Ch.28Loose Knot

# 28. Loose Knot

‘I’ve got all the materials, and I’ve figured out why those hyena guys are even more insane than expected.’

Fortunately, the materials were cheap. Just to be safe, I borrowed Cutjukyeora’s gold coins, and the budget was still tight. If I hadn’t borrowed them, I would have had to work twice as hard.

‘They must be sleeping by now?’

It was later than I thought. I didn’t have a watch, but I was certain I’d been wandering around for hours.

Now I just needed to go back to the inn, carefully shower without waking my party members, do some laundry while I was at it, mix the ingredients in advance to maximize the curing time, and then sleep on the floor with a blanket.

Ah. Before falling asleep, I could indulge in a little, just a little bit of personal desire.

My personal desire wasn’t anything special.

Just seeing the sleeping faces of my party members.

I’m watching them secretly because they might not like having their sleeping faces seen.

I look at them partly because they’re pretty, but more than that… it’s almost like a ritual where I remind myself that I’m responsible for these people.

If something were to go wrong in a world where we have no acquaintances except ourselves, shouldn’t at least I remember them?

Of course, nothing like that will happen. I’ll make sure of it. Something unfortunate happening to such pretty young people? Absurd! If someone has to suffer instead, I’ll do it—that’s my pledge.

As the party leader, as the oldest member, as the only man.

I carefully opened the door to our room, passing through the quiet lobby where the innkeeper had also fallen asleep.

‘They’re sleeping, as expected.’

From a distance, they looked nice lying side by side on the bed. As soon as I entered the room, a fragrant scent tickled my nose. My unwashed body felt like waste material in comparison. I hurriedly opened the bathroom door and took off my clothes.

Shhhhhh—

The hot water seemed to wash away not only the accumulated dirt but also my fatigue.

‘Forget laundry and everything else, let me just stay like this for a moment.’

Taking a hot shower after a week was nothing short of paradise.

I washed very thoroughly, just in case.

Because it would be troublesome if I smelled bad.

**

“Unni. Oh, what do we do?”

“What, what do we do?”

“He’s showering!”

“Of course he would be!”

Saeaex’s plan to wait in front of the room door in the most “light” attire possible had been stopped by Cutjukyeora.

She had repeatedly persuaded her that it made no sense to keep waiting in such attire when they didn’t know when the leader would return.

However, she couldn’t stop the idea of waiting in “light” attire itself, so they were now lying in bed with blankets over them.

“But come to think of it, if we go through with this, the leader will probably end up sleeping on the floor. This bed is a bit narrow for three people.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“…Anyway, we just need to throw off the blankets and get up when he comes near the bed.”

Cutjukyeora deliberately avoided mentioning what happened on their first night in Onore. Her clothes were even lighter than what she usually wore at home, and she felt uncomfortable with the unfamiliar sensation of the blanket against her skin.

What if he thinks I’m strange?

What if he thinks I’m a pervert?

I reluctantly went along with it, but if I say later that I did it because of Saeaex, I’ll look pathetic.

All sorts of thoughts were running through her mind, and she barely heard what Saeaex was saying beside her.

Click—

The sound of the bathroom door opening was very faint. Then came the sound of someone tiptoeing over and spreading out a blanket.

‘Now?’

‘Now!’

Just before their party leader finished laying out his blanket and was about to lie down!

“Waaah!”

**

“Ugh, shit!”

“Pfahahahah!”

After finishing all my tasks and spreading out my fluffy blanket, just as I was about to have my happy time, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when Saeaex suddenly screamed and shot up.

I took deep breaths to calm my startled heart and was about to ask why they were still awake, but…

‘Am I dreaming?’

Why are Cutjukyeora and Saeaex only wearing underwear? Am I seeing things because I’m tired?

As I stared blankly at a sight more spectacular than Albrant’s night view, Saeaex, who had startled me, and Cutjukyeora, who was fidgeting behind her, both turned red.

“S-say something, party leader!”

“Why, why are you still awake?”

“For this!”

“Ah. I see?”

“Ah. I see~?”

Saeaex crossed her arms, seemingly dissatisfied with my response. Wait a minute. If she crosses her arms there. Oh my.

“What do you think!”

“Um… impressive?”

“R-really?”

The conversation stopped there. Cutjukyeora, who would normally restrain Saeaex’s behavior, was also in her underwear.

I had been planning to get a good night’s sleep, but now I was wide awake.

The violent visual stimulation was one thing, but thinking about why they were suddenly doing this…

‘There were signs before, but, sigh. What woman would show herself in underwear to a man she’s not interested in?’

My heart became extremely complicated as I guessed their intentions.

And not just one woman, but two.

Should I pretend not to notice like some clueless guy? Or should I talk about it seriously?

Due to my personal experiences, and because the current situation was not easy, I had consciously avoided approaching them romantically. Now I felt like I was suddenly thrown in front of a difficult problem.

“Um… leader, I’m sorry. This must be very awkward for you.”

“Ah. No. Well. Some people sleep in just their underwear, so it’s fine.”

“If we usually slept in just our underwear, you wouldn’t have been so surprised.”

She knows that and still did it.

I held my tongue and looked into my heart.

Did I like these women romantically? Which one did I like more?

No, did I even plan to date anyone until we escaped the tower?

Assuming I dated one of them, could I still give orders fairly in the future? Wouldn’t that become a seed of conflict?

I was thoroughly calculating and analyzing the emotional realm of romance.

I closed my eyes.

If I kept them open, their figures illuminated by starlight would crush my judgment.

‘Both of their bodies are… ah, forget it.’

Of course, as soon as I closed my eyes, I started imagining.

So before it led to fantasies, I lay down flat.

“Tomorrow. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“Party leader!”

“I’m tired.”

“…Alright.”

I heard them whispering for a moment, and then it became quiet.

‘Ah. I need to move diligently tomorrow too.’

You succubus-like women.

Give me back my sleep.

**

The magical curtain of night lifted, and warm rays of light shone down on the morning.

The morning atmosphere was very, very very very very awkward.

‘I’m sleepy. This is awkward.’

It would have been one option to just gloss over what happened last night, but that could make things grow beyond what I could handle later.

We had a long way to go, and this atmosphere wasn’t suitable for adventure.

So I asked straightforwardly.

“If I’m not mistaken. You two. Do you perhaps think of me as a man?”

They both inhaled at my words.

“If it’s my misunderstanding, we can just move on and say I was being presumptuous. It would just end as a simple happening.”

“…”

“Is it difficult to talk about? Because it’s bright morning and not night?”

Why are they silent? After startling me like that last night.

“I’m aware that I’m not being delicate right now. You two didn’t do anything wrong, and this might feel like an interrogation. If you two have become, you know, involved with each other, then this is my mistake. But I seem to be involved somehow. So I need to hear it. I’m the party leader after all.”

I finished speaking and waited. If they didn’t speak until the end, I was planning to just let it go as a happening.

Just as the five minutes I had mentally set as an appropriate time was about to pass, someone finally spoke.

“First of all, what happened yesterday was entirely my initiative. You should know that.”

It was Saeaex.

“And that’s not a misunderstanding. Originally, I just wanted to see how the party leader would react, but I guess I forgot what kind of person you are. It ended up being like a sudden confession. How stupid of me.”

“I see.”

“Yeah. That’s what happened. Unni kept telling me you’d be uncomfortable until the end, but I was stubborn. If you’re going to scold anyone, please just scold me.”

Saeaex closed her mouth and lowered her head. I wasn’t trying to scold her at all.

I shifted my gaze, and Cutjukyeora spoke.

“It’s not a misunderstanding for me either. So even though I tried to stop her, I ended up participating too. Given the situation, I tried to hide it well, but it didn’t work out. Umm, I was just a bit. Anxious, I guess.”

“Anxious?”

“Yes. I wanted to rely on each other in a relationship that’s closer than just party leader and member. That kind of thought.”

“I understand what you mean.”

I put my hands on their shoulders and pushed them gently. They raised their heads again.

“First of all, thank you for having such feelings for me. There’s nothing wrong with someone liking someone else. Absolutely not. However, I have no intention of showing favoritism to either one of you. That’s how it was in the game, and that’s how it will be here. So I can’t date anyone. Love and fairness can’t coexist. At least not by my standards.”

This was my conclusion.

Even in the game, all sorts of incidents happened because of relationship issues within the same party, and there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen here too.

Hearing my answer, they didn’t look particularly disappointed. Rather, they nodded as if they had expected it.

“That’s just like our party leader.”

“Yes. That’s so like you.”

“…Right. Thanks. So, are we tying up what happened yesterday with this?”

They both silently smiled.

It wasn’t until much, much later that I realized why they, who had been answering my questions just fine, chose to respond with silent smiles at that moment.