Chapter 5 - Coming on Strong
I flinched at the Holy Maiden's enchanting smile, but I still asked a question.
"...How old are you? In this country, a woman can't get married until she's at least sixteen."
"Oh, that's perfect. I turned sixteen last month. There are no obstacles at all!"
"There are! T-That's right, even if you're sixteen, if you're a minor, you need your guardian's permission! You don't have parents in this world. Therefore, you can't get anyone's permission!"
I'm sure this logic would be full of holes to someone who actually knew the law, but at this point, anything would do.
It wouldn't matter if she said she'd be a common-law wife.
In the first place, the marriage system wouldn't apply to someone from another world who had no family register or ID here.
Even so, I shouted "Checkmate!" while being pinned down.
Angelica thought for a moment with an "Hmm," and then—
"Then Hero-sama can just become my guardian," she said simply.
"Guardian...? Me? You're telling me to become your father?"
"Yes! I've never even seen my father's face, so I've always admired the idea a little. In the temple, there were many wet nurses and foster mothers, but no foster fathers."
"...Alright, fine. Fine, fine. Then from today, you and I are parent and child. Got it?"
"Yes!"
"Then get off me."
"Eh?"
I pushed Angelica aside and stood up.
"A foster father and daughter don't do things like this. Understand?"
"I don't understand. Why don't you just use your authority as a guardian to permit the marriage with me and make me your wife?"
"W-What kind of demonic father would do that!"
"Is it bad for a papa and daughter to get married? If we aren't blood-related, isn't it fine?"
It's not fine, I thought, shaking my head.
"I want to have Daddy's baby."
"What a thing to say!"
She was supposed to have been raised in a space with only priestesses, so why did such intense phrases keep popping out of her mouth?
...Come to think of it, I felt like guys from all-boys schools often spat out broken, dirty jokes.
When you spend many years in an environment without the eyes of the opposite sex, things like shame, restraint, and morality might gradually melt away.
Was it the same for a temple full of women?
As I looked at her with fear in my eyes, Angelica sat down, hugging her knees.
She pouted with a dissatisfied look on her face.
"Besides... I like you, Hero-sama."
That's a lie, I dismissed it.
"How can there be love at first sight?"
I waited to see what kind of rebuttal would come, but surprisingly, she didn't say anything back.
Angelica simply fell silent with a sad expression.
What was with that hurt reaction?
...Was she serious?
Had I perhaps made a terrible mistake?
As I broke into a cold sweat, Angelica muttered softly.
"It was voluntary."
She said it while rocking back and forth like a rocking chair in her curled-up position.
"It was last month. They asked if there were any among the Holy Maidens who would be willing to marry the Hero-sama. Six of us volunteered. They screened us further and decided to send the most beautiful girl."
That was me, Angelica said. Her rocking stopped abruptly.
"You decided to come here of your own accord? Why...?"
"Hero-sama is a hero. You defeated the Demon Lord for us, didn't you?"
"Does that mean you were attracted to my strength?"
"There's that, too, but..."
I thought I had to save you.
That's what Angelica said.
"Because that's just so pitiful. You sacrificed your most precious thing and saved the world like that. And yet, you were sent back to your hometown without receiving anything."
"I see. Sympathy, then."
"Geez! You always take things in the worst way!"
Puffing out her cheeks, Angelica edged closer.
In a so-called female leopard pose, her pure white cleavage was visible from her collar.
"Hero-sama and I are the same."
"The same?"
"Natural disasters, diseases... people are afraid of those things, fearing them as curses, so they offer infants to God. They say, 'This girl will never be allowed near a man, she will die with a pure body, so do as you wish with her after death.' That's what a Holy Maiden is—someone used to curry favor with God."
The girl's small hand touched mine.
"The Hero offers his strength, and we offer our chastity for the sake of the people. We are sacrifices who consume our own lives for someone else's sake. What difference is there?"
—I am happy. To think that I would be chosen as the sacrifice. I was indeed your most beloved woman.
At the word sacrifice, Elsa's words were resurrected.
I was the offering. The Hero was the sacrifice for the masses.
Even if that was an unavoidable way of life.
But—
"Let's take back the lives that everyone used up, together with me."
Angelica's finger stroked my cheek.
"Let's both feel good and get our revenge. ...Right? Let's become happier than those people and take back our true selves."
"Our true... selves..."
"...I was actually quite scared to meet you, Hero-sama. I didn't even know what you looked like. But... it's okay. You have a cuter face than I expected... Hero-sama, you have such lonely eyes. You still can't forget Elsa-san, can you?"
Because you parted in such a way.
As she spoke, the girl pressed her soft lips against mine.
They were soft and moist, a sensation sufficient to ignite carnal desire.
But it had the opposite effect.
Bringing up Elsa's name in front of me was a huge mistake.
I felt my emotions rapidly cooling down.
The only woman I ever loved. The woman I killed.
That isn't you.
I gently grabbed Angelica's shoulders and pulled her away.
"Let's stop."