Chapter 87 - Jealousy

(Yes, Exactly, there's an NSFW part in the chapter.)

After some moments, Ethan was completely focused on Ais as Ryuu decided to head back to 'get ready' to enter the Dungeon.

Even though he was now focused on stroking Ais' hair as she closed her eyes while appreciating his care, he felt a little bad by the fact that he completely ignored Ryuu. Of course, they were still 'strangers' and Ethan had no plans to try to "improve" his relationship with her, but..

'I really am hopeless.. I should just think about what I have at the moment instead of bothering on something I can't do anything to solve.'

Glancing at Ais, he hadn't even realized that while he had these thoughts and looked towards Ais, a smile had formed on his lips.

Looking in front of him, Ethan decided to talk about one of the things that she was most interested in at the moment..

"Do you think I should fight as well? I can be your supporter if you want"

Hearing his words, Ais opened her eyes as she replied

"Why would... you be..a supporter? your role.."

Shaking his head, his smile didn't fade as he added

"I certainly want to fight too, and that's what I will do. But maybe it's better if I fight to support when monsters of that level appear. My every technique had no effect against that Minotaur, I don't want to cause problems to others because I see things childishly..."

'And I don't want you to worry about me while fighting. That would hurt my pride even more.'

Turning her head to stare at him, Ais brought a hand on his right cheek to move his face so that their eyes met.

"Is it really..what you want?"

With his brows that flinched slightly, Ethan stared at her as she did the same. Even though the unexpected action was quite 'bold', he tried not to mind at all as he had no choice but to 'surrender'. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he sighed as he added

"As I said, it's not what I want. I'm trying to avoid being a problem for you. It's okay to have a support role if I'm too weak to face the monster alone. It's pointless to try to show off when I don't have the power to do so, right?"

Mocking himself with a sarcastic smile, Ethan didn't add anything as Ais knew his words made sense. Placing her forehead on his c.h.e.s.t, she closed her eyes again as she clung on him while he looked up towards the 'sky'.

'I just can't reject it if you look at me like this, so close. But what I said is the pure truth. Of course I want the [XP] needed to level up, but if I am defeated by a monster too strong for me just because I want to be arrogant, I would only create problems for those who would have to save me later. I need her to face these monsters, I can count on her, it's not embarrassing or humiliating...I can't start to have pride if I lack the methods to express it. Being the man in the relationship sure is tough..'

"I'm glad that you're a clever one, boy. It's as you said, we can't think about someone who would be a burden to protect while fighting against strong monsters..."

With these words that echoed in the surroundings, Ethan turned his head to look at the owner of the voice. Seeing the woman who said this, he returned his focus on Ais while he replied

"Yes, It may be as you say, but I never said I wouldn't be able to protect myself. My blows and powers aren't enough to damage them, but I'm confident in escaping on my own."

Surprised by his reply, the woman's eyes widened even if only one could be seen, since the other was covered by an eyepatch. Quickly recovering from his words, she had a small smile on her face as she added

"You sure are confident! Well, if you say so, I'll believe what you are saying is true..."

Nodding, he was about to reply before Ais 'released' him as she looked towards the new woman that was having a conversation with Ethan.

Seeing that the two kept staring at each other, Ethan didn't know what to do. Glancing at both to try and catch their attention, he saw as his attempt failed...

'I don't even know why they're glancing at each other like this. I can understand she's jealous, but why Tsubaki would just go for it..?'

Now that he knew simply glancing at them wasn't enough to deal with the situation, Ethan decided to try with words to change the 'topic' of their conversation.

"Y-Yeah, thanks. By the way, why are you here?"

Asking this, she finally stopped to stare at Ais as he released a sigh of relief.

"Your captain declared what we will do, so I decided to do something as well. I was just checking if someone was entering or exiting the dungeon until I saw two lovebirds just outside the 17th floor entrance."

Smirking, Tsubaki wanted to see if they had some kind of reaction, but, seeing that both of them were not shaken by the way she paraphrased things, made her blush lightly as she changed topic with a cough.

"Regarding the situation, he said that someone at or above level 4 can enter the 17th floor while some one at or above level 5 can enter the 19th. He really is serious about the situation, so I wonder, was the monster the two of you fought against so strong?"

Even though he didn't really want to let Ais and Tsubaki 'talk' from what happened just a few seconds ago, He couldn't even try to say something as Ais was already replying to Tsubaki..

"...This Minotaur..was really tough to beat, but it was weak..against my magic"

Looking away while remembering how inefficient his [Boost Magic] was against that monster, Ethan didn't say anything as Tsubaki glanced at him

"So, you decided to act as the support because you couldn't beat that monster?"

With a nod from him, she decided it was better to head back as she still needed to get ready as well. Glancing at her own tent, she headed towards it as she added

"Ah, By the way, all the adventurers that will go with us are given two hours to rest and prepare before we go together. So if I were you I would rest a little more!"

These words made Ethan think about it as he knew that they will be very busy starting from the end of these last hours of preparation.

'I wonder what kind of plan Finn has to deal with the situation. It's not like we can clearly understand something if the dungeon is randomly spawning these high leveled monsters where they shouldn't appear.'

Busy thinking about this, he returned to the 'real world' while Ais was bringing him to his tent..

---

"As I said, I didn't know her personally. She's Tsubaki Collbrande, Captain of the Hephaestus Familia. She's quite famous, so I obviously knew her"

Saying this, Ethan sighed as he brought a hand on Ais' head

"For you, would I be bold enough to bring someone else close to us when I'm.."

Looking away for a second, he added as the tone of his voice dropped slightly.

"Enjoying myself, with you? It doesn't make any sense... right?"

Seeing that she didn't react to his words, Ethan was about to continue before Ais finally spoke.

"Then..let's start again, as before..."

Although he was surprised for a moment, he nodded while she immediately clung on him as he put his hands on her back to let her relax. Now with time to think about what happened in these minutes, he released a sigh.

'She is even more rigid than I thought at times .. but I think it is also okay. After all, flaws are what makes the person we like even more special...'

Thinking about this, he held her tightly as the two were already in the futon. Looking as she adjusted to be more comfortable, he kissed her on the lips as she tilted her head slightly to 'allow' him to perform the action more easily.

Even though Ethan didn't really feel like 'resting', he didn't want to 'cross the line' either. This because he firmly believed that for now, it was better not to do certain things while they were still--

"I want to... do it.."

Hearing Ais' words, he looked at her in confusion before understanding she really meant it. Sighing in his mind, he saw as she was staring at him with the same expression she had before Tsubaki stepped between them.

Gulping, he clenched his jaw as he said

"That's...fine. But we have to avoid making noise...otherwise people will understand what we're doing. Though it isn't necessarily a bad thing, I don't want others to fantasize about you."

Understanding, she was immediately ready to evade making any kind of noise, but, before he even started, Ethan added

"Wrong, you don't have to become a doll now. I'll help you"

These words made her look at him in confusion before he started to use his technique to touch various parts of her body. The sudden heat brought her even closer to him as she started to breathe faster than before.

Seeing this as well, Ethan didn't say anything as Ais started to remove her clothes before clinging on him again. Now with only p.a.n.t.i.e.s and bra to cover her, she started to kiss him as he unequipped his clothes, remaining in u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r as well.

Releasing her for a second, Ethan added

"Ais..let's start with the position you like more."

Moving the blankets away, She was now on his l.a.p, facing him as her b.r.e.a.s.ts were 'attached' to his c.h.e.s.t.

"Don't you want to..remove your u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r as well?"

Being asked this question, Ais had her forehead against his as she answered quickly

"I want you to..remove it."

Slightly surprised, he wanted to ask what was so special about it but, knowing it was something he wouldn't probably understand, made him decide it was better to do as she wanted to. Even though the straps were 'troublesome' like last time, Ethan could already understand that he was getting better, mainly because he didn't fail this time.

Making her slowly remove it after he undid the bra straps, he stared at her body for a few seconds before returning to look at her. Even though his 'l.u.s.t' was at the extreme, Ethan was trying to control himself as he didn't want to 'scare' her away.

What he didn't expect however, was that Light stepped in his thoughts.

[...She literally asked you to do it. I don't think she would have done it if she didn't feel the same as you. The type of 'l.u.s.t' your thinking about is different from the one you feel right now. L.u.s.t isn't a sin when it's aimed at people who you love. it is an obvious thing to d.e.s.i.r.e the body of the girl you love when you have her n.a.k.e.d in front of you. Stop worrying about this and continue where you left off.]

Her reply made him flinch for a second, but, before he could make Ais understand something was wrong, he continued from where he left off as Light suggested...

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can join the Qienta Familia! play a lot of fun games, but, obviously, that's not all, I post there images regarding things you may see in the story, such as the [Twin's Digimon] and [The Devoted Heart].)

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(Before you ask, yes, probably the continue of the NSFW scene will come in next chapter, otherwise it will be skipped. I don't know at the moment.)

(Alternate Titles: "Tsubaki vs Ais!?", "When the MC wants to be the Supporter. I mean, just why?", "Hehe, two lovebirds. Tsubaki tried to tease! But that wasn't effective...")