Chapter 70

〈 Chapter 70 〉 Resistance

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It was great that the Hero prevented me from touching the cigarette by instantly sucking it out of water, but…

This reckless behavior put no thought to the burden on my clean lungs, which had been free from smoking for a long time.

Right after that, I struggled to catch my breath amidst a series of coughs that lasted quite a while.

”Cough! Cough!”

”A-Are you alright, Priest!?”

It felt like someone was shoving a sharpened skewer down my throat and stirring it relentlessly.

Memories of the nightmare from the gas masks I had sunk into a swamp of oblivion tried to resurface like a buoy bobbing on the ocean’s surface, but…

Since it was a memory I didn’t want to recall at all, I decided to let it sink again.

’’I’m so sorry, Priest. I shouldn’t have said anything… It seems I was momentarily out of sorts…’’

”C-Cough! No! I’m fine! Cough! Cough! I-I’m okay.”

I softly responded to the Hero’s worried voice while shaking off the ashes tangled around the half-burned cigarette.

”Here’s the ashtray!”

”Oh, t-thank you.”

The ashes I was going to casually drop on the floor landed perfectly into the ashtray handed to me by the Hero.

An adult in a priest’s robe receiving a cigarette from a young woman.

The whole scenario was so absurd it could stir a thick cloud of smoke in my thoughts like a chimney.

Yet, the Hero’s eyes, looking at me, were so sparkling…

I just couldn’t bring myself to refuse that innocent goodwill.

”Hero, you understand now? Smoking is a harmful act with no benefits…”

I placed the cigarette between my index and middle fingers, scratching my forehead with my ring finger as I murmured lazily.

Since it was a statement coming from someone who had just inhaled a cigarette like drinking water, the persuasive power of that statement was approaching zero.

But then again, smokers tend to be a contradiction, burning through packs a day while urging non-smokers to quit.

So it wasn’t that unnatural of a phenomenon.

“Don’t smoke like this, okay?”

I thought I would never have to say something like that.

It seems I too was an unavoidable smoker.

”Yes! I’ll keep that in mind!”

The Hero, kneeling demurely on the bed, raised one hand high into the air in response to my words.

Watching that energetic gesture was like seeing a top student with a question for the teacher, and I couldn’t help but let out a fond smile, but…

It felt wrong to ruin the serious atmosphere with laughter during a serious lecture, so I cleared my throat with a solemn cough.

”Cough! Cough! The air is a bit stale. Should we open a window, Hero?”

”Ugh! Yes! I’ll do it!”

After unbuttoning a few buttons of his priest robe, he inserted two fingers into the collar to secure his airflow.

”Huh…”

That uneasy sensation, as if the exhaled breath was tainted with impurities.

My body felt bad, and I was in a bad mood. I truly couldn’t understand why I had smoked so much in my youth.

No, actually, while I understood it in my head, it felt more appropriate to want to pretend I didn’t know it in my heart.

Yeah, I too had moments like that.

Sitting at the window with a cigarette in one hand, staring off into the distance with teary eyes, thinking I looked somewhat cool.

There was a time when I was deeply enraptured by such thoughts.

Looking back now, it was a history I wouldn’t just kick the blanket over; I might have wanted to slash it with a knife.

Yet that strong desire to sever my shameful past is what allowed me to quit smoking, despite my dwindling self-control.

Isn’t it quite ironic?

I realized that humans who long to erase their dark histories can sometimes wield enormous power from that wish, probably from that time onward.

”Huh.”

Just as I was about to take my last puff, bidding farewell to that frivolous journey with a faint smirk…

”Hero?”

I suddenly locked eyes with the Hero, who had twisted awkwardly, resting both hands on the closed window handle.

That strange posture resembled a doll whose neck joint was turned sideways, but…

It was obvious that within the divine azure eyes, shining like the purest sapphire, there lay a colossal yearning of some sort.

Calling her an emotionless doll wouldn’t quite fit the truth of her.

With powerful strides, her approach resembled that of a wolf drawn by the smell of meat, closing the distance between us steadily.

”Hero…?”

Before I knew it, the Hero grabbed both my arms, roughly pinning my body onto the bed.

Thud.

The entire sequence of movements felt like I was watching it in slow motion, so incredibly sluggish and lethargic.

Maybe it was that undeniable confidence I had, knowing the Hero wouldn’t harm me, which dulled my sense of crisis.

By the time I collected my wits, my body was completely restrained under the Hero, who had climbed onto my waist, firmly fixing my arms on the bed.

Due to the closeness of our breaths, I could clearly see what the stormy blue retinas were chasing amid the downpour of a lake.

My sweat-drenched face.

The prominent dip of my collarbone.

The glimpse of my firm flesh through the lifted hem of my outfit.

The hazy scene reflected in the Hero’s eyes resembled a TV screen flickering with random channels being switched at will.

”Gah! I-I’m so sorry! I-I’ll get off right away!”

Just then.

It seemed the Hero regained composure, as a visibly flustered voice spilled out, and suddenly, they began to struggle.

But for some reason, the grip tightening around my body didn’t lessen; if anything, it grew stronger.

”Huh? I-I’ll move now! Um, um? Huh?”

It seemed the Hero attempted to bounce off my waist to get off me.

Yet, the arms of the Hero remained firmly attached to my wrists, unwavering.

Creek creek.

As raspy breaths mixed with the eerie creaks of the old bed, unspeakable imaginations I shouldn’t have were sprouting in my head, and it felt like I was dying.

”Hero! You don’t have to force yourself off! Just! Just leave my body alone for a moment!”

”I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

If someone had lost the remote control to their own body, I truly thought it must feel like the Hero right now.

The warm temperature emanating from the Hero’s plump thighs pressed against my side felt like a hand warmer.

The sweet scent unique to her feminine form seemed to be deliberately provoking something primal within me.

”Huh…”

I chewed on the cigarette smoke lingering in my mouth, trying to empty my mind.

It was a moment when the emotional control I had acquired through diligent effort during my training as an apprentice priest shone through, especially after suffering from the saint’s sexual harassment.

”Hero… are you alright?”

”I-I’m sorry, sorry! Priest! After seeing you exhale seductive breaths while holding a cigarette so closely, all of a sudden! My body just stopped obeying!”

”…Excuse me?”

”I’ve just realized! The reason you sealed off your smoking until now was to protect innocent women from your enchanting charm!”

”…”

I found myself at a loss for words.

I had expected the Hero to sometimes say something nonsensical when their body’s instincts surpassed their mind, but…

To boldly present such a weak argument from the very foundations of logic was quite rare.

Come to think of it, it was this very person who had written down absurd rumors on the wanted posters claiming I was seducing innocent women.

”You need to stay calm, Priest! I just thought of a way to resolve this crisis with my extraordinary mind! So! Don’t worry about my body! Feel free to struggle and shake me off! This is the moment I’m actively suppressing my sinister desires!”

”Hero… With you clutching my body like this, how can I move…”

”Hmm? I mean no offense! But the strength I’m exerting right now is but a fraction of my normal power! If you put in your full effort, you should be able to shake me off!”

”Even if that were to be reduced below half, I wouldn’t be able to escape easily… You know very well, Hero. How would I win against you with sheer strength? Please stop joking and get off quickly. If you can’t manage it alone, just call Bigtim to keep watch outside…”

”Huh?”

The way I announced my pitiful surrender seemed to surprise the Hero, who tilted their head in confusion.

”Then… Is this truly your full strength?”

”Yes. Sadly, this modest effort is all I can muster. Didn’t you notice when you clung to my waist a moment ago?”

”I-I thought you were just playing along with my insistence!”

”Ah…”

It seemed the Hero misjudged my capabilities until this very moment.

No wonder the training we had undergone together felt distinctly stronger than usual.

They probably knew I was fragile, but had no idea it was to this extent.

It wasn’t that strange of a thing.

Judging how much a little ant could lift compared to a mountain-sized dragon is a pointless task and entirely unnecessary.

”Ah, no! Priest, you must resist suddenly… you must resist!”

”But this is my utmost effort and I’ve told you so several times… Hero…?”

Then, just after that.

The Hero’s grip tightening around my wrist swelled in size.

A breath like a spider’s web ensnaring its prey settled enticingly on my collarbone.

—Triona Abigail, 18 years old.
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