Chapter 20
After a morning spent chasing and being chased, one man and one elf girl finally reached an agreement over a single maple-leaf-shaped mark.
It was only the third day of their routine, but the two of them were already comfortably eating breakfast in the inn’s first-floor dining hall.
Seonghyeon watched Suyeon shovel food into her mouth with a warm gaze, and Suyeon promptly told him he was being creepy.
It was an ordinary day, just like any other.
But then, something appeared to shatter their daily routine.
A woman in full-body armor approached Seonghyeon.
As the two of them chatted in clothes that were little more than pajamas, a woman clad in fantasy-style armor suddenly appeared before them, and Suyeon looked at her in admiration.
“Wow, armor this early in the morning.”
“Shh, be quiet.”
When Seonghyeon hurriedly raised an index finger to his lips, Suyeon looked between him and the woman, unsure what was going on.
The woman, arms crossed, looked at Seonghyeon and began to speak.
“Oh my, Mr. Raine. So this is where you were.”
“You came knowing I live here, didn’t you, Councilor Sarastra?”
“That’s right. I like how quick you are, Mr. Raine. I heard you weren’t joining this subjugation force?”
“I gave it a lot of thought. I have no intention of changing my mind.”
“Why? Is it because of that cute slave over there?”
The only part of her exposed by her full-body armor was her face, and even objectively speaking, she was beautiful.
She had a fierce look, as if she might devour someone, flowing red hair, sharp eyes, and thick lips—in short, she was a Western-style beauty.
Seeing this fearsome woman point at her, Suyeon swallowed the food she was chewing without even chewing it.
She was so startled she couldn’t even cough.
“Well, it’s a long story. In any case, I’m staying with that slave.”
“What an adorable slave. She’s tempting enough to make me want her...”
Seeing the pure, 100% villainess-like greed in Councilor Sarastra’s smile, Seonghyeon stepped between her and Suyeon.
“If you have no business with me, please leave.”
“Oh, I think I do have business with you. More precisely, with our Mr. Raine joining the subjugation force.”
“Only if I can bring my slave.”
“Then, if you can bring her along, will you join the subjugation force? Of course, I’ll guarantee your slave’s safety.”
At Councilor Sarastra’s bombshell, Seonghyeon fell into thought.
Join the subjugation force with that clueless, green-as-a-new-sprout friend of his?
He’d naturally dismissed the idea as impossible, but the subjugation force would protect that girl?
“I don’t think I can give you an answer right away.”
“That’s all right. There’s still plenty of time before the subjugation force departs. I hope you make the right choice, Mr. Raine.”
She spoke as if making a declaration to Seonghyeon, then left.
Suyeon belatedly came to her senses, looked at Seonghyeon, and stretched her lips into a sly grin.
“Mmm~? You two looked awfully close. Look at you, the protagonist of an isekai story. Wow~ How many have I seen so far? The Labyrinth guide, the Adventurers’ Guild clerk, the librarian, and now a big-sister knight?”
“Hey, it’s nothing like that, so shut up.”
“Why not? Why don’t you try conquering your childhood friend now?”
“Ha… It’s not like that.”
Seonghyeon wiped away the cold sweat running down his forehead.
He should tell Suyeon about that terrifying Councilor Sarastra, too.
If only she would stop grinning and making snide remarks like that.
Annoyed with Suyeon, Seonghyeon stretched his own lips into a grin and needled her right back.
“You were quite a sight just now. You swallowed your food and froze up, unable to say a thing.”
“Ugh… That’s because a pretty older lady singled me out like that.”
“You don’t even know what she said. That’s Councilor Sarastra, one of the central figures in the Labyrinth City. She’s level 19, and her class is Paladin. She’s extremely dangerous.”
“She didn’t sound dangerous. You were talking like a couple.”
“There’s a reason for that. If I’d known she was a councilor, I wouldn’t have kept her company either.”
Suyeon narrowed her eyes, and her grin widened.
“Did you do it?”
Suyeon’s single jab knocked Seonghyeon out cold.
“I didn’t! Are you crazy?”
“You did, you did. How was it? She looks like the type to devour men, and you got pinned down by her—”
“Suyeon.”
Seonghyeon spoke in a low, heavy voice.
The deep bass in his voice was so menacing it made Suyeon freeze.
It wasn’t a Cleric ability kicking in; it was the reaction he’d shown since childhood whenever he was truly furious.
“Uh… sorry.”
Suyeon quickly tucked in her tail.
“Yeah, I’m serious. I don’t want to get involved with that woman. But she says she’ll let you join the subjugation force with me.”
“What’s the catch?”
“Who knows? We’ll have to hear her out. But if I rely on that woman’s favor, I’ll get badly burned one day. I don’t go solo for no reason.”
“Hmm… I see. So that’s the kind of relationship you have.”
Suyeon seemed to be misunderstanding something, but Seonghyeon let her think whatever she wanted.
Seonghyeon was strapped for cash, and since he couldn’t enter the dungeon either, he had no choice but to join the subjugation force if he wanted a big payday.
If he didn’t go with the subjugation force, Seonghyeon would have to choose between leaving Suyeon behind and going to the middle levels alone, or going bankrupt and ending up on the street.
“The problem is money.”
“Then accept her offer.”
“Are you okay with that? We might get separated in the subjugation force.”
“No. That woman wasn’t looking at me with disdain. Besides, she seems to like you, too.”
“Would someone who liked me act like that...?”
“Trust a woman’s intuition.”
“Weren’t you saying you were a man?”
“I guess I developed one.”
Seonghyeon wanted to ask what she knew, having lived in a girl’s body for barely a month, but he held back.
He was already exhausted after yesterday’s debate over what to call a woman with a man’s mind after a gender swap.
Though their appetite was gone, the two of them had cleaned their plates, so they went back up to their room at the inn.
“Are you still thinking about it?”
“About what?”
“The subjugation force. I’m telling you to accept.”
“Ha… Let me tell you about what happened with that councilor.”
“Ooh~”
Suyeon giggled and perched on the edge of her bed.
Seonghyeon sat on his own bed across from her.
They faced each other.
“Well, she was the one who approached me first. Of course, I didn’t know she was a councilor. I’d somehow made it to level three, but I was a clueless rookie adventurer, and she came up to me.”
“If you were level three, that must’ve been almost a year ago.”
“Yeah. Honestly, back then I thought I was popular because I was a Cleric. All kinds of parties were clamoring for me to join. I was popular because I was a Cleric, sure, but that councilor was behind it.”
“So you keep calling her Councilor—is she really a councilor here in the Labyrinth City?”
“Yeah. The powerful people in the upper echelons who have voting rights are councilors. Anyway, she asked me to join her party, and since she looked strong, I eagerly accepted. That’s how it started.”
“Ooh, so that’s where the grooming began.”
Instead of throwing a pillow at Suyeon, Seonghyeon sighed.
“Ha, anyway, she took me down to the middle levels for the first time. She put me through the wringer. I thought I’d be able to hang back and cast buffs in peace, but she made me fight. There were three melee damage dealers in that party, too.”
“Wait, were you in the back line?”
“Clerics are midline support who protect the mages.”
“Oh… That’s interesting.”
“Anyway, I got Haste for the first time in my life and fought a Minotaur. Of course, I got completely wrecked and nearly had my head split in half. Someone else stepped in front of me, and their abdomen was torn open, spilling out their guts.”
“Ah…”
As expected, Suyeon slipped into denial as soon as he got to that part.
That was the same reaction she’d had when she’d actually seen it at the slave market.
“Scared? That’s only the beginning. I stitched that person’s torn abdomen shut with a needle, then cast Heal on them with all my might. I was so convinced they’d die because of me that I clung to them, utterly pathetic. I cried and wailed so much—you have no idea how awful I must’ve looked.”
“Agh… That’s scary…”
Suyeon trembled, then pulled the blanket over her head.
Seonghyeon continued his story.
“The person who patted my shoulder from behind and told me that’s what adventuring was like was that councilor. She asked if I still wanted to be an adventurer, or if I’d rather come to the Labyrinth City and take a public-service job.”
“And your answer was…”
“I said I wouldn’t. After that, she kept acting like that. I have no idea what ability I showed her that made her do it.”
“Maybe she fell for you… Like the protagonist of a light novel…”
“What the hell have you been hearing all this time? I’ll sew your mouth shut.”
“Uuugh… Don’t say… that…”
Suyeon was genuinely scared.
Even then, she’d been joking to try to endure that fear.
Remembering once again how badly his friend had been shaken, Seonghyeon moved closer.
Thinking he was going to do something to her, Suyeon edged away, but the wall at the end of the bed blocked her.
“Are you scared?”
“No… No… Uh… yeah…”
“Then should I just follow that woman and take a public-service job?”
“You don’t want to?”
“I don’t know. I figured I’d just live however I could, taking whatever came my way. Then I got to level eight. I practically lived in the middle levels.”
“I… see…”
“Were you really scared?”
“No… Do you think I’d be scared…?”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve learned plenty about how to survive safely as an adventurer. Anyway, what are we doing about the subjugation force? At this rate, you can’t move a muscle. Should I just turn them down?”
Suyeon stayed under the blanket, peeking out with only her eyes and rolling them around.
But Suyeon couldn’t just sit there like this when she knew her friend was strapped for cash.
Suyeon worked up her courage and slowly emerged from the blanket.
“Let’s join.”
“What?”
“I said let’s go with the subjugation force together.”
“But you… why is there a stain down there?”
“Wha…? Aaaah!”
Laundry was a service the inn offered, but Suyeon had to run to the bathroom and wash her clothes first.