PMEVBO 72

Iser’s lips against mine were unnervingly soft. Unlike the light, fleeting touch of his lips, his gaze was relentless. His piercing blue eyes held me captive. Because of that, my response was delayed.

I belatedly pushed Iser’s shoulder away and turned my head. I didn’t know if it was because I pushed too hard or he never planned to resist, Iser immediately pulled his lips away.

But that moment was fleeting.

“What do you think you’re doing all of a sudden…”

Before I could finish my sentence, Iser kissed me again. This time, it wasn’t just a simple touch. His tongue pushed its way into my mouth. It happened so suddenly while I was speaking that I bit down on his tongue without meaning to.

“Hmph…!”

The unexpectedly soft sensation made me flinch. The one whose tongue I’d bitten remained calm. Pressing his lips against mine, which had parted in shock, Iser deepened the tongue-to-tongue exchange. Fortunately, I didn’t taste blood.

But that must have hurt quite a bit…

Then Iser’s tongue brushed against my canine. I felt the same sensation from earlier, and cold sweat beaded on my neck. Just as I raised my hand to his shoulder to push him away again, Iser slowly closed his eyes. His beautifully lowered lashes fluttered.

Then, the strength drained from my hands. Before I could push him away, he wrapped his arms around my neck. His warm, rough hands caressed my sweat-dampened nape, and the sound of his lips smacking against mine echoed in my ears, making my head feel hazy as if I’d been struck by a fever.

“Hng…”

I moaned, clutching Iser’s collar.

When Iser pulled his lips away, the saliva stretched between us dripped down. He slowly wiped the saliva running down my chin with his thumb and whispered.

“It seems like time is almost up.”

His red lips, glistening with saliva, sparkled in the candlelight. I gasped for breath and checked the status window.

(0m 10s)

(0m 9s)

(0m 8s)

Then, Iser kissed the palm of my left hand. He rubbed his lips against my palm and his eyes crinkled.

“Give me your answer tomorrow at medication time.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a pure white light spilled out from the status window.

I hurriedly closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, familiar darkness welcomed me. Cell 1004.

The neck restraint is back in place…

This makes it feel like using the Guidance skill to go to Iser and back was just a dream. But the lingering sensation of the kiss on my lips and the dampness clinging to my palm wouldn’t let me escape reality for even a moment.

That kiss after our reunion was like artificial respiration. In the original story, Isabelle controlled her ability through the intensity of physical contact. If Iser was the same, then that kiss was simply a healing act, nothing more, nothing less. So, thinking about that kiss, I felt nothing but gratitude and guilt.

But this kiss just now… How was I supposed to interpret it?

Ding!

The cheerful electronic sound from the status window interrupted my thoughts.

────【 Subquest 】────

Shortly after,

Vaccine Generation Rate ?%

will be awarded as a reward.

(0≤ ? ≤10)

────────────────

“…I knew it felt ominous.”

The moment the vaccine generation rate was displayed with a question mark, I knew getting the full 100% in one quest clear was out of the question. But I never expected them to be so stingy.

Minimum 0, maximum a measly 10%…

Even if I got lucky and kept rolling 10s, I’d still need to clear at least nine more praise quests to finish the vaccine generation. On the other hand, if I got unlucky, it was impossible to even calculate the outcome.

If I roll a 0 every single time I clear a quest… then it becomes an infinite quest, damn it.

Soon, the question mark in the status window began to blink. Then, the space rapidly filled with numbers ranging from 0 to 10. The numbers changed rapidly, like the floor indicator on a falling elevator, only noticeably slowing down after fluctuating about ten times.

..It should stop soon.

Stop at 10, please…….

10%

“……!”

It really stopped at 10.

────【 System Notification 】────

Vaccine generation will automatically activate the treatment process.

Vaccine Generation Rate: 10% (10/100)

────────────────

Only then did I slowly exhale the breath I’d been holding.

***

After Lucariel left, Iser headed for the shower room. Only after standing under the cold water for a long while did the heat consuming his body finally subside.

‘Prisoner Number 1004, you must proceed to the audience chamber immediately. …His Holiness the Pope is waiting…!’

The moment he heard the Pope was waiting in the audience chamber, Lucariel’s face looked as if it might crumble at any second. Seeing that expression, Iser instinctively sensed there was something between Lucariel and the Pope that he didn’t know about.

But while handling the duties assigned by the instructor, it was already time to return to the dormitory. Leaving the dormitory outside of duty hours was grounds for disciplinary action, and that could mean losing his position as Lucariel’s medication handler. He had no choice but to return to the dormitory.

Worries about Lucariel made it impossible for him to focus on his books. Iser sat in his chair for hours. It was then that Lucariel fell onto his lap.

The reason Lucariel had come to find him didn’t matter. Just that he was in that person’s mind made him so happy it felt like his brain would melt.

But that feeling was short-lived, consumed by an even greater thirst.

‘……I wish that person’s mind were filled only with me.‘

Leaving no room for anyone else to enter…

Iser’s hair was soaked through when he returned to his room. Droplets falling from his hair soaked his shoulders, but he paid it no mind as he sat down in the chair at his desk.

[On Serpents, Sin, and Demons].

On the surface, it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary religious commentary. However, the true value of this book was revealed when read differently. Reading vertically from the back, this book became…

The author wishes to discuss the possibility that the demon Lumiares was actually one of the gods of the foreign lands.

…became a heretical book.

The first to discover this heretical reading method was Kogaron.

Kogaron didn’t treat Iser like a human, and perhaps because of this, he held nothing back in his speech before Iser. Kogaron also spoke freely and without restraint about this book.

The books Kogaron possessed were burned along with the main castle of the duke’s residence six years ago. This book was no exception. Yet, since it wasn’t even classified as a banned book, obtaining it again wasn’t difficult. In fact, here in Hell, it was a required reading book distributed to new guards.

He didn’t believe everything written in this book was true. But it was well worth reading. For instance, the passage about these ‘weapons’……

Across the sea, in foreign lands, tales are told of three gods.

Each of these three gods possessed their own unique weapon, and humans blessed by the gods could borrow fragments of those weapons.

Fragments of weapons bestowed by the gods upon humans, the ancients called it ‘supernatural ability’.

It was then.

──────【 Report 】──────

Countermeasure for the ‘Weapon of Brainwashing’

10/100 Creation Complete

────────────────

Iser quickly scanned the floating panel of light.

So it really picks one number at random from zero to ten….

‘Lucky it was 10.’

Moments later, the report panel vanished. Then, the panel hidden behind it revealed itself. Iser crossed his arms and looked up at the panel.

───【 Quest Performer Information 】───

Name: Lucariel Nebella Sarachephon

Recovery Stage: 1

Life Force: 100/100

Occupation: Prisoner No. 1004

Alias: The brutal mass murderer who caused the Hayut Massacre during his priesthood

Weapons Held: Weapons of Order (Guidance, Wisdom)

Main Quest: Pending

Sub Quest: Pending

Remarks: Upon completing all missions, a wish may be granted

Special Notes: Memory errors caused by the Weapon of Brainwashing

(Hayut Massacre, XXX Hayut)

────────────────

The information about Lucariel displayed on the panel hadn’t changed since he’d checked it moments ago.

Except for one thing.

Sub Quest: Pending

What had read ‘Reward preparation in progress’ was now changed to ‘Pending’. That meant a new side mission would drop soon. Iser muttered.

“I hate it when he praises someone else instead of me…”

…Couldn’t he just keep it for me alone?