Ch.8931. Into the Cathedral (1)

I turned my head at Soso’s words.

Her face seemed slightly flushed from the alcohol. I could see her cheeks tinged with a light pink. Though her tone was playful, the atmosphere was definitely strange.

‘This might be a bit dangerous.’

I turned away from her again. Not just her face, but her reddened neck below. And everything further down with its fullness.

The scent of bamboo leaf liquor emanating from Soso as she moved closer to me was making me feel even stranger.

“See? You are conscious of me, aren’t you? You said nothing would happen even if I stripped naked. Do you see me as a woman now?”

Her tone was playful but clearly provocative.

Enough to remind me of her manner of speaking during the Eins days. In truth, while Soso was quite shy, she was also quite playful with people she was close to.

Even back then, she was deeply immersed in internet communities. She would often tease me with various trending phrases and memes in her own way.

‘Is she doing this now because she saw it somewhere online…’

Knowing Soso, she must have seen countless posts titled “How far can you go with male friends?” on those forums.

‘Maybe she read a post saying kissing is okay.’

Of course, most things on those communities are just boasting and lies. There must be plenty of such exaggerations. But innocent Soso might believe those exaggerations to be true.

‘But maybe kissing would be… okay for me too.’

With such uncharacteristic thoughts, I found myself unconsciously looking forward to it. Indeed, the warm water was the problem.

‘A flame mage weak to hot springs…’

When I didn’t respond, Soso took another sip of bamboo leaf liquor and said:

“Whew. Ah, Minsu, you can’t drink alcohol. Do you dislike the smell of alcohol on my breath?”

Soso brought her face close to mine as I turned my head.

Then, she gently blew her breath into my nose.

“Whew… How is it? No alcohol smell, right?”

As Soso said, despite drinking quite strong alcohol, there was no scent of alcohol. It seemed she had used mana to decompose the alcohol in her mouth.

“Stop teasing me. Hey!”

As if not wanting to lose to Soso, I shouted at her just like in the Eins days. But Soso responded even more slyly.

“Hey? Hey, what are you going to do? Pin me down like this? Eat me up?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Of course. I knew it. You’re so timid.”

As Soso’s playful provocations continued, I started to get heated too.

‘Come to think of it, Soso and I used to bicker quite a lot.’

Being close friends, we had many arguments, whether in jest or in earnest. And truthfully, I was never one to back down from a challenge.

And whether it was Soso, Yuri, or Arin, I had no intention of being led around. I felt I needed to take a stronger stance.

“You think I can’t? Even kissing, I could…”

“Really? Then go ahead and try… Woop?!!”

I pulled Soso into my arms. And I pressed my lips against her light red ones.

Of course, I had no intention of going any further.

‘After getting so surprised about sharing a chocolate bar earlier today…’

If Soso was as I remembered, this light kiss should be enough to teach her a lesson.

But her lips were, as I had felt before, softer than I expected. Despite being a swordswoman who could cut down dozens of monsters without changing her breathing.

At least the sensation of her lips was very soft and supple, befitting a woman. For a moment, I didn’t want to pull away.

‘What am I thinking… This is getting truly dangerous…’

I hurriedly pulled away from her lips. And hiding the feelings I had inadvertently experienced, I spoke to Soso as if it was nothing.

“See? A kiss is nothing…”

It wasn’t a deep kiss, but I thought it was enough to quiet Soso. But at that moment, our eyes met.

“Haa… Haa…”

It was just a meeting of lips. But Soso’s gaze had changed. Her expression seemed full of embarrassment, yet also tinged with ecstasy.

And before I could tease her about her reaction, Soso wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Woop…”

Once again, our lips met. But unlike before, the tip of Soso’s tongue parted my lips.

A soft, moist tongue. Then Soso’s soft body pressed against mine.

The two of us shared a deep kiss.

***

Last night was almost a disaster.

Like in the Eins days, the two of us had grown closer again. So the time in the open-air hot spring flowed comfortably with conversation.

And the kiss that started impulsively didn’t stop quickly. Our tongues intertwined for quite some time.

‘If more time had passed, it might have been truly dangerous.’

Two people in the hot spring, wearing only underwear. Perhaps because of the strange atmosphere of the night, my mind went blank.

Even I, who always tried to maintain composure, could think of nothing but the kiss in that moment.

The statement that nothing would happen even if we were naked together was about to be proven wrong. My hands, which were holding Soso’s shoulders, almost moved lower as the kiss deepened.

But then, an unexpected visitor helped me.

‘The fire bear helped me.’

Sensing our presence, a fire bear approached us. In this forest of magical beasts, it wasn’t an ordinary fire bear.

And I instinctively pulled my lips away from Soso at the bear’s roar.

‘Damn fire bear!’

In that moment, I heard Soso’s cold voice for the first time in my life. Her tone was mixed with such anger that I almost thought she was possessed by a blood demon.

And though Soso quickly left to deal with the fire bear, by the time she returned to the stream, I had calmed down.

‘The stigma was glowing again at just the right time.’

Bathing is also a purification ritual. In that moment, I remembered that we had entered the Ash Forest to obtain Parma’s Sacred Fire.

‘See? Nothing happened between us.’

I said that brazenly to Soso. Though she looked quite disappointed, seeing the stigma glowing on my palm, she didn’t say much.

‘Y-Yeah. As you said, nothing happened between us.’

But soon her expression turned satisfied.

‘Well. If that’s what you say, Minsu, then that’s how it is.’

Perhaps she noticed that, in that moment, I had been conscious of her as a woman.

Anyway, the two of us fell asleep, and the next day came. Just before leaving the campsite, I checked Soso’s status through the in-ear device.

========================

[Party Member / MCI / Limit Line]

​

* Yeon Soso(S) : 35(-17) / 92(+2)

* Lee Minsu(O) : –

​

[Ambient MCI]

​

*Within 50m radius : 310

========================​​​​

And last night’s kiss, no, the hot spring bath had shown proper effects.

Soso’s MCI had decreased by 17 overnight. And her limit line had increased by 2.

‘It’s very difficult for the limit line to rise beyond 90.’

So Soso’s magical resistance had increased significantly. Objectively speaking, what happened between us last night clearly had a big impact on her.

‘This might be a clue on how to control Soso in the future.’

Like in the Eins days, becoming close again as friends while simultaneously being conscious of her as a woman. Such an ambiguous relationship.

For Soso, a romance novel addict, there might be no more exciting relationship than this.

‘After this mission is over, I should reorganize and confirm Soso’s MCI factors again.’

To erase the still-vivid memories of last night with Soso, with her body, from my mind, I tried to focus as much as possible on what lay ahead.

With Soso’s condition greatly improved, entering the center of the forest would be easier.

“Kyaaaak-“

Once again, a giant fire bear’s head flew off. And I also helped Soso by using the Wind Cutter spell.

‘Last night’s adjustments are working.’

Spells cast through gear have less mana consumption and recoil. Moreover, last night, when heating the hot spring for Soso, I also practiced controlling the mana leaking from the mana heart.

That adjustment seems to be paying off. The burning sensation and recoil that twisted my internal organs every time I used mana has relatively lessened.

“Don’t overdo it. Your body is still…”

“This much is no problem.”

Still, Soso worried about me. I glanced at her. Her condition was so good that even after cutting off the head of the giant fire bear earlier, not a drop of its bodily fluids or blood had splashed onto her clothes.

However, she wasn’t wearing yesterday’s pink hoodie. Though she had washed it in the stream, the stains and smell remained, making it unwearable.

‘So I lent her my clothes.’

A sweatshirt I had packed as a spare. It was too big for Soso, but she borrowed it anyway.

“Let’s continue on then.”

“… Yes!”

So we headed toward the center of the forest where the stigma’s reaction was felt. I unconsciously turned back to look at Soso.

“That’s a washed garment, so it shouldn’t smell. I do laundry often.”

As luck would have it, Soso was sniffing my sweatshirt.

“O-Oh, I see. I-It doesn’t smell at all!”

Somehow she seemed very embarrassed. I dismissed Soso’s reaction and focused more on the resonance of the stigma.

***

The two finally reached their destination.

In the center of the Ash Forest, the magical energy was at its peak. But I, who was originally unaffected by magical energy, had no problem.

And Soso’s MCI was also being maintained relatively well.

“Was this… a cathedral or a church?”

The two stood in front of a ruin. As Soso said, the building was collapsed, but the cross on top of the spire.

And the White Cross Society’s emblems visible throughout the building made its purpose guessable.

‘No. In this state, it couldn’t be used for such devout purposes.’

The outer walls of the cathedral were stained like a demon’s face. And even the statues symbolizing God were defiled to look like demonic emblems.

“They say a demon appeared 200 years ago. It seems the contamination has progressed since then.”

It was hard to imagine that a White Cross Society’s sacred object could be in such a place. But the stigma on my palm was reacting violently.

Soso looked at my resonating hand.

“This must be the right place. Where Parma’s Sacred Fire is.”

I nodded. The Archbishop had also said that Parma’s Sacred Fire was kept in a cathedral, so it seems we’ve found the right place.

‘Parma’s Sacred Fire. I must obtain it here.’

I am not a priest of the White Cross Society.

But according to the Archbishop, due to my unique constitution as a sacred body, there would be no problem in using Parma’s Sacred Fire.

‘Parma’s Sacred Fire itself is an unquenchable holy flame. If your will and qualifications are sufficient, that fire will lend you its power regardless of holy power.’

And since the holy fire’s attribute is also flame, the Archbishop said that if I, a flame mage, used it, the celestial fire’s power would be doubled.

So I intended to obtain Parma’s Sacred Fire no matter what.

‘The problem is that until I get Parma’s Sacred Fire, I still can’t properly use flame spells.’

A cathedral that anyone could see was not normal. Since Parma’s Sacred Fire was suppressing the magical energy of this place, the magical energy displayed on the in-ear device was indeed highest in this area.

Then this must undoubtedly be the epicenter where the great demon appeared 200 years ago.

‘Who knows what’s inside.’

But now Soso is with me. And I can use Wind Cutter and wind spells, so I steeled my resolve.

“Then let’s move.”

Soso nodded. And she drew out her gear, the black sword.

A moment later, instead of entering directly through the cathedral door.

I took out Wind Cutter and sent the will of the wind there first. Soon, Wind Cutter’s will conveyed the situation inside.