Ch.157The First Civilization. Jericania (5)

“I don’t know how to express my gratitude… You’ve truly accomplished something remarkable.”

“No need for thanks. I merely did what I had to as the Herald of the Sun.”

I said this to the researchers and staff who looked like they were about to bow deeply to me if I left them be.

Honestly, all I did was endure the solar wind and solar flares to connect the two suns, so it felt awkward receiving their thanks…

Wait… come to think of it, standing before the sun in a human body is quite an achievement, isn’t it?

People die of heatstroke in deserts that are merely 50-70 degrees Celsius… yet here I am, perfectly fine after facing a sun with a surface temperature of thousands of degrees…

“I must say, I’m impressed. Even the apostles of the Four Great Gods couldn’t withstand this level of heat and strong winds… When it comes to heat resistance, you seem to have almost immunity-level tolerance.”

“I suppose so…”

Whether I liked it or not, my physical body had already far transcended that of an ordinary person.

Of course, Aura users fundamentally surpass ordinary human capabilities, but since I was directly connected to the sun, this seemed especially true for me.

Considering I wasn’t particularly vulnerable to cold either, I could almost believe my body had transformed into a human power plant.

“It’s all because I believe in the sun. Maybe you all should try believing too?”

“If we did that, this city would be swept away in an instant. It’s hard enough coaxing and appeasing our small, precious sun, so I’ll respectfully decline.”

“Well… can’t be helped.”

My first-ever attempt at evangelism had failed, but since the practical issues were so significant, I abandoned any lingering attachment cleanly.

After all, they already had their own sun, so worshipping another sun would probably be somewhat problematic for their faith.

“Here. This is money we all pooled together. I hope it helps you on your journey.”

“Oh… I accept with gratitude.”

And of course, the power plant director didn’t forget to reward me.

I hadn’t done it expecting compensation, but it was quite gratifying to have my efforts recognized as worthy enough for someone to collect money for me.

“It’s only about 100 gold coins, not a large sum… but since you’re a traveling knight, this should be enough to feed your party members for a while.”

“Of course. I was worried since money’s been flowing out lately.”

These days, we’d been prioritizing pilgrimages over completing requests, so our funds were gradually drying up.

We did earn quite a bit from raiding pirates, but it wasn’t enough to live comfortably forever (commoners would want to bash my head in if they heard me say this), and we’d had major expenses helping rebuild Derickson Village.

The party still had some funds left, but that was money distributed to party members, and as the leader, saying “Let me borrow some of your money” would hurt my pride. So the money from the power plant director was like sweet rain during a drought for me.

I put the money pouch in my spatial storage and looked at the crowd still protesting in the distance.

“So… how do you plan to handle what happened here?”

“What’s there to handle? Just show them the video and that’s it.”

“What about my portrait rights?”

“How do you think we got those 100 gold coins?”

“Ah.”

I let out a deflated sound, briefly pressed my temples, and then frowned.

What could I do? Making implausible excuses would get my head cut off, and that would be the end of this city too.

With that thought, I walked out of the power plant on my own two feet, accompanied by sounds of praise.

*

“…And that’s what happened.”

“That’s insane.”

Lucia had once again said something deserving punishment, but I couldn’t scold her.

Because even I thought what I’d done was insane.

Facing solar winds without any safety measures, even placing my hands on the sun, and wirelessly connecting two transcendent beings through my body while emerging unscathed—this was something only possible for protagonists in novels.

“Next time, please discuss with the party members… at least with me before doing something like that. What am I supposed to do if you don’t come back?”

“I’m sorry… I’ll consult with everyone from now on…”

“Well… it’s hard to believe, but at least we can be certain that the sun is definitely protecting you. Even for an artificial sun, the surface temperature must exceed thousands of degrees… touching it with bare hands and being completely fine… it can only be explained as divine protection.”

Simon kept touching my hands in admiration of the sun’s blessing.

For a sage like him, anything that defied common sense was astonishing, whether he liked it or not.

However, the elf sisters puffing their cheeks like buns and dumplings in front of me didn’t seem pleased with my actions.

“Raisha is right. You two might be one heart and one body, but we sisters are two hearts and two bodies. If the party leader keeps hogging everything, we might just leave the party.”

“My sister may be a bit rude, but… if these unilateral actions continue, we’ll have no choice but to leave the party. A party leader is supposed to lead the party, not leave party members behind.”

“Ugh… I understand that, but I couldn’t take you with me, could I? Even with protective suits, you couldn’t help connect the suns…”

“Argh! So give us orcs, goblins, trolls, or ogres! Let us have some fun too! You’re the party leader, so take responsibility!”

In truth, one common reason adventure parties disband is when one member is too exceptional.

If they cater to the strong, the other party members suffer; if they cater to the weak, the strong one monopolizes all achievements, making adventures less enjoyable.

I had such thoughts when I received the sun’s message, but our party was still holding together thanks to the two-power system of me as a close-range dealer and Simon as a long-range buffer.

The elf sisters were long-range dealers whose attacks barely affected Aura users, and given the recent unpleasant incident with me, they might fear being abandoned.

Raisha wasn’t an Aura user either, but she was my wife from the beginning, so her identity as a wife was stronger than that of a party member.

“Alright. Since we’ve resolved this issue, let’s go on a proper adventure starting tomorrow. We’ve already visited Miriam, Scofield, Belfort, and Jerikania, so only Maximus Gorge remains, right?”

“Yes, that’s it! Let’s take on thrilling and fun requests!”

In the end, for the sake of maintaining good relations with my party members, I promised to embark on an ordinary adventure rather than a landmark pilgrimage for the first time in a very long while.

*

And that night.

“S..L…J…”

“Slurp… slurp…”

I can’t tell anymore if she’s my wife or a succubus.

Did Raisha actually consume a succubus virus instead of the Abundance Pill?

How can her sexual desire boil over every night when we do it at least 10 times each night?

If I weren’t an Aura user, I would have long ago become a malnourished patient with nothing but bones, dying before even starting an adventure.

I squeezed out my Aura and circulated it throughout my body.

Where the Aura passed, cells replenished with nutrition and vitality began to pulsate, and sufficient power was supplied to my reproductive autonomous thinking device, which was being worn down by countless friction and emissions.

But soon, my body, which was maintaining vitality through forced supply of Aura, began to collapse once again under the chromosome XX bipedal organism heaving violently with its forceful mass on top of me.

By this point, the very ability to feel sexual pleasure from intercourse began to feel like a curse.

What pleasure could there be in the sound of flesh adhering to flesh that had been going on for six hours already?

“Haa… haa… hnngh…”

Finally, my sweat-drenched wife completed the 52nd act and collapsed on top of me.

I hurriedly circulated my Aura once more, and my emaciated body began to regain its robustness.

I gently wiped my wife’s sweat-soaked body with a towel I had prepared in advance.

“Do you enjoy doing it with me that much?”

“Yes…”

Saying that, my wife pressed her lips against mine.

After our saliva mingled briefly, my wife pulled up the blanket and closed her eyes with my arm nestled between her breasts.

“Don’t go anywhere without me from now on.”

“…Alright.”

I held my wife tightly and closed my eyes.

I wonder why the warmth of a body feels warmer than the sun’s flares…

Even Master Nariakira Saburo wouldn’t be able to answer this question.

[That’s how it feels when you embrace someone you love, my son.]

…..

You’re actually answering this.

[No need to thank me.]

….

[So when are you going to have children?]

Ah, I’ll handle that on my own, please.