The inn where Sora was staying had a more informal vibe than he expected. There was no reception area to greet people coming in and out. But when the widow who owned the property heard him descend the stairs, she poked her head in the doorway of the foyer and wished him a good morning.

"How'd you sleep?" (Widow)

"G-Good." (Sora)

"Your friend waited for you for 15 minutes." (Widow)

The Widow fell silent, as if expecting him to make a reaction. Though Sora's thoughts were focused more on the fact he'd just inserted into a horse, he obliged her with a show of apologetic surprise.

Inside, Sora did not want to see the girl who helped him from yesterday. He was half afraid that his recent transgression would somehow be revealed, that she would be able to use [Identify] on him and see his new title. The thought of how she would look at him made him feel sick.

Instead, he began the day simply by strolling through the town. But it was not long before he heard a familiar voice.

Her again. It was the girl who helped him out yesterday.

There was something suspicious about him that made her take an interest. After waiting for him and exchanging gossip with the Widow who owned the inn, she had eaten a light breakfast and taken a stroll, during which she caught sight of his distinctive figure.

As they had forgotten to make introductions yesterday, they made them now.

Sora, not forgetting the promise he made to himself yesterday to tell lies with bold conviction, decided to call himself "Lelouch", believing this name would make him more powerful.

The young girl introduced herself as "Herodiade Wolfheart Medici."

"Even their names sound Western" (thought Sora) "As expected of the other world!"

"But just call me Ada." (Ada)

"Ada...?" (Sora)

"Ada -- pronounced 'ardor'." (Ada)

"Ada...?" (Sora)

"Oh right! didn't you say you wanted to register at the Adventurer Guild?" (Ada)

 

* * * * *

 

The Adventurer Guild was located in the attics of an old tenement house, reachable by a narrow rickety stairway made of wood.

Now and then, as they made their way up, they would be forced to squeeze themselves against the walls to allow rugged-looking men and women on their way down to pass. Little dust-covered children would dart through their legs like cats, carrying messages back and forth between the levels. On some of the landings they would see a door that had been left ajar, and within, the shoe racks and coat hangers of someone's apartment. Sometimes the person they passed, intimidating as they looked on the outside, would greet Ada and Sora with warm courtesy. Other times, the person, as civil and foppish as they seemed, would ignore them or cast upon them a cold calculating glance.

From below and above they would hear the rough stomping of boots as Adventurers and emissaries made their ascents and descents.

Finally, with Sora a little out of breath, they arrived at the Guild Offices.

And indeed, they were very much a "Guild Office". Sora found neither a seedy tavern-like atmosphere nor the magnificence of a powerful institution, as he had come to expect from his manga. The air was stuffy. In the little light that entered the little portholes of the attic, Sora could see how the air was filled with floating motes of dust. There was an overall feeling of confinement. The attic space had been divided into 4 storeys for the purpose of the Guild, and the ceilings of all of them ended up being lower than normal. The walls were cluttered with files and miscellaneous objects, cramping the space further. The furniture was all sepia-colored,-- and whether this came from layers of dust or whether it was the color-scheme chosen by some official in charge of decorating the office, was hard to tell.

Indeed, it gave Sora the overall impression of an ordinary dull office back on Earth. Even the weapons lying around the entrance and the outlandishly dressed Adventurers sitting on benches in the waiting room did little to assuage the sense of dreariness.

It would be hard to pick a fight in this atmosphere at least, thought Sora. It felt as though there was hardly enough space even to stretch, much less swing a weapon. The Adventurers he saw were all hunched in their seats, as though they were afraid knocking their heads if they stood up straight.

"We'll take a seat oveerrr herrreee." (Ada)

They took a seat between two brawny men wearing leather armor over their clothes.

As they waited, Sora thought back on the light novels he'd read back on Earth. These kind of Adventurer Guilds would always have some kind of Identifying device, which would show a status screen of the target and reveal their true nature. He became anxious that the lie about his name would be revealed...even worse, his title!

He told Ada he wanted to stretch his legs. Then he began to pace the room.

What should he do? Should he ask her what the process of registering is, and see in advance whether he'll be identified? Should he just run away, go back to his room? Should he tell her he wants to register by himself, so at least he'll be spared in her opinion? Should he just assume that they won't have an identification item? Should he accept whatever comes?

Behind a cabinet full of twine and bottles of ink, he chanced upon the nook of a little gabled dormer window (these things). A cat that had been sleeping on a bundle of papers below it yawned and stretched as he approached. Too anxious to admire its cuteness, he stared absently at the buildings and the public square below, and thought again of the event that took place that morning. What a better window this was than the one in his room. What a better view it offered... Close enough to make out people's faces, but far enough to be himself unnoticeable. Overseeing a promenade where, on working days, housewives and young maids flocked to gossip.

Sighing, he took a seat on a bundle of papers beside the cat.

"I guess the safest thing is to tell her I want to register alone. If I ask her about the identification window and then tell her I don't want her with me, then it'll look suspicious. Someone who's smoother and better with words would be able to come up with a better solution. But this seems to be my only route." (Sora)

As he prepared himself to act, he suddenly noticed, a few meters ahead of him, the Receptionist at the table. He had not noticed her before due to the Adventurers cramped around him, whose gazes he was afraid to meet. But now he not only had an unobstructed view of her back and side, but he himself was hidden far away from everyone else, tucked behind a cabinet, and safe from the public eye.

"As expected", the Receptionist had an exceptionally large bust and full figure. However, she dressed in a manner that would, as much as possible, draw attention away from her body. She had on a plain dress. Above it she wore an apron-like vest, open at the sides, that bore the insignia of the Adventurer Guild and hid her shapely chest from the front view (though they were still visible from Sora's angle). Her dark green hair was tied back and covered with a stemmed beret. All in all she resembled a neat and tidy librarian or secretary type.

For the first time since he entered the world, Sora was filled with the desire to have sex with a girl. The stuffy, dingy atmosphere of the Guild Offices served to make his desire more irresistible. Because he was hidden from public view, separated from the others by a wall and a cabinet, he felt free to indulge in sexual fantasy without shame.

"I could do it... I could use it..." (Sora thought)

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he knew it to be the sort of temptation he would give into eventually. And, if he would give into it eventually, why not give into it now, and save himself some time?

Decisively, from the money bag he wore around his waist, he took out the legendary relic for the second time that day...

"Focus... Focus..."

This time he had all the time in the world...

He activated the targeting ability as he did that morning. Then he slowly slipped himself inside.

Ahead of him, he saw the unlucky young woman start in her seat.

Again it was too dry to enter easily. Hurriedly, he spit in his hand and resumed.

This time, the young woman pushed her chair away from the desk and looked down.

From an impartial point of view, this time felt at least a couple degrees less pleasurable than it did before he died and met the Goddess. However, the fact that it was real, that he could see her reactions in real time, that he was doing something forbidden, that he was literally enacting a hentai plot, that he was, in some way, conquering something,-- made it superior than anything he could feel by himself.

Though five seconds had passed in total, he felt himself already close to climaxing. But this was good. He wasn't trying to impress anyone. For the purposes of covertness, it was good to finish quickly.

The young woman was visibly trying not to make a noise. The Adventurers she was talking to were asking her whether she was alright. All of this increased Sora's delight.

Though Sora never particularly delighted in cruelty, rape, or humiliation before, he now "surrendered" to the pleasure he was feeling. It felt like an eternity since he last jerked off. He relished everything before him.

"Aghuuauuguuu..." (Sora)

"Lelouch? Lelouch?" (Ada)

"Uwaaahwaha" (Sora)

"Lelouch?" (Ada)

"Gagyuguu..." (Sora)

Sora felt himself freeze in front of Ada's eyes. He couldn't unequip his Legendary Onaho. He couldn't make an excuse. He couldn't run away. The lofty indifference that, only moments ago, he had felt toward everything in the world lost its conviction and wilted, pulse by pulse...

Ah! How had this once seemed like a good idea? How had this once seemed in good conscience? Who...was it he, who thought those thoughts...? he, who thought public opinion meant nothing...? that shame was all in the mind...? that passions were beyond the judgment of men...? ...Things that made sense no longer made sense, and things that didn't make sense, made sense again.

Confused by the intensity of his climax together with the shock of being exposed, he was as far away from being able to form a coherent sentence as the cat blinking its eyes sleepily beside him.

"Hmm?" (Ada, looking down)

She stood in silence for a few moments, trying to process the situation.

"What...what are you doing..." (Ada)

"Ahh...Ahhh...gawahga...?" (Sora) 

Now, unbeknownst to Sora, all that Ada could see was a boy holding his hand around his abdomen area and making a C-sign. She could see neither the legendary relic (which was perceivable only by Sora) nor the part of his body it equipped.

Being the type of person who liked meeting travelers and learning new customs, she innocently assumed that he was greeting her. She returned the greeting, then looked up with a satisfied smile.

"Anyways, we're next for your Guild registration. Don't make them wait!" (Ada, who instinctively treated Sora like a younger brother, though he was 3 years older than her.) "Come on! Come on!"

"I'm coming." (Sora, weakly)