Chapter 116 : Chapter 116
Chapter 116: Taking Off the Mask (3)
“Y-You…”
Ibi, who had frozen with her mouth agape, began to stutter, her voice filled with utter bewilderment.
“Wh-Where did you… sell off… the mask…?”
“Ah, I didn't throw it away.”
I took out the 「Ornate Mask」 that I had put in my pocket.
I didn't need to wear it anymore, but I figured there was no need to throw it away either.
It might come in handy again someday.
“M-Master…?”
Just then, Miki, who had been staring blankly at me, hesitantly and carefully asked.
“A-Are we, allowed to behold… Master's divine… face…?”
“To that extent?”
I thought ‘divine face’ was laying it on a bit thick, but I could understand the sentiment of wanting to praise it as highly as possible.
“──Huhuhuhu.”
Having witnessed a beauty on the level of a manifestation of the God of Beauty, it wouldn't be strange to offer any kind of praise.
“I've finally found a way to suppress my bewitching energy.”
Thus, I said with a grin.
“To be precise, I should say I found an artifact.”
As I said that, I made a V-shape diagonally with my fingers in front of my eyes, as if to emphasize the lenses—the 「Witch's Eye」—I was wearing.
“So from today on, you all can admire my beauty to your heart's content.”
“O-Ohh─?”
At that, Miki, though he still didn't seem to have a proper grasp of the situation, started to clap in admiration.
“Y-You are beautiful…!”
“Huhu. Thank you.”
“…Is it really okay?”
On the other hand, Toric still showed a cautious attitude, as if he were still suspicious.
“It's fine. If I had to be specific, it was close to my magic going rampant before. But I've suppressed it with this ‘eye’, so there won't be any more instances of me charming you all against my will.”
“Hmm…”
Even with my explanation, Toric’s reaction suggested he still found it hard to believe.
But in reality, neither Miki nor Toric, who were staring intently at me right now, showed any signs of being ‘charmed’.
Therefore, with a sly smile, I turned my head this time towards Ibi.
“Of course, if you fall for me purely because of my beauty and not because of 「Charm」, then there’s nothing I can do about that.”
I said, taking a bold step closer to her, intending to exchange our usual banter.
“You didn't fall for me at first sight or anything, did you?”
I was already prepared to lightly dodge the hand that would fly towards my cheek.
“If you fall for me now, there’s not really an excuse…”
However, for some reason, the slap I expected to come flying at me showed no signs of coming at all.
“…”
Instead.
“……!”
Her usual disgusted expression was gone, and I only saw a startled Ibi with a very flustered look on her face.
As much as I had approached her, she took a step back as if to avoid me.
Her pupils were their usual color, not tinged at all, but other parts… were tinged with a different color, quite a lot rather than just a little.
“Wh-What are you talking about, you idiot……”
I, who was completely taken aback by this entirely unexpected reaction, ended up freezing on the spot.
“……Huh, what?”
No, this is… could it be…
“J-Just stop it, really……”
……A genuine reaction?
“Uh… well…”
Honestly, I was just planning to tease her like usual… b-but it was real…?
I thought I was performing a pro-wrestling move, but it was mixed martial arts…?
The thought that I might have actually hit her when I only meant to pretend to hit her lightly, made me feel so sorry and embarrassed that I didn't know what to do with myself, and in the end, I could only demurely bring my slyly moving arms together as if in repentance.
“Uh… s-sorry…”
“…Why, why are you apologizing?!”
Slap!
As I lowered my gaze, Ibi's sharp hand struck my face as if to push it away.
“Wh-Who said they fell for you, you crazy bastard!? S-Stop saying such creepy things!!”
‘Ah, so it was a delayed attack…!’
She had already anticipated the pattern of my prepared evasion and completely ignored that pattern…!
As expected of a ‘Phantom Thief’, I guess.
She’s an opponent you must never let your guard down against…!
…Isn’t she just doing that because she’s embarrassed?
‘Nah, no way.’
This is Ibi we’re talking about.
“Don't get cocky just because you have a pretty face! I have my own tastes, you know!?”
See?
“Wh-Why would I, on what grounds, would I look at someone like you…!”
“…So you admit I'm pretty?”
Slap!
In response to my renewed attempt at being sly, Ibi slapped my other cheek this time.
Honestly, it felt strangely more powerful than when she usually hits the back of my head, but right now, rather than feeling pain, I was just glad to feel this stinging hand.
“This mouth of yours, I swear…!”
Yes, this is it.
This is pro-wrestling.
Ah, what a relief.
It’s the same old Ibi.
I was so scared for a moment there, thinking I had made a huge mistake.
“If you keep spouting weird nonsense, I'll bury you in a back alley, you bastard…!”
She’s back to normal… Ibi is back to her old self…!
Thank goodness… I didn't make a mistake.
“Wh-What’s with you all of a sudden? Why are you grinning again?”
“…No, it's nothing.”
Lady Ibi, please scold me more (laughs).
Having narrowly escaped a major crisis(?), I turned to Lily for a final check, who was the only one who had yet to show any reaction to my beauty.
“How about it, Lily? You don't feel anything in particular, right?”
But well, in a way, Lily was a companion I needed to worry about even less than Ibi.
She was a chaste cleric, and the owner of a strong mentality that didn't even flinch at the sight of that dragon.
…Or so I thought.
“Huh?! Ah, yes, yeees…….”
But, Lily let out a hiccup, then slowly turned her head as if to avoid my gaze.
Seeing that, it was clearly not a ‘charmed’ reaction.
It wasn't…
But while the ‘rational part’ of her as a cleric might have been fine as expected, Lily's other half… the ‘instinctual part’ that even her strong mentality couldn't control, might not have been.
“Ah…”
…I mean, the succubus part.
The problem was that I wasn't the only one who saw Lily's reaction.
“…Just die.”
“Ah! Aah! W-Wait! My hair! Don't pull my hair, not the hair!”
Stop, I propose you stop pulling!
Hitting me with a chair might be okay, but pulling hair is against pro-wrestling rules!
…Probably.
“Keok──”
Ibi began a Cartel-style ‘execution’ by wrapping my braided hair around my neck like a hangman's noose and forcing me to my knees, and as I cried out in pain, Toric watched me with his arms crossed, as if I were pathetic.
“…What did I tell you, Bard.”
He said, as if to say that it didn't seem okay at all.
A short while later, thanks to Miki's intervention, I, who had barely escaped being executed(?), had no choice but to get on all fours on the floor instead of just getting to my knees.
“Are you alright?”
At that, Rine came over and squatted down next to me.
I could barely nod, as it was hard to speak since my breath had been cut off until just now.
“Unlike before, the magic that used to surge whenever you took off your mask was definitely suppressed. I believe you can rest assured.”
“Th-That's a relief…”
Though I'm not sure if I can really rest assured….
Slowly getting up again, I looked back at Lily, and as our eyes met again, Lily sharply turned her head away this time.
“…….”
Then, she silently sneaked a sideways glance at me.
With a finger she had raised so subtly that others wouldn't notice, she twirled the middle of her long side-hair.
“…!”
The moment I saw that gesture, my hand unconsciously went to the nape of my neck.
Because that gesture was a secret code we had agreed upon after the incident in the tent last time, so that we wouldn't be found out through conversation.
It was a signal asking for my blood tonight.
Despite the fact that I had filled her ‘hunger’ in advance just a short while ago… in preparation for the raid on Don Paulo's mansion.
Moreover, the infiltration mission had concluded successfully without any hitches, so there was no major need for Lily, the healer, to exert much power.
So… in just one day, there should be no way her vitality was already running low…
While I was lost in that thought, Lily kept sending furtive glances my way, as if waiting for me who had yet to send a reply signal.
Unable to resist her gaze, I finally gave the gesture for ‘I understand’ by raising my own finger and lightly touching my side-hair.
As soon as she saw this, Lily’s eyes widened for a moment, and then she smiled contentedly.
…Asking why already?
Is probably not a position I should be in.
This time, honestly, it seems I was the one who initiated it.
More importantly, the mask… should I really keep wearing it…?
***
“Hnng…”
In the pain of being pierced that I could never quite get used to no matter how many times I repeated it, I quickly covered my mouth to stop the sound that was about to escape.
After the night deepened and Lily had secretly come to my room, we didn't say a word to each other, lest we be heard in the next room.
So until I inadvertently let out a moan, only the rustling of clothes or the bedsheets had quietly echoed, tickling my ears.
Perhaps because of that, it felt like things like the sound of Lily's heart, who was pressed so close to me as if to crush me, or the sound of my blood going down her throat, were particularly loud today.
How much time passed like that?
Eventually, Lily, who had slowly lifted her head which had been buried in my shoulder, closed her eyes.
Looking as if she were savoring the aroma of wine, she finally let out a hot breath, suppressing the sound as much as possible.
Then, she wiped her lips, which were mixed with my blood and her saliva that had been injected into my blood vessel, with her thumb, and then, as if it were a waste, she licked it with the tip of her tongue that peeked out.
Then, she naturally saw the blood that was still beaded on the two holes on the nape of my neck and immediately buried her head in my shoulder again.
However, this time, instead of her two fangs, she only lightly placed her two lips and, with a small peck, sucked up the remaining two drops.
“…….”
And yet, Lily still looked at me with eyes that said it wasn't enough.
At that insistent gaze, I unconsciously thought it might be okay to allow more, but it was Lily who, despite her reluctance, pulled away from me slowly, as if chiding herself.
“…Are you satisfied?”
As I, who had pulled my shirt back up to my shoulders, asked in a whisper, Lily belatedly lowered her gaze as if to hide her flushed face and quietly nodded.
However, Lily, who had finished the draining, still did not try to leave my room.
She seemed about to get up from the bed, but perhaps seeing no suitable place to sit, she ended up sitting quietly on the edge of the bed.
As if her business was not yet finished.
“U-Um…”
For the first time since entering this room, she spoke carefully.
“Could you… possibly, listen to a concern of mine…?”
It meant that Lily's ‘Companion Quest’ had begun to proceed.