Chapter 137: The Sun, the Moon, and the Sword (2)

༺ The Sun, the Moon, and the Sword (2) ༻

Luna's cabin was even smaller than what one might expect.

In terms of area, it wasn't necessarily impossible for about three people to squeeze in and sleep somehow.

However, due to Luna's preparations for opening her workshop, there were various materials, ingredient, and large jars, along with small tools that were jam packed into the cabing. For this reason, when even one person tried to lie down on the first floor the room became cramped with next to no room left for anyoen else.

Luckily, the second floor had relatively fewer belongings, so if we huddled together, three people could somehow sleep with a snugly fit, tightly pressed against each other.

"It's definitely narrow."

Hippolyte's eyes creased once she witnessed the deerskin carpet and the accompanying blanket spread out on the second floor.

"How can two people sleep in a place like this?"

Her expression resembled a well-known politician visiting a small hostel for the first time, triggering a flashback of my life on Earth.

Luna stood up in response, no hesitation could be seen in her actions, as if she was angered by someone belittling her cherished home.

"If you don't like it, you can leave!"

"No, I didn't say that I didn't like it. However, if it's this cramped, naturally, our bodies will collide with each other when we are sleeping."

"Well, it's not exactly like that."

Anyway, with two women and myself entering the second story, the room on the cabin's second floor became so packed that it felt quite suffocating, to say the least.

"Then we should change into comfortable clothes."

At that moment, Hippolyte began removing her armor. The sound of clanging metals resounded loudly in the room as it was promptly taken off by her, revealing her smooth and glossy skin. Witnessing that scene, my heart started to race in an instant.

Of course, she wore her usual tight-fitting cropped T-shirt and hot pants underneath her armor.

Due to the sweltering that permeated even at night, her leaking sweat caused the fabric of her already tight-fitting clothes to cling even more tightly to her skin, accentuating her body in various ways and giving off a somewhat more provocative sensation than her being in her birthday suit could ever hope to arouse.

Fuck! By recalling that scene, I probably could masturbate for the next three days at the very least.

Luna seemed equally flustered by the sight, unsure of what to do, so she began to fidget on her spot.

"W-Why are you suddenly undressing...!"

"If we want to sleep, we should get comfortable, shouldn't we? No matter who it is, sleeping in armor is an uncomfortable experience. By the way, I prefer sleeping completely naked."

"Ughhhh, H-Hassan, go downstairs for now!"

Hearing Luna's firm and angry words, I had no choice but to go downstairs at that instant.

I also had to remove the uncomfortable black tailcoat and change into a lightweight single-layered cotton garment I had left at Luna's house before heading to the event.

Kong— Kong—

At that moment, strange legs emerged from the jar. It was Luna's pet wolf spider, Kong Kong. Did it sense the presence of a person and come up to see who it was?

"...Hi."

Since the wolf spider was another roommate of Luna, I tried to strike up a conversation to get acquainted with it.

I was a bit scared that it might suddenly jump toward me and launch an attack though. Fortunately, however, it lost interest in me and disappeared deep inside the jar.

Damn it! It was always looked so damn scary, no matter how many times I saw it.

After turning away my attention from the wolf spider, I hung the expensive party clothes I had bought for 30 silvers on the few hangers available on the cabin and neatly placed them against the wall.

After that, thinking that the situation on the second-floor had more or less been resolved already, I climbed up the stairs leading to the second story. However, the scene that immediately greeted my eyes was Luna pressing against Hippolyte from behind her neck.

"Geeckk—"

It was a hard-to-believe situation to see Luna riding on the back of the great warrioress of Mars, who was just promoted to the gold tier, subduing her with such ease. Even though I had seen it once before, it still felt surreal to me whenever I saw such a scene.

"Hippolyte, you're so arrogant! This is my house! Follow my rules!"

"Ughhh...."

Perhaps it was because it was a moonlit night. Or maybe it was because Luna is the daughter of the goddess of the night and carries a name that roughly means the 'Moon' once translated...

"I-I can't breathe—"

Hippolyte was completely helpless against her, squirming under Luna without even being able to lift a finger. Was this really happening right now?

The long arms and legs of the warrioress were flailing around in the air. She was struggling like a turtle being flipped over on its back.

"Hurry up, say that you surrender!"

"I-I surrender—"

Only then did Luna's hand, tightened around her neck, loosen.

"Ugh, huff. Huff—"

Meanwhile, Hippolyte gasped heavily for air. Her eyes were opened wide like saucers, and she was clutching her own throat while gasping needily for every breath.

"I defeated Hippolyte again! Woohoo! Since I won against a gold-tier adventurer, does that make me a gold-tier adventurer from today on? Hand over the necklace!"

Luna extended her palm toward Hippolyte. Visibly startled in response to her words, Hippolyte tightly clung onto the golden hoof-shaped identification tag hanging around her neck as though trying to conceal it from Luna's clutches.

"T-This isn't an official duel, so it doesn't count. Moreover, Knoxdotty, you haven't even made it to the silver tier yet. So you're not qualified for a battle for possession yet."

A battle for possession.

The mention of a battle for possession reminded me of the explanation I heard from Hippolyte earlier.

The adventurers of the gold tier were recognized as heroes by the general populace.

There were only a limited number of 15 gold ranks spots or necklaces in the entire kingdom combined. So there was no way to obtain one except by promoting oneself to an empty slot or defeating those who were already in possession of a necklace.

That was probably why the adventurer from Kalkata— Delphina, aimed for Hippolyte's necklace in the party today.

They said that once you reached the gold tier, the rewards and opportunities that you would receive skyrocketed beyond one's imagination. I wondered just how much they were able to earn. Was it to the extent that if they worked hard for about a year, maybe they could already afford a mansion?

Damn, just the thought of me being able to reach a close to that level was already way too unrealistic for me to imagine.

Anyway, the second confrontation between Hippolyte and Luna ended with Luna's one-sided victory.

Since the more I thought about the gold-tier matter, the more complicated the thoughts in my head became, I decided to stop thinking about this matter altogether from now on.

* * * * * * * * * *

I had visited an unfamiliar party venue at night and had even spent the day exploring the market, so I felt utterly drained in body and mind. Surprisingly, both Luna and I couldn't fall asleep immediately and stayed awake for a long time.

Perhaps it was due to having a guest in our cabin, where only two of us usually slept, that such an awkward and ambiguous atmosphere lingered in the air.

We chatted and talked until late at night without falling asleep.

"So, have you really fought against all of Kairos' disciples?"

Luna was the one asking most of the questions though.

"That's right. I've fought against all of them at least once. I've won against all of them except one."

It was Hippolyte, who knew many things and had gathered a vast array of knowledge over the years of her adventuring, who provided the answers to me. Well, we rarely got a chance to have a conversation with a busy and famous person like her so it was definitely a plus for us.

But I was feeling very sleepy, so I just lay there, wanting to fall asleep quickly.

Damn, I had to admit that I was a bit excited and nervous about being able to sleep with two women in one place, but now I didn't have any thoughts and just wanted to hit the sack and doze off.

Really? When will they go to sleep?

At this rate, we might stay up all night.

But then, Hippolyte suddenly spoke.

"Of course, at that time, they hadn't trained to the best state and were inexperienced in many ways. If I am to fight them again now, I'm not sure if I can win against them. However, since I have also realized my divinity, my chances of winning are not low either."

"What do you mean by 'realizing your divinity'?"

"It means that I have realized the transcendental karma inherent within me. What do you think happens when an eagle living among a flock of swans realizes that it is, in fact, an eagle huh?"

"I don't know! I haven't learned the language of eagles. But I can understand to some extent what cats or sparrows say. However, taming an eagle requires the advanced skills of a Great Shaman."

"...Understanding what cats say? Well, anyway, an eagle that realizes its identity will be able to soar high into the sky. That's what the awakening of a demi-god means."

Hippolyte leaned against the wall while clenching her fist.

"By breaking free from existing limitations, an individual can rise to unimaginable heights. I was able to break through level 40 because of that. Level 40 is not a realm that can be surpassed solely through effort."

"Well, in the end it's because you had good parents."

"T-That's a bit different. Anyway, if I obtain Ambrosia, which is said to be located at the bottom of the underground labyrinth, I can become a goddess. I'm looking forward to what kind of goddess I can become."

"The goddess of not repaying debt."

"...There's no such goddess."

"Since there isn't, then you can become on, Hippolyte."

Luna and Hippolyte kept chatting. It was fascinating to see how they seemed completely incompatible with each other yet suprisingly, were able to communicate with each other so well. Perhaps there was some connection among women that allowed them to understand each other.

Anyway, as I was half a step into the realms of sleep, something sparked in my mind because of Hippolyte's words.

If Hippolyte became so strong by realizing the transcendental karma within her own blood, would Luna become even stronger once she realized that she is Knox's daughter and underwent some kind of awakening?

I imagined Luna surpassing level 40 and being able to launch sword auras with her own hands.

I could picture the scene of Luna slamming her Silence Totem to the ground, causing the ground to turn to gold and an earthquake happened. Let's just call it her usual way to name things, 'the Great Earthquake voodoo or something along those lines.

Damn, honestly, it was quite a funny sight.

And I had a feeling that such a world should never come to pass. Luna had a cruel side to her, so if she gained strong power, she would undoubtedly wield it recklessly without any sense of responsibility.

She might even capture all the frogs and spiders in the world and destroy the whole ecosystem.

Then mosquitoes would swarm everywhere, and this dreadful world would become an even more hellish place than it already was.

Perhaps that was why Lady Knox hadn't revealed Luna's true identity to her. Of course, it was just my absurd imagination at play. I was getting sleepy, so all sorts of weird and nonsensical thoughts came to mind right now.

"If you two are going to keep talking, I'll just sleep on the first floor."

Since I didn't know if they would end up staying awake all night, I brought a decent blanket with me to cover the ground of the first floor before laying down on top of it.

With the change in floor level, the sound of Luna and Hippolyte's chatter weakened somewhat in intensity, allowing me to drift into sleep comfortably.

Soon, as the lengthy conversation neared its end, the voices from the upper floor also gradually faded. Now, only the intermittent noises from outside the cabin could be heard.

In the pleasant silence, I drifted between the realms sleep and awareness in a drowsy state for some time.

Rustle—

Step—

I heard a very subtle sound as if something extremely quiet was walking around me. It felt like a cat tiptoeing with raised paws to rummage through a trash bin.

Was someone trying to use the outdoor toilet or something?

So I didn't think much of it and tried to sink back into the depths of sleep. However, just as I was about to doze off again, I could feel a strong presence right beside me.

Promptly after, something slender was extended toward me. I had the feeling that it was most likely to be a finger.

Slide—

The finger touched right in front of my nose. It seemed like it was checking if I was breathing or sleeping properly or not.

"...Are you asleep?"

But the voice that I heard had a firm tone to it. It was not like Luna's voice. Was it perhaps Hippolyte then?

So I slightly opened my eyes, and under the dark and gloomy background of the first floor, Hippolyte was crouched next to me while looking down at me with those sharp eye of hers.

....

Startled by the unexpected situation, I almost screamed and jolted up from my sleeping state.

What the hell was going on here?

"Ahem, Samaritan. If you're awake, answer me."

I felt like I'd received such a question before.

As the strong sense of déjà vu gradually crept up and disturbed my sleep, something thin and soft brushed against my abdomen, instantly awakening all of my senses.

That was clearly Hippolyte's palm.

Hippolyte extended her warm palm toward me and started touching and poking my abdomen with it.

It wasn't just a gentle caress; it felt more like the sticky and hot licking of a tongue, leaving a distinct and deliberate sensation of pleasure in my body. Due to that feeling, a rush of blood instantly flowed down to my lower body.

Startled—

Did Hippolyte notice the abnormality in my body? Her hand, which was caressing my abdomen, twitched. Yes, she must have realized that I was awake.

So I was starting to consider tossing and turning my body, but before I could do so—

The finger that was caressing my abdomen smoothly now gently undid the knot of my pants.

What? Seriously, just what the hell was going on here?

Suddenly, my rigid member felt the touch of cold air as it had been deliberately slipped out of my hands.

Escaping the confines of the suffocating pants did bring me a sense of relief. However, if there was a woman staring at me in this state, it would understandably feel even more uncomfortable than that.

"T-This is..."

In a small voice that only I was able to hear, Hippolyte muttered as if swallowing her breath.

"A very... bizarre shape..."

Then, she extended her index finger and gently tapped the shaft of my member. She continued to poke at it with the tip of her fingernail before gradually moving downward.

Slide— Slide—

She began to touch the most sensitive and crucial part of my body. Soon, her palm enclosed around the hot shaft, giving my erect member a gentle squeeze.

Holy shit! To have someone hold such a vulnerable part of me like this. It felt like my breath was being cut off.

What was she trying to do right now?

I didn't know exactly, but I had a strong sense that it was definitely something bad, something I shouldn't allow to happen. Instantly, those thoughts filled my mind.

If I were to make a commotion and wake up Luna, who was peacefully sleeping above, it would surely cause problems between us. I couldn't afford to open my mouth right now.

No matter how deep Luna's sleep might be, she would undoubtedly wake up if there was a loud disturbance below.

Was this hell?

I had no idea why Hippolyte was doing this or what I should do about it. My mind turned blank as if turning into a blank sheet of white paper.

"Fascinating shape—"

However, oblivious to my worries, Hippolyte continued to caress and fondle my erection with her pleasantly warm palm.

It felt like an adolescent child who just learned about sex, touching a human body model.

Could it be something similar to that experience in reality?

But this inexperience of hers with sexual matters wasn't much of a surprise as she was the leader of a conservative team of maidens.

But on the other hand, she was also a vigorous warrior. Perhaps she was naturally curious about these matters due to a lack of exposure to the opposite sex.

However, still, how could she touch a sleeping person's body like this? If I hadn't been a light sleeper, this sexual assault incident might have gone unnoticed.

So, as I began to think that this was indeed wrong and started to toss my body around to stop it...

Squelch— Slurp— Squish—

I could hear a sticky sound as if someone was stirring a wet mud puddle with a stick.

"Heuwaaaa..."

This was utter madness.