Chapter 592: A Reciprocal Relationship (2)

After barely tearing my gaze away from the huge breasts that my eyes involuntarily kept shifting towards with every hammer strike.

Not forgetting my original purpose, I immediately used the Lustful Eye to reconfirm her lust fetish details.

My intentional excuse to stay behind at Areum’s workshop and watch her work was, in fact, merely a pretext to create a plausible reason for staring at her without suspicion.

Now that Areum’s consciousness was focused on the crafting work, it was the perfect opportunity to stare openly at her and check the contents of the Lustful Eye.

『Lust Fetish: Masterpiece, Kim Sungchul, Muscles, Passion, Cold Water Bath』

First of all, as I had felt earlier, each and every item was a fetish out of the ordinary compared to other women, so naturally, I had no choice but to check all five items one by one.

First, I checked the contents in order, starting with the first item, 『Masterpiece』.

『Hunter Soo Areum is qualified as a Hunter, but she considers herself closer to her identity as a blacksmith than as a Hunter.

As a blacksmith who is a half-dwarf and possesses the 「Awakened Ability: The Decisive Blow」, Hunter Soo Areum feels deep pride in the weapons and equipment she crafts using her Awakened Ability, and she experiences profound pleasure in the process of completing equipment that has been built over a long period.

Furthermore, Hunter Soo Areum tends to experience a surge in dopamine and libido immediately after finishing her work as a blacksmith, so sharing intimacy around that time can lead to high sexual satisfaction.』

It was the moment I confirmed that, starting from the first item, this was a completely different fetish compared to the women I’d met so far.

Looking at it, I couldn’t help but think that in a sense, it was truly an Awakened Ability befitting Areum.

Whether by intention or because she lived a life without men due to her work, it was impressive in many ways that her own profession was so closely related, even to these lust fetishes.

Somehow, I had a feeling that a few of the remaining items might be even more related to her profession.

While thinking that, this time I checked the detailed information for the second item, my alias, 『Kim Sungchul』.

Through that process, I was able to grasp to some extent exactly what kind of emotions Areum harbored towards me.

『Hunter Soo Areum has romantic feelings for Hunter Kim Sungchul, a sexual fixation that began when she perceived Hunter Kim Sungchul as female.

Initially, Hunter Soo Areum denied being attracted to Hunter Kim Sungchul, whom she believed to be another woman. However, as her feelings deepened over time, she began to doubt them. After seeing Hunter Han Jin-ah and Hunter Han Seon-ah visit her shop with Hunter Kim Sungchul, she recognized her jealousy and finally came to accept her feelings.

Unable to control her feelings, Hunter Soo Areum had intended to soon confess her romantic feelings to Hunter Kim Sungchul, whom she thought was the same gender. However, now that she has realized Hunter Kim Sungchul is a man, she is restraining her feelings again, fearing she might burden him.

Furthermore, Hunter Soo Areum feels deep relief upon realizing that her feelings towards Hunter Kim Sungchul were not homosexual, but rather directed towards the opposite sex.』

…This information is certainly a bit bewildering.

Could it be that while mistaking me for a woman, she secretly nurtured feelings for me behind the scenes, and consequently struggled with her sexual identity?

It was a moment that made me feel apologetic in many ways, knowing I had been interacting with Areum while wearing an identity-concealing mask simply because revealing the truth immediately would have been burdensome.

Moreover, I realized that if I hadn’t revealed my identity right after meeting her today, it wouldn’t have been strange at all to receive a confession from her.

It meant that if the identity-concealing mask had remained, I could have revealed my identity after receiving her confession.

Of course, that mask had already melted away without a trace inside the Three-Headed Basilisk’s head, so the premise itself was meaningless.

Anyway, regardless of how bewildering the content was, the detailed information written in the items themselves was universally good news for me.

It was news that informed me that the feelings of affection Areum had built up since thinking I was a woman were still maintained even after realizing I was a man, and moreover, that she felt relieved by that fact.

It meant that if I set my mind to it, confessing to her and somehow becoming intimate right now was sufficiently possible.

…Of course, I’m merely stating that this is possible; in reality, I had no plans to become intimate in such a reckless manner.

As we have known each other for a long time, I didn’t really want our first experience together to be in such a rushed, hurried manner.

If possible, the best situation would be to make her desire my body on her own, express her feelings towards me even a little, and then have me respond to Areum’s feelings.

While thinking that, I checked the remaining lust fetish items one by one, wondering if there might be something I could use in the process of seducing Areum.

First of all, the 『Muscles』 item merely referred to a fetish concerning literal muscles.

Since it’s a physically demanding job, my muscles are developed to some extent, and her preference is for men with lots of muscles.

At least for me, it was a weapon I could definitely use.

Having trained since elementary school when I decided to become a Hunter, I had a certain amount of confidence in my trained body.

The 『Passion』 item was closely related to Areum’s personality as well.

She possessed such passionate professional ethics that she would personally enter dungeons to conduct demonstration tests for weapons she deemed good, so the content stated she hoped her partner would also be someone passionate in their own field if intimacy were to occur.

This part was also applicable to me.

And Areum already knew well that I was serious about the profession of Hunter.

In the first place, the fact that she initially called me ‘Unniya, Unniya’ and followed me was, if you think about it, closer to a title given out of respect for my passion as a Hunter. So, I could try to steer the conversation advantageously using this point as well.

And what the content of the last item, the one that concerned me the most, 『Cold Water Bath』, was…

『Hunter Soo Areum tends to enjoy the act of soaking her sweat-soaked body in cold water and bathing after finishing work.

Hunter Soo Areum considers the coldness seeping into every inch of her skin, achieved by instantly cooling her body heated from hard labor in cold water, causing her muscles to contract instantly, and washing off the sweat-sticky body, as one of the greatest joys of the day.

Occasionally, on days she creates a work worthy of a masterpiece, when taking a cold water bath, combined with the preceding surge of libido, there are instances where Hunter Soo Areum gains pleasure similar to sexual acts, to the point of sometimes reaching orgasm.』

…Since such items were always included, I couldn’t help but feel strangely guilty every time I used the Lustful Eye.

It was a moment where, feeling like I was peeking into Areum’s private life with such explicit details written, my own face flushed instead.

Furthermore, when looking at the detailed explanation of the Lustful Eye, I inevitably started imagining a naked Areum submerging herself in a bathtub filled with cold water and washing herself.

Even just the mental image of her that came to mind caused my lower body to react slightly and begin hardening.

It wasn’t particularly important content, and I had no choice but to forget it as quickly as possible and suppress it.

While looking at the real Areum before me, I had no choice but to somehow forget the imagined Areum…

-Sway.

“…….”

-Sway, sway.

However, the real Areum too showed considerable skill in shaking my emotions in many ways.

There was no way I could calm down seeing those breasts swaying so openly.

Looking at Areum, who was unable to calm my masculinity in many ways, I seriously pondered how to seduce her for now.

After all, since she has a fetish for muscles, creating a situation where I could naturally touch her body seemed like the best approach to seducing her.

The problem is, how to create such a situation…

-Clang, clang!

“…….”

-Clang, clang!

“…Hoo.”

“…….”

“…Hm?”

While keeping my gaze fixed on Areum, who was still focused on her work, I was agonizing over ways to seduce her in my mind.

After finishing a round of hammering, Areum’s gaze met mine.

“…Uh, Oppa.”

“Huh? Y-yes? Yes?!”

“…Is it fun watching? You’re staring blankly.”

“…Ah, yes. Watching it is quite addictive.”

“Really? Is my hammering that interesting?”

Although Areum’s question, coming out of the blue, flustered me slightly, thanks to still focusing on her, I was able to respond adeptly.

She nodded her head slightly up and down, as if scanning my body, then beckoned me over with her palm facing inward.

“Uh, well then… Don’t you want to try it once, Oppa?”

“……What?”

“Right, since you were watching so intently, I thought maybe you might be interested in making things like this, Oppa.”

“Hmm…”

It was a proposal, asking if I wouldn’t like to try hammering it myself after she’d scanned my body up and down once.

To be honest, it was a proposal that strangely revealed personal ulterior motives.

Especially now that I’ve read about the 『Muscles』 item in Areum’s lust fetishes, even more so.

She must have worked as a blacksmith for at least 20-30 years, so she would know best that even if she entrusted the work to me, a beginner, I wouldn’t be able to make a proper piece.

Therefore, it seems she brought up the excuse of letting me try it once, as a pretext to touch my body directly.

For Areum, it felt like a rather well-thought-out excuse.

And playing along with that obvious ulterior motive was the role I had to play right now.

“If, if you don’t want to, it doesn’t really matter if you just keep watching from there.”

“No, I’ll try it once.”

“R-really?!”

“Yeah. Should I wear that face protector thing too?”

“Ah, yes, yes. I’ll go get them now! A work mask, arm guards, and gloves…”

As soon as I said I’d try, Areum, getting very excited, prepared various work tools for me.

Although her expression wasn’t visible due to the work mask, the desire within her was felt completely, without exception.

It was the moment I vaguely became certain that today, my relationship with her would become one step closer.