Proof

It wasn’t very difficult to grasp the true meaning of Minerva’s words. I stopped.

Anyway, Minerva had her arms tightly wrapped around my shoulders and neck, pressing her chest firmly against my back, so I couldn’t move. The refreshing lemon scent that continuously wafted was a bonus.

Her intention in saying such things was obvious, and if I were to answer ‘I know,’ the situation that would unfold afterward was even more obvious.

“Was that too sudden a question, child?”

“Why are you doing this, when you already know?”

“Then, I shall give you some options so the child can answer a little more easily.”

Her right hand extended forward. I saw fingers that looked incredibly soft, with no calluses whatsoever, and long nails meticulously painted with black nail polish.

Minerva, who had spread her right hand to show me her palm, brought her lips to my ear and began to whisper softly.

“First. You answer that you know.”

With those words, her thumb folded. It was an utterly absurd option, one that completely revealed Minerva’s true intentions.

“Second. You answer that you know.”

Her index finger folded. I spoke, filled with exasperation.

“The first option and the second option are the same, aren’t they?”

“Aren’t the words different?”

“……”

“Third. You naturally answer that you know.”

This time, her middle finger folded. The remaining pinky and ring finger stood straight up vertically. Was it even possible for a human body to extend only the ring and pinky fingers vertically while the other three were folded?

I was so dumbfounded that my gaze couldn’t help but go in that direction.

“Fourth. You answer that you are ready to immediately tell me the location of the ancient scrolls.”

“Isn’t that an option with a too-obvious intention?”

“Hehe, is that so?”

Minerva, as if barely listening to my words, gently wiggled her pinky finger, which remained unfolded.

“Fifth. You answer that you cannot tell me right now.”

The last finger folded. Her hand gently formed a fist.

“Does this make it a little easier to answer? Now, choose, child. Which number is it?”

“I feel like you’re asking the question under the premise that I definitely know.”

“Oh? If it felt that way, I apologize. Instead, I’ll add one more option. Sixth. You answer that you don’t know. How about that?”

Minerva smiled sweetly and tickled my cheek with her finger. The sixth option was given, but it seemed to have little meaning.

“What happens if I choose number 6?”

“It’s a shame, but I’d have to say it’s the correct answer.”

“Then what about number 5?”

“After saying it’s the correct answer, a small bonus point will be given.”

“I guess I don’t even need to ask about number 4. After saying it’s the correct answer, a huge bonus point is given, right?”

“You know well. If you wish to receive the bonus points personally bestowed by the Eternal Mage, feel free to choose it.”

I didn’t particularly want to ask about numbers 1 to 3. It was obvious what the answer would be.

“Could you also tell me what happens if bonus points are given?”

Instead of answering my question, Minerva bit my left earlobe with her lips, *ang*. My body reflexively flinched at that strange, peculiar sensation.

Feeling my flinch, Minerva pursed her lips and began to mouth my ear. She lightly sucked on my earlobe, gently bit it with her lips, and her tongue flickered. A *jjeup-jjeup* sound was heard right near my ear.

Minerva, who had been mouthing my earlobe for a while, pulled her lips away and whispered in a sweet voice.

“Doesn’t the child know too?”

“……”

I held my tongue. Yes, I could guess. If finding the ancient scrolls meant mixing our bodies, Minerva would surely welcome it with open arms and legs.

The problem was what came after that.

‘I’m not ready yet.’

To be precise, I wasn’t ready to handle the aftermath.

I naturally had to take responsibility for Rije, and I’d vaguely ended up in such a relationship with the Pope sisters, so I’d have to take responsibility for them too. And now, with Kaikilia suddenly showing possessiveness towards me, Minerva was joining in?

What would happen after that was as clear as day. Until I grew enough to handle that situation, it was definitely right to draw a line.

Of course, the feelings Kaikilia and Minerva held might not be the kind that could be called love, like Rije’s and the Pope sisters’, but precisely because of that, I absolutely shouldn’t cross the line with Minerva.

“If you don’t like this, how about we make a deal? Anything I can do is possible.”

As I remained silent, she proposed a deal this time. It seemed she recalled the deal where she would help me find the Crystal Scroll in exchange for helping the Wingless Nightmare.

This, at least, made me quite conflicted. The Eternal Mage, no less, was saying that anything could be put on the table as a condition for the deal. It was certainly a very attractive option.

That is, if I had the confidence to handle Minerva after finding everything she wanted.

Just finding one Crystal Scroll led to this level, so if I brought her all the remaining scrolls, it was hard to even imagine what would happen afterward.

“You’re contemplating, child.”

Perhaps realizing that I was hesitating unlike before, Minerva pressed her body closer. She seemed to regard this situation as an opportunity. The soft, swelling sensation from behind my back grew even stronger.

“If you’re truly conflicted, how about trying this?”

“……”

Having exited the magic tower with teleportation magic, I gazed down blankly at the ring clutched in my left hand. A ring made of platinum, set with a silvery-white gem the size of a fingernail.

It was a ring symbolizing Minerva, and a proof that Minerva would take responsibility for all my actions within the Empire on my behalf.

To put it extremely, even if I killed someone while wearing this, the sin would be directed at Minerva instead of me.

‘Though I have no intention of doing that whatsoever.’

Minerva also had a look of certainty that I wasn’t someone who would commit crimes indiscriminately. That’s probably why she could just offer something like this.

What was even scarier was that she said, with a smile, that she could easily cover up things like murder on her own, so I didn’t need to worry.

According to her, this was a type of ‘bribe.’ A bribe to consider her proposal positively later. It was separate from the deal Minerva had offered.

It meant to try out her power once, and if I liked it, to demand something bigger.

‘I shouldn’t let Kaikilia find out.’

Even if what I received from the Popes could be overlooked, the fact that I received a token from Minerva would not be simply overlooked.

As I was now, I had no means to restrain Kaikilia, so I absolutely couldn’t let her find out.

A foolish thought suddenly crossed my mind: wouldn’t Kaikilia also be endlessly weak in bed, just like Rije and the Popes? But I quickly changed my mind.

This isn’t some world where it’s all about fucking, nor is it a world full of 19+ modes, so subjugating women in bed with my dick? That’s just nonsense.

Thinking such thoughts, I opened the door to the room I was staying in, and saw Rije sitting on the bed. Rije smiled sweetly at me.

“You’re here now? You’re late.”

“Yeah. I had some things to do.”

I casually walked past Rije to pack my bags, but then suddenly felt something strange and turned my head.

“……Rije, why are you here?”

“Why am I here? Because of you, of course.”

“Me? What about me?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know that?”

Rije sprang up from the bed and strode towards me. Then she pulled me towards the bed. I docilely allowed myself to be pulled by the wrist.

Rije, who had pulled me right in front of the bed, lay down first, looking up, then pulled my arm, making me look down at her in a position as if I were covering her from above. I placed my hand beside Rije’s face.

“Didn’t I tell you to have one last intense fuck before I went back to you?”

“……Did you really mean to do that? Not just joking to send me off with a smile?”

“You thought it was a joke?”

Her blue pupils widened. I tried hard to avoid her gaze.

“If cobwebs grow in my pussy because of you, are you going to take responsibility? There’s no one else to remove them but you, you know?”

It was a choice of words that always made my head spin, but since it was indeed my fault for misunderstanding, I pressed my lips against hers instead of making excuses. Rije, as if she had been waiting, wrapped her arms around my neck.

In that state, we exchanged breaths with our lips pressed together, making *jjeubeup-jjeubeup* sounds for a while, then briefly parted our lips. Rije’s eyes were already slightly unfocused from just that.

I opened my mouth with a voice full of mischief.

“But I already said I’d be back around evening. Should we stop here since I need to pack now?”

Rije’s pupils narrowed, then she pinched my side. It wasn’t a pinch to hurt me, but rather meant that she knew it was a joke and to just keep kissing.

Smiling, I pressed my lips against hers again. I pushed my tongue inside. Rije docilely accepted my tongue.

As our tongues, which had been intertwined for a long time, parted, Rije, with hazy eyes, panted and spoke in fragments.

“……You can just go, tomorrow morning.”

“You want me to leave them standing outside from this evening until tomorrow morning? I’ll be thoroughly marked on my very first day as Knight Commander.”

“Anyway, this one will also be standing from this evening until tomorrow morning, right? It’s the same thing, you know.”

Rije deliberately mimicked my words and pointed at my swollen lower half. I chuckled lightly and slipped my hand between her dolphin shorts.

In the end, we truly only managed to come out the next morning. We spent most of our time in the bathroom trying not to leave any traces, so our skin, at least, was perfectly smooth and dry.

As it turned out, Rije had already coordinated with the other three Knight Commanders long ago. She had asked them to inform Aurora and the knights under my command that the assembly time had changed.

The reason she hid that fact until the end was, she said, because she wanted me to unleash the sense of immorality that came from having the knights standing outside while I was getting my dick hard, all on her.

I, with a slight sense of revenge, firmly kneaded the buttocks of this utterly mischievous female knight. Rije was startled, then her body trembled, and she grumbled, telling me to stop because she was getting wet again.

Aurora was looking at us with subtle eyes.