Chapter 30 - Clearing Aina's Misunderstanding (II)

(AN: 3/3 Special Christmas Chapter Release!)

…

…

…

Aina wondered if she had misheard it. But, Tianne repeated it, shattering her fragile hope.

"Consuming the hero's semen is how women unlock their latent potential." (Tianne)

Drinking the hero's semen to get a power-up, you said! That was a joke, right?! Hey, you were kidding, weren't you?! Tell me that you just pulled my legs!

Aina wanted to shout that, but she stopped after seeing the serious expression on the cleric's face. She then turned her attention to Filia and Llusse, but they just nodded at her, confirming Tianne's ridiculous exclamation.

Aina just sat there with a flabbergasted expression; she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

"It looks like you don't believe it, do you?" Llusse suddenly interrupted Aina's inner turmoil, snapping her out from her daze. She continued when Aina looked at her, "At first, I thought so; it sounded utterly ridiculous, after all. But, I believe it now since we have seen and experienced it; we have become stronger after doing that with him."

Llusse flushed when she emphasized 'that' in her statement; she also twirled her braid like a shy maiden, her gaze roaming around but meeting Merlin's mirthful eyes.

Aina understood what Llusse meant and felt embarrassed, her face flushing deeply. She averted her gaze away; she was unable to meet Merlin's eyes.

Even though it was just her imagination, Aina felt indescribable pressure from Merlin. She was embarrassed to look at him.

'So, they were doing that last night to have their latent power unlocked,' Aina thought, realizing her misunderstanding. She felt guilty and ashamed for accusing the hero.

She hesitated for moments until she came to a decision. She suddenly stood up and bowed in Merlin's direction, startling everyone. "Hero, I sincerely apologize for misjudging you!"

"Um, I don't understand why you were apologizing suddenly," said Merlin, blinking in confusion all the while.

Still lowering her head, Aina hesitated momentarily before she began explaining. "I have thought you're a no-good scoundrel who abused his status as the hero to do…perverted stuff…to your companions! I'm truly sorry!"

"O-Oh, okay!" Merlin replied stiffly.

Merlin was startled because he discovered that Aina formerly had such a low opinion of him. He also felt nervous because he couldn't deny Aina's accusation, or else, it would be a lie; he was indeed abusing his status and power as the summoned hero.

Heck, Merlin even plotted to take over the whole queendom first before extending his reach to the Dark Lord's Dominion and then the whole world, using his heroic dick!

It could be said that Merlin was the main adversary of the Dark Lord's ambition of global domination not because of some righteous desire to defeat and save the world, but it was because he also wanted to dominate the whole world as well!

"Uhum…" After regaining his composure, Merlin cleared his throat and said, "All right. I forgive you, Miss Aina. It was just a misunderstanding, after all."

After obtaining Merlin's forgiveness, Aina raised her head and felt guilt-free. "You're truly an outstanding man, Hero," she said with a flushing face.

Merlin smiled awkwardly, but he also noticed Aina's wariness for him had disappeared. He thought it was a good thing.

"Anyway, returning to the earlier topic before we got interrupted," Filia suddenly talked, gathering everyone's attention, "Miss Aina, now you know about the hero's power. I hope that you can keep it secret."

"Aina is fine. No need to add Miss because we're now comrades," Aina said, to which Merlin and the original trio nodded in understanding. She then added, "Speaking of which, don't worry about it. I swear that I will keep it secret."

Aina understood why the true nature of the hero's power was a secret; if the public knew that women only needed consuming his semen to unlock their latent power, all women would flock to him and make trouble for him.

"Hey, Aina," Llusse called the silver-haired girl, catching her attention, "Why did you have a bad opinion on the hero? This would be your first meeting with him, wouldn't it?"

Aina felt awkward as she flushed deeply; she remembered her sleepless night back then. She hesitated momentarily before replying, "Well, last night, you all were so loud; I could hear what happened from my room."

The original trio flushed in embarrassment.

They finally realized that they were disturbing people here. They then apologized for troubling Aina; even Llusse acknowledged her wrong and apologized sincerely.

Merlin also apologized, but he wasn't feeling as bad as the girls. He'd known that they were so loud last night and was prepared for complaint.

"Let's bygones be bygones, shall we?" Aina accepted their apologies, making the girls feel guilt-free.

"Speaking of which, Natalia has complained about that as well when you girls were out," Merlin decided to tell them about that since they'd guessed something happened between him and Natalia.

"It looks like we have troubled many people. We should apologize to the landlady too," Filia said remorsefully.

"Eh, don't worry about that. I've apologized to Natalia, and she has forgiven us," Merlin replied.

"Was your apology resulting in how close you two are now?" Llusse interrupted with a pout.

Merlin smiled wryly and nodded. He didn't deny his affair with Natalia. He thought he shouldn't hide his relationship with Natalia from his companions since they were also his.

"Good grief… you should keep your dick in your pants when we weren't around — not sticking it in any woman who spread her legs to you!" Llusse complained.

"Well, she was sexually frustrated after hearing the sounds we made, and it had been a long time for her since she was embraced by a man after the death of her husband. She's also a charming and lovely woman, so my resistance to someone like her is weak. What's more, I've also promised to accept her request to earn her forgiveness, so I can't help it," Merlin tried to justify his affair with Natalia.

All the while, Filia and Tianne were smiling wryly, Llusse was looking away from Merlin and pouting deeply, and Aina was wearing a complicated look.

Merlin was aware that his reason sounded lousy, but since he was in a fantasy world that didn't follow the common sense and reality of his old life, the girls accepted his lousy reason quite easily. Perhaps, his special status as the hero also helped him.

Granted, they were still exasperated, but their reactions were tame compared to the women who caught their lovers cheating behind them that often happened in his old life. So, Merlin didn't need to keep watching his back; these girls wouldn't stab him with a knife for revenge.

"By the way, I have something to tell you, girls," Merlin suddenly changed the topic, gaining the attention of everyone at the table. After he was sure that they were focusing on him, he continued, "It looks like I have another power than the one you all know."

The girls' eyes expanded in surprise.

This was definitely a surprising and intriguing topic.