---

At this age, getting my butt kicked is quite the shocker. I had to endure that pain completely since I didn’t use Aura to protect myself, fearing that Frecia’s palm might slip.

Although I didn’t check by lowering my pants, my thoroughly beaten rear must be as red as a tomato. Even now, as I sit, my butt stings, and I’m lying face down on the floor.

“So… who is this cat… no, this woman, senpai?”

After the chaos settled down, Luna, finally freed from Tokki, asked. It’s no wonder she was startled; she went from sleeping soundly to having her head stomped on and being caught.

“Um… she’s the boss who used to be close to me.”

“Boss?”

“I mentioned that I quit being an assassin and attended the Academy for a while, right? I had to do some part-time work back then because I was short on cash.”

Come to think of it, it was also thanks to finding a part-time job flyer through the meow that I first met Frecia. If the meow is Frecia, did she intend to hire me from the very beginning?

Satisfied after thoroughly smacking my behind, Frecia curled up in cat form beside me, lying on my back. She must have been exhausted from using so much concentration and mana to follow me and teleport, as she had dozed off.

Anyway, it seemed like my butt pain wouldn’t fade until morning. There was no need to wake Frecia, so I thought I’d also sleep like this.

“…This kid is your boss?”

Luna, this kid is two years older than you. Of course, outwardly Frecia might look a bit younger since she’s slightly shorter, but technically she’s the older sister.

As I sneaked a glance at Luna, I noticed Gomtaengi and Tokki snuggled up in her arms. Unlike the large figure that had grabbed me and Luna, Gomtaengi and Tokki had returned to their small forms just as I remembered from three years ago.

Gomtaengi and Tokki, like Frecia sitting on my back, had used my head as a perch, but Luna, unable to bear it, managed to pull them away instead of going after Frecia. Of course, Gomtaengi and Tokki tried to resist since they didn’t want to be separated from me after such a long time, but Luna’s words urging them not to bother the hurt me made them obedient.

It was a bit embarrassing that the hurt part was my butt.

“You’re two years older, so don’t be rude like with Lindy.”

I also made sure to throw in a warning just in case she might act up with Frecia like she did with Lindy.

Considering that Lindy is a perverted lesbian, it wouldn’t be bad for Luna to keep an eye on her at a suitable level, but there was no need to do that with Frecia.

“…If you put it that way, then you’re an aunt already.”

However, Luna pouted her lips and muttered in a sulky voice. If Frecia were awake, calling a woman “aunt” would have been a taboo. Even I, as a guy, knew that much.

“Well, by that logic, I’m an aunt too!”

“O-of course you’re an exception, senpai! There’s no way you could be an aunt!”

“No, I’m saying that if you’re two years older, you’re an aunt…”

“Wh-when did I ever?! You must have heard wrong!”

Just a moment ago, she was talking about exceptions, and now she’s acting like she never said anything at all. Seeing her acting so awkwardly was downright pathetic. A great assassin should be good at acting, just like me, but Luna still hadn’t reached that level.

“Oh, good night!”

Luna seemed to want to stop me from saying more, as she hurriedly wished me goodnight and pulled the blanket over herself. Even so, she tightly hugged Gomtaengi and Tokki, so it seemed she liked them after all. Well, considering they’re like plush toys, Gomtaengi and Tokki should be adorably cute.

I carefully tried not to wake Frecia as I settled into a comfortable position and soon fell into the land of dreams.

*

-…Are you sure it’s okay to keep dodging like this?

Waking up early in the morning, I arrived in the nearby city. I immediately visited an informant and reported the general situation to Lindy through the communication magical crystal. Aside from defeating the demonic race, I briefly mentioned that I had met Frecia again, which made Lindy worry about me.

“Honestly, I’m also embarrassed, but now that I want to separate, it’s not something easily done.”

While it was an incident caused by my hesitation, now that it was happening, I found a certain comfort in it.

It felt like she alleviated the guilt that had tormented me for the past three years.

However, I still felt guilty. I wondered if I had put her in danger unnecessarily. Now she was going with me to hunt down the Demon King with no way out. There wouldn’t be any comfortable sleeping quarters, and instead, she would face a ton of dangers.

Unaware of such a future, Frecia was blissfully leaning on my chest, wrapping my arm around her and smiling brightly. Maybe she already knew.

“…Ugh!”

Luna, who was struggling to get Frecia away from me, was soon blocked by Gomtaengi and Tokki, unable to attempt it properly.

In the end, Luna gave up on pulling Frecia away and instead hung onto my back, engaging in a staring contest with Frecia’s crown.

With Frecia in front of me and Luna hanging behind, even across the communication crystal, Lindy had a face that looked utterly perplexed.

Especially for Lindy, the perverted lesbian, my situation must have been incredibly enviable. Of course, as a man, I didn’t mind one bit, but I couldn’t overtly act like I was enjoying it, so I put on a poker face.

“Oh! Speaking of which, I finished what Elysia asked for.”

In the midst of conversing with Lindy, Frecia chimed in.

“Huh? What did I ask for?”

As I momentarily pondered what Frecia meant, she lifted her head to look at me and began explaining.

“The dispel magic I mentioned back then. The one Elysia asked for…”

Now that I think about it, before recalling my past life, I had indeed asked Frecia to help get rid of the Master-Servant Mark still lingering on me. Though it had become unnecessary now that I had awakened my true power as a Hero.

“Ah, about that. The thing is…”

“Ugh….”

As I pondered over how to explain it to Frecia, a small sound escaped Luna, who was busy with her staring contest. Though she was glaring at Frecia, Frecia completely ignored her.

“…Ah!”

Only then did one more fact come back to me.

While I, having freed myself from the Master-Servant Mark with the power of a Hero, Luna, who was still hanging onto my back, was still bound to the Assassin Guild. Because of the mark engraved on her, the Assassin Guild couldn’t even recognize her to help her, allowing her to continue completing assassination requests day by day.

But if Frecia had truly become able to dispel the mark, things would change.

“Luna! Wait a minute, take off your clothes!”

I lightly set Frecia down before jumping up and shouting towards Luna, who was hanging on my back.

The Master-Servant Mark was a binding magic that would leave a trace somewhere on the body of the target. Luna’s body was no exception.

If I could show Frecia the mark engraved on Luna’s body, surely she could dispel it.

If I could remove Luna’s mark and gather information about the Assassin Guild she belonged to, I would be able to completely save her. Finally, a solution had appeared for the situation I had been putting off.

Filled with excitement at the thought of being able to save Luna, who had endured pain just as I had, I urged her.

Yet, Luna, being the actual party involved, didn’t know what Frecia meant by the dispel magic and continued to hesitate. Watching her, I was growing more frustrated, so I grabbed her clothes and started pulling up.

Unlike me, whose mark was engraved on my lower abdomen, Luna had her mark in a place more easily exposed.

Luna’s mark was clearly around her upper stomach, near the solar plexus…

“W-wait, senpai! Just a moment…! No, besides, we’re in front of other people…!”

“Just hold still for a second. It’ll be over soon.”

However, for some reason, Luna, not understanding my feelings, held tightly onto my hand trying to pull it down with all her might.

“No. I’m not doing this because I like you; I’m doing this for your benefit, you know?”

It’s not about removing my long-gone marking magic but about wanting to get rid of the mark magic still binding Luna, yet Luna was turning red and resisting with all her might.

But how much could she resist against me? Unlike me, a Sword Master, Luna was merely an assassin. In the end, despite her utmost resistance, Luna’s top began to slowly rise under my hand.

“If…if that’s what you really want, senpai…”

Finally, as if Luna understood that my intentions were for her sake, her hands slowly lost their strength, and I managed to pull her top off…

“Fool Elysia!”

Slap!

“Ah?!”