The Strongest Adventurers’ Mental Caretaker ~ Somehow I Ended Up Involved with Every Beautiful Girl in the Hero’s Party ~ If You Have Time to Fight Over Me, Please Go Save the World - 3

Chapter 3: A Special Plan for the Hero

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“…Hmph! I am done here!”

The hero Freya, who was supposed to have found a moment of peace after drinking the herbal tea, returned to her prickly attitude right before she left the shop. However, her cheeks were slightly flushed. Evidently, she was putting on a show of bravado to hide her embarrassment.

“I came because this place has a good reputation, but it is just an ordinary shop with nothing special about it, run by a frivolous man. …I got my hopes up for nothing.”

Spitting out those words, she flipped her cloak and exited the shop. The remaining knight, Aeris, gave a remorseful bow, saying, “Apologies, shopkeeper. We will come again,” and chased after her. The mage, Luminara, followed the two in silence.

“…Good grief. What a bunch of honest-to-fault princesses.”

Chuckling dryly, I cleared the empty cup she had drained and watched the departing figures of the hero’s party.

◇

That night. It was a time when the bustle of the town had quieted down, and only the moonlight illuminated the alleyways. It happened right as I took down the sign at the front of the shop and was about to lock the door.

“……….”

A single silhouette stood beneath the streetlight in front of the shop. The person wore a hood pulled deep over their face, but the jet-black hair peeking through the gaps and the eyes gleaming sharply even in the dark could not be concealed.

“…Hero? We are already closed.”

When I called out, she stomped over to me in silence and forcefully pushed her way inside the shop. Then, waiting for me to close the door, she dropped her cloak onto the floor with a thud.

“…Take responsibility.”

“Dear me. Whatever for?”

“Do not play dumb!”

Freya suddenly grabbed me by the collar and closed the distance between us. However, there was no murderous intent like there was during the day.  In its place was a lingering, sultry gaze brimming with damp heat. Her breathing was ragged, her fair skin was flushed, and her eyes were moist.

“Since midday, my body has been acting strange. It started after I drank that herbal tea! Your face keeps flashing across my mind, and I cannot focus on my training. Deep inside my body, it feels hot and aching… What are you going to do about it?!”

Writhing her body, she glared at me with tearful eyes. I see. Apparently, she was carrying a lot more pent-up tension than I anticipated. I understood everything. The stress from years of fierce battles. The loneliness of having no one to rely on. And above all, her desires as a woman running wild as a reaction to a psyche stretched to its absolute limit. The tiny bit of kindness I gave her during the day had caused her rationality to break down completely.

Back when I worked as a male prostitute in the brothels, these kinds of customers were not uncommon. Noble women possessing wealth and power. As a trade-off for their social standing, they harbored a loneliness and emptiness deeper than anyone else within their chests. I had lived by embracing them, comforting them, and filling that void.

However, the person in front of me was a hero. A hero of the nation. The hope of humanity. Under normal circumstances, she was not an existence a resident of the back alleys like me was allowed to touch. If, just hypothetically speaking. If I were to embrace a hero, exactly what kind of voice would she make when she cries out…?

A dangerous premonition sent a shiver down my spine. But more than that, my professional curiosity, and above all, my instinct as a male within me could no longer be contained. Even though I knew it was a risky gamble, I could not help but take it.

“…That sounds serious. If left alone, the poison will circulate through your body, and you will become unable to move.”

Intentionally putting on a grave face, I grabbed her wrist. Her pulse was fast, and her skin was hot enough to burn.

“The stiffness is severe. Especially around here… The flow of your magic energy is blocked, and heat has accumulated.”

“I-Is that so…? I-Is that why it is so painful…?”

“Yes. It requires immediate treatment. …To the back.”

I invited her into the reception room at the back of the shop, as she showed no signs of resistance.

A dimly lit room with the lights turned down. Having her sit on the chaise lounge, I placed my hands on her jet-black armor.

“E-Excuse me.”

“…Nn.”

Undoing the fasteners, I gently removed the heavy armor. Revealed beneath was an unprotected figure clad in a single, sweat-dampened undershirt. The swelling of her ample chest rose and fell suggestively in line with her ragged breathing.

“…Well then, let us start with your back.”

Unable to endure it any longer, I moved behind her and slid my hand under the hem of her shirt. At the smoothness of the skin I touched directly, Freya gave a sudden start and arched her back.

“Nn…! I-It is cold, isn’t it…”

“Relax. …It is getting stiff right here.”

My fingers crept up along her spine and firmly pressed into a magic pressure point on her back. Naturally, I did this knowing full well that many women found pleasure in being touched there.

“Hyaa?!”

A lovely shriek leaked from the hero’s mouth.

“…Not there, you can’t…!”

“It is not a matter of ‘you can’t.’ Look, it is hardened to this extent. At this rate, you will not even be able to swing a sword satisfactorily.”

I dug my fingers in ruthlessly, stimulating her nerves in a sweet manner under the guise of kneading away the stiffness. As long as there was the pretext of a massage, she did not reject me. Rather, I could tell clearly that her rationality was melting away somewhere between pain and pleasure.

“Nnn… ah…! Ah, ahh…!”

Gradually, the voice leaking from her mouth took on a sweet coloration. I wrapped my other hand around her forward-leaning abdomen, gently caressing the area below her navel.

“Hero. If you do not let out the accumulated heat, you know.”

Whispering into her ear, I gave her earlobe a playful nip.

“Hyau?! …W-What are you…!”

“It is treatment. …This place also seems to have become quite hot.”

My hand slid down even further, onto the inside of her thigh. Freya attempted to stop my hand, but her strength was feeble. Rather, it was as if she were guiding my hand toward her private area.

“Cain… no, I am… the hero…”

“I thought I told you that you are just Freya here?”

Those words were the final blow. She went limp as if her strings had been cut, entrusting everything to me.

In the dimly lit room, only the sound of rustling clothes, lewd wet noises, and the sweet, ecstatic cries of the nation’s hero echoed. I thoroughly worked out her stiffness, making her discharge the heavily accumulated heat over and over, again and again.

◇

Having finished everything and rearranged her disheveled clothing, Freya lay exhausted atop the chaise lounge. Her expression was peaceful, as if a demon had been exorcised from her, yet deep within her eyes dwelt a heat like an unextinguished ember. I recognized that look. It was the flame of dependence, signifying that she could no longer live without me.

“…Your body feels lighter now, doesn’t it?”

When I handed her a towel, she glared up at me from beneath her lashes. However, there was no longer any sense of intimidation there. All that remained was the coyness of a sulking lover.

“…Yes. Astonishingly so.”

“I am glad to hear it.”

She stood up and headed toward the exit with unsteady steps. However, she came to a halt right as she placed her hand on the doorknob and turned around.

“…I will leave the treatment fee here. M-May I come again if I get stiff…?”

The question was asked in a faint voice that seemed on the verge of fading away. I responded with the ultimate sales pitch and a professional smile.

“Ah, anytime. …I will be waiting for you right here, always. Freya.”

Nodding with a bright red face, she vanished into the darkness of the night as if running away.

But I knew. She had already developed a body that could no longer fight without this treatment.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー