Ch.21Sleeping Together (7)

*

Sylvia pulled Ash along and brought him to the bed, tossing him down unceremoniously.

Ash’s slender body couldn’t resist as he was flung onto the bed.

“Ooack!”

Ash made a sound like a squashed frog as he sprawled across the bed.

His shirt became disheveled from the centrifugal force, exposing his thin collarbone defenseless.

Before Ash could get up, Sylvia pounced on him like a predator.

She pinned his arms on either side of his head, forcing Ash’s face to remain fixed toward her.

Sylvia stared down at Ash without blinking.

Her red eyes gazed into Ash’s red eyes, and his red eyes looked back into hers.

Her platinum blonde hair hung like a curtain, shielding the space where their gazes intertwined.

Within the curtain formed by her hair, their faces were close enough that they could almost feel each other’s breath.

Ash tried to look away, but Sylvia’s firmly placed arms prevented him from doing so.

Ash spoke carefully to Sylvia in a voice that was half startled and half resigned.

“Um…”

“…”

“…Would you please get off?”

“…Why?”

Sylvia responded to Ash’s request with a slight smile.

Her attitude was so confident that Ash felt his face flush with embarrassment.

Meeting her eyes was uncomfortable.

Even though he wanted to turn his face away, Sylvia’s arms firmly held his face in place, so Ash could only dart his eyes around as he answered.

“Well… you’re on top of me right now.”

“If you don’t like it, try resisting.”

“…How could I possibly overpower you, Miss Sylvia?”

Sylvia giggled.

Her breath came out in short bursts with her laughter, tapping against Ash’s lips.

Sylvia narrowed her eyes and whispered.

“That’s right. You can’t shake me off.”

“Uh… I guess so?”

Anxiety flickered in Ash’s eyes.

Having nearly died from being chased by a bear earlier, Ash had belatedly realized the dangers of the forest and could no longer calmly sleep to the sounds of the forest at night.

He could clearly envision himself trembling and staying awake all night.

If that happened, his days and nights would completely reverse, with no way to fix it.

At that moment, Ash recalled Sylvia’s offer from a few days ago.

If he stayed beside her—who was probably the strongest single entity in this forest, even stronger than the bear—wouldn’t he be able to sleep peacefully?

With that thought, he had knocked on Sylvia’s door.

But Ash had overlooked something.

The fact that someone who couldn’t escape from a bear would have almost no chance of escaping from her attack.

Ash only realized this now, in this moment.

“So…”

“Uh, surely not, right?”

“Ash.”

“Eep, what?”

Sylvia’s face gradually descended.

Ash stared at her approaching face.

Her eyes were narrowed, with a smile that was somehow both chilling and incredibly seductive.

Miss Sylvia had worn the same expression when she buried her nose in Ash’s neck to smell him.

Her lips brushed against Ash’s cheek and moved toward his ear.

“Uwaaah?”

Sylvia whispered into Ash’s ear with a sweet voice filled with her breath.

“So…”

“Uwaaa”

“Let’s train.”

“…What?”

Miss Sylvia smiled and stroked Ash’s face.

His flustered expression was quite adorable, but if she teased him any further, he might pass out with a nosebleed.

Looking at his bright red face that seemed ready to burst, Sylvia decided it was time to stop teasing him.

She raised her upper body and slowly ran her fingertips over Ash’s torso.

“With a body like this, you won’t survive in this forest.”

“…Uh-huh.”

“I should have anticipated something like this happening, but I didn’t think of it. It makes my skin crawl to think about how defenseless you’ve been wandering around the forest until now.”

“Ah… uh,”

Ash was still stammering.

“You’re just too cute.”

“Urk,”

Sylvia felt bundles of patience in her heart snapping in chunks.

Wait, if I pounce on Ash right now, wouldn’t that give him one more powerful reason not to leave this forest?

Suddenly, Sylvia’s lips became very dry.

Sylvia slowly licked her lips with her moist tongue as she looked at Ash.

Ash was desperately rolling his eyes like someone with a broken brain, trying his best to avoid Sylvia’s seductive face.

Sylvia smiled and resigned herself.

That’s not something I should decide on my own.

In truth, even Sylvia herself wasn’t in the mood right now.

She still had a girlish sentiment that her first experience should be shared with someone she completely loved.

At the very least, since he came to her room on his own, Ash probably didn’t dislike her, but it was still difficult to be certain.

Though his lack of immunity to even this level of stimulation made her want to tease him more, she didn’t want to force herself on him and lose her virginity just to keep him tied to her if he rejected her.

If it came to that, she’d rather just cut off his ankles.

Sylvia smiled and gently shook Ash’s shoulder.

“Ash, snap out of it.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Did you try using magic on the bear?”

“Um… no. I couldn’t.”

“And you call yourself a mage.”

“I, I was too panicked…”

“Hmm…”

Ash mumbled in a shrinking voice.

“I’m not very talented with magic… I need to concentrate to use magic. It’s impossible for me to cast spells while being chased by a bear.”

“Hmm,”

Sylvia sighed at Ash’s excuse.

Ash grumbled.

“…Not everyone is as talented as you, Miss Sylvia.”

“I don’t have talent for magic either.”

“What?”

Ash looked at her with an expression that seemed to ask what nonsense she was talking about.

Was this a case of a genius not fully recognizing their own talent?

Ash thought so as he stared at her with an incredulous expression.

Sylvia poked the tip of his nose with her finger and said.

“Do you think I’m some kind of bundle of talent?”

“…You’re the Hero, aren’t you?”

Sylvia let out a deep sigh.

“I can only use basic magic, and even then, just a few types.”

“Huh?”

“You can use basic magic too, right?”

“…Of course…?”

“I was terribly untalented with magic, so I couldn’t even do that. I never managed to use magic until I graduated from the academy, and I learned it through gritted teeth during my journey for subjugation.”

Ash looked at her with a surprised expression.

Honestly, he hadn’t expected this.

Certainly, the only magic he had seen her use so far was creating fire and creating ice, just those two.

That was definitely at a level Ash could manage as well.

“Wait, but you threw a fireball at the bear?”

Fireballs were a popular magic, but by no means basic.

Sylvia smiled and said.

“That was just me creating fire in my palm and then throwing it.”

“…What?”

“That’s a fireball, isn’t it?”

“You… threw magic… I mean, fire?”

That magic, which had flown so fast that it hit the distant bear’s body with a bang—was it simply thrown fire?

No, more importantly, how does one throw fire?

Ash became confused.

“Um, I don’t understand.”

“Hehe, right? Maria was also dumbfounded when she saw that.”

“Ma… ria?”

“Ah, that’s the name of my closest comrade. She was a friend and also a mentor who taught me how to use at least basic magic.”

Ash suddenly closed his mouth.

Maria.

Maria Staff.

Ash knew that name, which had undoubtedly come from Sylvia’s lips, all too well.

Sister Maria.

She was definitely Ash’s older sister.

Sylvia looked curiously at Ash, who had suddenly gone quiet, and spoke to him.

“…Ash?”

“Were you… close?”

“…Yes.”

Ash bit his tongue while keeping his mouth closed so Sylvia wouldn’t notice.

Don’t ask.

She might figure it out.

Sylvia’s seduction that kept putting Ash in awkward situations.

Ash also knew that this was nothing more than a prank.

A side of her he couldn’t have imagined when she was “Miss Millwood” with her face completely wrapped up.

This playful, mischievous side was probably Sylvia’s original personality.

Her true self that even she had been burying in her memories for the past few years because she had no one to show it to.

So, he couldn’t let her notice.

If she found out he was Maria’s brother, she would fall back into guilt.

Ash swallowed the desire to ask about her, along with the blood pooling in his mouth.

“…Ash, what’s wrong?”

Ash deliberately made a sad face and opened his mouth to show his bloodied tongue.

“Uwah, I bit my tongue.”

“Oh my, how cute.”

*

Sylvia got up and moved away from Ash’s body.

“I’m going to change into pajamas.”

“Um… I’ll wait outside.”

“Stay there.”

“…What?”

“Stay.”

“…No, why?”

Sylvia silently stared at Ash with narrowed eyes.

Ash lowered his head and covered his eyes with both hands.

“Okay, I’ll keep my eyes closed.”

“Hehe, good.”

Ash thought she might be treating him like a pet.

Click, click,

The sound of unbuckling her sword belt.

Swish, swish,

The sound of fabric brushing against skin.

Ash thought that somehow, just hearing the sounds while covering his eyes made him feel even stranger.

Swoosh,

The sound of her robe falling to the wooden floor.

Is she naked now?

He could vividly feel the heat of his flushed face against his hands that were covering his eyes and face.

“You’re not peeking, are you?”

“No, I’m not!”

“Really? Your ears are all red too.”

“That’s because of the… sounds.”

“…What about the sounds?”

“Nothing…”

Sylvia giggled as she looked at Ash.

“Ash, listen with your eyes covered.”

“Yes.”

“It’s obvious that your body isn’t ready for using a sword or bow. So the training will focus on building your body, along with magic training.”

“Um… I understand the physical training, but how are you going to teach me magic?”

“Simple, I’ll chase you, and you’ll use magic while running away.”

“What?”

“Every time I catch you, I’ll throw ice at your stomach.”

Her strength was enough to knock down that massive bear just by throwing massless fire.

Then, if she throws ice…?

“Will I die?”

“Learn if you don’t want to die. That’s how I learned.”

Ash wondered if his sister had really trained Sylvia like that.

Was his sister unexpectedly strict?

No, the sister Ash remembered played a lot of mischievous pranks, but she wasn’t a strict person.

Ah, I see.

So that level of training was just considered a prank within the hero’s party.

Ash was freshly impressed by how amazing his sister was.

He had always thought she must have been an incredible mage to be Sylvia’s comrade on the quest to subjugate the Demon King, but feeling it directly like this gave him a different perspective.

At least in Ash’s eyes, Sylvia was strong on a completely different level.

“I’m dressed now. You can open your eyes.”

“Okay- Ack?”

Ash was so startled that he rolled backward and fell off the bed.

“Ash, are you okay?”

“Miss Sylvia!”

“What?”

“You’re not dressed!”

Sylvia was naked.

Ash tried to turn his face and gaze away as quickly as possible, which caused him to fall backward, but in that brief moment, his optic nerves captured Sylvia’s entire body.

That face with a mischievous smile expecting the other’s surprise, yet slightly blushing with her lower lip lightly bitten.

Her firm, broad shoulders and prominently defined collarbone visible through her swaying hair.

Her ample breasts, which she covered with one arm out of minimal modesty, but which bulged above and below her arm as they were squeezed.

Below that, her clearly defined abdominal muscles and the large scar on her external oblique.

Fortunately, she was wearing pants below that.

Like a camera, her image remained as a clear afterimage on Ash’s retina.

“Ah, why are you doing this, really?”

“Hmm, didn’t you like this sort of thing? You ended up living here after trying to peep on me bathing naked.”

“Ah, that was…”

The image of Miss Sylvia by the river that day flashed in Ash’s mind.

Her figure washing herself in the river under the moonlight looked like a fairy.

“…I didn’t know you were going to bathe then.”

“Hmm, really? You pervert.”

“You’re the pervert, Miss Sylvia.”

“No, I’m not. I just forgot because I usually sleep without a top.”

“That’s a lie. Last time…”

“I sleep naked every other day.”

“No, what kind of…”

“Hehe”

Sylvia giggled as she put on her pajama top.

Even as she thought she should stop teasing the flustered Ash, she couldn’t help wanting to tease him one more time.

Sylvia deliberately turned her back to Ash, who had his eyes tightly shut, and said.

“There, now I’m really dressed.”

“…Really?”

“You’ll know if you look, won’t you?”

Ash cautiously peeked out from behind the bed and carefully opened one eye.

Indeed, Miss Sylvia had fully put on her pajama top.

Ash climbed back onto the bed with relief.

“…Phew, I thought my heart was going to drop. Please stop with those pranks.”

“Okaaay”

“You might not know, Miss Sylvia, but I’m also…”

“You’re also?”

“…Never mind.”

Ash closed his mouth, thinking that saying something like “I’m also a man” would only invite ridicule.

How many men could boast of their masculinity in front of Sylvia? If ranked, I’d probably be in the bottom 10%.

Ash thought this as he looked at Sylvia.

Sylvia slowly turned around.

She had not buttoned a single button on her top, leaving it wide open.

“Uwaaah!”

“Hehe”

.