episode_0077

*

A week has already passed since Elena left.

During that week, Mora Village underwent many changes.

Lucia tried to cling to me even more actively than before.

Thanks to that, we always had to go together, whether I was going on an exploration or she was going hunting.

I cautioned her to restrain her reckless sexual impulses and tried to distance myself, but I couldn’t help but nod at her words that she was anxious that something might happen to the Priest when she wasn’t watching.

Of course, as I had feared, her impulses, once ignited, seethed without ceasing.

I had to steal away from the eyes of others and kiss her several times to soothe her impulses.

Lucia clearly wanted more intimate contact than that, but after kissing me and having me stroke her hair a few times, she would quickly blush and be satisfied.

Sola didn’t seem to have undergone any major changes on the surface.

However, after learning that the devil residing in her body was constantly chattering in her head, I could definitely feel a difference if I observed her closely.

Thanks to Sola’s always energetic demeanor, others didn’t seem to notice, but I could tell that she was becoming slightly darker and quieter day by day.

I made every effort to calm the devil, such as praying with Sola every day and channeling divine power into her body, but it wasn’t very effective.

If the devil outright possessed Sola’s body and crawled out, I could at least beat it up and drive it away, but since it was hiding inside Sola’s body and wouldn’t come out, there was nothing I could do.

If I were to perform a solemn exorcism ritual with the correct procedure and attire, it would be effective even against a devil hidden inside a human, but that was impossible now because I didn’t have the necessary tools and couldn’t get permission from the Bishop.

Sola tried to smile and show me that she was doing well, but I could clearly see that the corners of her lips were drooping lower each day.

Anna… has changed quite a bit.

Her face is the same, and her actions haven’t changed much, but her atmosphere has changed so drastically that she feels like a completely different person than before.

How should I put it… she’s become a bit more feminine.

Not the shy and demure femininity, but the kind of seductive feminine atmosphere that seems like it would steal a man’s soul.

Her breasts and hips, which are more prominent than before when she walks, and the front of her top, which she boldly loosens to cool off the sweat from hammering metal.

Also, when she lifts the bottom of her thin top to wipe away sweat, her firm abs and large breasts are clearly visible.

And when our eyes happen to meet, Anna doesn’t avoid my gaze or quickly lower her clothes, but rather winks at me suggestively and waves the lifted top back and forth.

Every time that happens, I feel my heart beating fast and all the blood in my body rushing down to my lower body.

At first, I thought it was simply because I had belatedly become aware of my own sexual desires and could no longer see her as I used to.

Thanks to that, I don’t know how many repentance prayers I offered.

But, it seems that Anna’s lewd behavior was her intention.

She didn’t follow me around as much as Lucia did, but she always clung to my body whenever we met.

That day when the Monastery was destroyed.

Anna declared to me that she would seduce me more overtly in the future, and it seems that the time for that declaration to take effect has come.

Why now of all times?

I’m already experiencing the limits of my endurance with just Lucia’s seduction…

Perhaps, she has noticed that Lucia and I are walking a tightrope on the edge of a cliff.

However, I can’t avoid Anna, who is in charge of doing most of the work to maintain this village, so I embarrassingly have to try to hide my erection for a significant amount of time.

I haven’t spoken to Kunat for several days.

The vulgar joke she made last time completely exhausted my patience.

Kunat arrogantly declared, ‘In fact, now that you’ve already learned the pleasures of the flesh, I can easily corrupt you.’

When I scoffed and asked how she could possibly do that, Kunat moved her fingers grotesquely and said,

“Hey, did you know that men can also reach climax through their nipples?”

I squeezed Kunat’s face for the first time in a while and haven’t spoken to her since.

Kunat apologized several times, but I had no intention of listening to her.

It wouldn’t be bad to gain some peace of mind during this opportunity.

Paolo, who had removed his bandages, was in charge of finishing the bathhouse that Sola was building.

In fact, Sola had already finished most of the major work, so it wasn’t a very difficult task.

It was just a matter of moving some of the stones to decorate the inside of the bathhouse.

You might think, why make him move heavy stones when his body isn’t even fully recovered yet, but to be exact, it was because Paolo couldn’t do anything other than manual labor.

He had no education and no abilities.

He didn’t even know how to read.

I couldn’t help but think that the only way for such an incompetent person to survive in this ruined world was to belong to a group.

However, thanks to that, Paolo adapted to group life better than I thought.

Whether he realized his place in the hierarchy or not, the disrespectful attitude he showed me last time completely disappeared, and he treated me with a friendly attitude.

He’s still a bit awkward with the nuns, but he still greets them and gets along with them.

When I first rescued Paolo, I had hoped that he might become someone’s partner among the nuns, but now I’m the one who interacts with him the most.

I guess I’ve always been a little tense because I’ve been living with only girls around me, but it’s true that there are some comfortable aspects when I’m with a man.

In the first place, he’s not very smart, so the logic of power that prevails in the world of men worked well for him.

Elena who left, Paolo who newly settled down,

The village was being colored with new scenery along with new people.

Now that we’ve completely entered winter, the leaves of the branches have begun to fall one by one, and the fishy sea breeze penetrates into my clothes like a sharp blade.

At this rate, we will be able to get through our first winter after the apocalypse smoothly.

Even though monsters appear, many people die, and the world eventually perishes, we are proving every day that we can maintain a peaceful daily life.

However, the traces of destruction and the empty ruins created by monsters throughout the village still remain like scars, constantly reminding us of the current situation of this era.

*

After finishing morning prayer with Sola, I slowly came out of the Cathedral and strolled around the village.

Then, in one corner of the village center, I saw Paolo sitting on a bench, groaning.

In his hand was the crossbow that he had borrowed last time.

The pulley for winding the string by turning the gears was broken, and he was trying to fix it somehow.

I slowly approached Paolo and said.

“Paolo, what are you doing?”

“Ah, Priest. Good morning.”

His tone was noticeably more polite compared to before.

In fact, he had a conflict with me once during this week.

After bumping into Sola, who was running around, and falling over, I stopped him when he started hurling all sorts of harsh words at Sola, but he couldn’t control his temper and suddenly threw a punch at me.

Of course, it was just a minor scuffle that ended when I grabbed his shoulder and pressed down a little.

Since then, he has become surprisingly polite.

“Agh, shit. It’s really not working.”

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to correct even that vulgar attitude…

Well, he’s been living like that his whole life, so that temper won’t change easily.

Even in my case, even though it was a distant childhood when I made a living by pickpocketing in back alleys, I never managed to acquire the same level of refinement as ordinary Priests.

It’s not like I can’t understand Paolo.

“The crossbow… the pulley handle was broken.”

Paolo frowned and said.

“Not just the handle, but this damn pulley itself is broken. It’s covered in too much blood and dust, so it won’t even turn.”

“Ah… no matter how convenient machines are, there are many things to take care of. You have to oil them, and they break down surprisingly easily.”

“Well, what can you do? We can’t fight those monsters with just human strength.”

“…”

Are the humans who survived outside using these kinds of mechanical devices to protect themselves?

If so, that means there may be quite a few people who survived without borrowing the power of devils.

I asked him cautiously with a hint of hope.

“Are there many weapons like this outside?”

“Not common.”

“I see. Who makes these things?”

“I don’t know. Some leisurely blacksmith probably made it. We killed and took… no, I mean… we got it by chance…”

“Huh…”

“… Haha, shit.”

Paolo squeezed his eyes shut and spat out a curse word.

He seemed to think I was going to scold him.

However, I shook my head and said in a low voice.

“You don’t have to explain to me what happened outside. However, if possible, it would be good to offer a repentance prayer later.”

“… Yes.”

“If you don’t feel like it because you’re not a believer, you don’t have to. I’ll pray for you instead.”

“Wow, that’s, thanks.”

I could feel discomfort in Paolo’s lukewarm tone.

It seemed that being scolded by a religious person itself was very annoying.

Perhaps, whether he prayed or not, he clearly didn’t care much.

Paolo sighed once while looking at the crossbow he had been fiddling with for a while, then looked up at me and said.

“If you’re interested, would you like to take this, Priest?”

“Hmm? Can I?”

“Anyway, shit, it’s just luggage if I have it. Whatever.”

He threw the crossbow down next to the bench as if discarding it.

I silently picked up the crossbow and pulled the string.

The steel string was slowly pulled.

“It definitely feels stiffer than before.”

“… No, what the fuck, how do you do that?”

“It’s easier if you have calluses on your hands.”

“No, it’s true that my hands hurt so I can’t pull it, but in the first place, it just doesn’t pull…”

“Hmm…”

I slung the crossbow over my shoulder, prayed with one hand, and said to Paolo.

“I’ll use it well.”

“Yeah, well… it doesn’t matter to me, but even if the string is pulled, there are no bolts anyway, so even if you try to use it…”

“Still, it’s a means of fighting monsters, so I have to do something.”

“Huh,”

Paolo slowly got up from the bench and dusted off the dirt and grease accumulated on his knees.

“Do as you please. I’m done wrestling with that junk.”

He said that and trudged slowly towards the bathhouse.

I hummed a little as Paolo walked a little further away.

It was an unexpected windfall.

I was already wondering how I could get him to give me the crossbow, but to think that I could get it so easily.

Certainly, as he said, the pulley is broken and there are no bolts.

But, we had Anna.

The daughter of the best blacksmith in the Monastery, and the one who was famous as the beautiful blacksmith of that blacksmith shop.

“If it’s Anna, she’ll be able to do something.”

I ran to the blacksmith shop on the outskirts of the village in one breath.

Sure enough,

Anna was sitting a little away from the blacksmith shop furnace, which had been lit early in the morning, quietly warming her body.

I waved to her as I approached.

“Anna. Good morning.”

“Ah, Priest… Good morning.”

Anna smiled as soon as she saw me and said.

“What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“I have something to ask.”

Anna blushed and nodded slowly, answering.

“Um… I’m not wearing underwear today. My laundry hasn’t dried yet…”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden…”

“Isn’t that what you were curious about?”

“No.”

“You’ve been looking at my butt a lot lately… so I thought.”

“…”

“Do you… want to see it directly?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“I’m okay with it too…”

“Anna…”

Anna changed the subject playfully with a smile.

“Let’s see… did you come because of that crossbow in your hand?”

“Yeah. That’s right. You recognized it right away.”

“Just a moment… before I touch that crossbow, first… can you help me with something?”

Anna sat so that her back was facing me.

Then, she slowly raised both hands and gathered her hair at the back of her head.

“Please help me tie my hair.”

“Me? How?”

“Like this… just hold my hair.”

I approached Anna and carefully grabbed the strands of hair she had gathered.

Below the raised hair, her thin, white neck revealed a beautifully sloping curve.

As I tightened the hair so she could tie it easily, Anna bit her lip slightly and muttered slowly.

“Ah… ah!”

“Huh? Sorry! Did it hurt?”

“Ah, no… it’s okay… rather…”

Anna muttered seductively with a hissing sound.

“It feels good to have my hair pulled.”

“Anna,”

“Huhu, it’s not a strange thing to say… it’s just that your hands are so masculine and big. I feel reassured, I should say.”

Anna smiled slightly and tied her hair tightly with a rope.

As I gently let go of her hair, she slowly turned her head and looked up at me slightly.

Unlike when she let her hair down long, when she had an adult charm, Anna, who had her hair tied up, exuded a youthful and fresh healthiness.

Damn it.

If I let my guard down, something terrible might happen between my legs.