Chapter 116 – Master (4)

“Mm…mmph…”

I shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a less sore spot to rest on. Something soft and heavy pressed against my face.

“Thinking about round two already?” a playful voice murmured.

“Buh…?”

“It might be a bit much, but…I’m not opposed.”

A gentle chuckle, a soft hand tilting my chin upward.

“Good morning, Noah.”

“Uh…mm…Ru- ahem -Rubia.”

“Hee hee… What happened to your voice?”

Rubia poked my side playfully.

“Did…did you sleep well, Rubia?”

“Yes. Very well. Best sleep I’ve had in a long time.”

“That’s…good…”

Rubia’s hand gently stroked my hair. I smiled, hugging her close.

She smelled so good…

But…why was she so…soft? And smooth?

“Wait…you’re…naked?”

“Yes. We took everything off last night.”

“Oh…” hiccup

“Pfft! Why so surprised?”

“N-no! I just… hiccup …uh…”

Every movement sent a jolt of pain through my hips, and…that area…was still raw and sore.

My chest, thighs, stomach, back, shoulders, neck…everything.

Even my underarms? Why…?

“I’m sore too. Are you hurting, Noah?”

“Y-yes… Stinging…and sore…”

“Just…bear with it.”

“O-okay…thanks…”

“Remember this feeling. Hold onto it.”

A soft kiss pressed against my forehead.

“These are the marks we made…together.”

“Ah…haah…”

Her words sent a wave of heat through me. My face flushed.

I buried my face in Rubia’s chest, hiding my burning cheeks. I could feel the faint scratches my nails had left on her back.

“Why…haven’t you healed these…? Doesn’t your body heal automatically…?”

“I’m blocking it. I want to remember. Scars would be even better.”

“What…? No…scars are bad. Heal them. Now.”

Still embarrassed, I wriggled up until our foreheads touched.

“You don’t need scars to remember… We can just…do it again… So please, heal. I don’t want you to be in pain…”

I kissed her softly, my hand gently caressing her back.

“…Huh.”

“Ah…did that hurt? I’m sorry—”

“There you go again…seducing me.”

“…What?”

“Feeling better now?”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Rubia shifted, pinning me beneath her.

Clink.

“R-Rubia? Wait…when did you…?”

She fastened the cuffs around my wrists, her breath hot against my ear.

“Let’s do it again.”

“What…? No…not again…I…ah…”

“I don’t care. I’ve forgotten everything. So just…be quiet. No, wait. Open your mouth.”

“But I’m still sore—”

Mmph!

“Rubia, what’s with that expression?”

“Hm?”

“No offense, but…it’s rather unsettling.”

“Oh my, such harsh words. This is my normal face. Hee hee…”

“…Creepy.”

[It’s not just me, right? She seems…too nice.]

“You think so too, Cartia?” Serr asked.

“Stop slandering me. I’ve always been nice. People call me a compassionate priestess. There’s nothing wrong with being kind. Right, Noah?”

“Y-yes…Rubia is kind.”

“Noah’s testimony is hardly impartial.”

We were seated around a circular table, ostensibly for Sirin’s incident report.

Though…it felt less like a report, more like…a debriefing.

Sirin sat at the head, Serr to her left, Rubia to her right.

And me, perched on Rubia’s lap.

“It’s not…unpleasant. Just…different. As Serr said, your expression is much softer.”

“Is it? I feel the same as always. Don’t you think so, Noah?”

“Y-yes… ahem …yes.”

My voice cracked embarrassingly.

So humiliating…

“Why is Noah so pale? Didn’t you two spend the night together?”

“Eek…”

My face flushed crimson. I buried it in Rubia’s chest.

“Did you two…do it?” Serr asked bluntly.

“Do what?”

“Sex.”

[Hump hump! Butt stuff! Fornication!]

Serr clapped her hands together enthusiastically. Cartia’s crass commentary brought the memories flooding back.

Flesh on flesh.

Slick, wet sounds.

Mind-numbing pleasure…

The images…the sensations…

“Heuk…”

A phantom ache pulsed between my legs. I clung to Rubia, shaking my head.

Don’t answer. Don’t answer!

Rubia, seemingly sensing my distress, simply smiled at Serr without answering.

Then, her finger traced a slow line down my spine.

“Eek! Wh-what are you—?!”

“Indeed. A sufficiently eloquent response.”

[Wait, what? Did they really…? Oh my god…]

What exactly had Serr and Cartia gleaned from that, I had no idea.

I wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

“Well then. Enough idle chatter. Let’s move on to the matter at hand.”

Sirin placed a stack of papers on the table, dividing them into two piles and handing one to Serr and the other to Rubia.

“Rubia, you and Noah had a run-in with the Red Scorpion organization recently, correct?”

“Red Scorpion…yes. There were some…incidents…in Ursphere. You remember, Noah? That time…”

“Uh…?”

Red Scorpion? Ursphere?

What was she talking about?

“…You don’t remember?”

“…No.”

“That’s…that’s understandable. Things were…chaotic.”

Rubia smiled weakly, stroking my hair and turning to face Sirin.

“Why bring them up now? I thought they were…disbanded. Mostly, anyway.”

Sirin placed a small envelope on the table.

“What’s this?”

Rubia opened it, a rustling sound accompanying the motion. She gasped.

“This drug…isn’t this what the Red Scorpions were using?”

“How much do you know?”

“Well, from the interrogation…ah.”

Rubia paused, glancing at me uncertainly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well…Noah should probably know about this.”

Rubia stroked my hair gently, then turned back to Sirin, her expression resolute.

“We managed to interrogate one survivor. We learned a bit about the drug’s composition and effects…”

“Explain.”

“The main ingredient…is humans. Humans imbued with mana. The effect is a temporary…amplification of magical power. Even those without innate mana can achieve the equivalent of a knight…or so we were told.”

[Those fucking bastards…using humans…?]

“Gasp…”

They…turned people…into pills?

And…people took them…?

“As I suspected…” Sirin sighed, placing another envelope on the table. “This is the refined version. The one that created those…monsters. Serr, can you analyze it?”

“There’s nothing I, a genius, cannot decipher.”

Serr grinned, then, rather dramatically…

Bite.

“…Huh?”

She bit her finger, drawing a magic circle on the table with the blood.

Scribble. Scribble.

When the circle, roughly the size of a human head, was complete, she grabbed Sirin’s wrist and placed it over the bloody design.

“A bit of your mana, please.”

“Mm.”

Sirin’s mana flowed into the circle. Serr, satisfied, placed the pill in the center.

A familiar energy emanated from it.

“…Indeed.”

“That’s…no…”

“Yes. Precisely what you suspect. Divine power. Your divine power, Rubia. Tainted with corrupted mana, but…remarkably pure, considering.”

“How…how is that even…?”

Rubia’s voice trembled as she pulled me closer, her embrace almost painful.

“A theory…but, Rubia…those villages you visited for your missionary work…”

“Yes…there were many… Wait…don’t tell me—”

“Not confirmed. But…highly likely. That’s what I’ve been investigating.”

Unfurl.

Sirin spread a map across the table.

“Recognize these locations?”

“These are…”

“The villages you visited.”

“No… Surely not…”

“You leave traces of your divine power when you heal, don’t you? To prevent relapses.”

“…Yes.”

“It seems they’ve been…harvesting it.”

Rubia’s body trembled violently. Her hand on my leg was ice-cold. Her breathing, ragged.

Seeing her distress, I set aside my greatsword and turned, hugging her tightly.

Her trembling subsided. Her breathing slowed.

“So…all those villages…are they…gone?”

“Every single one. No survivors. Drained of mana and…vital organs.”

Clink. Serr set down her coffee cup.

The silence was heavy, punctuated only by Sirin’s somber breaths and Rubia’s racing heartbeat.

“Everything I did…all those people I healed…it…it all led to their deaths…”

“Rubia, it’s not your fault. Those people would have died without your intervention.”

“I…I know, but…”

“Don’t blame yourself. Cartia is still alive and well, is she not?”

Rubia’s embrace tightened.

“Are there…any left? Villages that haven’t…?”

“A few. Some cities, as well.”

“Then…can we predict their next target?” Serr asked.

“Based on their previous movements…they’ll aim for a larger population center. A city. Most likely…”

Sirin’s finger traced a path across the map, stopping abruptly.

“Ursphere. And Cartia.”

“Those two cities…are their most likely targets.”