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Soul Granting
The moment I came in contact with the room’s air after I opened the door, I instinctively knitted my brows.
There was a smell so sweet that it was suffocating.
I know that’s the scent of the sleep-death medicine, Tanasia. That’s because I had smelled that scent many times back on the demon island.
Claudia was laying down on the bed inside this room where the scent of Tanasia seemed to cover even the walls.
She was sleeping there as she made quiet breathing noises with no signs of her being in pain. Just from seeing her like this, no one would think that this girl is being attacked by a curse.
However, Claudia’s soul is definitely showing signs of depletion in my eyes.
Her soul had clearly decreased compared to when I chatted with her at the stable the other day.
At that time, I thought I would still have time to make a trip to Ishka and back, but after seeing her condition now, there really isn’t time for that anymore. If things go poorly, her soul could dry out tonight or tomorrow.
Since I’m going to give her some of my soul when she’s in such a condition, I have to be more careful than I was with Lunamaria.
While I was thinking about such things, Claudia’s eyes unexpectedly snapped open.
She probably sensed that somebody had come to her room.
The Duke’s daughter looked at me with her eyes wide open, seemingly surprised.
「
Sora? Why
why are you here
?」
「Lady Claudia, I’m here to help you. May I come up next to you?」
「
No
don’t. This room’s air is――」
「I’m not going to listen to that」
I entered her room rudely without caring about her response.
Then, I lightly touched her cheeks as she laid on her bed.
「Hm. It doesn’t seem like you have a fever」
「
Haha. If you weren’t
going to listen to me
there was no need to
ask for permission
in the first place」
「Lady Claudia, it’s a different story if you really didn’t want me to get closer, but you were trying to tell me “This room’s air is poisonous to healthy people so don’t come in”, right?」
In that case, you don’t need to worry. If I cared about that, I wouldn’t have come to see you in the first place.
I thought about explaining the entire situation to her but considering her condition, there’s no time for useless chatter. That’s why I’ll leave the unnecessary things for after.
I cut to the chase right away and told her what I’m here to do.
After she heard what I said, she showed me a happy smile. But despite that, her smile looked like she had somewhat given up already. She probably thought that I was just saying things to try to make her feel better.
「
So in order to help me, there’s a need for our lips to touch?」
「Yes. What? It’s just like saving a person who is drowning by helping them breathe. Your maiden’s lips will remain pure」
「
About that, did father agree to let you do that?」
「He looked like he almost wanted to cut me down」
When I replied to her seriously, she showed me an unreserved and genuine smile this time.
「Heheh, I would have liked to see that
But still, your soul huh? Why, why are you going so far
for me?」
「If a girl is suffering, it’s natural for a guy to want to help. Besides, Clau Soras asked me to do it too」
「Clau Soras
did that?」
「Yes. He was like “I want to help my friend who has the same name as me”」
That was what Claudia came up with at the time she was talking to Clau Soras at the stable.
She probably noticed what I was talking about right away. After she looked astonished for a second, she smiled happily.
「Ahaha
I guess I can’t refuse then」
「Alright. Now then」
「Eh――Mmmgu?!」
After I received her permission, I put my lips on hers without hesitation.
If I took too long to do this, the mood will probably tense up in a weird way. It’s probably best to get it over with right away.
And so, the moment I started to inject some of my soul into her through our touching lips――
「――MmNnnnm?!」
Her slender body jumped in a startled fashion.
Right now, Claudia is probably feeling what I felt when I killed the maggots with my soul equipment(Soul Eater). No, considering the richness and the density of my soul, the pleasure she’s feeling might be a few times or a several dozen times that.
According to Lunamaria who I did this experiment with, if there’s too much pleasure then the pleasure becomes pain.
Claudia pressed her hands on my chest. She was probably instinctively trying to push me away first because of the unexpected shock she received.
Those purple color eyes filled with confusion and panic were wide open as she stared at me.
――However, I intentionally ignored her wish.
Sorry. If I stop while we’re in the middle of this, my level might still drop. Then when we start over again, not only will I drop another level, something else could go wrong.
For that reason, I held her waist with my right hand and locked her jaw with my left as I forcefully kept going.
I continued the kiss as I forcefully held down her twitching body that was in my arms.
I’m not sure how much time has passed.
Maybe because she had already given up, or maybe it’s because she no longer had any strength to resist, Claudia had gone limp in my arms and just let me do what I want.
While I was in the middle of doing what I’m doing, Claudia had that “reaction”.
It was something that Lunamaria had also felt. It looks like Claudia felt it too as her half-closed eyelids that were devoid of strength sprung open.
――Now then, normally, that should mean that we’re done, but I still had an unsettling feeling for some reason. Can gaining one level completely cleanse her curse? I wondered to myself.
That’s why I continued to inject more of my soul into her and waited for her to get that reaction for the second time.
And after confirming that she got that, I finally took my lips off her.
「

Mm. That wasn’t so bad」
「That wasn’t so bad?! As if!」
When I muttered out in an accomplished mood, the young girl before me yelled out in an angry voice.
「I-I did say that you could kiss me, but! But still! You could like hold back a little more or be a bit more gentle or something!」
The blushing Claudia spoke angrily as she covered her mouth with her right hand.
The way she was staring at me as she tried to catch her breath shows that what I did this time seems to have really put her in a bad mood.
Well, of course it would. While thinking that, I asked her to confirm her situation with me,
「You’re right to be angry. I will apologize to you deeply, but before that, I’d like you to confirm it for me」
「What do you need me to con――Ah, right, whether or not my level went up. Jeez, thanks to someone here, my mind is a complete mess」
As Claudia glared at me, she made her level display for herself.
Then right after that, the duke’s daughter let out a wow.
「Wow
My-my level really went up
Moreover, it went up twice?!」
「Good! So, how do you feel? It looks like you’re at least feeling well enough to get angry」
「W-wha, w-wait a second
Honestly, there’s too much going on right now
U-um, first, my arms and legs feel fine, and the strange numbness I’ve had the whole time is gone now」
「Mmhm mmhm. And besides those things?」
「Oh, and my head too, for some reason I feel refreshed. And ――」
「And?」
「Ah, no, nevermind
」
Claudia was hesitant about saying something, but when she waved her hands at me as if she’s telling me to not worry about it, I heard a sound going into my ear.
How do I describe it, it’s a sound that I could only describe it as a loud rumbling.
I feel bad for Claudia who was looking down at the ground in shame, but I was finally able to feel relieved after I heard that sound.
Having an appetite means that her body wants energy to recover. It’s better proof than anything else that shows that she had escaped from the worst.
Her soul is also filling her vessel up to the brim. I won’t know how the curse is going to affect her without keeping track of her progress from now on, but at the very least, nothing should happen to her anytime soon.
I am truly relieved with that fact.
And then, I collapsed at the same time.
The pending side effect of the soul granting had hit me all at once.
Even though I experienced it with Lunamaria, I did the same “soul granting” again with hardly any time in between. On top of that, I gave Claudia two levels worth of soul, so this result was only natural.
Claudia was calling my name in a panic, but I no longer have any strength to answer her.
As if I was falling straight down a cliff, my consciousness was swallowed by darkness in the blink of an eye.