Heroine Hunter

I kissed Emilia and released the tentacles from my grip. 

The tentacles unwrapped from my arms and slithered away, retreating slowly. 

I continued kissing Emilia and my now free hands cupped her face. 

She kissed me back and our tongues remained intertwined.

‘Huh?’  

I noticed that Emilia, who had been suspended in the air, was slowly being lowered to the ground. 

We finally stopped the kiss. 

The tentacles that had held her in the air seemed to lose their strength and gently set her down. 

However, they hadn’t let go of her entirely; they still held her arms, legs, and waist. 

She now knelt in front of me, her arms bound behind her.

“Oh? Mr. Castoloni! I’m… On the ground now.”  

She wriggled her body.  

“And it feels like the tentacles on my arms and legs are… loosening a bit… ugh. No, they’re still tight.”  

“At least it’s better than before.”  

“… Yes.”  

When our eyes met, Emilia blushed and looked away.  

It was no surprise that she was embarrassed after having her breasts touched, nipples sucked, and even the deep kiss. On top of that, her chest was still half-exposed.

“I’d like to cover you up, but your clothes would just dissolve again. It might be better to wait until the tentacles let you go before getting dressed.”  

“Okay.”  

I threw more sticks onto the growing fire.  

“I’ll focus on building the fire quickly and try using it to scare the creature away.”  

“Wait! Mr. Castoloni… Your arm…”  

The area of my forearm that had been gripped by the tentacles was red, almost as if it had been burned.  

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”  

It really didn’t bother me—if anything, I could feel new tissue rapidly forming under the skin, healing the affected area. The redness was already fading, replaced by fresh skin.  

Emilia looked at me, her face full of concern.  

“It looks like it hurts a lot.”  

“I can handle it.”  

“Please just give me your arm for a moment. Bring it to my mouth since I can’t use my hands right now.”  

“My arm?”

Emilia nodded seriously with a slight blush on her face. 

I put down the stick I was using to stoke the fire and brought my arm closer to her mouth. 

She gently kissed the reddened part of my arm.

[Heal]

A soft light spread from where her lips touched, and the healing process sped up significantly.

“Oh! Thank you, Emilia.”

“Give me the other arm too.”

I offered her my other arm, and she healed that one as well. 

The light of day was beginning to fade; the trees around us made it feel as though the sun was setting faster. 

I grabbed a few more sticks, lit them, and bundled them together to create a bigger flame.

“Emilia, I’m going to try burning the tentacles. Let me know if anything feels strange, okay?”

“Alright.”

I brought the fire close to one of the thicker tentacles connecting to the creature. 

Sorry, Bevic.

“How does it feel?”

“Nngh… Hnn.”

Emilia tried to wiggle her body, but the tentacles didn’t budge. 

It didn’t seem like the fire was doing anything at all. 

I tossed the stick back into the campfire.

“It looks like the fire has no effect.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“At least we’re making progress. When you blocked the tentacles and… When we kissed, I got lowered to the ground, right?”

Emilia shyly looked away, trying to stay positive despite the situation.

Just then, a low grumble came from her stomach. 

Emilia bit her lower lip and squeezed her eyes shut, clearly embarrassed.

[Why now… of all times?]

I couldn’t help but smile at how cute she looked.

“Let’s eat some of the canned food we found.”

We had brought along some canned corn from the beach. I used my knife to open the can and bent the lid into a makeshift spoon. 

I took turns feeding Emilia and myself, scooping up the corn.

“Here, the last bite. Ahh—”

“Ahh—”

Emilia eagerly swallowed the corn I fed her. 

She chewed it thoughtfully before suddenly bursting into a small laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just imagining… What if those tentacles move again while we’re eating, and we have to kiss right after.”

“We’d probably both taste like corn.”

Emilia shook her head. “No, no.”

“Huh?”

“I can use a Purify spell. I’ll… Clean our mouths with magic first.”

Her ears turned red as she realized how strange her own suggestion sounded. 

I pretended not to notice her embarrassment.

“Good idea. This empty can could also serve as a water container. I’ll head over to that stream and wash it out, then fill it with water. Sounds okay?”

From the campfire, the stream was visible but a short distance away. 

Emilia glanced nervously between the tentacles and the stream, and hesitated before speaking.

“Please… Come back quickly.”

I hurried over, washed out the can, and filled it with water, all while keeping an eye on Emilia and the tentacles. 

Thankfully, nothing moved. 

I returned to the fire with the filled can.

“Would you like some water?”

“It looks clean, but just in case, let me purify it first.”

“Good idea.”

I couldn’t remember if it was Bear Grylls or some other survival expert, but I’d once seen someone get sick after drinking what seemed like clean stream water.

I held the can near her face.

[Purify]

The water shimmered briefly as her magic purified it. 

Emilia and I took turns drinking the now crystal-clear water.

As the forest grew darker, the crackling of the campfire became more prominent in the quiet night. 

With our bellies full and water replenished, Emilia and I sat side by side, talking.

“So that’s how you became a priest.”

I realized Emilia had become a priest to survive after being orphaned at birth. 

Hearing parts of her life that weren’t in the original story was fascinating.

“And you, Ian? How did you end up running a toy shop?”

After finding out we were both twenty years old, we naturally started talking more casually. 

I silently hoped for a response from Lea to help me craft a good answer.

‘Should I just say I inherited the shop from my late father?’

[Yep.]

With that brief reply from Lea, I pieced together a story.

“My father used to run the shop. My mother passed away not long after I was born, and my father died of illness when I was fifteen. So, I had to take over the shop at a young age. At first, I hated it, but knowing how much my father cherished the store made me want to keep it going.”

Emilia gave me a soft, understanding look. “I see… That’s tough. So, Ian, where are you—”

“Shh.”

I interrupted, raising a finger to my lips.

Only the sound of the campfire remained, but then I saw something moving about ten paces away.

It was a light blue, droplet-shaped creature—a slime.

I leaned closer to Emilia and whispered, “Can we use that?”

“Probably?” 

In the story, there was a humorous part where slimes were used in human homes as waste disposers. 

They feed on both urine and feces, breaking them down and later regurgitating them as fertilizer. 

The protagonist, who grew up in the demon realm, was outraged upon discovering that slimes were being exploited in this way in the human world, leading to a funny yet righteous moment.

I stood up cautiously and crept towards the slime. 

I wasn’t sure what it would feel like, so I activated [Diamond Body] just in case. 

When I touched it, I found it felt like handling a water balloon—soft but resilient. 

It didn’t try to escape either.

“I caught it. Where should we keep it?” 

Emilia glanced around. “How about inside that crate?”

“Good idea.”

I removed the cans from the crate and placed the slime inside. 

After closing the lid, it lightly bounced around but made no attempt to escape.

“Ian.”

Emilia called me with a worried voice.

The previously still tentacles were now slowly moving again.

“Don’t be afraid, Emilia.”

I approached her and kissed her. 

It appeared she had used her cleansing magic as her kiss no longer tasted like corn but carried a fresh, rosy fragrance.

When we broke the kiss, the tentacles had once again stopped in their tracks. 

I reached out to place my hand on her chest. 

She leaned in and softly spoke, offering her chest to me. 

“Rose.”

“Huh?” 

“Most people call me Emilia, but those who are truly close to me call me Rose.”

Emilia Rosebloom.

Rose.

In the novel, this was a name she had only ever allowed the Black Knight to use. 

I looked into her clear, innocent eyes and gently said, “Rose, don’t be afraid.”

We kissed again.

I touched her chest softly, feeling her delicate skin beneath my fingertips. 

I pinched her nipples lightly, twisting them between my fingers.

The creature that neither fire nor blade could harm—escaping from it required us to increase the level of physical contact. 

Even Rose now understood this.

However, she couldn’t fully commit to this course of action, hesitant as it was still just a theory. 

There was no guarantee that this would completely free her from the tentacles.

And for a devout priest like Rose, losing her purity wasn’t just about physical contact. 

It was about abandoning her very identity as a priestess.

After the kiss ended and I turned my head, the tentacles had returned to their original position. 

Rose appeared exhausted. She leaned her forehead against my shoulder, feeling lethargic.

It was no surprise. 

After falling into the sea, being washed ashore on a deserted island, and going through so much with a stranger, she had every reason to be tired.

I held her close, gently patting her back. 

“Rose, if you’re tired, get some rest. I’ll keep watch.”

“I’m sorry, Ian. I’ll just sleep for a bit and then switch with you. If those things move again, wake me up right away. If I don’t wake up… you can just… Do whatever you need.”

I threw more branches onto the dying campfire. 

“Alright.”

Rose fell asleep in my arms almost immediately.

———

Emilia Rosebloom opened her eyes. 

She had fallen asleep, cradled against Ian’s chest.

When she awoke, she realized she had slept far longer than she intended. 

The pitch-black night had given way to the faint light of dawn.

The campfire had burned down to embers, with only smoke rising from the dying flames. 

Ian was still holding her tightly, sharing his warmth.

Rose quickly raised her head.

“…!”

Ian’s clothes were almost in tatters. 

The burn marks—those red wounds on his arms from grabbing the tentacles—had now spread all over his body, including his face.

“Ian!”

Ian Castollini blinked his eyes and spoke softly, “Rose, you’re awake?”

He smiled faintly. 

The two tentacles that had threatened them throughout the night now lay lifeless on the ground, far away from them.

Tears welled up in Rose’s eyes.

“What… What happened?”

Ian gave a short answer.

“Nothing at all.”