CH 45

The mercenary narrowed the distance between the two in an instant, proving that he had been simply playing around and being generous up until then. Ayra, eyes widening, immediately tried to turn around and run, but his shoulder was caught roughly.

“Nnngh!” He tried to endure and stand his ground, but he couldn’t withstand the overwhelming difference in power in the harsh grasp on his arm. Janus dragged him along and violently pinned him into the bed. Ayra groaned and struggled, his arms twisted behind him; the mercenary pressed his body weight onto the young lord.

“Ah! It hurts!” Ayra gasped out, barely able to breathe because of the pressure on his back. A large, thick palm grabbed the nape of his neck and flung away the loosened cape.

Flop–

Ayra could hear the cape falling onto the floor. A hot breath and searing lips brushed against his earlobes before teeth dug painfully into his neck. He could clearly feel the outline of the other’s smile against his skin.

“…Do you like it rough?”

Ayra failed to answer ‘no,’ because his bottom was tightly gripped. Unable to struggle, his body became rigid. Janus’s fingers traced the dips and curves of the body underneath the fabric, squeezing tightly at each bend and causing the young mage to flinch.

“Despite your supposed ‘refusal,’ you don’t really say ‘no.’ Nor, are you using magic against me. Well, if this is your preference, I’ll be sure to match it as much as you want.”

That wasn’t it. He deliberately didn’t run away because he didn’t like it rough. That is, he didn’t want to provoke Janus. However, Ayra was lost deep in thought.

Was it right to narrow the distance between them here?

There were several reasons for concern: Janus was a formidable opponent who could snuff Ayra’s life at any moment, an inadequate personality that could be seen at first glance, unpredictable behaviors, a lack of indication that any of those three will change in the future, and a friendly attitude veiled upon a real lack of personal interest in the young mage…

‘On top of that, no matter how I look at it, his *thing* is just too big.’

However, being a formidable opponent didn’t necessarily mean that he was inherently dangerous, and Janus seemed somewhat lenient towards Ayra as his lover. As the lord of a territory with scarce resources, Ayra wanted to bring Janus into his fold not only as a human resource but also as a personal resource. And, in that regard, the mercenary’s personality wouldn’t be a major issue.

Living in the Labyrinth for about twenty years tended to toughen one’s resilience against all sorts of tyranny and ill temperaments.

Above all, he needed a corner to escape from all the troublesome, head-ache-inducing matters, even if only for a moment. Janus, who had nothing to do with his territory business and did not yet know of Ayra’s status, was the most suitable candidate.

In the end, Ayra decided to narrow the gap between them a little more. Satisfying sexual needs was an excellent source of stress relief in many ways, after all.

“If you’re going to do it–ngh–then do it quickly…” Despite his barely resolute mind, Ayra’s voice, though hardly audible, was already showing signs of impatience and lust.

Ayra had been working all night for the past few days and became unintentionally abstinent. The mages of the Labyrinth were either very sexually motivated or crazy about research and lived like monks–Ayra was the latter. Even so, he had not been able to release ever since the visit to the Dallum Gorge. The mage’s body quickly heated up with anticipatory excitement.

With his torso pressed into the bed, the mage’s legs trembled. Janus’s fingers repeatedly traced the outline of Ayra’s body, and the mercenary’s penis swelled uncomfortably in his pants.

“Ah… Ahhh…” Softly groaning, Ayra recalled what had happened inside the igloo. The freezing, skin-biting cold, the warmth that was obtained through wearing Janus’s shoes, the terribly sweet pleasure, and the amount of money the mercenary had carelessly poured onto him.

Almost subconsciously, the mage began to rub and tease his own crotch; at that moment, the mercenary’s gentle caresses stopped. Ayra’s body nearly jumped because his companion suddenly used his nails to scratch at his skin through the cloth. With a small cry, Ayra’s legs clenched shut reflexively, but Janus’s thick, log-like thighs pushed in between them, spreading his legs again. Once more, the mercenary began to lightly scratch with his nails.

“Ah! D-Don’t…! Hnngh–ahh!”

From the glans to the perineum, the mercenary scratched a few refreshing times. It felt as if the hairs all over Ayra’s body stood at attention. The mage struggled, unable to endure, but Janus didn’t budge. He continued to move his hand as he hummed, as if he were having fun. Just when Ayra thought a few touches would be gentle, moments later, nails dug in hard enough to make him tingle and turn his pale earlobes red.

Between their legs–covered by the hem of his clothes–the sounds of fabric scratching rang out. It didn’t hurt, but the sharp stimulus felt closer to torment than pleasure. Nevertheless, rather than subsiding, his excitement only grew; his genitals, trapped by cloth, became more and more stifled.

Seeing as Ayra’s stiffened leg couldn’t overcome the excessive tension and bent, Janus’s touch became gentle once more. The mercenary traced his nose along the damp white nape–moist with cold sweat.

Taking a deep breath–thick chest expanding–Janus chuckled softly, “It smells very… erotic.”

‘What in the world was an ‘erotic’ smell anyway?’ In the midst of all this, Ayra’s curiosity as a mage–still strong in the face of death–couldn’t be ignored. If one’s sense of smell is as good as that of a dog, would they be able to distinguish arousing scents? Someday, when Ayra has the leisure, he wanted to conduct experiments on sensory sensitivity with the relatively approachable Bloom–

–That line of thought was suddenly cut off.

Janus undid the fastening of his pants, which was merely a wide piece of fabric wrapped twice around his waist like a belt. The cloth, along with his pants, slithered down to the floor like a long snake. A shoe–the one Ayra had once worn–caught the hem of the trousers and kept them in place.

“Raise your foot…Good, and the other foot.” Janus spoke confidently, as if it was natural to obey his commands. When Ayra lifted and lowered his feet like an obedient child, the mage’s lower body became completely naked with the exception of his shoes. Ayra’s cheeks flushed red.

However, Janus’s orders didn’t end there, “Raise your knees.”

Ayra flinched at the light slap on his butt and raised his knees reflexively. Since the mattress was below his waist, the mage’s hips naturally rose above his torso.

Janus firmly pressed Ayra’s legs against the bed, preventing the young mage from bending his knees. Both his knees and calves were close to the mattress. Even though it seemed blood was rushing to his head, he could still feel the blood pressure pool between his legs.

‘…Maybe my preference is a bit rough, huh?’

Isn’t sadism and masochism present in every human’s instincts, though? For the first time, Ayra began having some doubts about his sexual preferences.

Janus squeezed Ayra’s butt tightly before releasing and asking, “Do you have anything I can use as lube?”

If he wants lubricant… that means he’s planning to put it in.

Ayra wondered if it would truly be alright, but the whispering voice in his ears reminded him that the sex would be much better than last time. After pondering what could be used as lubricant in his dimensional space, he recalled the existence of lubricating oil there. Literally–it was oil that could be poured onto moving mechanisms of magic devices when they made creaking sounds. Since the oil was harmless to the human body, it was safe to use.

“I have some. Let go of these so I can take it out,” Ayra wriggled both his wrists that were still being held down by Janus. However, the mercenary didn’t let go.

“Let’s just leave these here. It isn’t as if you need to take the lube out with your hands,” Janus remarked, gently teasing Ayra’sreddened palms with his fingers.

Ayra flinched–he wondered how the mercenary knew that. Often mages performatively used their hands to take items out of their dimensional spaces in front of ordinary folks. Their deliberate show concealed the fact that hands weren’t exactly needed for this process. As an experienced mercenary, Janus must have been able to discover this fact.

Unable to resist, Ayra’s fingers twitched. Soon, a glass bottle filled with pink liquid appeared in the air above his palm.

Janus snatched the glass bottle before it could roll to the ground. After pulling up the hem of Ayra’s skirt, he bit the bottle’s stopper with his teeth. Accompanied by a “pop” sound, the cork came off. Ayra swallowed dry spit; he had expected lukewarm liquid to flow down his hips and buttocks.

Contrary to his expectations, however, the cold glass touched his entrance. Janus had tilted the bottle, applying a little lubricant to the entrance, before gently tapping the tip of the long bottleneck against the mage’s lower cheeks.

Startled, Ayra tried to look down instinctively, but he only managed to shift his head slightly. His upper body was nearly crushed into the bed. “Ah! What are you doing?!”

“Stay still. If I don’t pour it in like this, you could get hurt.”

The neck of the glass bottle was designed to facilitate easy insertion into narrow spaces. It was not only suitable for the mechanical device, but its shape made it easy to insert the bottle…elsewhere. With little resistance–aided by the slippery lubricant–the glass bottle smoothly slid in.

“Nngh…!” Ayra bit his lips as a groan threatened to spill out.  Although no actual sound could be heard, it felt as if the lubricant was trickling down his hole, making a sliding sound.

After a while, the glass bottle slipped out of his ass. Janus randomly threw the flask and it rolled right in front of the mage. Half of the liquid inside was gone.

‘Half of this expensive thing!’

If this were the Labyrinth, the mage would have used the oil freely, without any reservation. However, ever since he had arrived at this desolate and poor territory, Ayra’s financial habits and senses have become very strict. But, before he could feel sorry for the loss, Janus’s fingers fumbled at his bottom.

Two thick fingers slowly entered him at the same time. The appendages were noticeably foreign but didn’t cause pain.

Janus moved his fingers as he looked down at the flushed ears peeking through disheveled silver hair. It was a simple back-and-forth movement: pushing in until his palm touched reddened skin, pulling out partially, before pushing in again. At the same time, the mercenary’s fingers were groping Ayra’s inner walls. He applied more slippery lubricant to the soft flesh in between Ayra’s cheeks and pressed in as if he were searching for something.

Thanks to the man’s keen sense of touch, superior to any other person, Janus quickly found what he wanted.