Gentle Liricia

Morning sunlight poured gently over the forest mansion.

Liricia and I were lying naked together on the bed in our bedroom.

Just awake, Liricia rubbed her cheek against my chest and whispered in a sweet voice; her wings fluttered softly with little pats.

“Master… what are we doing today?”

“Today we’re going to the Demon Realm. I don’t know how long that’ll take, so we’ll skip taking any Adventurer Guild requests.”

“Yes, Master…”

“And we’ve still got that undead dungeon we didn’t clear yesterday. We’ll wipe that out, make a magic bag and another sub-device, then head for the Demon Realm.”

“Understood~”

Still sleepy, she rubbed her cheek against me with a childlike smile.

Her silky silver hair brushed my skin and tickled.

Her slightly droopy eyes looked even more relaxed than usual.

Gently stroking Liricia’s head, I asked:

“What’s up, Liricia? You’re awfully clingy today.”

“Fwaaah… it feels so good, Master… like I’m still floating in that bath, all warm and comfy…”

“If you liked it that much, want to get in again today?”

Liricia’s cheeks flushed and she shook her head no.

Then she spoke in a soft, pleasantly stuffy voice.

“N-no, all fluffy like that every day is no good… I wouldn’t be able to support you… all limp…”

“Good point. In that case, I guess I’d better wake the sleeping princess.”

“Eh? —Mmnn!”

I pulled Liricia into a tight hug and kissed her hard.

Taken by surprise, she gasped, but still twined her small tongue with mine.

Our kisses made wet, indecent little sounds—chu, chu-pa.

After a while I pulled back, and Liricia, cheeks burning, glared up at me with her violet eyes.

“Master! You’re way too intense first thing in the morning!”

“But it woke you up, didn’t it?”

I slipped an arm around Liricia’s slender waist and drew her close; our bare curves fit together smoothly.

Liricia went red to the tips of her ears and puffed out her soft cheeks.

“G-good grief…! Being that wild in the morning is only for today, all right!?”

“You really are kind, Liricia.”

Spreading her pure white wings, Liricia let herself fall softly onto me.

Her large breasts trembled in a round sway.

—I had a feeling it wouldn’t be “only today.”

Thinking that, we became one again, bodies gleaming with sweat in the gentle light of morning.

After breakfast, I got ready as an adventurer and went into the dungeon ahead of the others.

Then Sophia, the cleric, spoke to me.

“Good morning, Alec-san…”

“Morning, Sophia. What’s up?”

Sophia stroked her blue hair with one hand, blushing as she looked away.

“Um… about yesterday. Thank you so much for saving me.”

“Nah. You saved me before, Sophia, so we’re even. I’m the one who should apologize for seeing you naked.”

“N-no, I was just startled because it all happened so suddenly… if it’s you, Alec-san… I wouldn’t really mind… you’ve already seen… everything, anyway…”

Her face turned scarlet and she dropped her gaze.

The last half of her words came out in a mumble I couldn’t quite catch.

I asked about what she planned to do from here.

“So, what now? Want to stay here for a while?”

“May I? I don’t think I can go back to the church yet… Mei-chan seems to be working on things for me, but it might take a while.”

“Mei-chan?”

“Oh, the mage—what was she calling herself now? Mackybell, maybe?”

“Why is her name different?”

“Ah, well, her real name is Meidily, and she absolutely hates it. So she uses a name she picked herself. Depending on her mood she calls herself Marissa, or Melissa, or Mirabel—she uses all kinds of names.”

“She’s weird in that way too, huh. Anyway, Sophia, I’d like you to help mind the shop and guard the dungeon.”

“Guard it?”

“Other dungeons attack us. Apparently dungeons fight wars with each other.”

“Oh my, so that’s how it is.”

Sophia’s blue eyes went wide.

Then Liricia came into the dungeon, white habit swaying.

Back straight and silver hair flowing as she walked, she looked every inch the demure angel.

And when she saw Sophia, she smiled softly.

“Good morning, Sophia-san. It looks like you’re feeling better.”

“Yes, thank you… Is it all right if I stay here a little longer?”

“I think so… It would be best if you continued yesterday’s bathing for another three days or so… your wings are far too stained.”

“I see… Ah, sorry for intruding, when you and Alec-san are so close…”

For some reason, Sophia spoke with a blush.

But Liricia, perfectly composed, smiled brightly.

“It’s all right. Master is my fated one.”

“Uuuh… that’s the dignity of the legal wife, right there…”

“But Sophia-san, I think you’re mistaken about something.”

“Mistaken?”

“There is one guiding angel per hero. Your precious hero must be somewhere else, I am sure.”

Sophia clutched her head in both hands.

“Uu… I feel like that’s right… and not right…”

“Once we’ve washed away more of the stains, you’ll remember. Let’s do our best with your healing baths.”

“Okay, I understand… Is it all right if I use that bath even when you two aren’t around? I never know when my heart might get shaken again.”

I nodded at that.

“Good idea. I’ll make a large stock so you can use the elixir bath whenever you need.”

“Thank you, Alec-san.”

Sophia gave a shy little smile.

I headed for the inner hall where the round sphere was.

Then I walked up to Kou and spoke.

“You heard that, right? I want to have a lot of elixir ready, so help me out.”

“Roger~. But I want more mana first.”

“Ah, sorry about that. —Hah!”

I pressed my hand to the surface of the sphere and focused.

The mana, which had been around seven hundred percent, climbed steadily until it hit ten thousand percent.

Kou’s light flashed as she rejoiced.

“Yaaay. The dungeon level went up again~.”

“Good for you. Wait, you can store ten thousand now?”

“’Cause we’re Tier Five~.”

“All right, let’s start making elixir.”

“Rooooger~.”

Kou produced an extra-large treasure chest, and I dipped my hand into the water, turning it into elixir.

After working for a while, we had produced several tons of elixir.

Letting out a breath, I wiped the sweat beading on my brow with the back of my hand and stood up.

“This should be enough. —All right, time to hit the dungeon we left alone yesterday. Link us up.”

“On it~.”

A new corridor extended out from the front hall.

Sophia took a small step back as she watched it stretch out and spoke.

“S-so this is the enemy dungeon…”

“We’ll be back soon.”

“Watch the place for us, Sophia-san.”

“Y-yes! Please take care!”

Seeing us off, Sophia watched as Liricia and I leapt into the dungeon.