episode_0053

“Then I’ll visit often!”

Ariel, leaving behind various foods and snacks as gifts for us, led Rai, who had her head bowed deeply, back to the village.

Killua and I waved them goodbye, and as soon as they disappeared beyond the forest, we looked at each other without a word.

“How should we understand this situation?”

“Yeah, well… First, problem solved. Wouldn’t you say it’s a happy ending?”

Thanks to Ariel’s unexpected initiative and hidden aggressive personality, all the problems were resolved in an absurd way.

“They say people who specialize in fire magic are usually hot-blooded… but I’ve never seen such an extreme case.”

As magic is described as the power of the soul, there were properties that suited the caster’s personality.

I heard that hot-blooded people like Ariel found it easier to manifest fire-attribute magic, while conversely, calm or cautious people found it easier to manifest water or ice-attribute magic.

“With such good compatibility in personality… isn’t Ariel actually a formidable mage?”

With such an extreme personality, she would have excellent compatibility with fire-attribute magic.

In fact, when I was caught by the giant slime, the fire-attribute magic Ariel created in my hand contained immense destructive power, even to my shallow magical knowledge.

“Well… maybe?”

Killua shrugged her shoulders as if she wasn’t particularly interested in Ariel’s strength.

“In the end, things were resolved well… Once your body is detoxified, we should prepare to leave.”

Thanks to Ariel, Rai’s problem was also well resolved, so as Killua said, once my body was detoxified, we just needed to go down to the village, pack our belongings, and begin our journey to find the fragments.

“By the way… Ariel figured out Killua-nim’s true identity.”

Looking at the departing backs of Ariel and Rai, I informed Killua of the most important fact.

But Killua didn’t seem surprised, as if she had already expected as much, and simply nodded her head slightly in response.

“Of course. My magic, contained in the pendant, flowed into her body… and she saw the Pure Magic you and I use.”

Killua’s magic contained in the pendant contained partial, subtle traces of her memories and experiences.

Thanks to that, I too could grasp the subtle memories and experiences of Ariel contained within the magic she transferred to me, allowing me to awkwardly mimic her Pure Magic.

Unlike me, who only had Killua’s magic flowing in my body for a short time, Ariel, who had Killua’s magic flowing in her body for nearly five years, would have easily discerned her true identity.

“And the Empress officially announced that Killua-nim died four years ago.”

I then shared the important information I heard from Ariel with her.

“She probably released a fake double resembling me and killed them. There’s no event that would solidify the Empress’s position as much as my death.”

The fact that the White Mage was infamous among nobles and royalty was a fact even a passing dog knew well.

Through stories of the Empress’s orders or directives, or her knight order capturing the White Mage, the Empress would have solidified the trust and faith of the nobles and royalty who supported her.

“The person who became the double must be pitiful.”

To ensure solid support, the person who became Killua’s double probably met the most horrific, dreadful, and miserable death in the world.

“But Ariel told you that?”

Killua, who had been listening to my story for a moment, tilted her head slightly as if a question had arisen, looking at me as she asked.

“Yes. She told me everything without hiding the fact that she had figured out Killua-nim’s identity.”

At my answer, Killua nodded her head very slowly, as if there was something suspicious.

“What should we do with Ariel?”

Ariel, who knew Killua’s true identity, was a very dangerous variable.

For now, she was clearly on our side, so she kept her mouth shut… but if our relationship were to twist, she might immediately run to the Empress and expose Killua’s existence.

“Leave her be. If she was honest enough to tell you without hiding the fact that she knows my identity… she doesn’t seem like the type to run to the Empress like a money-grubbing tattletale.”

“Right… I suppose so?”

Considering Ariel’s actions and personality that I just witnessed, she was at least a person with a strong sense of loyalty who repaid favors.

Seeing how thoroughly she punished Rai, her childhood friend and fiancé who betrayed us, it seemed unlikely she would betray us first unless there was a major incident.

“By the way… what did you talk about with Rai?”

Once things were settled, my curiosity about the conversation she had with Rai naturally surfaced.

“I heard a messy, tear-filled apology. And being weak to tears, I healed Rai and forgave him. That’s all~”

At my question, Killua summarized the story and events with Rai simply, as if it wasn’t a special secret.

“I know it’s not my place to say this… but Rai truly ended up in a pathetic state.”

Recalling Rai’s current situation, as she described it, I gave a bitter smile.

He betrayed Killua, who could have been his future spouse, to save Ariel, his childhood friend and lifesaver…

But as a result of his terrible actions, even Ariel, who he helped, seemed to despise him.

He had several opportunities, but he couldn’t trust the opportunities that came his way and made the worst choice, ultimately gaining nothing and losing everything except the villagers.

“You gain nothing by betraying others. Even if you do, it’s just a mirage that quickly disappears.”

I’ve seen many people betray others for selfish desires or momentary gain.

A very small minority succeeded, but the vast majority ended up suffering a fate that fit the saying “reaping what you sow.”

Killua slowly nodded, as if agreeing with me.

“Alright~ So, with the Rai problem neatly resolved… time for exercise!”

Killua, as if to lighten the heavy atmosphere, forcefully slapped my waist as I stared blankly at the forest where Rai and Ariel had left.

“Ahaha. Understood.”

To avoid becoming as stout as a hero and to detoxify the slime poison remaining in my body, I grabbed a logging axe as Killua suggested and headed for the woodpile.

———————————————-

The monotonous days, which always seemed peaceful and ordinary, underwent a great change due to a small incident.

“Ooh… Looks like the exercise is working? You seem a bit firmer than before?”

It was early morning, as usual. The moment I woke up, it was time for Killua’s massage, her face full of mischievous smiles as if she had been waiting for this moment.

Killua, her hands emanating warm heat, kneaded my chest, which was drenched in medicinal ointment, playfully teasing me as always.

“I’m glad the exercise seems to be working.”

But I wasn’t always swayed by her playful jokes.

It had been seven days since I started receiving her massages. I had long since grown accustomed to her soft touch and mischievous teasing.

“Ahem… you already know this part is definitely firm too… right?”

As I accepted her mischievous joke without much reaction, Killua subtly moved her hips from side to side, with our crotches pressed together.

“Ugh… please stop playing around like that.”

There were several obstacles: my outer clothes, underwear, and a blanket, but each time she moved her hips, I could feel the unique soft sensation and warm heat even more clearly.

“Now you’re so brazen you don’t even try to hold back or hide how hard you are.”

“Because I’ve realized such efforts are meaningless.”

It wasn’t just a simple reaction to stimulation.

This space, where only she and I were present, the distinct faint apple-like scent of her body, and this posture and action that allowed for strange fantasies.

In such a situation, only a saint who had reached nirvana or a poor soul with broken sexual function would be able to calm their desires and find inner peace.

Honestly, from the moment she entered the room with the medicinal herbs, greeted me with an eye-smile, blood had been pooling in my member.

“It’s no fun when you’re so obedient…”

Perhaps she wanted to see my struggling face as I tried to suppress my desires.

As I accepted the situation and didn’t resist, Killua looked at me with a slightly disappointed, sulky expression.

Then, as if a good idea had struck her, she gave her characteristic mischievous eye-smile.

“Um… Killua-nim? Just in case, I’m asking… what are you thinking right now?”

Having been by her side for a long time, I instinctively knew that her peculiar eye-smile was not good news.

The very fact that such an eye-smile was directed at me was the most unsettling sign.

“Oh~ I’m just curious about Jazel’s patience.”

Killua, who had rubbed my chest until almost all the medicinal ointment was absorbed, placed her hands on my shoulders to support her upper body, not yet sprinkling the remaining ointment from the bowl onto my chest.

Then, she gazed at my face as if deep in thought, then mischievously curled up the corners of her lips and slowly began to move her hips.

“Ugh?!”

Killua began to move her hips up and down, as if caressing my member with her crotch.

Unlike the playful side-to-side movements, the up-and-down motions intensely stimulated my member, as if she were foreplaying.

The intense stimulation, enough to make my hips instinctively twitch, and the situation of pseudo-sexual activity with Killua, the White Witch, caused my sexual arousal to surge so much that my head swam.

“Ahahaha~ Your expression. It’s truly hilarious!”

Was my distorted expression, where I bit my lip and swallowed my groans to suppress the sudden surge of sexual sensation, amusing to her?

Killua burst into laughter upon seeing my facial expression, as if she wanted this reaction, and continued her calm and persistent hip movements, as if pressing me further.

“Ki… Killua-nim… this is a bit dangerous…”

As my sexual arousal became uncontrollable, I tried to grab her hips to stop Killua’s movements, which were pushing me to the brink.

But the moment I tried to grab her hips, I remembered her punishment that had burned my wrists, so I couldn’t bring myself to touch her body, and instead, in a breathless, desperate voice, I conveyed my urgent state to her.

“Wow… really? Just this much?”

Killua, who had paused her hip movements at my urgent voice, pressed her crotch against mine, as if to confirm the truth of my words, which were about to burst like an overinflated balloon.

My member, swollen with blood like a bomb on the verge of exploding, was pulsating more strongly than usual.

“Ahahaha… It’s true. It looks like it’s about to burst with a *pop* if I just touch it a little, doesn’t it?”

Killua burst into laughter, seemingly amused by the violent throbbing and wriggling of my member beneath her crotch.

“Ugh… Ahhh…”

But just as Killua was feeling the movements and shape of my member through her pressed crotch… I, too, was vaguely feeling the shape and sensation of her intimate area pressed against me.

I distinctly felt the thick flesh of the thin fissure pressing against my member, and its heat.

And faintly, I could also feel the excited throbbing of her small heart, beating just as violently as mine.

“……”

Her playful laughter slowly subsided, and a strangely awkward and tense silence enveloped us both.