Ch.97Happiness (2)

*

While it’s clear that my longing for Silvia was rooted in my romantic feelings for her, there were actually several other reasons as well.

Looking at the massive tree rising from the middle of the lake outside our cabin, I recalled those reasons.

The frightening truth that the Green Lady had revealed to me.

I needed to tell Silvia that the Demon Lord was still alive.

Based on our conversations during evening hours before we parted ways, it was evident that Silvia had no idea the Demon Lord was still alive.

Since it was a day when she had lost many comrades, she didn’t speak much about vanquishing the Demon Lord, but from the occasional related comments she made, I could glimpse her belief that the Demon Lord had already been defeated.

Whether the Demon Lord had feigned death, secretly escaped using spatial magic, or disappeared after placing a body double—

I couldn’t know how he had managed to escape from Silvia’s eyes and sword, but the Green Lady had told me that this forest filled with demonic energy was evidence that the Demon Lord was gradually recovering his strength.

In other words, I needed to inform her that the Demon Lord must be vanquished once more.

Of course, I was scared.

We were talking about the Demon Lord who had driven countless heroes to their deaths.

No matter that I was the only spirit sorcerer to appear in this era, I had no real power. And no matter how injured and weakened the Demon Lord might be, he was still the Demon Lord—so it wasn’t unreasonable to be afraid.

But perhaps knowing this, the Green Lady never once told me to defeat the Demon Lord myself.

My role was simply to lead Silvia—the hero—to the Demon Lord.

She told me she would understand if I wanted to run away out of fear or pain, but while I might hesitate, I didn’t want to flee.

I had already lost my sister after running away and leaving my parents behind.

I had learned through tears of blood that running away doesn’t guarantee a peaceful future.

Besides, wasn’t Silvia by my side?

She was my courage.

And I was also certain that she would want to complete her revenge for Maria.

But why did I feel so anxious?

Why couldn’t I bring myself to speak?

Why did I keep thinking she would refuse?

Time and again, I missed opportunities to talk to her about the Demon Lord, stupidly opening and closing my mouth without saying anything.

I was confused as to why I found it so difficult to bring up the Demon Lord to her.

Perhaps it was because she wasn’t wearing clothes, and my attention kept getting scattered?

Or was I unconsciously afraid?

Afraid of dying at the hands of the Demon Lord?

I shook my head to dismiss these questions.

Pain was frightening, and the mere name of the Demon Lord was enough to make my whole body freeze, but I wasn’t afraid of death anymore.

The carriage accident now felt like ancient history.

I had essentially left my life behind with Laila back then.

I had left my life with the countless spirits who had thrown themselves in harm’s way to send me to Silvia without my knowledge.

When I buried the bodies of the five men who had died by my hand, I vowed that if the day ever came when I could use my life for something worthwhile, I would gladly give it up without regret.

Dying was a given for me.

I believed I had accumulated too much bad karma to deserve life.

So it wasn’t that I feared my own death,

Yet for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to speak to her.

I kept thinking that if I told her now, she would refuse to go after the Demon Lord.

“Ash.”

“Ah, yes?”

“What are you staring at?”

Silvia, who had been scraping flesh and fat from a deerskin with her dagger, looked up and spoke to me.

Apparently, I had been staring too intently.

I hurriedly lowered my face and said:

“Ah, that… the skin.”

“The skin? This deer hide?”

“Well, it’s not good to dry it by the fire, right? I just thought it was a waste.”

It was a fairly good excuse despite being spontaneous.

She had placed the defatted skin near the fire to dry, but everyone knew that animal hides should be air-dried naturally rather than with heat.

Heat-dried leather becomes hard and cracks—a fatal flaw for clothing—but we couldn’t leave Silvia naked for long without any clothes to wear, so it was a necessary compromise.

Her plan was to cover just her torso with this hide for now and make proper leather clothing later after more hunting.

“You know we have no choice.”

“Still, it seems wasteful.”

“Hmm, tell me… is that really why?”

“Pardon?”

Silvia gave a mischievous smile and slowly began to spread her kneeling legs.

I quickly averted my gaze, but my ears had already turned bright red.

Silvia seductively slipped her arms between her legs, barely covering her private parts, and spoke in a sultry voice:

“No other reason?”

“Ah… well, it’s not entirely untrue,”

“Pervert.”

“No, I told you to wear my clothes… how can I not look when you’re naked?”

“So you don’t like it?”

“What?”

Silvia slowly put down her dagger on the hide and walked over to me.

She sat down behind me as I tried to avoid looking at her, wrapped her arms around my waist, pulled me close against her back, buried her nose in my nape, and whispered slowly:

“If Ash were naked… I don’t think I could restrain myself as much as you are right now.”

“…Silvia.”

Her bold exposure and physical contact.

And the passionate affection she conveyed to me with her entire body.

Even though I already considered my life as good as gone, my heart was filling with a great happiness I had never experienced before.

A woman who loved me.

I hadn’t realized before how much happiness comes from someone truly loving you.

It felt like electricity coursing through my body, gathering just below my chest near my solar plexus, making my heart race.

My whole body tingled as if charged with static electricity.

It felt like a pink fog filling my brain.

In that moment, I realized why I had hesitated to tell her the truth.

What I feared wasn’t death, but no longer being with her.

More than death itself, I was afraid of having to leave her behind.

Having done it once before, and having heard directly from her what happened to her after I disappeared, it was even more difficult.

My guilt was too great to ask her once again to accept my death.

And it was clear that she wouldn’t readily embark on a journey that might kill me.

As I remained silent, lost in thought, Silvia blew softly into my ear and slowly called my name.

“Ash.”

“Yes.”

“I’m seducing you.”

Silvia whispered in my ear.

I gently took her hands that were wrapped around my waist and said:

“I know.”

“If you know, why aren’t you doing anything?”

“Please wait until tonight. We have a lot to do.”

“I had a really hard time last night, can’t you do it now?”

“What did you do last night that was so hard?”

“…”

She fell silent.

Even her playful breathing close to my ear seemed to pause momentarily.

As I turned my head in confusion, she suddenly bit my nape lightly.

As I flinched in surprise, she slowly licked the teeth marks she had left and said:

“Ash, my legs went numb… from being your lap pillow.”

“Huh,”

“It’s true! Thanks to Ash sleeping so soundly, I couldn’t move at all. That made me sweat a lot, so I went to wash in the morning and lost my clothes…”

“I used your lap as a pillow?”

I had no such memory.

“You were sleeping without a pillow, and it looked so pitiful that I offered mine.”

“Ah, if you did it while I was asleep, how would I know!”

“Why are you angry?”

“Because it’s a waste.”

“What is?”

I grumbled playfully.

“Getting a lap pillow from Silvia and not even remembering it—what a waste.”

“Good response,”

Silvia hummed contentedly and slowly released her embrace.

Then she sat down with her legs stretched out on the floor and patted her thigh.

“Then, want to do it now? The lap pillow.”

“Ah, um…”

“What?”

“If I lie down on your thigh now, in my line of sight…”

Those large breasts would be visible.

I didn’t finish my sentence, but understanding my thoughts, she laughed brightly before giving me a mischievous smile and slowly beginning to caress her breasts with both hands.

Her lips parted in an alluring shape as her loving, sticky voice flowed out:

“So? Isn’t that better?”

“…It is… nice.”

She quietly patted her thigh again.

Like someone entranced, I laid my head on her thigh.

“How is it?”

“It’s hard.”

“…”

“I-I mean, they’re wonderfully toned, impressive thighs.”

She pinched my nose lightly and wiggled it.

She was probably making a pouty face, but unfortunately, it was hidden behind her breasts.

Finding the view too stimulating, I turned my head toward her stomach.

This brought my nose very close to between her legs, where I could smell that familiar tangy scent I had experienced before.

“Ah…”

“What?”

“…Nothing.”

The familiar smell that reminded me of our passionate night together.

Though I had told her to wait, I too wanted to embrace Silvia right away and fully taste her body.

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my forehead against her body.

She stroked my hair and said:

“Your hair’s grown a bit.”

Silvia’s gentle touch as she ran her fingers through my hair felt nice.

Surrendering to her touch, I slowly closed my eyes.

This moment was incredibly happy.

I didn’t know whether I would die during the journey to capture the Demon Lord,

But if there was even a slight possibility of death, then right now,

Just for now, wouldn’t it be okay to savor this happiness?

For a very brief moment, couldn’t I enjoy this happy time?

Besides, to catch the Demon Lord, we needed armor, or at least clothes.

We couldn’t traverse the forest naked, and even if we could, it would look ridiculous.

So waiting until she had proper clothes wouldn’t be such a great mistake or error.

Thinking this, I slowly moved my hand toward her breast.

.