episode_0093

As soon as Cain’s party arrived at the inn, they began unpacking.

“Master! I’ll be right back!”

“Mhm.”

Lia left, saying she’d bring Elris back with her.

“Darling.”

“Yeah?”

“Want to feel my chest?”

“?”

In her busty mode, Sophia urged him to touch her chest, tearing into her battlesuit with a small knife—

“……Huh?”

It didn’t tear.

The battlesuit was too durable for an ordinary dagger to pierce.

“Will this work?”

Sophia used a beam sword in the form of a dagger to slash open the chest area.

But.

The moment it tore, it instantly repaired itself.

“……?”

One of the many functions embedded in the battlesuit, this was a standard feature in legendary or mythic-grade items.

Thanks to this ability, the suit could remain intact even after thousands of years.

Sophia exploded in frustration.

“Seriously… How are we supposed to have sex like this?!!”

“That’s the issue?”

“Of course! If I can’t even make a hole, I can’t let you properly touch my chest! Or poke my puy!”

Honestly.

For someone called a saintess, she sure had a vulgar way of speaking.

Or was that just natural?

This was a world where the goddess herself taught people to have lots of sex and give birth to plenty of babies.

Was this really okay?

“Serena, what do you think?”

“As expected of my saintess. That overflowing will to procreate is an excellent attitude.”

I see.

It was the goddess’s fault.

Though she seemed relatively composed around others,

the moment Serena’s saintess was alone with him, she immediately switched to flirting.

All thanks to the goddess’s teachings.

…Or so he thought.

“This won’t do.”

“What won’t?”

“I can’t go on like this!”

Steeling her resolve, Sophia deactivated her battlesuit entirely.

“Woah…”

Loli-Sophia, seen for the first time in a while, stood there as an adorable little girl burning with determination.

“Starting now, I’ll train to maintain busty mode without the battlesuit!”

“Train?”

“Yes!”

“What kind?”

“I’ll keep increasing the percentage while staying in this state!”

Sophia grew slightly.

5% Release.

“Here, continuously expending divine power… Um… Lady Serena!”

“Mm?”

“I’ll replenish you!”

Transforming into 10% Release, Sophia clung to Serena while emitting bursts of divine energy.

“Hah… Hah… Huff… Huff…”

Glistening with sweat, Sophia struggled to maintain even the 10% state before shrinking back down.

“Haaah…”

“Huh… You barely lasted longer than before?”

“Barely?!”

“Yeah.”

“Why?!…”

“Maybe you’ve gotten so used to the battlesuit that your life-force control has dulled?”

“!!!!!!”

Sophia collapsed in shock.

“Uwaaaah…”

But soon, she pulled herself together, reigniting her fighting spirit.

“Practice… Only practice will save me now… If I don’t train… I won’t be able to have sex in busty mode!”

She desperately tried maintaining busty mode without the battlesuit through relentless repetition—

“I’m back!”

Lia had returned.

“Ughh… Cain…”

On Lia’s back was Elris, looking half-dead.

“Elris?!”

“My body hurts… I think I’m dying…”

“What happened?! Attacked by an enemy?!”

“Not that…”

“Then?”

“Wanted to test our new comrade’s strength… We fought seriously… Ended up like this…”

“New comrade?”

“Yeah…”

“Who is it?”

“I’ll introduce…”

From her arms, Elris pulled out a barely alive black cat.

“This is… the Nameless Hero…”

“Nameless Hero?”

“Golden Sun found an ancient shrine where a hero’s soul was slumbering… They bound it to a magical cat doll and brought it back… Don’t know the details…”

“Hmm…”

Something like that existed in Prophecy RPG.

Heroes who resisted the demon invasion to the bitter end.

Though they lost their bodies,

their souls remained, sealed away.

Sealed for so long they forgot even their own names—

yet their will to protect the world endured.

The game had a system where you could awaken such souls by binding them to constructs like magical puppets.

But.

Their performance was near garbage.

They were losers who fell to the demons,

and their stats were severely depleted over time.

The strongest among them barely scraped B-rank,

most languishing at C or D-rank—practically useless.

…Well,

back then, I was solely focused on saving Marianne.

Ancient heroes who wouldn’t help in that mission? Not worth researching.

‘They weren’t easy to find either.’

Most were sealed deep within demon territory,

hidden in forgotten shrines.

A pain to locate.

So I didn’t know much.

But—

“Did you win?”

“A draw…”

“A draw?!”

“Yeah… Ended up killing each other…”

“……”

Never expected a hero this strong to exist.

On par with Elris.

Practically S-rank.

Which piqued my interest.

“Hm… No name, right?”

“No…”

“Any name you’d prefer to be called?”

“Not really…”

“Then…”

After a moment’s thought—

“Since you’re a black cat, how about Blackie?”

“Blackie?”

“A temporary nickname until you remember your real name.”

Though an ancient amnesiac hero,

there were cases of them regaining memories.

Recalling their names,

even reclaiming sealed powers.

Not that they were ever useful anyway.

Regardless.

The point was—names could return.

Hence, a placeholder.

A disposable nickname until something better came along.

…That was the explanation.

“Alright… Until I remember my name, I’ll go by Blackie…”

Fortunately, the cat didn’t dislike Blackie.

Good.

Time to name the next one.

“Serena.”

“Hm?”

“From now on, you’re Snowy.”

“Why me?!”

“Can’t exactly shout Serena in public.”

Hadn’t been an issue before.

Only called her Serena in private,

and her recognition was low.

But now—things had changed.

Goddess of Light Serena announced the existence of the Hero’s Party,

revealing that its leader, Hero Lia, was her biological daughter.

Recognition skyrocketed.

Not everyone knew yet,

but soon, rumors would spread until everyone recognized them.

So.

Time for caution.

No telling when info brokers might eavesdrop.

“So from now on, you’re Snowy.”

“Isn’t that too dog-like?”

“You are a dog right now.”

“……”

Serena glared silently—

Tap!

He pulled out a dog bowl.

Tap-tap-tap!

Filled it with chocolate cereal.

Instantly,

Serena wagged her tail and sprinted over.

“Choco balls!”

Munch-munch-munch.

Her head buried in the bowl, she devoured the cereal happily.

“Still think you’re not acting like a dog?”

“Eek… That’s…”

“Hm?”

“I-I’m not a dog!…”

“Then you don’t need this?”

He took the bowl away.

Immediately,

Serena tugged at his pants.

“From now on, I’m Snowy! Give it back!”

“Oh? Snowy deserves it then.”

He returned the bowl.

Serena, ecstatic, resumed eating.

Welp.

Looked exactly like a dog scarfing kibble.

‘How is this a goddess?’

At first, she ate like a human.

But at some point,

forks and spoons became ‘too hard,’ switching to a dog bowl.

At this rate, maybe being a dog suited her best?

…But voicing that seemed unwise.

‘She bites if I say it.’

Those puppy-like teeth hurt.

So he teased just enough before stopping.

“Lady Serena?…”

“Hmm?”

“That’s…”

“You’ll find this way easier once you get used to it!”

“……”

“Wanna try it now?”

“Try it?…

“Cain.”

“Yeah.”

He pulled out another bowl, filling it with cereal.

“Here. Don’t be shy.”

“……”

Blackie, still new to being a cat, clung to human dignity.

“It’s really good!”

“R-Really?…”

“Even better with milk!”

He added milk.

“Milk is…”

Blackie seemed traumatized by milk but—

“This is a whole new world compared to what you’ve had before.”

“……”

Unable to refuse Serena’s insistence,

the cat obediently buried its face in the bowl.

And then—

A new world unfolded.

“Whoaa…”

“Good, right?”

“So tasty! Milk can taste like this?!… Wow…”

Blackie happily ate the cereal and even finished the milk.

Yep.

That’s the good stuff.

In a world of plain milk, chocolate milk was revolutionary.

…Watching this unfold—

‘Wait…’

That cat was supposed to be a fearsome hero strong enough to tie with Elris.

Was it okay to treat it like a pet?

‘Hmm…’

Then again, the goddess was being treated like one too.

No reason heroes couldn’t join the club.

So he brushed it over casually.