Drifted Into a Reversed World ~ The One Method for Me, a Japanese Guy, to Survive in a World Where Men and Fertility Are Scarce ~ - 9

Chapter 9: From Here On

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The Great Forest—The Southern Encampment.

Ronia Ilfitte was harboring a sludge-like frustration within her. Having come all the way from the Aidia Empire on this expedition, she had been living in camps for nearly a month now. She couldn’t eat enough unless food was procured locally, nor could she soak in a warm bathtub. As a mercenary rather than a regular soldier, her share was small, and her days were spent being treated dismissively within the group. Of course, the shrewd Ronia was not the kind of petty person to leak complaints over such things.

Being a ruffian by nature, she looked after herself, and she could provide her own food even if rations weren’t distributed. However, even grievances as trivial as dust can stack up to become a significant amount of stress. More than anything, the stress that tormented Ronia was the fact that she hadn’t held a man for a month… or rather, that was the long and short of it. Of course, she couldn’t indulge in self-pleasure while acting in a group, so her beast-like sexual desire had lost its outlet for a long time, remaining locked away while she salivated.

If she were in a situation where she could pleasure herself now, Ronia would likely spend at least three hours straight comforting her own burning body.

“…”

Ronia bit into the meat of a deer she had brought down as she recalled the words of the Empress.

(If I take down Firis Aigur, I’ll be granted any one man of my choice… huh. Damn, I shouldn’t have jumped at that offer so easily.)

Those were the words that Empress Elenoa of the Aidia Empire had personally told Ronia. Ronia was well-known within the country, and her relationship with Elenoa was closer than anyone in another nation could imagine. After all, it was nearly impossible for a mere mercenary and the ruler of a country to exchange words.

The Aidia Empire was built entirely on how much they could exploit and plunder men from other nations. While drawing the hatred of every country upon itself, the Empire, which secretly exported reused men behind the scenes, was also quite wealthy. Even if lives were used up in war, the population remained high because they could forcibly exploit seed from men—women of this world were terrifyingly fast from conception to childbirth—and its national power was a cut above the neighboring countries.

There was one thing that Elenoa, the ruler of such a powerful nation, proclaimed to her soldiers until she was blue in the face.

『If you find a man with true black eyes, you must bring him to me without fail.』

These were the words of Empress Elenoa that everyone living in the Empire knew. She also promised that any reward would be granted to the one who brought him. Generally, black was considered a symbol of beauty, and the black-haired men born on very rare occasions were idolized for their loveliness. However, as for those with black eyes, there were none… or rather, they only appeared in fairy tales, and not a single person had actually seen or heard of one.

The Imperial Empress Elenoa was obsessed with the search for a black-eyed man. If one were to find and present him, they would receive a sum of gold incomparable to the reward for slaying Firis.

(Well… a premium man like that isn’t going to be just lying around…)

Ronia sucked every last bit of juice from the deer bone and tossed it aside carelessly. Regardless, the goal now was to slay Firis. And then to return safely. That was everything to her. Ronia stood up to tend to her weapon, when—

“I have a report!!!”

A soldier who had been patrolling the perimeter jumped into the camp, looking shocked and frantic.

“What is it? What happened?”

As the woman who was the soldier’s superior asked this, the soldier shouted breathlessly:

“We’ve discovered Firis Aigur! She is alive… and she is with a m-man with black hair and black eyes!!!”

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“Your eyes truly are beautiful…”

Firis said as she carefully combed the black hair that hung over Sota’s eyelashes. A somewhat large sleeping bag. The two of them, still naked, lay together inside it in a cramped but intimate embrace. After performing the act three times in succession, they had slept like logs for several hours.

“Is that so? I think they’re normal, though…”

“No, I have never seen a black-eyed man before. Truly, I’ve felt as if I were being sucked into them from the moment I first saw you…”

The intimacy between a man and a woman was a strange thing indeed. The wall of “strangers” that had formed between them had been torn down with incredible ease. They lay together as if they were true lovers.

“Sota… you are a mysterious person.”

“Eh?”

“You have strange equipment, and your name is unfamiliar. Besides, as I’ve said many times, there simply isn’t a man with such a vigorous sexual desire that he can e-ejaculate that much.”

“Ahaha. I guess I went a little overboard.”

“Goodness gracious…”

While acting exasperated, Firis stroked Sota’s head. It was a soft stroke, filled with affection. As Sota narrowed his eyes in pleasure, Firis couldn’t help but feel a euphoria so deep it made her chest tighten.

(I will protect Sota, no matter what. I will protect him to the end. I will never hand this boy, the one who loves someone like me,  over to the Empire.)

A firm resolve burned like a flame within Firis.

“Sota.”

“What is it?”

“I will protect you. No matter what happens, no matter where we go. Even if you were to hate me for it, I have decided to dedicate this sword to you.”

Those deep blue eyes captured Sota’s gaze more directly and nobly than anything else. There wasn’t a hint of a joke in her expression, and Sota felt somewhat tickled by it.

(Another world… huh.)

Sota began to gradually accept reality as he prepared to leave the hollow. Starting with yesterday’s life-and-death struggle with the soldiers, Firis’s words and actions were constantly at odds with his own values.

He had been taught the value of a “man” in this “Yggdrasil” while they were being intimate. That men could only ejaculate once a month, that they detested women, and that she had never seen a man like Sota before. When he heard that the birth rate for males was one-thousandth, he was genuinely surprised and reached a realization.

(This world is another world.)

Moreover, it was a world where wars never ended day or night, all over men. As he gained a full understanding, Sota’s chest was tightened by an indescribable sense of loneliness and anxiety. He had no one to rely on, and no place to go. He had gained a reassuring ally in Firis, but he still found himself missing the family and friends he had left behind. Would he, now utterly alone in the world, be able to survive in this place? Or would he be able to return safely?

He didn’t know what lay ahead yet. But Sota had to think and take action. He had to decide how he, with his rare sensibilities and sexual desire, should behave and what he should do here in “Yggdrasil.”

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