No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

Unlike Friede, who preferred extermination requests, Amy, true to her wizard nature, mostly favored scouting requests for new dungeons.

The average reward for scouting requests was only about 40-50% of that of extermination requests, but occasionally, while scouting a newly formed dungeon, one could find extra loot like spellbooks or magical items.

As long as you find such items, you could make profits that far exceeded the reward. In short, it was all about dreaming of striking it rich.

“…Looks like we’re going empty-handed again this time.”

Of course, our party had yet to experience such luck.

That was pretty much expected. It was impossible to hit the jackpot with just three scouting requests, right? There’s a limit even to shameless expectations.

“Isn’t it about time something comes up? Everything’s just been junk.”

Naturally, adventurers leave their conscience back home. Besides, wizards are known for selling their conscience to magic.

For our adventurer and wizard Amy, the word conscience was like a bluebird over a rainbow bridge.

It exists in concept but not in reality.

“Well, this task has decent extra income, doesn’t it? We managed to collect ten gargoyle cores! Selling just those should cover our trouble.”

I never expected to strike it rich anyway, so while extracting the core from the rubble of the gargoyle I smashed with my fists, I was satisfied with this little extra income.

“Expecting treasure after just three times… that’s a thief’s mindset…”

Friede nodded as if to agree, shaking off the dust from her newly acquired greatsword. She had rushed to the blacksmith to order a new black steel greatsword as soon as she received the 50 silver we had divided from our last job.

It looked rougher and twice as sturdy as the old weapon. Guess she was still a bit bitter that her previous sword couldn’t even withstand a few hits from Belita.

“Thief’s mindset? Isn’t that a bit harsh? It’s not just for my benefit.”

Amy chuckled and complained.

Of course, she wasn’t genuinely angry; it was more of a playful argument common among friends.

“After all, we’ve started to bond, haven’t we?”

At first, Friede and Amy were at each other’s throats, but thanks to handling numerous requests together, they had grown closer over time.

If they were left alone, they wouldn’t say a word to each other, but with me around, they chatted casually.

Their relationship was closer than that of acquaintances yet still had a slight distance, which was just perfect for them.

“Cak-cak…! Easy requests yield low gains! That’s how the world works!”

Kikel spun his exploding spear gracefully while laughing.

If one truly aims for a fortune, they should tackle higher difficulty requests, he said.

While it was sound advice, the speaker was the problem. Kikel was in the same boat as me, having his request choices confiscated.

When we told him to pick requests, he only wanted the most difficult ones the Guild offered.

Like a quest to exterminate cave trolls in a mid-level dungeon, for instance.

While Friede and I could make it work if we gave it our all, it was definitely a recipe for getting wrecked if even a little went wrong.

Every recommendation he brought to the table was like that, so excluding Kikel, the three of us agreed to revoke his request privileges after a brief discussion.

It’s all about making a living, so there’s no reason to push ourselves that hard.

Kikel tried to argue that you can only grow strong by facing your fears, but after Amy countered whether he’d come back as an undead stronger if he died, he simply had to accept it quietly.

Anyone could see Amy’s argument was more persuasive. If you gathered a hundred adventurers to choose, they’d all side with Amy.

Anyway, for that reason, our party busied ourselves with the requests chosen by Friede and Amy, getting through each day.

As we threw ourselves into our work, a somewhat positive reputation started to build up around us.

Unlike me, whose every job was a disaster, the requests chosen by the two of them went smoothly and were resolved one after another.

Just your average adventurer’s life.

Days filled with idyllic exterminations just kept rolling on.

Almost forty days passed like that.

◆◆

“H-hey, Hilde, have you heard the rumors?”

At the Snowbear’s Rest, Friede, lying on the couch with her thighs as a makeshift pillow, suddenly spoke up.

“What rumors?”

I returned her question while sipping on the lightly sweet Riesling wine I had bought last year.

I wasn’t really a fan of alcohol, but this wine had a pleasantly sweet apple flavor that caught me off guard. Could it be because it was a drink favored by Brunhilde?

“Well, apparently something happened at a place like a mine, where the owner used monsters to kill his father and inherit his fortune.”

Oh, that story sounded familiar.

“Wasn’t that monster a giant spider?”

“Uh… I’m not sure, but that’s what I heard.”

Friede shook her head lightly and continued talking.

“I heard the mine owner got caught by the church, beheaded, and the mine was turned over to them…”

It seemed like it was the story of an extermination request I took up a while back.

With Kikel and Laute, the useless fighter, I had cleaned out a spider cave. We almost died when the vengeful spirit spider appeared at the end.

“…Well, that’s not important. Apparently, a new mid-level dungeon has been discovered beneath that.”

“Oh, really?”

A mid-level dungeon, huh? I wondered if something like that was hiding beneath the mine. Monsters like a vengeful spirit spider could pop out of there.

If it had been an ordinary mine, the previous Village Chief wouldn’t have revived and faced his demise. But the dungeon nearby must’ve influenced him to come back as a vengeful spirit spider.

From the mine owner’s standpoint, it was like a bolt from the blue.

If it weren’t for the dungeon, he could’ve committed the perfect crime, but because of the vengeful spirit spider born from the dungeon, evidence was left behind, leading to his exposure.

In a way, that was no mere bolt from the blue but more like divine punishment. My brain pondered if the saying “what goes around, comes around” could be applied here.

“So, should we go check it out?”

“Oh, no. That’s not it. There’s probably nothing to see. Since it’s the church’s mine, the paladins likely took care of everything.”

“True.”

Since the dungeon emerged under the church’s assets, whatever was in there had probably been cleaned out by the church already.

“That being said… are you planning to lie around like this? It’ll be midnight soon. Aren’t you going back to sleep?”

I changed the subject as I set down my empty wine glass.

Amy and Kikel were busy for various reasons, so they were just casually having a drink together, and it was almost time to call it a night unless we intended to stay up until dawn.

Originally, Friede had slumped beside me saying she was tired and dizzy after just a few drinks.

“Well, um, that is….”

However, instead of going back to her room, Friede clasped her hands together and fidgeted as she trailed off.

She looked like she had something important to say but found it difficult to get out.

“What’s up?”

“Uh… I spent all my money, and… so I can’t pay for the inn?”

What on earth was Friede talking about?

Her words were surprising enough to almost make the drink get stuck in my throat.

It felt like witnessing a high school kid’s phone bill being way over 2-300 thousand won.
“Did you spend that much? What on earth did you do?”

Gambling away everything? No, for some reason, I couldn’t picture Friede doing that, so what could it be…?

“Uh, well… I thought I could earn more next time, so I bought new equipment…”

So she lost all her funds in the excitement of upgrading her weapons and armor.

“Oh, I see…?”

It was an odd response that was hard to argue against. Blowing all your funds to gear up is pretty common for adventurers.

Still, at the very least, you should have enough left for food or inn expenses. The fact that she hadn’t kept that in mind showed she was probably caught up in the thrill of spending.

“Sigh… You should have been a bit more careful.” I lightly patted Friede’s shoulder, who wore a guilty puppy-like expression, letting out a soft sigh.

“I got it. So, if I cover for you this time, that’s fine, right?”

While I was surprised, it wasn’t a huge deal. Paying for an inn for a few days was no problem if I just pulled a bit from my own funds.

“Oh, no! You don’t need to do that! We’ll be working again tomorrow, right? I can pay you back with my reward from that!”

As I sighed and began to pull out my coin pouch, Friede sprung up, hurriedly shaking her head.

“Where do you think you’re going to sleep without any money? Amy’s room is empty, but it’s not right to just go in there without permission.”

That would be rude. Besides, the door would likely be locked.

“W-well, um, um, um, Hilde?”

“Yes?”

“If you could just let me stay the night in your room…”

Friede, who had been hesitating, grabbed my hands with both of hers and looked up at me. She pleaded to spend the night here.

She looked like a puppy abandoned on a rainy street.

“In here?”

“Yes! Ah, um, is that not okay…?”

Ah, I see.

Maybe it was the alcohol, but my slightly hazy mind finally grasped her intent.

Borrowing money from a friend to pay for the inn is inept and disreputable, but asking to spend a night at a friend’s house is completely normal and mundane.

That’s why Friede must have chosen the latter. It probably felt a bit less embarrassing.

What a youthful thought process. It was cute, though.

“Fine, just for today, it’s not a problem.”

“Oh…! Thank you, Hilde!”

“Thank you for what? It’s no big deal.”

So, I nodded willingly. It was a request that had no reason for rejection since we weren’t strangers.

After all, we had always slept together outside.

“Then… I’ll sleep here, so Friede, you can take the bed.”

After finishing the conversation, I poured the last of the wine into my glass and pointed to the small bed against the wall.

I’d just finish this bottle and lie down on the couch while she used the bed for the night.

It was a perfectly reasonable offer. Anyone would say the same, not just me.

In northern countries, guests don’t even get food from friends, but when one invites a friend at home in Korea, it’s standard to let them use the bed while the host sleeps on the floor or couch.

Of course, this is typically true only for friends of the same gender, but… looking at it objectively, I was of the same gender as Friede, right?

Thus, it was only reasonable for me to sleep on the couch.

“Ah, no! That… that’s too much of an imposition…”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m more uncomfortable with the thought of you sleeping here while I take the bed. I wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly at all.”

Friede declined my offer, saying she would sleep on the couch, but for me, that was even more uncomfortable.

To be fair, there was really no reason to feel guilty or uncomfortable. Yet feelings don’t always neatly arrange themselves.

Born in a place where it’s customary to let friends sleep in the bed, I felt it was quite odd to let a girl who appeared to be around four years younger than me sleep on the couch while I rested comfortably in the bed.

“Well then, can’t we just sleep together?”

This was purely out of my stubbornness, so Friede wasn’t readily convinced and proposed an alternative…

“It’s cramped.”

“……Oh.”

Her response was utterly defeated by my simple statement that the bed was too small for two to sleep in.

When we’re both plastered, we’d manage to sleep entangled, but that wasn’t the case with a sober mind.

It would be challenging to find a comfortable way to sleep without sticking to one another in this room’s bed.

So in the end, this was the best option.

Changing into comfortable pajamas and trying to sleep in close quarters would just look strange.

Maybe girls could manage to do that, but at least for me, it felt quite embarrassing to sleep like that.

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