Liricia’s Mistake, Marius’s Mistake

The moon shone down on the forest that night.

I sat at the dining table in the forest manor, waiting for dinner.

Diagonally across the table set with bread sat the elf girl Teti.

Liricia, wearing a bright smile and occasionally humming, was cooking in the kitchen.

The delicious smell of meat grilling and the savory scent of oil browning drifted over.

Unable to wait any longer, Teti half rose from her chair and wiggled her long ears as she spoke.

“Miss Liriciaaa, should I help with something toooo?”

“Teti, thank you. In that case, could you carry these dishes?”

“Okaaay.”

Teti stood up, her skirt swaying, went to the kitchen, and came back with plates set on a tray.

On each plate, an oval, meat-like mound was sending up steam.

A savory scent rose from the thick meat.

“Looks tasty.”

“It looks suuuper good! But what is it?”

Liricia came over carrying a salad.

“Today’s dish is a giant meatball I found in the cookbook.”

“Giant! That sounds amazing! It looks over ten times the size of a normal meatball.”

Teti’s green eyes sparkled as she cried out. A childlike smile spread across her face.

I couldn’t stop smiling either.

“Looks like it’ll be plenty filling.”

I swallowed as I felt my mouth flood with saliva.

That was how delicious those oval meatballs, bigger than my palm, looked.

Taking off her apron, Liricia sat down beside me.

“Yes, it said in the book that it’s ‘a dish every man will love.’”

“Oh? …So you really did buy it to make something I’d enjoy.”

“Y-Yes… I’m good with meals for children, but dishes for men are all new to me, so…”

Blushing, Liricia smiled happily.

This angel was just too cute.

Overwhelmed with joy, I smiled as I spoke.

“Thanks, Liricia. —All right, let’s eat.”

“Yes!”

I cut off a small piece with my fork and put it in my mouth.

The outside was nicely crisped, but the meat inside crumbled as if it melted on my tongue. It was so tender there was hardly any need to chew.

Even so, the rich sauce and the flavor of the meat were firmly bound together.

Maybe because it was so big, the juices burst in my mouth.

“Mmm! This is great!”

“It’s really delicious! A hundred times better than regular meatballs! I love this!”

Teti shouted, her young face overflowing with a smile.

Nibbling her own portion, Liricia’s eyes widened.

“Mmm! When there is this much meat, the flavor doesn’t escape even after grilling!”

“Crisping the outside first must help seal it in. And the inside staying soft and melty is perfect. This goes great with bread and salad.”

I ate some meat, then tore a piece of bread, dipped it in the sauce on the plate, and popped it into my mouth, feeling an indescribable wave of satisfaction.

Teti slit her bread open and stuffed it with meat and salad.

She took a bite with her small mouth and smiled.

“Mmm! That’s really good too!”

“That way your hands don’t get messy either.”

“Oh my, Teti.”

Liricia smiled, and I laughed as I chomped down more meat.

Our delicious meal went on peacefully.

…Or so I thought.

I noticed something was wrong only after we had finished eating.

Liricia and I were relaxing on the sofa in the living room.

Teti had gone back to her room in the dungeon, and Liricia sat beside me, reading her cookbook.

My stomach was pleasantly full and I felt satisfied, but for some reason my body was slowly heating up.

So I asked Liricia,

“Hey, Liricia.”

“Yes, Master?”

“Do you feel strange at all?”

“Huh? What’s wrong!? Don’t tell me it’s food poisoning?”

“No, I feel fine, but… my body’s getting hot. You don’t feel anything?”

“No, nothing in particular has… Perhaps you’ve caught a cold?”

Frowning in concern, Liricia reached out her hand.

Then her slender hand touched my forehead.

In that instant, a burning urge surged up from my lower belly.

Her scent, her swaying silver hair, her supple white hand, the delicate feel of her fingers against my brow—

Every part of her shook my heart.

No, it shook me far too much.

Gritting my teeth to hold myself back, I asked Liricia,

“…Answer me one thing.”

“Yes, Master.”

“What kind of meat was that?”

“It was Great Boar. But because it said men would love it, I added Augment Snake and blue quail eggs. And the book said using the herb Tall Standweed to remove the smell was good too, so I put all of them in…”

“An old court mage used to sneak that stuff for himself… The snake, the eggs, and that herb aren’t widely known, but supposedly they all boost a man’s stamina.”

“What!?”

Liricia’s eyes went round.

Taking advantage of her stunned confusion, I kissed her on lips as red as flower petals.

Soft and moist—the simple contact alone sent a tingling thrill through me.

—This works too well!

I gently pushed Liricia down on the sofa and showered kisses from her cheek to her ear, then down to her slender nape.

“Yeah… I can see why it’s called a dish men love. Don’t blame me for what happens tonight, okay?”

“Eh!? B-But I haven’t even bathed ye—M-Master!? Eek!”

Liricia let out a sweet, desperate cry, her cheeks flushed red.

As she squirmed, she slipped out of her habit, revealing her white skin.

When my fingers stroked along her soft curves, her body jolted.

“Ahh… Master…! —Mmm…”

I kissed her again, swallowing her gasping voice.

She clung to me, returning the kiss with growing passion.

“This is your punishment for making such a dangerous dish. You’ll have to take responsibility.”

“I’m sorry for being such a naughty fallen angel—ah!”

Arching her slender throat, Liricia writhed beneath me.

Before long her wings sprang out with a whoosh, white feathers dancing around us as she received my overflowing Serâge.

That night, our embrace was more intense, and lasted far longer, than usual.

Half-floating atop the bed, I held Liricia close, our bodies entwined as we spent a fevered night together.

Meanwhile, Marius—

It was a lazy afternoon.

At the southernmost tip of the Fortis Kingdom lay a narrow canyon where monsters surged in.

Called the “Great Wailing Canyon,” it was a chokepoint where undead poured in from the southern continent’s “Dead Peninsula.”

Even if they were undead, they were mostly zombies and skeletons, which meant poor drops even when defeated.

Since there was no money in it, adventurers stayed away.

But if left alone, the canyon would become a route for invading the kingdom.

As a result, strong men who had committed crimes were branded with subjugation crests and forced into labor.

It was a desolate, narrow valley.

No trees grew there, and the grass was sparse.

White sand covered the ground.

In that barren gorge, sturdy men swung swords and axes, sweat glistening on their bodies.

“Take this!”

“Hyaaah!”

“Eat this!”

The oncoming zombies were smashed, and the skeletons were shattered.

The ground looked pale because it was filled with crushed bones.

Among the fighting crowd, one strikingly handsome blond man stood out.

The former hero, Marius.

Marius swung a rugged sword, cutting down undead one after another.

Before long, they had wiped out the undead horde.

A prison officer overseeing the convicts bellowed.

“Hey, you lot! That’s enough for today! According to the lookout, the next wave won’t arrive for another twelve hours!”

“““Okaaay.”””

The prisoners responded listlessly and trailed back toward the fortress.

Marius walked as well, his blond hair plastered to his forehead with sweat.

Then a burly, bearded man hurried over and, as he passed, grabbed Marius’s rear.

Marius’s red eyes flashed sharply as he slapped the man’s hand away.

“What do you think you’re doing!?”

“Come on, get used to life here already. After a hard day’s work, you should come ‘bond’ with us, yeah?”

“I would never do something so beast-like! Don’t you dare make fun of me! I am a hero and a noble! I’m nothing like the rest of you!”

Marius raised his voice even further.

Then the prison officer roared at them.

“Hey, you there! What are you doing!? I’ll add time to your sentence!”

“Gh…!”

Biting his lip in frustration, Marius returned to the fortress, wary of his back.

The men watched him go, grinning to themselves.

Inside the fortress.

While most of the prisoners shuffled back into a large communal cell with iron bars, Marius opened the door to his private room.

Though small, it was still a space with some privacy.

He let out a long breath and was about to step inside when a guard suddenly called out to him.

“Hey, Marius. You haven’t paid this week’s private room fee. If you can’t pay, you’re going into the group cell.”

“What!? Please wait just a little! There must be some mistake!”

“I’ll give you a bit more time… but don’t take too long.”

With that, the guard walked off.

Marius hurried into the room and shut the door, then sat at the desk and began writing a letter.

“What on earth is going on! Father, please send money at once! And what happened to the bribes for nobles and officials!? …I’m not the kind of man who should end his life in a place like this! I’m a brilliant person everyone ought to praise! Nghh—!”

As if venting his irritation, he scratched away at the letter with frantic strokes.

Shortly before Marius was sent south—

Marius’s father, Costas Forlight, found himself in dire straits.

Because his son Marius had committed a grave crime, their house was reassigned to the frontier.

His wife refused to go with him.

“Why do I have to go to the frontier!? You go by yourself! If I’d known this would happen, I’d never have married you!”

Costas was said to have bought his noble title with money.

Even if she had fallen on hard times, his wife was still the genuine daughter of a noble house, and he couldn’t stand up to her.

In the end, Costas went alone on a solo posting. He could only bring a small number of subordinates.

The frontier was full of danger. The land Costas was assigned to was especially infested with monsters.

The one who proved most useful there was the female thief Nefil.

Nefil had A-rank level strength and felled the monsters of the wasteland one after another.

Yes.

Nefil had originally been purchased as a slave so Marius could conquer a dungeon, but the rights themselves belonged to the Forlight family—in other words, to the head of the house, Costas.

Once Marius was arrested and the hero party disbanded, Nefil became a direct asset of the family.

Normally, after the dungeon conquest, she should have been returned to the slave trader, but since they had been reassigned to a monster-ridden territory, she continued to be used there.

One day, after finishing her monster hunting, Nefil bathed and then headed to the estate where Costas lived.

She went to Costas’s study.

Bookshelves lined the room.

Nefil approached Costas, who sat at a desk by the window.

“Master, I’ve finished exterminating the monsters.”

“Mm. Well done.”

Costas stopped writing and looked up as he answered.

His head, balding from stress and worry, gleamed faintly.

Up to this point, it was nothing more than a simple exchange between master and servant.

—But.

Nefil did not stop there.

Slowly undressing as she walked, she drew up close to Costas.

Then, letting out a sultry breath, she leaned her body against his aging frame.

Nibbling lightly on his earlobe, she whispered.

“This much hardly counts as properly serving as an unconditional slave… Come now, Master. Please enjoy your unconditional slave to your heart’s content.”

“N-Nefil…”

With languid, practiced movements, Nefil loosened the sash of Costas’s clothes and pressed her bare skin to his.

Then, as she pushed him back and held his head to her full chest, she asked,

“Master… How do you find me?”

“Yes… Good. Very good…”

“Heehee. Let’s forget all those painful realities for a while, shall we?”

Straddling Costas, Nefil smiled in delight.

Costas, using every bit of strength left in his old body, surrendered himself to Nefil’s youthful charms.

The letter he had been writing to Marius remained unfinished on the desk, and was never sent.