LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 53: Goblin Slayer (2)
“Ah-he-”
Jonah’s ahegao double peace!
It’s super effective!
Lydia is confused…!
“Uh, th… Uh?”
Like a fish out of water, Lydia could only bob her mouth open and shut, unable to form words.
Lydia usually displayed faint expressions of emotion. It was quite rare to see her this visibly flustered.
…Which probably made me take the prank a little further! But anyway, seeing Lydia so startled was enough for me.
I poked the stuttering Lydia’s side with my index finger, touching the part where her skin was clearly exposed due to her half-bikini armor.
Supposedly, there was a barrier that automatically unfolded when attacked, but this didn’t seem to count as an attack, so I touched it as is.
It was a bit soft.
“Miss Lydia, Miss Lydia. You were envious of my enlightenment, weren’t you? How about it? Do you think you can copy that?”
“……What?”
“Hey, are you going to keep pretending you don’t know? You know what I was talking about. But for Miss Lydia, a virtuous maiden full of shyness, I’ll explain it so it’s easier to understand!”
Saying so, I stood on my tiptoes and whispered into Lydia’s ear, “It means, Miss Lydia, try getting caught while you’re masturbating alone and just reaching your climax.”
I activated Sound-Eating Footsteps. My presence disappeared. Within the sensation, as if an invisible curtain had spread between the world and me, I continued.
“…Then like this, you’ll be able to sublimate the shame of wanting to disappear from the world into a skill.”
“……”
Lydia’s eyes trembled faintly. After pondering for a long while, she opened her mouth.
“…Is that true?”
“Pardon?”
“Can you really awaken it after experiencing something extremely embarrassing?”
“Eung?”
I didn’t expect it to turn out this way.
Of course, it was impossible. No, maybe it was possible, but I didn’t gain this skill that way.
I just pulled it from a gacha!
But… if I nodded here… maybe I would see Lydia pleasuring herself?
Should I repay kindness with enmity or upgrade the unicorn dagger to a bicorn dagger?
No, were those the same thing? My thoughts started to lean too much in one direction.
I shook my head vigorously, trying to drive away the unholy thoughts, but even that wasn’t easy.
“…Is this how?”
Lydia made a V sign with each hand and stuck out her tongue while keeping her expressionless face.
It was too expressionless to call it an ahegao, but that’s what made it better. It had its own charm.
But I realized when I saw her flicking her tongue sincerely that Lydia was genuinely amazed, and she wanted to learn it herself.
Even I felt guilty about deceiving her like this.
“You seem to lack the desperation. Why don’t you try rolling your eyes upwards first?”
And I managed to push through that painful task.
“Oh, I think I get it. Not making a sound, controlling my breath, hiding my energy… none of that was really important. It’s about the image of hiding myself from the world. It’s like my very existence is isolated somewhere else.”
And Lydia, in her own way, achieved something, too.
“???”
Of course, it wasn’t as good as mine, but it was a definite change compared to how she used to announce her presence openly.
Lydia gently smiled and stroked the top of my head.
“Thank you, Jonah. This is much better than the stealth techniques I paid a fortune for at the guild.”
“Uh…”
“Yes, it seems that sensation is important, after all. I’ve honed my skills as much as I can, so what’s left is probably integrating it with innate talent and aura.”
“Yep…”
“It might be difficult for me to pull it off like Jonah, but still, it’s incomparable to the skills I’ve learned so far with money.”
“I… see…”
“It’s all thanks to you, Jonah. Thank you.”
“……”
Don’t look at me with those eyes…!
My triangle of conscience was spinning so fast that it was on fire!
I forced a smile to hide my inner scream.
“Since we have this opportunity, how about we practice sneaking all the way to the Iron Wolf’s habitat?”
“That sounds good.”
Looking at Lydia, who nodded with sparkling eyes, my conscience was pricked sharply again.
I forced myself to ignore it and opened my mouth.
“Before that, just a moment, Miss Lydia. Could you give me your hand?”
“Why?”
Lydia tilted her head curiously and obediently extended her hand. I placed the unicorn dagger in her palm.
Whoosh!
The blade shone brightly, easing the unease in my heart slightly.
Only then did I regain my composure and delve deeper into the dungeon.
I rushed in and climbed atop the massive body of the Iron Wolf, then thrust the dagger into its nape.
Pwook!
“Yelp?!”
The blade sliced through its thick hide with little resistance. However, due to the Iron Wolf’s large size and the short length of the blade, I failed to kill it in one blow.
But that didn’t mean the Iron Wolf had a chance of surviving.
Firmly grasping the dagger still embedded in its pelt, I leapt off its back.
Schlt—
Pulling with all my weight, I ripped through the nape of its neck.
“……!”
The Iron Wolf, with half of its neck sliced, staggered. Instead of crying out, blood spewed like a waterfall.
Not long after, it collapsed to the ground.
Its gaze remained fiercely hostile, too dangerous to approach and deliver the final blow. Though its body lacked strength, the hostility burned intensely. They weren’t called monsters for nothing.
But that fierce look was all it could muster.
Smirking, I lightly tossed the unicorn dagger into the air, caught it by the blade, and then hurled it straight at the Iron Wolf’s forehead.
Shwoook…Phwk!
The dagger easily embedded itself. The light faded from its smoldering eyes.
Nodding in satisfaction, I extended my hand, and the dagger trembled before pulling itself out of the corpse and returning to my grasp.
This was the first time Lydia had witnessed the true capabilities of the unicorn dagger, so she stood behind me, her mouth agape.
I proudly raised the dagger towards her, noting her surprise, which seemed more frequent than usual today.
“Overgearing is always the answer! I finally understand what you meant, Miss Lydia!”
“Ahem. But isn’t this weapon too powerful? What on earth is it made of to allow such feats?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? It’s made from a unicorn’s horn.”
“If it’s this powerful, I’d expect there to be some tough restrictions—wait…Don’t tell me the reason it glowed when I touched it earlier is…?”
“Hehe.”
I smiled at her, but all I received in return was a flick on the forehead.
“Hyap!”
“There’s no use trying to dodge.”
When I attempted to dodge, I got hit two more times. Hmph, meanie.
Pouting, I began to butcher the body of the Iron Wolf. This time, the skin peeled off easily without Lydia’s help.
Being careful not to damage the pelt because it cut a little too well, I spoke.
“There are restrictions, so to speak. There’s a limit to its use.”
“A limit? Don’t tell me your lifespan decreases with each swing?”
“That’s a cursed sword. This one might be obsessed with purity, but it doesn’t desire one’s lifespan or soul. Rather, it has the power to heal its user.”
Vwoong-!
The dagger convulsed at the mention of a cursed sword. A single strike quieted it down again. Some things only get fixed when hit.
Vwoong…
Ignoring the dagger’s timid resistance, I continued to strip off the skin.
“There aren’t any scary restrictions… instead, it’s selective about its owner.”
“An ego sword?”
“No way. It just means it distinguishes whether one is a virgin or not.”
“?”
“They say that if I’m no longer a virgin, it will split in half and become a black twin dagger.”
“Ah.”
Though it might seem obvious, the power held by a bicorn was significantly weaker than that of a unicorn.
If this weapon currently felt like a 4-star weapon made from 3-star materials, the moment it became a bicorn twin dagger, it would be akin to a 3-star weapon made from the same quality materials.
“So, rest assured, Miss Lydia! As long as my dagger remains white, it means I’m still pure!”
“…I’m not particularly curious about Jonah’s purity.”
“Oops. I forgot. Miss Lydia, you dream of true knightly romance! You’re more drawn to a lord’s spouse than to a noble virgin!”
“Lies and slander…!”
Lydia trembled, and with a giggle, I crammed the treated leather into my backpack.
“Eutcha. With this, there shouldn’t be any need to cling to the Iron Wolves. Let’s venture deeper today.”
“Are you sure? Just catching Iron Wolves would be enough for growth, and we’d make a lot of money.”
“But if we catch Hobgoblins, we can make even more money and grow even more.”
“But it’ll be dangerous. Unlike Iron Wolves, who roam alone, Hobgoblins live in large tribes, with over a hundred individuals together. I’ll help, but we might not be able to handle all the dangers perfectly.”
“Huh? Miss Lydia, did you really think I was planning to eradicate a Hobgoblin tribe head-on?”
“???”
Lydia stared at the blood-soaked backpack as if she was hearing nonsense.
I placed one hand on my waist and raised the other in front of me, index finger pointing upward, striking a pose.
“Ugh! Please don’t say such cruel things!”
“Okay….”
“I was just planning to assassinate them like normal!”
“……”
To die without pain.
Could there be a more peaceful end?