I pointed at one of the rooms and entered it without asking, bringing Aina, Wendy, and Shiro with me.
「Wendy, get me some clean cloth and bandages.」
「Master? What are you planning to do?」
「Just hurry, please.」
Unfortunately, I couldn’t let Wendy know in advance.
This was the only way to destroy the evidence.
「Shiro.」
「Hmm.」
I spoke to her quietly.
「Can you scrape off the skin here?」
「I can. But I won’t.」
「I’ll handle the bleeding. Still no good?」
「…I don’t want to.」
「Please, Shiro. You’re the only one I can ask. It has to be done today, here.」
I had to prove there was no trace of the assault.
And it had to happen now, while everyone was still gathered at the Adventurer’s Guild.
「Can’t. If it’s a missing part, even a healing potion(medium) won’t heal it. You can’t just cut it all off and fix it in one go.」
「Then take it slow.」
「That would mean slowly peeling the flesh. I don’t think Master can handle that.」
「I’ll pour potion over it as you go. That should be enough.」
「…But it’ll still hurt the whole time. Potions heal, but not the pain.」
「Even so… please.」
「…Okay.」
I’m sorry.
I really am the worst, making Shiro look at me with that face.
But this… this is something only she can do.
「Aina.」
「My liege, what do you need me to do?」
「You can use fire magic, right? Could you heat Shiro’s knife until it’s red-hot?」
「? …Alright. Then after this, may I cry on you too?」
「Haha, yeah. Do whatever you want.」
With that, she cast fire magic and began heating the knife.
At least the bruise was on my side.
If it were dead center, even I might’ve hesitated—but the side’s easier to cut.
Peeling off your own flesh… that’s only thinkable in a world with healing potions or healing magic…
「My liege, what exactly are you trying to do?」
「Well, since the evidence won’t go away, I thought I’d just cut it out. Shiro, can I borrow your scabbard? I’ll make you a new one later.」
「Don’t mind.」
「Sorry if I bite into it.」
「Hmm! Sorry if I hurt you.」
「Pain’s part of the deal. I’ll be biting this scabbard, so go all out.」
I bit down on Shiro’s knife scabbard, clenching my teeth.
The cloth wrapped around it gave it just enough cushion and resistance.
「Hmm! Here I go.」
SZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!
「ッッッ！！！」
「My liege！」
「Shiro!? What are you doing!!?」
「Lord, I’ll finish quickly!」
「Stop this at once, Shiro!!」
「ッッッッッッ！！！！」
I raised a hand to hold Wendy back and took the cloth she brought.
It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine.
I can still go. It hurts, but I can take it. I’m okay.
Don’t lose consciousness. If I black out now, I’ll seriously die.
I kept pouring healing potion over the slowly seared skin, again and again.
The blood that kept welling up, I wiped away with the cloth from Wendy, and poured more potion on top.
Then Aina, seeing my shaking hands, gently took the potion from me and kept applying it herself.
The feeling of my skin burning, blood spilling, and flesh being stripped away was so painful I nearly passed out.
But hey—didn’t that famous genius surgeon Dr. ○J cut open his own stomach without anesthesia?
I’ve got healing potions—makes me luckier than him.
And no, I don’t care if that was fiction.
Normally, a regular cut would be healed instantly by potion.
So this should erase the bruise too.
With no visible bruises and no letter, their punishment has to be lighter than forced labor.
No—it has to be.
「Master! Please stop Shiro!」
「Lord, it hurts, doesn’t it? I’ll finish it fast!」
「Yeah… you got this, Shiro…」
It hurts. It hurts like hell.
I’m sure there were plenty of other ways to get rid of a bruise.
Maybe chugging another potion might’ve worked.
Maybe just lightly touching it with a hot blade would’ve been enough.
But if I did it half-heartedly and it didn’t work, I wouldn’t have the guts to do it again.
The truth is, I’m a coward. I can’t handle pain.
But now I can face Yasis and say: I went this far—do something about it.
I’ve forced Shiro to do something terrible.
I’ve worried Wendy too.
And Aina… thank you. It hurts less thanks to you.
You’re all more worried about Renge and Sorte than yourselves.
But it’s okay now.
I’ll protect what’s important to me—with this.
「It’s done.」
「Master!!」
「I’m fine… really.」
I let go of the scabbard and laid down on the floor, then gulped down a medium-grade healing potion.
Whether you pour it on or drink it, it works the same. Healing potions really are something else.
Thanks to Aina gently wiping the blood away with clean cloth and steadily applying healing potion, the wound somehow turned out alright.
I wouldn’t call it clean or pretty, but the bruise was gone.
Self-sacrifice really doesn’t suit me—but something inside me kicked into gear, and before I knew it, I’d gone through with it.
I hope this will be the only time I ever have to do something like that.
Honestly, I never want to go through that again.
「Lord, I’m sorry…」
「Don’t cry, Shiro. It’s okay. I’m the one who should be sorry.」
Shiro had that pained look on her face the whole time while hurting me.
Of course she hated it. I’m sorry. And… thank you.
「Hmm hmm. Because it was lord’s order.」
Really… thank you.
I’ve got such a good girl.
I sat up and hugged Shiro tightly.
Wendy, without a word, began wrapping the wound with a bandage soaked in healing potion.
She looked angry—but I mean, yeah. That’s fair…
「You mad? Yeah, you are, huh?」
「Why did Master have to go this far…」
「I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of anything else.」
「You might’ve healed if you drank a healing potion(large)! Or even something stronger—there had to be a better way…」
「Ahh… didn’t have any, so I didn’t think of it.」
「Why… did you send me out of the room?」
「Because you would’ve stopped me.」
「Of course I would! There’s no way I could just stand by and watch Master get hurt!」
「Still… don’t be mad at Shiro, okay?」
「I refuse! Shiro too—how could you do something that hurt Master!?」
「……」
「Shiro only did what I asked her to. Right, Shiro?」
「Still! Still, she should’ve stopped you!」
Yep, she’s completely furious.
「Wendy, come on, calm down.」
「There’s no way I—nnnph!」
I literally shut her up with a kiss.
She wasn’t thinking clearly right now.
This should settle her down a bit.
As I slowly pulled away, Wendy fell silent.
「Please. I’m not like Hayato—I can’t beat the Demon King or monsters. But at the very least, I want to protect the people I care about. That’s all I was trying to do. That’s why I forced Shiro to go along with it.」
「Hmm…But I still feel bad. I won’t eat meat today…」
That’s probably the biggest apology Shiro can make in her own way.
Even though we bought all that delicious-looking meat, she’s holding back.
Good girl.
But really—it’s okay.
Eat as much as you want today.
「Jeez, jeez jeez jeez! You can’t just smooth things over with that!」
「Still not enough? Want more?」
「Yes! A lot more! I won’t forgive you until you do!」
「Alright then. Let’s make out a lot.」
I kissed Wendy again.
Then again, and again, and again—soft kisses, over and over.
I kept at it until Wendy was satisfied.
「…My liege, I want to cry to you too. Can I get a hug…?」
「Hmm, looks like you missed your timing completely.」
「Shiro-dono… I’m always left out. Am I hated, perhaps…?」
「Nope. Lord likes boobs. Aina has the biggest boobies after Wendy.」
「Boobs… chest, huh… Should I be pressing them on him more too…?」
「Shiro doesn’t like big boobs. But you’re too pitiful, so I’ll help. Lord’s face loosens up when there are some tits pressed on him to the point of being crushed. So I recommend it.」
「Thank you for the advice, Shiro-dono. I’ll try that next time.」
「Hmm. Hesitation is defeat. You gotta be bold.」
「Haa… haa… Master, no more pushing yourself, okay? Promise me, alright?」
「Yeah, I got it. Sorry for making you worry.」
「It’s fine now. You gave me plenty, after all…」
I gave Wendy one last warm hug and a soft kiss, and she melted, sinking to the ground with a dazed, flushed face.
「…So I’ve suffered a total defeat, huh.」
「Yup. Shiro’s chasing after Wendy too. Aina, you gotta keep up.」
「Understood. Maybe not this time, but next time I’ll go all out. Maybe I should stop wearing chest armor when I come see him…」
「What are you even talking about…?」
Something about chest armor and being assertive…?
「Oh yeah. Want to cry on me after all?」
I remembered what Aina said earlier and spread my arms a little, just kidding around.
「No, the moment’s passed and—ow!」
It looked like Shiro jumped up and smacked the back of Aina’s head really hard, but maybe I imagined it.
「Not allowed. You seize every chance. And you make your own chances too.」
「R-right! Got it! My liege!」
「Uh… yeah?」
I had no clue what she and Shiro had been talking about, but now Aina was unfastening her armor and walking toward me with open arms.
But judging by her face, she didn’t look like she was about to cry.
More like… she was fired up and ready to charge.
「Here I come, my liege!」
「O-okay…」
「By the way, have you finished making the potions?」
Just before Aina could throw her arms around me, Yasis called out from behind, and I instinctively turned to look.
That made me accidentally sidestep—and Aina went crashing to the ground in dramatic fashion.
「Aina, are you okay!?」
「…My liege, that was too cruel… I finally worked up the courage…」
「Yeah, you’ve got every reason to cry. There, there…」
「Uuu… My liege…」
「Alright, alright. That one’s on me. I’m really sorry…」
「Um… what just happened here…?」
Well…
Let’s call it an unfortunate accident. Bad timing.
Also, Aina’s hugs? Seriously strong.
More pain in my arms than pressure from her chest—please, loosen up…
「Anyway, Yasis. This should be enough, right?」
I unwrapped the bandage Wendy had carefully wrapped, showing her where the bruise used to be.
And sure enough, while there was still a faint mark, the bruise was mostly gone.
Nice. Soaking the bandage in healing potion paid off.
…Crap. I left the bloodied cloth out. I saw Yasis glance at it briefly before letting out a big sigh.
「…Please don’t push yourself too hard.」
「The other two already said that too… I’d like this to be the last time, believe me.」
「You weren’t at fault this time either. If you can’t separate emotion from action in situations like this, you’ll die young.」
「Yeah, I’d rather not die either. But, if it were those two in the same situation, I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing.」
If Shiro or Wendy were ever sentenced to death or hard labor…
I’d fight the entire world if I had to.
I’ve already decided I’d put my life on the line to protect them.
…Well, this time it was mostly for the repentant Sorte and Renge-ssu’s thighs, though.
Just saying.
「…Here. Drink this.」
「Hm? Medicine?」
「It’s a blood-replenishing tonic. Even if the wound’s healed, the blood you lost won’t come back.」
Ah, yeah.
That explains the lightheadedness.
Much appreciated.
「Sigh… Now, let’s show your stomach to everyone. The more witnesses, the better.」
「Yeah, yeah. Let’s get this over with.」
「Also, hide that cloth. People might assume the worst.」
「Right, I’ll stash it in a magic space or something.」
Might even come in handy for getting Sorte to behave.
If she starts acting up, I’ll just flash this at her to shut her down.
Anyway—no overthinking!
Just write it all down first!
If it’s a problem later… I’ll fix it then!
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