Volume 3 Chapter 5 Let's Talk About Love!
By the time dinner was over, the night had deepened considerably. The moon had also leaned far to the west. I may have spent too much time processing monster meat.
It's already late, so I'll just go to bed. The chances of the extermination team attacking tonight are minimal. Since I scattered the blood and bones of high-ranking monsters around, there shouldn't be any monsters coming here. For now, this area can be considered a safe zone. However, that doesn't mean I can let my guard down.
"I'll keep watch over the fire. Cirrul, you can rest assured and sleep."
'But, sleeping in front of the gentlemen...'
Cirrul seemed excessively embarrassed, but from my perspective, it's like sharing a bedroom with a large reptile. As a normal equipment fetishist, there shouldn't be any mishaps. Just endure it.
'Oh, um, Sir Noroa. Please don't look at me while I'm sleeping, okay?'
'There's no demand to see a reptile sleeping, right?'
I didn't say it out loud, but for once, I agreed with Juju.
"Anyway, let's go to sleep..."
'Let's talk about love instead! After all, love talk is a must when camping out, right?'
Juju seems to be in a vacation mood, with high spirits. I want to tell her to go to sleep quickly, but she might have napped a lot during the day and might not be able to sleep.
'Hey, reptile. Do you have a lover or something?'
'A lover? In that case, I have plenty.'
"...!?"
Oh, unexpectedly playing the field?
'Wow... you're a pure-looking bitch, huh?'
Juju made a disgusted face as she asked, even though she had asked herself. Being looked down upon by this doll might be the end of her as a person.
"By the way, how many lovers do you have?"
'About ten thousand or so.'
"Wha...? That's a bit too many, isn't it?"
'Oh, hehe... is that so?'
"No, I'm not complimenting you."
'If I were serious, I could increase that number even more.'
"Ten thousand isn't serious? Then...?"
'This one's quite the beast...'
I'm starting to get a headache. I feel like I've glimpsed into some forbidden underworld.
"But, I see... you have so many lovers..."
'Are you possibly trying to get with her? Give it up, she's like the princess of some nerd party.'
Nerd party?
"No, that's not it. I thought that if she had a lot of lovers, she might be able to afford the Beast & Rose cost."
――The curse of having to love someone.
The severity of this curse varies from person to person. It was just bad luck for me, but for others it might be pretty light.
The problem is, how much does it mean to "love someone from the heart"?... I should be able to say that I love someone enough to be their lover. This way, I might be able to turn Cirrul back into a human right away.
"Let's have Cirrul kiss one of her lover. If just one person cooperates, that's all we need..."
'K-kiss with a lover? B-but that's indecent!'
Huh, even though she's playing around, she's surprisingly conservative?
'"Kiss" isn't allowed until after you get married! If you "kiss", you'll have a baby!'
"Huh?" "What?"
Juju looks confused, but I probably look the same way.
"Um, so... what if we kiss with a lover with the intention of getting married?"
"I can't get married to a lover! We don't even know each other that well yet..."
"...Um, so, what's your lover?"
I felt a growing sense of discomfort a feeling of something being wrong or out of place).
Maybe Cirrul is misunderstanding something.
'Hey, you... do you know what a lover is?'
'Of course, I know.'
Cirrul snorts through her nose at Juju's words.
'A lover is, uh, someone you're close enough to to hold hands with, right?'
"Oh, yeah. I get it."
As I thought, or maybe more than I thought, Cirrul was more naive than I expected.
Or rather, she was pure. She must have been deliberately kept away from that kind of knowledge.
"Don't you have someone you really like?"
'Someone special? That's a little embarrassing, but I like the bishop?'
"Wait, isn't the bishop of this region an old lady?"
'Yes. She's a woman in her fifties."'
'You're a MILF lover even though you're a girl? That's weird, this girl...'
'I don't quite understand what "fetish" means. I like the Bishop because she teaches me a lot. She has been taking care of me like a daughter since I was a child because I don't have a family. Also, she is a wonderful person who never fails to work hard for the people. She is my aspiration.'
"I see, I understand now."
...Cirrul also doesn't know love.
At this rate, it seems like Cirrul will have a hard time paying the Cost. The feelings she has are probably just affection. It doesn't seem like she has romantic feelings for anyone in particular.
Of all people, Beast & Rose got attached to a troublesome person.
"...Huh?"
No... maybe not?
Maybe there is a 'loophole' here?
'What should I do from now on...'
Cirrul let out a weak and hoarse voice, probably because I was silent.
Her tail is also pressed flat against the ground.
'I lost everything. I only had my good looks, but now I've become so ugly. I'm hated by the people I loved, and I've been driven out of my beloved homeland...'
She lowers her face to hide her expression. However, she cannot hide the tears that have welled up in her big eyes. Her sobs, which she seems to be trying desperately to hold back, cannot be helped but leak out in her dragon form.
She probably remembered what happened right after she became a dragon. It must be a traumatic memory that gnaws at her heart.
Maybe her good looks were also a source of comfort for her. She's loved because she's pretty, her value is only there, and she has no value if it's gone... she seems to be falling into that kind of thinking.
A girl whose life was ruined by a single cursed equipment.
I would like to help her as much as possible.
"Hey, Cirrul, do you still love the people of Sunpool? The people who hated you and drove you out of your homeland..."
'...'
Cirrul nodded silently, not wanting her sobs to be heard.
Surely, she didn't stop loving them, which was why she was grieving so much.
"I see, then..."
The answer was simple. I gently wiped away Cirrul's tears.
She looked up at me with a puzzled expression, and I smiled reassuringly at her.
"――Let's go to Sunpool tomorrow. Maybe, we can find a way to turn you back into a human."
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)