Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

The Kidnapping and Confinement of Beast Girls

(Part 2)

WE RETURNED to my room. Before us were two beast girls in uniforms, one with cat ears, the other with dog ears. Their hands were bound behind their backs with cuffs made of earth magic, and gags were stuffed in their mouths. Zanoba and I both sat in chairs, waiting for them to wake up.

What, you ask? Wasn’t I going to take the opportunity to do something while they were out? Don’t be a fool! I was a gentleman.

“Mrggh?!”

“Mmm! Mmm!”

The two of them woke. They realized the situation they were in at once, and started groaning noisily.

“Good morning,” I said quietly before standing up, looking down at the both of them.

They twisted their bodies and looked up at me. There was concern in their gaze, but they were still glaring at me. 

“Mmm!” A groan of resistance. They clearly didn’t understand the situation they were in.

“Now then… where should we start this conversation?” I put my hand to my chin as I regarded them both. Their skirts had flipped up from all the twisting around they were doing, exposing their tender-looking thighs. Truly a sight to behold.

“Mm?!” Pursena realized what I was looking at. She wiggled her nose, sniffing, and her expression turned to one of unease. Her sense of smell told her what it was I was looking at and thinking about. In contrast, Linia seemed clueless, still glaring me down and huffing at me. It seemed Pursena had the better nose.

In all actuality, given the illness that plagued me, there should’ve been almost no scent of arousal coming from me.

“Hm.”

It was then that I suddenly thought of something. I had two high school girls with animal ears bound before me, their clothes disheveled, completely unable to move. It was insanely stimulating. Perhaps it could cure my condition? 

I’d heard Asura’s noblemen were prone to perverted fetishes. It was possible that losing my virginity had awakened something similar in me. I certainly hadn’t had anything against this kind of thing in my previous life, though it wasn’t what I would’ve called a fetish, either.

My mind made up, I decided to test it out. I wiggled my fingers as I reached toward the enormous mountain range on Pursena’s chest. She snapped her eyes tightly shut, a terrible look on her face, like she was being tortured. Like I was doing something horrifyingly cruel to her.

You know, there are women out there in the world that do the same thing to mens’ chests without showing any restraint, I thought. 

That aside, her breasts felt amazing in my hands. They really were huge, after all. But I only felt a faint sense of arousal. No cries of joy from my little man, no signs that he might be waking from his long slumber. 

When I released my hold on her, the arousal dimmed instantly and only that suffocating sense of loneliness remained. The same sensation I always felt. I guess this wasn’t going to do the trick, either. 

Pursena looked confused when I released her. She sniffed the air again and her expression turned to one of relief, before a conflicted look came over her face.

“Master? Is that how you’re going to punish them?” Zanoba asked.

I looked at Linia. The moment our eyes met, she glared at me angrily, so I went and felt her up too. Her chest was smaller than Pursena’s, but she still had quite the impressive assets. Doldia women seemed to be well-endowed in general. 

But as before, it wasn’t enough to delight my tom cat. The only noticeable change was the mounting humiliation and anger in Linia’s gaze.

I’d heard BDSM enthusiasts got off on watching such a gaze grow distorted as the person sank deeper and deeper into despair. I’d had some appreciation for such fetishes in my previous life, but seeing something on a computer screen was completely different from seeing it in real life. There was nothing for me to get out of this. The experiment was over.

“Do you understand why you’re in this predicament?” I asked them. The girls exchanged glances and shook their heads. Linia looked ready to shout, so I removed Pursena’s gag instead. 

After thinking for a moment, she blurted out, “I’m pretty sure we haven’t done anything to you.”

“Oh, so you’ve done nothing to me, huh?!” I purposefully repeated her words, snapping my fingers. Zanoba timidly carried over a box. Once opened, it revealed the tragically fragmented Roxy figurine. “Aren’t you two the ones who did this?”

“Ugh… what about that creepy figurine?”

“Creepy!” I repeated her words again. Was she calling Roxy creepy?! The Roxy that I’d poured such care into?! The one that sold instantly because it was such a masterpiece—that was creepy?!

No, calm down. Let’s be cool about this. Deep breaths. Breathe in… and out. Breathe in… and out!

“This is a symbol of my God.”

“Y-your God?”

“That’s right. I was able to go out and discover the world because she saved me.” I moved to the edge of my room as I spoke. There sat my altar. The altar that was the first thing I’d set up when I came to this room. I opened its twin doors and let them see the interior.

“Mm!”

“Wh-what’s that?”

“M-Master, is that…?”

“…”

They were both struck by the divinity of the object of worship that was enshrined within. Even Zanoba shrank back, and Julie grabbed the hem of his shirt, looking like she was about to cry.

“That figurine was created in the image of my God. And the two of you kicked it, trampled it, and shattered into pieces.”

Linia and Pursena widened their eyes, looking back and forth between my face and the altar, then slowly to Zanoba and Julie, before finally turning back toward me again. Their faces had gone absolutely pale. And by pale, I mean blue. Blue like a computer bluescreening. But at least it seemed they understood what they’d done now.

“Now, do you have some way of justifying your actions?”

Pursena took a few seconds to think over my question. Then she said, “Y-you’ve misunderstood! The one who stepped on it was Linia. I told her to knock it off.”

“Mm?!”

Instead of apologizing, she made excuses. Very well then. This seemed like it’d make for an interesting spectacle, so I removed Linia’s gag. When I did, the two of them started screeching at each other in shrill voices.

“Pursena’s the one who said, ‘You don’t need something like this, it’s creepy,’ mew!”

“But you’re the one who stepped on it!”

“My foot slipped, mew. Besides, you also kicked it up in the air at the end, mew! And you giggled when you saw Zanoba searching for the fragments all the way into the night, mew!”

So he’d searched for the fragments all night—some of them, like the shattered ankle, were as small as the tip of my little finger. Zanoba, my pupil. My affection for him increased threefold. He was headed straight down my romance route. Way to go, Zanoba! 

Anyway. Back to business.

“Shut up! You are both equally responsible.” First, I put an end to their disgraceful attempts to throw each other under the bus. Then, I declared judgment. “Heretics must be punished. That said, my religion is newly established, so I haven’t yet decided on the punishment in these cases. How would such a crime be punished in your village?”

“I-If you do something weird to us, my father and grandfather will have your head, mew! They’re the two strongest warriors in the Great Forest, so… ah…” Linia paused, seeming to remember that I knew Gyes and Gustav, too. This made me remember my punishment back in the Great Forest.

“Mister Gyes? Ah yes, I remember. He wrongfully accused me of doing something reprehensible to the Sacred Beast, so he had me stripped naked, had freezing cold water poured on me, then left me inside a cell for seven days. Right, then. Why don’t we do the same thing to you two?”

Just to be clear, I wasn’t holding a grudge over that stuff at all. I’d been a bit peeved about it at the time, but it’d been an overall enjoyable experience in the end, despite the circumstances—not that Linia and Pursena knew that. They were speechless, their faces turning ghostly white. Apparently, that method of punishment was considered a horrific form of torture to the beastmen.

“N-no, we’ll do whatever you want, so anything but that, please, mew!”

“You can do whatever you want to Linia. So at least have mercy on me!”

“What she said, mew! You can do whatever you want to me… gwah?!”

What a farce. They both showed no signs of remorse. Particularly the mutt.

“You Doldia were cruel in your punishment when it came to your beloved Sacred Beast, you know? Granted, they did apologize once they realized I’d been wrongly accused… but in this case, the two of you are definitely guilty.”

“Please, forgive us. We didn’t know that figurine was so important!”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” I agreed.

“And we won’t do it ever again.”

As if I’d ever let it happen a second time! You could never get back something that had been destroyed. These two could never understand what it felt like to watch something precious to you be ruined before your very eyes. Even now, I remembered the sight of my younger brother smashing my computer in with a bat. I had no intention of dredging up those old feelings, but I could still taste the despair I felt at that time. The feeling of having my only source of support shattered into pieces!

“We’ll apologize, mew. We’ll even show our bellies to you, mew.”

“That’s right, it’s embarrassing but I’ll do it!”

Show me their bellies? Ah, that beastfolk form of kowtowing that Gyes did for me. An insincere kowtow wouldn’t be enough to quell my emotions.

“If you want me to forgive you, put my figurine back together the way it was!”

R-o-x-y, R-o-x-y!

“That’s right! Even Master is incapable of restoring it to its former glory!” Zanoba chastised them.

But Zanoba, my pupil, that isn’t true… 

The pieces were all there, and the most important part, the staff, was completely unharmed. My skills had also improved since I first created it. I could now make figures smoother, without any noticeable lines where the segments joined together.

Wait.

That’s right! I could fix it. It wasn’t as if it was beyond repair.

“…”

As soon as I realized that, my anger quickly dissipated. They’d apologized, and were reflecting on their actions. Maybe I should forgive them? In fact, what I was doing right now was a crime. If word of this got out, I might be the one in hot water. Such as, for example, if a certain spear-wielding baldy were to happen upon this spectacle…

No! That wasn’t the problem here! The issue was that these two had no compunction about destroying something that was precious to someone else. And if I were to show them kindness here, they’d surely just do the same thing again! I needed to drill this lesson into them so that they understood! Upon my name as a follower of Roxy!

But now that I’d cooled down, I couldn’t think of any satisfyingly diabolical forms of punishment.

“Zanoba, do you have any ideas?” I asked.

“Let’s have them face the same fate as my figurine!” He had a ruthless look in his eye. . It seemed his heart was still full of anger, which made sense—he’d witnessed the crime. 

If I agreed, the two of them would likely be torn to pieces like the shattered Roxy figurine. Zanoba would violently rip them apart with his hands. He’d become the tyrant Splatinus. He’d do it. This man would definitely do it. The Head Ripping Prince was still alive and well.

“No. Killing them would be going overboard. I don’t like murder.”

“Then let’s sell them off as slaves. The sale of Doldia tribesman is forbidden I believe there is a family in Asura with an intense love for them. Someone would surely pay handsomely for slaves like that, even if it meant breaking the treaty.” 

…now he wanted to start a war with the beastfolk? This was going a bit too far. 

“That might be difficult, considering the family you mentioned is on the brink of destruction right now,” I said.

On that note, I wondered how the Boreas family was currently doing? I hadn’t heard much about them since I’d been in the Northern Territories. They were in a bad position. It seemed only a matter of time before the whole family was wiped out.

“Listen to me, Zanoba. Jokes aside, they are princesses. We need to choose something with a low impact, or we’ll suffer the consequences later.”

“You never cease to amaze me, Master. Even as angry as you are, you still have the mind to think of self-preservation.”

Hmm. What to do with them? I wouldn’t feel satisfied just releasing them as-is. In fact, it might be better to just keep them like this forever as a feast for the eyes. They weren’t really my type, but they were still beautiful women.

No, no, no. I might have already gotten myself into trouble by kidnapping them in the first place. I couldn’t hold them here for long. I could restore the figurine, and they did seem to be reflecting on their actions. 

I wanted to do something to bring this incident to a satisfying end, but… hmmm.

***

“And that’s what happened.” Unsure of what to do, I had turned to Master Fitz, as had become a habit of mine lately. He had an answer for just about anything I brought to him.

“W-wait just a second. So they’re being held in your room right now?”

“Yes, they are. Don’t be alarmed, though, I’ve already informed their teachers that they won’t be attending classes today.”

“Um, so you’re saying you captured them and, uh, confined them, with Zanoba’s help?”

That sounded about right. I’d imprisoned two animal-eared beauties. It sounded like something I’d have put on my bucket list in my previous life. Granted, it would have been for what came after the confinement, but that was something I was unable to accomplish in my current state.

“Rudeus, um, uh, since you imprisoned them, did you…?” Master Fitz’s face was bright red as he looked at me, eyes filled with disapproval.

Oh no, it seemed he’d misunderstood. “No, no, I haven’t done anything perverted to them.”

“R-really?” Master Fitz asked.

“The worst I did was grope their chests,” I assured.

“S-so you did touch their chests…!”

“I wanted to test something.”

“Huh..? So you didn’t touch them for other reasons?”

Other reasons? He was probably asking whether I’d touched them with sexual intent. I suppose you could say that I had, broadly speaking, but from my perspective, it was really an attempt to treat my condition. Just a single experiment. “No, it wasn’t for other reasons.”

Master Fitz’s expression relaxed slightly. “A-alright then. But there is one problem. Despite how they behave, they are still descendants of tribal leaders.”

“Don’t worry. I’m acquainted with the Tribal Chief and Warrior Leader.”

“What?! Seriously?”

“Yes. So if I tell them I knocked the girls down a peg because they were slacking off at school, I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“J-just how did you get to know the Tribal Chief? The Doldia are so aloof toward other races… It’s exceedingly rare to ever meet someone like the Tribal Chief.”

I told Master Fitz the story of my time in the Great Forest. I realized as I talked about it that it was quite a pathetic episode for me. I’d tried to rescue children, only to be captured, then spent every day since my release playing with a dog and creating figurines.

“Wow, you really are amazing, Rudeus.” It was a pitiful story, and yet, Master Fitz let out a breath of astonishment as I finished. What part was he impressed by? “For the Sacred Beast to take such a liking to you… That’s amazing.”

Oh, that part. Now that I thought about it, why had the Sacred Beast come to see me all the time? Surely, it wasn’t just because it liked me.

“I suppose even a mutt can tell when someone is their savior.”

“You better not use that word in front of the beastfolk,” Master Fitz warned.

Of course not. I’d be furious if someone mocked Roxy in front of me by calling her a disgusting demon, after all. I knew some lines shouldn’t be crossed. ‘Mutt’ was a term of endearment between the Sacred Beast and I, not a term of condescension.

“That aside, I could use your wisdom on this matter. How can I teach them a lesson without incurring resentment or revenge down the line?”

“That’s a difficult question.” Master Fitz hummed in thought. “I do agree that ganging up on someone, then destroying their belongings, is unforgivable.” 

I’d thought he might tell me to just release them both, but his anger seemed to be stoked by the fact that they’d targeted someone he knew. Considering his actions in the slave market, Master Fitz might be a person with a strong sense of justice.

“Okay! I have a good idea,” he said.

A line like that was usually asking for bad luck in fiction, but oh well. Master Fitz and I set off together toward my room.

***

An acrid smell drifted through the air in my room. The floor was damp, the room stank, and Linia and Pursena were limp with exhaustion. Perhaps I should’ve let them use the bathroom.

They both looked uncomfortable, so I used magic to clear up the mess and opened the window to let in fresh air. I stripped them of their soiled skirts and underwear and wiped them down. Their clothes went in the laundry. Hey, they weren’t completely naked. That was enough.

I glanced at both of their faces, to find that each had a look of complete surrender.

“You can be violent with us if you want, mew. But even if you’re going to keep us in your room, at least unbind us, mew. It’s painful not being able to move at all, mew. Please, we promise we won’t run, mew.” Being tied up for almost twenty-four hours must’ve been hard for a cat-type beastfolk. 

“At least let us eat something. We’ll be good. I won’t howl at night. I won’t bite you, either. I want some meat… I’m so hungry.””

Apparently, Pursena was the gluttonous type. Now that I thought about it, she’d been chowing down on some meat back when we first met. Still, I couldn’t believe they’d both given up after just one day. Must be the lack of food. People were weak in the face of hunger, after all.

I released them both, and they knelt in front of me. An extremely arousing sight, given they weren’t wearing anything on their lower halves. My lips curled in delight at the sight, but of course, my crotch didn’t show the same interest.

“Rudeus,” Master Fitz cautioned. He was nearby, washing their skirts and underwear.

“Oh, right. It looks like you’re both remorseful, so I’m considering forgiving you. I know that probably doesn’t do much to alleviate whatever emotions you’re feeling right now. It’s rough not being able to move for a whole day. You must’ve been scared stiff, stuck in a dorm full of sex-hungry men.”

“That’s right, mew.”

“Every time I heard footsteps, I thought it was the end…”

Actually, as far as I knew, there weren’t any such men here. It wasn’t like the dorm residents were being confined within these walls. If they were that horny, they could visit the pleasure district, or pay a visit to one of the recent first years, an elf woman rumored to be a beauty. Perhaps that Linia and Pursena feared danger because of the resentment they’d provoked in other students? Then again, there were quite a few people who, if they found two girls tied up, would just carry them off to the slave market.

“We’ll do what you say from now on, mew. We’ll be your followers, mew.”

“Please forgive us,” Pursena added. It seemed they had given a lot of thought to their actions.

“You don’t have to be my followers. But the one thing I won’t tolerate is you making fun of Roxy.”

They both paled and nodded quickly. “Of course not, mew. If you mock someone else’s God, you deserve to die, mew.”

“I remembering being chased by those Temple Knights… it was terrifying,” Pursena said.

“My aunt is a member of the Temple Knights, actually.” 

As I said that, the two girls turned an even ghastlier shade of white. Connections sure were a valuable currency in this world.

When Fitz was done, they gladly slipped their clothes back on. (Why was it so arousing, I wondered, to watch a girl put her underwear on? For me, personally, it was even more stimulating than watching them take it off.) 

With the immediate danger gone, and their clothes returned, the girls regained some of their usual spirit. 

“Even though I said we’d do whatever you say, anything that might result in a child is off the table, mew,” Linia told me. “I want to date someone properly first, then get married and have children, mew.”

“Agreed,” said Pursena. “But I’ll allow you to feel up Linia’s boobs occasionally.”

“Yeah, mew. Occasionally you can—wait, why me?!”

“I cost too much. You can only touch mine if you give me expensive meat.”

Apparently, despite being delinquents, they had firm stances on their chastity. I should’ve expected as much, given that they were princesses. That aside, it seemed the meek attitude they’d had up until a moment ago had partly been an act. I hoped they really were reflecting on their actions.

“Careful, Rudeus,” Master Fitz warned. “Don’t let your guard down around them.”

“Mew?! Hold on there, Fitz, don’t say stuff like that, mew!”

“Yeah!” Pursena agreed.

“The boss is a monster with a few screws loose! If he defeats us again, there’s no telling what he’ll do to us, mew! We’re not dumb enough to try!”

Who were they calling a monster? How rude. Though I’d sleep soundly at night if I knew that was what they thought of me.

“Boss, can we go home now?” Pursena asked, tilting her head slightly. Wait, why was she calling me boss? Not that I minded… “I’m hungry. I want to go back to my room and eat my stockpile of jerky.”

“Yeah, we’ve been here since last night without any food or water, mew.”

What the heck? Now they were making me sound like the bad guy. Maybe they still hadn’t learned their lesson, after all.

“You haven’t learned your lesson, have you?” Master Fitz said.

“Fitz, this has nothing to do with you, mew.”

“That’s right. Fuck off.”

Master Fitz looked stunned.

“Both of you, sit down!” I yelled.

“Yes, sir!”

“Woof!”

“Master Fitz, I changed my mind. Please do as we discussed.” 

As the two of them sat there, their legs neatly folded before them, I gave Fitz the go-ahead and he retrieved some items from his pocket. This had been his aforementioned good idea—a bottle full of black paint and a brush.

***

Once it was over, my anger had almost completely dissipated.

“…Fitz, we’ll remember this, mew.”

“Fuck.”

Linia and Pursena had bitter looks on their faces. Their brows had been connected in a unibrow with eyes doodled on their eyelids. Each had a mustache painted around their lips. Finally, on their cheeks were the words “I’m a dog who lost to Rudeus,” and “I’m a cat who lost to Rudeus,” respectively. 

A whole new kind of body paint. It was actually kind of arousing.

“This special paint is used by a certain tribe to pattern their bodies,” Master Fitz explained. “If I chant the right incantation, the marks will become permanent.”

Such paint actually existed? Must be this world’s version of a tattoo. Come to think of it, I was pretty sure I’d seen something similar in my time as an adventurer.

“Even water will never wash it off. If you ever turn on Rudeus, I’ll use the incantation and you’ll have those marks on your faces forever!”

“F-fine, we get it, mew. You don’t have to yell, mew.”

“We get it. We’ll obey. We swear.”

They nodded, trembling with fear. Well, their faces did look pretty gruesome. If they had that paint on them for life, it would play havoc with their marriage chances. Master Fitz was quite cruel.

“You can go home for now, but you need to keep that on your faces all of tomorrow. Then I’ll take it off. But I won’t remove the paint on your bodies for the next six months, so keep that in mind!” We’d written some pretty obscene things on their backs.

“We get it already, give us a break, mew.”

“…sniff.” Pursena had tears in her eyes.

It would raise questions if the girls were seen walking down the halls, so they left through the window. We were on the second floor, but they were more than equal to the task of climbing down—or at least, I assumed so.

Before they left, Linia turned to me as if she’d just thought of something. “Boss, you were able to predict our movements, even though you’re just a magician. What kind of training did you do for that?”

“Nothing special. I followed my master’s teachings and moved accordingly, that’s all.”

Most likely, it was proof that my training with Eris had been productive. I’d always thought of myself as weak. In contrast to how fast Eris grew, I felt like I wasn’t growing at all. But maybe it was just that we were growing at different speeds, and I had gotten stronger in my own right, after all.

“Who is your master, mew?”

“Uh, that’d be Ghislaine, I guess.”

“Ghislaine? Do you mean Ghislaine of the Doldia tribe, mew? The Sword King Ghislaine?”

“The very same.” That was right—since Linia was Gyes’s daughter, that made Ghislaine her aunt.

“I see then, mew.” Linia looked as if it all made sense to her now. “See ya, mew.”

“Later, boss. We’re really sorry about the figurine.” And the two of them left.

Once that was over, Master Fitz heaved a sigh. “Sorry, Rudeus. I got a bit carried away.”

“Not at all. I got to see them both look terrified, so I think that went well.” But more importantly… “You said something about a special incantation that makes the paint permanent. What if there’s someone else here who knows that incantation, too?”

Since this was a tool that existed in the world, Master Fitz couldn’t be the only person who knew the incantation. I’d feel bad for the girls if someone else used the chant on them. 

“What? Oh, that was a lie,” Master Fitz said coolly. “Magic paint does exist, but the one I used was just the cheap kind used for drawing magic circles. It’ll disappear if you wash it away with mana.” 

He giggled as he spoke. Almost like a child who’d successfully pranked someone. It was incredibly endearing.

***

Master Fitz stayed in my room for a while. He was fidgety for some reason, as if he couldn’t calm down. He wandered aimlessly about, only pausing when he found something peculiar so he could ask me about it.

“What is that? Is there something in it?” His discerning eyes turned toward my altar.

“It houses a relic of my religion’s God,” I replied.

“Huh? So you’re not a follower of Millis, then. Do you mind if I take a peek to see what’s inside?”

“It’s called the Roxy Faith… please don’t open that!” I hurriedly stopped him when he tried to open the altar’s doors. The relic within was so divine it would be dangerous for human eyes to look upon…and it might put him off to see me keeping women’s underwear. I must’ve lost my mind, showing it off to so many people yesterday.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He quickly withdrew his hand. As he continued to look around the room, his gaze traveled to my bed. He lifted my pillow. “This makes a rustling sound when you touch it.”

“I made it myself.” It was filled with the seeds of a Mustard Treant, one of the monsters that lived in the forests of the Northern Territories. If you broke the seed open there was a nut inside that looked similar to a walnut, but its shell resembled buckwheat chaff. I’d broken it down and stuffed it into a pillowcase, then covered the outside with beast fur. With that, my restful sleep was assured.

“Wow. Do you mind if I try it out?”

“Go ahead.”

Master Fitz put the pillow down and settled upon on the bed. “This is a good pillow.”

“You’re the only one who’s ever said that.” Admittedly, the only other person who’d tried it out was Elinalise, who said, “I’d prefer a man’s arm over a pillow.”

Fitz kept his sunglasses on even as he lay on the bed. He must be particular about them. I wondered if eventually he’d let me see his face some day. Unless those sunglasses were just a part of him. I wondered…what would happen if I reached out and took them off?

No—he’d said there was a reason he kept them on. Maybe he had a complex about his looks, for example. Let’s just forget about it, I thought. I didn’t want him to hate me.

Silence fell between us for a while. Realizing that I was looking at him, Master Fitz lifted himself up. For some reason, I thought that his cheeks looked red, but it was probably just my imagination.

“You want to see?”

My heartrate accelerated the moment he said that. What was this? Did I want to see what? What was it that he thought I wanted to see? “See what?”

It was such a stupid question. His face, of course. The answer was so obvious based on context.

“My face.”

Yeah, see. His face. Why didn’t I think of that first? Like I was anticipating he’d show me something else. He was a man, so what was I getting excited about seeing? Just what part of him did I want him to show me?

We gazed at one another through his sunglasses. I felt like my face was heating up. Maybe my cheeks were getting red, too. “I want to see.”

“Okay,” he said, placing his fingers on the edge of his frames. But they just stayed there, frozen still. His lips tensed nervously, and his hands seemed to tremble. It had the same vibe as a girl with her fingers hooked on her panties; a girl who was standing in front of a man, about to take off the last article of clothing covering her body. Somehow, I felt nervous too. No—what the heck was I feeling nervous for? Comparing this to a girl stripping was totally out of place!

Did he consider revealing his face to be an intimate act? No, that was absurd. He probably just had some prominent feature he was self-conscious about. Like a big burn scar, or eyes that bulged like a chameleon’s! Yeah, that had to be it. No doubt.

“Just…” Fitz finally spoke. “Just kidding! Sorry, but these are Princess Ariel’s orders. I’m not allowed to show my face to anyone. I have a baby face, and it would destroy the reputation I’ve built as the fearsome Silent Fitz.”

I was wrong. It was royal orders, apparently. Well, that made sense. What kind of nonsense had I been dreaming up? 

“O-oh, so that’s it. Well, I have no intention of forcing your hand.”

“Um, thanks, I appreciate you saying that,” he said, hastily rising from the bed. “I better hurry to attend to Princess Ariel.”

“Alright, take care.”

“Sure thing. See you later, Rudeus.”

“Thanks for your help today.”

“No problem.” Master Fitz also slipped out the window, just as the two beast girls had done earlier. As much as I wanted to tell him to use the hallway, going out the window was probably faster if he was going to the girls’ dormitory. Oh well.

“Phew…”

For some reason, I felt kind of relieved. If Master Fitz had shown me his face… I felt like it might lead to something we couldn’t take back. It almost felt like I was being invited to step into a world that I couldn’t leave once I’d entered. A world of gay desire, maybe.

I was now alone in a room that still held a lingering beastly stench. I dusted it with some deodorizing powder typically used by adventurers, then lay in bed. My pillow smelled unusual; I assumed it was Master Fitz’s scent. It wasn’t unpleasant.

“That aside…” 

I’d put myself in some pretty arousing situations with the kidnapped girls, but still seen no signs of recovery. The erotic vistas, the groping…none of it had helped. In fact, being alone with Master Fitz had more effect than anything else. I felt like crying.

***

The next day, we showed Zanoba the graffiti we’d left on the two before erasing it. The expression on his face said that wasn’t enough to mollify him, but I chided, “It’s not like you really helped out this time, did you?” Then I applied some emergency repairs to the Roxy figurine, whereupon he immediately broke into a smile and forgave the girls.

I also apologized to them for keeping them tied up for more than a day, but…

“It’s no big deal, mew! Nothing happened, mew, we just lost and he took us back to his room and drew on our faces, that’s all, mew!”

“What she said. Nothing happened. Really, nothing. Brrrrr…”

If that was the version of the story they wanted to tell, so be it. A happy ending for all.