The atmosphere in the room instantly shifted from illicit intimacy to something even more chaotic, like a wicked experiment no normal person could bear to watch.
Kōichi released Darkness's chin and turned toward Wiz at the foot of the bed, who looked like she was about to fade into a wisp of pale blue mist.
The former Demon King's Army General, Axel's gentlest and most useless Lich, was lying weakly on the bedding. Her half-transparent little hand clutched Kōichi's clothes, and the eyes that usually carried a soft, motherly warmth now looked hazy and helpless from extreme exhaustion.
"...K-Kōichi-san... I'm sorry... I really didn't mean to interrupt at a time like this... Sniff... I feel like my soul is evaporating like an expired potion..."
Wiz's voice sounded so faint it could have come from another dimension.
Kōichi gave a cold snort, then turned to Darkness, who was caught between shame and anticipation.
"Did you hear that, Darkness? Wiz needs life energy." Kōichi flashed an incredibly cruel smile, one that made Darkness's heart race. "As a proper team leader, I obviously can't just stand by and let her die. But as punishment for trying to seduce me earlier, you're going to sit right beside the fallen Wall of Sighs and watch carefully. Watch how I save this beautiful Lich. You're not allowed to look away, close your eyes, or cover your face with your hands. Got it?"
"!!!" Darkness let out a gasp so sharp it nearly tore her throat. She bit down hard on her lower lip, tears welling in her eyes as her whole body trembled from the shame of being publicly punished. "This... this feeling of being betrayed right in front of me... this humiliation of being treated like I'm invisible... Kōichi, you... you really are a devil! Please... please make sure I see every detail!"
With that, the severely masochistic Crusader actually widened those eyes, eyes that screamed for him to break her already, and fixed them on Kōichi's every move.
Kōichi stopped paying attention to Darkness. He turned back and grabbed Wiz's cold, almost weightless hand.
"Wiz, bear with it. Supplying this life energy might get a little... intense."
"Huh? I-intense? Uwaaah!"
At Kōichi's signal, Wiz activated something similar to Drain Touch, while Kōichi forcibly gathered the magic and life force inside his body into his fingertips, then poured it through Wiz's palm.
Because this method of transferring energy was extremely rough and unrefined, Wiz's sensitive, fragile Lich body reacted violently at once.
The moment her once-transparent skin came into contact with Kōichi's life force, a tempting flush spread over it. Her whole body jolted as if she had been shocked, and she began writhing on the bed.
"Haaah...! Mmm...! K-Kōichi-san! That thing... that warm thing... it's coming in...! It's too much... it's too much!"
Wiz let out cries that sounded nothing like someone being saved and far more like something from an unspeakable scene. She clung tightly to Kōichi's shoulders, her nails digging deep into his flesh.
Kōichi continued increasing the output with a blank expression while glancing at Darkness from the corner of his eye.
Darkness was now in an extremely dangerous state.
Watching Kōichi and Wiz exchange life force right in front of her, hearing Wiz's face-reddening gasps, and being completely ignored while forced to witness the whole thing, that loneliness and sense of taboo shattered her reason completely.
"...Haa... haa... This is so awful... so sadistic... Kōichi, you're doing that here... right in front of me... to another woman...!" Darkness's breathing grew heavy. Her silk nightgown was already soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to her body. "My body... my body feels like it's burning up too... Why won't you give me some too...? Why won't you give me some of that intense punishment too?!"
"Shut up and watch." Kōichi scolded her without looking back. "This is your punishment. You're not allowed to interfere, and you're not allowed to join in. You're going to sit there with the despair of being left out and watch until morning."
"Uwooooh!"
Darkness let out a blissful cry and collapsed limply into a corner of the bed, her unfocused eyes staring at the ceiling. She had clearly fallen into some inescapable, high-level delusion.
Meanwhile, Wiz's body finally began to regain substance.
She slumped into Kōichi's arms with her face bright red, her eyes unfocused and an inexplicable smile still lingering at the corner of her mouth. Clearly, that high-intensity life energy supply had overloaded her brain.
"...Phew. Saved her." Kōichi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling a little drained himself.
He looked down at his hands. The exhaustion from supplying magic left him somewhat unsteady.
The operation just now had looked fierce enough, but he knew better than anyone that in the world of Konosuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!, where accidents and idiots were everywhere, properly losing his virginity was probably about as difficult as making Aqua learn to save money or making Megumin give up Explosion Magic.
(...Fine. If I can't have the main course, I can at least collect the full dessert benefits, right? This is my rightful reward as team leader, life energy supplier, and babysitter for this group of problem children!)
Kōichi's gaze turned firm, filled with a certain sadistic resolve.
He reached out. Thanks to his level-up and the burst of strength from earlier, he had more than enough power to move the inn's heavy wooden beds with ease.
Creak, screeech!
With an ear-piercing scrape, Kōichi shoved the two single beds tightly together, completely erasing the gap between them that had symbolized the line of decency.
"All right. Since the wall's already collapsed, there's no point keeping the beds so far apart."
Kōichi said it as if it were perfectly justified, then plopped himself down right where the two beds met.
First, he looked to his left.
Darkness was sprawled there like a fish out of water.
Her sweat-soaked silk nightgown clung tightly to her curves. From extreme excitement and shame, her body temperature had risen to an alarming degree, and she radiated heat like she had just stepped out of a sauna, carrying a faint, girlish scent of sweat.
"...Haa... you... you pushed them together... Kōichi, you actually forced our beds together while people were watching, meaning unconscious Wiz and the idiot next door..." A spark of delusion reignited in Darkness's dazed eyes. "Is this... what they call the conduct of a harem king? Treating me like a plaything... Uwooooh!"
"Shut up, you heat source." Kōichi mercilessly pressed a hand to Darkness's forehead, feeling the scorching warmth. "You're in a dangerous state right now. Stay still."
Then Kōichi looked to his right.
Although Wiz had regained her physical form, her brain was clearly still out of commission after that intense supply session.
Because of her Lich constitution, even after recovering, her skin still held a refreshing chill, like fine cold jade.
Kōichi lay down naturally, placing himself right between them.
On his left was Darkness, burning hot like a blazing fire and constantly making strange breathy sounds. On his right was the beautiful Lich Wiz, cool as snow and giving off a faint, delicate fragrance.
That extreme contrast of ice and fire made Kōichi let out a deeply satisfied sigh.
"...K-Kōichi-san?" Wiz regained a little awareness. Feeling Kōichi's strong life force beside her, she instinctively curled into his arms like a small animal seeking warmth. Her cold cheek pressed against his chest as she murmured comfortably, "So warm... Kōichi-san's scent... feels so safe..."
"!! W-Wiz! You wicked Lich! You actually took that spot before me!" When Darkness saw this, she was so jealous she almost ground her teeth to dust. Throwing shame aside, she rolled over and clung tightly to Kōichi's arm from the left, pressing that dangerously heavy softness against him. "Kōichi! If this is punishment, you can't play favorites! I want it too... I want the humiliation of being forcibly restrained by a sadistic team leader too!"
Kōichi was now firmly sandwiched between two breathtaking beauties, one on each side. His left arm held a hot, soft body, while his right side had something cool and gentle.
(...Ah, is this heaven? I might have to pay until I'm bankrupt tomorrow, but at this moment, I feel like I've already won at life.)
Kōichi closed his eyes and savored this utterly unscientific, utterly shameless, yet utterly enjoyable sandwich state. He even maliciously rubbed against Wiz's head, then blew softly by Darkness's ear.
"Both of you, quiet down. That's an order."
Kōichi spoke in a low, unquestionable voice.
The room finally fell silent, leaving only the interwoven breathing of the three of them and Kazuma's occasional despairing wail from next door.