Ch.121Victory Conditions (4)

Victory Condition (4)

Tanha boldly stole Lug’s lips in front of everyone.

It seemed almost as if she was deliberately showing off to others.

A bold declaration of war.

Everyone watching the scene revealed their own reactions.

‘She’s really something else.’

Garnet, who hadn’t fully integrated into the hero’s party yet and could observe this farce from a step back, clicked her tongue in displeasure.

Since she was still at the stage of mere attraction rather than love, she didn’t seem particularly upset.

‘Damn it. This gets more ridiculous by the day. Wonder who’s going to cause drama next.’

Extra, who had recently taken on the role of emotional garbage bin, clicked his tongue as he imagined what was to come.

And one of the two people who would dislike this situation the most—

The Saintess, Eirene, thought:

‘Huh? That’s it? That’s all? Is that supposed to be enough?’

A blatant display of affection.

An expression that seemed to say “look at this.”

But all that happened was a light kiss.

For Eirene, who had been greeted with a tongue from her very first kiss, there was a cognitive dissonance in considering this a provocation.

‘Wait… then what about me…?’

If that was just the beginning, if that could be used as provocation…

What did that make her?

At this rate, calling her a harlot instead of a true saintess wouldn’t be strange at all.

Of course, the situations were different.

Back then, Lug had initiated it, and Eirene had tried to respond before being startled.

But even if it was unconscious, the fact that she had tried to respond made Eirene feel she had been complicit.

So rather than feeling upset about the current situation, she could only recall her past actions and feel self-loathing.

As she harbored this private embarrassment that others couldn’t see, Eirene happened to notice Millia standing beside her.

‘Oh?’

Still wearing that expressionless face, impossible to read.

But Eirene felt a chill looking at that expression.

Until now, Millia had shown surprisingly aggressive tendencies when it came to matters involving Lug.

So her current behavior—saying nothing, doing nothing, just watching Tanha and Lug’s display of affection…

‘What’s going on?’

It felt like the calm before a storm.

***

Esmeralda was having a nightmare. Or perhaps it was a memory—no one could tell for sure.

She was sweating profusely and moaning, then suddenly woke up screaming.

“Aaaagh! No!”

“Wow… you startled me.”

Eirene, who had been nursing her, flinched and looked at Esmeralda with drowsy eyes.

She had a wet towel in her hand, which was enough for Esmeralda to realize that Eirene had been taking care of her.

“What’s your angle?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why were you nursing me?”

“…I’m a Saintess, Hero.”

“Oh right. That’s true.”

Esmeralda, who had forgotten Eirene’s position due to recent events, belatedly nodded.

Naturally, when someone was sick, she would take care of them.

Thinking about it, that was only natural, but now she was immediately suspicious when Eirene took care of someone.

Esmeralda felt a deep sense of doubt about how the party had ended up like this.

“Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Don’t mention it. I know you’re working hard, Hero, so don’t feel burdened.”

“If you know that, maybe you could behave better.”

“Hahaha.”

Eirene just laughed without promising to do so.

Esmeralda was likely to continue having stomach problems from trying to mediate the party.

Seeing that Eirene wouldn’t even make empty promises about behaving better in the future, Esmeralda shrugged.

Honestly, she hadn’t expected anything.

“By the way, where’s Tina? I feel like I had a strange dream…”

“She’s right next to you. And that probably wasn’t a dream.”

Esmeralda hurriedly looked to her side. There was Tina, her head buried in the bed.

Anyone would think she had collapsed from exhaustion while nursing Esmeralda.

However, the fact that the bed she had her head buried in was empty made Esmeralda sense that something had happened.

“Eirene… explain, please.”

“Well, I suppose I should. You fainted after only seeing the surface situation without understanding what was really going on…”

Eirene explained everything that had happened to Esmeralda.

That it wasn’t Tina who had given her virginity to Lug, but an entity called Tanha residing within her.

After hearing that much, Esmeralda could understand the general situation.

In short, Tina had her first kiss stolen—not by her own will, but by someone else’s.

That’s why she was like this.

“Self-loathing…”

“No, closer to embarrassment. Even if someone else did it, she shared all the sensations.”

That wasn’t all.

Tina could have stopped it. Just as Eirene hadn’t rejected Lug’s sudden action in the past, Tina also hadn’t stopped Tanha’s impulsive behavior.

That’s why Tina was feeling self-loathing. It felt like a cowardly approach.

“…As long as she’s safe, that’s what matters.”

Esmeralda had a feeling that the road ahead would be difficult, but she didn’t have a fit like before.

At least it wasn’t the worst-case scenario she had imagined.

Whatever happened, Tina was alive.

Even if it meant Esmeralda now had one more troublemaker to manage inside Tina’s body.

‘And now I have ki energy.’

If things get out of hand, she could hit them with ki.

Before, she was limited to sword energy, but now she could hit harder.

Esmeralda no longer hesitated to rule the party with violence. In some ways, it was the kind of fear-based governance that a Demon Lord might employ, but Esmeralda didn’t hesitate at all.

“And one more thing. I have something else to tell you, Hero.”

“You weren’t nursing me just to tell me this, were you?”

“I can see what you think of me these days, Hero.”

Eirene looked at the distrustful Esmeralda with drowsy eyes, then began to tell her about Millia.

And when the story ended…

Esmeralda collapsed again.

***

Before the hero’s party set out on their mission to defeat the Demon Lord again…

Before leaving the hideout of the Eye of Truth, Tanha went to see La•Pa.

“Well, my daughter. What brings you here, you unfilial child who’s so blinded by a man that you’ve pushed aside the parents who gave birth to you?”

“Are you upset?”

“Honestly, a little.”

“Aw, don’t be upset. I’ll do well, so don’t worry, okay?”

“If you couldn’t even keep your word…”

La•Pa was upset.

She had told her daughter not to reveal her identity, but she had introduced herself right from the start, which greatly troubled her.

But still, seeing her daughter acting cute in front of her softened her heart.

“So? Why are you here?”

“I can definitely capture my husband-to-be.”

In the end, achieving the goal was what mattered.

Fortunately, Lug had accepted the current situation after hearing Tanha’s sincere words.

He saw Tina and Tanha as separate entities but didn’t reject Tanha.

“So I need support.”

“What kind?”

“…Please share some of your big breasts with me, Mother.”

“…”

La•Pa blinked at the unexpected request. She compared her own compressed chest with her daughter’s chest, which was gleaming with hope, and unconsciously nodded.

“Are you perhaps Tina?”

“…How did you know?”

La•Pa’s eyes reddened.

A historic moment when her adopted daughter called her “mother.”

And it had to happen in this form, which made her feel miserable.

But more than that…

“I can’t give you any, so give up.”

What made her even sadder was that she couldn’t do anything for her poor daughter.

***

Fortress City, Senova. Its commander, Fellheim Senova, was once again welcoming the hero’s party.

The difference was in the composition of the hero’s party and Fellheim Senova’s attitude toward them.

The hero’s party had added powerful demons, Extra and Garnet.

And for some reason, many parts of the fortress city appeared to be damaged.

“Welcome, members of the hero’s party!”

“Did something happen here?”

“There’s no point in hiding it. We’ve been in a difficult situation recently.”

“Hmm…”

Fortress City.

To be honest, while the average skill level of the stationed troops was good, there were no overwhelming powerhouses.

Even the master of the fortress city, Fellheim Senova, who was considered the strongest, had an estimated total power level of around 600.

That was quite strong for a human, but low for an officer who had achieved great military feats on the front lines.

From this, Esmeralda could tell that Fellheim Senova’s ability lay in command rather than individual combat power. Of course, part of it was also that Fellheim Senova had weakened with age.

Still, this was enough to fulfill the role of a commander in charge of the front line. That’s why seeing Fellheim Senova looking so exhausted was concerning.

‘Looks like we’re going to have trouble.’

It was obvious from how openly he was welcoming them.

But since they had to pass through the fortress city to enter the demon realm, Esmeralda had no choice but to get involved, however reluctantly.

“What happened?”

“The 6th Corps Commander has been bombing the fortress city recently.”

“Oh my…”

Esmeralda could understand the problem facing the fortress city.

A frontline that relied on the fortress city environment rather than individual combat power.

That’s why they could hold out even against demons whose command system essentially consisted only of charging and retreating.

But Corps Commander Six was different.

And for good reason…

“It must be difficult to hold out against an Arch Mage.”

Mages are often classified as siege weapons in war.

Given the nature of a fortress city, they would naturally be the most troublesome opponents.

And Corps Commander Six was a lich famous for being a powerful Mage.