NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21
Exposure is defense.
“In my day, even women wore chain mail to avoid being paralyzed by goblins, you know?”
It’s common sense to wear something for safety.
Especially since, on average, women are physically weaker than men, they had to wrap themselves up tightly just to survive.
“What a world, what a world.”
If someone from 500 years ago were still alive today, I might feel a tremendous sense of empathy with them.
“Don’t you think so, Lucius?”
“I don’t really know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? Lucius, think about it. You’re sitting by the campfire, sleeping, and the women next to you are sleeping in their underwear to receive the Divine Power of the Goddess. What would you feel?”
“I’d just let it be.”
“…….”
Lucius is serious.
That makes it even more absurd.
“Are you really a man?”
“…Master, that’s not what I mean.”
“What do you mean that’s not what I mean? If a really beautiful woman is lying next to you in just her underwear, wouldn’t your insides just be boiling?”
“Beautiful women are beautiful in their own way.”
Lucius shook his head with a resolute face.
“As a man, I might have those thoughts. But that is purely instinct as a man; I would never secretly peek or stare with ulterior motives.”
“Some people might feel differently?”
“…I’m a person too, isn’t that obvious?”
He seems a bit sulky.
“Who? Childhood friend? Or the Saintess?”
“Droniel is just a friend. Lady Yan Diere has only been kind to me.”
“I don’t see it that way.”
“Ha, are you saying that both of them have feelings for me?”
“Well? Are they not?”
“…….”
Lucius’s expression hardened.
Depending on the answer here, I could definitely figure out what kind of person Lucius is.
“…That wouldn’t be possible. There’s no way someone as beautiful as the Saintess would fall for someone like me, or that Droniel would like me.”
“Why?”
“Why would such beautiful people like someone like me?”
“……?”
Is this guy some sort of new deception technique?
“I’m just an ordinary village young man. Just a plain-looking, ordinary guy.”
“Um….”
He has an extremely low self-esteem.
I imagined the situations he must have faced growing up in the village.
“Did you not get along with your friends from a young age?”
“Friends….”
Lucius’s expression darkened even more.
“I don’t really know about friends. I was always alone in the village, and others, including Nerthio, always just isolated me.”
Oh.
“They always mocked me by saying, ‘This ugly guy is getting cocky.’ Droniel tried to comfort me, but they tormented me when she wasn’t around.”
“Were you not thinking of doing something about it with force?”
“Even if I fought and won, their leader was the village chief’s son. Unless I was prepared to leave the village….”
Fighting seems pointless.
Lucius has accepted the unreasonable treatment from his environment far too easily since childhood.
“Still, thanks to you, Master, I’ve gained confidence. I now believe that with strength, I can help the world too.”
“So….”
It’s a bit pitiful, really.
If he had grown up in a good family environment or as a noble, he might have turned into a famous lady-killer in the social circles, dating one noble young lady each week.
It was so sad to think he had grown up in this rural village without even knowing what kind of man he is.
Honestly, if I were him, I would have gone straight to the city, gotten hired as a butler for a noble family, and then tried to seduce some noble young lady immediately.
“Ugh.”
A genuine sigh escaped me.
“What’s the use of being handsome and having a good body? My insides are churning….”
“…….”
Lucius stiffened.
Suddenly standing up, I wondered if perhaps an enemy to the Holy Sword had appeared, making me tense up as well.
‘An enemy the Holy Sword senses but I can’t?’
That shouldn’t be the case.
If the Holy Sword detects danger, then I should too.
If not, it means I’m way too weak right now….
“Master, could you please say it one more time?”
“What?”
“That I’m handsome.”
“…You brat.”
Indeed, a man is a man.
“Does it make you feel good to hear you’re handsome?”
I tried to brush off my surprised heart and kicked Lucius in the shins.
“I don’t want to hear it again.”
Once is enough; why would you want to hear it again?
“Just follow me, you idiot!”
I stepped ahead, leaving Lucius who was standing there foolishly, and opened the door to the Adventurer Guild.
The prologue for revenge against Zephar was about to begin in this small adventurer guild.
*
The receptionist of the Norman Adventurer Guild, Hora Morzen, quickly scanned the woman who entered through the door.
“A sorceress.”
A somewhat dull and monochrome combination.
Unlike typical adventurers, she wrapped her upper body tightly in clothing, but it was understandable for a sorceress.
The power needed by a sorceress is Mana, not the Divine Power of the Goddess.
“I’m a bit uneasy, but her lower half passes.”
What adventurers absolutely need is preparation for danger, that is, safety.
Rather than awkwardly wrapping oneself in armor, it’s generally better to wear bikini armor to maintain agility and gain defense through divine power, allowing for a higher survival rate.
As for covering the top…
“I get that.”
Morzen bowed her head.
Then, placing her hand on her chest, she nodded heavily.
“You’re not at fault.”
Yes, Morzen is not to blame.
If there’s a fault, it lies solely with the sorceress who carries that vicious weapon within her.
“What brings you here?”
Still, Morzen is a professional.
Having started working as a receptionist at the Adventurer Guild before reaching adulthood, she has met countless people and learned how to deal with them without revealing her emotions, handling them in an administrative manner.
So….
A commotion was heard from behind, and before she knew it, Morzen turned her gaze back.
It wasn’t as if a diamond-ranked adventurer had appeared, so why all this fuss—
‘His face is like a diamond.’
The blonde man who entered through the door was handsome.
With a somewhat sharp impression, as if he was on guard, he silently approached the reception desk.
“Oh, um….”
“Master.”
‘What a voice.’
Morzen unconsciously clenched her fist.
With that low voice tickling her ears, she felt her mouth starting to water slowly.
‘But, Master?’
“Um, great. You arrived just in time. Hey, this guy is trying to register as an adventurer.”
“Adventurer?”
“Yes. Totally a newbie, a rookie.”
“Ah….”
Morzen rapidly looked back and forth between the two to assess the situation.
An exposed witch and a handsome blonde youth.
Since she was addressed as Master, it seemed that the witch had come to register him as an adventurer.
“The registration procedure for adventurers requires filling out forms, okay? Could you please come over this way?”
Normally, those who first register as adventurers just fill out the forms on the spot and that’s that.
However, if she just left these two standing around like this, the guild behind them, buzzing with adventurers, would become chaotic.
“This is the inner room.”
It was a reception room specifically for adventurers ranked Gold and above, but anyone would understand Morzen’s situation.
When the guild master comes, they would probably kick Morzen out to personally handle the registration process.
‘No way.’
This is a ray of light that suddenly appeared in her desolate guild member life.
Morzen led the two inside, wanting to enjoy the man’s face more, or rather, to maintain order in the guild.
“Um….”
The witch shyly sat down in a chair.
She tugged her skirt with her hands, looking extremely uncomfortable, and Morzen found that behavior incredibly silly.
‘If you’re going to wear a slip underneath and be embarrassed, why wear a skirt?’
You might as well go completely naked.
Morzen thought to herself.
That’s definitely….
“Master, here it is.”
“…Thank you.”
‘As I thought!’
The man took off his white coat and handed it to the woman.
He didn’t need to take it off, but he gave it, and the sorceress used the coat to cover her thighs.
‘What a daring woman.’
Making her call him Master and then trying to write history together in a dark place at night—she was certainly up to something.
Though Morzen felt twisted inside, she worked hard to maintain a smile and handed the adventurer registration form to the man.
“Just so you know, regardless of skill, you’ll be starting from Bronze, okay?”
“Bronze?”
“That’s Bronze Rank. Upgrading will be assessed based on completed quests and achievements.”
Did you not know that?
The words that would have followed were swallowed.
The moment she treats the witch poorly, that man would likely do the same to her.
“Indeed. Should I register as well?”
“Master?”
“Why not? It’d be fun to start from Bronze together. And the rewards will be double if we do it together.”
“That’s true….”
‘He smiled!’
The man scratched his cheek and smiled.
The man who had just moments ago appeared cold now acted like a simple puppy, making Morzen bite her lip.
“Then can we register as adventurers and take on Bronze quests right away?”
“Yes. It’s just simple quests regardless of skill, so you might be disappointed, but there are procedures in the guild as well.”
“Procedures are important.”
“Nevertheless, Master, starting with Bronze….”
“Think positively, Lucius.”
The witch laughed, patting the man, Lucius, on the shoulder.
“Even though we have nothing now, we’ll gradually fill things in, right?”
“…….”
“You and I, let’s aim for the top together. How about it?”
“…Yes, Master.”
Morzen left a small note in the remarks section of the sorceress’s adventurer registration form.
Caution: Daring.