Altruistic Warrior - Chapter 3

3.

The place we arrived at after traveling for three more days was, just as Jenin had said, the wealthiest village in the area. Its name was “The Sole Village.” As expected of a large village, it was bustling with activity and filled with people, but there was something even more special about this place—it had a teleportation mage.

Teleportation was an extremely rare magic skill, directly managed by the empire. Teleportation mages were dispatched to various locations and charged an exorbitant fee to cast their magic on those who wished to use it. Because of this, teleportation magic was a privilege reserved for the wealthy high-level adventurers or nobles.

“An S-rank rare curse, huh…”

The priest placed his hand on my forehead and cast a spell. A moment later, he removed his hand and spoke.

“If it were A-rank, maybe. But once it’s S-rank, magic alone can’t even confirm its existence.”

Then why did you try to confirm it with magic just now…? I had already made it clear from the beginning that I was afflicted with an S-rank curse, so this was beyond frustrating. Still, I stayed quiet and waited to hear what he would say next.

“However, assuming that you are under an S-rank curse, we can attempt a purification.”

There was no need to assume—I really was cursed with an S-rank curse. But if even magic couldn’t detect it, I supposed there was no helping it.

“The cost of purification will be around 1,000 gold.”

1,000 gold here too… It was still a staggering amount, but at least the temples seemed to have similar pricing. I had made 100 gold by selling the Grand Cuckoo’s Wing that Kelian had given me, saying he didn’t need it, but I was still far from reaching 1,000 gold.

As I was digesting this information, the priest glanced at my slightly disheartened expression and then dropped an even more shocking bombshell.

“The 1,000 gold I mentioned is the fee per purification session. You will need at least ten sessions for it to be effective, meaning you must pay a total of 10,000 gold.”

…Excuse me?

“T-Ten thousand gold?”

“Did you really think purifying a rare curse would cost any less?”

“But… the temple in the other village said it was 1,000 gold for ten purification sessions.”

“I don’t know which god that temple serves, but their purification power is nowhere near that of our Ticane Temple.”

So they were claiming their purification was far superior, hence the exorbitant price. I wanted to compare, but having never actually seen any purification process myself, I had no way to judge.

“This is no time to be worrying about costs. A rare curse must be excruciatingly painful. We can completely cure you.”

“But I don’t have that kind of money.”

“How much do you have?”

“One hundred and ten…”

“You may leave now.”

The priest lost all interest before I could even finish my sentence. Well, it made sense—if he was demanding ten thousand gold, but I barely had over a hundred, then of course he’d see me as a waste of time.

Honestly, I had known I didn’t have enough money when I sought out the largest temple in this village. I hadn’t expected much—but ten thousand gold? That was just ridiculous. I couldn’t even tell whether their purification was really that much more effective or if this priest was just a scammer…

“Leave behind 50 silver as the curse assessment fee.”

As I turned to leave, the priest nonchalantly dropped those words.

“An assessment fee? You never mentioned that before.”

I hadn’t even asked him to check my curse with magic in the first place—he had just done it on his own. Yet now he was demanding payment?

But instead of acknowledging my frustration, the priest made it seem like I was the one trying to cheat him.

“I used magic on your behalf. Of course, that costs money. Are you saying you refuse to pay?”

As the priest deliberately enunciated his words, I saw something alarming—white-armored paladins had started striding toward me.

The weapons strapped to their backs were massive spears, longer and larger than their own bodies. Even a single swing of those things looked like it could easily tear a person apart.

I hurriedly pulled out 50 silver, placed it on the table, and rushed out of the temple. Thankfully, since I paid the fee, the paladins didn’t follow me.

Scammers… Was this how they had built such a grand temple—by swindling people out of their money? If it were Seiris, he would’ve checked my curse for free, without demanding an assessment fee. Not that I’d ever ask him to do it, though.

I hadn’t come here with high expectations, but the absurd price still made me sigh.

The most important thing was this—neither the Ticane Temple, which demanded ten thousand gold, nor the Summer Village Temple, which asked for one thousand gold, had given me any guarantees. They spoke vaguely, saying they could “attempt” a purification, that it “should” be effective. No one had outright said they could definitely remove my curse.

Even if I had the money, what if I paid the full ten thousand gold and still wasn’t cured? That thought alone was terrifying.

Setting aside my frustrating experience inside, the pristine white walls of Ticane Temple were undeniably majestic. As I trudged along the path that ran alongside them, I suddenly let out an “Ah.”

At the end of the path stood someone.

Even though he was simply standing at the entrance to the shopping district, he had already captured the attention of everyone nearby.

And he, too, was looking at me.

“…Kelian?”

As I approached and called his name, he extended a hand toward me.

…Why was he holding out his hand?

I hesitated, confused by the seemingly meaningless gesture. But when I hesitantly placed my hand over his, the corners of his lips curved upward.

Ah, so this was the right answer.

But seriously, was this hero planning to be reckless in broad daylight again?

Unlike me—who had built up a slight resistance—the other people around us, who had no immunity whatsoever, were utterly entranced by even that small smile of his.

“I came to pick you up.”

“Thank you. But… why the hand?”

“Do you dislike it?”

“No.”

That seemed to be the only confirmation he needed. Without another word, he kept holding my hand firmly, and just like that, we ended up walking together, hand in hand.

Not that I really minded.

In fact, it almost felt like… we were dating.

I tried my best to suppress the unexpected flutter in my chest. Dating? Yeah, right. No way… right?

“I assume you had business at the temple?”

As we walked hand in hand, Kelian suddenly spoke.

How did he know I had been to the temple? No—of course, he knew. The only place in the direction I had come from was the temple.

“Ah, yes. I went to pray a little.”

“Are you a follower of Ticane?”

“A follower…? Not exactly. I just wanted to check it out.”

Fortunately, he didn’t seem particularly interested in the topic. With a slight nod, he let it drop without pressing further.

Our destination was a large inn in the middle of the bustling shopping district. If I were alone, there was no way I could have afforded to stay in such a place. But with the hero’s party, money was never a problem.

All of them were high-level adventurers and rich, and for some reason, none of them could stand the sight of me spending my own money. Even Dain, of all people.

Of course, I still had to save as much as possible in case I needed to visit a temple again. Not that I had much to spend in the first place…

Lost in thought, I snuck a glance at Kelian’s profile.

Compared to temples that demanded a thousand or even ten thousand gold without promising a cure, Kelian could ease my pain for days with just a single kiss.

And the funniest part? He didn’t even know he was doing it.

For a while, he had seemed down—ever since the knights sent by the lord of Three Seasons Castle showed up. But now, he finally looked a little better.

“Should I… let go now?”

Since we were almost at the inn, I wiggled my fingers and gently pulled my hand away.

Kelian let go without resistance—but he looked at me as if waiting for an explanation.

“Someone might see us. Y-you know, the others…”

“And if they do?”

“Of course, it’s…”

Not allowed… right?

Or… is it?

I had assumed it was obviously wrong, but now that Kelian, the hero himself, was acting like it was completely normal, I suddenly felt unsure.

“…If that’s what you want, then I’ll do as you wish.”

He said this while standing under the weight of countless gazes from the passing crowd.

Despite his usual blunt tone, his aura seemed just a little… dejected.

Or maybe I was just imagining it!

“…”

The inn was getting closer.

The street was crowded, and almost everyone was staring at Kelian.

Some of them probably recognized him as the hero, but most seemed to be simply mesmerized by his face.

For now, no familiar faces were in sight.

Seiris was likely at the inn.

Barkrud had mentioned going to repair his weapons, so he wouldn’t be here.

Jenin and Dain had gone to check on the information guild, though I wasn’t sure where exactly. At the very least, they weren’t around this area.

“Kelian.”

I called his name and suddenly stopped walking.

He halted as well, turning to look at me.

“Yes, Aine?”

I was about to charge forward, but then I remembered all the people around us.

Panicking, I grabbed his arm instead and dragged him toward a less crowded corner.

It was still better than standing in the middle of the street, though people’s eyes still followed us.

I thought about heading into a dark alley, but that was too creepy.

Sure, I wouldn’t be scared if Kelian was with me… but still.

Kelian looked down at me in confusion as I reached up with both hands—

—and grabbed his cheeks.

Then, without hesitation—

Smooch. Smooch.

Twice.

Not on his lips—just somewhere near them.

Why twice?

I didn’t know.

I just did it.

“…….”

Kelian looked a little startled.

It was understandable—after all, the same girl who had just insisted on letting go of his hand because the others might see had suddenly pressed her lips against him.

Or maybe he was shocked by how clumsy it was.

That possibility was… depressing.

“…Shall we go?”

I pretended nothing happened and walked ahead.

Even though I could feel him following me, I refused to look back.

“Aine.”

This time, he called me.

I was scared to hear what he had to say.

But I couldn’t just pretend I didn’t hear him.

Suppressing my embarrassment, I answered in a quiet voice.

“Yes.”

“I want to kiss you.”

“….”

I nearly choked on air.

I froze, then slowly turned to face him.

“I just did that. A moment ago.”

“This time, I want to do it. To make it fair.”

…Excuse me? Fair?

Since when was this a competition?

I was too dumbfounded to respond at first.

But I had a bigger problem.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a traitorous thought whispered—

That sounds… really nice.

I had enjoyed kissing him too much.

So much so that just hearing him say it made my heart race.

And to make things worse, even after everything that had happened at the temple—

I wasn’t thinking about my curse at all.

“But…”

The inn was right in front of us… As a fragile thread of reason held me back, he accepted it without complaint.

“Understood.”

And then, as if he was about to resume walking, I instinctively grabbed the lapel of his coat.

“I… I want to do it too.”

Just somewhere without people… He listened to my halting words to the end, then lifted my hand from his coat and pressed a light kiss to the back of it.

“Let’s go to my room.”

Fortunately, we didn’t run into any of our companions as we entered the inn. If we had, I wouldn’t have been able to follow Kelian with such flushed, hurried steps.

It wasn’t intentional, but the room he was supposed to use alone was far from the others, including mine. The moment we stepped inside and closed the door, we kissed like starved people.

“Mm… Hngh…”

It felt too good. Everywhere his tongue touched, it felt like I would melt away.

Once we started, he didn’t reproach me for clinging to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as if begging for more. Instead, as if confirming the permission I had once given him—to touch me—he called my name before slipping his hand under my blouse.

“Aine.”

“Y-Yes.”

I nodded eagerly, intoxicated by ecstasy. As I did, his lips brushed against mine in a fleeting kiss, and his hand slipped beneath my clothes from below, firmly grasping my soft breast. I barely managed to stifle the loud moan that threatened to escape.

My top rode up, exposing my bare skin. Each time his large hand squeezed, the flesh of my breast pushed out between his fingers, unabashedly revealing itself. The sensation of our wet tongues rubbing together, the kneading of my breasts, the stiff peaks of my nipples… not a single thing wasn’t stimulating. If it were possible to faint from sheer excitement, I felt as though I might do so at any moment.

If only he would kiss me forever. If only he would touch my breasts forever. My mind, soaked in arousal, shamelessly wished for more. But just as that thought took shape, he suddenly released my chest and gently laid me down on the bed.

“Ah! Ke, Kelian.”

Lying flat on my back, I looked up at him as he settled above me, caging me in. Before I knew it, his hand had slid downward, teasing my leg as it slipped beneath my skirt. His cool fingers gently grasped my plump thigh, squeezing once before letting go.

“Yes, Aine.”