Tamed Monster - Chapter 71

“Keeek—!”

The fifth monster they encountered screamed in agony and died after being pierced by the dagger Lancart had thrown.

Sylvia had only watched her husband’s bent back, yet she also observed over her shoulder as he mounted the monster, subdued it, and drove the dagger into its abdomen, causing blood to gush.

Once he dismounted, the monster’s eyes slowly closed, tongue hanging out, bleeding heavily.

“Troublesome, handling them one by one like this.”

Earlier, he had flinched as she handed him the dagger, wary of cutting himself. Now, however, he swung his weapon freely without hesitation.

Her husband was unexpectedly multifaceted—sometimes a wild lunatic, sometimes a disciplined knight. Astonishingly, he seemed like someone she could rely on.

“Uh… can I come out now?”

Sylvia asked for permission, huddled silently in the moss-covered twin rocks. Kuinan had hidden her behind nearby terrain every time the smaller monsters approached, fearing they might mistake her for his wife and attack her as prey.

“Yeah. Come out.”

With arms wide, he beckoned her into his embrace. As he was bloodied and drenched in sweat, Sylvia hesitated for hygiene reasons but obeyed to increase her chances of survival. As she awkwardly wrapped her arms around his waist, he held her tightly, as if he might crush her.

“Ugh…!”

“Ah, such a sweet scent. How is it that you always smell like this?”

Despite having hugged him countless times over the past few days, she had never smelled anything sweet—only the usual musk. Yet, each time he held her, he murmured in pleasure, grinding against her abdomen near her navel with his rigid, weighty member.

‘How is he aroused in a situation like this?’

Monsters usually only got excited after committing a murder or impregnating a female. They particularly enjoyed harming other life forms. Though he only pretended to kill the monsters and hadn’t actually ended any lives, he had committed acts tantamount to evil, and so his desire fueled.

“What exactly does it smell like?”

Only after he relaxed his grip could she breathe properly. She gasped a few times, then coughed and asked, and he answered as if he’d been waiting for the question.

“It smells like an olivi fruit. They used to grow plentifully in this swamp.”

The fruit was now extinct. He thought he’d last eaten one around two hundred years ago. Every time he touched her, he wondered at the pleasant scent, realizing it resembled that of the fruit. Sylvia was bewildered by his unexpected answer.

“Fruits grow here?”

“They did, a long time ago. Ages ago.”

Lancart first came on a swamp expedition over ten years ago, yet the way he spoke implied a century or two past.

Sylvia stared at his calm expression as he added casually:

“About ten years back, I’d say.”

Escaping a crisis with that clever lie, he suggested they rest briefly.

The corpse of the monster he had stabbed and killed lay just a few steps ahead, yet her husband sat casually.

Sylvia tugged him to a place where the body was out of sight. Glancing back at the corpse, she flinched at its twitching and froze in place.

“….”

“What is it?”

She looked at her husband, then back at the monster. Surely, it had twitched in reflex during muscle stiffening, but now lay still.

Convinced she had seen nothing, Sylvia deliberately averted her gaze.

“Nothing.”

“Hmm… really? If you see something alarming, tell me.”

Lately, what astonished her most was her husband himself. Even amidst the swamp filled with monstrous creatures, that truth hadn’t changed.

The strangest, most unpredictable being in the world was her still husband. The twitch she’d seen was likely just a post-mortem reflex of the monster’s stiffening muscles.

“Yes.”

Sylvia answered calmly, brushing the goosebumps from her neck. No matter how much she rationalized it as a trick of the eye, her body knew the truth.

She was slowly realizing the reality. Her always suspicious husband was now even more cunning and mischievous in the swamp than in the castle.

He displayed constantly suspicious behavior, almost as if daring her to notice. Sylvia kept watch over both the swamp and her husband.