Ch.80Pheromone Showdown (4)

“I don’t know what effect the pollen might have on a mage. I’ll stay by your side and continuously heal you. No objections?”

Rachel and Riyo nodded stiffly. They were frustrated but had no means to object.

“Ah, I wish I were a Lumina too.”

“…”

“Don’t you agree, Major?”

Lumina are a race chosen by the goddess. Their physical structure differs slightly from humans or beastkin. From a single strand of hair to fingernails, toenails, a drop of saliva, and even their body scent—divine power resides in every part of them.

Just by having their skin touch like that, Erich becomes safe from the pollen. I think that’s fortunate.

But it’s impossible not to feel jealous.

Dawn.

Riyo, who was keeping watch alone, began to move according to plan.

“Hehe.”

A man whose face alone made her smile. Could there be anyone else this lovable and dependable?

Probably not. In that short time, Riyo had owed Erich her life twice. Once when she nearly died at Binyol’s hands, and again during the battle with Redof.

Riyo, who had been watching Erich, moved to his bedside. Both his arms were already occupied by Tiria and Rachel.

Riyo sat at Erich’s head and gently placed her tail on him.

The mating season for fox beastkin runs from mid-January to the end of March.

And now it’s late January. The peak time when emotions run high.

In beastkin society, courtship is typically initiated by males. However, very occasionally, when a female finds a male she likes, she approaches first. She expresses interest by swishing her tail in front of the male or marking him with pheromones.

Beastkin pheromones are highly effective during mating season. Even a small amount erases all other scents and heightens the other party’s excitement through powerful chemical reactions.

Swish, swish.

Riyo and Miyo each stroked the mage’s jawline with their tails. Gently, from top to bottom, as if embracing his nape.

Erasing Tiria’s scent and filling it with their own fragrance.

“Mmh.”

[“Hmph.”]

Their tails were sensitive, especially during this season. But they didn’t want to stop. There were two competitors. Both were women with considerable charm.

To defeat them and be chosen by the man, they needed to try harder.

They felt Erich’s face with their tails, moving them as if examining with a probe microscope.

Is he breathing properly, will he remember this scent, will he choose another woman, and so on.

They were desperate, which led them to resort to such measures.

Of course, confessing directly to Erich was impossible. That would violate their agreement. Until Erich confessed first, Riyo and Miyo had no intention of stopping this behavior.

In the darkness-shrouded camp, unaware of the falling pollen, the fox sisters leisurely expressed their desires.

The hunt had only just begun.

***

For several days afterward, the bees launched surprise attacks. Though “attacks” merely consisted of secretly sprinkling pollen.

It had no effect.

[“Such vulgar women. This is why those in heat are…”]

During the day, the Lumina blocked the man’s sense of smell, and at night, the beastkin did the same. The plan to drive the man into a frenzy with pollen became useless.

Especially the beastkin.

They emitted potent pheromones while protecting the man.

[“The man has shown no abnormal symptoms for days.”]

[“It doesn’t seem to be working. At this rate, the Mushroom Witch or the Bloodsucker might notice and make a move?”]

Virzoneh crossed her arms.

[“…To think my pollen isn’t working. Is an all-out war our only option?”]

[“What about sending an advance party?”]

[“Send the yellow hornet unit first. Have them directly inject the man with mating venom. Once he’s incapacitated, extract him and bring him to me.”]

The bees acknowledged and flew up into the sky.

***

A week had passed since arriving on the new island.

In the morning, they brushed their teeth with natural materials and washed at the stream. Afterward, everyone began their morning routines. Their primary goal was to build a shelter to protect against rain and wind.

They cut down nearby trees and dried them in a sunny spot. They gathered broad leaves for preparation and dug holes to set up pillars.

Once the logs dried, they planned to complete a natural barracks by building the floor and ceiling.

“Mage, I brought stones!”

The Valkyrie and fox sisters struggled to drag a large stone. It was material for making a stone bed.

“…Isn’t it a bit too big?”

“So what if it’s big? We can just make a bigger bed.”

“Do we need individual beds?”

“Breaking stones requires more magical power, right? We should be efficient.”

The saint’s words made sense. They would make it large enough for all four to lie down together.

After carving the stone into a bed shape, they placed animal fur on top. When placing the fur, Erich glanced at the fox sisters, but they surprisingly took it in stride.

“It’s complete.”

“Yay! Our nest!”

Riyo was the first to jump in, curling up and lying down.

“It’s so comfortable! Just the right firmness and softness!”

After dinner, everyone performed their personal maintenance and lay down on the bed. Being in an open area, they could see the stars.

Lying in a row with female soldiers from enemy countries gave Erich a peculiar feeling.

“I’ll do it now.”

The saint next to him embraced him. She infused him with divine power.

Though it was supposedly a regular precaution against pollen, it was still hard to get used to. The Holy Spirit Kingdom’s saint embracing him every two hours.

“Hey, Ms. Kasten.”

“Yes?”

“Lying like this, don’t we look just like a married couple?”

Snap. The saint froze.

This time, there was even a delay in her eye color changing. Seeing her irises shimmering with various colors like an opal made teasing her quite enjoyable.

“M-m-married couple?”

“Don’t we?”

“Wait, saying such things so suddenly…”

“I only meant the atmosphere felt that way. Since you’re a saint, I understand you can’t choose just anyone as a spouse. I apologize if I offended you.”

“Uh, ah, uh.”

“And once we escape this deserted island, I’ll keep all personal matters that happened here confidential. Even if I mentioned anything, the order would try to kill me, so I won’t say anything. You needn’t worry.”

“Uh, uhehe, hehehehe.”

The saint wasn’t listening. She seemed to have half lost her mind from shock. I closed my eyes and counted stones. Soon drowsiness overtook me.

It was then that the saint pressed her chin against my shoulder and whispered.

“…D-dear. Sleep well.”

My breath caught in my throat.

I didn’t open my eyes. Rather, I couldn’t open them from shock. The saint’s words were certainly not joking.

[‘Do you see? Only the saint is suitable as Erich senior’s partner.’]

[‘I don’t know yet. Let’s wait and see.’]

Lately, I’ve noticed something strange about my body and mind.

Almost every morning at the stream, I meet eyes with the Valkyrie who’s already bathing.

Though it’s supposedly medical treatment, whenever the saint regularly embraces me, I clearly feel her heartbeat.

When I wake up in the morning, the scent of the fox sisters’ tails fills my nostrils, arousing desire.

In any case, it’s a critical situation for a man.

I’ve managed to endure because of our busy schedule, but at this rate, an accident might happen soon.

“Ssshhh.”

While pretending to sleep and slowly breathing to calm my mind and body:

“Attack! We’re under attack!”

Riyo shouted.

“Air raid alert! Enemy in the sky! Aaaah! Air raid alert!”

I jumped up.

Buzzzzz.

An ominous flapping of wings carried through the night air.

“What’s happening?”

“Bees! Bees have appeared!”

We took out all available light stones and torches. Dozens of bees the size of human forearms were hovering in the air.

“Ah, I-I hate insects…”

The saint clung to me, tensing her shoulders. Come to think of it, whenever the saint had to eat insects due to food shortages, she would writhe and panic. The only exception was when she ate honeycomb because she was too hungry.

“Tsk.”

The lack of light sources made it difficult to secure visibility. The saint needed to lend her power here. She couldn’t be panicking.

I massaged the tense saint’s shoulders and said:

“Don’t worry and stay by my side.”

“Uh, yes, yes! Thank you.”

“Dear.”

“Huh? Did you hear…?”

The saint let out a short scream. Perhaps for that reason, a halo bloomed above her head. Despite it being night, it became as bright as day.

The bees began their attack. With fierce wing flaps, they disrupted our concentration, shooting poisonous stingers and making it difficult to stay in one place for long.

There’s a saying in battle:

Whoever controls the sky controls the war.

I was keenly feeling the truth of those words. Though I was trying to keep them at bay with the crossbow Riyo had made, its slow loading speed meant it wasn’t very effective. We were clearly at a disadvantage.

The one fortunate thing was that the bees collapsed each time they shot their stingers. Though the enemy numbers were large, if we just held out, we had enough chance of victory.

[“Scatter.”]

I threw up a scatter stone. The magic stone that rose high into the sky exploded like a grenade. The scattered pieces lodged like thorns in the bee monsters.

As I continued using scatter stones where the monsters were concentrated, the enemy numbers visibly decreased. With the experience gained from fighting the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s air force, I wouldn’t be easily defeated.

“Let’s take cover in the forest!”

Most of the bee monsters were already dead. The remaining dozens flew across the trees.

There was a common characteristic among the bees that discovered and attacked us.

“Doesn’t it seem like they’re targeting the mage more?”

They showed a particularly strong tendency to try to stick their stingers in me. They seemed to have some purpose. It would be tough on my body, but it was actually fortunate. It meant their movements were predictable.

“I’ll lure them. Please protect me, and if possible, intercept them.”

“Isn’t that too dangerous?”

“It’s always been dangerous here.”

“…Dear.”

We engaged in guerrilla tactics. The monsters’ low intelligence worked to our advantage. Even just poking our heads out from behind trees would draw poisonous stingers. Of course, they were easy to dodge. One bee died pathetically due to its own mistake.

After repeating this fishing technique for hours.

By dawn, no more flapping sounds could be heard.

“Phew.”

“Is it over?”

“Seems so.”

“That was tough. Let’s go back now.”

We returned to camp, soaked in fatigue. All four of us had missed an entire night’s sleep. Our bodies creaked like broken jointed dolls.

“Let’s all sleep a little and then get up. Today and tomorrow, we should focus on recovering from fatigue.”

Everyone agreed with the saint’s words.

Just as we were about to lie down on the bed.

Buzzzz!

A bee monster sprang out from a tree in front.

“…!”

In the moment I thought I couldn’t respond properly due to relaxed tension.

“Mage!”

The Valkyrie, who was closest, pushed me aside and took my place.