Chapter 509: Fort Life 8
Neia went to get a late lunch.
It wasn’t a very fine 「Meal」 to begin with and it wouldn’t be hard to find one unless someone was mean to me.
I went to the bathhouse for a quick rinse (well, naturally, the masturbation bros. don’t look at me) and then climbed up to the watchtower where Maia was.
“…If it’s this high, if you go up and down when you’re a little tired, you’ll probably fall right away”
“Andy-sama”
“Good work. I’m sorry I left you alone while everyone else was having so much fun”
After climbing up the ladder and standing at the top of the tower, the top of the tower, which is at most two meters square, is a bit of a challenge even for two people. The hammocks that could be seen from the bottom were placed diagonally across the tower, which might have been another reason for the cramped space.
“But you don’t need a lookout. If you wanted to, you could sleep in your quarters and still notice anything out of the ordinary outside the fort, couldn’t you?”
“Yes, to a certain extent. But it is the eyes that can detect the farthest distance”
“There’s nothing to be that cautious about, is there?”
“You can never be too careful. Besides, it’s a dragon’s duty to work for the rider. There’s not much difference between pleasing him with sex and being useful as a watchman, as long as it’s for Andy-sama’s sake”
Although dragons are said to be selfless.
But Maia is a childlike person because she is sweet when she is sweet and unlike Laila, she doesn’t want to leave me.
However, when she makes this kind of declaration……I feel that dragons are not normal after all.
I know that her refusal to leave and her pampering are not out of her desire to be useful to me.
“Maia is great”
I pat her head. Maia’s eyes narrowed slightly. Her reaction was not very loud, but I could tell that she was happy enough.
I put one hand on the crude railing, which would easily break if I kicked it and looked at the distant view from the fort. Beyond the grove of coniferous trees, which were cut down during construction but are still in good health a few dozen meters away, there is a wilderness that has always been trampled by demons and has never allowed a forest to be born. This fortress is situated on a lightly raised mountainside, making it the perfect vantage point from which to view the wilderness. In the distance, like shadows, distant towns can be seen. Catalina’s ant mound is close enough to be discernible.
“I guess they do some farming, too, in some areas……agriculture is still amazing in places like this”
“Humans have to run something to just stay alive. Even if someone would let you live like in this country, you don’t rely on that, you try to get something for yourself. Whether it is money or power, the freedom that comes with having something. The thirst for it makes humans risk their lives”
“…………”
“……Wh, What?”
“I was just thinking that Maia thinks about things in a way that is surprisingly difficult”
“……Andy-sama often forgets, but I’m older than the baron?”
I remember that. Fortunately, Maia didn’t seem to mind my rude words and continued to mumble as she looked at the distant view next to me again.
“Sometimes when I look at people, I think. I wonder if freedom is really worth it”
“Uh? I’m sure it is. It’s better to be able to choose anything than not to be able to choose at all”
“……Yes. But I don’t think there are that many things worth choosing”
Maia said something difficult.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you get the money, you get all the free time you want, the food, the booze, or the women and you can spend it however you want. The best result of freedom, in most people’s opinion, is to spend it as one pleases. ……That’s about it”
“……I wouldn’t say it’s that much”
“If you ask us dragons, it’s a bit like the livestock that people keep. Livestock are fed and fattened as much as they want, mates are assigned to them and they live happily among their friends, knowing nothing of their role until the 『Useful day』 that will one day come. The end of a life of alcoholic beverages and I am sure it just looks a little different. ……Even if people put their lives on the line, use their brains and desperately try to get their freedom, going with the flow may not make much of a difference in what they get”
“……I suppose from that point of view that’s true”
For example, it is a common story that you get the most beautiful woman as your companion, but she is a property-hungry, evil woman. But that doesn’t mean you are safe if you compromise. From a larger perspective, the freedom to choose is not worth much. Now we know that it is hard to be poor and not have time to eat, but it is not so easy for the rich to be bored and carefree……with money above a certain level comes status and responsibility. It is not uncommon to find people who have suffered and struggled to protect their wealth and position until the day they die of old age…….
Many people are tormented by the unreasonable reality of not being able to choose. And there are also many who continue to regret because they were able to choose. The 「Human world」 as seen from the extreme of asceticism and mastery must be a very funny world, where people are so busy and impatient to make such a trivial difference.
“……Am I one of those people who struggle for such trivial freedom?”
“Not you, Andy-sama”
Maia flatly denied my words, which had somehow become rotten.
“Andy-sama doesn’t use the freedom he has like that. He doesn’t try to get more than he needs”
“Is that so ……?”
“I know Andy-sama sympathizes with such ordinary people and I know he doesn’t think he’s different. But Andy-sama is different. So I’m sure Andy-sama’s choice is a choice worth making”
Maia’s words sounded like encouragement and self-protection and I couldn’t really feel it. Just sort of.
“……I wonder if what Neia said has anything to do with this……”
I suddenly think about that. I’m lonely because I’m trying to save Neia. It is a very good idea to have a good time with your family. Just like livestock. Does it mean that she wanted to be forced to be a female, to be swept away by the irresistible force of impulse, the sexual desire?
“……I don’t know much about her”
Maia says as if muttering, looking into the distance.
“Andy-sama´s doing something you’re not used to, isn’t he?”
“……W, Well”
If you ask me, persuasion through sex is basically not my idea, even though there have been many times……when people have urged me to do it and it’s worked. If only Neia could be unmotivated by the fact that sex feels good and is fun……like the other female slaves, if only her female instincts could outweigh her sense of duty as a warrior.
I know that Neia is not that kind of mentality, just because the others are specially addicted to me. Still, Neia’s going out with me is helped in large part by her sense of indebtedness to me and her 「Lack of destination」, as the flash sword pointed out.
Neia’s sex now, with all the various motives involved, is just so complicated that it is hard to penetrate in one direction. On top of that, she sees that my feelings are not pure lust…….
Ah, I see.
“……Something I’m not used to, I guess”
Somehow, it stoned me in the chest. I have too many excuses. If you are honest about wanting something because you want it, there may be room for you to throw everything away irresponsibly and drown. But if we are having sex with each other with double and triple excuses, it is impossible. It is only a 「Pretense」 to surrender to each other’s bestial pleasure.
No matter how good it feels, you will notice it when you wake up. If the other person’s lust is a playful game with another goal in mind and if they are not truly serious from the bottom of their hearts, then it is churlish for only you to give in to the pleasure, abandon your pretense, and follow your instincts.
Neia can’t abandon her way of life for that. She can’t pivot on her relationship with me and lighten up her way of life as a hero.
“……I guess it’s no good after all. Making Neia a female slave”
“I don’t think it’s the right way to do it, Andy-sama. It’s not that Andy-sama is a bad shot, it’s just that Andy-sama is not a woman’s superior after all”
“……You mean I’m not a real master?
“Something like that”
That’s right. That’s where I was wrong from the beginning. I can’t make Neia a sex slave. I’ve never been able to truly feel that way about any of them. After all, the relationship between me and the female slaves was just an affectionate relationship expressed in rough terms.
It was just a pretext, but before I knew it, I was drawn to it. There might not have been an eye for success there from the beginning.
“……A, Ah~~……what should I do?”
I was very depressed. I was shocked.
The strategy to free Neia from the fetters of being a 「Hero」 had to go back to the drawing board. However, Neia’s return to her hometown could happen at any time. As I held my head in my hands, Maia’s eyes narrowed just a little again as the spring breeze blew.
“……Wh, Why are you smiling at me?”
Maia laughed clearly this time as I glared at her with hatred.
“……Yeah. Andy-sama is different”
“……Ha?”
“Andy-sama is not a domestic animal. ……That’s why we will become your wings”
Maia said that, pulling my hand and making me stand up.
“If you don’t give up, you’ll definitely get it. It’s always been like that”
“……I hope so”
From here on out, no plan. I had to go with only my determination not to let go of Neia in front of me. Will I be able to save the girl at the end of the wasteland that spreads out below me? The power of the dragons is dependable, but we are dealing with a nation and the strongest alliance of heroes. It would be morally wrong to forcibly take away the girl by force. But.
“We will create the future that Andy-sama chose. That’s all”
Maia’s words were very encouraging.