Chapter 787: Strengthening Period
Chapter 787: Strengthening Period
With Diana, my personal mana battery, attached to me, I hunted monsters at an even faster pace than the day before.
And each time she transferred mana to me after I’d depleted my own, her words and actions grew noticeably more frantic.
“You there? Aren’t you getting tired? You’re pushing the pace far too much. This isn’t just a matter of mana, you know. Even with your Saint skills, you never know what might happen inside a dungeon. It’s not good to overexert yourself and accumulate fatigue. So, to relieve that fatigue, why don’t we take a short break?”
Pressing her body flush against mine to give me my second mana recharge of the day, Diana launched into a long-winded speech, her words tumbling out much faster than usual.
Seriously, Diana. Just how desperate are you?
When you make it this obvious, it just makes me want to tease you more.
“You have a point. Alright. Then to recover from my fatigue, let’s go find a corner over there and have some Healing Sex…”
“What are you doing?! Don’t tell me you’re planning to rest here?! Do you not have a precious mission bestowed upon you by the Goddess! We have no time to be standing around! Now, get up! Look, there’s a monster right over there! Go, get it!”
The moment I mentioned Healing Sex, however, Diana did a complete 180 and hastily berated me.
Diana, weren’t you the one who said my safety was more important than the Goddess’s mission?
Despite thinking this, I obediently turned in the direction she was pointing.
Well, I couldn’t exactly ignore a monster that was approaching.
In any case, perhaps because of that exchange, Diana didn’t bring up the topic of resting for a while.
She tried her best to maintain a calm facade, but as time went on, a sense of urgency began to creep back into her words and actions.
“Phew. Diana. I need another recharge, please.”
“Eek?! A-Again?!”
As I pulled her body into a tight embrace, Diana cried out, now looking like she was on the verge of tears.
Well, I’d already lost count of how many times I’d asked her for a mana top-up.
For the past two days, I had at least managed my mana consumption while fighting, but today, I’d been hunting nonstop, so I was running out of mana much faster.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was wasting it.
If I did something like that, Diana would give me a proper scolding, and besides, I had no intention of tormenting her in such a shameless way.
I had used every last drop of mana to hunt monsters. And I did so efficiently, without any unnecessary overkill.
The only reason my mana consumption was so high was simply because I was hunting that much.
“Yeah. The hunting is going especially well today.”
“I-Is that so… Especially, you say…”
At my words, Diana’s face crumpled as she once again poured mana into my body.
Seeing her like this, I figured this was probably the last time she could recharge me.
Of course, it wasn’t like she’d wrung herself completely dry, but she likely didn’t have enough left to fully replenish my mana.
I could check her status window to be sure, but… there was no need to go that far.
It was more fun to guess how much mana she had left while looking at her cute expression, and there were other reasons as well.
“Alright, shall we get going again?”
“Y-You…?”
As I, my mana now restored, tried to pull away from her, Diana suddenly grabbed me with both arms. She blinked her large eyes, making them seem even more pronounced, and looked up at me with an adorable expression.
Since we were wearing our masks pressed close together to talk, I had a perfect view of her face.
Yes, Diana. You’re cute. You’re very cute, but you don’t usually do this.
Isn’t it a little too obvious what you’re trying to do?
You usually prefer it when I treat you like a mature older woman.
Well, I suppose it just showed how desperate Diana was, that she was willing to swallow her pride and do something so out of character.
“I-It’s… getting late, isn’t it? I… D-Diana is…”
Well, well. Look at her.
Of course, when she was with me, Diana rarely showed the dignity of being the eldest member of our group; in fact, she had a side to her that was almost a little childish.
You could say that seeing Diana’s cute side was a privilege only I could enjoy.
But even so, wasn’t this the first time she had ever tried to act this cute?
No. Strictly speaking, she is cute, so it’s not an act.
“Yes. Diana is… what?”
“D-Diana is, you see…?”
When I deliberately mimicked her speech pattern, Diana’s face turned beet red as if she would die of embarrassment, and she stammered.
Even so, it seemed she had no intention of giving up her cute act just yet.
This must be her do-or-die resolve.
“It’s about time I was with my dear… I mean… you know…”
She wanted to cutely phrase her desire to go back because it was late as a desire to be with me.
But if she chose her words poorly, it could be misinterpreted as her wanting to have sex, and if that happened, I might just drag her into a corner and do it right then and there.
Perhaps thinking along those lines, her eyes darted around as she desperately searched for the right words.
But since she rarely made a conscious effort to act cute like this, she seemed to be having trouble coming up with a suitably charming phrase.
I guess I have no choice. I’ll do her a favor here.
“Shall we head back?”
“Is that okay?”
As I said that, Diana’s face lit up, and she asked back as if she couldn’t believe it.
Seriously, Diana. Just how desperate were you?
“Of course.”
“As expected of the man I love…!”
Is-Is it that big of a deal? I’m the one who pushed you into this corner in the first place.
Well, I’m glad she’s so happy about it.
I took Diana’s hand and slowly began to swim toward the village.
And less than a minute after we started moving again, the village came into view at the edge of our vision.
“…You?”
Instantly, Diana’s voice reached my ears.
And for the first time today, it wasn’t by pressing our masks together, but by creating an air bubble to talk.
“Hm?”
When I turned, a vein was popping on Diana’s forehead.
Well, I could have guessed as much from her low, strained voice and the force with which she was gripping my hand.
“Were we near the village this whole time?”
“Ah, yeah. You didn’t notice? It was getting dark, so we were already on our way back.”
Knowing full well what she wanted to say, I deliberately played dumb.
Needless to say, the vein on her forehead bulged even more.
“Then… then why did you ask for a mana recharge just now?!”
“Come on, Diana. You can’t let your guard down in the dungeon. You’re always saying that. What if we ran into a monster on the way back with no mana, even if we were close?”
“Y-You…! You…!”
As I spoke nonchalantly, Diana stomped her feet as if she would die from frustration.
Though, since we were floating in the water, it just looked like she was splashing her feet.
“Really, Diana. What’s gotten into you?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know?! You! You!”
“Ah, are you talking about the Healing Sex? Come on, that was obviously a joke. I told you before we even came to the dungeon.”
“Told me what?!”
“That in exchange for letting Vanessa have your turn, I wouldn’t do what we were originally planning to do.”
“……”
At my words, Diana fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.
Normally, she would have recalled that instantly without needing such a pause, but it seemed the blood had rushed to her head, preventing her from thinking straight.
“So you’re saying, if I hadn’t given my turn to Vanessa, you really were planning to do something like that in the dungeon?!”
“Hehe.”
“This is not! A laughing! Matter!”
With each word, Diana chopped my head with the side of her hand.
Of course, since we were underwater, her slow-motion movements were hilarious, but if I burst out laughing on top of that, I felt like she’d really get pouty and give me the silent treatment, so I desperately held it in.
“Now, now, calm down. In the end, nothing happened, so all’s well that ends well, right?”
“It’s not well at all! All day, I was so…!”
“Excited?”
My tone was playful, but the question was actually a little sincere.
When all was said and done, our Diana, befitting her status as the eldest, was incredibly broad-minded.
But since a while ago—no, since the first time I mentioned Healing Sex today—her reactions had been way too big.
Even her anger now seemed somewhat… exaggerated?
“O-O-Of course not!”
Sensing the implication in my words, Diana shouted, her jaw trembling.
The aura of anger that had been enveloping her entire body just a moment ago seemed to vanish, whether because she was simply flustered or because I’d hit a nerve.
As expected of our perverted Archmage…
What if he really does jump me out here, and what if other adventurers see us… Thinking things like that, a small part of her might have been secretly hoping for it.
If I think of it that way, should I be apologizing for not meeting her expectations?
“Right, right. It’s a good thing we’re underwater where no one can see.”
“That’s really not it!”
“Okay. I believe you, Diana.”
“Stop lying! You don’t believe me at all, do you?!”
“I’m serious.”
Exchanging playful banter with Diana, who was still reacting in a way that seemed more exaggerated than usual, I headed straight for the inn.
“Shall we wash up?”
After returning to our room, I quickly stripped off my wet clothes and spoke.
In truth, with Diana’s magic, she could have easily removed the moisture soaking our clothes, but she showed no signs of using magic.
And since I knew exactly why, I didn’t bother asking her to.
“You’re not taking them off? You’ll catch a cold if you stay like that.”
“I-I’m taking them off!”
Only after I said something did the hesitating Diana finally begin to undress.
She casually tossed her robe to the floor and slowly reached for her clothes.
But unlike her robe, which had a waterproof coating, the clothes underneath were soaked, and she seemed to be struggling a bit with them.
In Diana’s case, aside from her robe, her attire was relatively casual even when she went into the dungeon.
It wasn’t like all her clothes were waterproofed, so this happened from time to time.
“Want some help?”
“I-It’s fine… Eek!”
Ignoring her head-shaking refusal, I immediately reached for her clothes.
I peeled off her top first, then removed the somewhat out-of-place, high-class lace bra, revealing her small, cute breasts to my eyes.
And in the center of those modest hills, her pink nipples were puckered and erect, asserting their presence.
“B-Being wet like this is making me a little chilly.”
Noticing my gaze, Diana muttered to the empty air while subtly covering her chest with one arm.
It seemed she was determined to insist that her nipples were hard only because she was cold.
“I bet. Let’s hurry up, get undressed, and go wash.”
But I didn’t call her out on it, instead reaching straight for her skirt.
Unlike her top, which had been a bit of a struggle, removing her skirt was simple, leaving only the underwear covering her private parts.
I hooked my fingers into the sides of her panties and slowly pulled them down.
“Ngh…!”
As expected, several thin, transparent threads stretched between her pink vulva and the fabric.
“Y-You see! My underwear is soaked too!”
No. It seems a bit too thick to be just water.
I gave Diana a meaningful smile, but she avoided my gaze, refusing to meet my eyes.
“Hey. Perverted Archmage.”
“I-I told you, that’s not it!”
But the moment I called her that, she whipped her head around to look at me and shouted back in a hurry.