Ch.403Side Story: Date

[Hm, hmm.]

Even though I’d entered Greyfond by carriage, I was just keeping the window open to let out the heat that had built up inside. I couldn’t actually go outside yet.

The reason being that Stella was sprawled out, breathing heavily and still unable to regain her composure.

She couldn’t even dress properly and was wet and dirty in various ways. I tried several times to wipe her down after magically dampening a towel, but.

Every time my hand touched her, she kept moaning softly and feeling pleasure, so there wasn’t much I could do.

‘This is troublesome.’

Going directly to the royal palace would be too conspicuous, so I needed to find lodging nearby first, but it was a frustrating situation since I couldn’t go outside.

‘Findenai and the Dark Spiritmaster probably made it here fine on their own.’

They were probably staring intently at the carriage from outside, wondering what I was doing, or perhaps they’d already figured it out and were sighing.

Whatever the case, I needed to get out of here first.

“Stella, could you calm down a little bit?”

I know it’s a bit rich for me to say this after putting her in this state.

Stella tried to nod and regain her composure, but her legs were trembling so much that it seemed she couldn’t stand on her own.

“Let’s get you dressed first.”

Since she’d been wearing ordinary clothes after becoming a spirit body, I carefully tried to dress her.

[Hmph!]

The fact that she trembled just from me placing my hand on her shoulder showed how sensitive she was.

Being able to feel pleasure from just the touch of a loved one might be considered a blessing in some ways, but it felt like she had received too much blessing from serving her god too devotedly.

“Haah, Vellica. Come out for a bit.”

I finally decided to take drastic measures. At my words, Vellica initially resisted coming out, but after I kept staring at her, finally.

Horns sprouted from her head as she glared at me with sharp eyes, but the tears welling up in them made her not very threatening.

[What is it? I’m suffering too.]

Since Vellica shared sensations with Stella, she was naturally struggling as well.

[Whenever I tried to come out, you kept blocking me. That’s why she ended up like this.]

“What lover wants to be interrupted during intimacy? It’s your fault.”

[Then you should have shown some restraint! Seriously, every time you two do it, I feel like I’m dying!]

“…I’ll be merciful.”

Vellica seemed somewhat pitiful, being forced to feel pleasure from a man she didn’t desire. But my promise of mercy was essentially empty, as Stella would inevitably want more.

“Just bear with it for now and let’s get dressed.”

If she could at least get dressed, I could carry her into the hotel.

[Huff, huff! Fine.]

I thought she was making too much fuss over just getting dressed, but anyway. Despite occasional moans escaping her lips, we managed to get Stella dressed.

I carried Stella on my back, got a room at the hotel, and went inside.

Even while being carried, Stella let out faint moans as her skin rubbed against me, but I finally managed to lay her down on the bed.

Clunk.

The hotel window opened, and Findenai and the Dark Spiritmaster climbed in.

Their expressions weren’t particularly good, as I had expected.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

[How much did you do to leave her in that state?]

“……”

I kept my mouth shut since I had nothing to say. I knew that whatever excuse I made, I would end up losing.

“Should we order room service? I’m hungry.”

“Sure, whatever you want.”

Since we couldn’t go out to eat, we’d have to order room service every day during our stay.

Findenai started looking at the menu, contemplating what to order. Normally, the Dark Spiritmaster would have joined in, chattering about what to order, but.

[Um, excuse me.]

The Dark Spiritmaster fidgeted as she approached me.

By now, I was used to her bringing up some kind of problem whenever she acted like this.

“What is it? Don’t hide it, just tell me quickly.”

[You know that gods live here, right?]

“Hmm? Yes, I know.”

I’d known since we were outside the walls of Greyfond. At first, I frowned, but thinking about it, temples are places where gods are worshipped and enshrined.

As long as they weren’t being unreasonable or disrupting the balance of society or the order of the city, I had no intention of interfering.

The bishops might even be delighted, saying that the gods themselves have descended.

Or perhaps the gods are secretly observing their worshippers while hiding their true identities.

“It’s different from the Republic of Clark. There’s no coercion, and they’re just with the believers who have always worshipped them, so I don’t really have anything to say about it.”

Instead, I was thinking of meeting Bellas if he was here. He definitely told me to come find him, but thanks to him not showing up, it took quite some time to become a spirit body.

[Ah, haha.]

Why was she acting like this?

The Dark Spiritmaster began to explain what had happened to them earlier while sweating profusely.

The Goddess Yustia who suddenly appeared and seemed nervous, the intensified movements of the gods.

And finally, the Dark Spiritmaster’s declaration of war.

Or rather, the declaration of war the Dark Spiritmaster made in my name.

“……”

I had no intention of fighting, but suddenly I was forced into making threats with my fists raised.

[I’m sorry! You can touch my chest if you want!]

The Dark Spiritmaster thrust her chest forward forcefully, saying it was a form of apology.

“Get that away from me.”

Having already satisfied my desires through Stella, I pushed the Dark Spiritmaster away, and she looked disappointed, but I pretended not to notice.

More importantly.

‘So they came directly.’

The Dark Spiritmaster hadn’t done something completely wrong. The fact that they came of their own accord suggested they were clearly engaged in activities they shouldn’t be showing.

“No wonder the gods’ movements suddenly intensified.”

I just thought they might be nervous because I had arrived, but there was this backstory.

“Well, it’s been a while since I came to Greyfond, so I should do some cleaning up.”

I spoke as if I were just cleaning out a warehouse, but the matter could potentially be more serious than expected.

Gods literally think of humans as consumables, so I couldn’t deny the possibility that they might be engaging in inhumane acts.

There are numerous cases where what is amusement for gods is tragedy for humans.

[Yes! So I did well, right?]

“You have a talent for making me not want to praise you even when you do well.”

Her boldness made me reluctant to compliment her.

“Wow, they even sell beer here? First, beer and…”

“I’m going out for a bit.”

I just handed some money to Findenai, who was about to order something, and then headed outside.

Both of them knew they couldn’t follow me, so they didn’t react much, but.

“Call if you need me.”

Findenai muttered that without taking her eyes off the menu.

The corners of my mouth turned up slightly at her demeanor, as if she could rush to my side at any moment if I called.

“Hmm.”

Stepping outside, the streets of Greyfond seemed both similar and different.

It felt more developed, with an increased vitality in the streets.

Despite the arrival of winter, everyone seemed to be enjoying their daily lives without much concern.

Parts I hadn’t noticed when riding in the carriage now caught my eye one by one, making even just walking a nostalgic experience.

‘There are quite a few gods visible.’

It was somewhat fascinating to see non-humans pretending to be human here and there.

For example, Demeter, the goddess of abundance and earth, running a flower shop, or Salaman, the god of wisdom and knowledge, working as a librarian.

They were startled when they saw me but calmly bowed their heads in greeting.

It seemed the gods were enjoying their freedom in their own way.

‘Like, my neighbor was actually a god or something?’

They seemed to have longed for a life among humans, living like humans, and were quite enjoying their current time.

I approached the goddess Demeter.

“W-welcome.”

Her voice trembled as I suddenly approached her. She seemed afraid because of the Dark Spiritmaster’s declaration of war against the gods, but.

“I’d like some flowers for the young ladies, please.”

When I politely requested flowers, Demeter stared at me blankly for a moment before chuckling and starting to select flowers.

Since anything too flashy wouldn’t be appropriate, I purchased just one stem each for Aria and Elenoa.

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

When I asked while receiving the flowers, the goddess Demeter awkwardly scratched her cheek.

“There are difficult times too. I can’t say it’s only enjoyable.”

“……”

“But it’s much better than my previous life. Better than being forcibly bound by the shackles of fate.”

“That’s good then.”

Hoping that people wouldn’t upset the kind-hearted flower shop owner, I headed toward the royal palace.

‘What should I tell the guards?’

I was wondering how to explain myself to the guards at the entrance of the royal palace to meet Elenoa, but a solution quickly presented itself.

“Big brother!”

“Shinwoo oppa!”

As I approached the palace, Elenoa and Aria, who had noticed my arrival, came out to greet me first.

Thanks to Elenoa and Aria immediately throwing themselves into my arms, I almost fell backward, but I hugged them both back.

I should commend them just for obediently waiting in Greyfond.

Sniff! Ha! Sniff! Ha!

“Right after meeting…”

Of course, burying their faces in me and sniffing right after meeting was a bit awkward.

Since neither of them showed any sign of letting go no matter what I said.

“I bought flowers. Here, take them.”

They immediately pulled their faces away when I said I bought flowers for them.

“You bought a penis?!”

“Shall we go to the hotel?”

“Flowers. You heard me correctly.”

I wondered if girls their age normally made such sexual harassment, but they both laughed, saying it was a joke, and accepted the flowers I offered.

Yellow for Elenoa and black for Aria, flower colors matching their hair.

“Heehee! I need to use magic to keep this from wilting!”

“Me too! Do it for me too!”

Whatever the case, seeing Elenoa and Aria chattering innocently made me feel good, but.

“Could you both help me with something?”

I especially needed the help of Elenoa, who was a princess.

“Let’s go around the temples together.”

I had originally planned to go meet Owen right away, but because of what the Dark Spiritmaster had already done, I needed to move a bit urgently.

There might really be gods trying to escape.

If gods were hiding among humans like the goddess Demeter, going alone would only get me treated as a strange person.

So if I brought along Princess Elenoa, it would be much easier to check inside the temples.

“A date?”

When Elenoa asked with a smile, I scratched the back of my head.

“It’s more like going to monitor whether the gods are doing anything strange…”

“Then it’s a date!”

“Me too! I’m coming too!”

And so.

With the two girls linking arms with me on either side.

I began a date to inspect the gods.