"W-Well... see you tomorrow, Leon," Clara said.
She was already dressed again and standing just outside my apartment door.
Honestly, it felt a little surreal seeing her like this. Just a few minutes ago, we'd been fucking each other until neither of us could barely move anymore. Now she was back to being the shy, slightly awkward Clara I knew.
The contrast was honestly kind of funny.
I wasn't about to point that out, though.
"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you back?" I asked. "At least as far as the bus station?"
She quickly shook her head.
"It's fine. I can handle it on my own."
She hesitated for just a second before giving me a tiny smile.
"Ba-bye."
After saying that, she turned around and started walking away.
She looked... happy.
Really happy.
Her steps were a little lighter than usual, almost like she couldn't help herself. She didn't even seem to realize she was practically humming to herself.
I leaned against the doorway and watched her leave.
Well...
I also couldn't help watching her ass while she walked away.
I mean, after everything we'd just done together, I felt like I'd earned at least one last look.
Yup. No regrets.
I honestly couldn't believe I'd fucked her ten times.
Ten.
Even saying that number inside my own head sounded ridiculous.
When exactly had I become capable of pulling something like that off?
Did my STAMINA really increase that much?
Because if someone had told the old me that I'd someday manage something like this, I would've laughed right in their face.
Actually...
Before I got carried away thinking about that, there was something I wanted to check first.
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You've unlocked one of Clara's PREFERENCE!
Hardcore Sex (Masochistic)
Clara has awakened her desire to be dominated. She enjoys hardcore sex and possesses masochistic tendencies. Some of her future QUESTS will involve these preferences.
These kinds of QUESTS will remain available even if her STATUS advances beyond SEX FRIENDS, since PREFERENCES permanently become part of a person's character.
Reward: 5♥︎
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"I see..."
I scratched the back of my head.
"Well... that's pretty interesting."
Actually...
That sounded like it'd be pretty useful later on.
The system really had a habit of revealing things after I already stumbled into them.
Still, I honestly never expected Clara to have masochistic tendencies.
Then again...
Thinking back on everything we'd done together...
It really wasn't that surprising.
She'd practically been waving those signs in front of my face the whole time.
Looking back now, they felt painfully obvious.
So obvious, in fact, that I was honestly wondering how I'd managed to miss every single one of them.
Seriously.
I could be unbelievably dense sometimes.
Maybe the system should've rewarded me for finally noticing something instead.
That would've been nice.
Still...
Would this actually end up being a good thing?
I didn't really know.
There wasn't much point overthinking it right now anyway.
Whatever happened later would happen later.
For now, I had something much more important to focus on.
Tomorrow's exam.
I wanted to be in the best condition possible before taking it.
Even now, I still had absolutely no clue how my INTELLIGENCE stat was supposed to carry me through an actual written exam.
Would the answers suddenly become obvious?
Would I think faster?
Would I somehow become a walking calculator?
Who knew.
The system had pulled off weirder things before.
At this point, questioning it felt kind of pointless.
It had never really failed me.
So the smartest thing I could do now was get some proper sleep and trust that things would work themselves out tomorrow.
With that in mind, I closed the apartment door.
The moment it clicked shut, a loud voice suddenly echoed through the hallway.
"Why haven't you prepared anything yet?!"
The shout was loud enough that I instinctively looked toward the wall.
It was coming from Ma'am Minerva's apartment next door.
That definitely sounded like her husband.
"It's not easy to prepare something like that when you only told me about it today, Honey," I heard Ma'am Minerva answer.
Even through the wall, her voice sounded calm.
Or maybe she was just trying very hard to stay calm.
"My friends are going to be here any minute, and you're telling me you still haven't finished preparing everything?!"
From what I could gather, he'd apparently asked Ma'am Minerva to prepare something before his friends came over.
Something along those lines, anyway.
"I already told you it isn't my fault that it's difficult to prepare. Can't you understand that?"
"So you're talking back to me now?!"
A loud crash echoed through the apartment.
Something shattered.
Glass?
A plate?
I couldn't tell.
"You don't get to talk to me like that! Your only job is staying at home and cooking for me! Now you can't even do that properly? Huh?!"
I frowned.
Things sounded really bad over there.
Honestly...
I was starting to get worried.
What the hell was her husband doing?
I'd noticed before that he was rarely home.
Most of the time, it was just Ma'am Minerva by herself.
Back then, I'd already thought he was a pretty lousy husband for leaving his wife alone almost every single day.
But hearing this...
He wasn't just a lousy husband.
He was an outright piece of shit.
Someone like him didn't deserve Ma'am Minerva.
She'd always treated me kindly.
She'd gone out of her way to cook food for me every now and then.
She never expected anything in return.
She was the kind of person who naturally looked after others.
A woman like that deserved someone who appreciated her.
Not some bastard who spent his time yelling at her .
Should I go over there?
I found myself standing in front of my own door, quietly thinking about it.
Before I could make up my mind...
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NEW QUEST
Comfort Minerva
Reward: +10♥︎ Affection
Requirements: 50♥︎ Minerva's MOOD
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"So the system's giving me a quest now, huh?"
I stared at the notification for a second before letting out a quiet breath.
Well...
It looked like this was going to be an opportunity.
Now that I'd seen what kind of scummy bastard her husband really was, I honestly couldn't feel guilty about wanting to steal her away from someone like him.
If anything...
A woman like Ma'am Minerva deserved a whole lot better.