Chapter 49
.
After finishing the mana charging with Nam Dowon.
I immediately fled into the bathroom.
Yes. I hadn't gone into the bathroom to wash up, nor had I walked there; I'd literally run away.
He seemed to want to keep going and do a little more with me….
But my body's condition was far too embarrassing for that.
"……."
Did I really almost come just now?
I swallowed the afterglow lingering like an ember, my lower back still shivering.
…It was exactly like the descriptions I'd read in erotic novels.
That it felt so good that, in the end, your mind went completely blank.
I'd skimmed over it because the expression seemed too simple and stupid, but it was true.
I'd never felt this good when masturbating alone.
So that's why Master is so promiscuous….
"…No, even so, that's not it. Yeah."
I take that back.
Aside from having learned exactly how pleasurable sex is, Master is simply promiscuous.
Having drawn that line clearly, I belatedly picked up the showerhead.
Since I'd come into the bathroom, there ought to be sounds of washing.
This way, Nam Dowon won't suspect anything.
I really am a genius!
"Phew…."
Anyway.
To sum up my first mana charging with Nam Dowon in one word, umm….
Still, I did learn something from it?
I think that's probably the most appropriate way to put it.
The sex I'd recoiled from for all sorts of reasons until now was, surprisingly, quite bearable, just as Nam Dowon had said.
It hadn't been completely painless, but perhaps because he was gentle, it was pain I could endure well enough.
And after the pain…, well, I started to feel something like pleasure, little by little.
To be completely honest, it had gone beyond being merely bearable—I was even a little interested.
That says it all, considering I'd never felt that way before, yet I sometimes pinched my nipples firmly before going to sleep.
And to sum up this second mana charging in one word,
"……."
…I want to try it again later.
I think that's probably the most appropriate way to put it…?
*****
After finishing a quick shower following Neria, who had washed first, I came out to find that she'd already returned to her usual NEET self and was muttering to herself.
"If this much mana comes from one round of sex, I could freely waterboard someone for about three years……."
"……."
Actually, it seemed less like she was muttering to herself and more like she was deliberately mumbling for someone to hear.
Anyway, I moved away while drying my still-damp hair with a towel.
It was frightening to think my head might be swallowed by a huge fish tank, unlikely as that was.
Well, even so, the only place I could flee to was the mere few pyeong of this apartment.
In the end, my feet stopped in front of the dining table where Neria and I always ate lunch.
I pulled out a chair with a scrape, sat down, and caught my breath.
…Could I still not do it 'several times' with Neria?
All while pointlessly worrying about my penis, whose sexual urge still hadn't faded.
"Phew…."
I hadn't heard anything about a limit to how much mana could be charged in a day, so doing it several times would probably increase the rate of mana charging proportionally.
So I'd been planning to try a slightly different position with Neria this time… That must have been about an hour ago.
But perhaps Neria was satisfied with just once; she merely panted and said, 'I'm going to wash first.'
…Looking back now, it did feel a bit like she'd scurried away.
In any case, as a civil servant, all I could say in response was, 'Understood, Lady Neria.'
With my desires urging me on, I couldn't very well blurt out something like, 'Would it be all right if we did it just three more times?' I couldn't help feeling self-conscious.
"Nam Dowon. Why are you running away?"
"Ah, Lady Neria."
That mindset is the same even now.
A civil servant constantly walking on eggshells around an apprentice witch.
Therefore, when Neria followed me out of the bedroom, I tactfully and hurriedly pulled out the chair directly in front of me for her.
…It was quite a close seat, since it was right beside me rather than across from me, as when we ate.
When Neria sat down without complaint, a pleasant scent gently drifted over.
It was exactly the same shampoo scent I'd smelled while showering earlier.
"I didn't run away. It's just more comfortable here."
"Liar. You got scared when I mentioned waterboarding, didn't you? Didn't you? You ran off with only your clothes in your arms."
"……."
"Pfft. Your reaction is fucking hilarious…."
Neria giggled with both hands pressed firmly between her thighs.
I didn't think it was worth laughing that hard over.
She'd been unusually cheerful today, and she lightly tapped my shin with the tip of her foot.
It hurt a little, to be honest.
"I, Lady Neria, will graciously admit this much. Sex is more pleasurable than I expected."
"…I see. That's good to hear."
"Even though I can't help being embarrassed still…. I think it's worth researching. Yeah."
"……."
"Not to mention that it feels good, fills me with mana, and doubles as exercise…."
"…I think you'd be much better off taking a walk every day for exercise."
Hadn't she admitted that last time, too?
I spent a moment searching my hazy memory. Well, maybe it didn't matter.
It was certainly better that she'd admitted it twice rather than only once.
As I stood there wearing a bureaucratic smile with a wet towel in my hand, Neria continued.
"So, about that!"
Her voice suddenly grew a little louder.
"…How exactly do you come?"
"……?"
"Come! I mean, um, orgasm…? Reach climax…?"
"…Ah, climax."
And it was a question that was quite difficult for me to answer.
"You can probably reach it naturally if you keep feeling good for long enough, Lady Neria."
"I-Is that it? But I didn't come earlier."
"No, you did climax bit by bit. Didn't I mention it in the middle? When that happens, the tightness changes from normal, so a man can tell right away."
"……I don't particularly remember that happening, but that's not important, so let's move on."
"…Yes. Let's pretend it didn't happen."
"You know what I mentioned earlier when we were having sex. In porn, women tremble all over and come, you know?"
"Um…, that…."
If Lady Neria would just tell me exactly what had felt good to her, I thought I could probably make it happen right now.
I quickly swallowed the words that nearly slipped out, then adjusted my explanation to Neria's rather basic level of understanding.
"If we're honest with each other, you'll be able to experience it soon enough."
"…But I'm honest."
"……."
"Wh-why? I just told you honestly, didn't I? That sex feels better than I expected."
"……."
"Then it's not my problem, so it must be yours, Nam Dowon. Hmm."
…I should have dumbed it down even further before saying that.
As I watched Neria's eyebrows, raised triumphantly as if she'd won our argument, I felt like sarira were accumulating in real time.
Even the joke that sarira are actually semen feels like something I could take her side on right now.
Still, it was a good thing that Neria was being so proactive about sexual matters.
Meeting the pale-blue gaze she fixed on me, I answered.
"Understood. Then I'll be honest first."
Her embarrassment hadn't been resolved yet, but this should dilute it enough.
With that cunning thought in mind,
"…When we're having sex, I wish I could kiss Lady Neria to my heart's content. That's all."
"……."
"……."
"……."
I hadn't expected the silence to last this long.
"…Lady Neria?"
"…Uh, yeah, so. You wanted to kiss me. Mm-hmm."
"I tried to do that during our first mana charging too, but Lady Neria scolded me for it, remember? You said kissing was still embarrassing."
"I-I never scolded you! I did it with my finger, at least…!"
"You did. So I was going to hold back until you gave me permission…, but you told me to be honest, so I tried telling you."
"……."
Her eyebrows, which had been so triumphant just moments ago, had now lost their confidence as if she were embarrassed.
Likewise, the eyes that had been fixed on my face now merely darted about, avoiding the exact center.
"Isn't there anything you'd like to tell me as honestly as I did? For example, that you'd like me to do this or that."
Wanting to seem as though I were approaching Neria just a little,
I pulled my chair closer, and Neria, who had hunched her shoulders once, looked at me again and parted her lips.
"I-I'm sure there is if I look. It's not that there isn't. But before that…. It would be better to answer what you said you wanted…."
Then she lightly traced those lips with one finger,
tapped them lightly with the back of her hand,
pressed them gently with a fingernail,
and flicked them slowly.
After leaving behind traces of hesitation characteristic of Neria, she finally said a single thing.
"…We've already had sex. So a kiss is… I suppose that's fine. Yeah."
"……."
"…You can do it next time…if you ask permission…."
Despite still being unable to meet my eyes,
she sprang up from her chair and blurted out her answer.
"I-if you're fully dressed, hurry up and go…! How long are you going to stay here?!"
"…Ah, I'm sorry. It is getting quite late."
"What if you oversleep again and show up late? I won't let it slide next time…. Tch…."
But I still hadn't heard Lady Neria be honest with me.
Before I could make that retort, hearing the word 'oversleep' suddenly brought back what had happened on the subway that morning.
A witch named—or perhaps surnamed—Kihased had taken my phone number.
I wondered if Neria might know something about her, but….
"Hurry up…! I'm going to play games now…!"
If Kihased really had something to do with a witch, it would be strange for me to know about it in the first place.
And I'd be the one in trouble if Neria got angry and asked whether I'd already started building a harem with another apprentice witch, having only just been granted permission to kiss her.
"You've worked hard today, Lady Neria."
"……Hmph."
Leaving aside Team Leader, who mustn't let our tryst be discovered,
and Neria, who might pout if I met another apprentice witch,
that left only one witch.
…I guess there isn't any witch I can ask other than Lady Erzel,
after all.