9. Camaraderie Blooms in the Labyrinth

“By the way… why have you been standing like that? Are you hurt somewhere?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean, your back is all hunched. Are you still in pain? Is it bruised? Should I take a look?”

“Ah, well…”

Oh no.

The young lady was asking with concern, probably because my posture had been a bit odd.

Well, the thing was, I’d been sporting an erection this whole time.

Of course, I couldn’t just show it to her outright.

Even if we’d survived life-and-death situations together and developed a close, comradely bond,

she and I weren’t that intimate.

There was an insurmountable wall between a foreign laborer porter and the daughter of a count.

Had there even been room for romantic feelings to begin with?

Besides, the erection itself wasn’t even because of her.

This was just a side effect of the potion.

So I didn’t want to show it.

It was embarrassing, humiliating, shameful.

Most of all, it wasn’t something to display to a noble lady.

What if she tried to execute me for blasphemy?

‘How should I explain this?’

No matter how I thought about it, bluntly saying I had an erection felt a bit much.

I decided to brush it off, saying my back hurt.

Nothing else came to mind.

“Ah, yes. My back muscles are a bit sore. You don’t need to check.”

“No, let me see. It might be worse than you think.”

“Huh? No, really, I’m fine.”

“Hey, just stay still! Let me see where it hurts!”

“No, I’m seriously fine!”

“Hey! Didn’t you say so yourself? If something’s wrong, you should tell me right away. We’re a team-we need to watch out for each other. Don’t make me worry and just show me. If it’s bad, I’ll carry you on my back, so let me see!”

Party members needed to be fully aware of each other’s condition.

Yeah, that was a fair point-except the problem was that I wasn’t injured.

‘Stop staring like that, it’s awkward.’

The wavering in her eyes told me she was genuinely worried.

Should I just tell the truth?

“Show me your back already. If you collapse here, we’re both done for.”

“No, wait. I-I’ll show you, just don’t come too close!”

I tried to stop her, but she charged forward anyway.

Did she really think I was badly hurt?

I appreciated the concern, but right now, I’d rather she didn’t.

I’d just push her back to create some distance and then show her my back briefly…

‘Wait, my arms won’t move!’

I tried to push her away, but my arms still hadn’t fully recovered.

In the end, she shoved me, and I lost my balance, tumbling backward.

And just like that, she saw the tent in my pants.

“…”

“……”

Both of us were at a loss for words.

Ah, I should’ve just told the truth.

Trying to hide it only made it weirder now that I’d been caught.

“Uh, you see…”

“No, what is this? Why is that swollen? When men hurt their backs… does their crotch get bigger?”

“No! That’s not it!”

Now I had no choice but to explain properly.

Staying silent would just make it even more awkward.

Besides, if I brushed it off, she might end up with some weird misconceptions about male anatomy.

Like thinking men get erections when they injure their backs.

“It’s… a side effect of the stamina recovery potion. It was cheap, so it came with this kind of drawback. It’ll go down soon, so don’t worry too much.”

“Wow. Seriously? What kind of side effect is this?”

She stared at my groin in disbelief.

But for some reason, her expression gradually grew… strange.

“Young lady, if you keep staring like that, it’s kind of embarrassing and awkward…”

“Ah, sorry. It’s just… I’ve never seen it before. This is my first time.”

“Huh?”

First time?

What did she mean by that?

“I’ve never seen… a swollen one before. Like, ever.”

“Ah. That… makes sense.”

Gulp.

For some reason, she swallowed hard.

“Hey, Porter.”

“Yes?”

“Asking this in this situation… is kind of embarrassing for me too, you know.”

“What do you want to ask?”

If it’s embarrassing, then don’t.

Of course, she didn’t hold back.

Guess she had the stubbornness of a noble lady.

“Can I… take a quick look?”

“Excuse me?”

What was she saying right now?

What did she want to see?

“It’s just… I’ve never properly seen one before.”

“Wait, how old are you? How have you never seen one?”

“Hey! What does age have to do with it? And, well, my family’s kind of strict. My father and brother never even let me talk properly to men.”

“Even so, that’s a bit…”

Wait, was this young lady… a virgin?

I thought nobles were supposed to be even more promiscuous than alley cats.

And yet, here was a noble lady who’d never even seen a dick before adulthood?

I always assumed noble heirs were all libertines since they could order servants around as they pleased.

What the hell?

She was the real deal.

“If not now, I might never get a safe chance to see something like this again.”

A safe chance.

The sole daughter of Count Lionel was asking me to give her a sex ed lesson.

She must’ve been confident I wouldn’t take advantage of her.

Right. I had no intention of assaulting her.

I wasn’t that eager to throw my life away.

I wasn’t reckless enough to lay hands on a noble’s daughter.

I wasn’t that desperate for a woman either.

Besides, once we got out of here, I’d get my reward from her and buy a slave-why would I touch a ticking bomb?

Yeah, she must’ve made the same calculation.

That I was safe.

“I’ll have to get married and move in with my husband someday. I can’t go into that knowing nothing, right? Help me out here.”

She kept trying to persuade me with increasingly plausible reasons.

‘Maybe this is just how people act when they’re mentally strained.’

The more mentally unstable someone is, the more they seek out lewd things.

There were all sorts of reasons for it.

Psychological-using sexual acts to relieve tension, relax muscles, and regain stability.

Or biological-the instinct to preserve the species when life is in danger.

Either way, there was a reason adventurers often visited brothels after labyrinth expeditions.

After facing death a few times, the mind inevitably cracks a little.

The young lady had already brushed against death multiple times on her first labyrinth run.

Honestly, I’d sensed her mental state was a bit fragile since earlier.

‘Managing a teammate’s mental state is important too.’

If a party member starts acting erratically due to psychological issues in the labyrinth, things get messy.

As a senior adventurer, it seemed I’d have to make a small sacrifice for her sake.

After wrestling with temptation and agonizing over it, I finally made my decision.

“Young lady.”

“Yeah. Yeah!?”

“Once we’re out… you absolutely cannot tell anyone about today.”

“O-of course not!”

If rumors spread that I’d let a trapped noble lady grope me, I’d be dragged away for blasphemy and subjected to who-knows-what before being killed.

Just listening to her talk made it clear-

Count Lionel was an extreme doting father.

If word of today got out, he’d never let me off.

This was a matter of survival.

“Honestly… this is the first time I’ve gotten a request like this.”

“Sorry. Is it too much?”

“Sigh. Just… look, but don’t touch.”

“Got it!”

The moment I gave permission, the young lady-who’d been swallowing nervously-carefully knelt before me.

This was insane. She was dead serious.

‘Haaah.’

I sighed deeply inside as I lowered my pants in front of her.

How could I refuse when she was looking at me with such eager eyes?

“W-wow…!”

Her eyes sparkled as she examined my member.

“Does it always get this big? Is everyone like this?”

“Uh, no. I’m just… unusually large.”

I was very large.

Not everyone was like this.

I told her the truth so she wouldn’t be disappointed by her future husband’s size.

She nodded, sniffling slightly.

“Whoa. The veins.”

The bulging veins made it look a bit grotesque.

But maybe that was her thing?

Why did she keep swallowing like that?

“Hey, Porter.”

“Yes?”

“Um, I’m really sorry to ask this, but… can I touch it?”

“Huh? N-no, young lady.”

“I-it’s just… I’m curious how it feels. Really curious.”

“…”

Reluctantly, I nodded.

You really do see everything if you live long enough.

Who’d have thought I’d let a noble lady grab my dick one day?

And this young lady was exceptionally pretty, too.

Cute short hair, elegant golden locks.

Big eyes, a delicate nose, small lips.

A face so refined it could only belong to nobility.

Even without makeup, she had devastating charm.

Honestly, she was easily one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen.

And now she was staring at my dick with shining eyes, wanting to touch it.

It really drove home that we were in a labyrinth.

All sorts of bizarre things happened down here.

“It’s hard. It looks soft, but it’s firm. Is there no bone?”

“No, this part doesn’t have bones. It’s just muscle filled with blood.”

“Whoa. No bones. But doesn’t it get uncomfortable when it’s this big?”

“Well, yeah. Staying hard for too long is uncomfortable. It even hurts sometimes.”

“Ooh. I see.”

“Yeah. Huh? W-wait, young lady!”

She giggled mischievously and shook my member back and forth.

‘Holy shit.’

Her grip was awkward, like she’d never done this before.

Like she was playing with a toy.

Her expression was embarrassed but not displeased.

She looked up at me and grinned.

“Porter, you look ridiculous.”

“Ugh…”

This was getting dangerous.

If I didn’t stop her soon, I might end up doing something reckless.

If I came on her face, I was done for.

“Uh, young lady, you should probably stop now…”

“Huh? Stop touching it? Why…?”

“W-well, you see…”

Saying I might cum was out of the question.

How else could I explain it?

Wait, it’s mine-if I say stop, shouldn’t she stop?

“Lady Leah!”

But then, as if fate had a sense of humor-

Just as I was about to tell her to stop,

someone abruptly stuck their head into the room.

A woman with purple hair.

A familiar face.

Ah, it was Rien, the witch from our team who’d been separated during the Great Cataclysm.

Of all the worst possible timing, Rien had to peek in right now.

The only silver lining was that the entrance was narrow, so the rescue team behind her couldn’t see inside.

“Ghk!”

“Eek!”

“Wh-what are you two… H-hyuck!”

“Q-quick, put your pants on. Hurry!”

While the young lady grabbed Rien, I hastily pulled my pants back up.

She clamped both hands over Rien’s mouth, shaking her head furiously to silence her.

This couldn’t get out.

It had to stay between us.

If it leaked, I’d suffer horribly at the count’s hands.

And the young lady would never be allowed to live as an adventurer in the labyrinth city again.

“Mmph! Mmm!”

“Rien. Never. Never tell anyone what you just saw. If you do, I’ll die. Porter will die. Don’t. Understand?”

“Nn… ngh!”

“Huuuh…”

Finally freed, Rien glared at me like she wanted to kill me.

I didn’t tell her to touch it. I was the one being touched here.

It was unfair, but this wasn’t the time to complain.

To make things worse, the potion’s side effect wore off at the perfect moment.

My member shrank back to normal…

Soon, the rescue team pulled us out of the room, and the young lady and I were escorted back to the surface.

In the end, we never got to loot the Homing Rabbit’s nest.

We’d been rescued much faster than expected.