Chapter 57 (2/2)
“I have to agree, it’s a predicament.”
Yes, this wasn’t a scene of carnage resulting from a love triangle, but a short meeting to lay down some rules.
In this ‘predicament’ of ours, neither of us were able to leave, neither could harm the other, and neither could simply lock away our feelings.
And of course, she was also like me, someone entirely betrayed by her whole world and who had sworn revenge. And an accomplice, and important existence, one of the only who knew the depths of my feelings. It should be the same for her. We were too important to each other to even attempt harm.
And If I couldn’t technically beat her, I would have her join me. Honestly, before I met her, I was still holding on to the faint hope that it would be silly to think that any girl my Goshujin-sama happens to pick up will fall for him, but that hope was, as expected, undeniably dashed.
He was the one who would let her achieve her revenge, he was the one person in the world who saved her, and he would even share wholeheartedly in her dark desire.
I was the silly one to think that a girl wouldn’t fall when there was so much to fall for.
(And if she hadn’t completely fallen for him yet, I would still conduct a meeting like this, by force if I had to. She would be an asset if she were on my side, as an accomplice in our revenge of course, but also in countering the other problem.)
This was an important matter. There was one individual I had to be far more careful of than Shuria here.
“Then again,” I said, “our common enemy and rival in love is definitely…”
“It’s that demon lord girl. She’s so unfair! How in the world are we supposed to compete with the feelings from his first run?”
Shuria stuck out her lips in a very obvious pouting face.
“Don’t worry so much. A certain female adventurer who’d drifted into our village once told me this: Men may dream about a far-away girl, but they’ll go for the one by their side.”
“Such wonderful words of wisdom! We must make him look to us, and only us. Make him fall head over heels for our charms. I’ve read intensively on how men can be easily swayed by the female flesh!”
“But we need to be careful when we do. If we act too depraved, I know that Goshujin-sama won’t like it. And once he gets feelings of distrust towards us, it’s going to be incredibly hard getting his trust back. We need to do it very gradually, slowly increase the intensity of approach, if you will.”
“Gradually, is it… Yes, I do recall reading on lewd seductresses who never get the man in the end.”
“For now, let’s aim to get to a stage where Goshujin-sama wouldn’t shake us off if we happen to embrace him for no particular reason. And from experience, I can claim that Goshujin-sama is still a man who, despite everything, is still susceptible to a woman’s wiles. Also, I should tell you about MP intoxication. It’s something very easy to use to our advantage, as in, he doesn’t really dislike it if you stick to him in that state. Goshujin-sama just needs a reason to say ‘can’t be helped’ and it just works.”
This, I knew for certain. When I pretend to be drunk on MP potions and start getting all over him, he might treat me a bit roughly, but he won’t dislike it.
I wouldn’t do it if he found it unpleasant, but despite his reluctant expression, his face always gets a tinge of red, which I find incredibly adorable. That sort of Goshujin-sama really gets me going.
“C-can you please explain that in detail…?”
“Let’s see, so I do things like push my chest up against him while acting unawares. I also use my tipsiness to try an force a kiss and such…”
“M-m-my goodness, your chest!? And e-even k-kissing… ahh, ahhh!!!”
Shuria’s dark complexion instantly took on a shade of red. What a cute little thing.
Though this wasn’t quite what I wanted from an accomplice. She seemed not too reliable in that department. Seems she is in need of some traini… I mean, well deserved reeducation.
“You need to be able to handle at least that much without blushing so intensely. Once we get Goshujin-sama to let go of this Leticia-san, we would be the ones to console him. That means going much further than that.”
Yes, like this, if I can keep her on a leash, she’ll eventually begin to look to me for instruction…
“Y-you’re absolutely right. When that time comes, I’m sure we can get him to ×× ×× on our ×× ××. We might even get him to ×× ×× our ×× ×× with his ×× ×× if we’re lucky.”
“!?”
My breath caught at the words I was hearing.
“Oh oh, and we need to ready some rope, candles, maybe a whip too…”
“!?!?”
“T-truth be told,” Shuria revealed with hesitation, “earlier today, when Goshujin-sama was testing my resolve, he stepped on me hard on the back. I, well you see, I think I’ve awoken to some new inclinations due to that. My heart is beating faster even now as I’m remembering it.”
“!?!?!?”
Shuria was saying all this while fidgeting around all bashful, as if some Lewdness Skill was manifesting inside her.
Th-this was getting out of hand. This little girl’s dark desires were deeper than even mine. N-no, with the love I had for Goshujin-sama, if he desired such things of me, I definitely had the courage to comply.
“I am certain that Goshujin-sama has the qualities of a sadist. He’s the type of person that becomes an uncontrollable animal in bed.”
“A-and you’re sure of that?” I wanted to know her basis for that conclusion.
Although, now that I think on it, I did sometimes feel a sexual gaze from him that sent this sharp chill up my spine, as if a wild carnivore was looking at me as prey…
“Yes, positive even! Even if he planned on only acting cruelly, it certainly wouldn’t devolve into stepping on me like that!! Believe me on this, I am without an inkling of doubt that Goshujin-sama is very sadistically inclined!!”
“I-I think I’m starting to feel like you’re right…”
Her words did ring a few bells.
Goshujin-sama was a gentleman towards me most of the time, but sometimes when I failed in whatever I was doing, he would start teasing me about it. And he always looked incredibly amused when he did.
That teasing laugh of his was different from when he laughed for revenge. And it sort of gave me some shivers when he did that, wait, oh no, was he really….
(N-no, I can’t go with her flow on this. I’m supposed to be the one leading her along…)
“A-anyway, let’s pause this discussion for now. We’ll have a lot to do starting tomorrow, so let’s continue on our plans once we’re done.”
“Huh? Oh, yes, with pleasure!!”
I stepped back into the inn.
This was certainly not my loss, it was a strategic retreat.