The smell of the wet air of the morning mist tingled in his nose, and Satoru awoke with a start. His eyelids were still heavy.
He could hear the birds chirping in the distance.
There was a slight chill in the air - no, it was a little cold in his arms.
(...... cold?)
He realized and opened his eyes.
In his arms, there is a beautiful girl with a small physique and characteristic pale skin.
Realizing the reality after all this time, Satoru rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch.
It was just 5:00 AM on the 26th. It was a little earlier than he usually woke up, probably because he slept earlier than usual. Still, the sky was changing from white to blue. Dawn seemed to have arrived.
He slowly half-raised his body and put on his pants and underwear.
「Guo!」
He turned around and saw Minerva, the flying dragon, rubbing her head against him. Leia cringes at the sound of Minerva's snarl but ignores it.
「Ohhh, good morning to you too, Minerva.」
He stroked Minerva's neck as she rubbed her head against him, closing her eyes as if it felt good, and Minerva cleared her throat happily.
She does this for about 15 seconds. Satoru let go of Minerva's head and she rubbed her chin against the ground, then flapped her large wings.
「Gururrr!」
Minerva growls a breath and then flutters herself up into the sky. She hovers a little higher, flapping her wings and looking at Satoru.
「Yeah, go ahead.」
Satoru sensed that she was going to do something. So, with a light heart, he called out to her. After receiving Satoru's reply, Minerva barked once and flapped her wings even higher.
Now that the flying dragon Nushi, the object of most fear by small animals and birds, is gone, he can see small birds coming to the riverbank. Leia had said last night that the effect of the Five-layered warding she had put up last night would last about two kokus (8 hours), so it must have worn off by now.
After seeing Minerva off, Satoru turned his gaze to Leia.
Leia seemed to have woken up at some point and was half-awake, looking dazed and confused. She must have low blood pressure――But before that, he wonders if there is such a thing as blood pressure in the [Immortal King], who only has life activity at a very low level.
For quite a long time, she looked there, here, and at Satoru with an unsteady perspective, and then she realized.
「I-I was sleeping!」
「You're just now realizing it?」
Satoru chuckled. From the standpoint of the Immortal King, who naturally does not sleep, she could not believe that she had fallen asleep.
「It's a lie. ...... The Immortal King can sleep. This is also because of my Lord's magic power?」
Leia is rubbing her body. He wants her to put on some clothes. Satoru picks up Leia's clothes, which had been thrown away, and throws them at Leia.
「Like hell I know. If it's true, it's not a good idea to sleep while fainting from sex.」
「Fainting ....... Ahh, right, right! I don't know what to say, but I've had some crazy stimulation and my mind has gone blank......, wait, what are you making me say!」
「I didn't make you say anything! It's a self-destruct!」
Satoru's comeback was brilliant.
But there was no sign that Leia had endured.
「It is impossible for a me who is the Immortal King to faint.......I've never heard of it. I knew it, my Lord's extraordinary magical power must be affecting my body in some way.」
...... Quite interesting.
Looking at Leia, who was nodding her head in agreement, Satoru adjusted his clothes. The clothes were fine for now, but eventually, they would get dirty and need to be replaced. First of all, he doesn't think the technology for nylon or rayon exists in this world, and surely the design and color will stand out. He has no intention of staying in this world for a long time, and he has decided to avoid being in contact with many people, so he will need clothes. For the time being, he'll just have to hide behind a long coat.
It is impossible to know the level of society and technology in this world by asking Leia, who has a gap of 200 years. The best thing to do is to see it with your own eyes. He took out his field book and thought about what he would buy when he entered the town.
And.
A familiar heavy bass roar roared in the sky above. It was the Minerva. She descended in a straight line, adjusted her speed with a flap of her wings, and softly swooped down.
「Oh, welcome back ......hmm?」
Minerva placed something in her mouth at Satoru's feet as he tried to stroke her neck. A bird, like a thrush, and fruit, like an akebi.
「You ...... got some food for me?」
「Gururuu」
Minerva pressed her ear against Satoru's in a slightly high-pitched, indulgent purr. She was clearly spoiled. She's a big reptile, but her gestures are cute, like a cat or a dog.
「I see. Thank you.」
Minerva throbs and rubs against him. She seems to understand his words, and in all likelihood, she has a high level of intelligence. It's frustrating that he can't communicate with her, but even without that, he can communicate with her to some extent.
「I've heard that the flying dragon genus doesn't have much intelligence, but......I suppose that's not the case with Nushi.」
Leia curiously looks at one of them and one of them frolicking together and marvels. Their species is too different to be jealous.
Leia is the [Immortal King], so she doesn't need to eat. The magic power she recovers every day is enough to sustain her life activities, so she has no concept of food.
She's also surprised at the flying dragons that bring food for others at their own will.
「It's not easy being human. ...... I used to be the same way.」
As he stroked Minerva, Satoru's gaze was somewhat cold as he looked at Leia. Leia was suddenly aware of her position. Minerva had taken food for her Lord, but what about herself?
(...... Not good. My reputation is going down the drain.)
Somehow, she felt a cold sweat running down her face.
(......I must make up for this.)
She thought hard about how to get back on track, clapped her hands, and remembered.
「I remembered that the adventurers who had tried to conquer my labyrinth before had left behind some items in the labyrinth. There must have been some salt and spices among them.」
「Ohhh!」
A voice filled with joy rose from Satoru. He used the salt and pepper in his backpack last night, so he doesn't have anymore. They'll be able to replenish it when they get into town later today, but he doesn't have any seasonings at this moment.
「At this distance, the "Transference" art is still within reach. I'll just go and get it.」
「Oh, please. Please do. I'll prep the bird and gather some dead branches for the fire.」
「Okay. Well then... "Transference."」
After seeing Leia disappear, Satoru began by picking up the bird's feathers. He threw the feathers into a small bag. Although he had never seen chicken meat other than what was generally sold in supermarkets, he knew that it needed to be drained of blood. He vaguely remembered that a civil engineering worker he knew from work belonged to a hunting club, and they had told him about the procedure for processing pheasant.
「You never know what might come in handy, right?」
He couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
After picking back some of the feathers, though not neatly, Satoru took out the knife Leia had given him yesterday. The knife, with its silver ornamentation and 20cm blade, was not badly cut despite being neglected for many years, and it sliced the bird’s neck. A spray of blood flew out, and Satoru made a bitter face.
He felt a little hesitation at the not-so-pleasant action of taking the life of a living creature once again, even though it was already dead, but after a moment, he quickly switched.
Satoru was aware, albeit dimly, that he might have to kill people in the future. There was no way he would be able to overcome the difficulties ahead if he felt hesitant about such a thing. He had been careful not to kill the flying dragons he had beaten up, but if any of them had been seriously injured in the skirmish, he would not have been able to survive in the wild in the first place.
「In order to go home, I need to live.」
He tied its legs with ivy-like plants, hung it on a suitable tree, and began to drain the blood, while he boldly cut open its chest and removed its internal organs. He would like to make a pot dish out of it, but since he doesn't know how to prepare the organs, he thinks he should just throw it away.
「Minerva. Do you want to eat the entrails?」
「Guru.」
In response to Satoru's words, Minerva turns her big mouth into an "Ahhhh". There was blood on her canine teeth, so she must have finished her meal in addition to the one for Satoru. Feeling a little scared, Satoru threw the bird's entrails into Minerva's mouth.
And.
*pon*, And then he heard the sound of air exploding. Leia was back - and she looked unhappy.
「Welcome back ....... What's wrong? You look weird. Didn't you find what you were looking for?」
「No, it was there, but ...... hmm?」
Leia twists her neck and holds out the bag to Satoru. She doesn't seem to want to help. He looked into the bag and found some cooking utensils, a few small portions of dried, incomprehensible spices, some rocks ...... and some salt crystals, probably rock salt. He doesn't know about the spices, so he'll just use salt this time.
While biting into a fruit that looked like an akebi, Satoru took out the salt crystals and squeezed them with all his might. Without any resistance, he felt the crystals crumble easily in his palm... Once again, he was half-amused by the wonder and convenience of his own body.
He put half of the salt back into the bag, and rub the other half into the chicken meat, which is still bleeding. He rubs the salt into his hands, which are still covered in blood from the entrails, and rubs the salt in from the inside.
Satoru has lived alone for a long time and can cook to some extent because he has found that it saves money to cook instead of buying prepared foods or lunch boxes. He had no interest in delicate flavors, except for sweet ones, so as long as it was edible, he was fine.
Leia picked up a piece of burning wood for him. She assembled the deadwood as she saw fit and blurted out a few words.
「"FireTinder"」
A pillar of fire erupted, and in a matter of seconds, the dead tree was on fire - Leia's face was filled with surprise.
「Thanks for the fire ...... What's wrong?」
While thanking her for lighting the fire, he was curious about Leia's disturbed face, so he asked her.
Leia looked at Satoru's face, looked at the fire in front of her, confirmed the event, thought about it for a while, and then slowly came to a conclusion.
「My magic power is getting stronger.」
「Huh?」
In response to Satoru's question, Leia folded her arms.
「"Ignite" is the rudiments of fire magic, right? It's the art of setting fire to a dead tree, like just now, but you have to control the flames to a certain extent. It is a technique that is the beginning of learning fire magic. It's not good if the fire is too strong, but ...... I poured the same amount of magic power that I needed to "ignite" the fire, and now the "ignite" is clearly stronger.」
Indeed, the pillar of fire immediately after exercising the technique was at least 50cm high. That's excessive if you're just trying to set a dead tree on fire. The dead tree quickly caught fire and was crackling with embers.
「Even with the two transitions I've done, going back and forth, I've felt like my magic wasn't depleted as much as usual.......I knew it, this is because of........that」
「What's "that"?」
After a pause, Leia answered with a very serious face.
「Intercourse with my Lord.......Sex, wasn't it? I can only assume that was the cause.」
Time stopped in Satoru's mind.
( ......Huuh? What? Did your magic power increase because you had sex? What's that? It's not like it's a cheap story, but if you have sex, your ability will increase? What kind of erotic game is that?)
His thoughts stopped and he started to ramble.
「I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing to have such a convenient ......」
Satoru's voice was also laced with dismay. It's hard to deny that it's a lie, considering Leia's extremely serious tone, but it's hard to reply, "Ahh, is that so".
Leia seemed to be thinking about it without losing her serious expression, but then she looked up.
「My Lord. When you enter a city, I don't know if they sell them, but I want you to buy some measuring beads. Even if you can't find them in the nearest town, surely you can find them in some of the larger towns.」
Leia is the Immortal King, and because of her distinctive skin color, she is hated and feared by the people. So she can't enter the town - though it would be easy to break in. But Satoru doesn't want that, so the only way is for her to buy it while lurking in Satoru's shadow.
「Well, you're the one with the money, so I don't mind if buying it for you.」
Satoru replied in a confused tone. The fact of the matter is that Satoru is broke. Leia doesn't mind spending money on Satoru, and in fact, she probably doesn't mind because she has a lot of money, but as Satoru has been living on the edge until he was called into this world, he doesn't feel comfortable wasting it.
However, Leia shook her head left and right with a serious expression on her face as if this was not an issue.
「If the actual having sex had increased my magic power, that would be a big deal, you know? If this were to become known, everything in the world might demand to have intercourse with my Lord.」
Thinking of this reality, Satoru was in a panic.
The size of one's soul can be increased a little through hard training and discipline. There is also a special way to increase the size of the soul through the art of slavery, but since slavery itself is a very special art, increasing the size of the soul through that method is not realistic. There are more cases of people like Leia who have become immortal kings herself, but those are more special... He remembers now that they were talking about this yesterday.
In other words, in a world where one's aptitude is almost entirely determined by the qualities one is born with, if one can increase one's bulk with just a little bit of sex.
There will be a flood of them - probably to the point that the balance of this world will collapse.
「And, I might add, ...... regardless of age, sex, or gender.」
Satoru was clearly bummed out when he imagined a bearded old man posing with a body covered in fat and muscle, followed by an old woman with dry, cracked skin and sagging breasts.
「You've got to be kidding me. ......」
Satoru's heart was only depressed by the heavy fact that everything he had thought lightly about was blown away.
「There is also the problem of embracing a prostitute. ...... It needs to be confirmed. You need to check it out as soon as possible.」
In a somewhat depressed mood, Satoru roasted the processed bird over an open fire.
The oil dripped from the skin, and it smelled delicious. It was seasoned only with salt, so it was a bit unrefined, but that might have been a good thing. However, if he was to continue this kind of journey, he would like to have a frying pan.
Leia opened her mouth as she watched Satoru cook with a skilled hand.
「I have one piece of advice for you, my Lord.」
「What is it?」
「My Lord said that you would not discuss the technology of your former world. That's all well and good, but there's a gap between my Lord's common sense and me. There's a difference, isn't there?」
「Indeed.」
Satoru nodded. He also turned the bird over.
「That's the point. The things that My Lord thinks are impossible are possible here.」
「Ah, right.」
He is very much aware of the usefulness of magic. In some areas, even modern technology is no match for it.
One of the things he felt especially so was healing. A large carnivore with a complex fracture can be healed in seconds. This is something that no modern technology can imitate.
「That's why. So, don't be bound by the common sense of my Lord's world, and ask me if I can do something like this. Of course, there are some things that are impossible to do with existing magic, but there are also some things that can be done by adjusting the magic.」
「You mean create new magic?」
Leia nodded.
Of course, magic is based on the basics, but there are infinite possibilities with various combinations.
「On the other hand, I may ask some questions. If you can answer them, I would like you to answer them as well.」
「Got it. No problem.」
Satoru was convinced. That was why he had used the technology licensing as a pillow.
Some things involve modern technology and science, and common sense comes into play. He didn't want to hide everything, but he also didn't want to reveal too much.
It's all up to Satoru's discretion.
Even if you think it's not a big deal, it could turn out to be an amazing technology, but Satoru thought that he shouldn't think about it in detail. But he didn't want to think about it too much, because he was the type of person who would start working before he could think.
He looked at the bird. It seemed to have been cooked well enough. He plucked a chicken wing and took a bite. The skin is crispy, the meat is juicy, and it smells a little bloody, but it's wonderfully delicious.
「My Lord has a point of view that the I don't have, you know. In other words, we complement each other.」
「I see. ....... Then, I have one question for you.」
Leia nodded and encouraged him to go on.
Satoru plucked the crotch meat and bit into it before he could ask any questions. It was a wild dish, just grilled over an open fire with only salt, but it was too good to be true. The meat must be incredibly good. Thanks to Minerva.
「Every time I have sex with you, you have the pain of rupture every time. Can't you do something about that?」
He asks a vulgar question while chewing.
To put it bluntly, it's Satoru's second-biggest concern right now, number one, of course, being able to return to his world, and number three, being able to successfully subdue the burnt bird.
Leia frowned at the vulgarity of the situation and made a thoughtful face.
「Even if you say so ...... Oh! It's "Tranquility"! I thought the art of "Tranquility" was supposed to ease the pain!」
「Hold on a minute. What kind of art is that?」
Leia replies to Satoru's question with a smile.
「"Tranquility" is an art that belongs to the mind and is effective in suppressing mental abnormalities. It is also an art to reduce sensation by half. There is also a physical art called "Sedation", but this one blocks all senses. My Lord, you didn't feel much pain when you ran into the rock wall, right? This is probably the effect of that art.」
Suppressing the senses?
Satoru thought about it for a moment and decided against it.
「...... Just to let you know. Don't use that art when you're having sex.」
「...... Why not?」
Leia grumbled, her mouth agape as her good idea was summarily rejected.
「It's half the pain, but it's also half the excitement and pleasure. I wouldn't want to hold such a Dutchwife ...... a sex doll.」
Leia thought about it and understood Satoru's feelings, but she couldn't agree with him.
「...... Why not?」
「If you just can't take it, say so.」
Even if the pain is reduced, it is meaningless if the pleasure is reduced as well. Sex is only possible when both parties are excited, and Satoru doesn't have the taste to hold a tuna. [TLN: Tuna / Maguro = dead lay (someone who is inactive during sexual intercourse)]
「You, do you mind if the guy who's shoving himself into you is shaking his hips with a cool face?」
Ugh, Leia groaned. She must have imagined it. It was the most humiliating thing a woman could do, as the person she was putting inside of her did not seem to be excited or happy, but simply shook his hips.
「...... not good.」
「Right? You know what I mean, right?」
「...... Fine.」
Grudgingly, Leia nodded. It is not wrong to say that the greatest pleasure is to be liked, but it seems that the pain of rupture is painful no matter what.
「I'll be as gentle as I can.」
Satoru smiled gently and patted her head.
Even with his modest knowledge of modern medicine, Satoru concluded that it was impossible to eliminate both the pain and the pleasure of a broken hymen.
It would be typical for the other side to stand up and the other side to stand down.
Satoru grinned devilishly as he thought of it.
「Maybe you should get used to your asshole as well as your mouth.」
「~~~~!」
Leia presses her mouth and ass in an inaudible voice. Her reddish cheeks turn even redder.
Seeing this, it was no wonder that Satoru couldn't help but smile in an obscene, villainous manner.
「You don't want to?」
「It's not that I don't want to,......Uuhhh~~....... I'm not stingy if it's for my Lord's sake. ...... But honestly, I'm scared. ......」
It's probably an untrue sentiment.
「I'll let you get used to it.」
Leia was taken aback by Satoru's too lowly smile.
「My Lord, your face is obscene.」
「I know.」
Satoru retorted easily.
「But isn't it better than having the pain of rupture every time?」
「That’s ...... No, no, no, no, no!」
Leia shakes her head violently from side to side.
Now, which fear would prevail? One day, Satoru decided, he would get the chance to practice it.