Chapter 209: I Called You In to Solve the Problem!!

“Are you… all right?” Jerry asked instinctively as he watched Yevia walk slowly out of the cave.

Earlier, when he felt the entire cavern trembling, Jerry had wanted to rush inside to check on them, but Yarui had stepped out and stopped him.

The man claimed nothing was happening inside and there was no need to enter.

This made Jerry uneasy, but seeing Yarui standing quietly by his side waiting, he didn’t feel right about forcing his way in.

Fortunately, the Lady and her three maidens soon emerged from the cave.

“Ah… it seems there was another aftershock just now. The cave walls cracked… luckily, the statue is fine,” Ileya said with a nod.

In just two sentences, she pinned the blame for the cave’s destruction on the intermittent earthquakes that had been occurring.

“Is that so… I understand.”

Jerry didn’t harbor any suspicion regarding the matter; he simply nodded slowly.

This wasn’t a room intended for worship anyway; he would just organize a group to go in and retrieve the statue later.

Since the matter was settled, there was no need for everyone to remain there. Under Jerry’s leadership, they all returned to the Ratman Village.

Ileya’s plan was to rest for the night and set off for the Crystal Capital tomorrow.

Her immediate thought was to go check on the foolish Goddess who had stayed below.

However, her movements were halted by someone.

Looking at the Miss Younger Sister blocking her path, Ileya blinked in surprise.

“Is something wrong?” This girl had been throwing a tantrum lately, so it was truly rare for her to take the initiative to seek Ileya out.

The girl standing before her didn’t waste any words. She simply reached out and pointed toward the room where she was resting.

The meaning was clear: ‘Wait! Follow me inside!’

“Huh… what?”

Though bewildered, the Lady merely arched an eyebrow and followed the awkward Little Mute into her room.

What neither of them noticed was that across from them, Holly—who had just finished changing her clothes—saw everything! Her large eyes were filled with curiosity.

What were the Lady and Senior Reliel doing sneaking into a room together?

The Holy Sword Bearer’s eyes darted around as she considered following them to peek, but remembering the Lady’s eerie smile, Holly shrank back.

‘Right… I can do it this way!’

Whatever thought had struck her, Holly quickly ran off in a certain direction.

…

Meanwhile, Ileya stood somewhat dazed after being brought into the cave dwelling by Reliel.

Since leading her inside, this girl seemed to be struggling with something.

First, she paced back and forth in front of Ileya, looking as if she were about to speak but stopping herself.

Then, she sat down on the stone bed, staring at Ileya with blue eyes that were eighty percent similar to Mother’s.

“What is it, exactly?”

Facing Reliel, the Lady showed no impatience. She simply sat down slowly beside the girl, reached out an index finger, and poked her fair little cheek.

“I…” The Little Mute didn’t resist. She opened her mouth, but then… she said nothing at all.

However, her cheeks, her ears, and even her slender neck were turning a deep crimson at that moment.

Why was this change happening?

Ileya didn’t know, but Reliel herself was quite aware.

Her purpose in calling the Lady inside was to have her help look at the snake scale mutation appearing on her body.

But to make that tattoo manifest, she had to enter a state of combat—or rather, a state where her heart rate accelerated and her blood pumped fiercely.

Aside from a life-and-death struggle or that feeling of waking from a nightmare, the fastest way to enter such a state was to be near Ileya!

It was true. Reliel didn’t actually understand the principle behind it.

But whenever she was close enough to this Lady, she felt her heart race suddenly, as if she were facing a duel to the death.

Yet, mentally, she wasn’t calm like she would be in a fight; instead, she felt instinctively nervous.

Reliel couldn’t explain this abnormality, let alone understand it. However, hesitating was not her style.

Almost the instant the thought took hold, Reliel made a firm decision. Under the Lady’s bewildered gaze, she dove straight into her arms!

Thump.

This sudden act of clinginess from a sister who was usually as cold as an iceberg caught the Lady completely off guard.

“Uh, Reliel?” For a moment, Ileya couldn’t figure out where to put her hands.

Her mind raced. ‘Is this girl… losing her mind? Could she be infatuated with me? But… she’s my sister. Is doing this a bit too…’

Before Ileya could decide whether to take an aggressive stance to show her sister who was in charge, the girl’s next move left her stunned again.

For the Miss Younger Sister lying in the Lady’s arms was now slowly reaching her hand into the collar of her own top… and beginning to search around inside on her own!

“Huh??”

“Huh???”

Ileya’s brain stalled again. She began to suspect that her sister had been poisoned.

The Lady tried to speak several times, but seeing Reliel’s brow furrow slightly, she asked in a low, gentle tone, “Are you… uncomfortable?”

“Mm… it is indeed very uncomfortable.” Right now, Reliel wasn’t getting that feeling of boiling blood like she did in battle.

She had just checked, and the snake scale tattoo hadn’t appeared.

Now, for some reason, she felt hot all over. Her thighs rubbed together instinctively, and even her consciousness was becoming strangely blurred.

Why was this? Was this also a strange influence brought about by the snake scale tattoo?

After all, when she was with the Mercenary Company, she had never felt this way.

“Should I…” Looking at the girl in her arms with a flushed face and glazed eyes, the Lady didn’t know what was happening, but she still asked, “Should I help you?”

‘Help me? Help with what…?’

‘Oh, right… didn’t I call this person in precisely to… have her help me?’

“Mm…” Reliel nodded instinctively, her voice becoming incredibly soft for some reason.

“Ahem. Well then… I’m starting.”

Ileya felt a bit helpless. She was the one holding the other, yet she felt like she was the one in the passive position.

With that thought, her cool, fair hand slowly invaded the space over Reliel’s flat, soft lower abdomen.

‘Wait?’

The sudden development made the younger sister tremble. Why… why was she…

Before she could think it through, that hand continued upward.

It circled her navel, brushed over her slightly quivering abdominal muscles, and finally—under Reliel’s shocked and dazed gaze—gently took hold of a bewildered little white rabbit on the plains.

The little white rabbit trembled instinctively. But that gentle hand offered soft comfort, occasionally rubbing the little rabbit’s pink nose.