Sausage Pot-au-Feu wasn't exactly high-end, Michelin-star dining, but in the context of a fantasy survival setting, it was the absolute pinnacle of comfort food. Served piping hot in the safety of his modern penthouse, it provided the perfect atmosphere for Suzuki and Yue to finally sit down and exchange their resumes.
Suzuki couldn't help but feel a sudden, slightly inappropriate spike in his heart rate as he watched Yue eat. She picked up a particularly thick, juicy sausage with her fork. Finding it too hot, she blew on it softly, her small pink tongue darting out to delicately lick a drop of savory broth from the casing before she took a highly suggestive, eager bite. Her eyes sparkled with sheer culinary bliss.
Well, Suzuki thought, casually averting his eyes to hide his reaction, she definitely wasn't lying about being able to handle human food.
In the original timeline, there was a very specific reason Yue had strictly maintained a blood-only diet: Nagumo's cooking was an absolute biohazard. Nagumo possessed the Iron Stomach skill, meaning he could choke down rotting, radioactive monster carcasses and convert them into raw stats. To him, food was just fuel.
But Yue was a refined princess. She would rather have starved to death than put toxic, grotesque mutant meat into her mouth. Yet here, presented with a warm, perfectly seasoned meal crafted from premium [Online Shopping] ingredients, her appetite was completely ravenous.
With the tension melting away in the steam of the savory broth, the two began to trade the stories of their origins.
Naturally, Yue went first. After three hundred years of total isolation, the dam holding back her emotions had finally broken. She had a desperate need to share her life with the only man who mattered to her.
But talking about the past inevitably brought up the darkness. It forced her to confront the agonizing memory of her uncle—the family member she had trusted most, who had stabbed her in the back.
Setting her spoon down, Yue stared blankly at her reflection in the clear soup.
"My uncle..." Her voice trembled, shrinking into a quiet, fragile whisper. "He told everyone I was a monster. He said my magical capacity was an apocalyptic threat to the world. He convinced the royal guard, the politicians, and our entire family to turn on me. He sealed me in that dark abyss..." She looked up at Suzuki, her crimson eyes pooling with tears. "Do you think he was right to fear me?"
In a standard light novel, this would be the exact moment the hot-blooded Hero slammed his fists on the table, passionately declaring that her uncle was pure evil and that she was a wonderful, flawless angel.
But Suzuki was a Merchant. Taking a calm sip of his soup, he offered her a brutally analysis instead.
"Your uncle isn't evil. He is just a massively incompetent middle manager."
Yue blinked, a tear halting halfway down her cheek. "...Huh?"
"He was jealous because your natural talent vastly outscaled his," Suzuki explained casually, setting his spoon down. "Instead of properly utilizing your overwhelming power as a prime asset to increase the Kingdom's geopolitical value, he panicked. He sealed you away purely to protect his fragile ego. Locking his best asset in a basement for three centuries because he couldn't figure out how to manage you? As a leader, he's an absolute failure. You shouldn't care about the opinions of a failure."
"A... failure..."
Yue's eyes widened. For three hundred years, she had agonized in the dark, wondering if she truly was a cursed monster. Hearing her world-shattering, tragic betrayal clinically reduced to "incompetent management" was so absurdly grounded that it instantly shattered the heavy chains around her heart.
Unlike Nagumo, who would have bonded with her through shared, violent trauma and a mutual desire for edgy revenge, Suzuki possessed zero trauma. His mental state was rock solid. And because of that, their dynamic was infinitely healthier.
A small, genuine, incredibly beautiful smile finally graced her lips. "What about you? How did you end up falling down here?"
"Because I wanted to," Suzuki replied plainly.
"...." Yue stared at him, completely dumbfounded.
Suzuki casually recounted his journey—from being forcibly summoned to this ridiculous fantasy world, to managing the agonizing logistics of his naive classmates, right up to the moment he willingly swan-dived into hell.
"So... you jumped into the deadliest abyss in the world... just because you wanted to?" Yue asked, struggling to process the information.
"Essentially, yes. The Party was a highly toxic workplace. I needed a solo project."
Yue let out a soft, musical giggle. She was absolutely certain that Suzuki's "classmates" must have been a spectacular headache if diving into a monster-infested abyss was the preferable option. But despite the absurdity, she was overwhelmingly grateful for their incompetence. If they hadn't pushed him, he never would have found her.
"But... you're a Merchant?" she asked, tilting her head adorably.
"A very well-optimized one, yes."
"....."
"Anyway, enough about my story," Suzuki smoothly redirected. "Tell me more about the geopolitical landscape of this world. I don't trust the Kingdom and the Church that kidnapped me."
"Okay..."
Yue nodded, shifting into lore mode. She explained the hidden history of Tortus—the Mavericks, the Liberators who built the Great Labyrinths to hide from the Gods, and ultimately, Ehit, the malicious, bored deity who ruled over the world like a twisted game master.
Exactly like the original plot, Suzuki noted mentally. Everything was proceeding according to the established canon. The only major deviation was that the heroines were actively throwing themselves at him instead of the edgelord.
"So..." Yue started, her voice suddenly growing incredibly small and timid.
"So?"
"What are you going to do now?"
"Well, first off, I couldn't care less about fighting the demon army. I am not a Hero, and I don't work for free."
"I don't mind. I don't care about the demons either..." Yue hesitated, her small hands gripping the fabric of her skirt. She tried desperately to mask her emotions, but the creeping sadness in her voice was painfully obvious. "D-Do you... want to go back to your old world?"
"Of course I do."
"....."
"Why do you sound so surprised?" Suzuki asked, raising an eyebrow.
Yue instantly curled into a tight ball in her chair, pulling her knees up to her chest. It was a heartbreaking, instinctual defense mechanism she used to protect her fragile heart. After all, she had absolutely no one in this world. But Suzuki had an entire life, and someone specific, waiting for him on the surface. She knew he would inevitably return to her.
"Your... your girlfriend on the surface..." Yue whispered, refusing to meet his eyes. "Is she wonderful?"
"That's a complicated question," Suzuki mused, leaning back in his chair.
"....."
"She is too rigid sometimes. She constantly forces herself to carry the burdens of everyone around her, and she is terribly dishonest with her own feelings," Suzuki listed off, thinking of Shizuku's stubborn Iron Lady persona. For a high school boy, Shizuku was an intimidating choice—often treated like a handsome knight rather than a feminine maiden.
"But then again," Suzuki smiled softly, "I love her."
"....."
Yue squeezed her eyes shut, her heart cracking slightly at the raw affection in his voice.
"However..."
"However?" Yue peeked over her knees.
"She seems surprisingly okay with me making a harem."
"....."
Yue blinked once. Then twice. She stared at him in an absolute daze, her brain completely short-circuiting as she tried to comprehend how this warm, melancholy conversation had suddenly taken a massive, lewd left turn.
"So..." Suzuki looked at Yue, his expression a mix of slight awkwardness and intense, undeniable hunger. "Are you interested in the position?"
Yue didn't answer with words.
She practically flew out of her chair, crossing the distance in a blur, and threw herself directly into his lap. She grabbed the lapels of his shirt and violently crashed her lips against his.
It was incredibly soft, wet, and desperate. A sweet, overwhelmingly lewd heat exploded between them as she opened her mouth, inviting him in. They began to nip and slide their tongues together in a deep, slick rhythm, greedily tasting each other's saliva until she was forced to pull away, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath.
Suzuki's body was burning. As she squirmed enthusiastically in his lap, the heavy, undeniable friction provoked a violent physiological response. He pressed upward against her soft thighs, and Yue's small hand boldly slipped downward, resting directly over the heavy, unmistakable heat pressing against the fabric of his trousers.
"Don't think of me as a slut," Yue whispered, her cheeks flushing a brilliant, sinful red.
"I have never, not even for a second, thought you were one," Suzuki groaned, his hands gripping her incredibly soft waist.
"Good..." Yue purred, clinging tightly to his broad shoulders. She trailed a line of wet, open-mouthed kisses up his neck, her small tongue playfully flicking against his pulse point. "You are the only one for me, Suzuki..."
Suzuki didn't need any further confirmation. He effortlessly scooped her up in his arms, carrying her into the master bedroom, and gently pushed her back onto the massive, plush mattress.
As she fell back against the pillows, her golden hair spread out like a halo. She looked up at him with an expression that was an intoxicating mix of shy innocence and desperate, hungry eagerness. Her arms opened wide, welcoming him in completely.
The penthouse door was locked, the dungeon was miles above them, and they had all the time in the world to finalize this particular, deeply satisfying contract.
"Hmn~!"
---
Yup.
By the way, if I don't update tomorrow, then I am exhausted and will sleep, but don't worry, since I will definitely return on the next day.
Anyway, please enjoy~!