The Fallen Prince’s Pleasure Dungeon: I Won’t Let the Female Adventurers Leave ~ I Was Reincarnated as the Villain in an Eroge, and Even Though I Just Want to Live a Quiet Slow Life, Beautiful Girls Keep Gathering Around Me!?~ - 26

Chapter 26: That’s the Face of a Maiden Who’s Known a Man!

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After sinking the two bandits into the bath trap (which was really just an open-air bath), we wiped each other’s bodies down before they could catch a chill and headed toward the dungeon exit.

“This is far enough. We can find our own way out from here.”

Stopping in her tracks, Imelda gave a small smile. The Dungeon Master and his subordinates seeing off a pair of bandit intruders… it was a rather bizarre situation.

“Man, I’ve never had such a rowdy bath before.”

“That was your fault, wasn’t it?”

“Mostly Oboro’s fault, actually.”

Imelda had opened up enough to engage in light banter with me. However…

“…………”

Kia was hiding behind Imelda, glaring at me with flushed, puffed-out cheeks. She really felt like a little sister using her “big sis” as a shield.

“My bad. For ending up being your ‘first man’ and all.”

“D-do you have to say it like that!? Grrr…!”

“I’ve never seen Kia this embarrassed before.”

Imelda let out a wry laugh. Although the intrusion by Oboro had exposed the fact that I was a man, I had apparently won over their hearts enough for things to end on this note. 

(Baths really are the ultimate tool.)

“But still… I-I’m not used to dressing like this…”

In place of the bandit clothes I had ruined, I gave them outfits I had made with 《Create》. In contrast to how she used to hide her skin, these clothes were just as revealing as Kia’s. Her long, unscarred arms and beautiful legs were exposed without reservation. The tube top supporting her E-cup breasts clearly showed off her cleavage and of course, there was no Slave Crest to be found there.

“It suits you.”

“!? Don’t say things like that…!”

As expected of master and pupil, their raw reactions were identical. While her cheeks flushed, Imelda averted her eyes.

“W-well, whatever… I am grateful. I can’t even remember the last time I felt this good. And about that—”

She finally looked my way.

“Surely you aren’t going to say you don’t require any compensation.”

“Yeah. Of course not.”

“………… Fine. As long as it’s within my power. Is it money? Or perhaps…”

“Don’t speak a word of this place to anyone.”

“?”

“Don’t tell anyone about us. That’s all.”

“Are you serious?”

Her eyes returned to the sharp gaze of a bandit as she stared at me for a long moment.

“You really are a hard guy to figure out.”

“I just want to live here quietly with these girls.”

I looked at Medi and Oboro standing beside me.

“I just want to live here in peace. As long as you keep that promise, that’s enough for me.”

“Alto-sama…!”

“Master.”

“…Is that so? Understood. I give you my word. It’s the word of our benefactor, after all. It’s not like we’re some champions of justice anyway.”

Imelda gave a shrug.

“Thank you.”

“What are you saying? Compared to what you did for me, this is nothing. …Truly, thank you.”

Out of character for her, she bowed deeply. Then,

“Kia, let’s go.”

“Yeah…”

“Kia?”

“U-um, hey!”

Kia looked at me with a desperate expression.

“C-can I come back again!? Y-you know… to use the bath…”

My plan had been to use the bath as a distraction to send them away, but it seemed it worked a little too well on her, just like it did with the village girl.

“I won’t tell anyone! I-I’ll pay if you need money!”

“I told you, I don’t need money.”

“Alto-sama.”

Medi tugged on my sleeve.

“Can we all soak together again?”

She seemed to have taken a liking to that lively atmosphere. Hmm, I wanted to avoid the risk of more intruders, but…

“You’re bandits, after all… Can you come here without being followed?”

“Y-yeah! I’ll be super careful! Leave it to me! …Right, Big Sis?”

“Me too!? I-is it really okay…?”

Both of them stared at me expectantly. Well, I did do this and that with them. 

(I suppose I have to take responsibility as a man.)

“Sigh. Fine. Medi will be happy too.”

“!! Thank you!”

“I-I’m sorry. For being a nuisance…”

“Yay!”

And so, the two bandits left the dungeon behind.

■　■　■

“Big Sis!! Kia-chan!”

When Imelda exited the dungeon, her three subordinates were faithfully waiting for their return.

“Sorry to make you worry. As you can see, Kia is safe too.”

“Sorry, everyone.”

“No way! With Big Sis there, we knew you’d be fine—wait, what’s this? What’s with those clothes?”

“Ugh…”

I knew they were going to point that out.

“Big Sis is providing that kind of service!?”

“Aren’t those clothes high-quality stuff!?”

“Did you find them in the cave? Those look like they could be traded for gold coins if we sold ’em—”

To see the value of these clothes, these guys had a sharp eye for profit. As the leader of a bandit group, she should have been pleased, but…

“Is… is it wrong for me to wear them!?”

“Not at all!”

“What a feast for the eyes…!”

“I mean, isn’t your hair all shiny too?”

The men huddled their faces together.

“It smells really good, doesn’t it!?”

“The scent is drifting on the wind. Her expression looks softer too…?”

“Besides, look at Kia.”

Their gazes concentrated on Kia.

“W-what? What’s wrong with me? I’m the same as always…”

“I know that look! That’s the face of a maiden who has learned about ‘men’!”

“Don’t be stupid! She’s our precious little sister!”

“No, her voice sounds more rounded, and her gestures… Those are definitely the gestures of a ‘woman’…”

“Kia… Kia-chan… W-what on earth happened there!?!?”

They were getting incredibly rowdy. I felt bad for her subordinates, but I had a promise to keep with the masked man.

“Listen up. There was nothing here.”

“But you just said—”

“Nothing. Was. Here. Got it?”

She fixed them with a sharp, intimidating glare.

“Y-yes ma’am…!”

“If Big Sis says so!”

“Aaaaaagh! Big Sis, our youngest Kia…. Aaaaaaaagh!”

I felt a bit guilty for having to lie, but I’ll make it up to these subordinates in another way.

“Let’s go, boys.”

With her beautiful hair fluttering, Imelda vanished into the darkness of the night along with her bandit group.

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“But, was that really all right, Master?”

“Hmm? You mean about Imelda?”

On the walk back to the house, Oboro asked me.

“Was it okay to trust them? Wouldn’t it have been better to use the Roper to plant some eggs in them, making it so they could never turn back and pulling them over to our side?”

“That’s brutal, brutal.”

As expected of a monster. She said something terrifying so nonchalantly.

“It’s not like I just trusted them blindly.”

“?”

Back when we were wiping our bodies after the bath, I had opened Imelda’s “Hidden Setting” just in case. It was to check if there had been any change in her status after I erased the Slave Crest.

Checking via that [▼] button—

———————————— [▼]

…The Slave Crest was deleted by the hand of the Dungeon Master. Imelda was deeply grateful for this from the bottom of her heart. Furthermore, having experienced the warmth of a man’s skin for the first time, she felt a faint emotion different from what she felt for Kia or her fellow bandits.

————————————

By whatever principle it worked, the hidden setting had been automatically updated. If I could read her feelings, I could predict her actions. That was why I checked if she would keep her promise when seeing them off. The result was—

———————————— [▼]

…While feeling a sense of gratitude, Imelda is not good at expressing joy. The act of “bowing” she learned when visiting the Eastern Lands was her highest way of showing gratitude. And the request from her benefactor—to keep the dungeon a secret. She swore in her heart that she would absolutely uphold this. Not only would she not speak of it, but she was also considering spreading misinformation and working to ensure no other intruders appeared.

By the way, she is truly happy that she can frequent the dungeon again thanks to Kia’s suggestion.

————————————

“After seeing ‘that,’ I think things seem fine for now.”

“See what?”

“Never mind. Just talking to myself.”

By the way, I took a peek at Kia’s as well.

———————————— [▼]

…Kia had absolutely no interest in romance until now, but she has developed her first feelings of love toward the Dungeon Master. It was close to a sexual awakening and could not be called a purely romantic feeling, but to her, it was an emotion like a “treasure.”

She renewed her determination to polish herself more, both as a bandit and as a woman worthy of the Dungeon Master.

————————————

It looked like there was no need to worry about betrayal from this one for the time being either.

(Heh, that’s right. I’m a realist. I properly hide my face, and I’m not the kind of man who trusts someone just because we had a skin-to-skin encounter. …Though it did feel good. Thanks for the meal.)

“Oops. I don’t need this anymore either.”

I took off the mask that had been covering my eyes. When I did, Medi, who was walking ahead of me, turned around.

“!! (Big smile)!”

She had a beaming grin.

“Medi, do you really dislike this mask that much? Hmm…”

I thought the design was pretty cool.

“No.”

“Hmm?”

“Medi likes Alto-sama’s face! It makes me lonely when it’s hidden… I can see Alto-sama’s eyes now, so I’m happy!”

“Oh, so that’s it—um, what do you think of this design?”

“It’s cool!”

“…………! I knew it!! There’s no way anyone would think this mask is lame, right!?!?”

And so, after repelling the bandits, we returned to our happy home.

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