Chapter 385 - 385: Awful and Pure Love?!

"From now on, you're all Her Highness the Princess's maids!"

"...?"

The instant they stepped into the inn room—

Ais, Artemis, and Aphrodite suddenly found themselves somewhere else entirely.

A cloudless sky stretched overhead.

A pure white castle rose before them, so beautiful it looked like something out of a fairy tale — beautiful to the point of feeling almost unreal.

Ah... well, it was a dream. That made sense.

Including the abrupt scene change.

Going from a small-town inn to a castle straight out of paradise — that sort of thing only happened in dreams, so somehow it didn't feel strange at all.

And standing before them all was an elf princess in a sky-blue gown—

Ryuu Lion.

The elf girl was practically radiant right now, her jewel-like eyes shining with anticipation, pride, and no small amount of smug satisfaction — an expression that was, frankly, a little terrifying.

Because Ais, Aphrodite, and Artemis all knew exactly what kind of dream this was.

Becoming the princess's maids — wasn't it obvious what came next...?

"In order to bear the Braver's children, starting now, all of you — not just me — need to study hard and begin your training!"

"...?!?"

Training?!

Training for WHAT, exactly?!

They understood immediately that "the Braver" could only mean Isagi — Ryuu's words weren't exactly subtle, after all.

In fairy tales, the hero always had powerful blood or some "special ability," and doing that sort of thing with him could rapidly boost one's own strength while also carrying on his bloodline...

Even someone as worldly as Aphrodite had heard stories like that.

And even Ais and Artemis had heard some version of it, more or less.

Simple. Pure. Direct.

Perhaps that was exactly why the dream began hurtling in that direction, with nothing able to stop it.

In a daze, the three of them found themselves completely accepting the scenario Ryuu had laid out.

It was a dream, after all.

And besides—

Even a goddess couldn't control how it unfolded.

The girls didn't even notice when they'd followed Ais into the castle, or when they'd changed into black-and-white maid outfits that were more than a little "daring" — both the skirts and the bodices skimped shamelessly on fabric, leaving vast expanses of pale skin bare.

Black stockings clung to their legs.

On the polished marble floor, they didn't even need shoes.

Even without a mirror, just looking at each other's outfits was enough to make Ais and the two young goddesses blush scarlet with embarrassment.

That tempting cherry-blossom flush spread from their cheeks to the tips of their ears, then trailed down their slender necks to the soft, pale swell of their chests.

Absolutely mortifying!

Ryuu was even humming to herself, looking thoroughly pleased.

The others, trailing behind the elf girl, no longer dared imagine what would happen next.

This so-called "training" — it had to mean THAT, didn't it?!

Still, it was only the practice stage. Surely it wouldn't go that far...

"?!!"

When Ryuu pushed open the bedroom door, the first thing everyone saw was an enormous, plush bed.

It looked soft enough to sleep a dozen or twenty people at once, the pillows and blankets fluffy as cotton.

And lying on that bed—

Was Isagi.

Straight into the real thing!

All Ais and the others could say was that dream-Ryuu had far exceeded their expectations.

Ryuu really was bold when it came down to it.

She'd been holding it in for so long, after all.

The more traditionally reserved an elf girl seemed on the surface, the more terrifying she became once she let loose — terrifying enough to make even Tiona shudder.

Of course.

Part of it was probably from being teased so much by Demeter and Astrea.

This was her payback, in a way.

In any case!

In a dream already built around a certain "purpose," Ryuu naturally dropped all pretense and unleashed the full extent of her "terrifying" side.

BANG!

The bedroom door slammed shut.

As the princess, the elf girl swiftly herded the maid-costumed group toward the bed.

At that moment, Isagi appeared to be fast asleep in the dream too.

That, of course, was also because of the girls' shared "wish" — since they wanted to seize control of the dream themselves, it had naturally shifted toward "the boy can't possibly resist, so we can do whatever we want."

In truth, Ais was already feeling a little tempted.

Even the two goddesses were!

Except—

Aphrodite felt she was different from the others — she was here for "revenge"!

Heh heh heh, just watch how she'd deal with this guy!

But none of them realized yet that whatever happened next would be entirely under Ryuu's control.

After all, the rest of them had no experience to draw on.

All they had were storybooks or secondhand gossip to imagine from.

Only Ryuu.

Only the elf girl had real, concrete experience — she knew exactly what would happen, from beginning to middle to end, able to picture the whole scene in complete detail.

That was a "true reality" the other girls could never reach, no matter how vividly they imagined it — their fantasies were bound to fall short.

That was the gap between them.

A gap that could never be closed, no matter what.

And so.

What happened next left Ais and the two young goddesses utterly stunned, and also...

"!!!"

Far too direct.

Far too outrageous.

And facing an elf girl who genuinely seemed intent on "teaching" them, the three of them found they had no way to resist at all.

After all, this was exactly what they'd hoped for — no, what everyone in this dream had been hoping for together.

And so everything began moving forward as if it could never be stopped.

They climbed onto the bed, gathering around the boy.

At first they simply followed Ryuu's example and got their hands moving, and then...

The air went utterly still.

One could even hear the sound of one's own ragged breath and pounding heart.

No one spoke.

Not even Ryuu said a word — she simply "taught" in silence, using her eyes to signal for the others to take turns joining in.

And so...

Right now, in the inn room — no, in the pure white castle — something rather "terrible" was unfolding.

But Alfia, who had also entered the dream world, had no idea what was happening.

She stood in the city square at the center of the small town.

The woman gazed at the clear, pale-blue spring water before her, momentarily lost in thought.

The sun's warmth was almost scorching, a light breeze carried the faintly sweet coolness of the flowing water, and the crowd's chatter around her felt no different from the villages she'd passed through in her old traveling days.

Was this a dream?

The woman found it hard to believe, and began to doubt herself.

It all felt so real that she could barely tell it was a dream — she'd even forgotten her original purpose here.

She couldn't use [Primordial Magic] here.

The woman, who had originally entered the dream to test her strength, ended up abandoning that very goal without even noticing.

Of course.

That was largely thanks to her involvement in Aphrodite's plan.

The Goddess of Beauty, wanting to ensure everyone truly worked together with all their hearts set on that one goal, so they could overwhelm Isagi through sheer numbers and shape the dream into what they wished it to be—

Had, in fact, used a small trick.

That was the Goddess of Beauty's "hypnosis."

Even among the gods, it was a terrifyingly powerful ability.

If the Goddess of Beauty wished, she could effortlessly control the entire world, even alter others' — including other gods' — memories and thoughts.

Only those with exceptionally strong willpower, whether mortal or divine, would sense that something was even slightly "off."

But of course, Aphrodite hadn't gone anywhere near that far.

The young goddess had merely applied a light suggestion, just enough to nudge everyone participating in the dream toward thinking "in that direction," and nothing more.

So.

At first, before her thoughts had really started moving, it was fine.

But now, as Alfia gazed at the fountain square before her, her mind filled entirely with thoughts of her sister Meteria.

[Sister, do you have someone you like?]

[What kind of person does Sister like?]

[...?]

[What do you mean, you've never thought about it?]

[Just think about it — being with someone you love is a wonderful thing, no matter where you are...]

[Even in the Dungeon, it's the same!!]

Her sister had probably spent more time with that man than Alfia herself ever knew.

Alfia had never quite understood it.

Her sister, who like herself had only a short lifespan, had married that man — even borne his child — with what kind of feelings in her heart?

No.

Her sister's life had been far shorter than her own.

At least Alfia had lived to watch that child grow up, while her sister had left this world far too soon.

And of course, that was because of her.

She was the [Monster of Calamitous Talent] — cursed by heaven for possessing excessive "talent," a talent that had, in fact, been stolen from her sister.

Meteria had been the weakest in the Familia, sickly since childhood — it was hard to imagine how she'd managed to sneak out to meet that man in secret.

As for herself—

Though she too was frail, becoming a high-level adventurer had let her "cling on" for a few more years.

But none of that mattered now.

Alfia closed her eyes gently and sat down on a bench beside the fountain.

Her head felt a little dizzy; she needed to rest properly.

But her thoughts kept spinning, drifting wildly toward the idea of a "lover."

She had never once given matters of the heart any thought.

Now, thinking it over carefully—

It had nothing to do with her own short lifespan. It was simply that she'd never met someone like that. Nothing more.

Nothing to do with strength, or looks, or anything else.

Alfia found herself recalling something her sister had once said — [Maybe it's just fate.]

No reason at all.

When no one in the Familia could understand why Meteria had ended up with that man, her own sister had only offered that vague, unfinished line.

But.

For an adventurer, perhaps that was simply how it went.

Alfia could actually understand it, being her twin sister after all.

She found herself thinking that someday, maybe she too would meet someone like that.

Maybe it would be love at first sight.

Or maybe, like her sister, she'd feel nothing at all at first, until one day she suddenly recognized that "feeling" for what it was.

Alfia had never once thought about such things before — and now, it seemed, there was no stopping the thoughts once they'd started.

Meanwhile, elsewhere...

Asfi found herself caught in the exact same predicament as Alfia.

The woman, who had originally come in to study the "dream," instead found herself sinking into it, beginning to—

In the small town, the woman walked alone down a street paved with blue stone.

As she walked, she passed a two-story brick house with a courtyard and a flower bed, and it struck her as exactly the kind of "home" she'd always dreamed of.

Asfi was someone who longed for a family.

A stable life, an adorable child, a husband she could rely on—

Her bleak childhood had left her with a deep-seated longing, more than anything, for a warm home.

She didn't need much.

A relaxed, simple, unhurried ordinary life would be more than enough.

Maybe she'd have a small room of her own, not even a proper workshop, where she could tinker with research when she had free time — or maybe not, if taking care of the child left her no time to think about that sort of thing at all.

Being a mother would probably be even more exhausting and busy than her current life, and she'd probably still find herself, just like now, longing for a day off to catch her breath.

But Asfi knew herself.

She was the type who worked herself to the bone — she'd say she wanted to rest, but the moment she actually had free time, she'd start feeling restless within days and have to find something to do.

She simply stood there on the long street, gazing at the sunlit houses in the distance.

The woman's thoughts drifted far, far away, to the point where she'd already picked out names for her future children.

She began imagining, in detail, life together with a "husband" and "children."

Just like Alfia at that very moment.

Both of them, oddly, had turned rather "pure-hearted," completely absorbed in an imagined "romance."

It felt achingly real, and yet impossibly out of reach.

Like dreaming within a dream — perhaps something only possible in a dream at all.

If anyone found out, they'd probably say something like, "That's way too pure!"

Compared to the rather scandalous state of the other girls right now, it was almost frightening how innocent the thoughts of these two mature women had become.

The dream carried on.

It seemed—

The dream was running along two entirely unrelated paths, "scandalous" and "pure-hearted" advancing side by side.

But somehow, mysteriously, something crucial was stringing the two together.

And that was Isagi!

Gradually, the boy wasn't just appearing in the girls' scandalous bed anymore.

He began appearing in their imaginations too.

Whether it was Alfia or Asfi, whenever they tried to picture the exact face of their future "lover" or "husband"—

Somehow.

It was always the boy's figure that appeared.

"!!!"

____

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