, but I didn’t miss the way she subtly squeezed her legs together.
Did she remember something as she answered?
Perhaps I let a small smile slip, because Vanessa shot me another cold glare, careful not to let Diana see.
I told you, I’m sorry for going wild, too.
In any case, thanks to the eldest member stepping in, the awkward, silent atmosphere naturally softened.
Well, Vanessa only spoke to Diana until it was time to leave and barely even made eye contact with me.
“…I went out of my way to yield to you. Was this why you asked?”
The moment Vanessa left through the teleportation circle, Diana scolded me again.
It seemed she had refrained from mentioning the favor earlier because Vanessa was still there.
As expected of the eldest. Her consideration is no joke.
“No. That was… haha. Sorry.”
This time, I didn’t joke around and apologized sincerely.
“Be more careful in the future. I did not approve of your relationship with Vanessa for you to act like this.”
“The way you say that, it’s almost like…”
“…Like what?”
“Nothing. Like you’re jealous of our relationship.”
Phew. That was close. I almost said she sounded like a mother-in-law.
No, that’s not right. Right. What am I thinking about our adorable Diana?
“Stop talking nonsense and let us go hunt.”
“So you’re not denying it.”
“…Do you think I feel no jealousy at all?”
At my words, Diana muttered in a small voice, pouting slightly.
“Hmm?”
“W-What is it?”
So even if it’s Vanessa, whom she pushed me towards, she’s not entirely free of jealousy.
As I thought that and stared at Diana’s face, she seemed to get a little embarrassed and tried to brush it off.
“Nothing. You’re just pretty.”
As I said that and patted her head, Diana shrank back slightly with an expression that said she didn’t know whether to be happy or not.
“Well then, shall we go hunting? Looks like Diana is eager to get going, too.”
“I-I am not particularly eager to go!”
The moment I said that, Diana’s attitude suddenly became strange.
Huh? Did I say something weird just now?
“You don’t want to go?”
“Th-That is not it, but…”
“Do you want to skip out and go on a date with me? Should we?”
“What are you talking about! While everyone else is working diligently, how could I, the eldest, possibly do such a thing!”
Apparently, that wasn’t it either.
Although, it didn’t seem like she was against the idea of a date.
In any case, this strange reaction wasn’t because of that.
“Then?”
“…It does not matter! In any case, let us go hunt!”
With that, Diana took my hand and led the way out of the village.
But even after we started hunting, Diana’s odd behavior continued.
“Diana.”
For example, when I called her name like that after a round of combat.
Instead of creating an air bubble between our faces, Diana came closer and pressed her mask right against mine.
“W-What is it?”
On top of that, her voice sounded incredibly tense.
“…Hey, by any chance.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Did Sara brag about something to you? Is that why you’re doing this on purpose?”
“W-What are you talking about?!”
The moment I said that, Diana suddenly overreacted.
So that’s what it was.
“What do you mean, what? I’m talking about you pressing our masks together every time we talk.”
“O-Oh! Oh! That is right! It is good for me to have such an experience from time to time! It saves mana, as well!”
Yep. That’s a lie.
Well, the part about enjoying talking with our masks pressed together like this seemed true, but that wasn’t the reason for her strange attitude.
And in the first place, your mana pool isn’t so small that you need to conserve it just by wandering around here.
Then what is it?
Considering her overreaction just now, it seemed she did hear something from Sara.
That Sara. What kind of ideas did she put in Diana’s head?
“Still, if only there was an opening for the mouth, we could kiss just like this.”
Though I was suspicious, I had no clue why Diana was acting this way, so I decided to play along with her for now.
“It would be dangerous to make it like that.”
True. It’s made for adventurers who don’t know what kind of enemy they’ll face. It would be a disaster if water got in your mouth at a critical moment.
Anyway, despite Diana’s slightly odd behavior, the hunt today went smoothly.
And, as always, when my mana hit rock bottom, I called for a short break.
“I-Is your mana low?”
“Yeah. I feel like I’m gonna die. So let’s go to that corner over there and do some healing…”
As I said that without thinking, I suddenly realized something.
Wait a minute. Could it be that what Diana heard from Sara was…
“D-Don’t you worry! I shall restore you at once!”
Cutting me off, she shouted and then hugged me tightly.
At the same time, my head, which had been slightly dizzy from mana depletion, cleared up in an instant.
And I felt vitality coursing through every corner of my body.
Diana was transferring her mana to me.
I knew it. No wonder she was being weird about saving mana.
So Sara told her about this.
She must have warned her to be careful because I would definitely try to seduce her into a healing sex session to refill my mana.
Right. I see. So that’s it. Right.
…Daaaaammit! And here I thought I might actually get to do it with Diana!
That Sara! To interfere like this!
“…Why do you look so disappointed?”
My inner thoughts must have shown on my face, because Diana eyed me narrowly.
“I’m not making that face.”
Of course, I played dumb.
“You did! What in the world are you thinking! Don’t tell me you were thinking that even if you couldn’t do it with Sara, you might be able to with me?!”
As expected of our Diana. She’s sharp. She read me like a book.
“Of course.”
“So you were thinking that!”
Diana shouted, then swung both fists and mercilessly drummed them against my chest.
But we were underwater. Diana’s already light punches were slowed even further by the water, so much so that her actions looked like they were happening in slow motion.
“Pfft.”
“What are you laughing at?!”
Hey. Isn’t it a bit much to tell me not to laugh after you made me laugh?!
You’re totally doing that on purpose, aren’t you?
“Anyway, my mana’s full now. Shall we get back to it right away? Quickly! Quickly!”
“…What are you thinking?”
As I hurriedly rushed Diana, she became extremely wary.
Seeing that, I realized there was no point in hiding it anymore since she already knew, and I spoke confidently.
“I’m going to use up my mana as quickly as possible.”
“What is that supposed to mean?! I-It’s no use! I will just refill it with my mana again! You should know it is a pointless endeavor! Are you listening to me?!”
Hearing my words, Diana blurted that out quickly, a very anxious look on her face.
But Diana. Did you think your dear husband wouldn’t have thought of that?
Don’t worry. I have a plan.
“Hmph. I wonder if you’ll have any mana left by the time this hunt is over.”
“W-What do you mean?!”
“Come on, let’s go! Quickly!”
“W-Wait! You! What do you mean?!”
After that, Diana continued to flail her arms and shout something, but since our masks were no longer touching, I couldn’t hear a single word she was saying.