500 SPECIAL Anniversary of a Certain Hero’s Party

500.

Knock, knock. It was a little before noon when someone knocked on my door. I opened it to find Liel, her hands hidden behind her back.

“Um, Liel?”

“Ehehe, Hero-nim, do you know what day it is today?”

“Today? Uh, I wonder?”

Could it be the 500th day since we met, or something like that?

“Ah, you don’t know! Today is the Feast of Basileas of the Eustea Church! Here, Hero-nim!”

Liel brought her hands out from behind her back. She was holding something heart-shaped. It was nicely wrapped in red paper and had a cute ribbon on it.

“T, this is…?”

“It’s chocolate. Today, there’s a custom of women giving chocolate to the men they like! You’ll accept it, right?”

So, it’s like Valentine’s Day? Even when I was living in the real world, the total number of gifts I received on all those countless -days was zero. I accepted Liel’s gift with a grateful heart.

“Thank you, Liel. I’ll enjoy it.”

“Ah, Hero-nim. And… there’s one more custom. When a man likes the woman who gave him chocolate… the rule is to kiss her on the cheek… U, um… I’ll leave it up to you, Hero-nim…”

With that, Liel closed her eyes, tilting her head slightly to show her cheek. Even with her eyes closed, I could tell she was very expectant.

How can there be such a lovely creature…

I leaned in slightly and kissed Liel on the cheek. *Tch*, a pure sound. I gently pulled away and whispered in Liel’s ear.

“Thank you always. I love you, Liel.”

“Uuu…”

Liel turned bright red and covered her cheek. It’s such a wonderful thing that I can make such a cute creature happy.

“T, then, Hero-nim… C, can I… come to your room tonight…?”

It wasn’t hard to read the implication of Liel’s words as she lowered her eyes and spoke shyly. I smiled and replied.

“Yes, of course. I’ll love you enough to repay the chocolate.”

“Hauuu… Yes! I’ll see you tonight…!”

Liel skipped back to her room. I closed the door and unwrapped the chocolate Liel had given me. Opening the heart-shaped box revealed chocolate that was half white and half chocolate-colored.

Is the white side milk chocolate? It was very sweet. The other side had a rather bitter aroma. As the smell suggested, it was a very rich chocolate flavor.

About two hours later, I heard another knock. I opened the door to find Blade standing there. Like Liel, she had her hands hidden behind her back.

“Yo, Hero Elena… O, do you happen to know what day it is today?”

There’s no need to mention that Liel already came by. I pretended to be oblivious and said.

“Today…? Ah, now that you mention it, it’s the Feast of Basileas. I wasn’t paying any attention.”

“Ah, you knew… Then…”

It’s the same pattern as Liel. Blade brought her hands out from behind her back.

What Blade was holding was a small glass bottle. It was filled with bite-sized, individually wrapped chocolates.

“Wow, thank you so much. I’ll gratefully accept…”

Just as I was about to receive Blade’s gift, she took a chocolate out of the glass bottle, unwrapped it with one hand, and put it in her mouth.

What? Wasn’t she going to give it to me? Did she just want to show me a chocolate mukbang?

As confused thoughts flashed through my mind, Blade opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue.

“*Hatahuatna…? Yeongha…*”

I think she’s telling me to receive it with my mouth. She seems quite embarrassed. Blade usually has a rather stiff impression, but sometimes she does these unexpected things.

The chocolate was half-melted on her outstretched tongue. I grabbed the back of Blade’s neck and willingly began to eat it.

“U, uut… Heuu… Heueueu…”

A warm elf tongue and half-melted chocolate. Not a bad combination. The sweetness spreading in my mouth and the pleasure created by our tongues intertwining made a good combination.

After searching every corner of Blade’s mouth to see if there was any more chocolate, I let her go. Wiping my lips with my tongue, I leaned close to Blade and said.

“That was delicious, Blade.”

In this case, there’s no need to kiss her on the cheek as a thank you, right? No, maybe it counts as kissing her on the cheek. Not the outer cheek, but the inner cheek.

“Eut… Hero Elena…”

Blade looked at me with a flushed face for a moment, then took another chocolate out of the glass bottle. And she looked at me with pleading eyes, with it on her tongue.

“H, hanheonman heo…”

She really is an elf who loves kissing too much…

Of course, I had no intention of refusing. I pushed Blade against the wall and kissed her passionately. This chocolate melted with the combined heat of me and Blade.

Only after emptying the glass bottle of chocolate did Blade leave.

Liel, Blade… So, is it Selina’s turn next? I was in my room, wondering how to respond when Selina came. For some reason, I was grinning.

But the afternoon passed, and Selina didn’t come by until evening.

Is she not going to give me any? I can’t allow that. I headed to Selina’s door with the intention of forcibly taking something from her.

Knock, knock. I knocked on the door and heard Selina’s voice.

“What is it?”

“It’s Elena. Selina, what are you doing?”

“Hero…?”

After a moment of silence, Selina opened the door slightly and peeked out.

“What? Is there something you need?”

“Isn’t it Selina who needs something? Don’t you have something you want to give me?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Ah, is it because it’s the Feast of Basileas? I’m sorry, but I’m not a follower of the Eustea Church. I’m not interested in such trivial events.”

Oh, uh?

This isn’t the reaction I was expecting… Besides, Selina’s voice felt like she was somehow avoiding me.

“What, you’re really not giving me anything? I was looking forward to it…”

After another moment of silence, Selina suddenly tried to close the door.

“I told you I’m not interested. I, I have things to do. If that’s all you need, go back quickly.”

Hmm, was it greedy to try to get something from every party member? Just as I was looking at the closing door with a slightly disappointed heart, I sensed something unusual.

It was a smell. Even through the narrow gap in the door, I could smell it… It was definitely the smell of chocolate!

“U, uwaat! D, don’t come in!”

I put my strength into it and forced the door open. Selina, unable to withstand the hero’s strength, couldn’t stop my intrusion. Entering the room, I could see what was on the table.

The first thing that caught my eye was a lamp and a small pot placed on top of it. Melted chocolate was still being heated. Next to it, chocolates that seemed to be already finished were packed in boxes.

Star-shaped, heart-shaped, fruit-shaped, square… All sorts of molds and chocolates made to fit them were neatly arranged in the box. There were several sets worth.

“W, what, a chocolate factory? Who are you going to give all this to?”

*Thud*, Selina, as if her world had collapsed, sat down on the floor with a sulky face.

“Those are all failures…”

“Failures?”

“I, I wanted to make perfect chocolate and give it to you… But it was harder than I thought… I’ve been failing since morning, and now I don’t know what’s what…”

Perfect chocolate, huh… Selina was speaking with a slightly nasal tone. She wanted to show me perfection, but she’s disappointed because she’s only showing me this pile of failures. It’s no wonder she’s disappointed.

But that’s just Selina’s perspective. My perspective is completely different.

I picked up a half-finished star-shaped chocolate and put it in my mouth. Did she use spices? A strange spicy taste spreads along with the sweetness. It might be a matter of taste, but it suited my taste quite well.

“Um, it’s delicious, Selina.”

“D, don’t… If you’re going to comfort me insincerely…”

“No, I’m completely serious, Selina. It really is delicious. And I’m much happier that Selina went to such lengths for me, even if it’s not perfect chocolate.”

Selina looked up at me with a lot of strength in her eyes. It almost looks like she’s glaring at me. Selina said in a small voice.

“…Really…?”

“Of course, really.”

“T, then… I, I ate the chocolate, so… the, the repayment is…?”

I bent one knee to match the eye level of the slumped Selina. I put my hand on her other cheek and slowly brought my lips to Selina’s cheek.

“Hueueu…”

Selina’s body trembled slightly. I took my lips off her cheek and took Selina’s hand and helped her up.

Selina turned her head away from me and said in a small voice. Since she was turning her head, I could see her ears turning red.

“…Which do you like better, the spicy one or the non-spicy one?”

“Huh? Uh, um… Half and half?”

“Okay. Wait in your room. I’ll bring it to you.”

With that, I left Selina’s room. Before I had taken a few steps after the door closed, I heard a shout of ‘*Ajaa!*’ from inside the room. I’m glad she seems to have cheered up.