Chapter 909: Burn Bright in the Snowy Town 1 [Selenium, Apple, Anzeros, Neia]
Even in the snow, Fiona’s special training continued. No, it would be more accurate to say she was even more passionate about it after returning from Rennesto.
“Haaaa!!”
With a thud, she lunged forward and swung her sword horizontally. However, Aurora, her opponent, easily parried the blow delivered from a wide back swing.
“!”
“Too slow!”
With a swift counterattack from a deeply crouched stance, Fiona’s wrist, holding the wooden sword, was slashed and she was sent flying.
“Kuaa……”
Fiona rolled on the ground, clutching her wrist. It looked painful. Even though it was a wooden sword, a direct hit wouldn’t end with just a bruise. It might even be broken.
“If you make such large, obvious preparatory movements, your intent is clear. Plus, your timing from the step-in to the swing is far too slow. This means your momentum isn’t transferred to the sword, and on top of that, you’re committing the folly of exposing yourself defenselessly in front of your opponent”
“……Y, You might be right……I guess I’m just a novice after all……”
“……Your usual Bamboo-Splitting Strike usually has a bit more force to it”
“That alone isn’t enough……! If they read it, I won’t be able to follow up with the next attack”
“You should just fight in a way that doesn’t involve lunging in with a single step”
“But if I don’t strike first, I’ll be left on the defensive. A weak strike won’t break the guard of a skilled swordsman. That’s why I’m trying to hone a horizontal slash, one that has follow-through even if it’s parried……”
“……While brute force is one way to fight, trying to make it a technique that works against everyone is a very difficult task. There are ogres and dwarves in this world. For a human, a woman, to surpass their brute strength is a feat as difficult as hurling a boulder”
“But!”
“Swordsmanship exists to overcome that. ……It’s not just about smashing things to pieces. If you make them defend the wrong spot, no amount of brute strength will matter. Feigning a first sword to lead into a second, and a second to lead into a third. To make that possible, footwork that involves more than just stepping in and jumping back is essential. ……..Your growth from near-amateur to this level is impressive, but it’s far too extreme”
“Well……but that’s all Dianne taught me”
“In any case, if we’re talking about to a certain extent, that alone is enough. A person can’t die over and over again. If you’re cutting down the masses in a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, a single skill is more than enough. If you face an opponent who doesn’t fall for it, gracefully give up……that’s also a valid approach”
“……So if I’m not satisfied with that, you’re saying I should discard a technique that works to 『A certain extent』……?”
“Yes. ……It’s difficult to break a tactic that’s already proven effective against others. But if you merely build upon your existing habits, you’ll inevitably hit a wall. ……With your mental fortitude, your ability to endure no matter how many times you’re defeated, you should master it before long”
“……I understand. I’ll take your instruction, Aurora-dono”
Fiona, who had previously relied solely on the Charging Boar tactic, also keenly felt the need for new techniques and moved on to the next level.
“I suppose you managed to keep her motivated, then?”
I turned to Laila, who had been watching from the side, and she shrugged.
“That’s just how Dianne thinks. ……Well, training is a grueling and monotonous affair. Without a new goal in sight, people simply can’t endure it”
“Well……I suppose so”
I feel like our crossbowmen’s training was also sustained by the occasional expedition. Daily marching drills are exhausting and grueling, but if you slack off, you’ll be a blatant liability during expeditions. The same goes for archery practice, if you miss, the situation becomes that much more tense. No matter how much Anzeros and the others say they’ll protect us, it’s terrifying when monsters or bandits that we missed get close. I suppose it takes a rare kind of mental fortitude to train silently without ever truly feeling 「That reason to push yourself」.
“……Wait, is it really okay to start like that? Isn’t your wrist bent?”
“That won’t do. ……That little brat’s gotten so used to pain lately that she’s gone a bit mad”
Fiona forces her hand onto the sword with her wrist still bent, leaving Aurora bewildered. With no other choice, Laila grabs Fiona, taps the fractured area lightly to make her wince, and then drags her off to the secret hot spring. Since it’s still morning, if Laila fixes the angle of her arm properly and she soaks slowly, it should be healed by nightfall and she’ll be able to handle training just fine by tomorrow. By the way, apparently the ointment smell went away immediately after soaking in the sacred spring, but just to make sure there wasn’t even a lingering scent, the three Black Collars reportedly scrubbed her entire body like crazy. I wonder if they actually scraped the skin off. Well, since it’s a sacred spring, it’ll probably heal right away.
————————-
I’d been vaguely wondering what Gloria has been up to lately.
“It’s absolutely fulfilling……!”
“Is that so……”
Apparently, she’s been drawing full-body portraits of all the courtesans, starting with Isabel. Thanks to her outstanding performance at the last Spirit Festival, most of the women are actively volunteering to be her models, saying things like, I want to be painted by Gloria’s brush or even, please paint me!
“I’m grateful just to have women who’ll undress so openly, but those girls really know how to strip. Even when I ask them to pose outside, they don’t hesitate, they just pop right out of everything, completely naked!”
“Wait, outside!? With all that snow on the ground!?”
“It’s fine. I learned a spell from Hilda that makes you not feel the cold for a short time. And even if I catch a slight cold, we’ve got the Spirit Spring here”
“No, I mean, well, the cold aside, did you really paint nudes in a location like that!? Didn’t anyone spot you!?”
“Well, sort of. But when I told them it was for art, everyone generally accepted it, so it’s fine”
“Why……?”
……No, it’s probably because of the Blue Dragons’ exhibitionist tendencies. Compared to them wandering around naked for no particular reason, the fact that I’m a model for a painting……well, that’s still somewhat understandable.
“Ever since those girls started using this spring to rejuvenate their skin, they’ve been over the moon, saying things like, 『My skin feels like a teenager’s!』 or 『My hair has a shine I’ve never seen before!』. Apparently, they’ve decided that since they’re here anyway, they might as well leave behind a portrait of themselves at their most beautiful, so I’ve got reservations from almost everyone now~♪ No, this is my ideal way to spend my golden years”
“You’re not old enough to be talking about your golden years, Gloria…..you’re not even 200 yet, are you?”
“Yeah……but I’d love to live like this for another 1,000 years or so”
“That’s a pretty big dream”
Apparently, at their request, the portraits are occasionally displayed inside 「Leslie House」 and they’re even said to be somewhat helpful for their work as prostitutes. Like, 「You can hit on the girls in these pictures」. ……As always, these ladies were powerful in every sense of the word.
——————
And, of course, as it gets colder, you start craving human warmth.
“Andii-saaan……I’ve come to visit you in the night……♪”
Late at night, Selenium’s voice whispers as she enters the Smithson family’s bedroom. And by the light of a single candle, on the bed, Anzeros and Neia sit naked in seiza, huddled together, waiting their turn. The current star of the show is Apple.
“Ah, that’s terrible. It’s the Half Elf Festival, yet you’re leaving me out!”
“N, No, that’s not it, Selenium……♪ T, This is……♪”
“It was just a coincidence. Apple-san was brought in first, and I walked in right before penetration……”
“I came in just as I was loosening up Neia’s ass”
“Since we were at it, I was getting my ass pounded right next to Anzeros-san until just a moment ago♪”
Apple started getting sulky because of all the interruptions, so right now I’m fucking her to cheer her up.
“Eh. Well then, which one should I go for♪”
“Which one?”
“Andy-san, you might have forgotten, but I can take it in the ass too, you know♪ Should I form a pussy team with Apple today, or should I join the ass team with Anzeros and the others……♪”
“Can’t I fuck both?”
“Eh, of course that’s more than welcome♪”
As she strips off her clothes, I beckon to Selenium, who’s happily debating which hole to offer me. I pause my thrusts into Apple to kiss Selenium, then run my hands, brimming with possessiveness, down her lower body, slipping them between her buttocks and thighs to stroke them before pulling down her panties.
“N……♪”
“What a naughty ass. It’s jiggling happily even though you’re about to get fucked in both holes”
“Of course I’m happy! I love drinking Andy-san’s cum out of either hole, after all♪”
Apple looked up at my profile as we enjoyed that conversation, placing her hand on her lower abdomen and squeezing her pussy tight.
“W, Wait until after you cum inside me before you think about having sex with Selenium, okay? You said you’d get me pregnant, how long are you going to make me wait!?”
“Sorry, sorry”
I’d whispered that to her when I brought her in. It was the usual thing, though. And seeing Apple get a little turned on by those words in my ear, I got a bit carried away, thinking, do I actually look like a handsome guy when I pull moves like this? Anyway, the reason I ended up fucking the intruders’ asses one after another was that 「Impregnating」 Apple was the main event, and this was just supposed to be a side show. Of course, Neia and Anzeros offered up their assholes knowing full well that was the case.
“Since we’re at it, I’d like you to impregnate me later too♪”
“Umm, if you have the time, I’d like to too……♪”
“……W, Well, in that case, I’ll need a cum enema in my ass later too, or things won’t balance out”
In the flickering candlelight, glancing sideways at Selenium as she unashamedly exposed her fourth female form, I began thrusting my hips again to satisfy the demands of every orifice on those greedy half-elf girls.