NOVEL NEXT Chapter 65
Despite all the persuasion and temptation, Frida’s stubbornness couldn’t be broken, so Amy had to give up in the end.
While Hilde was drunk, Amy had an ambitious plan to create a done deal.
From the moment they first formed a party, Amy had been waiting for this opportunity, and her frustration was definitely justified…
‘…There’s nothing I can do.’
There were no alternative options.
With golden eyes that showed no sign of mercy, the girl glared at her, certain that she wouldn’t even touch Hilde.
Amy had no ability to move this little nuisance out of the way.
So the absurd argument that they could just let Hilde’s fingers reach them was mercilessly denied.
Both inserting fingers into Hilde and letting Hilde’s fingers enter her were off-limits.
Even suggesting a last resort—“How about you take her place?”—was met with only a response questioning her sanity.
‘Is this not going to work either?’
After sending Frida off as an appetizer, Amy even got rejected in her attempt to taste the main dish, Hilde.
In the end, all that was left for Amy was to lie beside Hilde and soothe herself with her beauty and scent.
“Uh… Mmm… Huh…!”
So that’s exactly what Amy did.
As long as she could stick close to Hilde, the opportunities would keep rolling in.
They could take this failure as a mirror and aim for a more certain chance next time.
There was plenty of time, still ahead.
◆◆
Frida also didn’t hinder Amy from comforting herself.
It was somewhat surprising and a bit unpleasant, but it was still within the limits of what she could tolerate.
In reality, she had no time to interfere.
Looking down at Amy, who had begun her comforting act with a bewildered expression, Frida was already at her limit of patience and restraint.
‘…Isn’t this okay? It’s not like I’m harming Hilde.’
A self-justifying excuse popped up in her mind.
Having not laid a finger on Hilde, she repeated this mantra to herself and, just like Amy, lay next to Hilde and started doing the same thing.
Squirming for quite a while, they finally fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.
And the next morning, the two woke up and decided to tease Hilde about “responsibility” to gauge her reaction.
It was Amy’s suggestion.
They wanted to see how Hilde would respond if “that kind of thing” really happened.
After a moment’s thought, Frida accepted the proposal, as she was curious about Hilde’s nature too.
Would Hilde show discomfort sleeping with someone of the same gender? Would she be flustered yet accept the act of sleeping together? Or would she actively step up to take responsibility?
Considering the future, it wouldn’t hurt to know in advance.
…Though, they never imagined it would lead to her fainting.
In any case, that was the backstory of last night’s events.
======[ Hilde ]======
Three days later. I returned to the adventurer guild’s request office.
Surely I’ve rested enough. It’s about time to work, work. If I rest too long, I’ll lose my touch.
Similar to how muscles deteriorate from prolonged inactivity, adventurers lose experience if they just play around without working.
Most adventurers, who spent several days splurging after raking in a quick buck, would be dead before they even realized they lost their edge once they returned to the dungeon.
Choosing a job that thrives on blade and blood means one should never let the blade run dry. That’s my philosophy.
For that very reason, I visited the request office.
Given the recent betrayal incident among adventurers, I was slightly worried they might have closed shop or something…
But thankfully, it wasn’t closed down. It seemed the number of staff, including receptionists, had decreased a bit, though.
“Someone has to take responsibility, you know.”
The receptionist told me the reason behind the decrease.
The negotiations with the Order were relatively smooth, but that didn’t mean no one could skip out on taking responsibility.
Ultimately, some had to shoulder the blame for the betrayals and “resign.”
From her joke about not knowing where the resigning staff had gone, it seemed they lost more than just their jobs.
“My former sup… Excuse me, the person who was my superior also resigned. The party I set up—meaning, your party, Hilde, had no traitors, but most of those he set up were traitors.”
With an exceptionally cheerful smile, the receptionist shared the news of her superior “getting dealt with” as if it were a pleasant tale.
“Ah… I see.”
I awkwardly smiled and responded accordingly.
So, this is how they’re determining accountability, huh? They probably lined up adventurers managed by the staff in order of the highest traitor ratio and did a clean sweep of the top.
Claiming that the guild staff couldn’t distinguish between trustworthy adventurers and those they shouldn’t trust.
“It’s really true. The guild endorsed the trust and credit for the gang of traitorous adventurers, and they threw anyone into that position.”
Were they really doing this?
Just calling it a termination is a nice way of saying it; it feels more like they were thrown out of this world than the guild.
Well, at least the conflict with the Order got completely resolved…
But whether to call this a rational decision or a bloodless, ruthless handling job is something I can’t quite figure out.
This guild is quite a fierce organization.
The moment the guild has a problem, they select a few underperforming staff to be sacrificed and thrown into the sea like junk.
Just like the blind Mr. Sim, who sold his daughter to a fishing boat for the cost of eye reconstruction surgery.
Is this a guild or a mafia?
Looks like the organization managing those living by the blade has quite a brutal handling style.
◆◆
“Speaking of which, Hilde, have you heard the news?”
While I was flipping through a stack of request forms the receptionist had handed me, she suddenly asked a completely random question.
“What news?”
I tilted my head slightly, asking back.
“Heid is reportedly planning to visit this place, Vespian. I’ve heard he’s looking for someone who has defeated a corpse giant and an abyss priest to recruit them…”
Thud.
I dropped the stack of request forms on the counter with my mouth agape. That name, which I could never overlook, thundered in my ears.
“Who? Heid?”
Heid Gardarick Hervor?
No way that bastard is coming here.
“No?! No, no! Hilde, even if you’re an adventurer, you shouldn’t talk like that…!”
The receptionist turned even more flustered, wildly looking around. She was scared someone else might overhear.
“Ah… I’m sorry. I got a little carried away.”
I bowed my head slightly and apologized.
“Even if you were flustered, that goes too far… I truly thought my heart dropped.”
It was no wonder the receptionist was confused. The name Hervor says it all.
The wielder of the Holy Sword Tirving, Heid is not only the hero of this country but also the firstborn of the current king.
A prince, after all.
Given the Hero’s Influence, Heid’s royal title went to his younger brother, but he remained a prince by blood.
It wouldn’t be strange if a mere adventurer spoke carelessly without proper titles and got executed for it on charges of royal insult.
“…So, the prince is coming to this city? Soon?”
“Yes. I don’t know the exact date, but it seems certain that he is coming.”
This was an emergency. Cold sweat dripped down my back.
“For him to come to a city like this… We’ll probably just be able to catch a glimpse and welcome from afar, but isn’t that exciting anyway?”
The receptionist had the face of a girl waiting for the prince on his white horse, spouting nonsensical chatter that I couldn’t relate to at all.
Right… Well, he is a prince and a hero, after all, so naturally, he manages his reputation meticulously.
Heid’s public image is that of a pristine royal and a steadily growing hero, with no room for criticism whatsoever.
So, the receptionist had every reason to be cheerful. It was an opportunity to see the hero from a storybook, even if it was from a distance.
“Well, I don’t know…”
Of course, I didn’t share her enthusiasm.
Expectations? Pfft.
That sneaky bastard is coming to find someone who defeated the corpse giant… That means he is personally coming here to meet me. Why would that ever be a pleasant affair?
If I didn’t want to become a pet doll, I had to pack my things and run at once.
Only Amy and Frida knew I had defeated the corpse giant. If anyone else found out, I could have easily been dragged into their harem.
Of course, I couldn’t completely rest easy.
Considering that my luck was at an all-time low lately, there might be a chance to stumble upon him inadvertently and getting caught.
So, the best course of action for me now was to eliminate any chance of running into him completely.
“Oh, I’ll take this request. Is that alright?”
“The escort job? Um… This request will take a bit longer; are you sure that’s okay?”
…Thus, I chose the escort request from the pile of forms, which seemed to take the longest time.
An ongoing assignment to escort a merchant heading to another major city, leaving Vespian.
What better excuse could I have to leave and avoid Heid?
I could just slack off there for a few days and come back.
“I’m not worried. I think I need to take care of Kikel too, and I had some business in that city, anyway.”
Moreover, unlike requests for adventurers above the standard, which require a party, I could take Kikel along since there was no restriction on ranks.
While Amy, Frida, and I were recognized as an expedition party, Kikel was still struggling as a bronze-ranked adventurer.
In the meantime, he had to focus on requests he could participate in, as he could only join ones available to bronze-ranked adventurers.
If we were to continue working together as a party, we needed to equalize our ranks first.
In other words, I was essentially saying I’d give him a ride on the bronze bus.
To be honest, there aren’t many adventurers willing to let that lizard guy join other than me, so he’s in a situation where he can accumulate achievements.
If left to languish, it would be anyone’s guess when he might get that bronze badge, so unless I cut ties, I’d have to personally nurture him along the way.