How to Save a Time-Limited Heroine - Ch. 49
Hornlake was a lake spirit that originated from the ring finger of the king.
It was said to be a direct descendant of the spirit king.
True to such a name, it wielded powers that were not granted to other spirits.
Even its current reaction was due to one of Hornlake’s abilities.
‘This… rotten stench…!’
Hornlake could see the history of a soul.
It could smell the emotions that life harbored and hear the songs of their souls.
Though it was said that spirits were beings that love purity and cleanliness, Hornlake, which was particularly sensitive to such matters, could not endure the stench emanating from Agnes.
‘This, this is the magic flower?’
Hornlake looked at Agnes with a shocked expression.
To its eyes, Agnes appeared as a dark, murky mass, her scent that of decaying corpses, and the song of her soul sounded like a haunting wail.
Moreover, there wasn’t a trace of purity to be found.
It was horrifying.
“What did you say?”
[Eek!]
Yet, even amid all this, a treacherous feeling arose.
‘It… it’s sweet….’
Everything about her was corrupt.
Her very existence was a lump of corruption.
Yet, despite that, Hornlake felt a sweet temptation from her.
The Magic Flower Actrias.
That was likely the reason.
Agnes descended from Deltain, raising the corners of her mouth into a smile as she stepped closer.
Hornlake recoiled in alarm, stepping back.
It shouted.
[No, don’t come closer, you monster!]
Swish!
It swung its hand, but nothing else happened.
Only a few snowflakes that had fallen from its arm scattered in the air.
Hornlake wore a troubled expression.
‘I can’t do it!’
It couldn’t bring itself to harm Agnes.
Just the thought of doing so brought an unbearable sorrow that seemed to shatter its very soul.
It was such an intense feeling.
A sweet, rotten scent.
What a paradoxical concept!
Hornlake’s body trembled.
In the meantime, Agnes drew closer and suddenly grabbed Hornlake’s wrist with a ‘clack!’
In that moment.
Zing!
[Eeeeek…!]
Hornlake’s eyes rolled back.
Its body arched like a bow.
Immediately after, snowflakes began to fall from its dress made of frost.
‘I-I didn’t know…!’
It had never known such pleasure.
Throughout its long, long life, it had never imagined such pleasure existed.
It was just a fake body made of packed snow, yet being grabbed like this made its mind go blank. It seemed impossible, but it was really happening, driving it to madness.
[Ngh…!]
Agnes flinched.
Its expression twisted into a strange shape.
If it could be described, it was one of discomfort.
“…”
Agnes released Hornlake’s hand and took a step back.
It was a reflexive action.
As she withdrew to where Deltain stood, Hornlake felt an indescribable emptiness.
With the pleasure that had enveloped it vanishing, a question emerged without any thought.
[W-why?]
“What?”
[Why? Why did you stop…?]
Before it had realized, Hornlake was on all fours.
It didn’t even recognize that it was begging before an <impure> being.
[You, you made me so desperate…!]
Thud!
Hornlake crawled forward one step.
[You made me feel this strange way…!]
Splat!
As it extended one arm forward, it melted away.
[For making me experience something like this!!!]
At that moment, Deltain snapped his fingers with a blank expression.
<Activate 1st Tier Magic: Ignite.>
Whoosh!
[Aaaaah!!!]
Hornlake’s body melted away.
At the sight, Orga and the chieftain looked bewildered.
“W-why is the spirit behaving like this?”
The chieftain asked, and Deltain replied.
“I don’t know, how should I?”
Though he wasn’t entirely clueless, the thought that came to mind was simple.
‘Isn’t it completely insane?’
More than the nature of her sensitivity, it seemed that the spirit’s mental state was deeply unstable.
*
Setting aside the dizziness, the situation just before was something worth pondering over.
From the confirmation that Agnes’ sensitivity stemmed from the magic flower to the fact that a direct descendant of the spirit king had a clear sense of self, unlike other spirits.
And that even if you harmed a spirit’s manifested body, it wouldn’t disappear.
… no, there was something more important than that.
<Main Quest: The Eternal Winter Day is now unlocked.>
<Main Quest: Linked to Quest Memories of First Love.>
<Main Quest: The Eternal Winter Day.>
-
- Successfully make a contract with the winter spirit, Hornlake, alongside Agnes Levadine. (Incomplete)
-
- Summon the Spirit King. (Incomplete)
-
- Prove yourself. (Incomplete)
<Complete all tasks.>
<Main Quest: Memories of First Love.>
-
- Meet Agnes Levadine. (Complete)
-
- Complete the main quest: The Eternal Winter Day. (Incomplete)
-
- ??? (Incomplete)
-
- Sleep with Agnes Levadine. (Complete)
-
- ??? (Incomplete)
-
- ??? (Incomplete)
<Complete all tasks.>
‘… the order.’
The second quest of <Memories of First Love>, which had been locked up until now, had been unlocked.
In a way that Deltain could never have imagined.
‘Why is this a linked quest?’
Deltain wiped his eyes with his hand.
A headache naturally followed.
He hadn’t considered the possibility that each part of the main quest would be linked.
All the quests he had encountered so far had been standalone and complete on their own.
Looking back, it seemed it wasn’t so simple.
Among the six items of <Memories of First Love>, hadn’t all the ones revealed so far been focused entirely on Agnes Levadine?
It was obvious that the quest was about Agnes’ love.
But then, why did a spirit suddenly appear and take center stage?
‘… this is troublesome. This quest had a specific order.’
At this rate, the quest might end in failure.
After all, forming a contract with a spirit was inherently difficult.
As mentioned before, spirits were creatures that were very sensitive about purity and chastity when it came to contracts.
Of course, the criteria for purity and chastity varied between spirits, but in this situation, those <different criteria> were becoming a problem.
The spirit called Hornlake had immediately remarked upon seeing Agnes, calling her <impure>.
This meant that Hornlake placed a great emphasis on physical purity when it came to its standards of innocence.
In other words, the task of sleeping with Agnes, which was item number 4, should have been completed after forming a contract with the spirit.
‘What should I do…?’
How should they overcome this predicament?
Deltain thought as he looked again at Hornlake, which had composed itself.
After a fiery outburst, it seemed like it had regained some rationality.
[Ahem, ahem… I lost my composure for a moment there.]
It cleared its throat as if nothing had happened, looking rather insincere.
Deltain narrowed his brows and asked.
‘Let’s address what’s within our control for now.’
“Fine, but I have a question first.”
[Yes?]
“I heard you were waiting for me.”
[Ah, that?]
Hornlake laughed.
[Yes, I was. My father wants to meet you.]
“The Spirit King.”
[Yes, that’s right.]
Deltain continued to ask.
“Why?”
[Well, I don’t really know the reason myself….]
“Can you summon him?”
Hornlake flinched.
Its gaze darted nervously toward Agnes.
[… uhm, it’s difficult.]
It even took a step back.
[Uhh… I need to form a contract to summon my father. But….]
It didn’t need to finish the sentence for him to understand.
It didn’t want to form a contract with someone impure.
That was what it meant.
Deltain frowned deeply.
“For someone saying that you seemed pretty happy when this woman got close….”
[That’s not true!!!]
Boom!
The snowy mountain rumbled.
The sound startled both Orga and the chieftain.
Hornlake trembled as it continued speaking.
[Th-th-that’s not it! It’s just that she’s so impure it makes me shudder! I really can’t stand impurity! I absolutely! Will never!! Form a contract with!!! Someone impure!!!]
It was a rather intense declaration.
Hornlake’s snowflake-like eyelids quivered so much that all the snowflakes fell from them.
It was grotesque.
Deltain glanced at Agnes.
She looked at Hornlake with a curious expression that was hard to read.
“That’s what it says.”
“Hmm….”
A faint smile appeared on Agnes’ lips.
Deltain found himself curious about her thoughts, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
Just then, Agnes spoke.
“Deltain.”
“Yeah?”
“I need to form a contract, right?”
“… yes. To summon the Spirit King.”
“How about you head down there for a bit? Take Orga and the chieftain with you.”
Deltain tilted his head.
Then Agnes chuckled softly and approached him.
“Do you know?”
“… what?”
“A strong denial is a strong affirmation.”
Her voice was tinged with laughter, but it carried a chilling undertone.
Deltain suddenly felt a shiver run through him.
“… can you handle it?”
“Wait and see.”
Deltain realized that he had never heard this tone from her before.
“It won’t take long.”
Maybe this was her anger.
Deltain couldn’t help but think that.
*
Hornlake watched the three people leaving and glanced at Agnes, swallowing dryly.
For some reason, it felt uneasy.
[W-w-w-what are you doing!]
Rustle, rustle.
As it quickly took a step back, snowflakes fell with every movement.
Its expression was filled with blatant wariness.
‘I-I don’t want this…!’
Hornlake vividly remembered its earlier disgraceful behavior.
To think it had knelt before someone impure and begged to be touched!
This was a disgrace and a mistake that the spirit of the frozen lake, Hornlake, would never repeat.
But that was the end of it.
Hornlake resolved never to make the same mistake again.
No matter how sweet her scent might be!
Even if the contact with her brought overwhelming pleasure that made its mind go blank!
Even if just recalling it made its body shudder!
Even if it weakened its resolve!
[I-I won’t succumb!]
Hornlake clenched its fists tightly as it declared this.
Agnes smiled.
“Really?”
Step.
As Agnes took a step forward, Hornlake’s pupils quivered as if shaken by an earthquake.
“Are you sure?”
Step.
With another step, Hornlake gasped and held its breath, covering its nose.
But even then, the intensifying scent did not fade away.
After all, though it had a human-like form, none of the biological functions of humans were present.
What it perceived as scent was really the resonance of the soul.
[D-don’t come any closer….]
“Then try running away.”
Step.
Agnes took another step forward.
The scent grew stronger.
Though it knew it should back away, Hornlake found itself unable to move.
‘Th-this is….’
Its body trembled.
The pleasure from being close to her began to surge again.
Its thoughts of escaping gradually faded.
Instead, they were replaced by the idea that if it just stayed still, it could feel that pleasure once more.
The distance between them grew smaller.
The scent became even more overpowering.
As Hornlake stood there, trembling and unable to act.
“Why aren’t you running away?”
Agnes finally reached it.
Thud!
She grabbed Hornlake on the shoulders.
[Urghhhh!!!]
Hornlake’s back arched like a bow.
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