༺ Hassan, the Returnee (1) ༻
A yellow flag symbolizing the city of Sodomora fluttered at the very top of Valdeath Mountain.
Even though it was reported that there were several undead-like skeleton mages and death knights that were strong enough to rival the silver-tier adventurers in that mountain range…
Reportedly, they were unable to showcase their power in front of the 2,000 or so armed soldiers and mages of Sodomora.
As expected, the formal army, formed through proper measures, was just way too fucking strong. To be honest, most problems in human history could be solved by undertaking a quantitative approach.
Something that couldn’t be completed with a lot of people could still be solved just by throwing more manpower into it. And if it still remained unsolved, then it was because the amount of men thrown into it was too reserved.
They could just bring more from the outside if there was not enough staff.
In fact, it was said that the adventurer team that had been brought by the Sardich family from the outside of the city was the most active participant in the mountain range capture operation.
A group that consisted of a warrior, a monk, a mage, and a priest, raided the mountain range and even captured the Warlock— Anxious alive.
A well-balanced adventurer party made up of silver-tier members, huh…
I felt my swollen eyes tingle as a sensation that something was about to pop inside my mind as that thought washed over me.
“Pull out!”
“Let’s pull out! Bring all your supplies!”
However, that sense of déjà vu soon vanished into the bright morning sky due to the bustle of the procession that was busily preparing for our return to the city. We were finally about to get out of this terrible mud pit and go back home.
Fuck! In the end, I was able to survive.
Now that I thought about it, I still couldn’t wrap my head around how the hell I was able to survive among those piles of skeletons. If there’s going to be any war in the future, I should just straight up run away.
I really felt that the life and death of an ordinary civilian like me depended heavily on luck. I was able to survive this time because my luck was really good. However, I could say without a shadow of a doubt that I was unsure of my survival in the next war if there ever was one.
Frankly, I felt like participating in a single war was more than enough of an experience for me already.
Anyway, we, the wounded advance army, made our way back to the city as we handed all the unfinished business to the main army.
“Ugh, it really hurts. Once we arrive, I will have to go to the clinic right away.”
“Even so, It’s a relief that we are still alive. Hans is…”
Even though a lot of painful groans could be heard coming from the procession of soldiers, and a lot of faces were missing from our initial members, the atmosphere surrounding the returning soldiers was way lighter and more comfortable than during the time of our departure.
“Drogo. Citizenship obtained. Hero of Triumphant return. Take woman from the mainland as wife.”
That bastard, Drogo, was still alive, huh?
As I turned my head around as soon as I heard Drogo’s voice, I was immediately able to see the face of a blonde hunter with a huge bow on his back— Jack.
“Hehe, the reward that we will get should be quite big. Maybe it will be enough for me to have drinks at the underground tavern for a while.”
Looking at the bones of skeletons that hung from their waist like trophies, it looked like they were active in a part of the battlefield that I didn’t know about.
Could I say that most of the people who had perished were those who were inexperienced while those who managed to survive were those who were relatively strong? If that was really the case here since I was able to survive somehow, can I assume that I was also quite strong?
It seemed like I still had many more things to worry about, but let’s just put them all aside for now and enjoy the moment of victory and being alive.
“Waaa— There, there! They’re coming!”
It seemed like a messenger or someone who had departed first had conveyed the news to the citizens of Sodomora.
The west gate of Sodomora, both our departure and arrival point, was now decorated with fragrant flower petals and a long procession of red-clothed flags and festoons that were fluttering with the wind.
“It is a triumphant return march!”
As if they had been waiting for our arrival, young children and young women quickly put wreaths made of flowers around the necks of the soldiers in the procession while smiling so brightly that even their white teeth were exposed.
At that moment, Jack the Hunter opened his mouth.
“We struggled and lived, honestly, this welcome feels better than getting money.”
“Drogo. Look for wife.”
My body was really exhausted by this point, however, it didn’t feel too bad to have someone warmly welcome my return.
As soon as I saw several people waving their hands at me…
I frantically moved my eyes to look for a familiar face in this crowd.
I thought it would be easy to find her in this crowd because of her characteristic pink hair, which was considered unusual even in this world. However, surprisingly, no matter how many times I looked, I was unable to find Luna’s face in the crowd.
Even if I couldn’t find Luna, I thought that Luna might find me first, so I moved my head around to make it easy for her to find me, but Luna’s face was still nowhere to be found.
Just what in the world happened?
Feeling puzzled, I hurriedly ran to the cabin as I thought about things that might have happened to her during the time I was absent.
I soon arrived at the neither small nor big two-story cabin.
When I opened the door on the first floor, which looked as welcoming as always, and stepped inside, I was greeted by a rather dusty air that made it feel like the cabin hadn’t been ventilated for a while…
Kong— Kong—!
What followed right after was a loud howl which sounded like the barking of a dog. After seeing the multiple sets of legs creeping out from inside the jar, I instantly realized that the one who made the sound was the wolf spider that Luna was raising, Kong Kong.
Kong— Kong—!
“I’m glad to see you again too, you bastard.”
Hi-ong—
“O-Okay.”
After experiencing a strange experience of talking to a spider, I slowly went up to the second floor. Once I arrived there, I could see a round, inflated blanket sprawled on the floor.
“Luna, I’m here!”
Rustle—
Something or someone that was inside the blanket stirred at my voice.
A moment later, pink hair, a white face, and beautiful emerald eyes came out of the inflated blanket. Soon after, tears began to fall from those beautiful orbs of hers that had turned as big as saucers.
“Hassan—!”
“Yes, yes. It’s me!”
“Hassan!”
Luna rose to her feet and ran towards me full force. She rammed into my belly as hard as she could before rubbing her face on my abs.
“Hassan, you are back!”
“I-I am.”
“Are you hurt anywhere? Are your arms and legs all right? What about your fingers? Huh? H-Hassan w-why do you only have two arms…!”
“I’ve always had two from the start, you know… I’m not hurt anywhere. My face is a little swollen, though.”
Luna stopped rubbing her face against my stomach after hearing my answer and then looked up at me.
Her face had become swollen and was marred with many stains here and there due to excessive crying. However, the reason I desperately rolled through that terrible battlefield was just to see that face again.
And when It dawned on me that my struggle was not meaningless, I felt something, which I didn’t know whether it was a peace of mind or a sense of relief, wash over me from my toes to the area just below my chest.
“Rather than that, why didn’t you come out to meet me at the triumphant return march? I was worried when I couldn’t find your face in the crowd.”
Luna answered my question.
“Because… I knew I was going to collapse if Hassan wasn’t in the procession. So I just stayed at home…”
Well, that was certainly a possible outcome.
Anyway, I was glad that I was able to see her face again. However, unlike me, Luna burst into tears as though I was going to die any moment now which made me feel troubled.
“Hey, why are you crying like this? I came back in one piece, didn’t I? Anyone who sees you will think that I am dead.”
“I don’t know, it just came out!”
“Didn’t you say that in Ideope, seeing someone off with tears will bring bad luck?”
“It’s fine since I’m not sending you off but welcoming you!”
Luna buried her face in my stomach once more and cried for the rest of the day. It was as if she was trying to unload everything she hadn’t been able to pour out during the time when we were apart.
To appease Luna, I patted her back repeatedly with my hands. Suddenly, I imagined a scenario of what might have happened if I hadn’t returned.
Luna didn’t even join the welcoming crowd because she was afraid that my face wouldn’t be among those who returned.
Would Luna stay curled up under the blanket while waiting for me until I knocked on the door? It would’ve taken days for her to find out that I had not returned.
It was a very heartbreaking scenario, but, fortunately, nothing of the sort happened.
However, it was a thing that may still happen in the future.
In that case, let’s not participate in any wars ever again.
Just like that, I, Hassan unexpectedly became a pacifist in another world. It goes without saying that real war was never as glamorous or beautiful as stories made it out to be.
They never mentioned the endless and agonizing wait of the helpless families.
All of a sudden, I thought of the other Hassans who participated in this war. Like me, many non-citizens participated in the war for various benefits. However, those people ended up unable to return alive.
They should also have had people waiting for them in their hometown, Lunas of their own too.
What kind of emotions and what kind of faces did those countless Lunas have right now?
I didn’t even dare to think of it with my dull head.
So, I just focused on the sense of warmth that the person in front of me was providing me with and hugged Luna’s thin waist even tighter than before.
“I’m really back.”
To my words, Luna responded in a quiet yet joyous voice.
“Welcome back, Hassan.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After scrubbing all the dirt off my body at the bathhouse, I felt refreshed, like I was a brand new person.
It felt like the death that had come right in front of my eyes had been washed away along with the mud, blood, and sweat that were plastered on my body till now.
“Hassan, you have more scars on your body now…”
Luna muttered in a small voice as she looked all over my bare body as soon as I returned home and crashed to the floor.
She then pulled out a thick, sticky substance and began to smear it all over my back, arms, and calves.
“Ugh—”
It hurt more than I expected. Was that substance some kind of disinfectant?
“Uuughh, it really hurts. Just what did you apply to me? You sure it will work, right?”
“Ah— I used the wrong one. Should be this one instead!”
“…What did you say?”
“I-I’m sorry… This one is spicy seasoning. I-I’ll apply the other medicine right away!”
Even after returning from the war alive, I found out that Luna was still as clumsy as always. Perhaps if Luna and I got along really well, it would be a burden I would have to carry for the rest of my life.
Still, I had received a lot of help from Luna in this war.
Was it Moros?
I remembered the terrifying giant that I had met on the battlefield.
A strange giant who had come back to life even after its head was cut off from its body. x
According to Anxious’ words, the existence that dwelled inside that giant’s body seemed to be Moros, the son of the Primordial Night.
The being that Anxious called the primordial night was probably Lady Knox. Which meant that Moros was Luna’s brother. He didn’t look like her younger brother, so he was probably her older brother.
I felt like that older brother mistook me for Luna, his little sister, for some reason. That was probably the reason why he let me go. Even if I didn’t have an ahoge, he should be able to tell the difference between us.
But why did he mistake me for Luna?
Maybe my karma smelled like Luna’s because I had always been with her? Or maybe it was because of the funny-looking war paint that Luna painted on my face?
Those two were the only conjectures that I could come up with.
More importantly, to think that Luna had a brother…
“Luna, how would you feel if you had an older brother?”
I asked Luna, who was applying some ointment on my back.
“Older brother?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know!”
“I-I see.”
Her immediate answer was quite unusual.
Then, Luna slapped my back with her palms.
“I have finished applying it on your back. Now, turn around.”
“I can do the front myself.”
“Hassan, I know that you are tired right now. I’ll do it for you! Since today is your day of discharge, just get some rest!”
Slap— Slap—
Since Luna started slapping me on the back as though she were beating a drum with her palms, I ended up showing the front side of my bare upper body to her.
Since I was someone who got shy very easily and had a reserved personality, even though we had shown our naked bodies to each other a few times already, I still felt awkward about showing my bare upper body to Luna.
“Ah, you have a lot of scars on the front too…!”
It might just be my feeling, but it seemed like Luna was also ashamed after to looking at my bare body.
After all, Luna, who grew up in a place surrounded by women only, shouldn’t have experienced too much exposure to the male body
Squeak— Squeak—
After applying the medicine with her hands, Luna moved her stained hands and began to stroke my stomach and my belly. Because of that, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing as I felt really ticklish.
“Puhahaha.”
“W-Why are you laughing?”
“I-It tickles.”
“…Really? You can feel ticklish too, Hassan?”
“Isn’t everyone like that?”
“Since your body is so firm, I thought you wouldn’t feel anything even if I stabbed you—”
Luna then put her fingers on my stomach and pressed it hard.
My stomach, which had been through a lot of strenuous activities after coming to this world, was firm without any sort of flab. So just like Luna said it was on the hard side.
Perhaps feeling a sense of wonder at how different my body was from her soft body, Luna soon started stroking my stomach and sides with the palm of her hand in a gentle manner.
Brush— Brush—
It still felt as ticklish as before though.
Still, I refrained from saying anything because it felt pretty good to feel the touch of a soft and slender girl.
“It feels strange because it’s so rugged.”
“I-Is that so?”
“But… I don’t think it’s a bad feeling. A-Anyway, I’m done applying the medicine! The front is all covered too! Let’s sleep now!”
Luna wiped her hand on the cloth hanging on the wall before lying down next to me. At that moment, I could feel Luna’s soft breast touching my arm through the thin fabric of her clothes. Thanks to that, my blood rushed down to my cock in an instant.
Now that I think about it, I couldn’t even take care of my rod by myself these days, so it seemed like my libido had piled up by now.
My whole body was extremely exhausted because of the aftermath of wallowing around in the battlefield and taking the elixirs. However, my little brother was still able to stand strong as though it didn’t come from a different realm than my other body parts.
So this was why people still got pregnant even during wartime.
What should I do? I wondered in my mind. Because I was conscious of it, I don’t think I would be able to sleep until I shot one off. Should I secretly do it once Luna falls asleep? When such thoughts ran in my mind.
Rustle—
Luna, who was lying on my side, pressed her body closer to mine.
I could vividly feel Luna’s breath on my shoulder as well as her calf that wrapped around my thigh.
Was she feeling the symptoms of separation anxiety because I had been away from her? Maybe she was more clingy today because of that? Just as I was thinking that…
Rustle— Rustle—
Something trailed from my chest to my stomach, before tracing down from my lower belly to my lower body.
“…Wh-What?”
I shuddered and panicked at these sudden events. At the same time, I felt the fatigue and drowsiness that had been pressing down on my body completely disappear.
The thing that touched the swollen rod on my lower half was obviously a warm palm.
“…Ha, Hassan, you’re struggling, right? I’ll comfort you…”
Her palm dug into my pants.
I groaned as I felt my head become lighter at the scent of menthe that soon rushed in through my nostrils.
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