Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Master’s Prank

After meeting Eisel, I trudged back to the dormitory as if my soul had been stolen.

On the desk, the eyeball containing a red pupil lay neatly atop a piece of cloth.

It was time to taste the long-awaited eyeball.

“Were there any other times in the game where I had to eat something this bizarre?”

The eyeball was not easy to put into my mouth.

I kept repeating the motion of picking up the eyeball and putting it back down.

[ I am upset... ]

Just as I steeled my heart and was about to eat the eyeball, Sierra sighed and grumbled.

“...Why is that, Master?”

I politely asked Sierra, who was completely dispirited.

[ Even though I say I am upset... my disciple is trying to eat an eyeball... Why do you keep trying to eat that damned eyeball? ]

Soon, Sierra glanced slightly at me and grumbled.

I wanted to eat it quickly too.

On the way back, I had gone to Herald, who made spicy curry, and asked him about eyeball cooking, but...

“Hoho, well. I don’t know about something like that either. Why do you need to eat an eyeball in the first place?”

...After hearing that, I had returned to the dormitory with no result.

Thus, I had been thinking deeply.

Could I swallow the eyeball?

If I could not swallow it, I would have to chew it.

Would it even be chewable?

In the middle of all that, Sierra was acting like this.

When I did not answer, Sierra continued speaking to herself as if she had become the tragic heroine of a play.

[ I cannot forget it. The sight of my disciple grinning foolishly at that bewitching blonde woman... ]

“When did I grin foolishly?”

...Did I?

Because my head had been dizzy at the time, I had no idea what sort of expression I had been making.

Sierra seemed to have been quite shocked by Eisel’s somewhat reckless “prank.”

“I don’t know anymore.”

In an instant, I picked up the eyeball with my fingers and tossed it into my mouth.

[ L-look at that. Even though I said I was upset...! Did you really eat it? Ah, open your mouth. Ah. ]

Sierra fiddled with my cheek, wanting me to open my mouth.

The moment Sierra started handling my cheek however she pleased, I sensed it.

“This... I can’t swallow it. If I swallow it, it will definitely get caught in my throat.”

For now, I opened my mouth and showed it to Sierra as she squeezed my face and urged me.

If anyone else saw this, it would have been quite a strange sight.

After checking my mouth, Sierra’s eyes grew round.

[ You really put it in your mouth... Haa... Disciple, this may be the first time I regret taking on a disciple. To think you are eating an eyeball in this situation... ]

Leaving Sierra’s grumbling behind, I chewed the eyeball.

“Ah.”

Some unidentified liquid spread inside my mouth.

Thinking only of the skill I would obtain, I chewed it again and again.

[ You insist on chewing it... Why... ]

To answer Sierra’s words, I gulped down the eyeball.

“I thought perhaps my eyes might get a little better... You never know, do you?”

I gave a suitable excuse.

I could not exactly say, “I ate the eyeball to acquire a skill.”

At my answer, a shadow fell over Sierra’s face.

Other people often did that too.

Thinking I could not see their expressions, they revealed their emotions on their faces without reserve.

I did not know whether that was a good thing.

Before long, my vision, which had only been dark, gradually brightened.

I could see clearly inside the room, where not a single light had been turned on.

I had acquired the skill “Night Vision.”

Since the “blindfold” covered my eyes, I had eaten it half in doubt, but should I say it was compatible...?

“I would have felt wronged if I even ate an eyeball and the skill did not apply.”

I rinsed my mouth with the water I had prepared on the desk in advance, then approached Sierra, who had a gloomy expression.

“Of course eating an eyeball would not make my eyes see. In truth, being able to touch and feel you like this, Master, is enough. Please think of it as the foolish lingering attachment of your dim-witted disciple.”

Holding Sierra’s hand, I smiled bitterly.

[...Yes, I can understand how you feel. ]

Sierra glanced at the hand I held, said this, and nodded.

Judging by her reaction, it seemed I had managed to get through it somehow.

But suddenly, Sierra’s purple eyes flashed.

[ But, touching and feeling is enough, you say... ]

After saying that, Sierra gradually approached me.

Feeling an inexplicable sense of wrongness at the rising corner of her mouth, I had no choice but to step backward.

“...Master?”

As I faltered backward, my foot eventually struck the bed behind me.

—Flop.

My body naturally fell onto the bed.

Even so, Sierra did not stop approaching.

“Master, what are you...”

[ Did you not have some conversation with that girl earlier about listening to the sound of the heart and whatnot? ]

Cutting off my words, Sierra brought up what had happened with Eisel, whom I had just met.

“...We did.”

[ Then can you hear the sound of my heart too? ]

“Master, your heart does not bea...”

At that moment, Sierra cut off my words once again and climbed atop me.

Then she suddenly grabbed my hand and brought it to her chest.

It was an action very similar to the prank Eisel had pulled a short while ago.

Eisel had been wearing the academy uniform.

I could not feel the texture of her bare skin.

But Sierra’s clothes were... extremely revealing, exposing her chest and covering only the important parts.

In other words, bare breasts so large they could not be fully held in one hand were touching me.

Because I was very tense, my hand trembled slightly.

From Sierra’s chest, I could feel a warmth hotter than that of her hand.

[ If I do this... can you feel my heart beating? ]

Sierra’s languid voice, her face close to my ear, rang inside my head.

However, unlike what she wished, I could not feel a heartbeat from her chest at all.

Wondering what on earth was happening, I answered honestly.

“...No, I cannot feel it. I only feel that your skin is far too soft, Master...”

[ That cannot be. Then listen to the sound. ]

Sierra grumbled like a child, then grabbed me as I lay on the bed and half-raised me.

Then she pushed my face straight into her chest.

—Soft.

And then she hugged me tightly so I could not escape.

For some reason, I seemed to keep ending up in Sierra’s chest.

Her soft breasts pressed against my face, yielding gently.

However, since she was both a soul and a cursed blade, no sound of a beating heart could be heard.

“...Um, I can’t hear it.”

[ Then... we will have to stay like this until my disciple can hear the sound of my heart... ]

Perhaps Sierra was embarrassed too, because she lowered her head deeply over mine, and her shy voice rang inside my head.

How much time passed in that state?

It seemed Sierra intended to keep doing this until she heard an answer she liked.

Her chest was so soft and warm that I felt I might fall asleep like this.

But I could not move my body at all.

After enduring the ticklish feeling over my whole body again and again, I spoke first.

“...I think I can hear it.”

[ Truly? ]

“Yes. Thump, thump...”

Only then did Sierra let me go.

I exhaled deeply and lay flat on the bed.

[ Pfft... There is no way you could hear the sound of a heart from me, one of the dead. My disciple is more foolish than he looks... It was merely my “prank.” ]

Sierra, eyes narrowed, covered her mouth and laughed.

A prank.

Whether it was Eisel or Sierra, I did not know if this could really be called a prank.

“At the very least, it was flustering.”

When I said nothing else, Sierra’s voice rang out to me.

[ Hmph, your ears have gone bright red... ]

But Sierra’s face, laughing as she said that, was red too.

At her words, I touched my ears.

They felt a little hot, so I thought they might indeed have turned red.

I had seen her chest all day while being with her, but being pressed by it was a different matter.

Sierra looked steadily at me and continued speaking.

[ So... did you like my prank, or did you like the prank of that child called Eisel? ]

“Must I like a prank...?”

Sierra smiled, unconcerned by my ambiguous answer.

Sierra seemed to be saying a lot of strange things today.

I turned my head and tried to sleep immediately in that state.

I was at my limit. My body felt terribly heavy.

It was not because I had gone to the Labyrinth, but because the two women’s “pranks” had drained all my energy.

[ Mm? Are you sleeping? Disciple, answer me before you sleep... ]

Sierra’s voice suddenly rang out, but I decided to think of it as a lullaby and fall asleep.

Soon, Sierra leaned against my lying body and continued urging me to answer.

Her voice was gentle and pleasant to listen to.

Before long, drowsiness poured down.

***

“The Labyrinth... is really annoying.”

Forming a party was one thing, and acting clumsy all day made it twice as tiring.

“Oh, it’s Zeto.”

On the way out of the Labyrinth, one of the party members beside me mentioned that guy’s name.

“Zeto?”

As I looked around, my eyes caught sight of him.

He was drawing the attention of the students, yet he walked leisurely on his way as if it were nothing.

“They say he caught the lycanthrope on the fifth floor by himself.”

“What? Amon Caligus was beside him too, right? Did he really catch it alone?”

“...I think my head hurts a little. Should I ask him to place a needle for me?”

“Are you crazy?”

I heard the whispers of female students watching him.

Over the past few days, Zeto had become famous within the academy.

“That is attention I should be receiving...”

I forced myself to breathe deeply and tried to stay calm.

“What’s wrong, Kaen?”

A party member watching me from the side asked.

The party member’s eyes narrowed, then she nudged me with her elbow and said.

“Don’t tell me... you’re interested in Zeto too?”

“...Ahaha! I’ve been interested in him for a while! He’s cool, after all. Hehe...”

I answered the party member with a foolish expression.

It was interest for a completely different reason than the interest she was talking about, but it was not a lie.

The fact that Zeto had gained fame was deeply irritating. But it did not disrupt the plan.

If anything, thanks to him becoming famous, it seemed it would be easier to gather people when we sparred.

If I revealed the power I had been hiding then and defeated him...

“Haa... Haa...”

...Just imagining it was so thrilling that I grew excited without realizing it.

“But considering Student Eisel’s matter and the Woozy Mushroom... he is still dangerous.”

That guy had an eye for women.

I did not think I would lose, but if I somehow did lose... something terrible might happen afterward.

Still, I had no intention whatsoever of quietly letting him steal my purity.

“If it comes to it, I will use Grandfather’s swordsmanship.”

I would make sure such a thing did not happen.

***

Kaen did not know at all.

That Sierra, who should have been by Zeto’s side, was standing before her with her head tilted, watching all of this.