Chapter 93: Honor(1)
Chapter 93: Honor(1)
“That ginseng of yours was something else.”
Nassen stared blankly for a moment before the meaning sank in, and he roared.
“You crazy bastard!!”
I mean, he had merged with a dungeon boss and even taken some unknown drug. A potion like that must have had serious side effects.
He’d thrown everything away to get the Doll Ginseng, so of course he’d lose his mind if he couldn’t have it.
Kerry held up the ginseng and shook it, taunting him.
Nassen gritted his teeth and raised a massive fist, but he couldn’t bring it down.
If the ginseng were to be damaged, Nassen would be the one in trouble.
Kerry was perfectly at ease.
Now that he was here, it was as good as his victory.
Nassen, distracted by the ginseng, seemed to have missed the most important message.
[Dungeon Cleared. The curse will be lifted.]
This message meant that the restraints on the hero's party had been released. As expected, a booming voice was the first to ring out.
“Don’t! Touch! My husband! Raaaaaaagh!”
It seemed Natasha thought I was in danger and had completely lost it. Even though I have the shield on my bracelet.
A red haze shimmered up from Natasha's body.
Natasha kicked off the ground and shot forward. With a sound like a cannon firing, she closed the distance to the altar in an instant.
Maintaining her speed, Natasha kicked Nassen square in his massive jaw.
“Grh. You... crazy bitch!”
But the now-giant Nassen wasn't weak enough to be felled by a single blow.
He reached out a huge hand, trying to snatch Natasha as she spun in mid-air.
Just then, Nassen staggered and fell.
“Kerry! Are you alright?”
It was Lina. She had slashed Nassen's leg.
Nassen's colossal body began to topple.
Natasha climbed onto Nassen's body and attacked indiscriminately.
Terrifying impact sounds, unbelievable for someone of her small stature, erupted from her fists.
“Raaaaaaagh!”
Natasha, half-mad, was beating him to a pulp. Just watching made my skin crawl.
Kerry stood awkwardly on the altar.
There was nothing left for him to do. Except for securing the ginseng, that is.
“...No one saw that, right?”
The Doll Ginseng was in Kerry's hand, but no one had seen it. Except for Nassen, of course.
There was no way they could see the high altar clearly from the ground.
Kerry stealthily tucked the Doll Ginseng into his leather pouch.
“You crazy bitch! Get off! Get off me!”
Nassen flailed around on the ground.
But he was far too slow to catch Natasha. Victoria smashed her shield into the fallen Nassen's head. Wow. That’s gotta fucking hurt.
With the sickening sound of tearing flesh, Nassen screamed.
“Aaaargh! I-I get it! Stop! I lose! I lost, so please, just don't kill me! I'm begging you!”
Lina spoke resolutely.
“The people you killed probably said the same thing. But did you ever listen to their voices?”
“I-I know where Barikmeteo is! I'll tell you where he is! Just spare my life...”
“We don't need that either. We already know.”
When it came to these bastards, Lina showed no mercy.
I was worried her sucker-like personality might lead her to forgive him, but it seems that was a needless concern.
A single slash from Lina's sword severed Nassen's thick neck.
And with that, it was over.
*
Natasha was crying.
Tears streamed down her face as she continued to strike Nassen's body, which was now beaten into an unrecognizable pulp.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Grrrr— Raaaaagh!”
She looked less like she was filled with rage and more like she was just sad.
Natasha screamed as she kept hammering Nassen's shapeless corpse.
It was a brutal, blood-splattered scene, but to Kerry, Natasha just looked pitiful.
Kerry approached the berserk Natasha.
It was all over now. Nassen's body was unrecognizable, and they would burn every last scrap of flesh.
“Natasha. That's enough. It's okay. We'll take care of the rest.”
“Sob...”
Natasha looked up at Kerry.
Her face was stained with blood, but it wasn't scary. Instead, he just felt sorry for her.
“It's all over, Natasha.”
“Whimper... whimper...”
Only then did Natasha fall into Kerry's arms.
Kerry held the blood-stained Natasha close. He could only hope this would bring her some peace.
*
As if she'd never been crying at all, Natasha was now nestled snugly in Kerry's arms.
She clung to his neck, licking his face over and over.
“It seems Natasha has calmed down now.”
“Yes, Lina.”
“I'll begin the cleanup.”
Lina gathered Nassen's remains and set them on fire.
She wasn't about to give those bastards even the slightest chance of coming back.
Lina looked at Natasha.
A complex mix of emotions could be seen in her eyes.
Perhaps because I'd seen into her dreams, I could understand a little of what she was feeling.
A comrade from her past life. She knew about her comrade's painful past, yet she hadn't been able to protect her.
The timing of her regression must have been off. There was nothing Lina could have done.
A hint of regret flickered in her eyes, as if she were thinking, if only I had returned to a slightly earlier time.
Lina approached Natasha, who was still in Kerry's arms.
“Natasha...”
“Grrr...”
Unaware of Lina's feelings, Natasha growled warily, just as she always did.
Just then, a command surfaced in Natasha's mind.
[Natasha. You have to get along with Lina. Okay?]
It was the command Kerry had whispered to her in the forest while they were tracking Nassen.
Remembering the command, Natasha stopped growling.
“...”
Lina, who had been about to withdraw her outstretched hand, paused.
Natasha's reaction had changed. Her expression was still one of displeasure, but she wasn't growling.
“Lina. Seeing as she's not growling, I think it's okay.”
“...”
Lina cautiously reached out and stroked Natasha's hair.
Nestled against Kerry, Natasha neither seemed to like it nor did she growl.
Gaining confidence from this, Lina pulled Natasha into a hug.
“I'm so sorry... Natasha... I should have... been here sooner. I'm sorry...”
“...”
Natasha looked at Lina with a completely bewildered expression.
But in the face of Lina's heartfelt sincerity, it seemed even Natasha was opening up a little.
The party waited until Nassen's corpse had completely burned away before moving on.
The last few days had been truly exhausting.
They had no carriage, so they'd been running constantly, and they'd even gone through a dungeon.
They needed a place to recover, and the closest village was the one that had been turned to ruins by Nassen's attack.
Lina's party had no choice but to head there to rest.
Even though the village was in ruins, some houses were still intact, which was better than sleeping outdoors.
The grandmother rejoined the party. The dungeon hadn't taken as long as expected, so she was easy to find.
Upon arriving in the village, the party unpacked and took a rest.
Kerry lay in bed, wrapped tightly in bandages.
His body was covered in cuts from the arrows. The grandmother had applied medicine and wrapped them in bandages as first aid.
This should be enough to keep them from getting infected.
“Kerry. Looking at you, it must have been quite dangerous.”
“Well, it was like that for everyone this time. It was a difficult dungeon.”
But Kerry was the only one in the party who was injured. And even his cuts were minor.
They're actual monsters. How do they come back from a hell-level difficulty without a single scratch?
Once again, I couldn't shake the thought that the hero's party was full of monsters.
Natasha was lying next to Kerry, cuddled up against him.
As if worried about his wounds, she licked his face and body repeatedly.
“Hahaha. That tickles. Stop licking me, Natasha.”
“Heehee!”
Finding his reaction amusing, Natasha licked him even more enthusiastically.
The grandmother watched them from the side and spoke.
“So. Nassen is finally dead?”
“Yes. We took care of him... permanently.”
The grandmother let out a long sigh, as if releasing years of pent-up resentment.
“Thank you. Thanks to you all, the spirits of our tribe's warriors can let go of some of their lingering attachments to this world.”
“Natasha, I said stop licking me. Ahaha, it tickles.”
“Heehee!”
“...”
Natasha, oblivious to the mood, just kept playing around.
The grandmother looked at Natasha with pity and said, “That poor child... how deeply her heart must be wounded... Son-in-law. It's a good thing you're here. Because you're here, Natasha can still smile like this.”
The grandmother reached out to stroke Natasha's hair, her expression full of sympathy.
But Natasha growled, and the old woman could only click her tongue.
Natasha can smile because of me, huh? I'm not so sure about that.
Even without me, Natasha is strong. She might have found a way to overcome it on her own.
“More importantly, if Nassen is dead, we should now be able to completely lift Natasha's curse.”
Kerry used the Goddess's Eye on Natasha.
[Status – Curse of Weakness (Mitigated)]
Right. This was still here.
Natasha had been so strong all this time that I'd forgotten about it. Just how much stronger will she get once this curse is lifted?
“You just need to rest your body, Son-in-law, so I'll go prepare to lift Natasha's curse. Make sure you take care of yourself.”
“Yes. Don't worry.”
Victoria, who was standing nearby, looked at the grandmother and said, “I'll take good care of Kerry, so you have nothing to worry about.”
Who's taking care of whom, I wonder.
Lina, who had been sitting quietly, also stood up.
“I'm going to patrol the area around the village. There might be some ghouls left nearby. The three of you should get some sleep first. It's getting dark.”
“...You should rest too, Lina. There's no one here who would fall to a mere ghoul.”
Lina shook her head. Should I call this being thorough?
Or maybe she just wants to do something for the party. It'd be nice if we could all rest together.
In the end, Lina went out on patrol.
Victoria turned to Kerry as if she'd just remembered something.
"Come to think of it, Kerry. Back then, Nassen was screaming his head off at you, demanding you hand something over, wasn't he?"
Kerry flinched.
Victoria hadn't seen him take the Doll Ginseng, but it seemed she'd heard Nassen's voice.
“...Hmm. I'm not sure? I think he misunderstood something. He must have thought I was hiding something from him.”
“Is that so? Then never mind.”
For the record, the dungeon reward was a pair of Hero-grade boots, which went to Lina.
The specs I saw with the Goddess's Eye at the time were as follows:
[Name – Hermes's Boots]
[Summary – Boots containing the blessing of Hermes. The wearer's steps will become lighter. Can use 'Hermes's Blessing.' Hermes's Blessing increases the user's speed and scatters celestial feathers.]
Lina was visibly delighted when she got those boots.
You wouldn't think a Hero-grade item would seem all that special to a regressor.
Maybe they're boots she had some connection with in her past life. If so, that would make sense.
Now, only two people remained in Kerry's sickroom. Victoria and Natasha. A sense of foreboding crept over him.
“Kerry! Fufufu!”
“Heehee! Heehee!”
Natasha, who seemed even more excited than usual, perhaps because it had been a while. And the ever-lewd Victoria was staring at Kerry.
Both of their eyes were glazed over with lust.
“I'm covered in bandages right now... Victoria.”
To be honest, I'd wanted to visit the White Witch tonight.
The Doll Ginseng was still resting safely in my leather pouch. I wanted to show it to the White Witch and take it as soon as possible.
But Kerry shook his head.
Victoria was in no mood to back down today.
Seeing her eyes glazed with lust, her horniness cooldown must have reset.
After I rejected her intense advances during the last night watch, she seemed even more consumed by lust.
Natasha was the same. Her eyes sparkled at the thought of tasting Kerry's cock after so long.
In the first place, there was no separating Natasha from Kerry right now.
Looks like I have no choice but to satisfy them both tonight. I'll visit the White Witch after we've had our fun.
“I may be a critical patient... but I'll do my best.”
Just then, Victoria shot back a harsh remark.
“Stop making such a fuss, Kerry. Fufu. Did you really think a man could get out of this with a few scratches like that?”
A fuss? Did she just say I'm making a fuss?!
My arms and legs are covered in cuts from arrows!
Sure, thanks to my leather armor, none of them are deep enough to need stitches, but they really hurt! A lot!
“Making a fuss... I can't just let that remark slide!”
Do you have any idea what it took for me to get through that terrifying arrow trap?!
This is proof of my courage. And she dares to dismiss these wounds.
Even if it's Victoria, I can't forgive this.
“That comment about me making a fuss! I'll make you take it back.”
“Fufu. Go on and try, if you can.”
“Heehee!”
The three of them began to tangle together on the bed.