Chapter 966: Side Story – The Unfilled Empty Seat (1)

Two days have passed since Jung No-eul joined our guild.

It was a regular expedition day where the Sky Blue Shield members were all gathered for the first time in a while, but today, the Sky Blue Shield didn’t head out on an expedition right after gathering. Instead, they delivered one important piece of information to everyone.

It was about Hye-eun’s pregnancy, which might affect the entire party’s strength for a while.

“I’m sorry. Because of that, I think I’ll need to be careful with myself for a while, so it might be difficult for me to go on expeditions together.”

“Uh…”

“What…?”

“……”

The three members of Sky Blue Shield fell silent for a moment upon hearing the party leader’s pregnancy news.

I could easily guess that although they heard the same story, each of them had fallen silent for different reasons.

“Really?! How many months are you? Ah, come to think of it, we went on an expedition together just a while ago, were you okay then?”

“I was fine. I was being careful even then. By the calendar, it’s been about two months now.”

“Two months, and you can barely tell yet. Anyway, congratulations, Hye-eun!”

Han Min-ah, who was momentarily surprised, quickly collected herself and then sincerely congratulated Hye-eun on her pregnancy.

“…That’s good. Congratulations, Hye-eun.”

“Thank you, Jihee-ssi.”

Cheon Jihee, biting her lower lip tightly, offered her congratulations filled with complex emotions to Hye-eun.

“…Is it really Sungchul’s, no, Taekyung’s baby?”

“Of course, would it be someone else’s baby? Since I was five years old, no man other than Taekyung has ever caught my eye.”

“……Right.”

“Heh heh. It’s ‘our first child’, mine and Taekyung’s, Yuri-ssi.”

“……”

And Cha Yuri, with a slightly disappointed expression, cautiously offered words that were hard to tell if they were congratulations or not.

Although the nuance of congratulations wasn’t felt, Hye-eun didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she seemed to be subtly enjoying Yuri’s reaction.

‘I should probably suggest the idea of getting pregnant to Yuri or Min-ah soon.’

Unlike Han Min-ah, who showed genuine congratulations, Cha Yuri looked like she was boiling with jealousy, plain for anyone to see.

And besides, if someone was going to take a break due to pregnancy anyway, it was better for them all to rest at once. If they took breaks one by one, like losing a tooth, the period of instability for the party would only lengthen.

Min-ah wasn’t the type to be that jealous, but Cha Yuri was a bit different. So, while everyone else was distracted by Hye-eun, I subtly brought up the topic of pregnancy with Yuri.

“Yuri-ssi, are you jealous of Hye-eun right now?”

“…No, I’m not jealous or anything. I told you last time, right? As long as you don’t abandon me and just hold me, that’s enough.”

“Oh really? If you were jealous of Hye-eun, I was going to ask if you also had thoughts about it.”

“…About what?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? A child between you and me, Yuri-ssi.”

“……!”

Cha Yuri’s body trembled at the proposal I whispered.

She tried her best not to show it on the outside, but this was Cha Yuri, after all. There was no way she could hide her feelings from me, given how every little action of hers was so transparent.

She had a history of deliberately not using contraception magic even when she didn’t know my sperm count was 0%. So, maybe it was Cha Yuri, not Hye-eun, who wanted a child with me first.

“What do you say? I’m fine with even today.”

“…Hold on, let me calculate something.”

“Huh?”

“Last Monday was the last day of my period, so exactly a week has passed, which means the next ovulation day is…”

“……”

“Oh, not today, how about next Tuesday?”

Judging by her actions, she seemed to have gotten busy calculating her next fertile window.

Of course, I would have made time even if it didn’t exist for Cha Yuri, so my head naturally nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go with next Tuesday.”

“…Ah, speaking of which, if you and I are going to do it, we’ll need a dungeon. Is there a suitable place in our guild’s dungeons? Not too gloomy like the Tomb of the Ancient Tree, but something a bit fresher… there’s probably only one at the company….”

…Even though it’s been a while, is having sex in a dungeon already a done deal?

Well, I could handle this part too, so it didn’t really matter. If I used Belle’s dungeon, I could easily create a dungeon with a nice atmosphere and monsters of the appropriate level that Yuri wanted.

“I’ll take care of the preparations, so you just need to show up, Yuri-ssi.”

“…B-but usually, the woman is supposed to plan the date course…”

“You’ve planned it every time, Yuri-ssi, so it’s okay if I plan it just this once. Besides, as the Guild Master now, it’s much easier for me to secure a dungeon than it is for you, Yuri-ssi.”

“…Alright. Then I’ll be waiting.”

After secretly arranging the ‘serious pregnancy sex’ with Cha Yuri for the following Tuesday.

It was time to introduce the temporary party member who would fill Hye-eun’s vacancy to the entire Sky Blue Shield, including the other three who were slightly buzzing about Hye-eun’s pregnancy news.

“Have you named the baby? What’s the baby’s nickname? Ah, did you have a pregnancy dream? Actually, I think I had a dream that felt like a pregnancy dream recently….”

“She’s only two months along. You’re rushing it, Min-ah.”

“Let’s put the topic of Hye-eun’s pregnancy aside for now. First, I have someone new to introduce to you all.”

“Huh? Introduce?”

“…Who?”

“Since Hye-eun will be taking a break from hunting activities for a while due to her pregnancy, we recently recruited a Hunter to temporarily fill that vacancy.”

“……What?”

Cheon Jihee’s expression stiffened for a moment at the words ‘fill Hye-eun’s vacancy’.

Already sensitive due to the news of Hye-eun’s pregnancy, she shot me a slightly sharp remark.

“Fill Hye-eun’s vacancy? Make sense. No one can replace Hye-eun’s position in Sky Blue Shield. If you’re replacing a party member for a trivial reason like pregnancy, I won’t stay in Sky Blue Shield any longer.”

“It’s not a replacement, they’ll be working with us temporarily. We can’t just sit around while Hye-eun rests for that year, can we?”

“…And after a year, Hye-eun will return too?”

“Of course, why are you asking that, Cheon Jihee-ssi?”

“……If that’s the case, then it’s fine.”

After smoothing over the atmosphere that was about to turn hostile, I called Jung No-eul, who was waiting behind the door.

Perhaps she had overheard our conversation just now, the purple-haired Sword Master appeared before everyone, looking unusually hesitant.

“Ah, hello, everyone….”

“Ah, No-eul Unnie! So you were the one coming in as Hye-eun’s substitute, No-eul Unnie?”

“Yes, yes….”

“What are you talking about with the formal speech between us? I’ve worked with Chae-eun Unnie and No-eul Unnie in a party several times. You even went on an expedition with Sky Blue Shield once last year, right?”

“N-not last year… it was the year before last…”

“Ah, right. Anyway, it’s nice to see you after so long, No-eul Unnie! With you here, we feel really secure!”

“……”

Han Min-ah, the mood-maker of Sky Blue Shield, took the lead in the conversation with a bright smile, but it seemed to be overwhelming for Jung No-eul, whose gaze darted around nervously.

She couldn’t even take Han Min-ah’s outstretched hand for a handshake, stammering and muttering strange things.

“Ah, n-no… You can just think of me as not being here, so please just think of it as a Rock Golem joining the party…”

“What are you saying, No-eul Unnie. Now that we’ll be working together as a party, let’s get along well for a while, Unnie! Ah, and if you don’t have a party now that Chae-eun Unnie has retired, maybe you could work with us from now on too…”

“Uh, excuse me, I need to use the restroom for a sec…!”

-kwadungtang!

“Aagh, a-aaagh…!”

-kwang!

“……”

“……”

“……”

Jung No-eul tripped over a chair while trying to make a hasty exit, and unable to bear the embarrassment, she quickly shut the door and disappeared outside.

Unable to withstand the overwhelming pressure of being sociable, she had ultimately fled the Sky Blue Shield party’s waiting room. Han Min-ah quietly recomposed herself, her hand now without a purpose.

“W-was it my fault…?”

“It wasn’t your fault, Min-ah. She’s just someone who takes a long time to get close to people.”

“Her? Replacing Hye-eun? I don’t trust her.”

“Still, she’s an S-class Sword Master, so her skills are definitely reliable.”

“I’m not doubting her skills, but I’m still a bit uneasy.”

“It wasn’t this bad when Chae-eun Unnie was here last time. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t know anyone here…”

“Are you sure our party won’t disappear while I’m away, Taekyung-ah?”

“…I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen, so don’t worry.”

…If Jung No-eul really doesn’t mesh well with Sky Blue Shield, I’ll have to take her out and go on expeditions more often myself.

After all, as long as I use my awakened abilities, there’s no way anyone will accidentally lose their life inside a dungeon.

I could also try coordinating high-level Hunters with complex strategies without any burden. If things go well, this could be an opportunity to create one or two S-class parties for our guild.

It’s a slightly unsettling first expedition in many ways, but for now, I just have to trust Jung No-eul.