Ch.66Establishment of the Guard (4)

When I closed the door and turned around, Adelheid was standing quietly in the middle of the room, watching me.

“This conversation might take a while, so please have a seat.”

As Adelheid sat down in the chair, I perched on the edge of the bed across from her.

After staring at me for quite some time, Adelheid finally spoke.

“First… I want to say thank you. For vouching for Miyumi and me. And for making us normal members of society.”

“Ah, well… it was half for my own benefit since I was using you and the deputy captain. We helped each other. I entrusted the security force to two skilled and trustworthy people.”

“Even so, I’m still grateful. I wanted to tell you that.”

“I see…”

She wouldn’t have come in the middle of the night just to say that…

“Jack. That’s why I want to repay you somehow.”

“No, please don’t. Your repayment is running the security force well. That’s enough.”

“No, it’s not. I want to do something for you personally.”

“Haha. Whatever it is, I’ll have to decline—Eek?!”

I nearly screamed when Adelheid suddenly began removing her clothes.

If I screamed, Mirella would rush in from the next room and see me alone with a half-naked Adelheid.

Then Mirella would be heartbroken and might really run away this time.

Meanwhile, Adelheid had removed all her clothes and was completely naked.

Her muscular physique was toned from years as a mercenary, with a strong-boned frame.

Numerous scars testified to the difficult path she had walked.

Her body was impressive enough to evoke admiration rather than lustful feelings.

“Jack. This is my repayment. Though it’s not much, this is all I can give you right now.”

“Captain…”

“Don’t refuse me. I won’t use this to demand anything from you or hold you back in any way. Just use me for tonight and discard me afterward.”

As Adelheid slowly approached me, her scent wafted over.

It was the same perfume she had recommended to me when I was kidnapped by the Remugen mercenaries, saying it would suit me.

So she ended up buying that perfume after all.

But what should I do? I feel no sexual desire for Adelheid whatsoever.

Adelheid is certainly a beautiful woman.

She was just hidden beneath armor soaked in blood and sweat, and those gruesome scars.

The current Adelheid had completely shed her harsh mercenary appearance by living at the shop, bathing daily with good soap.

But despite that, I felt nothing.

Adelheid carefully studied my face before speaking.

“You’re going to refuse.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not the type to do this with just anyone.”

“Jack. You should feel guilty toward me.”

Adelheid came right up to me.

Her clearly defined abs, navel, and well-groomed body hair were right in front of me.

“You took everything from me. Didn’t you?”

“You kidnapped me first, Captain.”

“But I was sincere with you. I never intended to kill or harm you.”

“Maybe not at first.”

“Jack.”

Adelheid knelt between my legs and looked up at me.

“Are you saying you did nothing wrong? That you don’t feel even a twinge of conscience after using my sincerity to drag me down to rock bottom?”

“I also pulled you back up.”

“Yes, I know. Because of my wrongdoings, you crushed me and then fixed me. I know all that.”

Adelheid took my hand pleadingly.

“I know everything. But Jack, even if I wronged you, wasn’t the price too harsh? My inherited mercenary group disbanded, and I fled without a single gold coin. The equipment the security force is using now—you took it all from the mercenary armory, right? You probably even emptied the treasury with the operating funds.”

Her grip on my hand tightened.

“Yes, Jack. I was the one who did wrong first. So you destroyed my mercenary group and took everything I had built. And if that wasn’t enough, you made me work under you. Jack, this is unfair. It’s like you put a weight on your side of the scale to counterbalance it tipping in my direction.”

Unfair. That’s not wrong.

Adelheid received far greater retribution than what she had done to me.

That’s how web novels are these days. If someone causes even the slightest harm to the protagonist, they must be uprooted completely.

If not, the protagonist and author get called stupid, a pushover, frustrating, or an idiot.

But this isn’t a web novel world.

I may have been transported into a game world, but this is now my reality.

And I took all the assets of Adelheid’s mercenary group solely to develop the village.

I had no other intentions.

I feel sorry for Adelheid. But that’s a separate issue.

“Please get up, Captain. Mirella will cause a scene if she finds out.”

“Jack. When we had that brief conversation below deck on the ship, I made a promise to myself. That I’d be happy just being near you. That it would be fine even if I didn’t become something to you or you to me.”

I was surprised to see Adelheid smile sadly.

I never knew she could smile like that.

“Jack… think of it this way. We’re just a man and woman of similar age. Living under the same roof, we’ve grown closer and finally reached the stage of physical intimacy. But it won’t develop beyond this. When the sun rises tomorrow, we’ll continue as if nothing happened. Isn’t that simple?”

“I understand. But Captain… regardless of how you feel, I haven’t grown close enough to you to reach the stage of physical intimacy.”

Adelheid silently knelt back a little.

“I’m sorry.”

Naked and kneeling, Adelheid stared at me blankly.

“Jack… is it because of that girl?”

“Which girl are you talking about?”

“The one you helped… the one they say wanders the continent solving impossible problems.”

Is she talking about Alreina? So Adelheid knows about her too.

Well, if Mirella, Brasya, and Liberone know, there’s no reason Adelheid wouldn’t.

“Is it because of her that you won’t accept anyone, Jack? Not the women at the shop, not the administrator.”

She thinks I’m avoiding women because of Alreina?

“I heard from Mirella. That someday that girl will return here. She said the girl is an extraordinary person who can’t be compared to her. Jack, you’re waiting for her to come back, aren’t you?”

What nonsense is this?

I just wanted to focus on developing the village.

Besides, Alreina is just a kid about Mirella’s age.

The idea that I’m avoiding women because of her is absurd.

“That’s not it. I just don’t have the luxury for this kind of thing right now. I’m sorry.”

I carefully turned Adelheid by the shoulders and gently pushed her toward the door.

“Please go to bed. You’ll be busy again tomorrow.”

“Alright… I understand…”

When Adelheid opened the door, Mirella and the deputy captain both tumbled in at once.

“Eek?!”

The two of them, after making eye contact with us, scurried away like cats with their tails on fire.

Adelheid let out a soft sigh and left the room.

Closing the door and lying on the bed, I stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

I can’t accept Adelheid.

From the beginning, we don’t match at all, and we’re not the kind of relationship that could develop in that direction.

But if it’s because of Alreina… well.

That’s ridiculous. Alreina is the future hero I helped set on her path, not some long-distance romantic interest.

* * * * *

The next day, the security force officially began its duties.

Adelheid visited city hall and reported her first operation plan to Mayor Bellamy, her direct superior.

The plan was to completely sweep away all the thugs, robbers, and various low-level monsters in our Starting City area.

“Our city is located in a remote area unlike other cities. To increase the flow of people, we must eliminate all dangers along the routes leading here.”

“Very well… Just please… make sure no one gets hurt…”

After Bellamy stamped the operation plan, Adelheid glanced at me briefly before leaving.

“The security captain is so scary… Please hold and comfort me, Jack…”

“Haha…”

I put a potion in the clingy mayor’s mouth while looking at the mountain of paperwork.

The administrative workload seems to have increased at least tenfold since the village was upgraded to a city.

News of a new city attracted quite a few people looking for new opportunities.

A city’s strength is always in its population, and as the population grows, so does the work.

Consequently, city hall has been reinforced with staff.

Following the royal city’s administrative structure, civil servants have been recruited, and now everything is functioning properly.

So I should probably return to the shop soon, but the problem is this depressed mayor.

If I don’t take care of her, she can’t work at all, which greatly troubles the city hall staff.

That’s why I’m sitting here in the mayor’s office, helping with various tasks.

My official title is a member of the City Development Committee that has continued since village days, handling the transfer of duties and serving as an advisor.

Since most city hall employees are outsiders, it’s better to have someone familiar with local affairs stationed at city hall.

For that reason, I’m occupying a seat at city hall with a nameplate that reads “Advisory Committee Member.”

Now that we’ve been upgraded to a city, all my goals have been achieved, and I’d like to rest, but…

After forcibly seating Bellamy in her chair, I stepped outside to find several female employees standing in the hallway.

“Advisor! Are you busy?”

“No? Is something wrong?”

“Then would you like to join us for lunch?”

“What…?”

Seeing my confused expression, the female employees flocked to me, linking their arms with mine on both sides and dragging me away as if I were under arrest.