The home of the Iron-Blooded Knight, Uris.
True to her reputation, her house and room were austere, functional, and devoid of any softness. Her study was filled with treatises on tactics and swordsmanship; her bedroom was lined with the uniforms she wore daily and various suits of armor standing like silent sentinels. In keeping with her philosophy that one must maintain discipline even in private, her favorite blade hung prominently on the wall.
There wasn't a single luxury to be found in the hallways. The Beletaon family had been knights for generations, and their creed was simple: "A knight's wealth is for maintaining the troops. Cherish your gold and spend it on steel, not silk." Uris lived by this. Her room was so plain it was hard to believe it belonged to a noble lady.
But in that room, which should have been silent for meditation...
"Haah... haah..."
A damp, breathless moan was echoing through the air.
"Yes... right there! Hngh!"
Uris, with her uniform pulled open, was teasing her own nipples with her fingers, her hips bucking in a light climax. She pinched and rolled her areolas, squeezing her breasts tight. Every time the sensation spiked, her waist shuddered.
It feels so good.
In this room, where no one could watch, she finally let her lust boil over. Normally, her self-pleasure was a quiet, controlled affair. Today, it was violent. No matter how hard she rubbed her chest, it wasn't enough. She craved the lips of the man who had sucked her breasts in the illusion. The hot tongue, the thick fingers...
'It felt so much better when he did it.'
Dazed, she looked down, trying to reach her own nipple with her mouth. But her breasts weren't large enough; she could only press her lips against the upper curve.
"I can't reach..."
The lack of another person was the problem.
"Haah... I want... I want to be taken more."
In the illusion, I'm not the "real" Uris, so it's okay.
She looked at herself in the mirror. A naked woman lying on a bed, legs spread wide, exposing her most private flower—a pale pink blossom tucked between her thighs, hairless and tightly shut like a clam. She stared at the part of her no one had ever touched.
Wait. One person had touched it. The bandit.
'No, that was an illusion. It doesn't count. No-count.'
Besides, the bandit hadn't even looked at it directly. He had just ground his hot shaft against her.
'A shaft...'
Searching for something similar, Uris's hand reached for the hilt of her sword hanging on the wall. It was perfect. The hilt had a textured, pebbled grip for traction. She felt a strange sense of sacrilege using a holy weapon of war for such a lewd purpose, but...
'As long as I don't put it inside, it's fine, right?'
She pressed the sword hilt between her thighs and began to slide it back and forth. The rough texture of the grip scraped against her sensitive heat.
"Ah... yes... oh gods..."
When she closed her eyes, she could hear the bandit's voice. It felt as though he were right there, pinning her down.
- "Move your hips yourself."
- "What a sight. A noble lady begging a bandit for more."
- "I'll let you go today, but come back. Or I'll sell you to a slaver."
The hallucinations of his voice made her tremble with a mix of humiliation and arousal. She found herself answering the phantom.
- "Who am I?"
"A bandit..." she whispered.
In her mind, he laughed mockingly.
- "Sluts are so dim-witted. I'll ask again. Who am I?"
She knew what answer he wanted. But if she said it—if she let that word cross her lips—she felt she might never be able to come back to her old self. But drowned in pleasure, her reason finally snapped.
"Master..."
She let out the word the imaginary bandit demanded.
- "Good girl."
He "patted" her head in her mind. It was the first time she had been praised by him.
"Ah, yes... I'm... I'm going! Hnnnnngh!!!"
Her hips moved frantically against the sword hilt. She pictured the bandit's face—rough, vulgar, and filled with that pungent pheromone scent. And then, she realized... that scent was the same one she smelled on the mage at the Theater of Illusions. The smell from the bandit was the same as the smell from the mage's trousers.
At the moment of climax—
"Haaaaah! Going! I'm going!!! Hngh...!"
The faces of the rough bandit and the mage merged into one.
"Commander, has something good happened lately?"
A knight asked Uris at the training grounds the next day.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, your expression seems... softer? Brighter than usual? Everyone's noticed."
Her adjutant, Jeco, chimed in, his bald head gleaming. "Exactly! We wondered if you were getting a new title or something."
Uris shook her head. "It's nothing like that."
Suddenly, the female knights of the 1st Order crowded around her.
"Commander, you found a man, didn't you?!"
"Is it a fiancé from your family?"
"Is it a secret lover?"
"Is there no one you're even interested in?"
The 1st Order was one of the few with a high number of female knights who idolized Uris. They were worried their 25-year-old idol was heading toward being an "old maid." They swarmed her like hyenas.
Meanwhile, the male knights whispered among themselves.
"No way the Commander has a boyfriend."
"The sword is her lover."
"She's a flower on a high cliff; no one has touched her yet."
They all watched her reaction intently.
"I-I told you, there's n-no one."
Uris stuttered in spite of herself. Two people had flashed through her mind: the bandit and the Illusionist. They weren't boyfriends, but they were the ones who helped her put down the heavy burden of being the "Goddess of Victory." That was why she looked brighter.
'I'm not "interested" in them.'
One was a criminal who threatened her, and the other was the man who made the videos. Yet, the pleasure they gave her was better than any victory she had ever won. Thinking of the moment she panted under the bandit's orders, her nipples hardened under her uniform.
Oh no... not now...
The male knights froze in shock while the female knights began to squeal.
"C-Commander! You really do have someone!"
"Who is he?! Let's have a girls' night and talk about it!"
"How far have you gone? Are you at the 'dating' stage yet?"
Uris pushed her subordinates away, shaking her head frantically. "I said it's not like that!"
How could she say she looked "brighter" because of "defeat masturbation"?
She could never tell them. Never!
"All done!"
I stretched, finishing up some alchemy in my empty shop. Since the Theater wasn't a gold mine yet, I had to manufacture magic tools to pay the bills.
Knock, knock.
"Mage, a letter for you."
I went to the door. "A letter?"
"Yes. The sender is anonymous, but it's addressed to you. It's 'cash on delivery' for the postage, though."
I sighed and handed over a silver coin. I knew exactly who would send a letter collect. My master, the professor of the Illusion school, Meiko.
As I opened the letter, a magical projection of a young woman with flowing blue hair and deep dark circles under her eyes appeared.
- "Disciple! How are you?!"
"You still look as energetic as ever, Master," I said dryly.
- "Do I? Hahaha! Traveling gives me life! Anyway, I'm just checking in. How is the Theater?"
"Quite well. I even have a regular."
- "A... a regular? There's actually a woman who likes that lewd stuff?!"
I couldn't bring myself to say, "That woman is actually the Goddess of Victory, Uris." I had to protect client confidentiality.
Meiko, despite being two years younger than me, was a genius who became a professor at a record age. Her only flaw was her "eccentricity." She was the one who developed this "Calling Letter," which acted like a temporary video call.
"Did you find the legendary material that allows people to enter an illusion instantly?" I asked.
- "Not yet. It's hard." She looked pouted.
"Master, you didn't just run away to avoid helping me with my research, did you?"
- "Wh-what?! Are you suggesting I abandoned my student?!" She shrieked, covering her chest.
"Why that reaction? People will think I did something perverted to you."
- "You DID! You! You touched my breasts saying it was for 'research'!" Her face turned bright red.
"You were the one who said a mage must do anything for research."
- "I didn't say you should become a molester!"
"It was for data collection. I'm a man of thought; I wouldn't do that to anyone but you, Master."
She glared at me suspiciously. - "Well... I suppose that's a relief."
She began to lecture me about how I should stop my "weird research" into women's desires, so I promptly shut the letter.
I really do prefer Master when she isn't nagging.