Chapter 127 - Pillow Talk and the Ghost's True Form
"…And about my next request."
"You had a few of them, right?"
Marmie nodded.
"…I want to learn how to pleasure myself soon, so I want you to teach me about petting."
"What do you mean, 'soon'?!"
"…'Soon' means 'soon'!"
Without hesitation, Marmie shed her nightgown. Then she reached for her underwear. It looked familiar, but it had a little tulip embroidered on it. Probably just my imagination. Her skin was a translucent, ethereal white. She looked so delicate. It was a different kind of beauty from the healthy glow of Fam or Mizuki—more like a doll, or a glass sculpture that might break at the slightest touch. Her chest had only just begun to blossom. The areolas were small, with tiny, cherry-blossom-pink buds perched on top.
"You were padding!"
"…Sh-shut up."
"'Shut up'?! I'm the one who wants to cry here! It would have been better if you'd just stayed as you were, without any cheap tricks. My imagination takes it from there!"
I'd completely forgotten about being Mizuki-chan and just shouted. If I let my guard down, my true self comes out instantly. I need to remember to be Mizuki-chan.
"…"
Her cheeks were flushed. So Marmie had her pride, too. As I was thinking that, she reached for my clothes.
"…It's embarrassing if it's just me, so you take yours off too, Mizuki."
With her help, I was naked as well. I took another look at Mizuki's nude form. It really was beautiful. Two naked girls, two pairs of breasts, a study in contrasts. The only disappointment was the lack of a towering pillar in my own groin. I wanted to be sandwiched between their chests. Marmie's gaze fell upon my inguinal region.
"Mash-exclusive… prop…"
I had completely forgotten about the words Mash-kun had written on me with a marker. My face burned with shame.
"That was Mash-kun! Mash-kun…"
Her fingertip touched the letters.
"I wonder if I'll ever be like this with Mash…?"
Marmie's hand crept up from my groin and touched Mizuki's breast. She gave it a light squeeze, and her eyes widened in surprise at its softness.
"…Amazing."
Listening to Marmie's whisper, I reached out and touched her long ear. The tip was slightly firm, but the skin was smooth, with a texture close to a human's. I let my hand glide down to her cheek. From her skin, which looked like cold porcelain, I could feel a definite warmth and a soft touch.
"…Hah…"
Marmie's face flushed as she let out a small, breathy sigh. My gaze was drawn to her thin lips. I leaned in closer.
"…This will be my first kiss. Are you okay with my first being Mizuki?"
"Would you prefer it to be Mash? And are you thinking that you'll only ever be with your first person?"
Elves are said to live for a thousand years. If that's how she felt, there was no way I could go through with this.
"…I plan to be only with Mash until he dies. But after that, I think I'll find someone else. Is that okay?"
"Yes, that's fine."
"I'll tell the next person that Mash did everything."
Marmie's words were both a relief and a worry. What would the next guy think, hearing about her first time? But if that was her wish, I would save her lips for Mash. I traced her lips with my fingertip, then dabbed it onto my own.
I caressed Marmie's chin. My hand slid down her neck to her chest. When I pressed, it sank in with a soft squish.
"Nfuh…"
A small sound escaped Marmie's lips. When I touched the tiny bud at the peak, her body twitched. I pinched her nipple and rolled it between my fingers.
"Nnnh, nnh!"
Marmie wrapped her arms around me. Then she began to suck on my breast. A gentle warmth of happiness spread through me. Every time she rolled my nipple with her tongue or sucked on it, the sensation spread through my body like a wave.
"Aunn…"
Her breath was now mixed with moans. I slid my hand down to her groin. First, I searched for the entrance to her vagina with my fingertip. It was already plenty wet. I coated my finger in her juices and searched for her nub. Her clitoris was hidden beneath its hood. I carefully peeled it back and rolled the exposed bean with my fingertip.
"Annh, annh, aahh!"
Marmie cried out, then looked surprised.
"…W-Was that my voice just now?"
"Does it feel good?"
Marmie nodded. Watching her expression, I continued to move my finger. I copied the movements Mash-kun had used on Mizuki-chan yesterday. Marmie shut her eyes tightly, as if enduring it. She let out occasional moans. Her hand touched my stomach. Then it slid down to my privates, and her slender fingers touched my clitoris. An electric shock shot through my entire body, and I flinched.
"Auh!"
My legs slowly spread, as if seeking even greater pleasure. She moved her fingers, mimicking my movements. I moved my own, trying to bring her to the peak of her pleasure. The wet sounds of her juices, our mingled moans, and the rustling of the sheets.
"…M-Mizuki."
"What?"
"…It's almost time. We should get dressed…"
"Dressed?"
"…Yes, hurry!"
Her gaze darted to the box containing the crystal core. A light was leaking from within.
"Wake! Get in here!"
"N-No way! Wait a second!"
As our shouts echoed, the box shattered, and a flood of light from within filled the entire room. The crystal core was the one Mii had. He must have used his special skill to set it to turn into a dungeon on a timer. I had put it in my storage. Items in storage are preserved in the state they were in when they were put away—in other words, time doesn't pass for them. It hadn't activated while it was in there, but the timer must have started ticking again when I gave it to Marmie after the pirate subjugation. Marmie's dream and the pool of blood must have been omens of the dungeon's activation. The light subsided. We were still on the bed, naked and wrapped in each other's arms, just as before. I looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed, but the entrance door was different. It now looked like the door to an Area Guardian's room. I checked the windows. I could see the scenery outside, but they wouldn't open.
"…Wake didn't make it in time."
"You mean he was hiding somewhere?"
Marmie nodded. She got up and started putting on her underwear. It was indeed a familiar-looking pair. I did the same, pulling on the underwear that Fam had worn—Racshell's underwear.
"…He was outside the door, reading the presence within. The plan was for him to come in as soon as the crystal core activated, but I made the call too late."
"You had him playing Peeping Tom?! If I were ordered to do a job like that, I'd quit being a knight on the spot!"
But on second thought, maybe it was a perk of the job. Either way, he would have heard Mizuki's moans and nearly seen her naked. I couldn't decide if him not coming in was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Are you okay with Wake seeing you naked, Marmie?"
"…It's fine. A long time ago, I was extremely curious about lewd things and wanted someone to teach me, so I asked Wake."
"…I don't want anyone to see Mizuki's naked body, though."
She really was a wild one. Something about her was definitely off-center. I hurriedly got dressed as well. As usual, I couldn't fasten the bra. Marmie helped me as I fumbled with it.
"You know how to put on a bra, Marmie?"
"…You just said something incredibly rude. I will never forgive you."
"Wait, Mizuki was the one who said it. Don't be mad at Mash."
I took a shield and a one-handed sword from my storage and equipped them. While I was at it, I took out my phone and checked the time. It was past midnight. The time to switch back should be coming soon. I checked my character sheet. Profession was listed as Swordsman, and the special skills section showed Super Kill, Super Expansion, and Super Save. I wondered if I could even activate them. And I had no confidence I could properly wield her weapon. It seemed wiser to wait for the swap. I had assumed her 'I'm scared of ghosts, so sleep with me' line was just a pretext to get me alone. If she'd thought it was a real problem to be dealt with, she had Wake for that. Mizuki surely wasn't expecting a situation like this either. If she was already asleep, she'd be fighting the moment she woke up. That was dangerous. I needed to rethink this.
"Are you a mage, Marmie? What's your level?"
"…I'm a mage, and I'm level three. But I can fight. I was thinking of this as an opportunity to show you that it's okay for me to join the party."
"I see. So that's what this is about…"
This room had a door leading to the Area Guardian, but no other means of entry. Even if Wake got caught up in the dungeon, he wouldn't be able to reach this room at the moment. I didn't know how long it would take for the dungeon to grow and expand, allowing access from other rooms. It would be better to defeat the Area Guardian and destroy the crystal core while the dungeon was still new. Pushing forward through the door seemed like the best option.
"Alright. Let's defeat the Area Guardian and get out of here, just the two of us."
I drew my one-handed sword.
Beyond the Area Guardian's door, a strange scene unfolded. It was a hilly landscape, illuminated by moonlight. The hills were covered in knee-high grass, and the dew-kissed blades reflected the moonlight, making them glitter.
"…It's the same as the scenery in my dream," Marmie murmured. And there, on the highest point of the hill, a single cow cast an eerie shadow. It was enormous, easily twice the size of a normal cow. The cow had no head, and blood dripped from its neck. The other door, which should have been at the back of the Area Guardian's room, was nowhere in sight. It was probably over the hill. Marmie and I exchanged a look.
"I'll take the lead."
I pointed my shield at the enemy, lowered the tip of my sword, and gripped it tightly.
"…Understood. I'll follow a little ways behind. If it closes the distance, I'll hit it with a lightning spell."
Marmie raised her wand. After we both nodded, we started up the hill, keeping a close watch on the headless cow. The monster seemed to have noticed us; it began to paw at the ground with its front hoof. Just then, the blood dripping from its neck floated into the air. The droplets transformed into countless needles. The needles were red and about thirty centimeters long.
"This is bad!"
If it fired those, my shield alone wouldn't be enough to block them all. To avoid giving it a clear target, I ran in an arc around the headless cow. But the monster tracked my movements, turning the tips of the needles to follow me. As I reversed direction to escape its aim, the sound of a hoof stomping the ground echoed out. At the same moment, the countless needles shot toward me. I couldn't dodge them all. I thought several were going to pierce my body. In that instant, my shield arm moved on its own, without my conscious will. The shield deflected the needles. I suffered a few scratches, but I was otherwise unharmed. But before I could catch my breath and reposition myself, I was hit by the monster's charge. I couldn't avoid it and took the full impact. My body was sent flying, and I failed to break my fall, landing hard on my back. The air was knocked out of me. The monster loomed over me, rearing up on its hind legs and raising its forelegs. Then it brought them down to stomp me. Once again, my shield arm moved, deflecting the descending hoof. The monster's foreleg slammed into the ground right next to my face. I slashed at its exposed belly and simultaneously rolled out from under it, getting back to my feet. My own blood trickled down my cheek. The monster turned to face me. My swing from a prone position had been weak, and it didn't seem to have done any damage.
"…Shatter!"
Marmie, who had been waiting for me to create distance between myself and the monster, unleashed a bolt of lightning at the headless cow. A faint magical barrier seemed to be protecting the monster, and the lightning didn't get through.
Cold sweat trickled down into the valley of my breasts. My palms were slick with it, too. In that short time, Super Save had activated twice. Without it, I would have died twice over. The realization sent a tremor through my body. I had put Mizuki's body in grave danger. I had thought she was fine fighting strong enemies because she had Super Save. I had been making Mizuki fight with these feelings all this time. And yet, I thought I was the one protecting her. What must she have been thinking every time she heard me say, "I'm counting on you"? What an arrogant fool I'd been. I took a deep breath. Right now, I had to focus on the enemy in front of me and defeat it. I had to return this body to Mizuki. Marmie was here, too. No matter what, we would get through this together. I glanced back at Marmie.
"…Mash… no, Mizuki. When you break away, put some real distance between us. I'll unleash a stronger lightning spell."
She was holding her wand at the ready, preparing her next spell. Her first attack hadn't reached the monster, but it seemed she hadn't given up, intending to break through with a more powerful spell. The headless cow was strong in close-quarters physical combat, and at a distance, it attacked with countless needles. On top of that, it had resistance to magic. The monster had no head, yet it seemed to see our movements perfectly.
"How is this thing tracking us?"
"…Up there, maybe?"
Marmie pointed upward with her wand. Something was flying around in the darkness. As I strained my eyes, I saw it was a cow's head, shorn of its body. Blood dripped from the severed neck. It was a sickening sight. I regretted looking. The head didn't seem to be participating in the battle itself. The monster once again created countless needles from its blood.
"…Mizuki! Close the distance!"
Trusting Marmie's words, I charged toward the monster. The moment the monster fired its needles, Marmie unleashed her lightning. The two attacks canceled each other out. I slashed at the monster. It charged, but I instinctively used my shield to parry while twisting my body, switching positions with it, and slashed again.
"Mizuki's body moves so damn well! It's so fluid!"
I realized that rather than trying to force the movements I had in my head, it was better to let my body react on its own. The movements became lighter and smoother. I stayed close to the headless cow, preventing it from using its needle attack. When it charged, I deliberately stepped in, using the shield to deflect and absorb the impact. And I kept swinging my sword. Robbed of its needle and charge attacks, the monster reared up and tried to stomp me with its front hooves. I dodged that easily with a backstep. My attacks were starting to slow the enemy down. The moment an opening appeared, Marmie shot another bolt of lightning at the monster. The force of the impact shattered the magical barrier surrounding the headless cow.
"…One more!"
Marmie unleashed an additional bolt. With a deafening roar, lightning flashed. That strike found its mark. The headless cow raised its forelegs and fell backward onto the ground. But it staggered back to its feet. I plunged my sword into its body for the final blow. The monster vanished. We high-fived. With its body gone, the head that had been flying overhead fell to the ground. When we went to inspect it, it had transformed into a golden statue of a cow's head. Marmie and I looked at each other.
"…It's creepy. I don't want it."
I agreed that it was creepy. Perhaps it was the expression it had when its head was cut off; the statue was so realistic I could almost hear its death cry. But I thought it might be worth some money, so I decided to put it in my storage. A door had appeared on the opposite side from where we'd entered. We started walking towards it. Just then, my vision went dark for a moment.
Thank you for reading. To those who have liked, bookmarked, or rated this story, your support is a great encouragement. To those who point out typos, thank you always. It's a huge help.