136 – Saintess, How Vulgar (2) – Censored

Tiria cried out as if seized by a fit.

“V-Vulgar?! You’re the vulgar one, Erich! It was the first time, and you were outside with Rachel, doing… doing that so casually…!”

“But you’re asking for the same thing now, aren’t you?”

“Ah.”

It wasn’t even the feeling of being caught in one’s own trap. This Saintess… she’s just plain clumsy. Clumsy Saintess Tiria. That’s why she’s endearing.

“Do you… perhaps dislike a vulgar Saintess?”

“No.”

I gently tilted Tiria’s chin upwards. She was drawn in listlessly, her face flushed.

“Vulgar or not, I am exceedingly fond of Tiria herself.”

“Hiccup.”

“How precious you are.”

“D-don’t speak formally to me, didn’t I tell you?”

“Then, precious you are. Tiria.”

“Ugh, really….”

As I leaned in, Tiria squeezed her eyes shut. Gently holding her shoulders that trembled with tension, I kissed her.

“You’re really sure about doing this, right?”

“Don’t… don’t ask me that kind of thing, every time.”

With a soft sigh, Tiria parted her lips.

“You can just… do as you please.”

Those words banished all other thoughts.

I will embrace this woman.

I slowly did the same things to Tiria that I had done with Rachel. Wanting to stain her with my color, I covered her. I lavishly dampened the snow-white canvas that was her hair.

First, the basic sketch.

“Ugh, ungh.”

The reaction is subtly different.

Unlike Rachel, who had responded with passionate fervor, Tiria made sounds as if she were ticklish.

Soon, she, who had been moaning, opened her mouth.

“I think this is enough, Erich.”

“I’ll loosen you up a little more.”

“Ungh, ungh.”

Tiria shook her head. She repeatedly twisted and stretched her legs.

“I want it, now.”

“I don’t think it’s quite enough yet….”

“Please, Erich.”

Tiria’s hands gripped my shoulders. Trembling. Her eyes were filled with impatience.

She had the expression of wanting to be joined with me as soon as possible.

Not yet. It’s not time yet.

My intuition warned me so, but with Tiria’s repeated requests, I finally began coloring with the crayon. It was a move I made out of the thought that she would know her own body better than I would.

And then, Tiria let out a shattering scream.

“Ah, Erich! Th-this isn’t going to work! It’s too, too… Ah!”

Her irises, in an instant, shaded a deep violet. Seeing Tiria’s face twisted in pain, I felt something had gone terribly wrong.

*I’d colored it wrong.*

Her whole body trembled, pleading that it was too much, and I couldn’t continue. I ended up stopping what I was doing, and like that, Tiria’s first time ended in the worst possible way.

“I’m sorry… *sniff*…”

A sea of indigo, her gaze faltering.

Tears poured like a snowstorm.

Tiria’s face was a canvas of frustration and sadness.

“I was the one who asked first, and I’ve gone and made such a spectacle of myself. I’m so sorry, Erich…”

“It’s not your fault.”

I straightened Tiria’s clothes for her. My fingers brushed her back to comfort her with a bit of warmth. Her whole body shivered with pain and sadness and I brushed my fingers more vigorously across the expanse.

“I was clumsy. I apologize. It’s my fault, so please don’t cry. There, there. Shhh…”

“The books made it sound so wonderful, I never imagined it would be like this…”

“There’s no need to blame yourself, yet you keep doing it.”

It was only after some time had passed that I could finally calm Tiria down.

“What do I do, Erich? I’m scared now.”

“If it’s too difficult, we can do it later. It’s okay.”

“No, we’ve come this far, I can’t just let it end like this, so hollow.”

Tiria’s resolve was firm. But I didn’t think it was right to force her completion when her heart wasn’t in it.

It was better to take a longer route, wait until her fear had faded, and then meticulously paint it anew.

After a moment of consideration, I spoke.

“Let’s do this.”

“Do what?”

“Let’s divide it into stages. Today, we’ll end with an embrace, tomorrow, just kisses, the day after, something more… like that, over several days.”

“Huh?”

Tiria’s lips turned downward, looking bewildered.

“Won’t that take too long?”

“It will be all the more pleasurable, in exchange.”

“E-excuse me?”

“It’s about the anticipation, you see? It’s like how a meal tastes so much better when you’ve been starving, isn’t it?”

“Ah, truly….”

The violet that had flooded Tiria’s irises gradually calmed. She opened her arms, embracing me.

“I’m sorry, and thank you.”

“If we slowly adapt from today, in the end, you will come to love it.”

“Yes, I’ll do as you say, my lord.”

We finished the first day, feeling each other’s warmth through our clothes.

As a man, it was regrettable, but considering the woman I loved, this level of patience was within acceptable limits.

Besides, this method had its merits, didn’t it?

Namely, the ability to indulge in displays of affection at any moment.

A glance, an embrace, a kiss – barely a minute was needed for just that much.

Of course, in the dead of night, when everyone was asleep, we would secretly rise and hold each other close, skin to skin, for long embraces.

By the third day, she seemed to have adapted quite well, Tiria’s movements becoming more active.

But ultimately, the painting remained unfinished.

“Ugh, not yet?”

“We mustn’t.”

It was important not to progress further than necessary.

Though I was consumed by the desire to finish it immediately, each time, I endured, recalling Tiria’s tears from the first day.

Stopping at a ticklish level.

Halting again whenever we seemed to progress just a little further.

Thus, a week passed.

“Colonel, are you unwell?”

“No, it’s nothing….”

“It seems you’ve caught a cold.”

“Perhaps. Do I have a fever? I might need to distance myself from you all for a while. Cough.”

Tiria made a coughing sound, but I knew it was feigned. The reason for her flushed face was not a cold, but me.

This should be enough.

Finally, today, we will complete the painting.

“Everyone, have a good trip. I’ll take care of Mr. Karsten.”

“You won’t be doing anything strange, will you?”

“I trust the Major. Well, I wouldn’t think she’d behave vulgarly with a sick man.”

Rachel, Liyo, and Adora had gone to forage for food. They needed to secure extra provisions, for escape was soon to be planned.

“Tiria.”

I spoke, watching Tiria, now that we were alone.

“It’s been a week today.”

“Haa, haa.”

It was over.

Even the atmosphere felt palpably different than before. If back then her expression had been burdened with duty and worry, now she wore the face of a woman, fully.

“Erich, quickly, quickly.”

Tiria, grasping my hand, led me into the thicket.

As if to prove that the time and effort I had poured in were not in vain, I could no longer restrain myself in the face of her melting, pink-tinged irises.

After a brief warm-up, I met Tiria’s gaze and called out her name.

“Tiria.”

“Yes, yes, Erich.”

“Still afraid?”

“N-no. I’m not afraid at all now. I want it. I’m going mad wanting you.”

“Your eyes are purple, though?”

Tiria’s mouth snapped shut.

“Th-that’s… Yes. To be honest, I’m still worried. But this time, it will be alright. Truly, it’s truly unbearable. It’s already been a week like this, and I haven’t been properly satisfied…”

Tiria, breathing sweetly, tightly clasped her hands together. A voluptuousness emanated from her as she looked at me, as if in prayer.

“You could have loved me on the first day. But you were careful not to startle me. It’s alright now. I’m ready, too… Please, hold me with all your strength. Please? I don’t want to trouble you anymore…”

I nodded.

“I will.”

“Oh, Goddess of Healing, please grant this maiden peace and tranquility, and… Aah!”

I took it upon myself to introduce atheism to the adorable saint, who had begun reciting a prayer in a trance. And, materialism as well. Tiria, who had begun to weep with a lovely voice, recited the prayer even faster.

But her faith soon crumbled.

Tiria’s back arched as she was overtaken by waves of relentless pleasure.

“Erich, this, this is strange! It’s different than last time! So, so…!”

The purple that had comprised most of her iris now slightly faded. When the purple faded, pink emerged. It was proof that her emotions were shifting from worry to embarrassment.

In other words, it meant she was satisfied.

Tiria and I clasped hands.

They looked at each other, sharing breath and saliva. It was as if the two of us were cleaved from the rest of the world. Time stood still.

Nothing was visible but Tyria’s face, and nothing audible but the sound of her breath.

“Erich, something’s coming! Something’s coming, I tell you! Ahh!”

Finally meeting her ecstasy, Tyria collapsed onto me.

“Darling, did I…do well?”

“Yes, immensely.”

“See? It wasn’t so bad after all. I worried for nothing, it seems.”

After a brief respite, Tyria began to enjoy herself. To think, just moments before, this saintess had been trembling with fear, yet now she was so…earthy.

Seeing Tyria’s unrestrained smugness, I felt the urge to tease her a little.

So, I decided to do just that.

“Ahh?!”

I flipped Tyria over suddenly and began to paint over her wildly. Unlike before, I was rough, relentlessly kneading and molding her, driving her onward.

“So that’s how you want to play…! Is it!”

Our lovemaking stretched on, a long and passionate affair, all the more intense for the delay.

*

Having completed the deed, Tyria linked arms with me, looking utterly satisfied. She hummed a little tune and smiled brightly.

“Now that you’ve slept with the Saintess of the Holy Spirit Kingdom, Erich will never be able to escape. You know what our order is like, I’ve told you often enough, haven’t I?”

Marriages of the saintess and other high-ranking priests are overseen by those within the church. This is to prevent the church’s image from being tarnished by outsiders, those who don’t believe.

In other words, I was going to be encountering the Holy Spirit Church’s people a lot more from now on.

The problem was, I wasn’t just any ordinary man.

A high-ranking mage of Hazkael. And a soldier on the Holy Spirit Kingdom Air Force’s kill list.

And that wasn’t all. Some of my research had even been read by the Holy Spirit Church and declared forbidden.

It was obvious I’d offended some of the higher-ups within the order.

And now that mage had touched the Saintess of Purification…

“Don’t worry. I’ll always be on your side.”

Tyria smiled and leaned against me.

“I can abandon the Saintess title anytime if they tell me to leave the church.”

“Miss Karsten… No, not Karsten. Tyria.”

“…Yes, darling.”

Tyria Ronstein. It was the day that name combination was born.

It seemed I’d somehow managed to persuade Rachel and then Tiria, but my tasks were far from over.

The fox sisters, Adora.

And how to navigate the marriage prospects with the women we’d shared this place with, once we were out.

What to do with Salbira, and David, not to mention Doldol?

So much to do, even after escaping.

While I wrestled with these worries, the boat steadily neared completion.

“Erich, hmm.”

The next day.

Liyo approached me, setting down her tools after another grueling shift. She sniffed at me, her nose twitching.

“What is it?”

“Can I say it now?”

“Say what?”

“You think I wouldn’t notice?”

Liyo, or rather, Miyo, licked my cheek without warning.

“You smell like women.”

I was caught.