Chapter 1374: Guilty? Not Guilty?

I looked around the forest, panicking at the sight of the fire as I was wondering just what could cause the forest of a goddess to burn like this.

Right then, footsteps came from behind me and I swivelled around, expecting to see some kind of monster or something that might be the cause of the fire.

But standing right there in all her naked glory aside from a towel hanging around her neck was Drebann, the goddess smiling at me like she was out on a morning stroll.

"Hello, Aster~ Fancy seeing you here again~ Having fun with your life so far?"

I blinked at her before gesturing around me, "Umm... I don’t want to make you panic but... Your forest is on fire..."

She wiped her brow with the towel on her shoulders, making me wonder if gods even sweat in the first place, "Oh I know. This is the forest of Fire Trees after all. Of course they would be on fire."

I blinked at him before letting out a sigh, "Ok... Yeah sure... Of course that’s the reason, why would I even think otherwise? Yeah... Don’t mind me."

She chuckled, "Ahahaha~ It’s alright, I totally understand. You found yourself in a different place than what you expected after all so it’s no wonder that you’re confused. Let me guess... You thought Nilali came over to burn my forest or something?"

I won’t lie... I actually did think that was what happened...

She chuckled, "Ahahaha~ You’re always so funny, Aster~ She won’t do something like that. Not unless I did something really bad to her. Come on then~"

...

Why do I feel like that has happened before?

The goddess snapped her fingers and the scenery around us changed to a normal forest clearing, one that I was familiar with when I visited Drebann.

There was also a garden that was filled with red flowers that I remembered was the Flower of Return that she gave me the last time... The same flower that had the power to bring someone back from death... And there’s an entire garden full of them right over there.

Drebann noticed my gaze and smiled, "Do you need more? You can go ahead and take them if you like, they’re in bloom right now so I’ll have to trim them later."

"Aren’t these like... Really precious artefacts or something?"

"Hmm? Not really. They’re just flowers."

"Flowers that can bring someone back from the dead? Isn’t that a pretty big deal?"

"I don’t need flowers to do that so not really? And it’s not like there’s no other way to do the same thing either."

Err... I guess that’s true but... I suppose trying to figure out a goddess’s sense of value is pointless.

Not that my own sense of value is useful in the first place but that’s beside the point.

Drebann then dressed herself in her usual hawaiian outfit with the unbuttoned shirt that just barely hid her boobs from view but completely exposed her cleavage.

"So~ What brings you here today, Aster?"

I tilted my head at her, "I would have thought you would know by now... Considering the fact that you brought up goddess Nilali as well..."

"Well, it’s always nice to hear it come from the person themselves, you know?" She chuckled before pulling out a pair of scissors to start tending to the garden of the red flowers.

I rolled my eyes, "I may have forced myself on someone and I’m seeking forgiveness from goddess Nilali."

"Mmm~ How interesting. I thought she told you to drop the ’goddess’ part like we did?"

"I mean... I’m in trouble right now so I should be more respectful right?"

"You’re in trouble? I don’t remember anything happening for you to be in trouble though?"

I blinked at her, "Err... I guess you weren’t paying attention when it happened because it most definitely happened..."

"Hmm... But I have been paying attention to you though? I haven’t seen you do that. But then again, I suppose you shouldn’t take my word for it. You’re here for Nilali anyway, right? Should I call her here or do you want to visit her yourself?"

"I mean... I’m seeking her forgiveness so I guess I should be going to her instead of making her come to me right?"

She chuckled, "If that’s what you want~"

Why does she sound so amused by that?

She then turned to me and snapped her fingers again, giving me the sensation of falling for a moment before I found myself standing on a cloud.

Hmm...

I looked around to try and see where I was before a pair of hands hugged me from behind and a sense of warmth filled me.

"Welcome to my domain again, Aster~ It has been a while hasn’t it?"

I froze up, "Ah... Ahh... Goddess Nilali..."

"Hmm? Why are you suddenly so formal, Aster? Just call me Nilali like I told you~"

"Because... I did something unforgivable..."

"Oh my? I don’t believe you have though?"

"I... I forced myself on two people..."

"Ufufufu~ That’s funny~ Is it one of your plays, Aster? I know you have pretend sessions with your lovers as well~"

"No, no... They weren’t my lovers before this... While it seemed like they didn’t mind it afterwards... I still forced myself on them..."

She giggled, "Ufufufu~ Alright, alright. I can see that you are genuinely upset about this so I shouldn’t keep this little joke going on any further~"

Eh? Joke?

Nilali waved her hand and the space in front of us seemed to morph before the figures of Tsara and Ira appeared.

Both girls looked confused as they looked around the place, clearly not expecting to appear here.

"Hello Tsara~ Hello Ira~ It is very nice to meet the both of you~" Nilali greeted them.

Tsara looked at her and immediately froze up in shock.

On the other hand, Ira was narrowing her eyes at her, "Who the fuck are you? What did you do to us?"

"Mmm~ Who I am isn’t important but you can rest assured because I am on Aster’s side, you see~ It’s just that my poor, poor girl is convinced that she actually forced herself on you when you didn’t want her to and right now, she’s really beating herself up about it. So is it true that she did that?"

Ira scoffed, "Ha? Of course not. I was just surprised she was so forward at first, that’s all."

Tsara also quickly shook her head, "No! She definitely did not!"

"Mmm~ Perfect, that’s all I needed from you two~"

Nilali waved her hand and the two of them disappeared before either of them could say anything else.

"Are you convinced now, Aster?"

"I mean... They’re only saying that afterwards though..."

"Fufufu~ Not quite. Although I suppose there is no way for you to know this so here you go~"

She waved her hand again and something akin to a screen appeared in front of us, showing the dressing area of the arena.

I was wondering why she was showing this to me when I realised this was a recording of the past as Ira and Tsara were pushing against each other as they approached one of the counters that had a staff giving out the coloured chokers.

"Hello~ Which colour would the both of you like?"

Both girls paused in their shoving to look at the clerk.

"What if... There is only one person who we want to be penetrated by during the event?" Tsara asked.

The clerk showed her a knowing look, "Ah, Lady Aster, is it? Well... It’s not allowed of course, since it’s either all or nothing for this or it would be quite unf--"

"Let me handle this," Another female clerk butted in.

She placed two white chokers on the counter and nodded at the two girls, "Specially enchanted for the both of you by Madam Nilm. Be grateful. Only Lady Aster will be able to penetrate you while you are wearing that."

...

That’s Mary isn’t it? Just that she transformed herself to look like a staff member...

The two girls picked up the chokers and eyed the disguised Mary curiously.

"This will only allow Aster to fuck us?"

"Only if you want to. If you do not wish for Aster to take you, just take one of the normal chokers. But just know that if you wear that, we will take it that you are expressly indicating that you want to be taken by Aster. Take it or leave it."

Both Ira and Tsara looked at each other.

"Well... I suppose I would be lying if I said I didn’t want it..." Tsara sighed.

Ira clucked her tongue, "You really are a slut."

"A slut for Lady Aster’s affections perhaps. Is that such a bad thing though?"

Both of them stared at each other before they put on the chokers at the same time.

The screen vanished and I was left staring at an empty space.

Nilali giggled, "They’re just a little shy, Aster~ See?"

"Why does it feel like everyone’s just playing around with me..." I sighed.

Nilali hugged me again from behind, "Ah, don’t blame them, Aster~ You are just too lovely and cute. In order to preserve that, it’s sometimes necessary to do things like that~"

I have no idea what she’s talking about, but now I’m concerned with something else. Something I didn’t get to do enough the last time I was here...

"I wanna touch your boobs, Nilali..."

Come on... They’re practically in my face already... You can’t expect me not to want to touch them...

"Fufufu~ Go ahead, Aster~ They’re all yours."

Squish squish squish~