A Humble, Scary-Looking Mid-Rank Adventurer Is Offered Their Bodies by Every Member of a Rising All-Female Party, Begging: ‘You Can Do Whatever You Want With Me, Just Please Spare My Companions.’ - 20

Chapter 20: The Proud Beastkin Warrior

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Nerva returned to where Sierra and Patema were standing guard at the campsite shortly after that. As the two worried about the possible presence of a magical beast, Nerva shook her head from side to side, swaying slightly as she did.

“There’s no magical beast. Looks like it was just my imagination.”

“I see. Well, that’s a relief, but…”

Sierra studied Nerva closely. In stark contrast to how she’d looked earlier, she now seemed a bit worn out. Her steps lacked strength. Rather than the magical beast, that was what concerned Sierra. Had something happened? However, when she asked after her condition, Nerva only said that she was tired from searching for the beast.

“So then, what about Balg and Fana?” 

Patema asked.

“Ah—uh… Those two…”

Nerva’s ears twitched slightly. Sierra felt a flicker of unease, but before she could think further, Nerva continued.

“Sounds like it’ll take them a bit longer. They’re changing bandages, reapplying medicine, and it seems like they’re also using holy magic.”

“I see. Then should we go back to dismantling the carcass?”

“Yeah… Yeah, let’s do that.”

With a faint sense of unease lingering in the air, the three returned to their work. Sierra and Nerva resumed dismantling the beast by the riverbank, while Patema began preparing dinner, heating water in a pot. 

Balg and Fana returned around the time dinner preparations were mostly finished. Both of them looked utterly exhausted.

“Geez, you two are late! We ended up doing everything ourselves!”

“Sorry, Sierra. The treatment took a little longer than expected.”

As the two emerged from the depths of the forest, Sierra looked clearly annoyed. From her perspective, it seemed as though they had deliberately delayed their return and left all the work to the remaining three and it was an understandable conclusion.

“My apologies. We hurried back as fast as we could… Please leave the cleanup to me.”

“Hmph. I suppose it can’t be helped.”

Seeing Balg draw his large frame in on itself, Sierra couldn’t press the issue any further. She sighed, let it go, and their modest dinner began.

“Here, Balg. We managed to get some bear liver. It’s fresh, so I think it’s edible.”

“Oh, that’s a fine-looking piece.”

“With something this big, it’ll definitely give you stamina.”

“St—stamina?”

The main dish for dinner was bear meat stew. Compared to grilling over an open flame, stew allowed them to cook a large quantity at once and include vegetables and other nutrients, making it a staple for camping. And when chunks of meat were floating generously in the pot, it lifted everyone’s spirits all the more.

On top of that, Sierra quietly produced the bear liver she had set aside. She offered it specifically to Balg, and though he said he felt bad about it, he accepted with a pleased expression.

“You’ll need to build up lots of stamina, Balg.”

The one who said that with a sultry smile was Fana. As usual, she had positioned herself right next to Balg, pressing her chest firmly against him. Today, she even had her hand resting on his thigh.

“Isn’t Fana awfully close to Balg?” 

“Am I? Ufufu.”

Fana merely smiled seductively at Sierra’s furrowed brow and made no effort to move away. Watching this scene from a short distance away, vivid images of the two from earlier resurfaced in Nerva’s mind. Fana, who had lived a life of chastity as a devout believer and had known nothing of men, had been undone like that—crying out in pleasure. Balg, too, had embraced her voluptuous body and taken her with a ravenous intensity.

“I want it too…”

Her groin throbbed. She had made sure to clean herself thoroughly, yet warmth was already spreading between her legs again, moisture seeping out as if her scent might rise into the air. She rubbed her inner thighs together, twisting her body.

“What’s wrong, Nerva? Need the bathroom?” 

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

It was Patema who noticed that their usually lively big sister figure had grown quiet. As Patema tilted her head and peered at her curiously, Nerva hastily denied it.

“I was just thinking…Everyone seems to have gotten closer.”

“Hm? I suppose so.”

Nerva voiced her honest feelings anew. Sierra and Fana were both physically close to Balg, closer than she could ever have imagined just a few days ago. She alone knew how despicable that man could be. And yet, from where she sat now, all she could see was a simple man joining in the party’s warm camaraderie.

“Balg’s just shy, you know. He’s not very good with words, but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy at heart.”

As Nerva stared absentmindedly at the three of them, she failed to notice Patema blushing and wriggling her body beside her.

“Do you think… He wants to get along with us?” 

“G-get along? W-well, I wouldn’t be opposed to getting along with him for the long term, per se…”

Nerva’s lower abdomen throbbed again. Watching that man chatting cheerfully with Fana and Sierra sent a dull pain through her chest. 

I was supposed to be there… Why am I sitting here alone, letting my stew go cold…? I also…

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“Hmm, hmm-hmm♪”

The riverbank at night. Mixed with the murmur of flowing water, cheerful voices from the campsite drifted over. With his back to them, Balg washed dishes. Crossing the line with Fana had been very bad. She was a priestess and a virgin. Once he came back to his senses, he had immediately dropped to his knees and begged forgiveness, and she had generously accepted his apology.

“Instead, please don’t do something like that with anyone else.” 

So she had said. But he had never intended to. From now on, he resolved to be even more mindful of his position with the all-female adventuring party Aurora Blade, maintaining proper restraint and decorum. And so, partly as penance for not helping with dinner preparations, he was washing the dishes alone.

That said, working quietly by himself had never bothered him. If anything, he preferred it. Scrubbing away grime, draining the water, lining things up—each task steadily produced visible results, and seeing that brought him a sense of accomplishment.

“Oh-ho-ho.”

When he was alone, there was no one to hear his off-key humming. Sierra and the others seemed to be enjoying their post-meal gathering, and someone like him would probably be an odd presence among them anyway. Thinking that, Balg reached for the next plate and then heard the sound of footsteps crunching over river stones behind him. Out of habit as an adventurer, he tensed and turned around.

“Whoa!? O-oh, it’s you, Nerva. Don’t scare me like that.”

Standing there was Nerva. She was a beastkin spear-user with a trained physique adorned by red hair. The oldest member of Aurora Blade, and the big sister figure whom even their leader Sierra trusted completely. Usually lively and boyish, she stood there now. Seeing her, Balg frowned. Nerva had lost her usual energetic air. Her ears drooped, her tail hung low.

“Is something wrong? If you’re feeling sick, we can ask Fana—”

“Don’t say that name.”

Nerva’s voice was dry as she cut him off. It was an unusual reaction for such a close-knit party. As Balg floundered, she looked at him with moist eyes.

“Please… Just look at me right now.”

“O-okay. What happened?”

He didn’t really understand, but maybe there had been a fight between them. Even in a close party, living together inevitably led to friction. Still, Balg knew he wasn’t good at dealing with interpersonal troubles, that was why he usually chose to be alone.

“You know, beastkin lives by survival of the fittest mindset.”

The abrupt statement left Balg blinking, but Nerva continued regardless.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female. If you’re strong, you can make the weak your underlings. That’s how I survived.”

“I—I see. You really are strong, Nerva.”

“Yeah. There was no one in my clan who could beat me. That’s why I left and was hired by that girl’s family.”

She was talking about her past. A recollection filled with the weight of lived experience. Balg had only known that she and Sierra went way back. This was the first time he’d heard the details.

“I always thought I was the strongest. That no one could beat me… But I was wrong.”

Nerva looked at Balg. He recoiled instinctively and she used that moment to drop to her knees, planting her hands on the ground. The posture stirred a sense of déjà vu in him.

“Please! I—I want you… I want you to take me!”

“W-wait, what!? Huh!?”

What was she saying all of a sudden? Balg flailed his arms in panic, but Nerva didn’t stop.

“I’ve never seen a male as strong as you. My beastkin instincts won’t stop aching. I don’t care about the party or our positions anymore. Please! Have sex with me, as hard as you can.”

“S-sex!?”

The crude, unadorned words stripped of all shame left Balg more flustered than anything. Even as he stood there stunned, Nerva pressed her forehead to the gravel, bowing deeply against the stone-strewn riverbank.

“M-my chest is big enough, right? It’s firmer than Fana’s. And… And inside me is tighter! It felt better than hers, didn’t it? Right?”

When she lifted her face, what spilled from her lips were clumsy, desperate words of temptation. She pushed up her breasts with her hands, trying her hardest to look appealing. For a woman who had devoted herself entirely to the path of combat, this was her utmost attempt at femininity.

“You can be rough with me. N-no, I want you to dominate me, to force me down. I’m already this wet! Touching myself alone doesn’t mean anything anymore.”

“Whoa!? Nerva, w-wait!”

She suddenly stood, brazenly exposing her groin. She stripped away all her clothes, revealing well-toned thighs but more than anything, the sight of her triangular mound soaked through drew Balg’s gaze.

“P-please! Have sex with me! Have sex with me! You can use my boobs too! It’s not fair that only Fana gets it!”

Wriggling, bowing, her hips moved unconsciously. She bent her supple abs, discarding all her usual dignity.

“I can’t forget your thing. My fingers or polished wooden branches don’t do it anymore. Please, think of it as helping me. Work with me. Please…”

Even resorting to tears, she begged. She wanted that pleasure, that male violence that had satisfied Fana, for herself. The throbbing in her lower belly wouldn’t stop. Her drenched slit twitched spasmodically, love juice spilling out like drool. She staggered closer and rubbed her body against Balg’s massive frame. She thought inhaling his thick male scent might calm her urges, but it only inflamed them further.

“Please! Ruin me! Make me understand that I’m just a female!”

Clinging to him, pleading… She was showing an indecent display she could never show her companions. But she had reached her limit. And then…

“N-Nerva…!”

The man’s reason, too, had reached its breaking point.

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