Chapter 43
Why had she come along?
She knew.
Even if they completed the journey to Akhraba, Tarmin wouldn't be able to save her.
It had been decided before they set out.
Judged by the odds, the journey had been doomed to fail before it began.
If so, knowing that she would disappoint him terribly someday, why had she chosen to follow him instead of telling him it was pointless?
To make him lose heart?
To enjoy a little satisfaction by pretending she was on a pilgrimage?
Or because she wanted to be with him?
Or...
Her head was too hot for her to think clearly.
In any case, it wasn't something to do while being kissed.
**
Tarmin, consumed by desire, was pressing his body against hers.
He gripped Enya's shoulders and gently pressed her down.
Lewd sounds echoed faintly through the spacious lodging.
“Ah, chuup… smack, Tarmin, mmph…”
Enya struggled to push against his chest, bracing herself with all her strength.
If she pushed him away hard, he would have no choice but to stop, but her resistance was too feeble and petulant to count.
Instead, he felt his heart swell at the sight.
It was like the instinct of a beast chasing its fleeing prey.
Enya's actions were no different from begging him to hunt her down, and Tarmin was happy to oblige.
He caught her arms as she pushed him away and pressed his lips against hers.
He'd never asked outright, but from experience, he knew Enya was weak to deep kisses.
He entwined his tongue with hers as it struggled to escape, sucking hard.
“Ah… chuup…”
Like an animal caught in a trap, strength slowly drained from Enya's body.
Her upper body tilted bit by bit, until at last she collapsed onto the sheet.
As she lowered her head, Tarmin moved his legs and climbed on top of her.
The arm around her waist slid up her side and seized her breast.
“Hnnng…!”
With her mouth occupied, she couldn't make much noise.
Her large, soft breasts conveyed their softness even through several layers of clothing.
He undid the buttons of her coat and slipped his hand inside.
“Haa—!?”
Enya's eyes flew wide open, and her hips jerked.
She struggled to get away, but pinned beneath him, all she managed was a feeble wriggle.
Her thrashing gradually stopped, and Tarmin savored Enya at his leisure, like tasting a dish set before him.
He enjoyed the softness filling his hand.
After a while, Tarmin ended the greedy kiss and raised his head with a long exhale.
“Hoo.”
When their lips parted, a sticky strand of saliva stretched between them like a spiderweb.
Enya, her face flushed and her limbs slack, stared blankly at the stretching strand of saliva.
The front of her coat was undone, and her carelessly parted lips glistened.
The instant Tarmin saw her lips glistening with saliva, his eyes rolled back again.
As Tarmin pressed himself against her once more, Enya came to her senses and struggled to push against his chest.
She pleaded with him.
“C-Calm down!”
“I'm sorry, Enya. I can't hold back anymore.”
Enya shivered, then blushed and scolded Tarmin.
“T-Tarmin! You… you did it the night before we left, didn't you? It's only been a few days. Are you some kind of pervert?”
The erotic encounter in Enya's bathroom.
The old Tarmin would've been embarrassed, but the Tarmin now couldn't see anything else.
If he had to find a cause, he could even argue that Enya was to blame for having such a lewd body.
But Tarmin readily apologized.
“Sorry, I guess I really am a pervert, like you said.”
“H-Huh?”
“Sorry for making you ride in the same carriage as a pervert.”
Instead of wasting time talking, he admitted he was a pervert and pressed himself against her.
As their stomachs touched, Enya caught her breath and stretched out her arms, desperately pushing his chest away.
“N-No! Someone might see—”
As if anyone would go so far as to kick them out for that, but Enya kept trying to push him away while checking the entrance.
Tarmin bit his lip.
It frustrated him that Enya wasn't focused on him, but he couldn't argue with her.
He was starting to regret rushing off to Akhraba first thing in the morning.
If he'd known it would be this agonizing, he should've left later.
No, more than that, had Tarmin needed to come along at all?
Enya's enemies might not even be much of a threat.
Couldn't the Hero solve everything by flashing the Holy Sword, without him having to get involved?
It was just then, while he was lost in such unworthy thoughts.
Enya, pinned beneath him, spoke softly.
“If it's hard for you because of me, then… I can… help you instead.”
“What?”
Help him?
That phrase he'd heard before?
When Tarmin looked at her in surprise, Enya struggled to push him away and sat up.
She readjusted her clothes, which he'd undone, and shyly twisted her body.
Avoiding Tarmin's gaze, Enya said,
“I'll help you. Like last time.”
The meaning of the words ‘help you’ between them.
**
The first thing Enya did was establish a justification for her actions.
“They said it'll be a few more days in the carriage before we reach Akhraba. If you keep coming on to me, Taal, the whole time, there's a greater chance we'll get caught, and if we do, it'll be so embarrassing we'll want to die. So you could say this is for accident prevention. Got it, Taal?”
“Yeah.”
“Besides, the caravan merchants were good at driving carriages, but terrible with crossbows. If centaurs show up again, it could be dangerous if you're not at your best. Are you listening?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Come to think of it, you definitely deserve credit for driving off the centaurs this morning. Since you did well, think of this as, well, a reward for your trial or something… Listen to me!”
She finally shouted at the hunter, who was barely listening as he knelt and undid the drawstring of his pants.
As Enya realized her mistake and glanced toward the entrance, Tarmin grabbed his waistband and sat back down, flustered.
“N-No, I am listening. I really am.”
“If you're listening, why are you taking your pants off? What did I just say?”
Tarmin immediately put on a blank, stupid expression.
“Uh, that I did a good job?”
…
She glared at her friend, who had turned into a complete idiot.
Tarmin didn't know what to do with himself.
Men were creatures who became unbelievably stupid when the blood rushed below, and Tarmin was no exception.
He gazed at her face with pleading eyes.
“E-Enya. Come on, hurry up.”
At dawn he'd been a reliable marksman who'd put the centaurs to sleep with a single arrow, but now he looked like a puppy whining for her touch.
She held back a laugh at the staggering contrast and sternly set her expression.
“No. Do you even understand what I'm saying?”
Tarmin looked sad.
A little later, Tarmin repeated Enya's words.
“…I'm only doing this because you keep coming on to me, maintaining the group's condition is important, and since I just took down the centaurs, this is a reward. Got it? Honestly.”
After making sure he understood her properly, Enya nodded.
Tarmin asked in a hurry.
“So you'll do it now, Enya?”
“I wonder?”
She smiled and coyly avoided answering, thinking she'd tease him one more time, and Tarmin scowled.
“Enya, damn it, if you don't stop messing around, then I'll…”
Enya flinched and avoided his gaze.
He didn't finish, but the warning was clear enough.
When he'd climbed on top of her by force and pressed himself against her, Enya had felt it.
She remembered the feel of his strong grip and his broad, firm chest pressing against her.
Something hard prodding her lower belly.
She quickly said,
“O-Okay. That's enough.”
With a strange itch between her legs, she crossed them slightly.
She thought she'd have to take another bath later.
**
Lise strolled through the enormous courtyard where dozens of carriages were parked.
At a glance, she looked like an ordinary teenage girl with her scarlet hair tied in a single braid, but she moved as if it were nothing to wear a black military longsword at her belt.
There was, of course, only one thing on her mind.
The strange wager that Tarmin, Enya's companion, mustn't discover her identity.
It was the first wager of its kind even for Lise, who had lived a long life as a knight.
Her subordinate Ivar had impulsively groped her in an unfortunate incident, but it seemed she'd managed to keep up the deception through the night somehow.
However, one centaur attack had undone all of that in a single morning.
In any case, Tarmin must have realized the two of them were extraordinary. Would the Hero send them away?
Still, Lise had something to say for herself.
The centaurs' attack itself had been aimed at the Hero.
If she hadn't switched carriages to avoid Tarmin, there might have been casualties in the carriage at the very back.
And that would have been because of the Hero.
Tarmin, who'd been the subject of their wager, also had abilities worthy of the Hero's companion.
At last, Lise made up her mind and headed for the caravanserai.
She planned to speak with them before the Hero approached her.
After confirming they weren't at the drinking party, Lise looked around and spotted Tarmin sitting in a corner of the room, bundled under a thick blanket.
The Hero wasn't with him, so it was a good moment to talk.
But something about him seemed a little strange.
Perhaps he had a cold; he kept nodding and panting for breath.
Lise called out.
“Tarmin, are you all right?”
“Ghk, L-Lady Lise!?”
Tarmin looked at Lise in surprise.
At his strangely excited voice, Lise's eyes widened.
She'd expected him to sound sick, but there was plenty of strength in his voice.
“Do you have a cold? Would you like me to take a look?”
“N-No! I'm fine. I'm perfectly healthy.”
He'd clearly been panting and struggling, but Tarmin's voice quickly steadied.
It was a little odd, but Lise's mind was full of thoughts about the Hero.
Since he was the Hero's companion, she assumed he was just an odd person and said,
“That's good. Tarmin, I have a question. Do you know why I got on the carriage?”
Lise asked directly, without hesitation.
Tarmin's previously dull-looking eyes quickly sharpened.
“I know. It wasn't a honeymoon.”
“I see. Since you've won the bet, are you going to send us away now?”
“How could I? If I told you to leave, would you go?”
When Lise said nothing, Tarmin gave an easy shake of his head.
“Forget it. The bet's void. It's meaningless when neither of us would honor it, and it was far too much in our favor to begin with. If we insist on it now, we'll only end up embarrassing each other.”
“Tarmin, you already knew?”
“Yes. I pretended to sleep, and—kh!”
Tarmin suddenly raised his head and shuddered.
He gripped the blanket and groaned.
“…Are you sure you're all right?”
“I-I am.”
Trembling, he hurriedly looked at Lise again.
“L-Lady Lise, do you know why Enya made that bet?”
“I don't.”
Tarmin raised a hand and firmly pressed down on the blanket near his chest.
A cough sounded from somewhere outside the window.
“That Enya was worried I might be afraid if I learned your identities. Your blessings are beyond what my bow can reach. Even though I told her so many times I wouldn't run.”
“I see. But isn't calling us enemies a rather hasty judgment?”
“Hahaha, who knows? By the way, have you heard why we're going to Akhraba?”
“No?”
Tarmin raised his index finger and pointed it at Lise's chest.
“We're on our way to get teeth that can bite even you people.”
“I see. Did you consider that telling me might make me stop you?”
“Uh, well, don't you want to see what it is? You blessed ones have all been the same, haven't you?”
Lise smiled, her expression pale and colorless.
When was the last time she'd felt nervous?
A colorless world without a hint of threat.
Honestly, she didn't mind a little new excitement.
“As expected of the Hero's companion, you understand me well.”
That was all Lise had to say to Tarmin.
“I'll be rooting for you.”
Now that the bet was void, she could move freely.
“…”
After Lise left the room, Tarmin slowly sighed.
After checking that no one was around, he glared at the blanket and murmured softly.
“I told you not to bite me.”
*****