Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist Chapter 57

"Sorry, Master." Yuna knelt down on the ground while prostrating in front of him and next to her was Yuu who was looking at him in the face.

Yuna placed her hand on her younger sister’s head before pushing it down to the ground immediately despite her sister’s protests.

She didn’t even know why she was kneeling... she just didn’t like the look in his eyes.

"Why are you kneeling?" He asked and she stiffened in place.

"I thought you were mad at me, Master..." She admitted while bowing her head down and Kōya sighed.

"I wasn’t... you can do what you like, it is your house after all." He said as he walked back to the kitchen. "The three of you should wait here for a bit... you’re going to help me test out something."

"Oh, is it food?" Yuu perked up immediately and Yuna gave a sideways glance at her sister. She was feeling okay now, which meant Yuna could absolutely ram the girl’s head six feet into the ground without feeling bad about it.

Kōya paused, though he didn’t show them his face.

"I... can’t cook..." With that, he speed-walked into the kitchen, leaving the living room in silence.

Yuu let out a quiet sigh.

"Don’t worry, Onii-chan... I can’t cook either." she muttered under her breath and Yuna immediately reached over and pulled her up by the ear.

"Not Onii-chan. Call him Master. Ma-st-er... do you hear me?" Yuna said through her teeth. They had to use the proper honorifics. What if he punished Yuu for the disrespect... or worse, punished Yuna for failing to correct her?

"Don’t include me in your fetishes, sis," Yuu said flatly, and Yuna scooped her up and deposited her onto the couch with a firm plop.

The younger girl bounced once, wrestled herself upright, and stuck her tongue out.

Meanwhile Victoria sat quietly and watched the two of them with an expression that gave nothing particular away.

Though she would have had to admit, if pressed, that she was just slightly jealous of Yuu. Her own older siblings had never been the playful type... they were more inclined to beat her whenever they crossed paths in a bad mood.

Watching Yuna toss her sister around with what was clearly affection underneath the irritation was a foreign concept to her.

Kōya returned from the kitchen with a small plate. On it sat five pills... three of one kind and two of another, both varieties completely unremarkable to look at.

"Yuck... is that medicine?" Yuu asked, and not only did Yuna glare at her immediately, but Victoria did as well. It was one thing when her sister glared at her...

It was entirely another when the woman who had healed her joined in the disapproval. Yuu felt her heart drop slightly and decided to keep her mouth shut.

"No, it’s not medicine, Yuu." Kōya said with the patience reserved for children who didn’t know better which was an accurate assessment.

If Yuna had said it, his response would be considerably different. "These are pills I made with materials from the Chemist. They’re going to do something to your body, and I want you to tell me what you feel. Take the white ones first."

He extended the plate to Victoria first. She took her pill and turned it between her fingers and it had an unfamiliar smell, but Kōya had made it, so she trusted it without question. He extended the plate to Yuu and Yuna and they each took one.

’A gift from Master...’ Yuna turned the small white pill between her fingers. Some part of her wanted to keep it exactly as it was... the first thing her Master had specially given her, excluding the bow that had now broken.

However, she was obviously meant to eat it.

"Are we meant to chew it or swallow it?" Yuu asked, which was actually an important question, and all three girls looked at Kōya expectantly.

"Swallow," he said.

All three swallowed at the same time and then there was a brief collective silence.

"I don’t feel any diff— Ooooh." Yuu let out a surprised sound as the muscles across her arms, her legs, and everywhere else grew denser all at once.

She looked down at herself with wide eyes. "Why is my body getting muscles?"

Kōya’s expression twitched. He probably should not have let a child participate. This had to constitute some form of child abuse under at least one definition.

Yuna gritted her teeth as the effect moved through her... she was genuinely growing stronger but there was a temporary quality to it like borrowed light. Victoria’s body showed no visible change, but she felt the difference somewhere underneath.

’So the pills work differently for vampires than for humans,’ Kōya thought, tapping his chin as he set the plate aside. His eyes moved to Yuna specifically.

"Yuna," he said.

She turned immediately. This was the first time he had called her name directly, without any instruction attached, and she was acutely aware of that as she looked at his face.

"Yes, Master?" She bowed forward slightly.

"Punch me," he said.

All three girls blinked.

"What... she should punch you?" Victoria tilted her head. "What about me?"

"I’m testing the effect on a human. You have vampire strength on top of whatever this gave you... are you trying to put a hole through me?" he asked. Victoria understood the logic completely. She still didn’t like it at all.

"Whatever," she said, and turned away in a manner that managed to be both sulking and somehow adorable.

Kōya had the brief urge to pat her head.

Meanwhile Yuna was trembling slightly where she stood. She had not expected the first thing her Master would say after calling her name to be an instruction to hit him.

"M-Master... I should punch you?" she asked, staring down at her own fist. It was brimming with strength that didn’t feel entirely like her own.

She did not want to hurt him.

"Of course. You need to learn to defend yourself. If that man from the Guild bothers you next time..." He looked at her steadily. "How are you going to protect yourself if you’re trembling like this?"

Yuna stared at her fist for a moment then she nodded.

"Alright. Here I come, Master," she said, and stepped forward, throwing a punch at his face. It was clumsy and telegraphed but he raised his open palm and caught it cleanly with a short, firm sound.

"You’re stronger," he muttered, using himself as a reference.

She was hitting slightly above his two-liner output without mana reinforcement, but nowhere near three-liner level.

Since it was a ten percent boost... This was reasonable.

He let go of her hand and she stepped back, trembling again though for an entirely different reason. She stared at the ground.

What was the punishment for raising her hand against her Master? Even under direct instruction? Would he make her wear a collar? Walk her through the neighborhood in front of the neighbors?

Her imagination went entirely off the rails.

"The pill was a success," Kōya said, and her thoughts ground to a halt.

The girls looked at him. He was smiling... it was small and genuine and the kind that reached his eyes. He seemed honestly, simply pleased that it had worked.

"Ten percent increase to base strength, nothing else affected. And as you felt, it’s temporary." He glanced between them as the effects faded, Yuu grimacing as the borrowed muscle disappeared and left her feeling ordinary again. "But it works."

He picked up the remaining two pills.

"These affect magic power. Keep them and use them when you’re in a real bind." He handed one to Yuna and one to Victoria.

Both closed their fingers around their pills immediately, holding on like they’d been given something that mattered.

"I’m done in there and the kitchen’s yours, use it however you want." He glanced toward the hallway. "Yuu, can you show me to the bat-?"

Yuna took a step forward before he’d finished the sentence.

"Master... I’ll prepare it myself." She bowed slightly. "Warm water or very hot?"

"Whatever you think suits me," he said.

She turned and moved past him at a near-jog, disappearing toward the back of the house. He stood in the living room with Yuu and Victoria.

Yuu looked up at him, went slightly pale for reasons he couldn’t immediately identify, then appeared to make some internal decision.

"Onii-chan..." she said.

He looked down at her... When did that happen?

"...Why didn’t you give me the other pill? The one you gave Yuna?"

He placed his hand on top of her head and patted it once.

"It’s for people who already have mana. When you awaken, I’ll give you one."

"Promise?" Her eyes went wide and bright in the way children’s eyes did when something actually mattered to them.

"Sure, sure," he said, and nodded.

She stared at him for one more second then spun around and sprinted up the stairs without another word, her footsteps thumping rapidly overhead before going quiet.

Kōya stared after her.

He settled onto the couch.

Victoria appeared beside him almost immediately, swinging her legs up and placing herself in his lap with the ease of someone who had long decided that was simply where she belonged.

He didn’t complain... She did, however, coil both arms around him with possessiveness.

"Are you trying to crush me?" he asked.

She pressed her face against his chest and didn’t answer for a moment.

"You’re treating that slave better than me," she said. "It’s not fair. I’m your wife, Kōya. You have a duty to treat your wife first, even if you plan on having other women... which I am fully against, I’m your fi-rst."

She stretched the syllable deliberately.

He placed his hand on the back of her head and pulled her gently against his chest. He wasn’t certain what he’d done wrong but the situation clearly called for acknowledgment.

"I’m sorry, Vicky," he said.

She immediately pulled back and looked at him with an expression of deep, considered disapproval.

"Don’t call me that. It’s a bad nickname." She puffed out her cheeks. "It’s what my insufferable uncle used to call me. I hate it."

"How about Tori, then?" he asked.

Her expression changed entirely. The irritation vanished and her cheeks turned red.

"R-really...?" she asked.

"You’re my Tori," he said simply, and pulled her back against his chest. "Calm down. Did you actually think I’d choose Yuna over you?"

Victoria settled against him properly this time and no longer coiled tight. She shifted until she found exactly the angle she wanted, then took a slow breath under his armpit.

"...Kōya," she said.

"What."

"You have that smell... The raw one." She tilted her head thoughtfully. "You know, I could clean you entirely with my mouth. My saliva is far more thorough than water."

She demonstrated her point by showing him her tongue, which was... slightly longer than a normal human’s. He hadn’t noticed it before.

Kōya looked at her for a moment then he started laughing.

"Pervert," he said.

"I’m being completely serious..." She hit both palms flat against his chest with moderate indignation as he continued. "This is a genuine offer, I am absolutely sincere—"

Just then Yuna appeared in the doorway, taking in the scene with a carefully neutral expression. She bowed slightly.

"Master... your bath is ready," she said.

Kōya stood, gently extracting himself from Victoria’s hold.

"Hold on... I’m coming too," Victoria said at once, unfolding from the couch.

He gave her a flat look. "So you can lick me in the bath? Absolutely not."

He raised a hand before she could respond. "We can bathe together later. I have something I need to do first."

She watched him disappear with Yuna. Her expression settled into something that looked, outwardly, like mild acceptance.

’Since I sat on his lap, Kōya is probably a little worked up,’ she thought, pulling one of the couch pillows to her chest. ’I’m that hot after all. And he’s seen my breasts and my ass both. He probably wants to handle that privately rather than burden me.’

She hugged the pillow tighter.

’We’re married, Kōya. I genuinely wouldn’t mind riding you until you’ve filled me completely with your baby batter but you’re so considerate. You’re waiting until I’m ready.’

She stared at the ceiling as her cheeks grew even redder.

’I love you, Kōya. I really do.’

...

Meanwhile, Kōya sank into the water with a quiet exhale. It sat at exactly the right midpoint between steaming and warm which meant Yuna had thought about it rather than guessed. He filed that away.

He picked up his ALI phone from the edge of the tub. He was returning to the Academy tomorrow, but since he was still technically on leave, the phone had been switched to the external network so he could use it with regular Keropolis Internet.

He opened the online shop and began scrolling.

"Individual points can buy anything, right...?" he muttered. "I need a new uniform for my height."

He scrolled past a few options.

’And it’s Friday... I should apply for another two-day leave to take Yuna and Victoria to the Outer Zone for training. And the System’s potential scan to find someone with a healing talent...’

He let his head fall back against the edge of the tub.

’I really have a lot to do. It’ll be a good weekend.’

...

The next morning, ALI Academy was in the particular kind of alarm that had nothing to do with monsters.

He walked through the front gates and people stopped. He was tall... immediately, noticeably tall and this mystery man was also wearing the standard ALI uniform with his hair half loose at the front and half tied behind, he had a yellow Class 5 tie and four crest lines visible from his right eye to his chin.

He carried himself without effort or performance, which somehow made him hotter for everyone looking.

Comparisons started immediately and not quietly.

Someone said he stood up against Itsuki from Class 1 without embarrassing himself... which was not a comparison made lightly.

This man was a four-liner prince, walking among the common students. How had nobody noticed him before?

"I feel like gouging their eyes out," Victoria said from his shoulder in a perfectly conversational tone.

Kōya sighed. He had genuinely tried to leave her at Yuna’s.

She had thrown a tantrum of such childishness that he’d eventually done the math and decided bringing her was simpler.

Pets existed in this world and a bat wasn’t strange in this apocalyptic world.

"Calm down, Tori," he said quietly.

He reached the Class 5 building. The girls clustered near the entrance looked at him with expressions he recognized and didn’t want to encourage.

He moved past them and stepped inside.

Several sets of eyes found him at once. Misora was surprised and worked hard not to show it.

Mio was equally surprised, and considerably better at hiding it and Ichinose who had been mid-conversation with a small group of girls glanced over and then looked again.

"Kōya-kun... is that really you?" someone asked from his left.

He walked past them. Extended conversation would make Victoria tense, and she was already on a short fuse this morning.

He made his way to Renji’s seat and stopped.

Renji looked terrible... he had dark circles, sunken eyes and the specific hollowness of a man who had not slept properly in several consecutive nights.

He looked like a soldier who had come back from somewhere he hadn’t been prepared for.

Kōya took a seat.

"What happened?" he asked. "You look like a disaster."

Renji turned to look at him and the desperation was immediate and completely unfiltered.

"Please," he said. "Kōya-kun, you have to save me. My girlfriend is trying to kill me."