LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 36
“Rui, is there something I can help you with?”
“Rui, be careful of that rock over there!”
“Rui, if you haven’t slept well, I can…”
Since that day, Ariya clung to me like glue.
It seemed that she wanted to repay me for helping her by helping me in return.
The intention was good.
However, compared to usual, her frequency was unnaturally high.
“Um… Rui.”
“Yes, Rapirie.”
“Did Ariya do something wrong?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know what she did wrong, but it’s probably best not to treat you like a servant…”
“I didn’t ask her to do it!”
I had to make such an excuse.
Eventually, I had to stop her rampage before the Hero and the other two started grilling me.
“Ariya, from today…”
“Oh, Rui! Today, I’m making carrot soup with special pork I bought from the village! Would you like a lot of it?”
“……Yes.”
Just this once.
Sadly, she would come up with reasons like seeing some good magical materials or getting a new carrot soup recipe, but I managed to stop her.
“Rui! I just got a message that the church can provide the materials you liked last time! Oh, wait a moment. You have something on your mouth… Hehe, but it seems that the new carrot soup I got yesterday really suits your taste!”
“Yes, the soft texture of the fish matches well with the carrots.”
Indeed, having patience and self-control could be considered a talent in itself.
“……Seems like I’ve got a weakness, huh?”
“Yeah. If not, there’s no way she’d do this to you.”
I heard Rapirie and Serelin whispering from afar, but I ignored them.
I needed to focus on tasting this new carrot soup right in front of me.
*
Since Ariya chose later, I had to prepare to welcome the new witch heroine coming in soon.
‘If it’s like the original, there might be a little accident, but it should go smoothly.’
Accident? Simple enough.
Just the Hero gets a slight burn on his back while rescuing the witch heroine.
Afterward, the witch heroine struggles with guilt upon seeing the burn mark left on the back of the Hero.
‘Should I try to prevent that this time?’
The burn mark later becomes an important point connecting the Hero and the witch heroine, but ultimately, for the Hero, it’s more of an annoying wound.
So, it might actually be better to prevent the burn from occurring and instead connect them through another point.
Above all, the thought of the Hero getting hurt made me uneasy, so I wanted to prevent that incident.
‘It’s about time I drop some hints.’
Until now, I hadn’t realized it because I was supporting through magical tools and spells, but the original Hero party was desperately calling for more firepower due to the Fortress incident.
Because of that overlapping necessity and purpose, the witch heroine, who had slight troubles, could join the party safely.
However, having just passed through the dusk of the Fortress incident, they would surely feel a lesser necessity for large-scale firepower compared to the original story.
‘If I can’t recruit her… I won’t be able to stop the upcoming major incident.’
A time will come when large-scale firepower is needed enough to be described as ‘rampaging,’ and the witch heroine’s magic is just perfect for that.
When asked if I could recruit another mage or witch instead, I’d have to answer ‘impossible.’
She holds such a significant place in large-scale battles, so I had to find a way to recruit her, no matter what.
“Okay, so I’ll stay here for today… everyone, I’m heading to the Adventurers’ Guild now.”
At that moment, the Hero, who had finished packing, mentioned he was going to the Adventurers’ Guild in the village.
‘…There probably are some large-scale extermination requests, right?’
As we slowly transitioned from the west to the north, the number of magical creatures would naturally increase.
So, it was only logical for there to be large-scale extermination requests that regular adventurers or mercenaries couldn’t handle.
‘Great.’
I’ll take on that request and emphasize the need for large-scale firepower.
“Hero.”
“Yeah?”
“I want to go too.”
“You too? Why…?”
If I say it’s to appeal for large-scale firepower, I’d definitely get some weird looks.
I looked around for excuses, my eyes shifting, before mumbling with my finger twitching as I avoided his gaze.
“….Just because.”
What’s he going to do about it just because?
“Ah, okay!”
In the end, the Hero accepted my company. Well, he really had no choice.
If he had rejected me here, I would have committed the dastardly act of demanding the return of gloves and shoes.
“Then let’s go.”
“…..Uh.”
I lightly grabbed the Hero’s sleeve and moved towards the Adventurers’ Guild.
*
Actually, before joining the Hero party, I had visited the Adventurers’ Guild a few times.
I was in a position to take on requests to obtain magical materials, and the guild I visited wasn’t very large.
My village was close to the Empire’s capital, but the village itself wasn’t that big.
It was roughly the size of a small bank or a district office… but this village’s Adventurers’ Guild was several times bigger than that.
“…………”
“Rui, is this your first time at an Adventurers’ Guild?”
“…..Yes.”
As I said before, it’s not my first time. However, since it was larger, I figured there’d be plenty I didn’t know, so I answered like I didn’t know.
Nothing is more embarrassing than proudly saying you know something only to be caught and proven wrong.
“Right, then just follow me. Some adventurers can be bad people.”
With that, the Hero led the way.
The first emotion I felt was ‘regret.’
‘I should’ve done this for the heroines.’
Thump.
Since I already knew the whole story, I could only feel disappointment when he did that for me instead of the heroines.
“There are so many people.”
“Right? It’s definitely livelier than those creepy magic shops you frequent…”
“Ouch. Don’t tease me.”
In a place where people move about freely, saying it’s creepy is outright magic-phobic.
As I lightly hit the Hero, I noticed a large bulletin board set up in the distance.
“Oh, that’s the request bulletin board. The size of the board changes depending on the guild’s scale and the number of adventurers visiting.”
Given that size, it probably meant there were a lot of adventurers residing or visiting this village.
But still, why would a village not that grand have a board of that size?
“….Could it be because the forest is right next to it?”
“Correct. It’s not just an ordinary forest; it also has marshlands, so there are many magical creatures. Plus, considering this village is closest to a big city.”
Hmm, then it makes sense why a large Adventurers’ Guild exists relative to the village’s size.
With the dense magical creature-infested forest and a large city nearby, it serves as a midway point.
Hearing and learning something not properly explained in the original felt kind of refreshing.
“But I won’t go there.”
“Why?”
“I mostly take requests that most adventurers shy away from.”
As he spoke, the Hero turned his gaze away. I followed suit and saw a middle-aged man smiling at us.
I followed the Hero towards that man, instantly recognizing his identity.
“Greetings, Hero. Thank you for coming a long way.”
“No, thank you, Branch Chief.”
It was the branch chief of the Adventurers’ Guild dispatched to this village.
Since the Hero party often deals with requests that have been canceled multiple times by the Adventurers’ Guild, it seemed they frequently spoke to a high-ranking person in charge.
“I received news about you from the last village, and I’ve set aside some requests just for you. You can choose from these.”
“Thank you. Rui, let’s take a look together.”
“Yes.”
The Hero would probably choose the longest unresolved request or the one with the highest rank, etc.
I was thinking of picking the most troublesome or the one with a high number of extermination targets, as I had planned earlier.
‘This one’s too small, and though this one’s troublesome… I don’t think I can connect with the witch heroine there.’
As I carefully examined the requests one by one, one caught my eye.
A request to exterminate a large group of magical creatures resembling rodents.
The fact that it wasn’t from the forest or marshlands was the first pass, and the considerable number of magical creatures was the second.
Just as I was about to pick that request up, another hand appeared.
“Ah.”
“Ah.”
It was the Hero’s hand.
In a moment of uncontrolled speed, our two hands finally overlapped on top of the request form.
Mine below, the Hero’s above.
Suddenly, silence fell.
“Ah, s-sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Um, do you think this one’s good too?”
“Yes, I think it’s a good choice. I feel the others can be handled by normal adventurers.”
“Then, Branch Chief, we’ll take this.”
“Haha, understood. Good timing, indeed.”
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll head to process the approval now.”
With the Branch Chief leaving and just the two of us left in the room.
The Hero hesitated for a moment and then left me an apology.
“Uh, sorry.”
“What for?”
“About holding… your hand…”
“……It’s fine. It could happen.”
Thump.
I brought my hand that overlapped with the Hero’s to my chest as I replied.
“It’s… just an accident.”
Yeah. Just a simple accident.