Chapter 11
Is it morning..?
We'd decided to go out early to collect the bounty, so if we were going, we had to get up and leave right away.
I was planning to get up, stretch for a moment, and get ready, but for some reason, something warm was holding me.
Wait.
Something was strange.
Come to think of it, hadn't I told the Hero to sleep with me yesterday?
Of course, I remembered going to sleep comfortably, thinking that couldn't happen because we'd laid the blankets out like a wall so the Hero and I wouldn't touch. Although Lumia apparently tossed and turned violently, unlike what one might expect from her appearance, I thought that much would be fine.
But apparently, that thought of mine had been completely wrong.
“...”
I was being held.
Something was holding me.
More precisely, it seemed like we were holding each other.
Maybe because I was small, I couldn't see the face, but once a chest came into view, I realized I was being held by someone.
No, how had this happened?
As far as I knew, the Hero wasn't supposed to toss and turn or talk in his sleep, so I could only assume that I had approached and hugged the Hero first, and the Hero, touched by me, had unconsciously hugged me in his sleep. Either way, my expectations had been completely shattered.
“?!?!?!”
I panicked and tried to escape from his arms, but
“Mmm.. Lumia..?”
Perhaps because of my struggling, the Hero woke up and looked down at me.
Realizing what had happened, the Hero froze on the spot.
...
...
Fucking hell..
Haah..
.
.
.
.
.
It's such a bright, warm day.
On a day like this, jumping into a river would be the most refreshing thing imaginable, but is there one around here I could jump into? I'd be jumping in fully clothed anyway, and I wouldn't even come back up, so I wouldn't need a towel. I'd really appreciate it if someone could tell me.
“Lu, Lumia..?”
“...”
“I got the bounty..”
Saying that, the Hero showed me the money.
Normally, I would've been happy to see that we'd gotten more money, but I wasn't really in the mood.
But I couldn't simply ignore the Hero. Even if I didn't have the energy to respond, it wasn't the Hero's fault; I was the one who had suggested sleeping together, so if blame had to be assigned, it was mine.
I couldn't ignore the Hero just because I was in a bad mood, so I reluctantly nodded.
“I'm sorry, Lumia..”
I shook my head.
It wasn't really something the Hero needed to apologize for.
It was just..
Well..
It was just that I couldn't believe I'd woken up in someone's arms that morning, couldn't believe I'd been held by a man. If I'd known this would happen, I should have gone downstairs to sleep instead.
Why had I specifically suggested sleeping together and brought this about..?
As soon as we went downstairs, the innkeeper noticed the awkward atmosphere between us and looked at us with a subtle expression. She'd seemed like such a dependable ally yesterday, but after being on the receiving end of that look, I felt like I understood why she'd taken my side yesterday.
I must have been crazy yesterday.
This is depressing..
“If it's too hard, should we rest for another day?”
I shook my head.
We were going to reach the Holy Kingdom via a teleportation magic circle in a major city, using the Hero's privilege, anyway. Since every major city had one, all we had to do was get to Plania, the nearest major city. If we were going, it seemed better to leave as soon as possible.
Putting everything else aside, I really didn't want to go back to that inn.
I looked down at my hands.
Thinking about it now, it had been quite warm and comfortable.
How should I put it.. I wouldn't exactly say this to some man I'd never met, but it felt a little like a father's embrace, or the embrace of family. Of course, human bodies were naturally warm, so it was only that sort of feeling.
The problem was that it hadn't felt all that bad.
That's exactly why I felt even more self-loathing.
To think I'd been sleeping while embracing a man.. Technically, since I hadn't done it consciously and had done it in my sleep, it would be more accurate to say that I'd been sleeping while being embraced rather than while embracing him, but either way, it amounted to the same thing.
Regardless of who had done it, the fact remained that I'd been holding that guy.
I covered my face with both hands.
I must have been crazy.
Fuck, I really have nothing to say.. Ah..
I turned toward the Hero.
Was that guy really unaffected?
I was embarrassed, and the fact that I'd slept while being held by a man kept filling my head until I felt like I was going insane.
Pettily irritated for no reason, I kicked the Hero in the leg as the Hero walked by.
“Ow!”
The Hero I'd kicked looked at me with question marks all over his face, but I avoided his gaze.
I wanted to hit him more, but I decided to stop there and hold myself back.
Let's just get on the carriage and go, please.
.
.
.
The place we headed to right away was none other than the Adventurers' Guild.
Although he was officially recognized as a hero by the nation, the Hero basically started out as a C-rank adventurer.
Considering that most adventurers only languished around D rank at best, it was truly extraordinary. Furthermore, most Heroes throughout history were said to rise all the way to S rank, so this generation's Hero would probably reach S rank in no time.. the guild employee explained.
The guild employee looked completely starstruck, perhaps because they were so happy to meet the Hero, a relatively famous figure. No, to be precise, they seemed more starstruck by the Hero's appearance.
Normally, I'd have let it slide, but after what happened today, and knowing that even this was all because of that absurdly plot-convenient face, I felt even worse. Once the explanation was over, the Hero approached me with a pleased expression, and seeing that irritated me.
“...”
Perhaps noticing that my expression wasn't very pleasant, the Hero spoke with a confused look.
“Huh.. Did I do something wrong, by any chance..?”
He hadn't done anything wrong in particular; I was just in a bad mood all around.
Though, to be honest, the biggest reason was probably what had happened this morning.
“Anyway, Lumia! I have good news!”
What the Hero handed me with a radiant smile was none other than a request form.
The request form said they wanted to hire D-rank-or-higher adventurers to escort them to Plania, the major city.
D rank or higher basically meant people like me and the Hero.
I had already made a name for myself as a D-rank mage before joining the Hero, while the Hero was recognized as a C-rank adventurer as an officially recognized Hero of the nation who even carried the Holy Sword.
In other words, among the D-rank-or-higher adventurers mentioned in the request, we were more than qualified.
That was setting aside whether I could actually use magic properly.
Since we had to go to Plania anyway, the Hero must have figured that we might as well accept this request and collect the reward on the way.
“What do you think?”
I nodded at the Hero's question.
So far, it seemed the story was proceeding smoothly according to the original plot.
Of course, since this was a game, there wasn't much of a story to speak of, but it meant things were proceeding according to the basic setting. In the game's setting, the Hero and I were supposed to serve as escorts and travel to the major city of Plania.
Naturally, this quest offered an extremely lavish reward.
In other words, it was one of the tutorials.
The problem was that something a little—or rather, considerably—too overwhelming for a tutorial had happened. This time, rather than an incident arising between people, the danger came from being attacked by monsters while providing the escort.
The journey to Plania was extremely quick.
The reason the reward was so generous was that, for their own commercial reasons, they wanted to get to Plania as quickly as possible. That meant crossing the Black Night Forest rather than taking a safe, circuitous route, which made the journey extremely dangerous.
I looked up at the Hero as though asking whether it would be all right.
The Hero hadn't been recognized as C rank for no reason; although currently only as strong as a baby chick, the Hero was still extremely powerful.
However, the Black Night Forest was far more frightening than that.
“Don't worry. The other adventurers are all going with us too, so it won't be that dangerous.”
“...”
In that case..
“And.. I'll make sure to protect you.”
The Hero said that with a look full of resolve.
Uh.. Um..
I nodded awkwardly.
It was kind of cool.. but also incredibly cringey.
I thought that as I rubbed my goosebump-covered wrist.