Tamed Monster - Chapter 77

He’d said that if she just rested, her body would recover in two days.

But even after that much time had passed, he was still on top of her. Sylvia blinked open hazy eyes, trying to make out her surroundings through a fog. Large, looming shadows drifted nearby, but she couldn’t tell if they were furniture or living creatures. She called her husband’s name.

“Lanca…rt.”

Huff—

“…You pervert. Bastard.”

She managed a weak curse in a small voice. She didn’t think he’d hear—he never replied even when she called his name—but then, suddenly, a shadow fell over her. He straightened his back, still buried between her legs, and answered as he looked down.

“Did you call me?”

She felt completely drained, and yet overflowing with energy at the same time.

Sylvia’s mind was torn between extremes. She could have pushed him away, but she didn’t really want to. Her mind felt exhausted, but her body was restless. Sylvia wondered at the strange state she was in and parted her lips slightly.

“Where’s the dagger?”

It had only been two days since they’d found themselves in this constant state of tension, never knowing when they might be attacked. In all that time, she hadn’t worn armor, hadn’t picked up a weapon.

She asked where the dagger—last seen flung somewhere by him in its sheath—had gone. He just shrugged. Clearly, he couldn’t care less.

“…”

Shlk—

She’d lost all feeling inside long ago.

And yet, she could still feel her belly swelling, and that cold shudder as her insides were exposed to the air when he pulled out—just enough to send a chill up her spine.

Her head couldn’t process the sensations, but her body knew: this was the kind of crisis she shouldn’t be in. All the monster’s venom her husband had absorbed seemed to concentrate there.

She’d never actually seen it, but over the last two days, Sylvia had come to know its shape by touch.

If she had to describe it—it was as thick and long as a boy’s forearm.

But it was much harder than any boy’s arm, and the surface was rough, almost like it had barbs. The intense sensation made her wonder if it wasn’t covered in spikes.

When they first started this—two days ago—she’d actually passed out from the pain, for the first time in ages.

Or was it her first time ever?

She thought it was two days ago that she’d completely blacked out. Before that, she would come to every half hour or so and look around, but yesterday and today, she’d just slept deeply, as if dead.

The only ‘benefit’ was that being unconscious spared her some mental trauma, but it was hardly a comfort.

“Hey.”

“…Yeah?”

“Move… Before I seriously hit you.”

It was the first time she’d called her husband ‘hey’. She expected a scary reaction, but just as when she’d cursed earlier, he only gave her a gentle look. Sylvia, now lying flat on her back and staring at the sky, shuddered the moment he pulled out.

Schlp, schlck.

Her opening spasmed and made obscene noises, echoing in the quiet around them. Sylvia had to use both hands to draw her legs together, as they refused to close on their own.

“Hm. Guess we got lucky—the monsters haven’t found us.”

Her husband, glancing at her awkwardly, said that as if checking her reaction. Sylvia, meanwhile, had finally found her dagger and clutched it tightly. She quickly gathered her mud-stained clothes and put them on.

“Let’s go.”

Just as she felt, her body was mostly recovered. The emotional scars would heal with time.

She’d left on this journey to defeat the boss monster, yet somehow found herself in these unspeakably humiliating situations. What happened in the swamp was something she would never be able to tell—even the Emperor—so long as she lived.

“Ah, Wife, I should feed you.”

The huge man said, getting up and looking down at her. He was inspecting her energy, the demonic energy that only monsters could sense. Even monsters couldn’t live without meat, so she, still a human, must need food even more. He had fed her a few times while she was unconscious, but clearly not enough.

“I’m fine. I’m not hungry.”

As expected, after nearly two days without food, Sylvia still didn’t seem to feel any hunger.