Episode 7: I've been watching your struggles all this time

Returning to her apartment (furnished rental housing), Irene sat down on her bed. As soon as she sat down, the tiredness of being drunk hit her immediately.

　Gazing up at the pitch black ceiling, I suddenly wondered what Eugene was doing right now.

　Every night at the inn where the guild was being introduced, Eugenie was assigned a peep room. No one in the guild knew about it. It was part of a scheme set up by Deabolica, a way to let off some steam in the heated battle for rank over Eugenie. And it was also a way to show off the prize for winning. Eugenie's naked body was now the guild's shared wank material.

　Irene had never spied on them. She truly despised the older boys who looked at Eugene with such lewd eyes, and just the thought of Eugene being exposed to the lewd gazes of the women every night made her head heat up and she felt like she was going to explode.

　In truth, she even wants to snatch Euji without asking his permission and elope with him to another provincial city.

　But if he were to do that now, would Eugeo come with him?

(Well... if I confess, he'll probably quit, but I don't think the Guild Master would approve of that.)

(That's right. It would be a disgrace to Deabolica. At worst, it could be deleted.)

(They're out of my league, Irene. Just look at them and be content.)

　The advice of my friends comes to mind.

　Deabolika, who serves as the guild master, is the third daughter of the head of the family that governs this local city. The family has so much power in this city that they could almost call it kingship, and while the eldest daughter is the presumptive next head of the family, Deabolika herself also has great political power. If she hadn't, she wouldn't have been able to dominate the adventurer's guild, which is full of rough characters, at the age of 18. She is an ambitious woman, and it is rumored that she is interested in advancing into the central council. Using Euge to set the adventurer's guild competing with each other must be part of her efforts to solidify her base and build up her track record.Gentrylocal aristocracy

　If he destroys her plan and takes Eugenie from her, she will never forgive him. No matter how far he escapes, she will pursue him relentlessly, and she will definitely harm him to get Eugenie back. After all, he is nothing more than a lowlife from the slums, and there is no way he can escape.

　Irene lay down on the bed and stretched her right arm out toward the ceiling. Her vision quickly became blurred, and the outline of her right hand became unclear.

"Oh, I want power..."

　Fortunately, Irene had made some progress and was able to obtain citizenship and even rent an apartment. For someone from the slums, this was an unexpected success. She could now live a life where morning came without having to lie on the cold floor, where she could hear someone coughing at any time, fighting over filthy blankets covered in lice, and praying for dawn to come while breathing out cold, smoky breath.

　But while Irene was spending her nights like this, Eugene, the man who had helped bring her to where she is now, was spending his days having his naked body licked all over by a group of naughty women.

"Euji..."

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　I remember meeting him.

　That was six months ago, when Irene was still just a slum child.

　There was a strange young man who went out into the field every day and hunted big-horned rabbits by himself, despite being a man. The children of the slums, who had been taught that men's work was sewing and babysitting at home, were curious about this young man they had never seen before. The only men they knew were those already withered away in the orphanage.pastorBrother

　The children called out to the young man, who had been struggling for several tens of minutes with a timid struggle to kill a big-horned rabbit that even they could hunt, "You're an adult, but you can't even defeat something as trivial as a rabbit?" and "You should stop being an adventurer and get married soon."

　It was certainly intended to be mocking, but the emotion that dominated it was concern for him.

　No matter how you look at him, he doesn't seem cut out to be an adventurer. I can't sense any magic from him, and his spear usage is amateurish. Even a slum kid could tell that if he'd received training in spear usage somewhere, he wouldn't fight in such a ridiculous way. I'm sure he'll make a mistake against the big-horned rabbit and get pierced by its horn.

　Moreover, his black hair was lustrous and looked very beautiful to the eyes of children who were used to seeing red and golden hair. It would be terrible if something as beautiful as that was killed by a mere big-horned rabbit, and never to be seen again.

　That's why I wanted her to quit being an adventurer, get married, and be happy.

　But he stubbornly refused to listen and continued to challenge the big-horned rabbits alone, saying that he would be promoted as an adventurer. Even if he hunted monsters that even a slum child could hunt, there was no way he would be promoted. Why couldn't he understand the logic that even a child could understand?

　One day, something like this happened.

　The slum children went out hunting big-horned rabbits as usual.

　Leading the way was Irene. She was the only one with a proper understanding of magic, and was the closest to adulthood, so she was the leader of the children.

　It had rained during the night that day, and the ground was muddy. The big-horned rabbits, who had multiplied all over Brishav Island, had eaten up all the grass on the plains, so the soil was always exposed. When it rained, the ground immediately became covered in mud.

　So the morning after a rainy night, I had to walk very carefully.

　I should have known that.

　There was a sense of complacency in everyone's minds.

　The catch that day, a big horned rabbit, looked like a delicious specimen, and with my lips licking at the thought of dinner stew, the hunt began.

　They surrounded the big-horned rabbit as usual, and Irene, holding a magically strengthened wooden shield, provoked it, and while it blocked their charge, they stabbed it with spears from all sides and brought it down. It was the routine of a fixed hunt.

　But that day, as Irene blocked the charge of the Big Horned Rabbit, her footing slipped. The muddy ground was unable to withstand the impact of the big rabbit's body slam, and Irene lost her balance and dropped her wooden shield. The next moment, Irene looked up and saw red eyes glowing with murderous intent and a gigantic horn about to be swung down on her face.

　--Ah. I'm going to be killed.

　There was a hearty whoosh and red liquid splattered onto her face.

　...It was only after she closed her eyes that she realized there was no pain. No, it may have only been her experience that it was painful, and in reality it was only for a moment.

　Irene thought she might already be dead, and opened her eyes tentatively.

　A large back stood before me.

"Ahh, that hurts. It can penetrate leather armor too. Is there really no point in wearing armor?"

"Big brother...?"

　Just as Irene was about to be stabbed, a young Asian man stepped in.

　His stomach had been pierced by the large horn, with the tip reaching all the way to his back, but the young man was holding the rabbit by the neck as it struggled to remove the horn, and his arms, with their veins bulging, were pressing tightly against his stomach.

"Brother, your wound...!"

"It's okay. I can handle pain well. Besides, I read in a manga that if you remove the horn poorly in a situation like this, it will cause a lot of bleeding and become very dangerous."

　The young man spoke calmly, as if he was feeling no pain at all.

　He had incredible mental strength. Even a grown woman would scream if she was stabbed through the stomach, but he endured the pain and even held on to the horn, trying not to let it be pulled out.

"Why..."

"No matter what, if a child is being attacked, you would help them, right?"

　The young man gritted his molars and exerted himself, while giving a wry smile.

"More importantly, can you finish him off quickly? I don't have much time left before I die."

　The children came to their senses and hastily stabbed the spears they had taken into the Big Horned Rabbit's back. The Big Horned Rabbit screamed and thrashed about, but the young man held on to his strength until the very end, protecting Irene, who had lost her strength and was unable to move.

"Oh no, there's a hole in my armor. Did you use the Tiger Cub potion too?"

　"Oh, that really stings," the young man muttered as he sloshed the potion into the wound. Irene would later find out that while administering the potion directly into the wound was certainly effective, it was strictly prohibited without anesthesia. The terrible pain of regeneration ravaged the nerves and was unbearable even for adults, so it was assumed that it would be taken orally. This was not something that could be dismissed with "Oh, that really stings."

　The wound began to bubble and regenerate. Noticing Irene staring at it, he laughed lightly and waved his hand.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I borrowed the armor and potions from the guild's warehouse. I have no intention of charging you for them."

"...Didn't it hurt?"

"No, it hurts. It hurts so much. It's making me lose my mind."

　But well, the young man scratched his black hair.

"Right now, it hurts me more to let a child die than to have my body impaled."

　Oh, this guy is going to die.

　That's what Irene thought.

　Are there really such naive people in this world?

　Why would someone who would risk their life for a poor child who even the guards would abandon, of all people, aspire to be an adventurer?

　This person will definitely not live long. He will repeat the same thing over and over again, and sooner or later he will die alone, unknown to anyone.

　The noble spirit that the Great Vrishabhians espouse, the person with such beautiful black hair, is going to rot in the wilderness, unheeded by anyone.

　No. I can never tolerate that.

"Oh, I forgot to ask. Are you hurt?"

　I will protect this person.

　The girl made up her mind as she shook the rough hand that was extended to her.

　Now, with determination in her heart, Irene moved quickly.

　After going around to the seniors who had left the orphanage and begging, he got the guild registration fee with the promise that he would definitely pay it back, and then went straight to register at the guild.

　Thanks to the young man's good word, Irene was able to pass the audition, and she savored the warm feeling that spread slowly through her heart, thinking that he really did have his eye on her.

　but.

　There, she was confronted with the fact that the young man... Euge... was the object of bidding for another woman as her potential husband, and, to make matters worse, that his naked body was being viewed in a voyeur room every night...

"Big Brother, I've become an adventurer! Come on, let's form a party! From now on, I'll be your big brother..."

"...Sorry, who is that?"

　To Eugene, the cruel truth was that he was just "one of those kids you see all the time."

　Having left the street children behind and become an individual, Irene was unable to connect with the children in Eugene's mind.

　Unable to bear this fact, the girl left without a word and joined another party that was looking for a more avant-garde side.

　After that, she started hurling insults at him every time they met, which was probably an inevitable defense mechanism in her mind.

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"Sniff..."

　Irene grabbed the pillow and hugged it tight. If she didn't use the pillow to catch the tears, she would drown in the tears that were trickling from her eyes.

"Euji..."

　Irene remained motionless in that position for a while, then she began to stir in the darkness.

(You too, come over here... I've noticed that if I masturbate to that sadness, I get really worked up...)

"..."

　A shitty adultParty MembersThe words he spat out echoed in my head.

"...That's not possible."

　That's not how I feel. The feelings I have for you are much purer.

　But, well...

　When I think about my brother, I get really uneasy...

　I can't sleep like this...

　Just a little, just a little. Just to try.

　Slurp...

"Ah♥ Ah♥ Big Brother...♥"

　I made the most incredible progress in my life.

　My brain had been destroyed long ago.

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　I thought I heard a clink in my pocket, and as I stood in front of the vending machine, I fumbled through my pockets in a panic.

　And there it was...

"Cheat coin!"

　It was the familiar coin I had seen in the mysterious space six months ago.

　Five of them! That's the same price as a half-Blazing Flame Dragon set!

　Wow, seriously, I'm so happy.

　But why now?

"Haha... so now your rabbit hunting skills are appreciated?"

　It was a clear victory for all the hard work and diligence he had put into hunting rabbits up until that point.

　Is there really a need to fight in a world where there is no leveling up? I had doubts, but I believed that since there was a job called adventurer, I should be able to get coins by defeating monsters, and my efforts in fighting were recognized.

　Ahh, tears are welling up inside me... I didn't even cry when the rabbit pierced my stomach.

　Still, there's no announcement.

　Well, suddenly, God came down.

"I've been watching your struggles for a long time."

"You really did a good job didn't you?"

"Finally, your patience will be rewarded and you will gain enormous wealth."

　If someone said that to me, I might punch them in the face.

　As I was staring at the coin and thinking about this, the long-awaited announcement came.

Congratulations!

　I achieved the achievement [Become a masturbation pet 10,000 times].

　We will give you 5 cheat coins as a gift.

　Come down right now, God, because I'll punch you in the face.