List (2)

List (2)

As I didn’t know how to respond, I just stared blankly.

Espin, seemingly finding it difficult to overcome the embarrassment, banged their forehead on a nearby desk and whined.

“Ah, no… It’s just that I feel left out and a bit lonely, that’s all.”

“… If you’re feeling left out, I’ll try to be more attentive.”

I was about to tell them to take back those words, but.

Before that, Espin shook their head, rejecting my suggestion.

“No, there’s no need for that… I don’t want to be treated specially… Just, you know, put me on that list like you said earlier…”

I understand the intention behind their words, but.

I couldn’t help but shake my head in refusal, worried about what kind of excuse might follow if this continued.

Espin, seemingly upset, glared at me before suddenly bursting out.

“Why can’t I be on it!”

“I should be the one asking. It’s not even a normal relationship, and you’re talking about being a pet… Do you really think that’s a normal suggestion?”

“Well, no, but! You know, that!”

“That?”

Espin, seemingly at their wit’s end, let out a long sigh and started shouting.

“I like you, okay! That’s why I asked to be included. Is that not allowed? Is it not okay?”

“……”

I wonder if this can be considered a confession.

I was pressing my head, thinking that all the confessions I received were full of strange things.

Espin takes off a layer of her coat and says to me.

“… Me, I? What! It’s just that I’ve never been in a relationship, so I don’t know well…! I’ve received so many marriage proposals, it’s pouring in, and I’ve gotten an unimaginable number of confessions, you know? And, what, ah, when I walk down the street, there are so many people who come up to me saying I’m pretty, it’s unimaginable!”

It probably wasn’t wrong.

It’s just that I usually ignore it, but Espin’s appearance was enough to make both men and women turn their heads.

‘With just that appearance, she would have captivated countless men. And she even has those huge breasts.’

There was no way people around would leave Espin alone.

While I’m keeping my mouth shut at those words that are obvious in a way.

Espin slightly shakes her chest seductively and shouts at me again.

“But you! You say I can’t seduce, and even when I provoke you, you laugh…! Really! You’re making fun of me for not having dated, right!”

The usual rational Espin has disappeared somewhere.

Only a fragile, emotional woman remained in front of me.

Seeing Espin like this, I felt a bit sorry and tried to say something, but Espin still had a lot more to say and continued.

“And… and! Why do you do weird things with other girls, huh? But why don’t you touch me?”

“… Weird things?”

“You spank Delia! You make Rumi dress up as a maid and do strange things! And you even drew on Senior Sien’s body!”

“……”

I want to deny it, but I can’t.

Just as I was feeling doubtful, thinking that my nickname as a puppy trainer might not be entirely a lie after all.

Espin, now seemingly calmed down a bit, speaks to me while fidgeting slightly.

“But, why don’t you do anything to me? Do you… dislike me?”

At the end, it feels more like she’s being cautious rather than getting angry.

I looked at Espin like that for a moment, pondering, then shook my head and said.

“I don’t dislike it.”

“Then why… are you not doing anything?”

At those words, I was about to say it was a misunderstanding.

But remembering how I kept ‘handing over the initiative to the other person’ by speaking like this until now, which caused other guys to keep climbing up.

I decided to take a different action to gain the initiative, at least with Espin.

‘For example, like this.’

I immediately pushed Espin down onto the bed and, just as I had done with Rumi before, forcibly laid her down and climbed on top.

Then, looking intently into her eyes, I briefly said.

“Then, does that mean I can do it?”

“……”

At those words, Espin seemed momentarily speechless, her expression blank as she just opened and closed her mouth.

It was an expected result, if anything.

She had said earlier when she yelled at me that she had ‘never been in a relationship’.

So she probably had no resistance to this kind of situation.

“……”

As I looked at Espin, who continued to say nothing even as time passed.

To take the initiative even further, I slowly leaned in.

And lightly left a kiss mark on her neck.

“Huu… uh.”

In fact, leaving the mark itself was closer to pain than pleasure.

Espin lets out a small moan and flinches, seemingly feeling strange about the situation.

As I watch Espin’s reaction, I’m about to leave another mark a bit lower.

“…S-stop.”

Espin speaks while shaking their head frantically, trying to regain composure.

“I… I think I might faint if it gets any weirder.”

“Faint?”

“……”

They start to sniffle, going limp as if they have no strength left to speak.

Just as I’m about to pull away, thinking I might have gone too far.

Espin looks at me and says.

“… I’ll practice so I can do it properly next time… Don’t hate me for ending it here.”

Then they mumble an apology and fall asleep right away.

I let out a hollow laugh watching Espin like that, then slowly sit up on the bed.

‘Their behavior is so different from usual, I’m not sure how to react.’

I take a deep breath to clear my complicated thoughts, then quickly regain my composure.

I cover Espin’s body with a blanket and shake my head rapidly.

‘Pull yourself together and go to the magic conference.’

What’s important right now isn’t this, but the large-scale research happening at the magic conference.

So I decide to put this aside for now and deal with the important matters first, taking a deep breath.

‘Let’s go.’

We can talk about this again after I return.

I moved my steps slowly while thinking such thoughts.

* * *

When I arrived at the Magic Academy.

Luna, who had been exploring nearby, ran up to me and started rubbing her face against my legs.

[Master, Luna worked hard!]

I picked up Luna, who was grinning happily, praised her saying ‘well done’, and then asked about the situation.

“So, did you find any large-scale laboratories or magic?”

[Yes! The Heaven God Cult hid them very carefully. But I was able to find them by activating a search magic that covered the entire Magic Academy!]

It seems she was able to find them thanks to Luna’s excellent search abilities, which even I had to acknowledge were superior.

I patted Luna’s head to show she did well, then slowly continued speaking.

“Then guide me. I’ll go right away.”

[Okay!]

I started moving forward, following Luna who jumped down and ran off somewhere.

*

From the outside, the huge island seemed to be divided into several layers.

I thought the floor layers were just thin surfaces barely dividing the space, too thin to be called ground.

‘Contrary to my expectations, those floor layers were…’

Their scale was so enormous that I couldn’t help but be quite surprised when I first learned about it.

‘Each layer was at least twice as deep as it was high.’

I couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking that they must have hidden this using the inherent mana of magic stones, but I had no idea the scale would be this large.

‘It’s certainly abnormal in its very existence.’

I slowly turned my gaze away from the cavity where intense mana was spreading.

‘It seems like I can sense an unusual magical energy through this crevice in the joint.’

It appears to be growing very slightly.

As time passes, ‘something’ seems to be growing.

For now, its effects were so minute that they disappeared without a trace due to the massive mana stone…

Nevertheless, the intensity of that faintly visible magical energy would prove that this was no ordinary experiment.

‘In any case, I’ve come to the right place, so let’s check it out.’

I moved forward quickly, wondering what exactly the Heaven God Cult members were trying to accomplish with these actions.

Then, as I slowly reached out towards the crevice and peeled it open to check what was inside, what I saw was.

‘… Magical energy.’

Like putting all kinds of insects in a jar to create poison.

As if extracting emotions created by putting all sorts of negative feelings in one place for a long time.

Just standing there, I could feel an intense magical energy that seemed like it could tear my skin apart.

As I was frowning at the sight of this magical energy gathering and continuously being generated.

I noticed a demon that looked like a caterpillar, attached to the mana stone like a parasite.

‘It seems that creature is creating this magical energy.’

As I was watching the magical energy continuously spewing from the caterpillar’s mouth.

The caterpillar spoke to me in a voice full of mockery.

“Kikikik, insignificant hum-“

The moment I heard its words, I instinctively used Point Explosion, blasting the caterpillar’s face.

I watched the scattered flesh and dispersing magical energy.

A habit is quite a frightening thing, I thought with a deep sigh.