Chapter 72

〈 Chapter 72 〉 Pandora’s Box

*

Rather than a momentary decision, it was more accurate to describe it as a linear impulse.

If the hero’s emotional upheaval stemmed from a desire for physical contact with me…

Well, I thought it was a simple-minded way of thinking that I could just fulfill what she wanted.

The reason I kissed her hand instead of any other body part was simply that.

It was the compromise between my wish to fulfill the hero’s desires and my conscience that couldn’t dirty the body of a girl who was akin to a niece.

A kiss on the hand could be considered a polite gesture in formal settings.

For a spur-of-the-moment solution, I thought it was quite decent.

”Hoo····.”

After gently peeling my lips off the hero’s hand, which they had been stuck to like a post-it, I took a moment to catch my breath.

Given that I was always on the receiving end of affection, initiating physical contact was far more exhausting than I had imagined.

And on top of that, the other party was the hero.

A flush crept onto my face.

My lips trembled uncontrollably.

It felt like someone had dropped a tiny bug inside my clothes, making my back itch incessantly.

Had there not been any justification for calming the hero’s rampage, I surely would have found sitting in this place a torment.

”I can handle this much easily. Please don’t do such things again.”

I scolded her in a firm tone, wrapping my impulsive act in a calculated guise.

Next, I cautiously examined the scar on the hero’s lip.

A reddish bite mark that had thoroughly mangled her lower lip.

If I had been just a little late in stopping her, it wouldn’t have been surprising if her lip had been punctured.

In the past, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered.

But now, how long had it been since I had witnessed the hero, a being so much stronger than the likes of me, bleeding?

As my head throbbed from digging into hazy old memories, it didn’t seem like that was the only cause of my headache.

”Oh God. I am merely your finger. A mere lamb. Under your authority, may all things on this land find rest. That glory shall all be devoted to you.”

After quietly whispering a prayer, I completely healed the hero’s wound before continuing my unfinished scolding.

”As I said before, it’s entirely natural for someone your age to have an interest in the opposing gender. Of course, wanting something forcefully while ignoring the other person’s will, like earlier, is not right. But having such thoughts isn’t something to feel overly guilty about.”

I realized my tone had transformed, sounding like a parent confronted with their child watching adult films, as I reached a point in my lecture that delved into the moral tales of yin and yang.

How much time had passed since then?

”Uh, Hero? Are you listening?”

”····”

By this point, I thought there would at least be a light response, but when there was none, I called the hero with a tone filled with suspicion.

”Hey, Hero?”

”····”

Yet the hero just silently stared at her own hand where I had just touched my lips.

I waved my hand in front of her eyes multiple times to check her consciousness.

But the hero’s eyes, like a CCTV camera with limited movement, remained fixated on the same spot.

”Hero! Get a grip! Hero!”

Even when I snapped my fingers or shook her shoulders roughly, the hero’s stillness was akin to witnessing a soulless person.

Worried something might be wrong, I even checked her pulse and leaned in to listen to her heart and breathing, but there were no signs of anything amiss.

She was just spaced out.

As I struggled to accept the disappointing conclusion of my long deliberation…

CRACK! BANG!

Right then, a foreboding sound echoed along with the old wood splintering under excess weight as my previously solid door burst apart.

”Kyaaah! The, the door! It’s broken! Wh, what do I do? What should I do, Sisters!”

”S, see! I told you not to push! How many times do I have to say this?”

”B, but! From the room of that infamous Regis Priest, I heard a woman’s moan! What should I do when my curiosity is piqued?”

The intruders, the apprentices of the sisters responsible for this area, were having a ridiculous debate using the broken door as their mat.

The sight of similar figures in identical outfits piled up together resembled a game of Puyo Puyo.

With the same three blocks gathering, surely they’d vanish soon.

Such escapism was flooding my thoughts, and my reactions slowed down slightly.

”Sisters, what are you doing…”

”R, Regis Priest! Th, this is!”

The first to respond to my question was Marianne, the sister I recognized the most among them.

She was the one who essential oversaw all tasks at the monastery, working alongside Beltein, the Sister in charge.

She placed herself in a rather awkward position, like the friend of a friend type of deal.

”I’m, I’m so sorry! Beltein Sister requested us to bring the Regis Priest to the meeting room as soon as possible! So I came to check momentarily!”

”Oh, I’ll get ready quickly. Just wait a minute, please.”

”Y, yes!”

Oops, just bit my tongue.

Seeing Marianne’s pale face, brimming with tension, made me think about changing conversation partners for a moment.

But other guests were hiding behind Marianne, anxiously glancing my way, so that didn’t seem feasible.

”Um, was there anyone else outside the door?”

”Y, yes!?”

”No need to be that tense. I’m not scolding, just asking if there was someone else outside. A tall man, perhaps…?”

”Y, yes! There was a big muscular man outside, but… Well, after hearing those sounds from inside the Regis Priest’s room, he suddenly covered his ears, started retching, and ran off somewhere…”

”Tsk…”

Instinctively, my hand flew to my forehead.

It seemed Bigtim had firmly misunderstood based on the fragmentary information coming from outside the door about the hero and me doing something inappropriate.

I’ve heard it’s a horrifying noise for siblings to hear their own sister’s moans.

Still, it was rather disappointing that Bigtim had fled without confirming the facts, even if just a little.

The thought of being entangled with the hero? No way.

That shouldn’t ever happen, no matter what, or it shouldn’t even be an option.

”I understand why Sister Marianne is here. But what were the other sisters doing in front of my room…?”

”Um, well…”

At my hinting question, everyone averted their gazes.

Some sisters even hid their faces behind their hoods, completely covering their tomato-like faces.

I felt a tinge of suspicion at their awkward behavior, and as my tangled thoughts began to unravel slowly, the sinister clues around me started to come into view.

A pair of sweaty bodies in a sealed room.

Intermittent moans leaking out from beyond the door.

Red drops of blood staining the white bed sheets.

The thick smell of cigarettes saturating the small room.

Everything appeared as if someone had set a mine to strangle me.

”E, everyone! Just wait a minute!!!”

I hurriedly hugged the hero, covering her face.

Fortunately, she happened to be wearing an obstructive necklace, so as long as her face wasn’t seen straight on, there was no worry of her identity leaking out.

But.

”Kyaah─!! You hugged me─!!!”

Right after that, the pink screams erupted from them, and my head momentarily went blank.

I couldn’t even muster a proper response.

No matter how intense the urgency in my next words, it would surely sound like a flimsy excuse in such a situation.

Despite all this chaos, the hero remained unmoving, still gazing blankly at her hand.

Though it seemed her hand was slowly inching toward her lips, the pace was so slow it felt like comparing it to a snail.

If someone insisted it was just my imagination, I could easily go with that.

”Everyone, hold on! Just hold on! Listen to me!”

”It’s okay! Regis Priest! We didn’t see, didn’t see anything today!”

”Kyaaah!”

Bitterly closing my eyes, as I was blocked by Marianne, the delighted screams of the sisters poured out from behind.

Among them was a sister fervently scribbling with glimmering eyes.

Some had their hands over their eyes, but in between, there were a few wide-open sisters.

”You guys, it’s not like that! The truth is…!”

I quickly covered the hero with a blanket draped over her to hide her face.

Just then, as I began to slowly rise from the heavy burden of the bed to clarify, clatter.

Right then, something fell from my pocket and rolled on the floor, drawing all eyes toward the single point.

”Th, that’s…!”

What lay there was a small box, barely the size of a palm.

A special little box meant for storing precious items that couples promise to each other, proving their affection.

It was a box filled with precious gems among treasures.

In other words.

”That’s a… ring box, isn’t it…?!”

*