Chapter 24
Elena walked listlessly the entire way from the smithy.
She kept lightly kicking the stones at her feet as though staging a protest.
"Uncle."
"What?"
"Are you dating that lady? Ow!"
I drove my fist into Elena's head.
"Don't say things like that, even as a joke, in front of Barie. She's a noble."
"She's a noble?"
"Yes. So stop talking nonsense and focus on what you need to do."
At my dry answer, Elena pouted and continued walking. Her face was full of discontent, but she didn't ask anything else.
On the way to the guild's parade ground.
The morning streets were lively. Merchants were putting their wares out on stalls, while adventurers bustled about in their gear.
"Miss Elena! Good morning!"
Just then, the shopkeeper on the corner opened the door and waved at Elena.
"Ah! Good morning, ma'am!"
Elena answered with a bright smile and a wave. A housewife passing by also recognized Elena and greeted her cheerfully.
"Oh my, Elena. Are you off to work again today?"
"Yes! It's a big job today."
"It's Elena. Good morning."
"Good morning to you, too, sir."
"It's big sister Elena."
"Big sis~."
It seemed Elena was fairly well known in this neighborhood.
Quite a few people greeted Elena as we walked down the street, from the fruit-stall vendor to the employee at the vegetable shop.
Elena returned each greeting with a bright smile.
She got along with people without keeping her distance.
Even though she had only moved to this street recently, everyone remembered her face.
'So this is what Elena's everyday life is like.'
It was something I could never have known from the game. Because so much time was skipped through the game's time-acceleration system, it never showed her everyday life.
Even considering how Elena was treated in the official story, it would have been difficult for her to enjoy such a peaceful atmosphere.
A peacefulness that could never be seen in an adult game.
But even in this peaceful scene, tension flowed among the people.
"Elena, come here for a moment."
The bakery's proprietress suddenly grabbed Elena by the sleeve. As I picked out some bread, she kept furtively gauging my reaction, then lowered her voice to whisper.
"That person is, um, Eck, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"I heard you travel with him, but he hasn't done anything awful to you, has he? The rumors are terrible. Surely the reason you still don't have a boyfriend at your age isn't Eck, is it?"
"N-no, that's not it. Uncle isn't that kind of person. He treats me really well."
"Really?"
Elena flinched and hurriedly waved her hands as she defended me.
But the proprietress's suspicious gaze did not easily go away. Instead, she kept sneaking glances in my direction and clicking her tongue.
I can hear you, ma'am.
Never underestimate an adventurer's hearing.
But I tactfully pretended not to hear.
"What are you whispering about? The owner of this place has a customer trying to buy bread, so what are you loafing around for instead of doing business?"
"Yes, yes. Coming!"
But when she came to stand in front of me, the proprietress fumbled nervously as she rang up the bread I had picked out.
That was how the reputation of a villainous tutorial boss worked. Eck's reputation as a foul-tempered bastard was gradually spreading to Elena, too.
The game had never shed light on details this small, but it was time I started taking measures.
'Though I do wonder why I have to suffer and atone for the sins Eck piled up.'
It was unfair, but if I turned my eyes away from reality, even problems that could be solved would remain unsolved.
As we left the bakery, I gave the bread to Elena and tore off a piece for myself as we continued down the street.
It was a peaceful scene beneath the warm sunlight.
Having just dealt with the Red Moon, one major problem, I felt languid and unhurried. Perhaps I was sleepy because I had stayed up all night.
According to the original scenario, this was the time when Eck would have been demanding money or her body from Elena under the pretext of collecting tribute.
He would have made her sit beside him in the guild dining hall and fondled her breasts and groin.
He had even sat her between his legs and shamelessly done things that would make the guild's adventurers avert their eyes while pretending not to know, even though they all knew.
'Eck, you bastard.'
Whenever I recalled Eck's past actions, my head began to ache.
Because, for all intents and purposes, they were things I had done.
On top of that, walking through this street with Elena reminded me of what had happened in the game.
"Tsk."
I clicked my tongue without meaning to.
This was the place where Elena had been forced to perform shameful acts, wearing a collar and crawling naked on all fours while passersby mocked and despised her.
The jeers hurled by the very people greeting Elena now remained embedded in my mind.
It had all been erased from reality, but it remained firmly in my memories.
'No wonder it took a year when he did things like that.'
A year in which he let Elena's talent rot while forcing her to perform the hardcore sexual spectacles unique to adult games.
At this point, Elena was stronger than the Elena who existed in the game at the same point in time.
She had steadily built a solid foundation, advancing step by step in accordance with her talent.
The Elena who used to trip over her own feet at the drop of a hat was gone.
The Elena who infuriated the player every time and was raped by monsters was gone, too.
'So far, things are going smoothly.'
If things continued like this, she would be able to repel the monster wave with ease when the time came.
That was when I was eating my bread with satisfaction.
I felt someone's gaze.
Unlike the neighbors who were showing interest in Elena, these people were watching us from a distance.
Unpleasant gazes came from the gloomy shadows of the back alley, fixed on us.
Rat-faced bastards.
'Since I have some time, I should clean things up today.'
They noticed that I had spotted them, turned into a back alley, and disappeared.
***
The guild's parade ground.
The adventurers were finishing their preparations to head out hunting as their party members joined them.
When Elena arrived at the parade ground, her party members were already there waiting.
The party members were in good condition.
Hans and Duke, who were gradually adapting to their female bodies, maintained their original roles. The skills they had honed throughout their lives had not disappeared; only the way they used them had changed.
Mira looked after them. According to Elena, they were still having trouble because they couldn't even properly hold in their urine.
Everyone was clearly nervous, but their hands gripped their weapons firmly.
I gave Elena a light push on the back.
"Uncle, aren't you coming with us?"
"I'm not going."
Elena's shoulders hunched slightly.
She gave me an uneasy look.
I met her blue eyes head-on.
"Why not?"
"You can do it even without me. I trust you because you're you, so I'm leaving this to you. Stay strong."
Her wavering gaze soon hardened with determination, radiating a sharp fighting spirit.
Seeing how her mood changed so quickly over just a few words made me uneasy because she was so guileless.
'No wonder she kept getting deceived so easily.'
An adult-game heroine was supposed to act like one, but there had been times when that had infuriated me even when I hadn't wanted to watch a sex scene.
For a third-rate adult game, its combat had been surprisingly well designed, which only made it more infuriating.
Elena stepped in front of her party members, led them forward, and headed toward the forest.
***
Elena's steps toward the eastern forest were light yet vigorous.
In her mind, she ceaselessly reviewed the troll's ecology and how to counter green magic.
"Elena, we really can do this, right?"
Hans approached her and asked.
Hans answered, still surprised each time by the fact that this pretty older sister had originally been a man.
"Uncle said I could do it. So I can do it."
"That would be nice..."
Hans muttered uncertainly.
From Hans's perspective, only a few days had not been enough to produce any meaningful improvement in her abilities.
Just as Hans was growing uneasy inside,
A derisive snort rang out.
"Elena, you really crawled out here without running away? Your arrogance is something else."
Clap, clap.
The people who appeared while applauding were all dressed in matching clothes.
The clan whose uniforms featured a white base and yellow trim was the 'Yasmello' Clan.
The clan adventurers from Yasmello fell in behind Elena's party.
A girl about Elena's age led them.
"Daryl. What brings you here this time?"
"You should call me Party Leader Daryl."
Daryl curled one corner of her mouth and snorted.
"An adventurer who doesn't even know basic courtesy is crude from the way she speaks to the way she acts."
She looked Elena up and down.
"I told you last time, didn't I? When you meet a senior adventurer, isn't it common sense to bow your head first? Look at you, staring straight at me and talking back. Could you not advertise that you learned your manners from stray dogs in a back alley?"
The clan adventurers standing behind Daryl snickered and laughed derisively to please her.
"Ah, right. You must have learned that from the has-been who does nothing but guzzle liquor in a corner of the guild like he owns the place. Is that vulgar attitude all Eck taught you? I don't even need to see how Eck trained you to know."
It was an obvious provocation.
Daryl had been coming to pick fights with Elena frequently for the past few days.
I didn't know why.
She had started showing up recently, and she attacked Elena with a sharp tone whenever she got the chance.
"What brings you here this time?"
"Can't you tell by looking? This is why novice adventurers are so oblivious to their surroundings."
The equipment prepared by the clan adventurers gleamed.
Long spears, harpoons with hooks, thick ropes as large as an adult man's forearm, and flasks filled with fire oil.
Supplies for hunting a troll.
They were the standard troll-hunting supplies Uncle had told her about.
"We're the ones supposed to hunt the troll, aren't we?"
"You should be grateful."
She was suddenly demanding gratitude.
"I, Daryl Yasmello, have been assigned to clean up after you. Don't worry about failing. Throw yourselves at it with all your might, and even if you get thoroughly crushed, that's fine. Once the troll has toyed with you to its heart's content, I'll subjugate it and, while I'm at it~ while I'm at it~, rescue you, too."
She twisted the corner of her mouth, and every word dripped with ridicule for Elena's party.
"That mission was originally ours."
But Daryl's eyes soon grew fierce.
"Darko was supposed to initiate the plan, and we were supposed to carry it out. But that idiot had to stick his nose in where it didn't belong and completely mess things up. He couldn't even take responsibility in the end and just got beaten by someone like you. I'm ashamed to have someone like that around me."
"...."
Elena remained calm.
She took a breath, trying to maintain her composure so she would not be provoked by her opponent's words.
"If you want, we can get our stories straight and say we attempted the subjugation, then handle it for you."
"No, thank you."
"Why? You can't defeat a troll on your own."
"We'll be the ones to defeat it."
Elena said that and turned to look at her party members.
Though they trembled as they faced the clan adventurers, they shouted with Elena's support.
"Yeah! We can do it, too!"
"Mr. Eck vouched for us, too!"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
Elena drew strength from their support as well.
"You won't need to step in."
"Hmph."
Daryl covered her mouth and laughed with an exaggerated gesture.
"There's a limit to not knowing your place. A party with no backing like yours is going to hunt a B-rank monster like a troll? Even a passing goblin would laugh itself sick."
Daryl shrugged.
"Fine. Go ahead and do whatever you want. I'll watch from a distance and laugh as you get gutted by that troll, then laugh it off even while I rescue you."
"....Let's go."
Elena led her party toward the troll's territory.
***
'That stupid bitch.'
Daryl mocked her inwardly.
'Your arrogance will eat you alive.'
Daryl had already looked into every member of Elena's party.
Did it make any sense for a party made up of F-ranks to hunt a B-rank monster like a troll?
It was absurd.
There was no way such a miracle would occur, and their fate had already been sealed.
The troll had been designated as a special specimen even among B-rank monsters.
Superior regenerative power, excellent magical abilities, and boundless stamina. It was said that possessing even one of those qualities made a monster unbeatable by anything of the same rank or lower.
The troll would pick the party members off one by one, and whoever it was would have to satisfy the troll's lust right there.
"All four of them are quite beautiful. Once we take down the troll, may we play with them?"
"Make sure they can never act so cocky again."
The clan adventurers cheered.
After they had walked for some time,
Daryl's party also entered deep into the forest, keeping their distance from Elena's party.
Elena's party carefully concealed their presence in the troll's territory while checking the map.
"Why are those guys moving so slowly?"
"They didn't prepare as thoroughly as we did."
"They're going to fight a troll with just that? Tsk, tsk."
The party members grumbled as they fiddled with their troll-hunting equipment.
The equipment gave them confidence.
Their fear disappeared.
"Kroooaaah!!"
Just then, a troll burst out from deeper in the forest with a roar that shook the underbrush.
"Help me! Aaaaah!"
"T-the troll!"
The troll, which had crossed the distance in a single burst, slammed a thick vine down in the middle of the party.
The vine ruptured with a crack and instantly destroyed Daryl's party's formation.
"W-what are you doing?! T-the troll's here! Do what we practiced! S-spear! Spear! What are you doing with the rope?! Shields!!!"
But the troll had already driven deep into their midst, turning the party into chaos and roaring as Daryl flinched and sank to the ground.
The B-rank monster troll.
It ravaged Daryl's party in an instant.
Their complete annihilation came in the blink of an eye.
"N-no..."
Daryl's legs gave out when she faced that power firsthand, and after finishing its assault, the troll reached out with its brutish hand and grabbed Daryl around the waist.