Ch.143A Man’s Romance

Objectively speaking, I could be considered the best cook in our party.

Jessica, the adventurer, has lived a life filled with portable rations and eating out, while Seth and Phyllis don’t have much cooking experience, and Mina is a dwarf more interested in drinking snacks than actual meals.

From the start, they’re no match for a 21st-century modern person honed by 16 years of living alone, armed with supermarket ingredients and internet recipes.

But none of that matters in this moment.

Right now, I’m sitting at the table, about to experience every man’s dream: “homemade cooking from a girlfriend.”

And not just from one, but from three—no, four girlfriends waiting to serve me their homemade dishes.

“Borrowing the maid outfit was a good idea, but it’s really tight around the chest…”

Jessica approaches with a plate of fried eggs and bacon, dressed in a black maid outfit adorned with white frills, over-knee socks, and a maid headpiece.

“At least yours somewhat fits, Jessica. Mine’s so big I can barely hold anything.”

Mina, wearing only an oversized shirt that doesn’t fit her body, carries a bottle filled with freshly squeezed orange juice.

“I’m wearing my own clothes, so there’s no problem for me.”

Seth, dressed in black see-through lingerie that seems completely out of place in a kitchen, sways her seductive hips while dividing soup into bowls.

“Kuk, this… can hardly even be called clothing…”

And beside her, Phyllis transfers freshly baked toast while wearing nothing but a short apron that barely covers her chest and private parts.

A maid outfit, boyfriend shirt, see-through lingerie, and naked apron—each one a collection of fantasies that stirs a man’s heart.

How did I end up receiving such incredible service?

It was all thanks to last night’s King’s Game.

I don’t remember anything, but apparently after drawing the king card, I ignored the rule that “commands can only be given to a maximum of two people” and shouted:

[Hahahahaha! William J. Kim commands! Number 1 wears a naked apron! Number 2 wears just a shirt! Number 3 wears a maid outfit! Number 4 wears sexy underwear and serves me food!!]

Those were my last words before I succumbed to alcohol and passed out. The four left behind apparently debated what to do with this ridiculous wish before finally agreeing to fulfill it.

“Thank you… overwhelming gratitude…”

“Will… do you really like it that much?”

Instead of answering, I give her a thumbs up, and Jessica blushes while adjusting the chest area of her maid outfit that looks ready to overflow.

Seth maintains a subtly seductive expression while occasionally flashing glimpses of her armpits or inner thighs, while Phyllis fidgets, trying to cover parts of her body that the apron fails to conceal.

Even Mina, looking at me with a face full of disdain in her thin shirt, appears adorable.

“Ah~ah, hurry up and eat so we can clear out. Looks like you’re going to be ogling all day.”

“Ogling? Mina, you…”

“Am I wrong?”

“The desire is! Burning hot!! …But since today is important, I’ll be satisfied with just looking.”

“Heh~ hmm…”

“Seriously. We’re supposed to head toward the dungeon this evening. We shouldn’t waste energy and risk affecting our march.”

It’s painful to have costumed beauties right in front of me and not touch them, but we need to conserve energy to arrive in time for the dungeon’s opening.

Currently, all five of us are in a situation where we can’t freely go on adventures.

“Really… it’s nice to be famous as the discoverers of a dungeon, but we can’t do anything with all these newspaper reporters and adventurers hounding us.”

“Was it like that when you went shopping earlier today?”

“Don’t even mention it. Seven people followed me just to buy eggs.”

“That’s quite something…”

Our party’s recognition in Atelier has skyrocketed due to our defeat of the Black Heart Gang and the discovery of a new dungeon.

The problem is that this recognition has started to exert influence in not-so-positive ways.

According to Jessica, about 30% of dungeons discovered in Grantis have unopened entrances.

These unopened dungeons only become accessible when certain conditions are met, and investigating these opening conditions requires considerable manpower and time.

Adventurers who hear rumors typically maintain their livelihood with small guild requests while waiting for dungeon entrances to open, and we would have been considered just another such group.

If only one employee from the Pioneer Business Department hadn’t made an unnecessary joke after receiving our dungeon discovery report.

‘As expected of the famous quintet! Have you perhaps already figured out the opening conditions for the dungeon entrance? Ha ha ha ha!’

That casual joke spread through the mouths of adventurers stationed in Atelier, becoming a rumor that “Jessica Walter’s party might know the opening conditions for the dungeon entrance.”

As a result, local newspaper reporters trying to confirm the rumor and adventurers monitoring our party to discover the opening conditions have been lurking around us.

“If we head toward Northern Fortress like this, all the adventurers in Atelier will likely follow us. We should probably postpone our departure time to the middle of the night.”

“Wouldn’t leaving the city in the middle of the night look even more suspicious?”

“No need to worry about that. There are several quests posted at the Adventurers’ Guild to purchase moonlight moss.”

“Moonlight moss?”

“It’s a swamp plant that can only be found at night. With Phyllis’s night vision, we should be able to find it without much difficulty.”

“Perfect excuse for leaving the city in the middle of the night.”

Of course, just collecting moonlight moss won’t completely remove suspicion, but not many adventurers would be able to follow our party at night, equipped with Phyllis’s elven abilities and Ancestor’s mobility.

If we can enter the dungeon at 7 AM on the 25th without other competitors, that would be sufficient.

“Alright, let’s go to the Adventurers’ Guild around 9 PM, accept the quest, and leave Atelier immediately.”

“We have about 10 hours left. What shall we do until then?”

“Eat, digest, and get plenty of rest. No point wandering around and getting tangled up with reporters—that would just be tiresome.”

“True… we’re departing 3-4 hours later than planned, so…”

Jessica, lost in thought for a moment, stretched her legs under the table and gently rubbed my thigh.

“Hey, what’s this? Jessica?”

“If you’re not satisfied with just looking… before returning the costumes, how about it?”

Understanding the meaning of her words, Seth and Phyllis blush, and Mina sighs with a shrug as if resigned.

“I’m done eating, so I’ll leave. But I’m counting on you for cleanup, okay?”

“Thanks, Mina. Hehe.”

“I-I would also prefer to decline if possible…”

“No way, Phyllis. The most erotic one can’t escape.”

“I’m not erotic! This outfit was chosen by drawing lots…”

“See you later~”

As the door slams shut with Mina’s farewell, Phyllis’s face gradually reddens as she realizes what’s about to happen.

I look directly into Phyllis’s emerald eyes and speak.

“You might as well steel yourself, Phyllis. You’re all so beautiful and sexy that I simply can’t hold back.”

“Ah…uugh…”

With her face flushed redder than ever before, Phyllis reveals her true way of speaking in front of her companions for the first time.

“P-please be gentle…”

OK, full speed ahead!

~ ~ ~ Mina’s Perspective ~ ~ ~

Returning to her room, Mina jumped onto the large bed still wearing the oversized shirt that didn’t fit her.

The plush mattress of the luxury lodging easily absorbed her small body, and as the bouncing subsided, a deep sigh escaped from Mina’s lips.

“Haaa~ Those guys really…”

The three people—Will, Jessica, and Seth—who had already been in a deep relationship when she first met them.

Since Phyllis joined them, Mina had increasingly felt an inexplicable frustration and irritation.

William J. Kim.

A human drifter who saved her when she was in danger from a landslide.

A comrade who supported her dream of creating artifact-grade magical tools.

A patron who taught her technology from another world more than 100 years ahead of Grantis.

Since that day they escaped from the Black Forge Mine, the significance of Will in Mina’s heart had only grown.

‘If judging by visuals alone, wouldn’t I be pretty decent too?’

‘Hmm… probably not.’

‘Come behind the tent, you bastard.’

At first, it was just light banter.

She knew well how dwarf women appeared to other races, and Will was far from her type, which was “older muscular men.”

For Mina, a muscular man meant a dwarf or a brawny blacksmith built up through forge work.

“It was definitely like that, but…”

Will’s body, soaked from the Black Label’s malfunction, had a different kind of muscular beauty than dwarf bodybuilders.

She also learned that he had a toughness that always knocked out the women first, even while alternating between three of them.

Moreover, his identity as a 36-year-old otherworlder—an older man—had recently been revealed.

The problem was that she now saw no way to shift her relationship with Will toward a romantic direction.

Will’s extreme aversion to touching young girls, demonstrated by his resistance even to the Succubus Queen’s temptation.

Additionally, the three women surrounding him were incredibly attractive from a human man’s perspective.

Jessica’s large breasts that instantly captured men’s attention.

Seth’s healthy skin and beautiful round buttocks.

Phyllis’s mysterious allure with her tall stature and slender figure, despite her slightly smaller chest.

Compared to them, her appearance, which looked like nothing more than a human child…

‘Probably not.’

“~~~!!!”

At Will’s voice echoing in her head, Mina pounded the innocent pillow.

Her romantic path with Will had been misaligned from the very first button.

If he disliked her body that much, he could at least treat her casually like a same-sex friend.

‘What if I undressed you or touched your body while you were asleep?’

‘I don’t want things to become awkward between us because of unwanted physical contact.’

His consideration in treating her as someone not to be touched, as a girl to be protected, only made Mina’s heart ache more.

Despite already having two lovers he was intimate with.

Despite saying he didn’t plan to add more.

Despite seeing and even touching my body in the Disease Dungeon.

Not even giving me a second look while Phyllis…

“Hnnng…”

Mina buried her nose in the shirt’s sleeve and took a deep breath.

But the shirt, thoroughly cleaned by Jessica, didn’t retain even a trace of Will’s scent, and Mina was about to let out another deep sigh, having failed to achieve her goal.

‘Hyaang…’

Suddenly, Jessica’s moans could be heard from Will’s room just one door away.

While the soundproofing in the luxury lodging was fairly good, some sounds inevitably leaked during such quiet hours.

‘Nyaa…’

‘Haah…’

Mina’s heightened senses caught Seth and Phyllis’s ecstatic cries that followed.

The sounds of women sharing their hearts with Will, falling into ecstasy.

A time of pleasure reserved only for beautiful women, denied to her.

“Will…”

Unable to bear the frustration any longer, Mina buried her face in the soft pillow and extended her small right hand toward her lower body hidden beneath the large shirt.