Volume 1 - CH 3.2

After proceeding inside the forest for a while, Aine and I found a place to be our base point. This must’ve been used often by other adventurers… There was a trace of bonfire.

Surrounding it, suitable rocks had been placed as chairs. Let’s just go straight to using this place.

“After a short rest, we’ll head to the cave. It shouldn’t be that far away if it’s from here.”

“Nn, okay.”

“Aine, are you feeling all right?”

“I’m basically in healthy shape. …It’s a hassle since it comes rather suddenly, though.”

For the time being, Aine’s condition seemed to be fine. If only the ‘heat’ would come right now when on a break like this… What a hopeless thing to think about.

For her, that was nothing but a burden—but, the more time passed, the more likely the heat would occur.

Currently it was still before noon, but since my reunion with Aine, the ‘heat’ basically would happen from noon through evening.

It was still the second anyway, and according to Aine, it could happen any time in ‘one day.’

For example, it seemed that there had been times when she would go to ‘heat’ at night and then go to heat again before morning.

So, I would take care of it as quickly as possible as long as I was with her.

I had no desire to have any wicked thoughts at the sight of such Aine.

“I want you to tell me right away if it’s getting tough. This is the spot to return to after all; I’m thinking of setting up a simple tent just in case.”

There was a single-person tent that could be folded up small in my luggage. I had only one tent since we were going to make it a day trip anyway, but we would probably need a larger tent in case the investigation would’ve to be done over several days.

“That means, doing it in a tent, right?”

“Well, and since there aren’t any people around here, I think making some noises or two also gonna be all right, though.”

“!, i-it’s not like I make noises because I want—I mean, I don’t even make that much noise!” Aine denied so with her face blushing slightly.

She clearly hadn’t been able to keep her voice down, but I didn’t intend to make a mention of that.

“It’s just a ‘what if,’ alright.”

“I-I see. That’s fine, then.”

“Anyway, I’m setting up a tent for tha—!”

My words were interrupted by a loud thud sound. It was coming from a direction where the cave was.

Aine and I made eye contact and immediately started running.

“Aine! You stand by in the back. Don’t step forward even when encountering an enemy!”

“I-I know. I’m not gonna force myself.”

It was a few dozen minutes walk from our base point to the cave.

I thought of running while matching Aine’s movements, but her movements were as agile as she had shown earlier even with all the vegetation. To be honest, it really helped that far from having to match her, it was totally not a problem even if I went a bit more serious.

When we came out into another opening in the forest, what came into our view was a big cave entrance—and a large-bodied monster.

“Stop.”

“!, that’s a Gray Bear…”

“Yeah. But, it’s acting weird.”

“…Eh?”

Thud—it took a step forward, and its body was swaying and staggering.

It didn’t mean it noticed us. On a second look, I could see crushed claws on its big arms and scars throughout its body. And just like that, the Gray Bear slumped forward and fell down.

“Wha…? Wh-what does this mean!?”

“Aine, you stay here.”

Maybe inside the cave or in the bushes nearby—in any case, someone has crushed a Gray Bear single-handedly.

I can’t see it well from here, but it looks like there’s a big wound on its back—a single cut from a blade, huh.

I began to get closer to the fallen Gray Bear. At that moment, I felt a presence from behind.

“Aine! In the back!”

“!!” Aine turned around in response to my voice. Standing there was a giant with a blood-stained axe—it was Dill the adventurer.

“Haahh, haahh.”

“You—!!” At that moment, Aine dropped to her knees on the spot. At this timing, I understood what happened to her.

Dill brandished his axe. I understood that he was trying to attack Aine.

I kicked the ground and dashed—even faster before he could swing down his axe, I held Aine and fell back. In that instant, I swung my sword and struck a blow.

I grazed Dill’s left shoulder causing it to bleed, but Dill moved forward without seeming to care about such an injury.

“Lunois… Styler, I will, kill you…!!!”

“Dill… You are…”

Something was clearly weird.

However, I had no means to stop him who had entered a battle state; because I understood that his real ability was at least close to that of an S-rank adventurer if he had defeated Gray Bear single-handedly.

“Lu, nois…!”

With ragged breathing, Aine yelled out a worried voice. I lightly touched that hand of hers and said: “No need to worry—it’ll end immediately. That’s why, can you maybe close your eyes?”

“Eyes…?”

“Yeah, please believe me.”

“Nnh, I… believe you.”

Aine closed her eyes just as I’d told her. I let out a small exhale and looked at Dill with narrowed eyes.

Regardless of the reason, he was once again standing in front of me. And then, he was trying to hurt Aine.

“It’s the third time now—Dill.”

“AAAAAAARRRRRGG!!!”

Raising a warcry, Dill kicked the ground. The ground was gouged out, and clouds of dust fluttered. A proof of an abnormal leg strength—however, none of it mattered.

“AAAARRH—Ar?”

Dill’s voice broke off. Fresh blood flew all around. A strike as we passed each other—his neck, I cut it off with my sword.

The body that had lost its head collapsed forward with the momentum. The axe flew off in a different direction with great force.

Shing—I shook the blood on my sword and headed back to Aine’s side. She, with her body shaking, “Lu, nois…?” opened her eyes to check. I gave her my usual smile.

“Yeah, I’ll set up the tent when we get back; I want you to relax and rest.”

And then, I held up Aine. I left that place behind without looking back to the fallen Dill.

Taking Aine with me, I returned to the base point.

I tried to quickly get the tent ready for her, who looked like she was having a hard time—just in case, I thought of setting up a place for her that would at least block the view, even though there was no sign of people in the open.

“What about, that guy…?”

“Don’t worry about that now. That aside, I’ll get the tent ready immediately.”

However, Aine grabbed the hem of my clothes as I tried to set up the tent.

“I-it’s… fine, just, touch me.” I nodded quietly as I was asked so.

It must be pretty tough for Aine—Aine went to kneel and lowered her underwear just slightly. Ooze—I could see her love juice stretching out like a thread.

I took off my gloves; I reached my right hand to Aine’s private place while supporting her body with my left arm.

I touched the already wet Aine’s private place, and gently slid my fingers into her vagina.

“Nnh, fuhh, uwh.”

Aine clinged to my body while her body was trembling in small tremors.

Perhaps, while doing this act, she would have to have something to hold on to.

Although the power was feeble, I knew that she was desperately clinging to me.

With her head down, Aine was trying to suppress her voice.

“Nnh, nnnh, kuh, no…!”

Aine’s voice leaked out everytime I moved my fingers, but still, she didn’t let out any loud voice. Maybe Aine minded about the talk regarding her voice earlier—only at a time like this did I get to sense her hating-to-lose part.

There was no one around. The best possible way to relieve Aine of her current suffering was to make her cum.

“Aine, I’m gonna move it just a bit harder.”

“!, nahh, noohh…! Ahh, uwhh, nnnhh….!”

I could feel Aine’s body jolting up.

While supporting Aine’s body seeming about to fall over, I quickened the movements of my fingers inside her wet vagina.

Her wet, so slippery vagina was sucking my fingers as if in response.

Even so, I proceeded to increase the pace little by little—before long, Aine, who was looking down, looked up, and, “no, noo… Don’t, do, it… so fast, like thaaat…! My, my voice, gonna, get oout!!”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Nahh, nooh, it’s emba… rrassiiiing!!”

If you were to tell me that with moist, upturned eyes—even I don’t know myself if I can keep my cool forever.

She, who was even drooling sloppily, was looking at me as if she was always desiring me.

“…If it’s embarrassing, I can do something to stop your voice from going out, though.”

“N, nnh, p-please!! Auh, c-close, my mouth…!”

In response to Aine’s words, I gently exchanged kisses with her; at a place where there was no need to suppress her voice, just to distract her from her embarrassment.

As our tongues intertwined, Aine’s vagina tightened more around my fingers. And just like that, I moved my fingers, tracing her vaginal walls.

Aine’s eyes opened wide, and she tried to pull her hips back in a disliking manner.

“Nnnh, fuhh, nn, uwh…!”

However, I held on tightly to Aine’s body to keep her from escaping.

Aine was also clinging to me, with only her hands tightly wrapped around my back. And finally she, with her body shaking greatly, reached orgasm as we kissed.

“—!! Fuh, fuh… nn, fuhh…”

Her body was convulsing, and love juices were dripping from her thighs. Drip drip—the sound of water wetting the ground also reached my ears.

I slowly pulled back my lips and then faced Aine.

“…You okay?”

“Hahh, hahh, nn… I’m, okay.”

Despite looking embarrassed, Aine also stared back at me. I continued to support her body until she calmed down for a while.

After letting Aine rest for a while, I decided to go back to the scene. I had Aine stand by at the base, and I went to check it out myself.

Once Aine was back in shape to some extent, she wouldn’t lag behind the monsters in this forest. Now that the Gray Bear had been defeated… I supposed there was no need to worry so much.

Near the cave entrance—the Gray Bear’s den was definitely there. And the one who had taken down that Gray Bear had been Dill, an A-rank adventurer.

There was no doubt that Dill had inflicted the wound on the Gray Bear’s back—at least, with his previous ability, it shouldn’t have been an opponent he could take down by himself.

There was no sign of his companions, and it was somewhat strange for him to be in this forest alone.

I touched Dill’s fallen, headless body—the wound on his arm, amazingly, had almost closed up.

“Is this… a magic potion or something being used? Maybe having a blood sample would be a good idea, just in case.”

Whatever had happened to Dill, I had no idea about it either. However, the state he had been in when coming to attack me hadn’t been normal. Cutting his head off since he’d appeared in front of me again… hadn’t been the only reason.

Simple because he hadn’t looked like an opponent that could be easily dealt with.

A man, whose arm I could easily cut off until yesterday, in merely one day, was healing his wound and coming to attack me—to be honest, it was a pretty abnormal situation.

It was a strengthening through some kind of magic or drugs… even I could tell.

Although I was not well versed with medicine or potions, if Dill had become stronger, it would have been something along those lines. There was something that seemed to be healing his arm and suddenly making him stronger.

“…For now, looks like recovering the body is impossible. And if we go back, there’s a chance the monsters will eat it to pieces anyway.”

Taking a blood sample was also because of that reason. I would also be taking back the proof of the Gray Bear subjugation, but it wasn’t me who had taken it down.

Let’s first explain the situation to the guild, and ask for help for investigation regarding this incident.

I left Dill’s body and stood up—in response to the presence I suddenly felt, I quietly touched the sword hanging on my waist.

“…Who is it; the one over there.”

No particular answer was given to my question. After a while, the presence went to disappear like a mist. After a moment of silence, I took my hand off my sword.

I don’t know who it is, but somebody’s watching me—the moment I understood that, I immediately ran off to Aine’s side.

Although the presence hadn’t disappeared in the direction where Aine was, there was always the possibility. Once I returned back in a hurry, Aine greeted me with a slightly surprised look on her face.

“W-what’s wrong…? In a hurry like that…”

“No, I’m just worried about you, Aine.”

It wasn’t a lie—fearing the possibility of danger to Aine, I told her so accordingly. But I wasn’t going to tell the reason for it, however.

Hearing it, Aine looked just a little flustered.

“I-is that so…? I’m already all fine here, you know?”

“Yeah, that’s good to hear. Let’s report to the adventurer’s guild about Dill’s case. And about the Gray Bear, too.”

“All right. It’s leaving kinda a bad aftertaste, but for now, the request was completed—is like that okay, I wonder?”

“But in the end it was Dill who took down the Gray Bear. Well, there are no more dangerous monsters around here… I think that’s how it should be reported.”

“…Couldn’t we just say you’re the one who took it down?”

“If you’re in my shoes, would you do that?”

“Well, I won’t, though…” Aine replied in a slur.

She was also an honest person—whatever the reason, she wouldn’t do such a thing like stealing achievements. I didn’t know if it’d be alright to take the credit from Dill, but at least, I supposed we could say that this matter was ‘settled.’

“Alright, then let’s go back before it gets dark. That’s it for today’s work.”

“Nn, okay. I’ll go pack things up.”

“Yeah, please do.”

And then, Aine and I were getting ready to go back. And for the result, although I couldn’t say that the request was completed, the threat about the Gray Bear was gone. …In a way, though, it’d turned out to be a very concerning incident.

This was how Aine and I ended our first work together.

＊＊＊

In front of the cave where the dead bodies of the Gray Bear and Dill were laid, several monsters appeared. They showed up to feast on dead flesh.

As the monsters approached the dead bodies to check, a large wall suddenly appeared in front of them—the monsters were surprised and ran away from that place.

The wall was shattered, and from the inside emerged a giant man about four meters tall. And his arms, they looked even larger in contrast to his large frame. He put his fists composed of rocks on the ground and looked at the fallen body of Dill.

He slowly walked up to the body—a small rumble occurred each time he put his hands on the ground.

“This guy, useless. Killed by a man like that.”

“—Although you say ‘a man like that,’ that’s the adventurer who bought Aine-san, you know? The name is Lunois Styler… Undoubtedly an S-rank adventurer, isn’t he? Fufu, truly a strength that can be called a ‘hero.’ Did you see? That swordsmanship.”

A man, named Domiro, appeared from behind the giant named Gremarev. With a smile, and not even taking notice of Dill’s dead body, he asked Gremarev.

“I don’t see. I, only hear sound.”

When Gremarev replied, Domiro, to further confirm, “then, how was it with the ‘sound’?” asked so.

Gremarev replied with a slight gesture of thinking. “Wind, I heard cutting sound. Certainly quick. But, just that.”

“You can’t be underestimating your opponent, Gremarev… It’s your bad habit, isn’t it. Even earlier, you were noticed when you got just a little bit closer, right?” Domiro said in a slightly reproaching way. Noticing the presence of Gremarev hiding underground—from Domiro’s point of view, that was abnormal enough.

Even if someone was good at detecting presence, that was far beyond.

Not only did he have a high ability with the sword, but he even had a high ability to search for enemies, which was a threat.

“Certainly, that’s surprising. I, also killed my presence. If noticed, don’t hide and fight him head on?”

“Fighting head on is of course also not a problem, but let’s make it so that we can get a sure win.”

“Sure win… You got, a plan?”

Asked by Gremarev, Domiro chuckled, and showed a suggestive smile.

Most importantly, he could tell by watching Lunois’ actions—that his weakness was right next to him.

“Fufu, it’s something very simple. We can just aim at the weak point… nothing special. It seems that Aine-san is a very important existence to him, you know?”

Domiro and Gremarev—the two mages began to move. And the destination was the royal capital where Lunois and Aine were staying.