Chapter 1104: Side Story – Reward for Trust (4)

“Thank you. For letting me use your sleeping space, your bathroom, and even lending me clothes like these….”

“Ah, no. It’s only natural to treat a valued guest like yourself with this much hospitality. Rather, I was worried my clothes might not fit you properly.”

“Thanks to you preparing generous sizes, I’m not uncomfortable at all.”

Though, I never expected to end up borrowing underwear, of all things.

Perhaps it was true that Min Hyunyoung wore men’s underwear because her own felt too constricting on her thighs, as she naturally lent him her own underwear as well.

Still, I wasn’t sure if it was right to lend underwear to someone of the opposite sex. Maybe she was just doing this because she lacked experience with men.

“Alright, I’ve set up a sleeping space in the master bedroom. I, I’ll just take a quick shower before bed, so if you’re tired, you can go ahead and sleep first.”

“Yes. Thank you for taking care of so many things, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“Yes, yes!”

Min Hyunyoung, perhaps trying to hide her blushing face, grabbed her change of clothes and went into the bathroom.

Following her directions, I entered the master bedroom, and just as she said, a bedding set was laid out on the floor.

“…Cute.”

…And another one a little distance away. A total of two sleeping arrangements were laid out in the same room.

Well, it was a small house with no guest room to begin with. Still, the fact that she didn’t set up sleeping spaces separately in the living room or kitchen gave me a hint of her ulterior motives.

While waiting for Min Hyunyoung to return after her shower, I lay down on the inner bedding. About 30 minutes later, she cautiously opened the door and entered, dressed in pajamas.

“A, are you sleeping…?”

“No, not yet.”

“Y, you can sleep first though….”

“Still, I feel it would be rude to sleep before the host. Please, go ahead and sleep, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“Yes, yes. Th, then, good night, Sung Taekyung-ssi….”

“Good night, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

-Click.

Min Hyunyoung carefully entered the room, turned off the light switch, and crawled into her bedding.

Several minutes passed in silence within the room, now settled in quiet darkness. The first to speak was Min Hyunyoung, lying on the bedding across from me.

“Um, Sung Taekyung-ssi….”

“Yes, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“…Thank you so much for today. I don’t think there’s any way I can ever repay the kindness you’ve shown me, Sung Taekyung-ssi.”

“You don’t need to feel so burdened by it. It’s already a great joy for me that Min Hyunyoung-ssi will be returning through our guild.”

“Yes….”

“…….”

“…….”

…He really has no conversational skills at all.

Whether she had run out of things to say or not, Min Hyunyoung fell silent again, and silence permeated the master bedroom.

Just as I was about to speak again, fearing we might fall asleep anticlimactically, thankfully she brought up a new topic.

“Um, um….”

“Yes, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“Jung No-eul and Sung Chae-eun… you mentioned they are currently working at your guild, Sung Taekyung-ssi?”

“Yes.”

“How long has it been…? Since the two of them started working at your guild….”

“Not long after the guild was founded, Jung No-eul-ssi came to our guild first. After that, through No-eul-ssi’s introduction, we recruited Sung Chae-eun-ssi. Then, I asked Chae-eun-ssi for permission and obtained Min Hyunyoung-ssi’s address. I apologize once again for visiting unannounced today without prior notice.”

“N-no…! Th-that’s fine…. In fact, thanks to you doing that, I was able to have a sincere conversation with Sung Taekyung-ssi….”

“I’m truly grateful that you say so.”

“Yes….”

“…….”

“…….”

…While she might not be as shy as Jung No-eul, her adherence to etiquette and formality makes conversation difficult, perhaps even more frustrating than with her.

Then again, she probably hasn’t spoken to anyone for at least a few years since retiring, so it’s not entirely strange.

If the conversation seemed to stall, it seemed better for me to force the topic forward.

“Are you curious about Jung No-eul-ssi and Sung Chae-eun-ssi’s hunter activities?”

“…They’re probably doing well. I’ve worked with them for several years, after all.”

“Yes. Both of them are precious treasures to our Hope City Guild now. Min Hyunyoung-ssi will undoubtedly become one too.”

“Y-you’re praising me too much. As I mentioned earlier, my skills aren’t quite at their peak performance right now….”

“I’m just personally looking forward to it, so please don’t feel pressured.”

“Yes, yes….”

“…….”

“…….”

“…Did you perhaps hear anything from the two of them?”

Since the conversation wasn’t getting to the main point, I decided to ask directly.

If things continued like this, we’d just end up exchanging pointless questions and answers until morning.

“He-heard stories…?”

“Wouldn’t you have many questions? About our guild’s facilities, or the dungeons we can use, for instance.”

“Ah, ah, yes! I-I heard a little. Just a little….”

“If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. As we are a new guild, we are trying many experimental approaches, and sometimes there are things that might seem a bit strange to outsiders.”

“…Experimental approaches, I see.”

I hadn’t explicitly mentioned ‘sex welfare,’ but I had dropped enough suggestive hints that she should understand on her own.

After I said all that, Min Hyunyoung seemed to finally gain some confidence and cautiously asked about my relationship with Jung No-eul and Sung Chae-eun.

“W-well, I’m saying this because I heard something from Jung No-eul and Sung Chae-eun.”

“Yes, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“Really, I don’t mean this as sexual harassment… but I heard something a little hard to believe….”

“Whatever you say, I won’t consider it sexual harassment. Please speak freely.”

“……S.”

“Yes?”

“…Did you, did you have, sex? With Jung No-eul or Sung Chae-eun….”

To Min Hyunyoung, who mumbled the word ‘sex’ in a small voice, I replied casually, as if it were nothing.

“Yes, I have.”

“…….”

“I think we do it about once a month. I believe it’s best for me, as a fellow hunter, to satisfy the sexual desires of our hunters, so we utilize it as part of our guild’s welfare.”

“…I-I see.”

“For your reference, this is strictly unofficial welfare, so please do not disclose it to the outside, Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“I-I won’t…. I wouldn’t do such a thing….”

Of course, she wouldn’t.

Soon she would become an accomplice in this sex scandal herself, so how could she possibly reveal it to the outside?

“Are you perhaps interested as well, Min Hyunyoung-ssi?”

“Yes, yes?!”

“I’m talking about our company’s welfare. Since Min Hyunyoung-ssi will soon be affiliated with our guild, if you’re interested, I can gladly accommodate you.”

“Ah, ah, no…. I-I wasn’t thinking that far….”

“…Is that so.”

“Yes, yes…! I-I apologize for asking something unnecessary! G-good night…!”

…Is this for real?

Even if she’s naive about men, she’s running away now? After hearing that I regularly sleep with her colleagues, that I’m a slut?

Can’t be helped. I had hoped she would make the first move, but if it comes to this, I’ll have to approach her first.

“Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“……Yes.”

“I hadn’t intended to mention this since we haven’t signed the contract yet, but actually, to join our guild, there’s one act you must perform for safety procedures.”

“W-what is it…?”

“First, I should probably explain my awakened ability. You see, I’m not just a simple recovery-type Awakened user; I’m a multi-Awakened. And one of the abilities I possess….”

Keeping the fact that my power grows the more I sleep with female hunters a secret, I explained in the simplest terms about my ‘Emergency Call’ function.

That women who have been intimate with me once can be resurrected and returned to the guild once a month, even when facing mortal danger from an accident.

“…Th-that’s possible?”

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you, Min Hyunyoung-ssi. However, I want to state that at the very least, I cannot tolerate my guild members dying from fatal injuries within a dungeon.”

“Y-you have a great sense of responsibility….”

“So, I know it’s rude to bring this up on our first meeting… but I would like to ask Min Hyunyoung-ssi to consider becoming intimate with me, if possible.”

“…….”

“If direct intimacy is burdensome, other methods are also possible. After all, ‘sexual activity’ with the target is sufficient to activate the Emergency Call.”

I didn’t bother mentioning that the condition was already met during the process of healing her body earlier.

Because what I wanted wasn’t just the physical contact necessary for the Emergency Call.

Although she already owes me a favor, so she likely wouldn’t defect to another guild, if we establish a physical relationship, the probability of her leaving our guild will decrease even further.

Perhaps her awakened abilities, which only partially returned, might even recover to their peak performance.

I quietly observed whether she would still refuse even after all this. After a slight pause, Min Hyunyoung’s answer came softly from the darkness.

“Y-you don’t need to ask, Sung Taekyung-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“A-actually, I heard from Jung No-eul and Sung Chae-eun…. Th-that’s why I brought it up, because I wanted to ask first.”

“Is that so?”

“B-but honestly, I’m a little worried…. W-worried if Sung Taekyung-ssi could get excited seeing my body….”

“…….”

“I don’t have a feminine figure like them, and under my clothes, there are scars too….”

“…Min Hyunyoung-ssi.”

“Yes…. Wh-what?!”

Seeing me crawl from the opposite bedding right next to her, Min Hyunyoung flinched slightly in surprise.

In front of the flustered her, I raised my upper body and quietly presented my erect penis under my clothes before her eyes.

“Regarding that, you don’t need to worry.”

“…….”

“Because I’ve already been aroused by Min Hyunyoung-ssi for quite some time.”