298 Daemon Camp (1)

"You… You can use magic too!" Katherine was surprised.

That is normal, though. It's common knowledge that it's hard to use magic when you use martial arts. Moreover, I'm famous for being a sword genius. If I'm also a magic genius at the same time, then how are others going to live?

"I never said I can't," I replied with a smile. "What do you think of my magic? Great, right?"

Katherine was so dumbfounded that she did not know what to say.

In the end, she just sighed.

"Can you please put me down?"

"Why? I like holding you like this."

"But I don't! Moreover, why do you have to carry me like this!?" Katherine blushed until the ears due to my princess carry.

I, however, shrugged as though it was only natural. "What is the problem? This way it's more romantic."

Katherine was speechless.

She then struggled out of my arms. I could only put her on the ground after seeing her insistence.

"By the way, I won the bet," I said with a smug smile.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "I don't think so. To be honest, I still had a pair of cards under my sleeve. I have not used the charm we received when we entered the forest. Moreover, my master left a spell on me that activates when my life is at risk. In other words, even if you didn't appear, I would not have died."

This girl. Does she think she can deny her debt?

I stared at Katherine straight to her eyes. "I never thought you were the kind to not accept her loss."

Katherine snorted. But after a few seconds, she heaved a defeated sigh.

"Okay, you are right. You win. I'm not so petty as to not accept my defeat."

Oh? This is unexpected.

"Then, my kiss…"

"But... We never stipulated a time to pay the bet, right? Mmm, I think I'll give you the kiss ten, no, twenty years later." Katherine looked at me with a victorious smirk. It was as though she was convinced she won this one.

So that was the reason she agreed to the bet so easily, huh. She was never planning to pay since the start.

But girl, do you truly think your shamelessness is comparable to mine?

I narrowed my eyes and curved my lips in an evil smirk. Then, I suddenly held her waist and brought my face close to hers.

"H-Hey! W-What are you doing!?"

"Obviously, claiming my reward."

Without giving her the opportunity to run away, I kissed her lips.

The kiss was very short, more like a peck than a kiss. However, that was enough to stun Katherine.

After I let go of her, she looked at me with a frozen expression and touched her beautiful and moist lips with her hands.

"T-That… That was my first kiss…"

"Really?" I put on a startled expression. "Sorry, I did not know. Allow me to return it."

Then–

*Kiss*

As of now, Katherine's blue eyes had turned the size of balls.

When she finally recovered from my rogue acts, her face turned completely red and the mana in her body charged to the surroundings.

And–

"Shameless bastard!"

Yeah, this is fun.

Katherine chased me for a while, while I ran around laughing smugly and avoiding the spells she was throwing around.

It was even funnier seeing Katherine pant after using up the little mana she had recovered.

"Okay, okay, let's stop here. We need to continue with our mission." I said.

Katherine just looked at me with an ice-cold look and looked away. She probably was planning to ignore me for the rest of the travel.

Is this the so-called punishing with the painful cane of indifference?

Unfortunately, I was not planning to make her wishes reality.

"How is your mana?" I asked.

Katherine ignored me again.

"If I'm not wrong, your current mana is not enough to keep with my speed, right? How long are you going to need to recover?"

Katherine continued keeping silent, but this time she showed me her index finger.

"One hour, huh… But we can't wait that long. Fortunately, I have a good idea."

I could see Katherine's face turning pale. She probably realized that my idea was not a good one.

Well, I was never planning to hear her opinion.

In a smooth movement, I carried her again in a princess carry and kicked the ground.

"Bastard! What are you doing!?"

"Carrying you, obviously."

"Put me down! Now!"

"Yeah… No." I said and chuckled in front of Katherine's red face.

Katherine struggled fiercely, but when she realized I was not planning to let her go, she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes.

"Are you like this with every girl you met!?"

"Only the ones I like a lot," I said with a soft laugh and put my mouth on Katherine's ear. "What do you say, beautiful lady. Interested in spending a nice evening with me?"

"… Your cheap tricks will not work on me."

"Is it so? Such a shame." I chuckled again and continue carrying Katherine while trying to not laugh at the evident blush on her face.

There were not many problems during the rest of the travel. We found another team of daemons, but they were weaker than the first. Thus, I took care of them easily.

But when we were about to arrive at the exit of the forest, we finally meet a considerable obstacle.

"… It's an entire camp."

"How many are there?" Katherine asked while observing the daemon camp from beside me.

"Ten, maybe twenty," I replied. None of them was very strong, the stronger was just a tenth-layer daemon. The problem was their location.

They were in the path our camp needed to take if they wanted to escape the forest. And if we took a detour, it would mean three or four hours of travel more.

And in the current situation, that was not a good idea.

Mainly because it's likely that we will be being chased and attacked by daemons at that moment. Thus, if they met with this encampment, that will be the same as having enemies at the front and the back.

At that moment, there was a commotion in the camp.

Katherine and I were startled. Lowering our bodies so nobody could see us, we did our best to find what was happening.

But instantly, Katherine's face turned pale and she clenched her fist.

A human girl ran out of a tent. The girl was wearing the uniform of the institute, but it was torn apart in several parts.

Moreover, she was naked from the waist down and her body had several traces of trauma.

You did not need to be a genius to know what was her situation.

She had been r*ped.

Moreover, when the girl exited the tent, we managed to see several other girls inside with daemons above them laughing maniacally.

"… These bastards…" Katherine said through gritted teeth. The rage she was feeling was so intense that even the wind around her turned violent.

"Calm down," I said to her. "Don't be rash."

Katherine looked at me and bit her lips until they bled. Then, she took a deep breath and put on a firm expression.

"I'm going to rescue them."

"… You know that is a crazy idea, right?"

"I know."

"If you go, you will probably die."

"I'm aware."

"Nobody will blame you if you do nothing."

Katherine looked at me with ice-cold eyes and sneered.

"You don't need to accompany me if you are afraid."

Afraid?

Girl, these small fries are not even enough as a warm-up.

Besides, this is a good opportunity to show-off in front of you. Do You think I'm going to let it slip away?

But this girl sure has a strong sense of justice, huh.

Sigh… I was like that in my first and second lives. Perhaps in the third too. Afterward, I started to lose that touch.

However, I don't dislike that hero syndrome of hers. I'm not going to be like that, but I don't dislike it.

I smiled and kissed her lips before she could react.

"What are you speaking about? Obviously, I'm going to help my future wife. And that was my payment."

Katherine did not know if blush, feel touched, or get angry.

avataravatar
Next chapter