EP.175 The Calm Before the Storm
”They said it was a fun game. It wasn’t. They lied. Lying is bad. Very bad.”
Thud. Thud.
With the Saintess behind me, repeatedly headbutting my back with her red, swollen forehead, I resolutely stared ahead.
Then, I inadvertently met the fierce gaze of the hawk watching its prey, and chills ran down my spine.
”Idiot······.”
”Apis······. We agreed to speak nicely in front of the Saintess······.”
I had to restrain myself for the sake of appearances, but I couldn’t refute that sharp remark that struck at my conscience.
A so-called clergy member engaging with a woman even in a drunken stupor. Let alone, the other party was a nun who pledged her purity to God.
Though the Saintess might have encouraged the act, I reveled in it myself, so right now, I had no words even if I had ten mouths.
But I didn’t have the luxury of wallowing in guilt gnawing at my insides.
”Apis. What should I do? The Hero will be back soon······.”
”I don’t know. Go die or something.”
Her utterly unhelpful response made my vision blur for a moment.
It wasn’t so much that she was being bothersome, but rather it felt like she was utterly exhausted.
That was understandable.
It was quite unreasonable of me to seek such earnest advice from Apis, who had come home in the early dawn after fruitlessly searching all night for the missing Holy Sword.
But unfortunately, since Dawna and Bigtim were still in disarray, she was the only one I could rely on.
”Why are you making a fuss over just one fling? From what I hear, it’s just that little Saintess causing a commotion. When the Hero returns, just give her a good slap. Even just holding hands will make her smile like an idiot. That’ll settle everything, right?”
”Apis······.”
Within ten minutes of starting the consultation, I realized I had picked the wrong person to talk to.
Whether it was a fundamental difference between the long-lived races and the short-lived or an innate disposition, Apis had a tendency to treat the act of mingling bodies fairly lightly.
Just the other day, she casually asked when I was going to get busy with the Hero while serving snacks; I could hardly believe my ears.
She, of all people, a virgin for several hundred years.
I felt a sharp retort rise up my throat, but saying it would surely lead to an arrow piercing my throat, so I forcefully swallowed it down.
”You know I can’t do that due to my position, right·····.”
”Ah! What even is that position of yours? Fine! I get that there are restrictions on women! But what’s stopping you guys from having a little fun! Plus, aren’t you not even a novice anymore!”
Was my frustrating attitude really that displeasing to her?
All of a sudden, Apis irritatedly cleared her throat.
Her voice was so loud that I could feel the eyes of everyone in the dining area turning towards us, clearly too perceptive.
”Ah, Apis!”
”Don’t even try to make lame excuses! You can’t fool my eyes!”
”Ugh!”
Apis, with her feet carelessly propped up on the table, roughly grabbed my collar.
The distance was so close we could almost touch noses.
While my eyes struggled to find somewhere else to look, her unwavering gaze bore straight into mine, unearthing the pitiful truths I had buried out of fear of showing to others.
”You’re hiding something, aren’t you? Spill it out while I’m being nice.”
”······!”
The reason I had staunchly rejected the love advances from the Hero and the Saintess all this time.
Until now, I had claimed it was due to religious positions, societal perceptions, and guilt from past failures.
In reality, the truth was so much more sordid than I had publicly stated.
I didn’t want to tell anyone.
Honestly, I wanted to take it to my grave.
Apis had undoubtedly seen through my pathetic reasoning.
What kind of reaction would the possessive Hero, who had transcended ordinary senses, have upon discovering that I had mingled my body with another woman?
It goes without saying that sweeping that fact under the rug was nearly impossible.
The only way to calm the Hero’s wrath when it reached its peak was, of course, to use my body, and no one knew that better than I did.
But up until now, I had been closing my eyes to all of these facts, postponing my resolution.
Because.
”The truth is······.”
◈◈◈
”So, you couldn’t stop yourself once you started, and that’s why you had to hold back, right?”
Not daring to affirm it out loud, I simply nodded my head, face buried in my hands.
Thanks to the heat radiating from my palms, I was painfully aware that my face was as red as a tomato.
”Hmm? What do you want to stop? Welna from eating?”
”No. Please keep eating, Saintess. Just don’t forget your veggies along with the meat.”
”······Fine.”
Though it somewhat bothered me that the Saintess was part of this embarrassing conversation,
I was rather relieved that the Saintess, who was furiously picking through the breakfast brought by the waiter and only eating meat, seemed completely indifferent to our discussion.
”Ha, so you were just worried about that?”
”Just worried? Excuse me!”
”Wah!? Hey! Don’t scream like that! What’s wrong with you!”
As I jumped up from my seat, Apis stared at me, eyes wide in shock.
Seeing her startled face like that was rare; she clearly hadn’t expected me to raise my voice so suddenly.
Yet, even I, the naive easy target, had lines I couldn’t let someone cross.
Apis wouldn’t know.
How incredibly tormenting it was for someone in my position, burdened with all the stunning beauties vying for attention.
Anyone who hasn’t experienced the maddening agony of feeling like a twisted faucet with the rubber hose being stomped on wouldn’t get it.
Furthermore, I was on the high end of the sexual desire spectrum.
Back when I was an apprentice priest, my mentor had told me I had enough vigor to feel satisfied merely by holding a girl’s hand.
Just once.
Just once, if I were to act on my desires with those beauties, I would completely lose control of the corrupt cravings inside me.
As far as this one fact went, I could assert it without a doubt.
”If you underestimate a human male’s sexual desire, you’ll be in for a world of trouble, Apis. If I weren’t a priest and hadn’t undergone training to suppress my urges when I was young, I might have doubled or tripled our party members by now.”
”Is it really that much······?”
Upon hearing my grave tone, Apis appeared dumbfounded, blinking rapidly in disbelief.
Her slightly flushed face, with a drop of cold sweat trailing down her cheek, made her look like a curious child just awakening to the world of desire.
Of course, in reality, she was a four-hundred-year-old elf.
”Um, excuse me······.”
Just then, a young waiter unexpectedly barged into our embarrassing conversation, and finally, I regained my composure.
”Ah! S-sorry! For causing a ruckus in the shop!”
I hurriedly bowed my head, apologizing to the waiter.
It was an unusual mistake for me to make.
I was the one who usually restrained my companions when they argued over trivial things.
Perhaps from letting out all the pent-up frustrations I rarely spoke about.
By the time my awareness came back, my mouth had already unleashed all the grievances I had kept bottled up like a waterfall.
A wave of self-loathing washed over me afterward.
No matter how much I’d accumulated over time, that wasn’t an excuse.
How could I blurt out such crude words in front of everyone?
Who could possibly believe I was a priest after all this?
I was left feeling miserable.
”Ah, no! That’s not it; I was asked to deliver this······.”
”······?”
Upon hearing that, I slowly lifted my head, realizing the waiter wasn’t empty-handed.
Something wrapped in a dirty cloth, roughly the size of a person’s upper body.
”Hey, what is that······?”
”······!”
Apis quickly grasped the situation before I did.
”It was from someone named Davi who asked me to pass this along······.”
It was unmistakable.
The Holy Sword. The Holy Sword.
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