Chapter 29 - Clearing Aina's Misunderstanding (I)

(AN: 2/3 Chapters for today!)

…

…

…

After finishing lunch, Natalia served cold drinks to fight the heat of the day; she also took empty dishes to the kitchen to wash. Meanwhile, Merlin and his entourage enjoyed cold drinks while chatting animatedly.

"Since our departure is delayed, what are you girls gonna do in the meantime?" (Merlin)

The girls looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders in a "Who knows?" manner.

"Not sure. I am considering helping the villagers to fix the main road, though," Filia answered after a brief contemplation.

"I'll help them!" Tianne replied firmly, trying to ease her guilt for causing the landslide.

"That sounds troublesome. I'm gonna laze around, I think." Llusse carelessly shrugged her shoulders.

Aina thought briefly before replying, "I'll read my books and stay in my room."

Merlin nodded his head. He then remembered something and turned his head to Llusse, gaining her attention. "Would you mind teaching me some archery tomorrow?"

Llusse perked up after hearing Merlin's question. "Sure. That beats lazing around. I'll teach you archery until you become so good with a bow and arrows," she exclaimed spiritedly and then added with a haughty look, "Well, I'm still gonna be better than you, though. Elves are known for their legendary archery skill, after all!"

Merlin just smiled and nodded at her, but inwardly, he thought, 'Oho! It looks like her haughtiness resurfaces. I suppose I have to teach her to behave again.'

Llusse suddenly felt a chill on her spine. She then looked at Merlin dubiously and said, "I felt like you were planning something no good! What were you thinking?"

"That's just your thought playing with you. I wasn't thinking anything bad. I swear!" Merlin had a righteous innocent expression as he stared at Llusse, but he thought inwardly, 'Yup. Keeping you stay humble is a good deed. Nothing bad at all!'

"Excuse me," Aina suddenly talked, gathering the attention of everyone, "This might be a little blunt, but would you tell me about the hero's power that could unlock the latent power of women? I've been trying to find documents explaining it in detail, but I never met a success so far."

Merlin and the original trio exchanged a silent look. He could see in their eyes that they would stand behind his decision. When he gave them a nod of confirmation, Tianne decided to talk in the place of Merlin and the rest.

"Understandably, you wouldn't find the detailed information concerning it. The royal family hid it from the public." (Tianne)

"What did you say?!" Aina raised her voice, reacting strongly.

As a scholarly type, whose passion was learning mystic arts and anything related to them, Aina couldn't accept what she'd just heard.

That was unfair!

Aina wanted to shout that, but she stopped herself at the last moment; slandering the royal family was a crime, and the punishment varied from fines to execution.

Such was the nature of monarchy; the will of the royal family was absolute in the land they ruled.

"But, why did the royal family hide such information?" Aina inquired after regaining her composure.

"It's to protect the hero," Tianne replied with a solemn expression.

Merlin's interest was piqued when he heard that, so he focused his attention on Tianne.

"To protect…the hero?" Aina was confused and looked at Tianne with an urging look.

Taking the hint, Tianne began explaining. "Because of the nature of the hero's power, the royal family from three hundred years ago had decided to hide this information. The hero had been weak; his physical power was ordinary, and he lacked martial or mystical skills; even the weakest soldier in the royal guard could beat him easily. He only had the power to unlock the latent potential of women. If it became public, the hero at that time would be inconvenienced and under constant threat from selfish people with nefarious intentions, disturbing his main mission to defeat the Dark Lord back then. The royal family didn't want that, hence they'd stood behind their decision."

As Merlin listened to Tianne's explanation, he felt like there was more than that; his intuition told him so. He also realized that Tianne was unaware of the side effect of consuming his semen.

Unbeknownst to Tianne, it was more than that. Merlin's predecessor was indeed like Naoki, meaning that he was a power-up sperm dispenser. However, the royal family back then hid this information because they didn't only want to protect the hero, but they also wanted to protect all women!

The royal family back then had discovered the side effect of the hero's semen; indeed, it could unlock the latent potential of women, but it could also turn the women who consumed his semen into a hopeless addict that craved for his sperm until their death.

Tianne was unaware of this; in the whole queendom, only the Queen and the Head Priestess were aware of this nasty side effect. Despite Tianne being the most knowledgeable one concerning the hero and his power in Merlin's entourage, she didn't know about this side effect.

There were no written documents about that. The Queen and the Head Priestess only told their successor orally upon the coronations of the new Queen and the new Head Priestess.

"So, it was like that," Aina muttered. Although she could understand the reason for the royal family back then, she was still unwilling to accept that unfair decision.

"Yeah. We were also surprised when we heard about that from Tianne back then," Filia chimed in, while Llusse wordlessly nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of which, you never told me about the methods the hero used to unlock the latent potential of women. I'm curious about that." Aina looked at Tianne eagerly, and Tianne wasn't unaware of her intention.

Tianne hesitated and turned to Merlin, asking for his permission silently. After seeing Merlin nod in confirmation, she turned her head to Aina and said, "Well… since you are one of us now, and Hero doesn't mind it, I'm willing to tell you about it. But, please keep it secret; if not, you'll be arrested and punished severely by the royal family."

"I swear that I won't tell a soul!" Aina swore without hesitation.

Tianne nodded and then told Aina in a low voice. "You see, the method is…consuming the hero's semen."

With a blank expression, Aina blurted, "What?"