Episode 256
- Thud, thud...
Through a country road where snow was falling heavily, a woman was walking.
- Beep, beep-beep...!
"What's going on?"
She was Venner, who had been breathing warm air from her mouth to melt her frozen hands.
"The Holy Knight and the Saintess... are out of contact?"
She, who had personally set out to execute Frey, frowned upon receiving an urgent transmission from the hero party that had been dispatched in advance.
"Is this information certain? Did the Saintess simply forget how to use the radio, or did the Holy Knight just turn off the power?"
Transmission cutting off was something that happened regularly with the lacking-in-common-sense Holy Knight and the pure-white Saintess Perloche, so she asked casually, but upon hearing the continuing transmission, she realized this wasn't such a simple matter.
"The signal... isn't being detected at all?"
The magical tool they used for communication was designed to still transmit a signal even if the power was turned off. Yet, for some reason, a situation had arisen where no signal was being transmitted.
"I understand. I'm almost there anyway, so I'll check myself."
Having said that with a deeply furrowed expression, Venner cut the signal and was about to quicken her pace, but soon found herself having to stop in her tracks.
"So..."
Before long, Venner, wearing a tense expression, began to reach for the sword at her waist.
"...what brings you here?"
In the middle of a remote road where footsteps had ceased with the coming of night, someone was blocking her path with a drawn sword.
"Isn't it obvious."
The unidentified figure, who had been hidden in darkness, revealed themselves.
"It's to ensure that no one disturbs my cute disciple's rest."
She was none other than Isollet.
"Are you turning your back on the world?"
Venner, glaring at such an Isollet, asked with a cold change in her expression.
"Merely, for that meager memory?"
Isollet, upon hearing those words, also answered with a smile as cold as the outside air.
"That meager memory, to me, is everything."
"You will come to regret this. If I return, you will lose everything and fall. Not only that, but the Imperial Family and the Order will also pursue you..."
"I don't care."
Isollet, cutting off Venner's words that were about to continue at length, pointed her sword at her.
"I have already abandoned everything and sworn an oath to him."
"What...?"
"And besides..."
The moment Isollet trailed off while speaking, Venner's eyes widened.
"...Return? What do you mean by that?"
From Isollet's entire body, who was glaring with a terrifying expression at Venner who had assaulted her disciple, sword energy enough to blanket all directions was radiating.
"There will be no return for you to the hero party."
"That sword energy is...?"
It was the same sword energy that the Sword Saint of a thousand years ago, now a legend, used to radiate.
"...If you don't want to die in one blow, draw your sword."
Realizing its power and ferocity, Venner, who was breaking out in a cold sweat, quietly drew and gripped her sword at Isollet's cold words.
- KWAJIJIJIZIK...!
The next moment, the two swords clashed.
'Serena... that girl...'
Amidst the massive shockwave created as a result, she recalled Serena who had事先 informed her that Venner would be coming here, and quietly muttered inwardly.
'...Indeed, a clever child.'
For the sake of the cute and lovable Frey, Serena and Isollet's plan to eliminate Venner from the hero party had begun.
'But, behind there... wasn't there only an old inn, not the lodging she mentioned...?'
Of course, that too was Serena's calculation.
.
- SHAAAA...
"...Oh."
A tent erected at ruins in the Western Continent, quite far from the Southern Continent where the Sunrise Empire is located.
"How fascinating..."
There, Kania was moving the vast amount of black magic power that had suddenly flowed into her body just moments ago, this way and that in the air.
"It's several times stronger than the black magic power I used... no, at minimum dozens of times..."
It was a density and strength on a completely different level from the mana she had been using until now.
"But I'm still... only at the level of a high-ranking black mage?"
Because of that, she thought she might have risen in rank without realizing it, but that wasn't the case.
She was still remaining at the high-ranking level, and for new black magic power to be generated throughout her body, she would need to at least break through the barrier of the highest-ranking upper tier.
Moreover, even if she broke through that barrier and received a supply of black magic power, she couldn't obtain an aura of this level.
No, she was doubtful whether this was even black magic power to begin with.
She was calling it black magic power only because the most similar thing was black magic power, but in Kania's view, it would be more correct to call this aura 'something close to the source.'
"Well, having it won't hurt anything."
For a while, she floated a black sphere above her finger and rolled it around, then absorbed it into her hand and muttered.
"With this, rather, I'll be able to make the Young Master even happier."
Black magic was largely magic that caused pain and cursed its subjects, but if used well, it could also produce beneficial effects.
And Kania was confident in handling black magic power above all else.
"Alright, then..."
Finishing that thought, Kania, who had lain down on the bed in the tent, quietly picked up a lemon candy at her side and began to lick it with care.
"Mmm..."
It was an extremely sour candy, but Kania licked it as if accustomed to it.
"Lately... he's been quite vigorous..."
Due to Frey frequently intertwining tongues with women lately, she had no choice but to feel the sensation of intertwining tongues with all of them.
*Lick...*
Of course, what she felt wasn't only that.
She could also feel being pressed upon by someone almost every day, or conversely pressing upon someone, and once, she even felt her entire body rubbing against a woman's skin for several hours while inside a narrow space like armor.
At that time, Kania, unable to bear it, had struck her own head and briefly fainted, but since then, nothing worse had happened, so she was relieved.
Though just before feeling the terrible pain that occurred for some reason when Frey entered the core, she did feel a sensation of her whole body going dizzy.
'I love you... Young Master...'
Kania, whose body flushed hot from the emotions she felt at that time, blushed and rolled around on the bed, muttering inwardly.
'I want to return quickly and serve the Young Master...'
The work of the investigation team that Klana had dispatched to the Western Continent was gradually coming to a close.
Therefore, once a few review processes were finished, she was scheduled to return to the Sunrise Empire with the investigation team within a few weeks.
"W-what should I do for him... I've already used the dress once, so then... hmm..."
Thanks to that, she was spending each day these days filled with anticipation, and soon covered herself with the blanket and muttered.
"...Before sleeping, should I just look at the Young Master and sleep?"
It was a difficult position as the overall head of the investigation team, exhausting enough to become worn out, but every night when she transformed into a cat and saw the Young Master's face, she overflowed with vitality.
"Nya?"
Having closed her eyes and connected to the cat that was far away, she soon began to tilt her head.
"Woof woof! Woof...!"
Around her, a red puppy was spinning in circles and barking madly.
"Chirp..."
Beside such a puppy, there was Canary, who had curled up miserably in a corner with a sullen expression.
"Coo coo."
And Gugu, who had leaves and snow all over his body as if he had gone out somewhere.
"Coo?"
The pigeon, who for some reason had a more relaxed expression than the other animals and was yawning repeatedly, tilted its head upon seeing the cat that was blankly staring at it.
"M-meow...?"
Only then coming to her senses, Kania realized where they were.
'A... a lock...?'
They were trapped in a box.
'A-an attack...?'
Kania, who broke out in a cold sweat the moment she realized that fact and quickly looked around.
"...Nya?"
Then, she discovered a note stuck right there in the box and froze.
- The bet is my victory.
Reading the intense sentence written on the first line, Kania, who had been thinking 'surely not,' quietly lowered her gaze.
- I found a way to break the curse of subordination.
Kania's mind went completely white upon reading the next sentence.
- I'll eat well, everyone.
"Meeeeooooooow......!"
The sorrowful cry of the cat doll possessed by Kania echoed through the hideout.
.
"Frey! It's snow, snow!"
"...I see."
"And it's the first snow!"
"I know."
Meanwhile at that time, Serena was circling around Frey who was outside watching the snow while jumping about.
"Do you remember? The day I first said I liked you was a day when the first snow was falling."
"I don't know."
"I know. Since I know, that's enough."
Saying that, Serena, who had buried herself in Frey's arms, rubbed her face against his chest, then casually turned her gaze to the side.
"Grrrr....."
"Enemy, enemy forces, demon tribe appearing ahead! Shall we engage in combat?"
"F-first, retreat. There are civilian houses too close. Let's lure them to a distant location first..."
The combat taking place in the forest far away was being captured in real-time by the eavesdropping magical tool attached to her ear.
"Low-ranking demon tribes, chase those guys."
"Yes, yes!"
"The Master said not to kill them. So don't kill them, just chase them."
"Understood!"
Serena, confirming that Lulu was driving away the hero party that had approached right up to the front by commanding the combat executives in real-time, once again wore a smile of triumph and muttered.
"So, what did you want to say? Frey?"
Then, Frey, who was looking down at her, whispered in a low voice.
"I love you."
"........!"
Serena's pupils greatly expanded upon hearing those words.
"It's night now, so you would have returned to normal."
Saying that, Frey turned his gaze to the side and added.
"...Just, that's how it is."
"Wh-what you wanted to say... was that...?"
"Shut up."
As Frey, still with his gaze turned to the side, answered with a cute expression, Serena's heart began to race uncontrollably fast.
"Fr-Frey..."
Serena, who had been looking at Frey with heated eyes for a while, soon reached her hand out to him with a slight smile on her lips.
"Then, let's sleep for tonight."
"Yes?"
"...Just, I'm a bit tired."
"........"
When Frey stepped back one pace from her and said that, she quietly began to stare at him.
"Actually, you know."
Frey, who was quietly heading toward the inn with his back to her.
"...You're not actually ordinary."
Soon stopped his steps, and spoke in a low voice while catching snowflakes.
"Just... know that."
It was the villainized Frey who, seeing the earlier hallucination and worried she might leave him, had barely brought out his true feelings借着 the help of alcohol.
- Thud, thud...
With that quite destructive statement as the end, Frey quietly walked into the mansion.
"........"
Serena, who was watching Frey's back with eyes full of heat.
"Haa."
Breathed out a hot breath and muttered.
"...I really can't hold back anymore."
.
"Huu..."
I, who had entered the inn before Serena and lay down on the bed in the room, frowned at the fatigue setting in and let out a deep sigh.
"Why is there no empty room...?"
I asked the innkeeper who had just woken up and was bewildered, but he said there were no empty rooms.
For a moment, I thought about driving out the Sun God lying in my room, but having nowhere else to go in this cold, I decided to just let it be.
"Can't be helped then."
Since it's come to this, it seems I'll have to sleep in Serena's room.
I can let her sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor.
No, we're engaged anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter?
"...Hmm."
Thinking such thoughts, I suddenly felt my mind clearing and let out a small groan.
'Just how many times is this now... geez.'
Throughout today, my mind keeps clearing and then getting dizzy alternately.
Just what is this 'villainization' that appeared in my system window information?
Right now my mind has properly returned for a moment, but if this continues, it'll be quite troublesome.
[Serena Curse Liberation Quest - New Mission!]
I, who was thinking such thoughts, opened the system notification I hadn't been able to check due to the Demon God's attack earlier.
"...Huh?"
And soon, I had no choice but to open my eyes wide.
[Spend a night with Serena]
[Reward: Progress rate 80% -> 90%]
".......!?"
At that extremely intuitive yet shocking content, I, who had been staring at the system window intently for a while.
- Creak...
The door opened, and as Serena entered the room, I unconsciously closed the system window and spoke.
"Uh, um... Serena..."
But something is strange.
"Frey...♡"
"Serena?"
Her eyes were unfocused.
- Click...!
"Huh? Huh huh?"
I, who was looking at her with a bewildered expression, suddenly saw the room door lock and opened my eyes wide, looking back and forth between her and the doorknob.
"Hehe..."
"W-wait? Serena?"
Serena, who had been looking at me with a flushed expression, climbed onto the bed with smooth movements.
"Actually, I've wanted to become a star since long ago."
"What?"
Before long, Serena, who had gently slid the purity ring shining white on the ring finger of my left hand and then interlaced her hand with mine using her right hand.
- Slide...
".....!"
In one motion undid her dress, revealing her bare body wearing only thin underwear, and whispered in a low voice.
"...Please make my surname Starlight."
My mind, looking at her moonlight-colored pupils, began to turn white.
"You'll do that for me, right?"
The day my ring would turn black, it seemed like it was going to be today.