A True Account of Terror. Currently in Progress.
Rufina seemed to have lost the will to stand, sinking onto the bed with her legs spread wide, unable to move. I wanted to look at Rufina from the front, but my legs were trembling, and I could barely stand.
An approaching terror. Not the terror of ghosts or spirits. Not the violent terror like Priscilla’s. If I had to describe it… it’s like returning home on a hot summer day, dripping with sweat, opening the refrigerator, and finding only cold milk with no barley tea. You gulp it down in one go, only to have the taste of blue cheese linger in your mouth. You regret drinking it before you can spit it out, and when you check the date, it’s two weeks past its expiration. You frantically throw it down the sink, only to hear solid chunks falling. It’s that kind of terror!
“Are you still here?”
My gaze slowly shifted from myself to Rufina. As I turned my head from my neck towards her, Rufina, perhaps in a panic, scurried away on all fours and disappeared through the door.
“Take me with you!” I tried to shout, but I’ll resent Rufina for abandoning me. Oh, she forgot her panties. I have to deliver them later.
This time, I slowly turned my gaze back towards me and wished they would just turn around and leave. But their footsteps were moving towards me.
“She’s smiling… smiling with boundless affection as she approaches me, but why do I feel this terror?! I’m sure there are people in this world who can kill with a smile.”
“I believe in Mikael.”
Her words pierced my chest. Though I had done nothing wrong, the way they pierced felt extraordinary. Sophia buried her face in my chest and leaned against me, but my legs lost their strength. I leaned against the window frame to steady myself, as if being pushed.
“S-s-s-so…”
I couldn’t speak properly, my teeth chattering, though I wasn’t cold. Sophia looked up at me with concern, and she was cute. But a dark aura, visible even to me, was ominous.
“It’s okay. I’ll be with you always.”
I felt as if her words “I’ll be with you always” included being sliced open in the chest with a knife, having my bones crushed, my heart taken out, and then being crushed before my eyes.
Sophia’s face moved away from my chest and lowered. It stopped in front of my petty knife. She pulled down my bottoms and then my underwear. With me passively accepting whatever happened, I felt no shame.
“You’ve become quite cute.”
Looking down, I couldn’t find my petty knife. It’s always there! What’s wrong, partner? Where’s your troll strength? Your dragon fire? Where’s your steel sword!?
My petty knife, perhaps in self-defense, had buried itself and hidden. No matter how much I called for it, it wouldn’t come out. Are you unemployed, partner! If you don’t come out now, you’ll never come out again!
The outside air is lovely, the sky is clear and the sun is shining. There’s a beautiful woman in front of me right now, there’s no reason not to come out! “Are you a cave’s green caterpillar!” If I said that in a tavern in this world, it’d get a huge laugh.
To rescue my buried partner, Sophia began to suck me out. Don’t rely on the rescue team here! I want to tell myself to escape on my own, but my unemployed, slime-like partner evolved into a metal slime with Sophia’s power.
“Someone! Shoot me! I’m defenseless by the window right now! Taking down the White Lily Corps captain would be a great accomplishment. I won’t dodge, someone…”
Sophia laughed, a “Nihhihi” laugh. Her expression was one of bliss while she held me in her mouth. I watched Sophia, out of morbid curiosity.
How much time passed? A minute or a year? I heard Sophia say, “Thank you for the meal,” and after watching her leave through the door, I fainted.
I don’t know how Alana and Orietta managed to provoke Sophia, but Meteor Strike was unleashed upon the Knight Order, leaving the encampment lined with large rocks, resembling ruins. Sophia was terrified, but annihilating three hundred enemies was an amazing feat.
“Captain, Sister Sophia really did it, huh?”
“Yeah. She went through a lot of fear, but what did you say to Sophia?”
“That? I just exaggerated a bit of what you told me, Captain.”
A little exaggeration led to a great victory. I thought I might be killed along with the Knight Order. In reality, it was just making out. The difference is whether it’s done with love or hatred. I want love.
“W-well…”
Alana mentioned that the activation condition for Meteor Strike, besides the wartime regulations, was to make Sophia a “dress from the tailor.”
If it’s just clothes, it’s a small price to pay. Count Hart intends to take Cresta, a nearby city, and I’ll have her make the clothes there.
Several days later… for several days, I was holed up in the fortress, paying out wartime rewards like crazy. I’m swamped with customers, you damn fools. …As planned, Count Hart’s army, about three hundred strong, arrived at Marder Fortress. Most of them were mercenaries; fewer than fifty were knights directly under the Count.
The one leading this army was Baron Connie Quiet. How can a woman be a baron? Never mind the trivialities, this also touched Sophia’s displeasure.
It seems Count Hart’s daughter is coming with this army. The woman who fits that description is none other than Connie Quiet. A rumor has started that whoever achieves a great feat will be made her son-in-law. The others are just civilians, merchants or prostitutes.
Sophia initially didn’t believe the rumors about the name Connie Quiet, but upon seeing her, she probably found her to be quite beautiful and pure, fitting my type. With that, Baron Connie Quiet became the target of Meteor Strike. Did she think the name was different because of a different mother?
It’s too risky to attack my employer, so I need to separate Sophia and Connie Quiet. That’s when I came up with the idea of proposing to go to the city of Cresta first to gather information and do some groundwork.
Baroness Quiet readily agreed, and my group infiltrated alone. The city of Cresta, having just had its national knight order crushed, has no one but ordinary citizens, so it was easy to get in.
* * *
At night, it was easy to enter the city, but I had no intention of gathering information or doing any groundwork from the start. The most important thing to do in this city is to appease Sophia.
If I can do that, I think I won’t be killed, and to appease her, I need to find a skilled tailor and make a dress for Sophia.
Knowing that escort duty at night falls to Sophia according to the wartime regulations, I’m all fired up. I want to try any chance I have to appease her, and I don’t like being on the receiving end all the time.
We spent the morning making out in the bath and in bed, but occasionally when Sophia laughed, “Nihhihi,” I would quicken my movements, and I’d cover my ears with Sophia’s moans.
I sensed Christine standing outside the door. If she’s curious, why not include her? If Sophia gives permission, I’ll make her swallow a steel petty knife instead of a slime one… Sophia, that feels good.
As for sleep deprivation, I slept until noon. Then, I called Alana and instructed everyone to find a tailor for Sophia. Sophia, please stop licking when I’m giving instructions. Even if you hide it, strange noises will undermine the captain’s dignity.
So, after giving instructions, I wanted to sleep. I had to sleep because my head wouldn’t work otherwise. Sophia, let me sleep.
Past noon, I received a report on the tailor’s location from Christine. She also looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes, perhaps from lack of sleep. I told her to go look for it, but she was listening…
I’ll pay the tailor generously and have it made by the day after tomorrow. We don’t know when Count Hart’s army will attack, but it doesn’t seem to matter much to the civilians. A city that has expelled its citizens has no use.
With the national knight order gone, the city of Cresta only has a vigilante group. When Count Hart’s army arrives, we’ll open the gates from the inside, and our job will be done.
“What happens after the city of Cresta is finished?” Priscilla asked. Our contract ends at Cresta, so I was thinking of heading to the Royal Capital, where Hasuhanto’s headquarters are.
“I’m thinking of going to the Royal Capital to pay my respects to Hasuhanto. The contract ends at Cresta.”
“That might be nice. We can take our time and enjoy the journey to the Royal Capital. Ihhihi.”
“Please stop that vulgar laughter, Priscilla. The fighting has been intense, so it might be good to go while enjoying ourselves. If we enjoy ourselves that is, ihhihi.”
