Akatsuki Translations

“Mirage-sama, it’s… it’s okay now. Please, stand up,” a barely audible voice squeaked from Astarte, shortly after Mirage had begun to prostrate himself.

Considering the time it had taken them to fall asleep in the same bed before, Mirage was taken aback by her request, but he stood up nonetheless, albeit with a hint of suspicion.

“P-please, don’t look at me so much.” -Astarte

As Astarte, with fidgeting hands and averted face, glanced sideways at Mirage, he felt a small wave of relief. She was still clearly embarrassed, but at least she didn’t seem to be ignoring him or planning to shut herself in her room like before.

And then, with a timid demeanor, Astarte slowly approached Mirage and threw herself into his chest.

“Eh?” -Mirage

“C-could you… stay still, please? Could we… teleport to my room for now?” -Astarte

Mirage, completely clueless as to what was happening, prepared to activate his teleportation magic. But the moment he gathered his magical energy, a sharp pain ran through his entire body.

“Just as I thought,” Mirage muttered to himself, managing to create a teleportation gate despite his discomfort.

“Come this way, please.” -Astarte

The destination was Astarte’s private room in the Illusion Castle, as directed. Upon arrival, Mirage was immediately pushed down onto the massive bed in the middle of the room.

Thinking about how the tables had turned and how his body refused to cooperate, Mirage decided to simply surrender to Astarte.

“Just relax, Mirage-sama. I’ll do the moving.” -Astarte

“Eh, ah, um, thank you,” Mirage mumbled, his voice filled with confusion.

As he lay on Astarte’s bed, he couldn’t help but notice the pleasant smell. His eyes wandered around the room, taking in the bookshelves filled with medical and historical texts, strategy guides, and books on magic, as well as a shelf filled with lab equipment, medical tools, and vials of various substances. There were also art supplies, musical instruments, and tea, all neatly organized, a testament to Astarte’s meticulous nature.

“Alright, I’m going to undress you now,” Astarte said, gently removing Mirage’s clothes.

During their previous training session with illusion magic, only Mirage’s upper body had been exposed. This time, however, he was completely undressed, leaving him in just his underwear.

A masked naked man and a beautiful girl straddling him – the scene was starting to evoke more than just a hint of criminality.

“Astarte, you sure you’re not pushing yourself?” -Mirage

“I’m not. It’s still a bit embarrassing, but I can handle it. And I think there might be some pain since it’s my first time, so please understand. They say it feels good once you get used to it, so I plan to continue this daily. Please make sure you come back.” -Astarte

Mirage was taken aback by Astarte’s response, wondering what had gone on in her head to lead to this. He had tried to intervene, thinking she might be overdoing it, but Astarte had responded calmly, her cheeks slightly flushed.

There were many aspects of the situation that could be probed deeper, yet it seemed that Tart-chan had already come to terms with it. In fact, not only that, but it was surprising to learn that she was already resolved to continue this in the future as part of getting accustomed to it, even mentioning that it would be done every day.

“I’ll prepare, so please wait a moment,” Astarte said, then left the bed and headed toward the shelves of supplies.

“Certainly, preparation is necessary,” thought Mirage, as if trying to escape from reality, while gazing at the back of Astarte.

If Belzebuth-sama were to witness such a scene, he might be killed.

However, it would be impolite to refuse at the last moment, and since it’s gone this far, there was no choice but to brace himself.

While Mirage was lost in such thoughts, Astarte returned holding a wooden box about the size of clasped hands.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” -Astarte

Astarte climbed back onto the bed, straddled Mirage’s stomach, and leaned close to his ear. Her sweet scent tickled his nose, her smooth hair brushed against his cheek, and her breath teased his ear.

“Astarte, that tickles a bit.” -Mirage

“Please bear with it. It’s decided that we start with the ears.” -Astarte

“…Who did you hear that from?” -Mirage

“I read it in a book.” -Astarte

“I see.” -Mirage

Understanding dawned on Mirage. Books were indeed wonderful entities that provided various kinds of knowledge, but at the same time, they vividly reflected the author’s way of thinking.

The author’s experiences, preferences, knowledge, ideologies, and various other factors blended together, resulting in a single book that spread throughout the world.

Even if what was written deviated from the common sense of society, if the author thought it ought to be started from the ears, it would be started from the ears, and if from the feet, it would be from the feet.

“W-Well then, Mirage-sama, here I go.” -Astarte

“Okay, Tart-chan, do as you like.” -Mirage

At the sound of Astarte’s tense voice in his ear, Mirage responded gently. It wasn’t his preference to be at someone else’s mercy, but his body was too worn out to resist. However, seeing Astarte’s kindness, he found no reason to refuse. He felt Astarte’s beautiful, snow-white fingers touch his ear.

“Oh…” -Mirage

“Mirage-sama, are you alright?” -Astarte

Mirage had involuntarily let out a sound, and Astarte whispered her concern into his ear.

“I-I’m fine. Just keep going. It was just more than I expected. But you’re surprisingly good at this for your first time, Astarte.” -Mirage

“P-please don’t say strange things! I just… When I thought about your body, Mirage-sama, it just came naturally.” -Astarte

Mirage couldn’t see Astarte’s face as she sat by his ear, but he could tell she was blushing, looking both a little angry and embarrassed.

Her diligent observation of Mirage, coupled with her ability to reproduce his image with illusion magic, proved useful in these moments.

Then, Astarte slowly moved from his opposite ear to his neck, shoulders, and chest, gradually descending.

Simultaneously, the position where Astarte’s small buttocks were seated also moved from around Mirage’s navel to his lower abdomen, and a little further down.

“If you weren’t wearing this mask, I could have done the same on your face…” Astarte muttered, seeming slightly regretful.

A sting of pain shot through Mirage’s chest as he watched her.

“If you’re going to do it in so many places, I’m satisfied. When I feel better, I’d like to do the same for Tart-chan.”  -Mirage

“D-Don’t say strange things! Mirage-sama, you’re truly a bottomless fool. Do you think I would allow recklessly exposing myself like this? Think a little with that deficient brain of yours before you speak!” -Astarte

From Astarte’s perspective, it seemed she was fine with performing these actions, but not receiving them.

Seeing Astarte berate him with a cold gaze, Mirage was relieved that she was still the venomous Tart-chan he knew. Had she started acting differently, it would have thrown him off balance.

Perhaps Astarte had naturally softened her attitude because she was overly worried about Mirage’s condition.

But for both Mirage and Astarte, this level of familiarity is typical between a member of the Four Heavenly Kings and their deputy.

Even though they had caused a small accident, Mirage felt more comfortable with the current situation than if they were both overly conscious of each other.

“Sorry, sorry. Can you continue the treatment?” -Mirage

“I suppose I have no choice but to continue. With Eastern acupuncture treatment, your head might get a little better just like your body.” -Astarte

“I don’t know about the head, but it might be suitable for the damage toward my magic gate and magic circuit.” -Mirage

Acupuncture treatment is a medical practice passed down in the East. It is believed to improve the flow of Ki, which runs through the meridians of the body, by inserting needles into the acupoints scattered throughout the body.

This concept of Ki is very similar to magical energy, and one can consider the acupoint as the magic gates and the meridians as the magic circuit.

Of course, there are differences if one gets into the specifics, but it should help heal the damaged organs within Mirage’s body.

Yes, Astarte is undressing Mirage and inserting extremely thin needles all over his body for needle therapy.

“I was surprised when the teleportation magic was activated late.” -Astarte

“You noticed after all, huh?” -Mirage

“I’m always watching you, Mirage-sama. Thanks to that, I was able to remain quite calm. But thinking about you doing reckless things in the future gives me a headache.” -Astarte

Sighing deeply, Astarte continues to insert needles into Mirage’s body.

To begin with, Astarte’s attitude was quite unnatural.

When she had previously ended up sleeping with Mirage, she had locked herself in her room and avoided facing him. Astarte has no resistance to the opposite sex.

Therefore, Mirage thought it would take time to recover from this incident.

However, on the other hand, she could have physical contact with Mirage during training or treatment and showed no signs of discomfort, as long as she didn’t think of him as the opposite sex, she would take surprisingly bold actions.

Thanks to Mirage’s battered state, it seems that Astarte’s concern outweighed her embarrassment, allowing them to have a normal conversation. Astarte, who cares about the people and soldiers, may sometimes be harsh in her words, but at heart, she is a sincere and kind girl.

“I don’t want to be reckless, actually, I don’t even want to work. When all the problems are solved, I’m going to retire to the mountains.” -Mirage

“Ah, that part of you, Mirage-sama, never changes.” -Astarte

Astarte sighs again, clearly exasperated.

The desire to spend the day reading hadn’t changed for Mirage, neither now nor in the past.

He already has enough assets to live leisurely for thousands of years.

If it weren’t for lingering regrets, Mirage would want to lead a life of reading books from morning till night, gathering books from all over the world.

“This is the end. It might be just a placebo, but I think it will get a little better.” -Astarte

While continuing the treatment during their conversation, Astarte now begins to dress Mirage.

Mirage, who had returned from a masked pervert with needles stuck all over his half-naked body to his original form, slowly sat up and drew Astarte closer.

“W-What is it, all of a sudden?” -Astarte

Despite her words, Astarte didn’t resist, and nestled into Mirage’s chest.

Mirage extended his right hand to Astarte’s head nestled in his chest and began to stroke it gently.

“I made a mistake earlier, so I thought I’d properly do it now.” -Mirage

“Jeez, stop reminding me of that when I was finally starting to forget. To begin with, doing such indecent things is unforgivable for a woman. I will never forgive Mirage-sama for his actions. Even if I were to sever your head right now, it wouldn’t satisfy me. I’ll continue to work you to death as my deputy when I become one of the Four Heavenly Kings. I will never forgive you, even if you cry and apologize. I won’t even allow you to die on your own.” -Astarte

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.” -Mirage

Astarte’s horns pricked Mirage’s neck slightly.

While Astarte unleashed a torrent of resentful words as if she had reached her limit, Mirage returned her words while firmly embracing her small body.

Then, like comforting a small child, he rhythmically patted Astarte’s back, remembering how he had been calmed down in this way by his father who had been bedridden with illness, over and over and over again.

“I hate you, Mirage-sama. I hate your careless personality. I hate your know-it-all attitude. I hate how you can keep a straight face even when I insult you. I hate how you know things I don’t. I hate how you treat me like a child. I hate how you manage to solve problems I can’t and show off about it. I hate how you do reckless things and hide them.” -Astarte

“Yeah, I know.” -Mirage

Astarte’s words pierced deeply into his heart, while he felt his chest grow damp.

Holding onto Mirage’s back with both hands, Astarte clung to him with all her strength, trembling but gripping him firmly as if expressing her current feelings.

“And by the way, I also hate the design of your mask. Honestly, I question your sense of style. It’s amazing how you can wander outside without feeling embarrassed in that getup.” -Astarte

“I’ve heard that many times. It hurts, can you stop?” -Mirage

Mirage, smiling bitterly beneath his mask, began to gently stroke Astarte’s head a little more forcefully.

Her soft hair did not entangle with Mirage’s fingertips, instead, it accepted all his movements.

From outside the window, sunlight from the now higher-positioned sun streamed in.

“Also, please come here every day for further treatment. If you absolutely cannot come due to circumstances, contact me every night instead. If you don’t contact me for several days, I’ll use the seal of approval to invade the Valois Kingdom.” -Astarte

“I can’t promise, but I’ll try to keep it as much as possible.” -Mirage

“Also…” -Astarte

Saying that, Astarte moved her hands from Mirage’s chest, separating her body from his.

“Please take responsibility properly, Mirage.” -Astarte

Bathed in the sunlight, her silver hair glowed, and with crimson eyes and traces of tears, Astarte, smiling, looked stronger and more beautiful than anyone else in this world.