HEO 115

4.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣ ⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁣Wolf slowly opened his eyes.

He must have fallen fast asleep at some point. The smell of alcohol and the dry, musty scent of old fur lingered in the air. And the scent of irises had grown fainter and more subtle.

He rolled his eyes to survey his surroundings. The fire in the hearth had nearly died out, and it was dark all around. The only thing within his line of sight was Silver, whom he held tightly in his arms. Even then, all he could see was the top of Silver’s head resting against his chest. Silver’s breathing was even, suggesting he was fast asleep.

A thought suddenly struck him. That thing. Had it gotten smaller?

It seemed to have shrunk. Unlike when he was completely lost in the moment and pounding into Silver, there was no throbbing sensation down there.

Good, it’s shrunk nicely. Retreat, retreat! Carefully, carefully.

Even though he was being as careful as possible, Silver must have woken up. His body twitched, and then he quickly lifted his head. His cold gaze pierced Wolf. A single sentence came out of his mouth.

“Pull out.”

“……I’m pulling out.”

“If you can’t pull out this time, I’m going to kill you.”

It didn’t sound like a joke.

“I understand how you feel, but please bear with me. Don’t you know about rigor mortis? If you kill me, the situation will get even worse.”

Wolf feigned nonchalance and shifted his hips backward.

Get out fast, you little bastard. When the landlord tells you to leave, you leave!

Surprisingly, it complied this time. Silver pushed Wolf away while cursing. Wolf scrambled to his feet.

“Let’s go wash up. There’s an outdoor bath behind this house.”

“I know, you bastard. I’ll wash up on my own.”

“Don’t do that. I’ll help you…”

Silver gave him a menacing glare, and Wolf swallowed the rest of his words. Silver roughly pulled back the curtains and stepped off the bed. The door slammed shut. The sound of footsteps walking down the hallway faded into the distance.

“Ha. Fuck.”

Wolf sat on the bed and splashed water on his face. He was so stunned and baffled that he couldn’t even laugh. How could he have ruined his first time like this?

Damn it! Goddamn it!

He lowered his arms, clasped his hands together, and took a deep breath. He inhaled and exhaled more than twenty times, then slowly unclasped his hands. Then he slipped the ring off his left pinky finger. The rusty ring had left a faint mark on his skin.

Wolf set the ring on the nightstand and opened his mouth. Even though Silver couldn’t possibly hear him, his voice came out as thin as an ant’s.

“Hey.”

〔What?〕

“Explain this right now, you son of a bitch. My dick.”

〔Scope of question ambiguous. Please rephrase more specifically.〕

“Ugh.”

Wolf rubbed his face with both hands. That damn parasitic demon’s memory was barely better than a sow’s– one that couldn’t even remember how many piglets she’d given birth to three days ago –and to make matters worse, it was incredibly slow on the uptake. He had no clue where to even begin explaining.

Late that evening, when he’d woken up to the strong scent of irises, he never would have imagined that a secret locking mechanism was hidden in his genitals. Who would have imagined it? It was like expecting a crossbow to shoot out from some part of your body whenever you were in danger; nobody in the world actually believed that.

The knot in question (ha, fuck, what a shitty name) appeared suddenly one day, during that year when fever visited him regularly, like a regular customer. He woke up after a sound sleep, and it was just there. It was an unsightly growth, but it didn’t hurt. His urine still flowed freely as usual. Since it was a thing that was useless for anything other than peeing, and he was certain it would never serve any other purpose until the day he died, he had lost interest in it almost immediately.

But then. But then!

“…I’m a Type 1 mutant.”

Wolf withdrew his hands from his face and spoke.

“My penis. I mean, that loop-shaped lump of flesh that suddenly appeared at the base of my… you-know-what. What is that?”

〔The structure in question is a mass of vascular tissue located at the base of a Type 1 male mutant.〕

〔Formed during the active onset phase of Type 1 male mutant manifestation.〕

〔In a dormant state, it maintains only standard blood circulation.〕

〔During sexual intercourse with a Type 2 mutant, this tissue becomes engorged and swells, forming a temporary connecting mechanism……〕

The biological explanation went on for quite some time. As always, it was riddled with incomprehensible terminology, but he got the gist of it.

“So, here’s the thing.”

Wolf raised one hand.

“You’re saying my dick has a locking mechanism. Like a door latch.”

〔Metaphorically speaking, yes.〕

“So that lock mechanism activates every time I have sex. And it takes quite a while for the latch to release on its own.”

〔Understood correctly.〕

Wolf fell silent and stared at the ceiling. A black spider was crawling along a beam. It was an ugly bug, but it was a superior creature to him.

At least it doesn’t have a latch on its dick, right?

〔It doesn’t activate every time you have sex. It’s only activated during the heat cycle of Type 1 male mutants, and only when their arousal reaches extreme levels.〕

〔It can also be activated during states of extreme psychological arousal, but such cases are very rare.〕

〔Statistically, it occurs primarily during the first sexual encounter that takes place during the heat cycle.〕

It was almost merciful, in [Read on]a fucked-up way. At least he wouldn’t have to stand on the gallows every single day.

“That’s brilliant. A curse designed to ruin one’s first experience. It seems the god who fashioned the Stoll people’s bodies had a temper just as mischievous as his craftsmanship.”

After that sarcastic remark, he returned to the main topic.

“I… did ‘that’ with a Spruce. During my heat cycle.”

〔If “that” refers to sexual intercourse, it was an appropriate emergency survival measure.〕

“Looks like you’ve forgotten all about it again. You never told me about the lock on my dick. You recommended I have sex with a Spruce right away if I didn’t want to die, but you left out the explanation for that part. You didn’t tell me in advance the information I absolutely needed to know before sticking my dick into someone, you fucking bastard.”

〔Unjustified complaint.〕

〔The detailed operating principles of the penis do not constitute mandatory disclosure items for emergency survival measures.〕

“Usually, people cover that kind of stuff too, you fucking bastard.”

〔I have no obligation to voluntarily provide unsolicited information.〕

〔Your negligence for failing to conduct a thorough preliminary check.〕

The tendons on the back of Wolf’s hand bulged. Never had he wanted to beat that parasitic demon senseless more than he did right now. If that bastard had a physical body, he would have tied it up tight right here, hung it upside down, and made it chant “It is my fault for being slow and clueless” fifty million times.

Wolf barely suppressed his rage and asked.

“Anyway, I did it. I properly resolved the heat cycle, right?”

〔If your partner is definitely a Type 2 male mutant.〕

“Definitely. He was giving off pheromones too….”

Wolf trailed off. He pictured Silver’s body, which he had confirmed through sexual intercourse.

“Anyway, it’s definite. That guy is definitely a Spruce.”

〔In that case, the heat cycle issue is temporarily resolved.〕

〔You can enjoy stable bodily functions until the next cycle begins.〕

That meant he’d bought himself three months. Wolf closed his eyes and exhaled gently. The heat cycle had struck just one week after Silver suddenly vanished. The symptoms were beyond imagination. The periodic fevers he’d endured over the past year would seem like child’s play by comparison.

At least for three months, his entire body wouldn’t feel like it was burning alive. He wouldn’t be woken by a heat that felt like it was melting his bones, nor would his breathing become ragged from a thirst that scorched his throat. The urge to smash everything to pieces would also subside. His thoughts wouldn’t melt away like butter in his head either.

Fine. As long as it ends well, everything’s fine.

“Then tell me everything you know about Type 1 male mutants. Every last detail. Since I’ve already been briefed on manifestation, heat cycle symptoms, and how to handle them, leave those out.”

〔Type 1 male mutants are the only beings capable of impregnating Type 2 male mutants.〕

“……Huh?”

It was a bolt from the blue right from the start.

“The only ones? Not just any man?”

〔That perception is a distortion of knowledge caused by the massive loss of traditional lore.〕

〔Type 2 male mutants can only be impregnated by Type 1 male mutants.〕

〔In particular, the probability of conception rises significantly if intercourse occurs during the Type 2 male variant’s heat cycle.〕

〔That is all.〕

Wolf was at a loss for words. Pregnancy?

Pregnancy…….

Come to think of it, it was stupid of him to only just now bring up the issue of pregnancy, even though he knew full well that Spruces could conceive. Anyone who understood the basics of sexual intercourse would naturally consider the possibility of pregnancy. It was as obvious as the sun being hot, a knife being sharp, or an apple falling to the ground.

Even though it was so obvious, Wolf hadn’t thought of it. The days he’d lived without sexual desire had been so, so, so long.

“So… does that mean I’m going to be a dad? Do I have to start a family?”

Baby.

Dad.

Family.

These were words he had believed would never exist in his life. Yet they had suddenly barged into Wolf’s life, planted their flag without permission, and taken over. His ears buzzed as if a bell had rung right next to him.