46 – Mating Season #1
Being an adventurer is a dangerous profession. Not knowing what will happen in the labyrinth, they experience tremendous mental stress.
Even if one became a skilled veteran in hunting demons, it was still the same.
The “Poison Blade” guild had been around for quite a while. It was founded shortly after the importance of the rogue class became widely known, with the first guild master gathering the rogues together.
The party continued at the guild house.
The boys who had been chattering noisily from the beginning grew tired and slumped down in their seats. The slightly tipsy women sat together, talking and sipping the remaining alcohol.
However, the atmosphere was a bit strange. It was different from the usual company dinners.
A particular table was crowded with people.
Guild Master Rebecca of the “Poison Blade” approached the table full of people. She leaned her head forward and tried to see what was going on in the crowd.
“…What is it?”
“Come with us quickly.”
Ray, surrounded by the girls, stood up abruptly.
* * *
At first, it was an ordinary drinking session. A celebration party for the safe return of the party, nothing more or less.
The atmosphere took a strange turn much later.
“Are you only going to feed me, Su?”
It started when Lauren joined our table.
“Hmm, it’s delicious.”
Lauren subtly glanced at the “Poison Blade” guild sisters with a slightly annoyed expression, and from then on, a strange tension began.
“No need! Hmph!”
Some of the sisters firmly brushed off Lauren’s teasing. They turned their heads away as if they didn’t want to entertain it.
But Lauren didn’t bite the bait deeply.
Lauren’s target was the older sisters wandering around the table with determination. She aimed at those sisters who were teasing her by touching her thigh, wanting to get a bite for herself.
“It’s not something you can easily have. Meat that a guy feeds you….”
Lauren said as she chewed the meat messily. If there had been an adult present, they would have scolded her and smacked her hard on the back of her head.
She ate in such a vulgar manner. It seemed like she was trying to provoke as much as possible.
“I didn’t ask for someone to feed me. I just opened my mouth because Ray wanted to do it for me.”
“….”
The thief sisters were focused on Lauren’s mouth. Her lips trembled violently like a calf receiving its food.
Her lips were greasy. It was because the meat didn’t match well, so it seemed like she was painting her lips with meat.
But even that became an element that aroused envy.
“…It’s so embarrassing.”
My face gets hot. We’re making a fuss over just feeding her some meat.
I couldn’t lift my head.
“Should I raise the price?”
The thief sisters spasm. They couldn’t hold back their laughter and burst out.
Lauren laughed at their reaction, giggling as if she had been waiting for this.
“Oh, it’s delicious. Oh, I love it.”
Lauren said that and stood up from her chair. Without hesitation, as if she had done what she wanted, she left her seat.
Naturally, I had to receive all the heated gazes. Regardless of whether we were close or not, beyond the boundaries of human relationships.
The thief sisters were sending desperate glances as if they had some kind of longing.
“… Well, I’m counting on you!”
In the “Dictator Sword” guild, I have my friends. Or at least, that’s what I call them.
They are the kids I traveled with right after conscription.
Every time I see them, I feel a sense of sadness. With the intention of treating them well, I enthusiastically played with the fork.
“Me too! Me too!”
“Me first! I was in front.”
They open their mouths like hungry fish and rush forward. Even baby birds chirping for food are cute.
This was like a horror movie in itself.
It felt like I was watching a demon rushing to devour my soul.
“Lay, please help.”
The demons were not satisfied with just being fed. They made their requests more explicitly.
“A plane. Give us a plane.”
A drinking party is in full swing here. It means there are drunk sisters too.
Some of the already seasoned sisters saw the fork as a plane.
“Sisters, ah…. I have a meat plane in my mouth.”
“Kyaa! It’s a meat plane!”
I roughly played along with them. Like calming down a drunk friend, I controlled the situation.
“My body may have shrunk, but my brain is still intact.”
It was completely possible.
Of course, there was a problem. Since my body is different from before, I can’t push the sisters away with strength when they get close, right?
My hand went up discreetly. Someone was stroking my thigh.
A natural mockery.
I glanced at Suu, who was sitting next to me. Our eyes met.
“I, I’m sorry. This is…”
Suu, who was moving his hand with a vacant face, suddenly noticed my gaze and was startled. His focus returned to his eyes.
Probably because of his drunken state, he quickly let go of my hand as if he couldn’t control himself.
“I didn’t mean to…”
Suu stood up without saying anything and quickly distanced himself from me as if running away.
Due to his almost seizure-like reaction, the atmosphere at the table sank.
The thief sisters smirked as they watched Suu’s back.
“Is today his mating season?”
“Well, if it really was his mating season, he wouldn’t act like that. He would have pounced on you openly, right?”
“But still, he lasted quite a while.”
Upon hearing the thief sisters’ words, I expressed my confusion.
“…Mating season?”
“……”
“Mating season isn’t a skill?”
“What?”
The sisters exchanged hesitant glances and hesitated to speak. Then, one of them stepped forward.
“I thought you were still hanging out with Suu because you hadn’t experienced mating season. I didn’t know you were completely unaware of it.”
“Yes?”
“I have a mating season. It’s a common trait among werewolves. When we see a boy we like, we can’t resist attacking him.”
“….”
“Of course, there’s also the skill. You’re talking about the ‘Mating Season’ skill, right? The one registered in your ＜Guardian＞?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Could it be that there’s something separate from the skill? The werewolf’s mating season?
“It was actually real?”
I wasn’t ignorant about the mating season. I couldn’t be ignorant.
Isn’t it a reproductive mechanism found in wild animals? Forcing intense reproduction that consumes a lot of energy…
But I didn’t know that werewolves had a similar function.
Werewolves, humans. Just like how proteins are proteins and glucose is not grapes.
Humans, not animals. Werewolves.
Looking at the boy with his characteristic innocent face of knowing nothing, his thief sister explained.
“The ＜Guardian＞ only shows the talents and skills that the explorer possesses as skills. The levels and stats are similar too.”
Once you enter the labyrinth, the talents and skills are activated in a suitable form as skills.
“…Come to think of it, Nuna Houbuki had something like that too. The ones trained as ninjas in the Kurotsuki family were registered.”
Talents that don’t exist don’t just suddenly appear. They are all skills that individuals have honed and polished.
So, the werewolf’s mating season?
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“It exists. Werewolves naturally crave boys periodically from birth. That’s why they cause a lot of accidents. You really didn’t know?”
“…No.”
“If they didn’t notice even after accompanying me on two expeditions… I must have really tried hard not to show my heat. Is there a reason why Lauren praised me for being different from other werewolves?”
“……”
Soo has already run away. He left the Guild House.
Did he think he could handle any accidents that might happen if he stayed here?
“Houfuki, Nuna.”
“Yes, Lord Ray.”
It would be better to stay together at the ‘Dokdan Sword’ Guild House. It’s unbearable for him to go out alone like that.
“Let’s follow him quickly.”
The ‘Dokdan Sword’ sisters didn’t stop us. Only the Guild Master, who came late, approached us with a bewildered face.
“What’s going on?”
Even that was blocked by the guild sisters.
I found Soo with Houfuki. Fortunately, Soo was outside the Guild House.
I was worried about what would happen if he went far away.
“… I haven’t lost my sanity.”
Soo’s gaze was clear. It wasn’t like before, with a blank face.
It was no different from usual.
Soo didn’t meet my gaze. When I asked why he was avoiding my eyes, Soo replied in an uneasy voice.
“… I’ll get better if I get some fresh air.”
He didn’t even know how his own body would react. He fixed his gaze straight ahead, avoiding looking at my face.
I stood next to Soo and lowered my voice to ask.
“Is it around this time that mating season comes?”
“…No.”
“Then?”
“…I don’t know….”
Soo’s words trailed off. It seemed like he didn’t want to answer, so he tightly sealed his lips.
I have to make him speak. I can’t win with force alone.
I have to create a situation where Soo has no choice but to speak.
“Soo, you don’t want to talk?”
“……”
“If Soo doesn’t tell me about himself, I can’t have a party with him.”
“Why, why…?”
“What if we go down to the labyrinth and suddenly go into mating season?”
Honestly, if it’s EX-rank “Soul Protection,” I think I can handle it. Just in case.
“I…I don’t want that….”
“Tell me. You must know about the cycle, right?”
“I don’t know either….”
“Really? You don’t know?”
Soo’s lips trembled. He hesitated to speak.
When I held his hand, he finally gathered the courage to speak.
“Although I’m not sure because it’s the first time I’ve felt this heat, my mother told me when I was very young.”
“……”
“When the boy I want appears… my body will move on its own….”
Soo looked down at me and said that. Her eyes sparkled with a golden light.
Our hands clasped tightly together.