Chapter 13 Resolve (4)

Looking at Valeria, who is casually standing on the surface of the water while looking at the naked me in a well hidden amusement, I know something is not quite right. No, something is definitely wrong. 'Shouldn't the situation normally be the opposite in anime?!'

Walking in at the wrong time should be the thing that a protagonist does, in this case—though I'm a little bit ashamed to say this—supposed to be thing I, as the protagonist, do, not Valeria, the main heroine.

"W-What are you doing here?!"

"That's supposed to be my question."

"I am going to take a bath, lady!"

"Hoh?"

Seeing the 'Don't mind me and do your thing' look on Valeria's face, I am a little bit conflicted about what I should think of the matter.

On the one hand, I am indignant about the fact that an extremely beautiful woman is ogling my naked body that I am trying so hard to cover with my hands, but on the other hand, I also feel an excitement from the way she gazes at me.

'Ah, I get it. That must be case. After all, it's a Demon Kingdom; there is no way she is not one.' Putting an angered face, I shouted, "You Succubus!"

"What are you talking about?" Of course, said Succubus denies it immediately, as she shakes her head faintly. "Anyway, I'm here to give you a Celestine for you to use until you learn Magic."

"Huh? What does that mineral do? Help me meditate?" I am about to go on a lecture mode and take my hands off the forbidden area that I am covering, but luckily I am able to hold myself back. "Just to be clear with you, Celestine is only a mineral made of Strontium—"

Valeria waves her hand mildly, thus stopping me from speaking any further. "I don't know what Celestine is in your world, but here, Celestine is a crystal that functions as a Mana source, and can also be used to store Mana."

"Oh, so that's the case." I blink my eyes, then nod my head when it dawned upon me that this is a Magic world. "So, what do I need of it? I haven't learned Magic yet, and I believe I don't even have Mana to begin with."

Valeria quirks her eyebrow in, what I can say is, slight exasperation. "Didn't you hear what I say? Your inability to use Mana is the very reason of why you need Celestine."

"I don't get it." I am aware that Valeria is expecting me to know what she is hinting at, but I genuinely don't get it. 'I was, and am, just a normal man, who doesn't know a thing about Magic, lady. How should I suppose to know what you are talking about?!'

Valeria lightly sighs, then stares at me in a not so subtle disdain. "Listen, Laylow. You know what inhabit this forest—wild Beasts. At night, wild Beasts are very active; do you think you, a pathetic weakling, can survive out here at night?"

"O-Of course, I can't! That's the reason why I don't want to sleep in the hut..." Valeria's eyes turn even colder, and I became more afraid of her. 'Stop looking at me like I'm a cockroach, and just tell me what I did wrong!'

Valeria's gaze suddenly turns soft, and I think the look on my face is the reason. I must currently look like an unfortunate maiden who is about to get violated, and Valeria, as a woman herself, takes pity on me upon seeing that look.

"There is a Magic Array in the hut that will protect you from wild Beasts at night, and you need Celestine to activate it."

"Oh, so that's the case." I slowly nod my head in understanding. 'So, she cares about me...' I am fully aware that she must have done it because of her duty as a Demon King Candidate's Mentor, but I'm still glad nonetheless. "Can you give me some privacy now?"

Regardless of how glad I am of her gesture, I still need a privacy—I haven't cleaned myself yet!

Judging from the way she is standing, and the way she is looking at me, though I am embarrassed to say this, she doesn't seem to have any intention to leave me yet, so that's why I feel the need to remind her.

"I can leave you now, but I will also bring the Celestine with me."

As I expected, she finally resorts to blackmail. "I just asked you to give me some privacy, not to leave me though."

"How can I give you some privacy without leaving you?" Valeria quirks her eyebrow.

"How about closing your eyes, and stop staring at my naked body?!"

"Hmph! Who do you think you are to order me around?"

I stare at Valeria in disbelief. I try to say something, but no words come out. 'Why are you so eager to see my dick, pervert?!' I don't know what Valeria is actually thinking, but judging from her face, she doesn't think what she is doing is wrong.

"Alright... If you want to watch me that much ... Please, just my butt." In the end though, I give up on stopping her. I can't do anything if she exerts her power anyway, so it's better to sacrifice my butt rather than losing my dignity as a whole.

"Very well. I will give you the privacy you wanted." Valeria nods her head graciously, then walks past me.

I am slightly relieved that she finally gets what I am talking about, but it was just my misunderstanding; I can still feel a quite heated gaze planted on my back. When I turn around, Valeria greets me with a faint smirk.

'You are a helpless pervert, aren't you?!' Returning my gaze to the front, I gaze at the waterfall in sadness. 'Ah, it is so wrong, but why do I feel excited?' Accepting my fate, I bathe myself while trying to ignore the pervert's gaze on me.

...

I have done taking a bath, and now I am on the way to the hut with Valeria walking beside me.

"Hmm... You behave manlier than before. I wonder what caused it."

Turning my head to Valeria, who is delicately quirking her eyebrow, I smile at her emptily. "Do all men have to look like a mentally tortured person to be considered one?"

"No, but a strong man normally doesn't speak much, like the current you."

I laugh humorlessly then comment, "You didn't deny that mentally tortured is also one of a man's traits."

"This world is harsh: it's not that hard to find depressed people."

"..."

Although I am not that depressed about the fact that I have been visually violated, I can already see the depressed me waving at me from the land of the tortured. I just have to wait for the training day, in other words, tomorrow, to begin for the final push.

? Since the distance between my hut and the river where I bathed myself is not far, it doesn't even take us a minute to reach there.

Creak.

I push the door open, and let Valeria in first. She doesn't even thank me as she immediately enters my hut—well, disappear into the hut. 'Huh? The inside of the hut still looks dirty. Oh, right. It must be the illusion.'

Ignoring the magical display of my worn down looking hut, I casually enter it. Upon entering, the warm air of the hut and the familiar atmosphere that strangely calms my mind immediately greets me.

I revel in that sensation for a while, and shut the door afterwards.

"You organized your room well."

I turn my gaze to Valeria, who is looking around the room, and lightly nod my head. "I don't want to have a messy room."

"Good for you." Valeria nods her head as if saying, 'I approve!'

She walks to the place where I positioned the table, then touches the wall near it. In the next moment, a small hole that is surrounded with strange letters appear in the wall.

She takes out a shining white crystal out of nowhere, and turns to me. "This hole is where you put in the Celestine." She gives me the crystal, which is named Celestine, and gestures at the hole in the wall. "Do it yourself."

"Will I be okay? I just have to put it in, right?"

Valeria doesn't say a thing, but she nods her head in confirmation. I fiddle with the shining Celestine that feels warm in my hand briefly, before shrugging lightly then put it inside the small hole in the wall.

The strange letters are now shining as bright as the Celestine, filling the room with its light. It dies down after a couple of seconds, and the small hole in the wall, along with the strange letters surrounding it also disappeared.

"Congratulations. You have successfully activated the Array. Now, you don't have to be afraid of any wild Beast's attack at night."

"That's a relief. I can sleep peacefully—"

"However, you have to remember that the Celestine you just put in only lasts a day. That means, you have to get a new one tomorrow."

A not so good feeling starts to fill my chest, but my positive mind wisely ignores it. "You will just give me another one tomorrow, right? ... Right?"

"I hope you can perform up to my expectation tomorrow, Laylow." Valeria pats my shoulder tenderly. "You will be rewarded with a Celestine if you do."

Like an illusion, Valeria disappears into thin air, leaving Layland Kleinhaus with a horrifying thought.