“Guard!!!! Catch this woman at once!!!”
Ujikkeun-
“Y-Yes!!! Do you know who I am!!”
Kuwoong
“Wait!! D-Don’t do this, let’s talk it out! Talk! Aaaagh!!”
Kwaaaang
“I understand! I’ll do what you want, just stop!!!”
Peok- Peok-
“Guh..! I’m sorry.. I’m so sorry.. Please just spare me this once…”
.
.
.
Ah. So refreshing.
From the moment this guy kept staring at me creepily, I felt my anger rising.
So I hit him without mercy, and it felt like a weight was lifted off my chest.
Looking down, I saw Gorjan kneeling, begging me to spare him.
‘..Did I go too far?’
Seeing Gorjan sobbing, with tears and snot all over while rubbing his hands together, I felt a twinge of guilt.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t really done anything wrong.
But recalling his face looking at me as if he had caught an easy target, it seemed good to establish dominance like this.
Turning to the side, I saw Dania looking at me with a slightly flustered expression.
“Hera…I think this is a bit…”
“Unnie, it’s important not to be underestimated. He was definitely looking like he was planning to stab us in the back at any moment.”
“N-No.. I wasn’t thinking that-”
“And didn’t you feel his gaze earlier? He was definitely eyeing us with ill intentions.”
“No.. I was just trying to see his expression…”
“I hear a continuous buzzing from the side. Is there a mosquito around?”
“Huhhh!”
Lifting my foot to lightly tap the ground, Gorjan jumped up in shock and started to flee.
Dania sighed and looked at Gorjan with pity.
“Well, if you say so…”
After that, everything went smoothly.
Gorjan agreed to meet all our demands in exchange for power in the West and promised to start implementing the plan immediately from tomorrow.
However, he requested that we never come back.
Still feeling a little guilty, I asked if there was anything I could help with.
He mentioned that monsters had started appearing everywhere recently and asked if we could take care of them.
Dealing with monsters? As long as they weren’t calamity-grade monsters, I could handle it easily.
‘That’s right, as a thinking being, people should talk it out.’
Thus, we completed a very beneficial transaction for both parties, with Gorjan even shedding tears.
After wrapping up everything, I was on my way back with Dania.
“People being sold…”
Perhaps reminded of earlier events, Dania muttered in a slightly low voice.
I had asked Gorjan what goods could be traded with other regions from Drax, and he replied that they sold people.
Not just anyone, but criminals.
It turns out Drax has become notorious as a haven for criminals. But actually, this rumor wasn’t natural; it was deliberately spread.
It was a covert scheme by Drax and the Empire to lure criminals escaping justice to this city.
Every year numerous criminals sneak into Drax, and the kings of various regions kidnap these criminals and sell them as slaves to the Empire.
They could earn quite a bit of money in bounty and as slaves, it seems.
And being a lawless zone, no one would suspect if a few people went missing one day.
The criminals transported to the Empire undergo memory-erasing magic and are reduced to a lifetime of labor.
‘Who would have thought there was such a backstory?’
In the novel, Drax was mentioned only briefly in character backstories, and I had no idea it maintained a secret relationship with the Empire.
It seems reality really is different from fiction.
Shaking off the distracting thoughts in my head, I decided to reassure Dania.
“They’re all serious criminals who have committed major crimes.”
To be on the run from the Empire, they must have committed at least murder or worse.
There’s no need to feel compassion for those kinds of criminals.
“Still, the thought of people disappearing without anyone knowing in our neighborhood is a bit scary…”
Dania said with a sad smile.
Perhaps she was thinking of Lily.
“It’s okay, Unnie. They said they’d strengthen the security. And if anything happens, I’m here with you.”
“Oh my.. How reassuring.”
So we chatted amiably until we reached the front of our home.
Looking at the sky, it was cloaked in deep darkness.
“I didn’t expect it to take this long.”
“Lily must be waiting a lot.”
“Indeed.”
As Dania answered and opened the door, someone rushed towards her and leaped into her arms.
“Unnie! Why did you come back so late?”
Dania stroked Lily’s head, responding in a gentle voice.
“I’m sorry… I’ll make you dinner, your favorite.”
“..Okay.”
As soon as Dania finished her conversation, Lily quickly turned her head to look at me.
I instinctively shrank back at the sharp gaze Lily was giving me.
“Uh…Hello, Lily?”
“….”
“You waited a long time, right? But there’s no need to worry since nothing happened!”
A discreet message sent to Lily that nothing happened between Dania and me.
Understanding my intent, Lily’s expression softened.
“I’ve made a wish..”
A wish?
Ah, I had said I would grant a wish when I came back.
I brushed it off lightly, but it seemed that wasn’t what Lily had in mind.
“So? What’s the wish?”
“A bath.”
“Huh?”
“Please take a bath with me.”
Dania’s eyes nearby began to shake vigorously.
*
“Shall we go in, Lily?”
I entered the bathroom with Lily, once again seeing my pristine body.
Though I had already seen it before, I wasn’t as flustered this time.
“Y-Yeah…”
Lily’s face turned bright red. Was it the heat of the bathroom?
As we stepped inside, there was a bathtub large enough that it seemed one adult male would fill it completely.
‘Just as Lily said.’
Earlier, Dania had eagerly asked to join us.
“Absolutely not, Unnie. There’s not enough room in the tub.”
Rejected flatly by Lily.
After being turned down by Lily, Dania muttered something akin to, ‘I should ask Gorjan for a… bathroom expansion…’
Seems she really wanted to bathe with Lily.
But looking at the size of the bathtub, it was definitely impossible for three people to fit in. It was just big enough for me and Lily to squeeze in together.
‘Still, that’s a relief…’
If Dania had joined us, I would have to keep my eyes on the ground the entire time.
I mean, could I have kept my sanity even after seeing Dania’s absolutely stunning body?
If I let my guard down for even a moment, my gaze would definitely drift toward her chest.
And that would have been extremely disrespectful to Dania.
Setting aside the lewd thoughts creeping into my mind, I slowly immersed my body into the tub.
“Hahhhh…”
Hiah.. this feels so good..
As I sank into the warm water, a sound escaped from me without realizing it.
How long had it been since I took a bath?
I hadn’t often bathed even before possessing this body.
Except for the occasional trips to the sauna with friends, I had mostly opted for quick showers instead of long baths.
So maybe that’s why, this warm sensation enveloping my body felt like it was washing away all the fatigue I’d built up so far.
“Lily, hurry and get in too.”
“….”
When I called to Lily, who was hesitating in front of me, she slowly stepped into the bathtub, sitting over me.
Lily’s shoulders naturally turned towards my face.
I rested my chin on her shoulder and asked, “Is the water temperature okay?”
“Hyah?!”
Lily jumped at my words, her body twitching as if tickled.
“What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable?”
“Ah…No! Just give me a moment…”
Oh, is that it?
I remember when I was young, sometimes I felt a ticklish sensation when entering a hot bath.
So I’d roll around until I got used to the temperature.
Thinking that Lily might be going through the same adjustment, I decided to stay still as she requested.
Shortly after, Lily seemed to calm down and started leaning comfortably against me.
To help her relax even more, I gently pulled Lily’s waist closer toward me.
“Hehe…”
She seemed to be enjoying the soft warmth that enveloped her.
Behind the rosy cheeks was the delighted smile of a girl.
‘She’s such a cheerful child…’
I recalled the hollow expression Lily had in the novel.
She lived a mechanical life, almost as if she was unable to die.
While she did show emotions after meeting the protagonist, most were dark obsessions.
It seemed she rarely displayed a genuinely happy expression.
I didn’t originally plan on interfering with heroines, but as I developed a bond with Lily, I wouldn’t let her grow up unhappily as she did in the story.
After three years, she would surely enter the academy, make new friends, and have numerous delightful experiences.
While the idea of her getting along with Robin suddenly made me feel uneasy, I knew he was a kind and just character, so he wouldn’t neglect Lily either.
Do well, Robin. If you ever make Lily cry, I won’t let you off easily.
As I made this fierce resolve toward the protagonist, I felt Lily shifting around above me.
Lily then turned her body to face me.
Suddenly, her gaze bore into me intensely.
There was a strange expression in her eyes that seemed to seek something.
The atmosphere shifted.
“Hera Unnie.”
“Uhm?..”
Lily was staring at me intently, and for some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off her peculiar gaze.
“I’m going to kiss you.”
It was not a request; it was a declaration.
Feeling the unusual tension, I found myself bewildered.
A kiss…? Right now? Well… it’s not that I dislike it…
The skinship we had always shared was a light form of greeting, so I was puzzled.
But knowing Lily’s tendency to need comfort, I closed my eyes, moving my face toward her cheek as she had requested—
Chook-
“Huh?”
What I felt was a sensation far wetter than just her cheek.
When I opened my eyes to check, my lips were pressed against Lily’s.
“L-Lily?!! What is this?!”
Surprised, I pushed Lily away from me, and she was breathing heavily as she looked back at me.
“Why are you like this, Unnie…?”
“W-Why are you asking me?! What… what was with our lips?!”
Is she too young to understand? Lily seemed utterly unfazed despite our lips meeting.
“What? There’s nothing strange about girls kissing, right?”
Lily looked at me as if I were the odd one.
Huh? There’s nothing strange about it?
Ah… wait, isn’t it unusual to kiss even among girls?
My head began to spin.
Having been a man before the possession, I wasn’t knowledgeable about the skinship among girls.
I remember that unlike men, who would shudder at mere accidental touches, girls seemed to engage in various skinship without hesitation.
I had seen many girls walking down the street linked arm in arm, holding hands, or resting their heads on each other’s shoulders.
‘But I’ve never seen two girls actually kiss…!!’
Not knowing where the boundaries of acceptable skinship lay, I wondered if kissing on the lips was merely an acceptable expression as Lily had said.
‘Now that I think of it, I think I’ve seen videos of girls playfully kissing…’
Besides, this place isn’t Earth, but the world of The Indomitable Hero.
The common sense I knew might not apply here.
“So…is that so?”
“Of course! I don’t understand why you’re so flustered.”
“R-Right… I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”
As I admitted my mistake, Lily smiled gently and approached me once more.
Chook-
Once again, her lips touched mine.
“So from now on, please do it on the lips.”
“Y-Yeah… I’ll do it…”
Thank goodness I found out in advance. If I had continued to be oblivious, I could have found myself in a much more awkward situation later.
It was embarrassing, but a part of me thought it worked out well. I started to feel hot, and I decided to exit the bathroom.
“Well then… I’ll wash up first and head out. Would you like to stay a bit longer, Lily?”
“No.”
Lily quietly followed me out of the bathtub.
As she approached me slowly, I felt an inexplicable pressure as if her body was tightening around me.
Once she came close, Lily grabbed my wrist and said, “Hh…?”
“I’ll wash you, Unnie.”
She gazed at me with the eyes of a predator watching its prey.
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