Chapter 265: …Is This the Rest of the Reward?

Tavern hours ended with nothing happening.

If anything, Sagua had been hit so hard by the clan name that he could not even get drunk, and he went home hanging his head with a tired face.

While we cleaned up and the twins were in the bath, I took Hiero and Pafa to check on Nimi and the others.

When I showed my face Nimi and the others smiled with relief and thanked me for the work.

I held each of them gently, kissed them, talked a little, then came back to the living space.

I had Hiero and Pafa go in first, then took a bath myself... today’s events really had worn me out.

I watched the four of them head for Nimi’s room, went into my own, and sat on the edge of the bed.

Just feeling the soft mattress under me brought sleep. I opened my mouth wide and yawned hugely.

Heroes are still heroes even if players say all sorts of things about them, and taking that pressure without a break is tiring.

At this rate a battlefield where the tension never drops is somewhat easier. You move your body so it distracts you.

In the first place your life is on the line, so you do not think things like this...

I was laughing lightly alone when someone knocked. Hiero? I tilted my head, answered, and Erika came in.

She entered holding a pink pillow that had probably been made at the church in both hands, her cheeks faintly red, smiling.

A pale-rose slip of what looked like thin fabric, with a deep-pink stole over it. Seductive.

My blank face must have been funny. Erika laughed, kusu, closed the door, and sat beside me.

"Erika, don’t tell me you came alone..."

"Of course not. I have not forgotten you warned me before. Melaine saw me as far as the door."

"I see. I am relieved. ...Is this the rest of the reward, perhaps?"

"Yes. Tonight I will sleep beside you."

Erika said that, set the pillow on the bed, turned her body toward me, spread both hands a little, and tilted her head.

At that gentle smile with gloss in it I smiled with a troubled face and gently held her.

Erika wrapped both arms around my back and stroked me gently. That kindness made me unspeakably glad.

I buried my face in her neck. She must have just come from the bath. Soap and a pleasant rose scent.

"If I take any more reward... is that not too much?"

"You take too little. If I do not do this, you will not take it, will you?"

"That cannot be..."

I lifted my face from her neck, looked at her, and said it with a wry smile. She smiled like a mischievous child and asked, "Shall I ask everyone?" I shook my head quietly.

If Erika thinks that, probably all my lovers think it.

Strange... I have reflected, and I think I am spoiling myself quite a bit.

Erika stroked one of my cheeks, gave me a kiss that only touched, eased away, and climbed onto the bed.

...Even the underwear matching in pink. It suits her too well. Trouble.

I pulled my eyes from the underwear that had peeked out and focused as much as I could on Erika’s face.

Even so, Erika moving across the bed on all fours made her breasts sway seductively. Then she turned this way and tilted her head, so her nipples showed from her chest.

I was thinking I should look away when she called, "Come quickly? Shall we sleep?"

What is this. We have joined bodies before, and still I feel a little shy.

I smiled with a troubled face, got on the bed, and lay down beside Erika, who was already on her side looking this way.

Then both hands gently held my head and buried my face in those firm, large breasts.

When I turned on my side my face sank into the valley, and the rose scent grew stronger.

The softness of her chest against my face, and the urge to smell Erika more, made me put one arm around her waist and pull her hard against me.

"Nn, ahn... fufu. Did you know? When you are tired, Raide-san, you have a habit of spoiling yourself."

"...I feel like I spoil myself even when I am not tired."

"The strength is different. The strength of how you want me is completely different... I can tell."

I lifted my face from her chest and stared at Erika smiling with narrowed, affectionate eyes.

Looking at that glossy beauty, before I knew it I was kissing those trembling lips as if being drawn in.

"Nnun, nnn, nnu, nchua... honestly, what is it?"

"...I was looking at you, Erika, and I could not take it."

"Oh my. Passionate. But let us rest today? There is as much time as we want if we do not rush. First put your body in order."

"Aah... you are right."

I buried my face in her chest myself. From above I heard a sweet voice. "Nn, ahn... fufu, honestly..."

Erika is one thing, but Aurora and the others and Porte seem to be growing fast... how to put it. Maternity overflowing so much I start to doubt they are sixteen.

If I do not get a proper hold of myself I will be thrown away... I have to brace...

Muttering that in my heart, I let go of consciousness before I knew it and fell asleep.

Erika

"You are thinking something like you might be thrown away... are you not?"

I traced Raide-san’s hair with a finger, smiled with a troubled face, and murmured.

Something like that is as close to impossible as it gets, and still he works for nothing.

Do you not know how much we thank you, how much we love you?

A Handful who works for us and ignores how tired his own body is.

The investment matter was too sudden and startled me, true, but I can keep working because I want to do something for you.

If I am asked whether I want Raide’s child, I want one enough to answer at once.

But a little more.

I want to walk a little longer shoulder to shoulder with you.

Because your face still looks like you are bracing for something...

"The only one who thinks you have not noticed is you."

I set my forehead against Raide-san’s hair, murmured, closed my eyes, and fell asleep naturally.

The dream I saw that day was a strange one, of someone smiling at me with a troubled face.

I often do not remember dreams, but that one I remembered very clearly.

Who was it? I do not really know, but I felt like I was asked for something... that kind of dream.

Hiero

A strange feeling made me sit up. Careful not to wake Micon, Scon, and Pafa, I slipped out of bed.

I smiled at the three peaceful sleeping faces, quietly opened the door, and headed for the living room.

It did not feel dangerous, but it was a strange sensation.

If I had to compare, it was not mana like Sharle and the others. I felt an interference of power.

The living room lights were out. Raide’s room was silent too.

Erika should be sleeping beside him, so the Handful had probably fallen asleep at once.

Most of it is him pushing too hard. What is there that makes him work his body that much... he could lean on us more, Hiero thinks.

I put both hands on my hips and stood in the living room for a while, but it did not feel odd.

Maybe I imagined it... I was about to go back to Nimi’s room when someone clung to me from behind and I jumped.

"Hiero, quiet... there."

"...?"

It was Pafa who had clung to me. She covered my mouth with one hand and pointed at Raide’s room with the other.

I noticed Pafa had erased her presence. I erased mine too and watched Raide’s door.

Then the faint power I had felt earlier appeared in Raide’s bedroom. While we watched quietly, it came out through the door.

Whether you could call it power, that transparent thing seemed to notice Pafa and me, smiled in that troubled way, and vanished.

It also felt like it waved one hand. Not knowing what was what, I looked at Pafa’s face.

Pafa smiled a little, pulled my hand back to the room, closed the door, smiled softly, and started talking.

"Probably something we do not know is watching over Raide."

"Something even we do not know... is there such a thing?"

"Because... Hiero, do you know what that was?"

"I do not, but..."

I said it with my lips poked out and Pafa squished both of my cheeks, puni puni... stop that.

Pafa smiled softly and told me it had started appearing a little before I took form.

Is there no danger? I asked. "You were waved at, right?" she said, and I became sure the feeling of being waved at was not my imagination.

"Honestly... it is all mysteries, and I cannot help having fun."

"And it is too stimulating. Honestly, what is going on..."

"...Did you fall?"

"I did not fall."

Protesting quietly, sulky, the two of us went back to bed, talked a little, and slept.

...I feel like I dreamed someone stroking my head. Imagination, maybe?