Moonlit Woods and Warm Bread
"He gang-raped that family's daughter right before her parents' eyes, and fled..."
Serina let go of the arm she'd been clutching.
"Q-quick, kill him! I-I'll keep my eyes shut the whole time!"
Hastily turning her back on him, Serina squeezed her eyes shut and clapped her hands over her ears.
This will count as a just punishment. Rape is a grave crime in this world too, and he did say knights hold the authority to punish it, at least for deeds committed outside the city walls.
The thought of a man being put to death at her back sent a sudden chill through her, and she had to strain to think of something, anything else.
Then, unbidden, she caught herself wondering how the hero's punishment would actually be carried out.
Truthfully, she wanted to shout it from the rooftops and drag Rean down into ruin, but realistically that was impossible.
A noble saintess — not only robbed of her maidenhood by the hero, but treated like a sex slave on top of it?
Seeing him punished might well be within reach, yet handled carelessly, her own standing could come tumbling down with him.
And in the end, they might never achieve the goal of choosing a new hero and hunting down the Demon King's lieutenant together.
Weighing all of that, the punishment had to be left entirely in the Church's hands.
"What are you thinking about?"
And so Serina resolved to share only the bare minimum with this knight.
"...Are you done?"
"Yeah. I left enough marks to identify who I am, so there won't be any blowback."
"I see. Thank you for your help."
"Don't mention it. Where were you headed?"
"Aileum. I'm trying to reach the Letan Church."
The knight swept his gaze over her from head to toe, then turned his back to her.
Without warning, he sank down onto one knee and lowered himself.
"What are you doing?"
"Get on."
"...Huh?"
When the flustered Serina simply stood there, the knight lost his patience, rose back up, and gave her shoulder a light tap.
Right on cue, strength drained from her legs; as she wobbled, Serina barely managed to brace a hand on her knee and recover her balance.
"See? Quit being stubborn for nothing and get on."
"...That's just because I'm tense."
Her cheeks burned.
The last thing she wanted was for him to see her looking weak.
She had burned through far too much divine power; simply standing upright was already pushing her limits.
"It's a long walk."
"So you're saying you'll carry me there?"
"Why? You'd rather I leave you behind?"
".........."
"I won't say it twice."
In the end, she climbed onto his back.
"I've got you, so relax."
Serina fixed a sour glare on the back of his head.
But under his continued prodding, she had no choice but to wrap her arms snugly around him.
Soon the knight settled her securely against him and started walking.
"In that state, traveling alone, the best you could've hoped for was to be a spectacle all the way to the city gates. The worst would've been crossing paths with bastards like those from earlier again."
Serina didn't know what to make of any of it.
She could understand him peeling off his gloves on the grounds that getting blood on them would be a nuisance.
She even decided to let the hand braced beneath her backside slide, since it kept her steady as a passenger.
After all, whether it was her chest being pressed flat against his back with every step, or the bare hand resting on her rear, it all just left her feeling grimy.
"I'll say this since you don't seem to know, but order outside the city walls has been falling apart for a long time now. It's no place to wander alone."
"..........Thank you."
Squish.
The moment she felt hands seize the flesh of both her buttocks, Serina shot a glare at the back of his head.
...Yeah. There it is.
Rather than despair, Serina chose to brace herself.
The hero had violated her the moment he so much as laid eyes on her.
So the knight pulling something like this hardly came as a shock.
It was simply that, with her strength drained to the dregs, she had no choice but to put up with it for now.
Honestly, just keep up your little games. I'll pound you until you black out.
Even as she swallowed her resentful thoughts, she let one side of her face rest comfortably against him.
After weighing this and that, choosing discomfort was more than her worn-out body could manage.
Fighting back the eyelids trying to slide shut, she committed the passing scenery to memory.
True, she was being carried through a beautiful moonlit forest on a man's back — but telling herself she was, for now, under someone's protection eased her mind a little.
Though judging by the hand still kneading her rear, she had to think her prospects looked bleak.
Heroes and knights alike — it was a paradise for trash.
This world was well and truly fucked.
.........Or is it not?
She'd braced for him to knead her harder, but when his hands stayed perfectly still for the entire half hour that followed, Serina had to admit that a twinge of guilt had quietly taken root inside her.
Nothing's certain yet. Once we arrive, I can thank him properly. For now, I absolutely must not fall asleep...
W-what the hell? Where am I?!
When she opened her eyes, it was broad daylight.
She lay on a plush bed beneath an unfamiliar ceiling.
Even the blanket seemed to caress her skin with a soft touch.
"You awake?"
Suppressing the urge to rest just a while longer, Serina pushed herself upright.
Settling into this comfort was impossible — her heart was already stained through with scars.
Gritting her teeth, Serina glared at the knight leaning by the door, betrayal and fury churning in her chest.
"What exactly did you do to me?!"
"What do you think? I haul you into an inn room — what else would there be to do?"
The knight let out a dry chuckle.
"Stripped your clothes off and felt you up the second we walked in. Happy now?"
Certain that his candor carried an intent to toy with her, Serina felt a sob catch in her throat for no good reason.
"And here I trusted you because you're a knight... but you're all the same beasts after all... Hrk?!"
Serina went rigid at the strange sensation sliding down to the pit of her throat.
Had what slipped down her gullet carried that raw, fishy tang, she would have launched herself at him all over again.
What is this? Why does it taste good?
Bewildered, she lowered her gaze.
Her eyes fell on the long loaf of bread in the knight's hand.
That sweet-filled morsel was what had been stuffing her mouth to the brim.
".............."
But once she started chewing, she found she couldn't stop, so she took it in both hands and made short work of it.
"There, have another."
In five minutes, four loaves of bread had vanished down Serina's throat.
"...You eat more than you look."
Hic.
As fullness welled up, so did her anger all over again.
The knight perched on the edge of the bed and gave her leg a light tap over the covers.
"Calm down. I only touched you because I had to lay you in the tub and wash you."
"How am I supposed to belie—"
Serina flinched at the sight of his hand drawing near her mouth.
The sound of her swallow, thick with tension, rang out loud in the room.
Only a single night had passed since she escaped Rean's clutches.
She was still in no position to feel at ease with a hand reaching toward her.
"Smell it."
A fresh, fragrant scent of soap drifted over.
The knight took her right hand and lifted it upward.
When his forearm brushed the bridge of her nose a moment later, the same fragrance rose from it.
"If you still can't bring yourself to believe me, then burrow under the blanket and smell for yourself."
".............."
"There was a suspicious stench practically vibrating off you. I have no intention of asking what you went through. But if it wasn't forced on you, then take better care of your body. Not that it's any of my business. In any case, you've been washed properly, and I laid you in bed only because you wouldn't wake up all this time. Relax."
Quite unable to relax, Serina burrowed under the blanket and waged a ten-minute campaign.
When it ended with no trace of any crime to be found, she crawled back out wanting to cry.
Then it dawned on her just how single-mindedly she'd been trying to turn this man into a criminal, and her cheeks flushed a faint shade of crimson with shame.
"...Thank you. A-and, um."
Serina fidgeted with her lips before speaking in a small voice.
"I'm sorry for misunderstanding."
"Don't dwell on it. We traveled this far together; I only did what anyone ought to."
"Um, is this place... Aileum, by any chance?"
"Yeah. If you're heading to the Church, take some time to gather your strength before you move. There's still a fair bit of walking ahead."
"...All right."
Serina had no choice but to believe him.
If she truly had been violated, at the very least there would be traces left behind.
And besides, sleeping through something like that without ever waking made no sense to begin with.
I'll trust him. He doesn't seem like a bad person.
Serina gave a small nod.
"Um..."
"Lartel."
"Huh?"
"I don't much like being called anything other than my name."
"Oh... I'm Serina Frechern."
Lartel turned her name over in his mind, the corner of his lips curling up slightly.
"Serina. It suits you. I'll remember it."
"Um, Lartel... sir? Do you perhaps have a busy schedule?"
"No, not particularly."
"Then... may I ask you to guide me to the Church? I don't know my way around here."
Serina grew a little uneasy, unable to guess how he'd take it — a woman who looked every bit the priestess claiming not to even know where the Church stood.
If she went out to the street and asked for directions, arriving wouldn't be especially difficult — but, as Lartel had warned, dressed in something this revealing...
"Huh...?"
Only then did Serina spot the saintess outfit hanging from the rack against the wall — and she froze solid.
Given that Lartel had been kind enough to go so far as to bathe her, it stood to reason he hadn't spared the trouble of buying her fresh clothes and dressing her in them, either.
Head bowed, Serina saw the twin mounds of her chest rising plump beneath the fabric.
And when she saw the blanket draped only to her thighs, she became acutely aware of Lartel's gaze.
"Eeeek!"