Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 194

Enhancement

“Noel, s-sir, for now, please calm down……”

“Does it look like I will?”

“……Just a moment. Let’s talk this out.”

“I have held back a lot while watching the things you’ve been doing with Aiden.”

“………….”

Ah, this is bad.

The moment I saw Noel’s face, that thought naturally came to mind.

Just looking at her, it felt like no matter what I said, she would let it go in one ear and out the other…….

“……N-no, that! There’s an order to these things, isn’t there!”

I twisted my body this way and that, trying to escape from Noel, who was pressing down hard on my shoulders, as I answered.

Of course, I could copy all sorts of skills and stack my specs to the brim, but with Noel in her current state, it was questionable whether even using everything I had would let me break free…….

“What order are you referring to?”

“No, I mean, things like this, before doing them, there are at least steps that should be followed—”

“Stop with that old-fashioned nonsense about premarital chastity.”

“…….”

……Is this really the same person who, until recently, was completely inexperienced with men and had low tolerance for everything like a naïve girl?

As I shuddered at the karma of having personally changed someone this much, Noel calmly continued speaking.

“If you’re talking about a marriage promise, then I have even less reason to step back.”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you already do something similar with someone else before me?”

“…….”

Oh.

Right.

Not long ago, even if it was part of a ritual, I had put a ring on Cretin’s hand and ended up doing something akin to an engagement.

On this matter, it was clear that even if I had ten mouths, I wouldn’t have anything to say in my defense.

Looking down at me as I became as silent as a mute, Noel let out a scoff and spoke again in a meaningful tone.

“But I think you brought up the matter of order quite well.”

“……Pardon?”

“There’s still something left I can do—before the others crawl up any further, I can drive in the first wedge myself.”

“…….”

Oh my.

Oh my goodness.

Before I could even gasp in shock, Noel’s creeping hand made me choke out a strained sound.

On top of that, the hand that had crept up even tore open the front of my sleepwear, making my reaction all the more intense.

I didn’t even have time to steady my breathing, so it was an unavoidable reaction…….

“Aiden.”

Before, I had described her as resembling a massive carnivorous beast.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she suited that description even more than the Mountain God taking the form of a gigantic tiger…….

“Are you ready to be devoured?”

“…….”

Ready or not.

The outcome already felt decided.

▣

Hearing the chirping of birds, Katya let out a strange sound that fell somewhere between a scream and a groan.

Normally, when people wake up in the morning, they tend to feel refreshed first.

Especially for Katya, who had recently begun to regain all her senses and found most kinds of stimulation relatively pleasant, this was even more so.

But this morning felt a bit different…….

Katya suddenly shivered, as if a chill had run through her body.

‘……Something.’

This felt ominous.

Not just ominous—catastrophically ominous.

It felt like something incredibly incomprehensible, horrifying, and transcendentally bad had happened overnight.

With her hair completely disheveled, she stepped out of her room, barely bothering to properly put on her indoor slippers, all to confirm the anxiety that sensation brought.

And soon enough, that anxiety manifested right before her eyes.

Katya abruptly stopped in her tracks when she spotted Noel coming out of Aiden’s bedroom with a bright smile.

“…….”

“…….”

Noel’s gaze, having also noticed her, lingered on Katya for a moment.

A silence on the verge of explosion drifted through the corridor…….

“…….”

“…….”

Katya carefully examined Noel’s face.

Even before regaining her senses, she had been fairly skilled at reading others’ expressions.

Despite clearly having been caught in an uncomfortable situation, Noel wore a triumphant smile that showed no sign of fading, her skin gleaming, and the gloomy, depressed demeanor she used to carry was nowhere to be found—this was the posture of a victor…….

“……Hmm.”

Katya let out a nasal breath and rose onto her tiptoes, slightly craning her neck forward.

She was trying to peek through the still slightly open door into Aiden’s bedroom, from which Noel had just emerged.

The first thing she felt was heat.

Heat—no, beyond heat, it felt like the lingering aftermath of a fierce battle, complete with residual warmth and aftereffects…….

“………….”

Just how intense had it been over a single night?

At Katya’s expression crumbling completely, Noel awkwardly scratched her head with a cough.

Even for her, showing something like this directly in front of this person was clearly a bit improper…….

“……Ah, Katya.”

As if noticing her presence, Aiden crawled out from the bedroom with a dying voice, staggering.

He wasn’t literally shriveled to the point of a cartoonish appearance, but if one had to describe something similar, there couldn’t be a more fitting sight—he looked utterly exhausted.

……There was no more decisive evidence than this.

“……Did you do it?”

“…….”

“…….”

Seeing Noel nodding with a face that looked like she had gained everything in the world, and me wearing an expression as if I had lost everything, it didn’t seem like there was any need to hear more answers.

“…………Was it good?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Katya’s face twisted even further as she heard the completely opposite answers.

And as I quietly watched her expression, I straightened my back with some tension, trying somehow to salvage the situation despite my battered body.

Anyway, even if things had improved a lot recently, the usual relationship between these people was what it was. No one knew how things might turn out…….

“……I’ll let that slide.”

“…….”

But.

The words that followed were surprisingly mild.

As I stared at Katya with a dumbfounded expression, she scratched her head irritably and looked back and forth between me and Noel.

“Honestly, she went through a lot emotionally. So if she’s taking the first spot, I can at least understand that.”

“…….”

At this point, not just me but Noel as well were staring at her with shocked expressions.

It wasn’t just simple surprise—it was almost like the emotional look of parents watching their once-immature daughter grow up into an adult…….

“And you’re going to have a rough time ahead anyway, so there’s no need to pile on more trouble here. If I fight with her, someone’s going to end up dead again, right?”

“……Pardon?”

I was grateful for the warm consideration of holding back a fight for my sake.

But somehow, her words felt like they had a hidden edge.

As I asked back in confusion, Katya smirked and immediately answered.

“The first time is always the hardest. Everyone’s been thinking about making a move, but you were so stiff like a rock that all they could do was sit on their hands. But now there’s a precedent, isn’t there?”

“…….”

“From now on, just give up on the idea of sleeping peacefully at night. Mm-hmm.”

A chill far worse than anything I’d felt in life-or-death battles slid down my spine, and Katya walked up in quick steps, dropping a single sentence into my ear.

“I’m second, right?”

“…….”

“If you let the others cut in line, I’ll burn everything.”

“…….”

……Without a doubt, it was the most chilling threat I had ever heard in my life.

▣

“……Did you do it?”

“…………Why is literally everyone in the world asking me that?”

Even Meyer said that when I met him in the Mental World, so I replied in a gloomy voice.

Katya had already practically threatened to come see me soon, so I was on edge enough as it was. Having it constantly brought up in front of me made it impossible not to answer bluntly…….

“You’re in an environment every man in the world would want, but you don’t look very happy.”

“……I feel like I’m going to die. I’m not even joking.”

Come to think of it, comparing Noel to a carnivorous beast wasn’t wrong at all.

……I thought I was actually going to get eaten. Seriously.

Even after burning my body, charging first into deadly threats, and going through all kinds of battles, the word surrender had never crossed my mind as intensely as it did last night…….

“Well, still, you’re doing great!”

Whether she understood how I felt or not, Teresa popped up again through the floor of the Mental World and said that.

Last time it was Abigail, but today it felt like she had taken over the baton instead.

“……What do you mean I’m doing great?”

“You did it with Noel! That’s the start!”

“…….”

Hearing her say something so embarrassing with such a bright, sunny smile made me dizzy.

“……Um, sorry to ask, but that ‘new technique’ you mentioned… does it require sleeping with someone—”

“Well, that’s the best way, but it’s not the only way—”

Teresa grinned as she spoke.

“What matters is fulfilling what that person wants most at that moment. What Noel wanted most right now was to find satisfaction from you, and it seems like you did that very well.”

“……Is that so?”

“Yeah. But honestly, most of the people around you probably want that from you.”

“…….”

“If you satisfy all of that, a dramatic change will happen!”

Adding that I should watch how Noel changes starting tomorrow, Teresa crossed her arms proudly as she spoke.

Well, I mean.

On the surface, it sounded plausible—fulfill what someone desires most, and they become stronger.

“……Doesn’t that basically mean I have to grind my body down?”

Fundamentally, if everyone around me wanted something similar to Noel, then—

……didn’t that mean I had to do that every night until I wore myself out?

At my question, Teresa walked up to me and placed her hand firmly on my shoulder.

Then, as if encouraging me, she clenched her fist and held it up in front of her face.

And with her usual cheerful, sun-like voice, she said:

“Just live as a stud for a few days?”

“…….”

Please. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

I wish people would consider human dignity a little.