〈6. Proof of Existence (41)〉
I tried my best to maintain my sanity somehow.
A sweet fragrance was tickling the tip of my nose. The soft texture brushing against my skin, the elastic flesh rubbing and providing a plush sensation. My head was dizzy from the intoxicatingly intense scent.
Perhaps some incense was being burned.
The rising lust was stealthily climbing up my spine. It might get better if I circulated mana, but due to the effect of the restraints, the mana in my body wouldn’t budge at all.
My senses were unusually sensitive. It felt like the fine hairs all over my body were standing on end.
Nevertheless, the reason I was still holding onto my reason.
That was entirely thanks to my companions.
Senior Elsie and Celine, and even Ria who had been missing.
Just the lives weighing on my shoulders right now amounted to three. It was fortunate that none of them had lost their lives, but if I lost consciousness, I didn’t know what kind of state they would end up in.
Only after reminding myself of that fact several times did my breathing settle.
The girl was merely staring at me without saying a word. Her dreamy golden gaze was licking my face.
Occasionally, she would subtly rub her buttocks against me.
But it was still bearable for now. A voice mixed with a groan leaked from between my teeth.
“Where is this place……?”
“A hideout prepared somewhere in the holy nation. And the love nest where Oppa and I will live!”
As if she had prepared in advance, the answer came right away.
But instead, a hollow laugh formed at the corners of my mouth. My eyes scanned the surroundings once again.
It was a secret room.
Dim sunlight was seeping in from the sky, but the absolute amount of light was insufficient. Moreover, the interior landscape without a single piece of furniture or decoration was utterly desolate.
No matter who looked at it, it wasn’t a place fit for people to live.
As if proving this, in front of Senior Elsie, there was a dog bowl placed. Upon closer inspection, the restraint around Senior Elsie’s neck was also modeled after a dog collar.
It was a vicious hobby.
The surprising fact was that Senior Elsie was actually on the better-treated side. By Celine and Ria’s sides, there was no food or water to be found at all.
At least minimal emergency treatment had been done, which was fortunate.
I didn’t know the reason, but the girl didn’t seem to have any intention of killing my companions for now. I first felt relief at that hypothesis.
Naturally, a mocking sound flowed from my lips.
“Is it trendy these days for love nests to have people hanging up?”
“Ahaha, so that was the complaint? Don’t worry too much! As long as Oppa accepts me, we’ll live a life envied by no one.”
The girl’s upper body leaned against my body as if overlapping. The cozy texture felt from her chest, the fragrant scent of flesh, and the sticky voice of temptation successively assaulted my five senses.
“Wealth and honor? Delicacies of land and sea? Forests of meat and seas of wine? Just say it! I can give you anything… As long as you don’t forget the fact that Oppa is mine.”
The whisper that had been forming a light rhythm cooled coldly at the end. Even those golden eyes that had been dyed with ecstasy momentarily harbored a chill.
The girl showed an unusually obsessive attitude toward me.
Because I’m family?
It was a plausible inference. On the day it was decided to abandon the girl, I was the only Percus not involved in that decision. So, the person the girl could call ‘blood relative’ could only be me.
But there was a point that couldn’t be explained by this hypothesis.
The girl liked me not as a younger sister but as a woman. Just looking at how she constantly confessed her own love made that fact clear.
Why on earth.
Perhaps because she didn’t go through a normal growth process. In that case, there was also the possibility that she couldn’t properly distinguish her own emotions.
There weren’t enough clues yet.
In fact, to me right now, it was an irrelevant issue anyway. With my companions’ lives on the line right now, what did the girl’s feelings matter.
The girl was still entranced by me. Taking advantage of that gap, I subtly sent a bit of mana into the restraints.
The mana still wouldn’t budge. However, as I began to apply the principle of ‘解 (解？)’, I felt a thread-like aura tapping on the restraints.
Indeed, it was the secret technique of the Great Witch, one of only three masters on the continent.
If she showed just a little more opening, I could release the restraints.
For now, I decided to probe the girl.
“I don’t think I’ve said yet that I’ll become yours.”
“Of course, because you’ll say it from now on! Here, look?”
The girl stealthily raised her body and began to look around at the bound women.
The first target was Celine.
My childhood friend, who hadn’t regained consciousness yet, was groaning with her eyes closed.
The cold sweat flowing down her slapped cheeks was testifying to Celine’s nightmare.
“First, Sister Celine! I really want to educate her more, but since she’s my precious trading partner? I’ll let it slide for now!”
The atmosphere of the girl, who had been smiling brightly, changed in the next moment.
Defiant golden eyes were looking up at the girl. They were two people who looked exactly alike as if looking in a mirror, but their appearances were the complete opposite.
Ria, covered in dirt and clad in a tattered dress.
And the girl clad in pitch-black priestly robes looking down at her.
Ria was gritting her teeth as if unbearably frustrated by that fact. In response, the girl let out a scoffing laugh.
“Next, our fake… I should have killed and gotten rid of her long ago, but she’s a bit special specimen? So I’ll spare her for now. Research materials are precious.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
It was a fierce voice scraping out from her throat.
Ria, whom I met after a long time, was filled with malice. It was clear that she hadn’t lived in a comfortable environment during that time.
“I’m not your fake or anything… Playing with others like toys by targeting psychological weaknesses, and you call that a merchant? You’re just a fraudster.”
It was a cold rebuttal, but the girl didn’t show any signs of being shaken. She merely narrowed her eyes with a hmm.
Soon, the girl’s two palms clapped together with a smack.
It meant she wasn’t interested. The bewitching golden eyes moved to find the next victim.
“Well, we can talk about that later… Our puppy?”
Once again, an arc rose at the corners of the girl’s mouth. That expression feigning affection was excessively awkward, as if deliberately giving an artificial feeling.
The girl’s hand, taking light steps, randomly tousled Senior Elsie’s hair.
A faint groan leaked from Senior Elsie’s mouth, who had a dog collar on. From that gaze filled with irritation, I could guess Senior Elsie’s mood.
No, it was a face smeared with shame and anger beyond irritation.
It couldn’t be helped. Being treated like a pet by a younger girl, it would be strange not to get angry.
I didn’t know why I, a younger man, was an exception.
Senior Elsie’s body was trembling violently. It was evidence that her emotions had reached the extreme, but the girl only wore a sadistic smile.
“If it’s just the two of us in the nest, it’ll be boring, right? So I plan to raise one pet that Oppa likes. But you know…….”
Strength entered the hand that had been dramatically stroking Senior Elsie’s head.
A groan leaked from Senior Elsie’s mouth as her hair was grabbed. She flailed around, but with both hands and feet bound, proper resistance was impossible.
In pity, I ended up raising my voice.
“Senior Elsie!”
Giggle giggle, as if it was the expected reaction, the girl swallowed her laughter.
And then, as if boasting, she displayed Senior Elsie’s pain-filled face and continued with a playful threat.
“If Oppa doesn’t listen to me, I don’t know what I’ll do?”
My teeth ground with a grit.
I felt like releasing the restraints right away and grabbing my sword. But I didn’t even know where my weapons were, and the martial prowess the girl before me possessed surpassed imagination.
I need to wait for a bigger opening.
Having finished my cool-headed judgment, a groan flowed from between my teeth.
Do I have no choice but to go along with her like this?
It was around the time I reached that conclusion.
“……Don’t bullshit.”
It was words that Senior Elsie spat out while forcibly twisting up the corners of her mouth.
My and the girl’s blank gazes turned toward her.
Senior Elsie had an expression that truly found it amusing.
“Subject of an affection-deficient brat… Who educates whom? You, you’ve never received love even once.”
With each word that continued, the smile was erased from the corners of the girl’s mouth.
“That’s why you can’t feel at ease without talk of ‘contracts’ or ‘master-servant relationships’… Because you’ve never received unconditional love. Pfft, puhehe… Do you expect this Elsie Rinella to go along with such childish play?”
“……You bitch.”
By the end, the girl’s expression had hardened to the point where it couldn’t get any colder. With a snap, a blood-red whip formed on her open palm.
“You haven’t received enough education yet? Hmm, fine… If you really want it, I’ll educate you personally!”
Bang, the whip swung by the girl who gritted her teeth struck the ground.
Seeing it again, it was a terrifying power. If hit by that whip, even Senior Elsie wouldn’t be able to preserve her life.
So I decided to stop the girl first.
“Stop!”
The girl’s body, about to move the whip, flinched. When a puzzled gaze turned toward me, a sigh naturally leaked from my lips.
“I’ll go along with you… Instead, don’t touch Senior Elsie.”
Senior Elsie seemed about to retort in frustration at my words, but upon receiving my silent restraint, she closed her mouth again.
Faint dew formed at the corners of her eyes. She seemed exceedingly frustrated.
But shame is temporary, and if we preserve our lives, the time for revenge will come.
After hesitating, a cautious counter-question followed from the girl’s lips.
“……Go along, meaning?”
“Do as you please. Anyway, while I’m bound, nothing will happen, right? At least while bound here, I’ll go along with you.”
I subtly added the condition ‘while bound,’ but the girl didn’t seem to pay particular attention to that point.
She probably believed with certainty that I wouldn’t be released for a while.
If only given a chance.
I forcibly calmed my trembling heart and feigned indifference. Only then did the girl beam with delight and accept my proposal.
“Great! Then, in exchange for not touching that bitch for today, Oppa will go along with me?”
“Yeah, while bound, as much as you want… But for me too, only for today.”
Even to my obligatory bargaining, the girl just nodded as if it was fine.
The contract was sealed.
A blood-red scale floated in the air, then soon vanished. The girl now paid no attention at all to Senior Elsie.
And just before the girl embraced me again.
“Before that, can I ask one thing?”
“Hm?”
It was an abrupt remark. The girl’s head tilted quizzically, but I continued the question without giving time to think.
“Why are you obsessed with me?”
Then, the girl’s footsteps halted.
Hmm, the girl pondered repeatedly while propping her chin with her finger. As if unsure which story to bring up first.
The hesitation wasn’t long.
Soon, the girl wore a snow-white smile and answered.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. My childhood.”
It was a smile as pure as a child’s.
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