NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: Painkiller
*RERO POV*
Rero's heart is pounding, and she's struggling to contain her embarrassment.
She can't believe she's so close to the man who made her experience sensations she had never felt before yesterday.
After that traumatic experience, she wanted to stay as far away from him as possible, but she can't forget the pleasure she felt when he touched her.
She can feel excitement at the mere thought of it.
No, she needs to stay focused and help Strauss Wagner.
She has to get him back to his room and interrogate him about what exactly happened yesterday.
What's in those damn potions? She needs to find out.
But right now, Wagner is reduced to a wreck and doesn't seem capable of answering her questions.
To be honest, it's a miracle he's alive, considering the damage he took.
She didn't think he would be able to intimidate Reis Vonner.
Slowly, they reach the door to Wagner's room.
"Th-the key... it's in my pocket... pants..." he whispers, struggling not to faint.
Rero blushes at the idea of sticking her hand in a man's pants, having her hand near his private parts.
"I can't! Can't you get it?" she refuses, embarrassed by the idea.
Rero doesn't get a response because Wagner loses consciousness.
In fact, she suddenly feels all of the boy's weight on her. "Wagner!"
She slowly sits him down on the floor, leaning him against the wall.
"Damn it!" she complains. She tries to wake him up by shaking him.
"This will cost you, Wagner!"
Reluctantly, Rero starts rummaging through Strauss Wagner's pants pockets.
Blushing like a pepper, she can't help but think about his manhood.
Finally, after an excessively long time, she finds the key. "Here it is!"
Without delay, she opens the door.
With an effort, she lifts Strauss Wagner's unconscious body and, with small steps, takes him into the room.
She lays him on the bed. Thinking about how she was similarly carried to the infirmary, Rero can't help but feel indebted.
She closes the door.
Should she leave? Abandon him like this?
"Darn it, I can't," she thinks out loud.
Embarrassed, she takes off his jacket and then his shirt, revealing the man's bare chest.
"Wow!" she exclaims at the sight of Wagner's reasonably sculpted physique. She never thought he looked so good.
His body is covered in significant bruises with a deathly color and numerous scratches.
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*STRAUSS POV*
I'm half-naked in my bed, my body aching, and Sansanti's face is too close.
I bitterly realize that without her help, I wouldn't have made it to my room.
In the end, she's not as useless as she seems.
"T-thank you... Sansanti..." I whisper, struggling to speak.
She blushes, surprised by my gratitude.
"W-well... don't think I did it for you!" she continues her tsundere act.
I would like to hate her, but in reality, she makes me smile.
She's stupidly funny. For all her flaws, she's still my plaything.
I slowly get out of bed, and with unsteady steps, I make my way to my desk-laboratory.
I take some herbs I had collected earlier.
"Sansanti, can you give me a hand?" I ask her to be useful because right now I don't have the strength.
"What do you want?" she asks, annoyed.
"You need to grind this mixture of herbs with the pestle," I tell her, mimicking the motion with the pestle.
"Why should I?"
"Because I need your help without you questioning every request," I reply.
She huffs.
I ignore her and start boiling a solvent I had prepared earlier.
Reluctantly, the girl starts working on the herbs.
Once Rero has finished grinding the herbs, I add them to the solution.
I let it boil for ten minutes.
"What are you preparing?"
"A painkiller. I can't even think with this pain."
"You shouldn't have confronted Vonner like that," she scolds me.
"Actually, I didn't have much choice. This battle cost me a lot, but it was very profitable."
"But you still lost in the end!" she points out the result.
"What matters is the war, not a single battle."
"War? I don't follow you."
I don't respond.
"What are your desires, Sansanti?" I ask her.
I see her expression first surprised and then perplexed. This question puts her in a difficult position.
"Do you want power?" I whisper in her ear. She startles at the unexpected closeness.
She quickly moves away and composes herself.
"What did you put in those fortifying potions?!"
"You can see how I prepare my potions. Herbs, mushrooms, extracts," I tell her, pointing to the pot where the solution is boiling.
"Then how do you explain... w-what happened to me yesterday?" she asks, struggling to hide her embarrassment.
"An unwanted effect due to the abuse of the potion," I explain. This is not a lie.
"Abuse?"
"You have to wait for the effects of the previous dose to wear off before taking another one," I explain.
Realizing her greed, Rero puts her hands to her head.
Then she composes herself.
"You should have told me!" she protests.
"So you don't want any more of it?"
"I didn't say that..."
Ten minutes have passed. I turn off the heat under the pot and let the solution cool slightly.
Then I strain it and pour it into a tea cup.
As soon as the temperature is ideal, I drink the medicine.
The effect is quick, and the pain begins to fade. I can finally breathe.
"Perhaps there's a way to avoid these adverse effects," I tell her.
"And what would that be?"
"I'm still working on it. I need a few days." I need to study the book 'DEMONIC CURSES: A COMPENDIUM' that Professor Merfal lent me.
I get up and open one of my cabinets. Inside, I keep several vials.
I take two enhancing potions, then grab a pouch and put a dozen narcotic drugs potions inside.
Rero observes me curiously.
I hand her the two potions. Rero takes them.
"Here you go, this is the potion I promised you for helping me. The other one is payment for the delivery you'll have to make, as per our contract," I tell her.
"I don't feel like it now!"
By not respecting the terms of the contract, the curse is activated, and Rero begins to go into heat.
She starts trembling from the aphrodisiac effect of the curse, which makes her particularly helpless.
"W-what have you done to me..."
"It's not easy to explain, but essentially, you're violating the contract you signed, and the penalties are being activated."
"How is that possible? What kind of magic is this?"
"I don't think you really want to know, Rero. Trust me, it's better for you to remain in the dark and respect the contract."
"What are you doing to me? I'll tell the professors."
The curse triggers, causing her to almost faint from the waves of pleasure.
"You can't resist, and you can't even reveal all of this. You signed the contract. The only way is to do what I tell you."
Rero would like to resist, but at the mere thought, the curse intensifies.
Rero finally gives in, and the curse's effect dissolves.
"Who the hell are you, Wagner?"
"I am the one who will give you power."