Chapter 22
After that day, Sophia and I decided to restrain ourselves until we reached Marta.
The longer a tail, the more likely it is to get stepped on, so there was no need to risk our adventure for a moment of pleasure.
Siwoo seemed suspicious of the two of us for several days, but eventually decided it was just his imagination and didn't say anything.
But anyone could see that he kept worrying about us.
“Siwoo, can I talk to you for a moment?”
It can't be helped. I need to clear up this misunderstanding.
Not that it was actually a misunderstanding, but still.
During a break, I called Siwoo aside and broached the subject.
“What's wrong with you lately? Why do you keep watching us?”
“Hyung, it's just… N-no, it's nothing…”
“It's not nothing. You're worried about what Sophia and I have going on.”
“……”
“Ha… You really are dense. Were you always this timid?”
“But you and Sophia…!”
“Don't you realize Sophie is trying to make you jealous?”
“…What?”
A plan to clear up Siwoo's suspicions while making him stop worrying about the two of us.
The so-called jealousy strategy.
It wasn't true, but it was more than enough to work on this naive pushover.
“Ever since the day you awakened as a hero, you've kept your distance from Sophia. She's been waiting for you all this time.”
It's a lie.
Actually, Sophia was the one who had kept her distance. But if I said this, Siwoo was exactly the sort of guy who would think, ‘Was I doing that…? Yeah, I was, wasn't I…’
“She wants to get along with you like before, but ever since that day, it feels like there's been some distance between you two, so
isn't this her way of getting you to take the initiative?”
“Ahhh…!”
“No matter how close Sophie and I are, like family, we weren't this close before, were we?
Once you realized that, you should've taken the initiative and tried to get closer to Sophie. Why are you pointlessly suspecting us and moping around by yourself? Seriously, ha…”
“I'm sorry! I didn't know any of that…”
“And if Sophie and I were like that, would I put her between us when we sleep? Next to another man?
I'm sleeping on the outside on purpose, because I'm thinking of you.”
In fact, it had been Sophia's idea.
Sophia said that being beside Siwoo filled her with a sense of guilt, which made her even more excited than usual, and that she wanted to sleep in the middle.
When I complained, she slyly touched my cock under the blanket.
“…Hyung, I'm really sorry. I got anxious.”
“What exactly are you so anxious about?”
“Sophia seems to avoid me now, unlike before… I'm anxious because it feels like she doesn't like me anymore…”
“Ha… Sophie is the same as you. Because you keep acting timid, she gets anxious and acts like this. Try being a little more proactive.”
“Yes, I understand. I'm sorry, and thank you.”
“Don't thank me, idiot. I'll get attached to you.”
Whether Siwoo believed my words or not, his behavior changed after our talk.
Whenever we walked or ate, he stayed beside Sophia and kept talking to her.
Sophia found Siwoo's changed behavior annoying, but when I promised to fuck her until morning once we reached Marta, she happily responded to Siwoo.
Thanks to that, Siwoo's morale recovered, and we arrived at Doje Village in good spirits.
====
“Huh? Aren't you kids from Minamo Village? What brings you here?”
Fortunately, we ran into a villager who remembered our faces, and after entering the village chief's house without incident, the chief welcomed us with a bright smile.
The village chief often came to visit our village every quarter, so we were acquainted.
After exchanging greetings, we told him that we were heading to Marta to become adventurers.
We didn't mention Goddess Aria or the hero.
We had agreed to reveal that only after we had gained some strength.
The chief worried about Sophia, saying he couldn't believe her parents had allowed it, but when he saw Siwoo, his expression hardened and he grew angry.
“You little rascal, what's this nonsense about becoming an adventurer? The guards are recruiting next month—what about that? And you're talking about becoming an adventurer?”
Siwoo merely looked apologetic without saying anything else, so the chief clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Kids these days don't know the ways of the world. Tsk, you could become a guard and live safely, so why become an adventurer and go wandering around in danger?
If someone beside you says they're going to become an adventurer, you should know to stop them. Why'd you just eagerly say you'd follow along? Huh?”
“I'm sorry, Chief… But I was the one who brought up becoming an adventurer. I have a dream that can't be fulfilled by becoming a guard. Sophia and Deokbae hyung are helping me pursue it.”
“Damn it! Don't give me that dream nonsense.”
Although he still wore an expression full of discontent, the chief didn't say anything more. He seemed to respect Siwoo's decision.
Even his anger was probably because he was worried about Siwoo… He's an old-fashioned man, but a good one.
“Tsk! Let's eat first! We'll talk later. …By the way, can we have some of Deokbae's cooking today?”
“If you'd like some, of course I'll make it for you, haha.”
What kind of host asks a guest to cook for him?
I take that back. A curmudgeon is still a curmudgeon.
Even so, after we finished eating, the chief told us everything he knew about Marta.
From information on Marta's lord and its guards to the various trading companies and mercenaries, the chief told us which people were trustworthy and which were dangerous.
As I recorded everything in my notebook, the chief lowered his voice and brought up another topic.
“But listen… It'd be best not to go to Marta for the time being.”
“What? Is something happening in Marta?”
When Sophia asked in surprise, the chief lowered his voice even further.
“Well… It seems something has appeared along the road to Marta.”
=====
According to the chief, merchants from the Jie Trading Company in Marta should have come by, but they hadn't appeared for several weeks.
A villager named Fred, frustrated by the uncertainty, had set out to confront the Jie Trading Company, but contact with him had been lost as well.
Worried, his family went looking for him and found bloodstains and his crumpled shoe on the road.
Based on these three things, the chief claimed that a monster had appeared along the road to Marta, that it was hostile to humans, and that it attacked anyone who came near.
It sounded plausible.
The chief told us to wait until the people in Marta noticed the situation and sent either guards or adventurers to deal with it, but… we decided to set out anyway.
“Oppa… Do you think it'll be okay?”
“We're not going to solve anything right away; we're just going to check it out first.
If we can deal with it, we will; if it seems beyond us, we'll quietly wait in the village.”
“We're people who've received power from the goddess. Those who have power have a responsibility to match.
We can't just pretend we don't know about Uncle Fred and wait around forever. We have to save him.”
No, you lunatic, I said we'd only check it out! What are you talking about?
It looked like a quest had popped up, but no matter how I thought about it, it didn't seem like one we could clear on our own.
But it also didn't seem like a quest we should abandon. If we just kept an eye on things and waited for Marta to send a subjugation party, we could get a free ride.
We'd clear the quest without much effort, and fighting alongside the subjugation party would earn us favorability, which would help us get established in Marta. It was killing two birds with one stone.
Besides, it was an early-game quest. Surely we, who'd even received the goddess's blessing, wouldn't end up in danger?
I'd come this far based on that reasonable line of thought… but that bastard Siwoo really seemed intent on solving it himself.
Was that the kind of mindset that had made him a hero?
How annoying.
After reiterating that we were only going to investigate, we walked to the place where Fred's shoe had been found. As we'd been told, there were bloodstains on the ground.
The stain was much larger than I'd expected, so he must have lost quite a lot of blood. I wondered if it might already be too late to save him.
“From here on, walk carefully and keep watch. If you see anything even slightly strange, get ready to run immediately.”
“Mmm… Got it!”
“Yes!”
Unlike the self-assured Siwoo, Sophia answered in a tremble, apparently nervous.
Seeing her like that made me tense as well.
I took a deep breath, let it out, and slowly stepped forward.
-Whoosh!
-Thud!
Right then, something small and round fell right in front of us.
This looks familiar…
A black, round body with a burning fuse stuck into it…
A bomb?