Chapter 12
Pain, and pain, and more pain.
Aria could clearly feel the slime invading her vulva.
It wasn't an exaggeration: the slime filled her vagina and anus, making it impossible not to feel it.
Her stomach churned and roiled.
When the slime suddenly moved roughly, a breathy sound escaped Aria's lips.
“Hic, hic, hick.”
The sensation was like someone gripping her insides with both hands and shaking them wildly; she couldn't think straight.
It would have been better to lose consciousness, but Aria's mind, awakened by holy arts, was far too clear.
Though she struggled again and again against the extreme pain, the slime held her tightly and wouldn't let go.
Penetration while she was utterly restrained.
Aria could only endure the pain in silence.
“Hngh!”
A near-death scream rang out, like a deer whose breath was being snuffed out by a lion biting its nape.
The slime squirmed its way through her vagina, reaching her cervix.
“Ah, ah.”
The moment it reached her cervix, the slime forced its way inside.
Crack, crack.
As the slime pounded against her uterus, Aria felt a sharp, piercing pain.
The place meant to shelter a child was being ruthlessly violated by an intruder.
“Hh, ngh.”
Aria endured, with a clear mind, as the slime rampaged through her uterus as if it owned the place.
Even surgery without anesthetic might have hurt less.
“Haaaaah.”
It was no longer a proper scream.
Meanwhile, the slime wasn't satisfied with her vagina and anus.
Deciding it needed somewhere more comfortable, it moved toward Aria's open mouth.
Because of the foreign sensation in her belly, she didn't notice the slime approaching her mouth.
“Urrgh.”
The slick, slimy substance forced its way past her lips, tasting bitter and sour like vinegar.
Once inside her mouth, the slime immediately blocked her airway.
Unable to breathe, she struggled in agony, but her resistance was futile.
Her strength gradually drained away.
Her vision darkened.
No matter how much holy arts kept her mind alert, they couldn't prevent her consciousness from fading when her brain was deprived of oxygen.
‘Kill me.’
She would rather die.
If she stayed alive, wouldn't she have to go through this terrible ordeal again and again?
As Aria's mind grew hazy, she heard the door open with a clatter.
She couldn't make out who had entered before losing consciousness.
* * *
After returning from her memory, Aria's heart pounded of its own accord.
It was a terrifying memory, no matter how often she recalled it.
Afterward, she had to have the slime removed from her uterus and large intestine.
That process had been extremely painful, too.
The slime had fought tooth and nail, refusing to leave the home it had found.
It was so awful she thought her uterus or intestines might be pulled out with it.
Whenever she thought about what happened back then, she still felt as if traces of the slime remained inside her uterus.
Aria shook her head and pointed with her index finger at the slime encased in blue-green ice.
“……Mr. Ashtein, is that slime dead?”
“It's only hibernating because the temperature dropped. Touch it, and it'll start moving again.”
At Ashtein's words that it was still alive, she couldn't hide her disappointment.
“……It's a shame. I was going to kick it if it was dead.”
Aria's low voice seemed steeped in deep resentment.
Had she been badly mistreated by a slime? Ashtein shrugged.
“If you want to kick it, then kick it.”
“I don't like it. It's scary while it's alive.”
Ever since that ordeal, Aria had been traumatized by slimes.
It was as if an instinctive fear had been etched into her mind, the way people instinctively shrink from a sharp blade.
Ashtein, unaware of her circumstances, tilted his head.
“……You're scared of that thing?”
Aria gave him a rare, fierce glare.
If a squirrel got angry, it might look exactly like that.
“Is it strange to be scared?”
“Can't you use holy arts to remove a slime's acid?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Then what are you scared of?”
Without its potent ‘acid,’ a slime was little more than a satisfying punching bag.
Even if a slime managed to restrain her, it wouldn't be a problem.
All she had to do was break the core inside its body with her perfectly good arms.
Once its core was destroyed, the slime would lose cohesion and be unable to keep its shape.
Even a weak woman like Aria could easily break a slime's core.
Back then, however, her arms had been restrained, leaving her at the slime's mercy.
“I-it's a trauma.”
As if she didn't want to talk about it, Aria turned away.
Ashtein noticed that her body was trembling slightly.
It didn't seem like she was simply lying.
Well, that was certainly an unusual trauma.
He kept quiet and continued up Mount Asendio with Aria clinging tightly to his back.
How many dozen minutes had passed since they started climbing?
Ashtein lowered Aria to the ground and spoke in a low voice.
“Aria.”
“Y-yes?”
“You're in the way.”
It was abrupt, but undeniably true.
Aria lowered her head apologetically.
“……I'm sorry I can't be of any help.”
Ashtein scratched his head roughly and frowned.
“No, you're in the way of the fight.”
“Pardon?”
“We're surrounded.”
Since when?
A large number of monsters had taken up positions nearby.
Their bright red eyes were fixed on Ashtein and Aria.
The blatant hostility made Aria shrink back.
“……This is…”
“This area has a lot of monsters, so I expected something like this might happen if we wandered around.”
So he'd known and come here anyway?
Well, the whole reason he had come here was to kill more monsters.
Aria swallowed dryly.
Even so, there were far too many.
At a glance, there were easily dozens of monsters.
“……Mr. Ashtein, isn't this dangerous?”
Ashtein scoffed.
“Dangerous?”
The ‘Hero’ wore a confident expression.
“Just watch from here.”
He drew the sword at his waist.
His stance was elegant, graceful, and utterly free of wasted movement.
How many times must he have practiced to display such seasoned skill?
“I'm more than just a Hero in name.”
As he took a step forward with his sword drawn, the restless monsters all stopped at once.
As if they had all fallen under an illusion together.
Vmmm, vmmm.
A pure white radiance gathered around the sword in Ashtein's hand.
His presence had changed completely.
What followed was nothing but a one-sided slaughter.
The sight made Aria's eyes narrow instinctively, and she looked away.
Though she averted her eyes, the sounds remained vivid.
Crunch.
Slash.
Swish.
Suddenly, silence fell.
It hadn't taken the Hero long to slaughter the monsters surrounding them.
Ten minutes at most, perhaps.
Thud, thud.
At the sound of footsteps, she looked up and saw the Hero, Ashtein, covered in blood from head to toe.
Needless to say, it was the monsters' blood.
His cold eyes looked down at Aria.
“Hmm, you didn't watch?”
“I-it was too, too cruel. I-I'm sor—”
“Don't apologize.”
He wiped the blood from his face with his forearm, then held out a hand to her.
Aria stared blankly at the blood-covered hand.
“……Mr. Ashtein?”
“You don't think that's all for today, do you?”
“……What do you mean?”
“I'm going to hunt a lot of monsters today.”
And what was she supposed to do about that?
She couldn't be of any help anyway.
“So get on. You're way too slow on foot.”
“Y-you can see for yourself. I'm completely useless.”
Her true feelings slipped out before she could stop them.
The Hero seemed to find those feeble words so amusing that he made a show of holding back laughter.
“Why are you useless? You said you were a walking medical kit. Was that a lie?”
“I'm confident in my healing. But…… I can't imagine you getting hurt, Mr. Ashtein. If that's the case, then I thought I might be completely useless……”
She'd only seen him briefly, but Ashtein's movements had been swift, precise, and powerful.
Even within the cult, one could count on one hand the people with martial prowess like his.
He truly had the skill befitting a ‘Hero.’
Him getting hurt?
Aria couldn't easily imagine it.
Ashtein gave her a mischievous smile.
“I'm human, too. I get hurt sometimes. You're here for when that happens.”
“……That's true, but…”
“And since when does a medical kit get to choose who it treats? It just gets used.”
“……”
He poked Aria's nose a few times while she stood there dazed.
As a result, monster blood smeared across her nose.
The rank smell of blood brushed her nostrils.
Ashtein asked again.
“You coming?”
“……I am. Of course I'm coming.”
Aria stood up.
Ashtein offered his back as though it were second nature.
Why did that broad back look so reassuring?
She didn't want to admit it.
She didn't want to face the fact that she was relying on a man she'd known for less than a week.
So she deliberately spoke curtly.
“…You smell strongly of blood.”
“Don't like your ride, Saintess?”
At that, Aria replied softly.
Very softly.
“………I do. I like it.”
Ashtein didn't hear her.