Chapter 367: Totally Reasonable

’Hmm, so she’s Demi-human….’

It was the first time she had evaluated a hybrid I guess like the man-beasts that have the semi-human she will have demi-human along with the true name of her race.

’And now that I think about it, it’s also the first time I’ve heard her name.’

I found it curious, not to mention that only now do I remember that I haven’t even asked her name and she hasn’t given it to me either.

Although she may think I already know it, as I’ve noticed that she’s very well known, albeit in a bad way.

It seems she was promoted to the eighth rank not long ago, but the important thing was her skills. When I read them, I felt that many things made sense.

’So if it was because of her blessing… hmm, yes, with that name, it seems that is a poison god after all. Hmm… and ’Venomous Body,’ that skill…’

Her status was more than surprising. She was very specialized in poison, but leaving aside the fact that they all have high ranks, I finally found the source of her bad smell.

As I thought, it is possible that she awakened her physique and that made her acquire the venomous body skill.

As always, there is no written explanation, but somehow, as always, I can intuit what she does. Apparently, it’s as simple as making the body itself produce poison and making any part of her poisonous, and I guess her bad smell was a kind of poison.

And that was working in conjunction with her blessing, which I could also intuitively sense gave her the ability to resist my purifications and break through my defenses over time.

’But she said she felt pain… hmm, maybe her physique didn’t fully awaken, or maybe it’s because of… hmm…’

“I… I won’t do it again… I-I didn’t mean to… I-I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter now. Since it’s still early, let’s talk a bit. Tell me about this pain you’re feeling, you can be more specific”.

I wanted to see if her problem had a solution. I didn’t really have any specific reason… maybe because of the peculiarity of her case, or maybe because she looked so much like Silvia, and it bothers me to see someone like her wandering around without knowing what to do.

“…I feel… like lots of needles pricking… every part of my body… even inside…”

“Has it always been like that?”

“No… at first it just itched… and it got worse and worse… but at some point it started to hurt…”

“You said the pain started again last night, right?”

“Yes… I felt a small twinge… in my chest…”

“Hmm… I see… Come here, come closer.”

“Y-yes…”

“You really don’t put up any resistance, huh? How did you manage to survive until now?”

“I-I…”

“That was rhetorical. Anyway… let’s see, yes, your body is definitely not normal. Hmm… you have an organ that humans don’t have, and neither do snake beastmen. Tell me something: was that smell always a smell, or was it something else before?”

“…n-no…”

“Oh! Let me tell you, lying to me is not really advisable. I know when people do it. So tell me, what was it before? No, I guess it was poison, right? You started to exude poison… and you accidentally hurt someone else, and not long after, it changed to the smell, and your body started to hurt too.”

“H-how… did you…”

’From the reactions of her body and her incredulous look, I obviously got it right. ’

That should be obvious. She has no skills related to bad odours; they are all related to poison, and in fact, most poisons do not smell bad or are odourless.

Which makes it strange that, to begin with, she is exuding bad smell instead of poison…

If her skill, venomous body made everything in her venomous, including sweat and smell, then logically this was the skill responsible.

But how did she get into that state?

While it seemed that she had no control over that skill and it even caused her pain, that didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything with it.

So I took into account her personality and the fact that she even lied to me. I guess it’s something she doesn’t want to talk about, and most likely she hurt or killed someone; that made her not want it to happen again.

“Somehow, she unconsciously adjusted her skill so it no longer exuded dangerous poison, replacing it with something safer.”

There may be one or two other factors, but that was what I theorized and came up with.

’yeah! I’m like Sherlock… hmm, I need a Watson. Oh, now I have another theory too.’

“Then let me keep guessing: the reason you’re now a ball of fur is because that somehow mitigates the bad smell… at least a little, right?”

“…yes.”

“Wait! Why is that a lie? No, it’s only half a lie… don’t tell me it’s also because you like being a ball of hair.”

“…i-it makes me feel comfortable.”

“You feel comfortable like that? Wait… have you always been a ball of hair?”

“…yes.”

“Are you serious? You’re worse than her… at least she only kept the fringes and glasses…. Hmm, but then again, looking at your face, you’re like her too, covering up when it’s really more of a waste to do so, you’re really not bad at all.”

“…”

“Hmm, I guess even though the smell is gone, you don’t want to cut your hair.”

“N-no.”

“Tsk! Hmm… but with him it would be awkward, and I’ll feel like I’m doing it with some strange beast, and I don’t have those tastes… or do I? Hmm… no, I don’t. M-m… but if I tied it up… hmm… but can it even be tied it up?”

“?”

“Hey, really, don’t you want to cut it? It won’t be too much, I’ll settle for you at least looking like a person.”

“W-why?”

“Hmmm… well, you know, I was going to propose a relationship… hmm, how can I put it, carnal? Yes. Well, I’ll be blunt: I’m horny, and I want your body. But even though I’m horny, I really don’t know if I can get excited with so much hair in the way.”

“M-m-my bo-bo…”

“Yes, don’t think I didn’t notice that you’ve been looking at me since I found out about your blessing. So, well, I thought that if it makes you feel better, it would be nice if you gave me your body in return. I mean, it’s like an exchange: that way it will feel bilateral instead of unilateral, and you’ll have peace of mind.”

“…I-I…”

“Yeah, I have no problem with your distrust. It’s normal to think that way… ahem. But, between you and me, do you think what I proposed makes sense? It’s reasonable, isn’t it? I mean, later, when I explain this to my girlfriends, I don’t want to get scolded.”

“…”

It makes perfect sense in my head, but sometimes that doesn’t align with the girls, and I can get some blows or scoldings. Not to mention that I feel like it’s too convenient… but I still can’t find any flaws in my logic. It’s a win-win for everyone.

“ey!, answer me! Is it reasonable or not?”

“Y-yes, i-it is…”

“Right? I knew it wasn’t just me. Obviously, it’s very reasonable and correct.”

“…”

Yes, I knew it wasn’t just me. My exchange is completely and totally reasonable. The other person involved confirmed it too, so there was definitely nothing wrong here.

’Wait… does that mean she’s okay with it?’

“Hey, but even if you okay with it, it doesn’t change the fact that I want to do it with someone who looks human. So you’ll have to cut your hair. Down there, a few adjustments are needed too, no!, trying something so wild wouldn’t be bad at all. Rather, it’s better that way. Huehue…”

“I-I, this…”

“What’s wrong? Oh, wait, don’t tell me you don’t want to do it. Do you like your hair that much? Hmm… well, I’ll back off. If you can tie it up somehow, I don’t mind — we’ll do it in the sleeping bag like we did a moment ago… you know, come to think of it, in the dark, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s there or not.”

“I-I-I…”

“Hey, say something coherent. ’I-I-I’. I really don’t know what you’re trying to tell me.”

“I-I-I-uek!”

“Did you bite your tongue?…okay, I think I’m getting on your nerves a little bit. Come on, take a breath first, let’s calm down, inhale, exhale…”

Yeah, I think it’s kind of my fault too. Well, it doesn’t help that I’m holding her face.

I think I was too direct. She’s very tense, red… her eyes were wandering erratically, avoiding looking at me at all costs.

’Yeah, I guess she’s not very experienced in this… wait, she’s not a virgin, is she? I mean, she’s over twenty-five… nah, she’s pretty, so before she even started stinking she must have… wait, she said she was always a hairball.’

“…I don’t distrust you.”

“Huh? What are you talking about now?”

She took my advice and, after calming down, that was the first thing she said. I don’t understand what that had to do with the carnal relationship we were about to start. I mean, it’s good that she doesn’t distrust me, but…

“Ah, right… this is because she didn’t trust me. That was the main point in all this… and she’s not lying.”

“I… wasn’t looking at you for that reason.”

“/_ Ah, I see. I guess that means my proposal doesn’t make sense.”

If she wasn’t looking at me because she didn’t trust me, that meant the exchange wasn’t necessary, and it was just me overthinking it. It seems like not doing it for so long is really affecting me.

’Haaahh~ I miss girls so much.’

I feel like years have passed. Anyway, this whole conversation was pointless in the end, and starting a purely physical relationship wasn’t possible. It was really a shame, she wasn’t bad at all.

’Haaah~ I guess at this point I have to go back to my old ways… Today it’s your turn, Palmela Handerson. After so long.”

“Um… I’m sorry.”

“Yes, you really don’t need to apologize. Anyway, we’ll have breakfast soon… but before that, going back to your pain, tell me something: besides breathing, do you practice anything else?”

“…Yes, I’m an alchemist.”

“Oh, just to confirm, that’s also a breathing technique, right?”

“Yes.”

“I see. That means you’ve never trained your body in any way… other than, perhaps, some classes at your academy, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“I see. You seem to have a decent talent for magic, and I guess, noticing your affinity, the instructors encouraged you to become a mage, right? Even an alchemist, and you followed them.”

“Y-yes.”

“Well, I think I know how to fix your pain problem before it comes back.”

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