Chapter 52
Fortunately, the Hero wasn't seriously hurt.
One of that monster's traits was its ability to absorb and use the poison from the swamp it inhabited, and the poison here was closer to a mild aphrodisiac with narcotic properties.
So the Hero's groans weren't from pain, but from another problem.
I used Clean magic to remove the poison covering the Hero's body, and Cecilia immediately used a Purification miracle to dispel its effects.
Fortunately, the clothes that had been melting before my eyes stopped halfway thanks to my Clean magic.
The Hero, whose complexion looked better than before, turned to look at me.
“Lumia.. Are you okay?”
“...”
He should have been worrying about himself first..
I could hardly believe it—he'd crossed that great distance in an instant and taken the poison for me.. Thanks to him, I hadn't been poisoned.
Yet, no matter that he was the Hero, shielding me this time had been far too reckless.
Anyone soaked in an aphrodisiac this potent would inevitably be in pain.
We should have captured the Demon King's army and completed the quest today, but with the Hero like this, it would be difficult to continue any further.
“...”
The Hero's health mattered more than the quest.
He really was going to be okay, right..?
I examined the Hero's body from head to toe with a worried expression.
His upper garment had melted away completely, while his trousers were riddled with holes.
...
As expected of the Hero, his body looked incredibly solid.
As I looked over his finely developed muscles, I suddenly felt ashamed of myself.
The Hero was suffering this much after saving me, while I was looking at his body and thinking things like that..
I shook my head.
For now.. I took off my robe without a second thought and draped it over the Hero's body.
I normally wore it because I felt oddly bare without it, so it was fortunate that it could be useful now.
Just as I finished covering him with the robe and was sighing in relief, my gaze suddenly fixed on one spot.
As expected.. it had gotten bigger..
It had grown so large that it looked as though it might burst through the front of his pants at any moment.
Of course, the fabric probably wasn't so weak that it would tear, but perhaps because the poison had melted it, the situation looked a little dangerous.
Nor was that all. It must have been exceptionally large, because it stood so rigidly erect that it would hardly be surprising if he felt pain rather than mere discomfort.
“Sorry! I dispelled the poison's effects, but there's nothing I can do about the lust that's already boiling over. That's not something a miracle can fix..”
Cecilia said, looking apologetic.
This wasn't her fault.
It was remarkable enough that she'd dispelled the aphrodisiac's effects at all.
When the Hero asked what he should do now, Cecilia hesitated as though it was difficult to answer, then spoke.
“W-we need to relieve your lust as much as possible. So..”
Cecilia looked as though she found it difficult to say more.
That was only natural.
She was a treasure of the Holy Kingdom, worthy of being called its precious jewel, so they'd probably been exceptionally careful in teaching her.
Naturally, she wouldn't know much about men or sex.
In fact, even in the game, Cecilia was passive about sexual relations unless the Hero took the lead.
Cecilia's limited sexual knowledge was what made me realize that she and Ruril couldn't have been the ones who'd put something like that in the drawer.
Of course, she wasn't completely ignorant.
She'd merely been taught that it was somewhat different from what other people did.. a more sacred and beautiful act, but one too embarrassing to discuss.
“Hoo..”
The Hero let out a deep sigh as though he were holding something back.
For him right now, simply having us in front of him must have been incredibly painful.
As I watched the rigid bulge at the front of his trousers, I swallowed hard. It looked as though it might tear through the melted fabric and spring out.
Ruril, who had been looking down at the Hero for a moment, suddenly spoke with a serious expression.
“Hmm.. He doesn't seem able to move his body..?”
“Oh.. Was my purification insufficient?”
“Hoo.. Hoo.. If I move my body.. I think I'll lose my reason.. Ngh.. I'm using the holy sword's power..”
“Ah..”
Only then could I see that the holy sword was giving off light.
I'd been so focused on the Hero's suffering that I hadn't checked properly.
Yes, it was only natural.
The aphrodisiac that had just covered the Hero's body was a poison with effects so tremendous that it could be called a narcotic.
An ordinary man would have lost control and pounced on us long ago, but the Hero was enduring through sheer willpower.
He'd even used the holy sword's power to lock his own body in place in case he attacked us, so it was hard to imagine how much he was suffering..
Because of me..
“I'm sorry, everyone.. Let's go back today.. And, um.. could you let me be alone in the room..?”
Would being left alone in the room really solve anything?
Cecilia said that the narcotic properties were harmful to the body, but the effects of the aphrodisiac—or lust drug—weren't necessarily harmful.
She added that, since the miracle only cleansed harmful elements, it likely hadn't activated properly.
Come to think of it, I felt as though I'd seen wording like that somewhere.
It was an erotic game, after all; if the Saint could remove every erotic element from it, it wouldn't qualify as one..
One such element was the aphrodisiac effect.
She could remove only the narcotic element, not the drug's efficacy itself.
That was the Saint's chronic flaw—or perhaps the developers' personal interest showing.
If I locked him alone in the room and he just masturbated to deal with that explosive lust.. would that really solve anything..?
I didn't know either.
As someone from the modern world, how often could I, as a man, have encountered an aphrodisiac?
The only aphrodisiacs I knew were the ones commonly found in games, novels, and manga.
Then what should I do..?
...
...
Right..
I.. would be the one to do it.
I swallowed hard once again.
We couldn't give up after coming this far.
If we gave up and went back today, they might realize that we'd been there and relocate.
Reality was different from the game.
The Demon King's army could think, too. If they moved somewhere else out of concern that their location had been discovered, things would become quite troublesome.
We had to finish this today.
And for that, the Hero's power was absolutely necessary.
Without the Hero, even if we found the Demon King's location, it would be impossible to drive them out.
Let's try.
I would close my eyes tight and give it a try.
It was something I'd have to do someday anyway, so I should think of today as practice.
Before I ended up in this body, I'd touched a man's private parts plenty of times, so I knew exactly which areas were sensitive.
I used telepathy.
- I'll help you.
“Huh..?”
The Hero looked flustered at my words.
He clearly hadn't expected me to volunteer to help.
He couldn't even move his body, so he wouldn't be able to relieve himself here, and even if we went back to the inn, it wouldn't be easy for him to take care of it alone.
Since he had ended up like this because of me, it was only right for me to step in. I thought that as I moved forward, but Cecilia and Ruril blocked my way.
- I understand that you want to complete the quest, Lumia, but you can't do that right now.
- Let's go back today for now.. Wouldn't it be better to come out again once the Hero's condition improves?
Using a pen and paper they'd taken from inside their robes, Cecilia and Ruril wrote something down and held the paper out to me.
I looked down at the paper and put a hand to my forehead as my head began to ache.
“...”
Since I'd used telepathy only with the Hero, Cecilia and Ruril seemed to have interpreted my approach to him in a different way.
Right.. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't help wondering what kind of insane thing I'd said.
I'd told a man covered in an aphrodisiac with effects potent enough to drive an ordinary person mad—and even narcotic properties—that I would satisfy his urges.
If the Hero had been in his right mind, or if he hadn't restrained his body with the holy sword, it would have been no wonder if he'd pounced on me immediately.
The Hero now seemed barely capable of maintaining his reason. Even a Hero who had achieved complete mental maturity could only barely hold on to his sanity; if I had been the one covered in that poison..
I shuddered just imagining it.
I might have sent him a telepathic message asking him to rub his lower body or chest against me and impregnate me, or I might have frantically pleasured myself right there without caring who was around.
I bit my lip.
Right, in any case, he was the Hero who had fully released the holy sword.
Even if the Demon King's army didn't grow weaker, as long as the Hero's power remained intact, he would be more than capable of handling them.
More important than anything was the Hero's health and safety.
For now, we needed to return to the inn as Cecilia and Ruril suggested and figure out how to handle the Hero.
I frowned and nodded.