Ch.351Side Story: Apology

Creeeeak.

For some reason, the door sounded unusually loud today, unlike other days.

As I came out, I saw Findenai and the Dark Spiritmaster whom I had momentarily forgotten about.

I remembered them having their ears pressed against the door, but now they were both sitting at the table, avoiding my gaze.

“Don’t go into the bedroom for a while.”

In the end, both Stella and Vellica had fainted, so I covered them with blankets before coming out.

Even though they were unconscious, their spirit forms remained clearly visible. I wanted to research this more, but it seemed best to leave them be for now.

There’s plenty of time. Demanding too much from the beginning would only make them uncomfortable.

‘My hands are damp. I should wash them.’

Normally, these would be necessary evidence for spirit form research, but the bedroom was already filled with samples for study.

Stella would probably be embarrassed though.

After washing my hands, I came out to find Findenai and the Dark Spiritmaster whispering to each other, quickly turning their heads away again.

They’d been silent since earlier, which made me curious, so I approached them. Both immediately jumped up and backed away.

“Um, well, you know. I’m not feeling well today.”

[M-me too! Oh my, my bones are aching!]

I could understand Findenai, but the Dark Spiritmaster was a soul, so she shouldn’t feel physical fatigue.

That thought briefly crossed my mind, but I looked at the Dark Spiritmaster just in case.

“Are you really feeling tired?”

[Y-yes! Ah, I’m so tired! My body feels stiff, so today I just need to lie down and do nothing!]

I quickly grabbed the Dark Spiritmaster’s shoulder as she tried to leave.

[Eek?!]

She flinched in surprise, trembling. Beside her, Findenai immediately fled behind a chair and crouched down.

I didn’t understand why they were acting this way, but first…

“If that’s the case, it might be related to your spirit form. Come to think of it, I haven’t checked since then…”

[Waaah! Actually, no! That’s not it! Hahaha! I’m not tired at all! I’m completely fine! I’m a soul, so I can’t feel fatigue! Being a soul, I can even pass through walls!]

With that, she escaped by passing through the wall. I wondered why she was acting so strange, but when I grabbed her just now, she didn’t feel much different than usual.

“What’s wrong?”

Findenai was still hiding behind the chair like a wary dog, watching me, which was getting annoying.

She flinched, then scratched her cheek and gave an awkward smile.

“W-well, I’m tired today and would like to sleep…”

“Why are you suddenly being so formal?”

“Formal? Oh, right. Formal. I’m tired and need to sleep soon. I’m not a soul, so I probably won’t be much help with spirit form research, right?”

“That’s true.”

It wasn’t that late when I went into the room, but looking outside now, it was already dark.

I wasn’t sure how many hours I’d spent inside, but I thought she might be physically exhausted, having been a Saintess.

“There’s no bedroom, so it seems I’ll have to sleep somewhere else today.”

“B-bedroom! Right? Right. I’ll find somewhere to sleep on my own, so don’t worry about me!”

Findenai was startled and desperately trying to go somewhere. She didn’t seem to have a destination in mind; she just wanted to get away from here.

“Why are you acting like this?”

Finally, I caught her wrist as she tried to escape.

“Eek!”

She was startled and desperately tried to pull away. Due to the weakness of my artificial body, I had to let her go, but at least I made her turn back to face me.

“W-well, you see… um…”

Findenai’s face was flushed, and she avoided my gaze. This wasn’t like her usual self; she had become timid.

I’d seen her like this once before…

‘Ah.’

When pushed somewhat forcefully, Findenai tended to become weaker.

Especially when it came to sexual matters, she naturally became smaller due to her lack of experience.

“Don’t tell me you’re like this because you heard what I was doing with Stella?”

I thought it unlikely since Findenai was someone who freely spoke about all sorts of lewd topics, but…

“Hic.”

She suddenly hiccupped while looking up at me. This reaction was both curious and confirming.

As I stared blankly at her, she tried to stop her hiccups by forcefully pounding her chest, but they wouldn’t stop.

“You beast!”

Finally, with her face bright red, Findenai clenched her fists and shouted at me.

“S-Stella was! Begging you to stop! And you just went wild! Fuck, how did you hold back until now!”

“It was research rather than sexual activity. To learn more about spirit forms…”

“Oh, so that’s why you spent six hours licking, sucking, and thrusting?”

“…I didn’t thrust.”

“Then you must have been grinding!”

Sexual activity is impossible with an artificial body to begin with. It would break immediately.

Even if I was sexually aroused, reason took priority, as proven by my artificial body.

If it had been a purely emotional act like when I was with the Dark Spiritmaster last time, the artificial body would have broken quickly.

“F-fuck! I thought you’d be all shy like a virgin when having sex, but you nearly killed your partner! Was that always your preference?!”

“Again, it wasn’t preference but research. But now that you mention it, I do think I went too far.”

I didn’t feel sorry for Vellica at all, but I did wonder if I had done something terrible to Stella.

That thought made me regret it a bit, so…

“I should go apologize. No matter how much it was for research, I went too far.”

As I turned around, Findenai grumbled behind me.

“If he’s saying that much, how badly did he wreck her?”

Though she was grumbling, she was still following closely behind me, seemingly curious about Stella’s condition.

Creeeeak.

Opening the door again and entering, the lingering heat and the subtle scent of the act remained.

Findenai gasped in surprise, but Stella was still sound asleep on the bed.

I had cleaned her with magic before leaving, so from the outside, it just looked like she was covered with a blanket.

“It’s Stella now.”

Seeing that Vellica’s horns had disappeared, it seemed she had finally returned to being Stella, but she was still asleep, breathing softly with her eyes closed.

“She looks… fine?”

Findenai scratched her cheek, finding something strange about the peacefully sleeping Stella.

I looked down at the sleeping Stella for a moment, then gestured to Findenai.

“Sleep in the living room tonight.”

“…Why? Planning to get messy again?”

“Sigh, no, just sleep in the living room.”

“Shit, I better get out before I’m pounced on.”

Now seemingly back to her senses, Findenai returned to her usual tone and demeanor as she quickly headed outside.

I don’t know why she was trying to give me a strange image, but anyway.

I quietly lay down next to the peacefully sleeping Stella.

The soiled bedsheets and blankets had already been removed during the act, so now we were using fresh, clean ones.

“Stella.”

I called to her, carefully removing a strand of hair stuck to her cheek.

She continued breathing softly without moving, truly appearing to be asleep.

“I’m sorry.”

At my apology, her eyes slowly opened, and she glanced at me.

[What are you sorry for?]

As expected, she wasn’t asleep.

Souls don’t need to sleep anyway.

She had kept her eyes closed because she didn’t want Findenai to see her current state.

Stella’s spirit form was still maintained. As she shifted slightly to look at me, I could see her pure white naked body under the blanket.

I averted my gaze and answered her.

“I think I went too far. I got carried away with the research.”

[It was really hard.]

I was about to apologize again, but Stella pulled the blanket up to just below her eyes, hiding her expression.

[But it, it felt too good.]

She blurted out her feelings while being embarrassed.

[I hated how sensitive I was to your every touch… but yes, I’ll honestly admit it.]

“…”

[I guess I’m quite sensitive.]

Even now.

Stella subtly wrapped her arms around me. She trembled slightly when her chest brushed against her arm.

[I-I understood what it means to feel so good you could die. Good thing I’m already dead.]

“That’s a joke, right?”

[Of course.]

Seeing her mix in jokes she wouldn’t normally make, it seemed Stella wasn’t in a bad mood after all.

[On the other hand, I’m a bit worried. If just your hands made me feel this way, what will happen later… Vellica says it gets better with adaptation?]

“I can’t answer that.”

Because I don’t know either.

As I looked up at the darkened ceiling, Stella carefully snuggled into my arms.

I gently extended my arm so she could rest her head on it, and she placed her hand on my chest with a pleased smile.

[Your clothes hurt when they brush against me.]

“…”

[It hurts.]

A blatant request for me to undress.

I finally sighed, got up from the bed briefly, took off my clothes, and lay back down beside her.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I left this artificial body and stayed with you as a soul, just for now?”

I asked, but Stella quickly returned to her previous position and answered.

[No. Please don’t be in soul state. That would make it feel like you’re really dead.]

“…Right, that makes sense.”

I had offered it thinking Stella might want that, but instead, she was the one being considerate.

Being in the artificial body was a means for her to recognize that I was still clearly alive.

[Will you stay like this with me all night?]

“You can’t fall asleep. And I don’t need to sleep either since I’m in an artificial body.”

We can’t sleep soundly and wake up to a new morning.

But on the other hand…

“That means we can stay up all night talking.”

[Hehe.]

She must have liked that.

Stella fidgeted with her hand on my chest and nuzzled her cheek against me.

[I’ve never looked forward to a night like this before.]

I could see Stella’s bright smile in the darkness.

Just for tonight.

I would be the moon for the Saintess who loved me, illuminating her night.

Of course, being naked together for several hours meant it didn’t end with just conversation.

But this time, it was an act of affection rather than research.

[Ah, ahh! T-that spot feels good!]

With each movement of my hand, Stella’s mouth released sweet moans.