“My ma…she made the men in the bandit group fall in love with her so she could use them. She’d kiss them, and that would…excite her, so she could make pheromone-loaded thread. That’s what she used for the code…”
“I see—and it’s the same for you?”
“I think so… I mean, I’ve never tried.”
Souen had prepared a room in one of the houses, telling Glenn to use it however he wanted. There was a futon laid out on the floor in the room. Saki had probably been trying to be helpful, but it looked like she’d set the scene for their wedding night, and Arahnia’s bashfulness only enhanced the effect.
“So, then, let’s kiss and make the thread with pheromones. Sapphee, we need your help.”
“What about me, what about me, what about me?!”
“Sapphee…”
The shoji door was open slightly. They could see familiar lamia eyes peeking in and hear Sapphee muttering continuously.
Actually, Sapphee wasn’t the only one peering in. When Aluloona heard there would be relations between a man and a woman, she’d decided to watch for her own entertainment. There was one more large shadow they could see through the shoji.
“Sapphee, calm down.”
“How am I supposed to calm down?! Why does Arahnia get Dr. Glenn’s first kiss?! I’m the first wife!”
“I’m more surprised that you haven’t done it already.”
“It’s prohibited in Lindworm, and I couldn’t after all this time! I had so many plans for when we got to the east, even using Aluloona’s sake to create the mood! Wait a second… Tisalia, does that mean you’ve… When?!”
“No, I haven’t either. But if it’s going to happen eventually anyway, what does the order matter?”
“Ahhh, even Tisalia is casual about it! I am the first wife!”
“Hey, this is a necessary procedure. Sapphee…” Glenn called out to the two through the shoji.
They were doing this to extract pheromones. It was a natural part of arachne biology for more pheromones to be produced when coming in contact with the opposite sex. And if someone had to excite Arahnia, there was no one more appropriate than Glenn, her fiancé.
“F-fine! It’s just pheromone extraction, right? Then leave it to me, Sapphee, your pharmacist and first wife! You can always depend on me more than anyone else!”
Her emphasis on the whole first wife thing was rather excessive. Personally, Glenn didn’t want to rank his wives—but Sapphee’s anxiety about it was his own fault. Though he didn’t want to make distinctions between his fiancées, he resolved to do something for Sapphee later.
“We have quite the audience,” Arahnia said.
“I apologize. But we need someone to collect the thread.”
“Heh, it’s fine. Actually, it’s kinda fun to think that I’m taking something Sapphee wants,” Arahnia said, playing at being the villain.
They could hear the rattle of a snake tail. Glenn wondered why Arahnia was trying to pick a fight with Sapphee.
“Should we get started then, Doc?”
“Y-yes…”
Arahnia moved in toward Glenn. Apologizing to Sapphee in his heart the entire time, Glenn touched Arahnia’s lips with his.
“Mmm…”
Arahnia wrapped two of her arms round Glenn’s back and used the other two to hold his face in place. He was unable to move. Arahnia was in charge now.
“Heh. It looks like I get first pick…”
“Th-thanks…” Glenn didn’t know how to react.
“You haven’t done this with Sapphee yet, right?”
“Uhh, well…I-I mean, I plan to.”
“Heh. Well, I guess we have to show her, huh?”
Arahnia glanced over at Sapphee’s eyes, peering at them through the shoji screen.
They kept kissing. Each time their lips touched, thread was discharged from the bottom part of Arahnia’s abdomen—the part that looked like a spider. The fairies pulled the end of the thread, delivering it to Sapphee, who was rotating the handle of a manual spool to collect it.
“Ahhh… This…is how you make good pheromone thread.”
“I-is that so?” Glenn didn’t really know a lot about it, but it seemed the kissing was effective.
“Mmm…” Smack. “Heh…mmm.”
Arahnia looked like she was enjoying herself. She kept glancing over at Sapphee. Sapphee kept wrapping the thread around the spool, but she stared intently at Glenn.
“E-ergh…”
“Mmm-hmm. That’s good. You can go even further, y’know.”
“Don’t instigate him, Aluloona! I won’t stand for it!” Sapphee yelled back.
Arahnia was one of his fiancées too. It wasn’t Sapphee’s place to decide if she stood for it or not—but as the self-assigned first wife, she probably felt it was.
What is going on?
Glenn’s lips were locked with Arahnia’s. He could feel his head getting fuzzy. It reminded him of how Aluloona’s pollen and Plum’s bloodsucking felt…
“Mm, erg, mmm…”
“A-Arahnia?!”
Just then—
Arahnia took out a sake bottle that she had hidden in her kimono. She guzzled it down as if she were gulping water.
“Heh heh…it’s delicious.”
“W-wait, that’s not Aluloona’s sake, is it?”
“Yep. I’ve been drinking it.”
“B-but when?”
So it hadn’t all been stolen. And it was why he felt faint. Arahnia was drinking the sake and transferring the alcohol to Glenn by mouth.
She moved her red face close to Glenn’s, completely ignoring his protest. Sake dripped from her mouth and onto her bare chest. “Heh, what’s the problem? It excites me…and I can’t do something this embarrassing while sober.”
“Wait, but—”
“Mmm.” Arahnia wasn’t interested in listening to Glenn’s words. She pulled his face to hers, and he felt sake flow from her mouth into his.
“Mmm, mmggu…”
“Heh, tastes good, yeah? How does it feel to drink sake from your fiancé’s mouth?”
“I…it’s a little strong for me…” Glenn moaned. He almost never imbibed, so this was a bit intense for him. A little sake seeped out from his mouth.
“Arrrgh. I should have done that. Why didn’t I think of it?!” Sapphee lamented.
What was she talking about? Glenn had visions of her making him drink and drink, with no care for his limits.
There was one other thing that worried him. “Um, Arahnia?”
“Hmm? What?”
“Is this…your first kiss too, Arahnia?”
“Mmm?! Wha, er, uhh?!” Arahnia squirmed at Glenn’s question. She spit out the sake that was left in her mouth. “Well, uh…yeah, it’s my first.”
“Wait a second. But Aluloona, what about when she stole your lover?”
“That was just her predatory habits at play. Arahnia is a genuine virgin. She’s never even kissed anyone—it’s surprising she gives off such an experienced impression.”
“You in the bleachers! Would you mind shutting up?” Arahnia screamed toward the whispers behind the shoji. Her face was bright red—maybe from the sake, or maybe because the truth of her virginity had been exposed.
Still, she kept producing thread, as if prompted by those emotions. The fairies were hard at work collecting it, and Sapphee continued to spool it through the gap in the shoji.
“Ya know…I thought since it was your first time, I should take the lead, Doc…”
“Strange, I got the feeling you were coming on to me in the harpy village before…”
“D-don’t mention that! Oh, my god…how embarrassing!”
Glenn had brought up something from back in Arahnia’s predatory days. She covered her face, clearly embarrassed by her past. She was a completely different person now from the one he’d first met back in the harpy village.
He was glad his impression of her changed.
“Um, Arahnia. There doesn’t really need to be someone leading—”
“I need it! It’s a mental thing!”
Arahnia’s four arms were trembling and she had tears in her eyes. She looked exactly like Sapphee when she was sulking. Maybe they had these little similarities because they were best friends.
“I see. So it’s about setting a mood…”
Glenn thought to himself. They were performing this procedure in order to extract arachne pheromone. Though he wasn’t treating an ailment, he tended to interpret problems through a medical lens, and to take a medical approach to solving them.
In that case, perhaps she should have been the one to take the initiative?