Chapter 53
Enya squeezed her eyes shut.
As they kissed, she thought.
How many more times could she use the holy sword?
How many more times could she hold Tarmin?
Her unstable body paid the full price every time she performed a miracle.
The feverish heat clouding her mind and her body creaking as if about to break kept warning her that her limit was near.
But it was all right.
Somehow, in Tarmin's arms, she was all right. That was enough.
The endless low fever became a dreamlike haze, and her battered body trembled pleasantly in anticipation of the stimulation to come.
Put that way, it sounded a little perverted, but Tarmin seemed to have a special talent.
Kissing was a talent too, wasn't it?
If there were a labyrinth or trial centered on kissing, wouldn't Tarmin shine?
Enya thought that the Tarmin of today might even seduce a succubus that came after him.
Whenever Tarmin pressed her with his rough approach, she was swept up in an incomprehensible ecstasy.
She liked the feeling of her breathing growing ragged.
The sensation of being swallowed by him.
The thought that it wouldn't be so bad to be devoured by Tarmin and die just like this.
His tongue slipped away, then pushed between her lips again, and Enya closed her eyes.
The wet, slurping sound of sucking on a slick mass of flesh.
“Mm, ah, haa…”
Enya obediently gave herself to him, twisting her waist a little.
Her eyes were closed and she was disheveled, but before long Tarmin's face moved away again.
With her head cradled in his large hand, she opened her eyes, wondering what was wrong.
Even when their eyes met, Tarmin only smiled.
Enya asked impatiently,
“Taal, why again…?”
“…Ugh.”
Tarmin squeezed his eyes shut and shuddered as if struck by lightning, then said,
“Enya, you idiot! Could you stop looking up at me like that and begging? I feel like my eyes are going to roll back.”
“Huh, y-yeah?”
“It's incredible.”
“I don't know what you mean…”
She was only making a face like she didn't know what was happening, but it seemed to have stimulated Tarmin somehow.
Tarmin opened and closed his mouth as if to explain, then shook his head and simply stole another kiss from Enya.
Their lips met and parted again with a cute little smack.
This time Enya curled up and moaned.
“Auw…”
Tarmin chuckled and explained why he'd stopped kissing her.
“My father's here. Didn't you hear?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah. I see.”
Only then did Enya hear the hubbub coming from the entrance.
She must not have heard the commotion outside because she'd been lost in thought.
Just then, her father's voice rang out. “Tarmin, are you inside? Someone's here to see you.”
Tarmin called, “Yes! I'm here! I'll be right there!” then looked at Enya with a wry smile.
After gazing at her silently for a long while, he said,
“…I want to go home soon.”
“Y-Yeah…”
He wanted to return to Quaalid and keep going.
Understanding what he meant, Enya's face flushed faintly.
Embarrassed all over again, she tugged the blanket that had ridden up and covered her face.
Tarmin stood from his chair with a grin.
“If you want to go home, you need to recover quickly, huh?”
“Mmm, I'll try.”
“Get plenty of rest. Let's treat this as a chance to recuperate in Tariq. Oh, or is staying at my father's house uncomfortable?”
“It's not that.”
What if I never got back up?
Enya barely swallowed the words welling up inside her.
Whether he knew how she felt or not, Tarmin added another teasing remark.
“You need to get up soon, Enya. Then you can have the meat you like.”
“Okay… Hm? What did you say? Meat?”
There wasn't any particular food she was craving.
Enya stared at Tarmin in confusion.
Tarmin gave her a suggestive look and pointed at his waistband.
It took her a few seconds to understand the gesture.
“…Ah.”
Recalling the private time the two of them had shared a few days earlier, Enya's mouth fell open and she shouted,
“Hey, you lunatic! How could you say something like that!?”
“Oh, Enya, you're suddenly feeling better? Looks like you'll be up in no time. You must be craving it that badly…”
“Get out!”
Enya picked up a pillow and threw it.
It was amazing where she found the strength.
“Hahaha!”
Tarmin took the pillow straight to the face and ran away.
**
His father looked at his son's flushed face and said calmly,
“Seems I picked a bad time.”
“W-What? Nothing was going on!”
“Why don't you wipe your face before you say that?”
Flustered, Tarmin wiped his face with his sleeve.
His clothes were a mess too, so he hurriedly tugged his wrinkled shirt straight.
Meanwhile, his father adjusted the bow slung over his shoulder, seemingly uncomfortable with it.
The ashwood bow Tarmin had used for years was now being used by his father.
The family bow had been passed down to Tarmin.
At the desperate moment when a centaur nearly split him in two, his father, true to his instincts, relinquished ownership of the black-horn bow, allowing Tarmin to survive.
His father looked at Tarmin with misty eyes and said,
“I suppose I'll have to find somewhere else to sleep.”
“What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“If I'm to see a grandchild, shouldn't I put up with that much inconvenience?”
“N-No, well… Ahem.”
Tarmin could only clear his throat awkwardly.
His father chuckled, then asked,
“So, how is my daughter-in-law?”
“It seems she still isn't feeling well.”
“Is it because you wore her out?”
“Of course not.”
He felt a pang of guilt for a moment, given what he'd done.
He hadn't meant to bother someone who was sick.
He'd only been fulfilling Enya's wish, and definitely hadn't kept going until she was breathless just because it felt good.
As he was rationalizing it that way, a man entered through the open doorway.
Giran, captain of Tariq's garrison, greeted Tarmin with a friendly smile.
“Oh, Mr. Tarmin! Thank you for yesterday. If not for the two of you, even more people would have been hurt.”
“Good day. You must be busy. How are the garrison soldiers?”
As Tarmin returned the greeting and asked, a shadow crossed Giran's face.
“After an invasion by that many monsters, some losses were inevitable.”
“I see.”
A solemn silence settled over them for a moment.
After giving it enough time that he wouldn't seem tactless, Tarmin said,
“So, what brings you here?”
“Right. Tarmin, didn't you come from the west in a caravan? One whose representative was a man named Danis.”
“Yes. Why?”
“Then I was right. The elder is looking for you.”
Confusion appeared on Tarmin's face.
**
Following Giran's directions, he arrived at a large building.
Familiar faces greeted him when he entered a spacious hall that looked like a meeting room.
“Oh, Tarmin!”
“Mr. Danis?”
Danis was overjoyed and gripped Tarmin's shoulder firmly. He was dressed in respectable Akhraban-style clothes, not the loose robe he'd worn on the driver's bench.
“I heard what you've been up to. They say you saved Tariq with that archery of yours this time?”
“I was lucky.”
After greeting Danis, he looked around at the others. Danis's companions and the caravan passengers were gathered in small groups around the hall.
Among them were Lise and Ivar, whom he'd sent away under the pretext of letting Enya rest.
The two met Tarmin's eyes and approached.
Lise greeted him first.
“Hello, Tarmin.”
“Good day.”
”Didn't Enya come?”
“She had trouble getting up even after resting for a day, so I came alone.”
“I see.”
Tarmin answered readily and started to turn away, but was surprised to see Lise biting her lip.
He was so taken aback by this unexpected sight that he stared blankly.
He wondered if she felt responsible for Enya being sick.
Lise said with an apologetic expression,
“Tarmin, I know things between us are a little strained, but please believe me on this. I never intended to make the Hero use a miracle.”
“…”
The nuance was similar to what Tarmin had guessed, but slightly different.
More than that, a miracle? That was a rather detached way of putting it.
Hearing such an unusual expression from a third party made him realize anew that Enya really had done something like a ‘miracle.’
“I promised the Hero Lanchain's protection, but I failed to respond to the sudden situation. Because of that, she used a miracle…”
“No. It's all right. Enya chose to do it herself.”
Tarmin waved a hand, dismissing Lise's words.
For a moment he considered making Lise feel even more guilty, but soon decided against it.
She hadn't used the holy sword because she was left unprotected from the monsters or centaurs.
He thought no one needed to feel sorry about that noble act.
Instead of thanking him, Lise looked at Tarmin, momentarily bewildered, then said,
“Tarmin. Do you really not know that miracles come at a price?”
“What? A price? What price?”
Just then, someone at the front of the hall clapped their hands to get everyone's attention.
“I'm sorry for calling you here so suddenly. Please forgive my discourtesy.”
A man standing on the dais looked down at them.
*****