Chapter 39
The fact I learned last night while spending time with Livnil and listening to her lecture on sex.
The truth was that she had never actually had sex.
Her skillful explanations, plausible stories, and convincing gestures had fooled me completely.
But what she taught me had sounded quite plausible from a man's perspective.
Even though I was a woman now and was learning it to use directly myself,
I could still imagine it.
If Livnil did what she had told me about while riding me….
Yes, it certainly seemed like it would feel good, so I nodded along.
Was a real woman simply different, or were Livnil's fantasies just too lewd?
That was why I worked hard to solve her problem as well.
At first, the idea of spending the night with her had been a little burdensome.
Although we'd become acquainted, she was still a woman with whom I was somewhat distant.
The clothes she had deliberately worn for the occasion left her practically naked.
Depending on the angle, I could see her most private areas, and we were especially close.
Did I still have a man's curiosity about women?
Being intimate with another woman was definitely different from dealing with myself.
Back when we lived in the village, I had played and bathed with the girls.
But we had all been children then, and as we grew up, the men took every one of them away….
In any case, it was a fresh experience.
What would I have been like if I had never met Claude and had no experience with men at all?
Although now, with the instincts of a female Wolpi, I could see nothing but men,
I probably would have liked women too.
I hoped the woman who had given me this experience would be happy.
It might look like an unhygienic act from a human perspective,
but I gave her our Wolpi remedy.
“If you keep wearing those panties, Griff may react. Please be careful.”
“React…? In what way?”
“He'll probably get an erection and may want to hold you, Livnil.”
“Really…? That's scary. If he pounces on me, would it be better to accept him?”
It would certainly be safe after about a week, but I urged her to wait at least two days.
Livnil looked worried, but nodded.
Of course, if I left Livnil all alone with Griff, there would definitely be an accident.
It was practically certain. To prevent that, I met Griff behind Livnil's back….
“This is a personal matter concerning Livnil. Please don't tell her, but you should know.”
“I-is that really…? Was Livnil going that far?”
I learned about their circumstances and how Livnil had been getting by.
I summarized everything for Griff.
“She still has feelings for you, so please rest assured.”
I also gave him one warning.
“You'll become quite aroused when you're with Livnil.”
“It's no different from usual, so you don't need to worry, Miss Aris.”
I shook my head. He mustn't underestimate a Wolpi's strength.
I told him that even if he wanted to pounce on her, he had to hold back for at least a week.
I left the matter of those two to them and continued exploring the dungeon.
What appeared before us was a gigantic door.
But there was no visible mechanism for opening it.
“There are passages leading left and right.”
“The passages are divided down the middle by thin walls….”
The large, square room had a huge door in the center and passages leading off to both sides.
Each of the two passages was divided by a thin wall.
“Are we supposed to split into four?”
“We might be able to open the door if we enter each passage.”
But we weren't arranged to split into four groups.
One wrong move could get us killed.
“The thin wall seems suspicious, so I'll take a look.”
Claude stepped forward and stood in the middle of the passage on the right.
He touched his staff to the thin wall dividing the passage.
“A river flowing along the wall.”
Clear water sprang from his staff along with a flash of light and shot along the thin wall.
“I don't know how deep it goes, but if the path is blocked, the water should come back along the outer wall.”
If the water continued moving along the thin wall and the path was blocked,
the stream should loop around along the wall and come back out.
While we waited, Claude's gaze slowly turned toward the door.
Then he looked toward the passage on the left and moved over there.
“Are you going to try the left side too?”
“No. It will come out here….”
Shhhhhh—
The stream Claude had sent into the right passage traveled along the thin wall on the left side and reached the central room.
It soaked our feet, then his magic disappeared.
“The left and right passages seem to be connected.”
“So~ that means we should split into two teams and go in, right?”
“That's correct.”
We didn't know what might be inside, but we had to enter if we wanted to open the door.
“We can divide the teams easily. I can use simple healing magic.”
Claude proposed that he and I form one team,
while Livnil, Griff, and Chris formed the other.
It was certainly a sensible formation, divided into a healer, a vanguard, and a rear guard.
“Hee~ Mr. Claude, you don't have some ulterior motive in mind, do you?”
“That isn't… it. This formation is the most efficient.”
“Hahaha~! Then let's do that. Now, Griff? Don't hold us back; follow properly.”
“What are you talking about? If you keep loitering in front of me, you'll get an arrow in the back of your head.”
The two bickered, while Chris, who was familiar with the sight, laughed as well.
“Considering the speed of the magic we just used, it should take about ten hours if we walk slowly without stopping.”
Claude suggested that our goal should be to make it out safely by tomorrow.
“A whole day~? Hehe, Miss Aris, you'll have a hard time.”
“I'm fine. I'll do anything for my master.”
I exchanged a look with her and nodded, prompting Claude, who was standing beside us, to speak.
“What? You keep taking things in a strange direction. That's not it. Ahem. Aris, you too.”
He was cute when he got flustered. Should I tease him a little?
I wondered if this was something a slave should do to her master, but, eh, whatever.
“You're…not going to do it?”
“Ugh, you're teasing me, right? Right, Aris?”
“Of course not. What slave would tease her master?”
Saying that, I ran ahead and jumped into the passage on the right of the thin wall.
I peeked out and urged him to hurry.
“Master! Come on!”
“Hmm. Then everyone, be careful. Safety comes first.”
◇
I ended up walking through the long, endless corridor with Claude.
Large dungeon rooms appeared occasionally along the way, lit by torches set at intervals.
We passed minor traps and sometimes encountered goblins in places overgrown with forest.
“A mushroom pig?”
Had it been about five hours?
We found a mushroom pig in the forest.
It was a pathetic monster with no real attacking ability, but it provided quite delicious meat.
“Hehe… Meat! Meat!”
“You found something good. Do you want to eat it?”
“Yes! I'll catch it!”
The only problem was that it was remarkably fast for a pig.
If I chased it, I would eventually catch it, but it would probably turn into a contest of endurance.
Well, I would catch it in the end.
“Grrrrrrrr…!”
I put the greatsword into Claude's void inventory and charged off empty-handed.
“Come here!”
Of course, it wasn't one to be caught so easily, and it fled between the trees.
As we chased it, we reached the outskirts of the dungeon room.
In other words, although it was a huge forest, we had driven it against the dungeon wall.
“Hahaha! You have nowhere to go! Surrender quietly!”
“Squeee… squeee… squeee!”
It made a cute sound, but since it was delicious, I couldn't help myself.
But as it fled along the wall, it crawled into a broken gap somewhere.
“Huh? Wait! Where are you going?”
How had that fat body managed to squeeze into such a tiny gap?
What would I find if I went in there?
[Aris. Are you all right? We've gotten too far apart.]
[I-I'm fine. I'll just go inside the wall for a moment!]
I conveyed the situation to Claude through telepathy.
“Where, where?”
I put my head through the gap first and went inside.
But my chest caught, and then my butt hit the edge and got stuck, leaving me flustered.
“Aah! There's no way that pig is thinner than me!”
I had no idea how flexible I'd been, but with a series of grunts, I crawled inside as hard as I could.
Then a wide-open space suddenly appeared.
This also seemed to be a dungeon room overgrown with forest.
“Squeee…!”
I spotted the pig I had been chasing in the distance, but…?
It was frozen in place.
A tremendous boom rang out, but I hurried over and grabbed the pig.
“You little punk! Got you!”
I twisted the pig's neck and finished it off.
Where did you think you were going, trying to run all the way to the end?
But there was something huge… a lump of rock standing beside me…?
“Finishing blow!”
Paaaang—!
The body of what looked like a golem shattered.
And something sprang out from inside it.
“Kahahahaha!”
Pieces of the golem came tumbling down as dust billowed up.
The golem and the person who had destroyed it collapsed together.
“You really smashed it to pieces!”
“Is the golem's core all right? Hey!”
I slung the pig over my shoulder and slowly walked toward the hole I had entered through.
“Hmm? Wait, I smell something familiar.”
“Ah, it really is.”
“I could never forget this scent. It's that bitch, isn't it?”
What should I do…?
Of all people, it had to be them—the pack of Wolpis I had encountered while waiting in line to register.
Why was I running into them again here?
They caught my scent and found me immediately.
“What the hell? Why are you here carrying a delicious pig, too?”
“Kheugh… What an enticing scent. Just how tasty could this bitch be…?”
“Be careful. That male must be nearby.”
“I can't smell anything. That guy isn't here.”
Wolpis don't recklessly attack when they know that a female belongs to a powerful male.
So I had been a little relieved, but they really did gather information through scent.
If the male was away, of course the female would become a target.
“Miss, were we too rough last time? Come play with us.”
“What are you doing here? Why did you come here after catching a pig?”
“Did you bring it for us? Hahaha, I'm touched!”
“Where's that male? Did you kill him? Well, could a mere mage beat a Wolpi?”
What should I do? The others were too fast for me to escape while carrying the pig.
They had already surrounded me.
But I didn't want to abandon the pig. It was so delicious!
“Grrrrrrrr…!”
“Whoa, you're still wary.”
“Naturally. A healthy female's healthy growl! Nothing gets me harder than that!”
“But wait. This bitch was subdued by a mage, wasn't she? Is she all right?”
At one Wolpi's question, the ones approaching me hesitated for a moment.
Being subdued by a mage certainly meant that I was weaker than that mage.
In other words, I wasn't the strong and beautiful female they thought I was.
“Who knows… The scent is incredibly arousing, though. What is this?”
“There's no way a Wolpi could be subdued by a mage, much less a human mage!”
“A mage is only strong in magic. Do you think their body is strong too?”
It seemed I had found a loophole in their doubts.
“What are you talking… about! My master is far stronger than trash like you!”
But something entirely different came out of my mouth.
As a female, nothing could demean me more than insulting the male who had subdued me.
Was rational judgment simply impossible for me?
Instinctively, I expressed my resistance to the testosterone they were giving off.
“Grrrrrrrr…!”
“Kheh-heh? You've gotten much fiercer than before.”
“Ah! Fuck, you're exactly my type. Weak or not, I'm going to fuck you.”
One of them approached me and said,
“You got subdued by a mere mage. Put those teeth away unless you want to be beaten to death.”
“Have you said your piece?”
With the pig slung over my left arm, I extended my right hand and bared my claws.
“Kahahaha! I'll eat you before that male gets here!”
Sniff, sniff. Sniff, sniff. Sniffing the air, he charged at me.
There was nothing here that would cause trouble for my companions.
If they attacked me, they would simply pay the price.
“Kaaang!”
“Kyarrrrrrrk!”
The first one to charge at me was completely exposed.
That was how much he had underestimated me.
I swung the pig I was carrying. Wham—!
Caught off guard by the sudden pig attack, he took the blow head-on.
When the one I'd struck on the head doubled over, I charged in and kicked him in the stomach.
“Kraaagh!”
He went flying into the distance.
Then the other Wolpis watching began to raise their tails and laugh.
“Kheh-heh-heh…!”
“Nice! Very nice!”
“You idiot. You actually got hit by that?”
The ones who had underestimated me began moving more cautiously.
They seemed to be instinctively calculating how strong I was.
They were clearly powerful Gold-rank individuals who had entered a new dungeon.
I was confident in a fight, but I must never forget one thing.
They were males. The difference in physical ability was absolute.
I absolutely couldn't meet them head-on with strength alone.
Like when I had crushed that mercenary unit… I had to use my head.
I moved on instinct.
Nothing was more difficult than fighting while thinking.
I had to make use of my strengths as a human. I was strong. I could survive this too.
“Kraaagh! That fucking hurts!”
“You idiot. Get up!”
“Kheh-heh….”
There was one piece of bad news.
The one I had attacked also began getting up, enduring the pain.
There were still four of them.
They charged at me.