Nidome no Yuusha

Chapter 23: The Hero and Shuria, First Steps

“Ukh, AAH!”

Ah, it’s that same dream.

Despite knowing it to be a dream, the scenes happening before me were truly horrendous.

“Hey there, it’s time for your daily dose. Be still and don’t spill any now”

“Khu, this is, NOTHING!! I will never surrender to you fiends…!”

“Well, I don’t care. You also played a part in tricking me. That, is all that matters”

I could see around me, something of a dark cave. Lit by luminescent moss along the walls, I could see a large rock that appeared to have been cut flat across the top and used as a makeshift bed. And on top of this bed lay Sori.

Her arms and legs were bound in crude iron shackles like those of a slave.

And a girl, Shuria, as the dream would have me believe, was approaching Sori with a calm smile on her face.

But that Shuria looked all-together different from the one I knew. Her hair had gone from blond to a silver close to pure white, while her skin, that’d been ghostly pale, had been tanned brown like that of the people living in lands loved by the sun.

The only familiar features I could see were her face, that had maintained the same shape, and her deep, red eyes.

Every time I had this dream, I saw a black haired, black eyed boy, who somehow roused a sense of deja vu, by her side, along with what appeared to be a rabbit-kin girl with chestnut hair.

Shuria had forcefully plied open Sori’s mouth with a gag, and shoved a spoonful of yellow-green liquid into her.

And anticipating that the maid would choke it out, she would then close Sori’s mouth and make her swallow.

“Nha, oww, cough, cough!!”

The task done, Shuria violently pulled off the gag.

“Okay then, since we finished up your arms yesterday, let’s do, your left leg today”

“Here you are”

“Thanksies”

Shuria received a number of stakes from the rabbit-kin girl. These black stakes were hollow with a hole on the top and were of a design that let their sharp tips open to let things through.

I, truly wanted to avert my eyes from seeing the atrocity that I knew was about to transpire, but this dream didn’t allow me such an action.

“Hggghh!? Uuu, aaAAAAA!!!”

Sori’s beautiful leg was brutally pierced right before my eyes.

“Aahh, Nhh, UAah!!”

My beloved raised shrill screams as another 3 of those stakes impaled her.

Those screams, they almost sounded like the sweet moans she made as I played with her in the night.

“My gosh, Sori, are you actually feeling good from this? Such a pervert, you”

‘kusukusu’, Shuria laughed in ridicule.

“Nhh, haah, that’s, because of, the drug…”

“But it’s made so that you can still feel the pain you know. Which means that you’re clearly feeling more pleasure than pain from this. Okey, ready for the main event? Please be so kind as to not pass out like you did yesterday. If you aren’t suffering, all my time doing this feels wasted is all”

“Aiee!!”

Shuria now held a large bottle which contained a liquid, black something. This something that gave off a metallic sheen was, what I speculated to be, a magic creature, and this creature moved by Shuria’s commands.

She placed the bottle beside Sori, and slowly lifted its lid.

“Here, eat up dearie”

As Shuria called on it, that liquid black something oozed out of its bottle on its own, made towards the stakes freshly impaled into Sori, and entered through the holes on top.

“HNGGA!!”

This was likely when the tips of the stakes came open. The result was a new onslaught of screams.

“NnaaAAaA, Nggghh, Oooo, Aaanh, Nnh, Nh, Ah, Aaahh!!”

“You’re crying in so much ecstasy. You must be especially deplorable, gasping in sensual breaths while your bones are melting away”

“Yumis-sama! Yumis-sama!! YUMIS-SAMAAA!!!”

“The amount of pleasure she’s feeling should be just under what she feels as pain, so her poor head must be so confused”

“Oi oi, you make it sound like it’s none of your business, you made the poison”

“Oh geez, Goshujin-sama. Call it a drug, alright? She’d break so soon if all that was only pain. That’d be a waste”

While Sori screamed in mad agony, the black haired boy and the rabbit-kin girl were having a pleasant chat.

I wouldn’t spare a second to exterminate these three monsters if I could, but despite it being my dream, I was curiously unable to control my body.

Like always, I could simply watch, watch and do nothing as Sori moaned in pleasure and agony.

☆

“!? Hah, haah, aah, that, dream again. What a horrid way to start the morning”

I sighed as I raised myself from bed, feeling my forehead drenched in sweat. Looking at the clock told me that I had woken up slightly later than usual.

“It’s been 4 times already. Just what is happening to me”

That day, the demonic summoning stone had turned into one without the first two descriptors, and from that day, I kept having that dream. That same dream, night after night.

The dream where a transformed Shuria, along with a couple of strangers, would torture Sori.

I kept seeing that terrifying premise that felt too real.

“That demon, after breaking it’s own contract, did it perhaps put a curse on me?”

On the day I pushed Shuria into my trap and offered her soul to the demon, after I’d enjoyed bed play with Sori well into the day, I noticed that glimmering black demonic gem had turned into an ordinary stone you could find at any roadside.

I’d quickly made my way to the building where I’d built my secret dungeon only to find that the place had been sacked. There was no demon, not a trace of Shuria’s corpse, and no sight of all those experimental undead.

I couldn’t even explain how the bars of the cage at the far back had, what clearly look like to have been sliced up.

For an instant, I’d thought Shuria might’ve done something, but I quickly dismissed it. That little girl’s magic was all mine by then, and she’d been powerless.

Since she had strong elven traits, without her magic, she’d actually be weaker than human children her age. She couldn’t possibly do something against a demon in that state.

Which meant that the demon likely used some means to break the contract, take Shuria, not just her soul, and even stole away all my undead, before sealing itself in some other stone.

I seem to recall that after a demon’s contractual period ends, they can then go on to possess any stone of their desire anywhere in the world.

“Haah,” I sighed, “I must look terrible, I simply can’t let Sori see me like this”

To calm myself, I drank a cup from the pitcher of water I have kept nearby, which is when Sori entered the room.

“Good morning, Yumis-sama. Your breakfast is ready”

“Thank you, Sori. Now, what do you say we enjoy it together”

“W-We mustn’t, Yumis-sama. I am but a maid, to dine with my master would be improper”

“No need to worry about that, I’ve decided to have breakfast here in my room today, so you needn’t be wary of any eyes. Please have them give me larger servings and we’ll eat that together. I must admit, my appetite is a bit lacking today, so a little for me is fine”

I gleefully replied to my beloved maid.

I knew I was being a tad forceful, but Sori, after making a troubled expression, nodded, “I will bring it in immediately,” and left the room.

Today, I just wanted to be with her as much as I could. I hadn’t told her about my dreams of late. There’s the fact that I didn’t want to needlessly worry her, and also, these terrible dreams had no basis on reality.

Yet, there was an unfounded anxiety in me that I wanted to relieve even a little. Close to my goal I may be, I still needed a little more time for it to come to fruition.

“It really is too bad I couldn’t get my hands on Shuria’s eyes. And here I was, certain I could make those mana seeing Scarlet Eyes into an excellent magic tool”

There are many records of those in the past using eyes from dragons or greater ice wolves. With my new power, I could’ve used those scarlet eyes to make a magic tool that maybe, just maybe, would be recognized by the sacred monument.

How fiendish of that demon. Yes, it helped resolve my main issue, but then, it also took away the boon that was rightfully mine.

“Fine then. I’m sure that once I master my new talents in magic, I can eventually make something to satisfy the stone”

No use crying over spilled milk, lost items in this case. I should think forward, of my future and what’s to come.

“Right, it now seems a must that I go on a journey, for further training and item collection. I really have reached the level cap of this area, so rather than wait for them to come to me, I should go find those rare and powerful items myself”

This town might be a junction for many trade routes, but the better items sold for higher in the capital, and on top of that, better items had a tendency to gather in the empire rather than our kingdom.

The goods that did make their way here sufficed for experiments, but there was no telling how long I would have to wait for the type of goods that would please the monument.

Next, on what to do about my position as lord of this town. Father and mother were quite busy, making important connections in the capital, so it’d be awful if I simply left my duty… I should hire a governor for a time.

And then, there was the fact that I was the only child and daughter. I needed some way to convince father of my departure as well.

“Rumor has it that the demon lord has been gathering forces so, I guess the best course of action would be joining the party of a hero…”

That would give me plenty of just cause to proudly travel away from the fief, and not look like I abandoned my duties to pursue some hobby.

As a nobleman of the kingdom, I doubt father would oppose to the deed of aiding in the subjugation of the demon lord.

No, well, my father did value noble blood over all else, but in the worst case, if I died, he could try for another child, or employ any number of other methods.

I’m sure he’d consider his potential rise in prestige if his house is among those around the hero.

I recall hearing rumors of a summoning of said hero at the capital, I wonder what happened with that?

“Yumis-sama, I am bringing in the food”

Sori had returned as I was lost in thought.

She neatly transferred the dishes from the cart to the top of the dining table in my room.

“The menu today is baked pork sausage and poached cluck eggs with a side of white bread. For dessert, you have goat milk mixed with crushed portions of a sweet fruit called the straaberry”

“Thank you, my compliments to the chef”

We then heartfully enjoyed the meal, sometimes feeding one another, I made sure to tease Sori aplenty.

The juice for dessert, which we fed each other mouth to mouth by the way, was frighteningly sweet and delicious, I practically got addicted.

I could do this forever, but unfortunately, I had work, so I put on clothes more appropriate for such an outing.

“Nhh, if I recall, you had work at the government office today, I wish you a nice day, Yumis-sama”

“Thank you”

I was about to leave the room, but with my hand on the door knob, I suddenly recalled something.

“Pardon me, Sori, can I ask a favour?”

“? Yes, of course, Yumis-sama”

“Could you please lift up your skirt? Just up to your hips is fine”

“Eh!?”

Sori’s face instantly bloomed red.

As I kept staring silently, Sori, despite being embarrassed, grasped the hems of her long maid’s skirt and lifted.

“U-umm, Yumis-sama, is this to your liking?”

She exposed the contents within, revealing a clean pair of smooth and beautiful legs.

Her unblemished skin had not a trace of the wounds I’d seen on her in my dreams. Actually, I’d called her to sleep with me last night as well, and I know we were together right until we fell asleep, so the matters of my series of dreams taking place in reality was completely unfounded.

(… Why am I so worried, I’m clearly overthinking this)

I should get a priest to look at this nightmares condition I seem to have going.

That put aside, ah~, Sori, she was still holding that pose in a beet red face, it’s so lovely, I couldn’t get enough.

I took a plentiful helping of that sight for my sore eyes, and then left the mansion to fulfill my day’s duties at the office.

As far as I could tell, nothing was wrong.

I daydreamed about my joyful married life with sweet Sori as I walked to my destination.

☆

(Ahh, how long must I suffer this dream)

I kept having the same nightmares for multiple days after.

(This is around the time I usually wake up)

I’d thought that I should wake up now as I usually did after being shown the atrocities, but today, it ended differently.

“Now now, we’re all ready now. Are you listening, foolish nee-sama? The show has only begun, and you’ve been dancing along the stage quite splendidly”

I, who’d always watched from a heightened view, was suddenly addressed by Shuria.

(!?)

Upon a direct view, I could see that her eyes were not of the brilliant red I knew, but a dark, corrupted, blood crimson.

I couldn’t stand looking at that unpleasant stare. But like always, my will had no power in this dream.

“This isn’t the end, I won’t let it end. I’ll be the one to close your curtain. So please enjoy, be sure to enjoy the show to your very fullest”

Her wide grin gave me chills, I could feel something cold slide down the length of my spine as I sprung up from bed.

Sori, I’d certainly called her to my bed yesterday, and ended up sleeping together.

I searched next to me in a panic, only to find her not there.

“ Khshishi, khshishishishishi! ”

“! Who’s there!!”

My befuddled head could recognize the place I was in as my personal room.

No, there was a single incoherency.

On top of the table, there was a teddy bear, it’s design, one of patchwork. I recalled that it was one of the ‘carrots’ Sori had prepared for Shuria.

I remembered instantly since it had such a unique design.

(Why is that thing here…)

“ Khshi, Khshishi ”

Surprisingly, it was that very same plushy that’d been uttering those sounds.

As if it was making a fool of me, the teddy bear made a clean bow before leaving behind a letter on the table while it swiftly jumped out the window.

“! WAIT!!”

By the time I quickly made my way to the windowsill chasing after the doll, when I spotted it, it’d gone quite a distance away, running across the rooftops.

I attempted to settle down my quickly rising sense of dread, and tried to get a handle on the situation.

The sealed red parchment on top of my table had the word Invitation written on top. Turning it the other way, it said, “From Shuria and an avenger you don’t know”.

Reading the contents, I felt that the dreams I’d been seeing had connected to my reality.

“SORI! SORII!! Where are you, answer me, SORIII!!”

My yells yielded no response.

Other servants had come rushing in hearing my outcry, but none of them could answer me either.

That was the day that Sori disappeared from my home.