episode_0079

“Good. It seems everyone is here today.”

Since the hero—the center of the previous day’s party—had disappeared, they had only exchanged brief greetings before parting ways. But now, on the second day, Cecil, who was in charge of the hero’s party and its leadership, had managed to gather them all again.

After a day’s rest, Yuria had returned and no longer argued about Riel joining the party. Did that mean she had given up on driving him away? At any rate, if she wasn’t going to provoke him, Riel had no intention of picking a fight either.

He wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose, but Yuria didn’t even glance at him. Shifting his gaze away from her, he turned to Cecil and asked,

“So, what’s the plan now, noona?”

At his overly familiar tone, Cecil’s brow furrowed sharply.

“Who are you calling noona? Even if there’s no one else around, this is still an official setting. Mind your manners.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Sir Cecil, Captain of the Knights, Instructor. Or if none of those, Master would also suffice.”

Several titles were suggested, but Yuria’s eyes particularly sparkled at the last one. It seemed she had a certain romanticism for the title Master, as if her upbringing in a swordsmanship family had left its mark.

“Master feels a bit off, doesn’t it? Kinda old-fashioned.”

When someone muttered that, Cecil immediately raised her voice.

“What are you talking about! Master—doesn’t it have a nice ring to it? The relationship between master and disciple—just imagining it makes your heart swell, doesn’t it?”

What does? Seeing the uncomprehending looks on everyone else’s faces, Cecil cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Ahem, anyway. Today, we’ll be conducting a monster-slaying test to assess each of your capabilities.”

Right on cue, soldiers entered the training grounds, dragging a massive monster encased in iron bars. Even with its neck and limbs bound in chains, its presence was still overwhelming. Most ordinary people would live their entire lives without ever laying eyes on even a single strand of the Demon King’s army.

The majority of the Demon King’s forces never cross the boundary between the demon realm and the human world before being struck down. Of course, the cost of that is the blood of countless soldiers. But encountering the rare few who breach that boundary—whether by luck or skill—is an exceedingly rare occurrence.

Even those who consider themselves skilled would find the same true for the people gathered here.

“What is that thing?”

“A Black Lion—one of the most common monsters the Demon King’s army deploys on the battlefield. But that doesn’t mean it’s weak.”

Even knights who pride themselves on their skill can be torn apart effortlessly when a beast three times their size rampages across the battlefield.

“Extermination difficulty: intermediate. For adventurers, this is a monster that would typically require at least three first-class adventurers to handle. Normally, we wouldn’t use a Black Lion for a simple aptitude test, but since you’re the hero’s party, I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“Of course!”

Leona clashed her fists together as she spoke.

“Good. Then let’s start with the ever-confident Leona.”

And so, the aptitude test began in order. Leona engaged in a fierce brawl with the Black Lion before cleaving the beast in half with her heavy greatsword, then walked off to the infirmary with a tough demeanor. Erwin, with his clever tactics and nimble movements, didn’t allow the Black Lion a single hit before turning it into a pincushion with his arrows.

Even Marika, the one they had been most worried about, cleanly defeated the Black Lion with the powerful divine arts she had learned.

Yuria, who went next, proved that the title of “hero” wasn’t just for show—her swordsmanship, movement, mana, and divine power were all flawlessly executed as she effortlessly severed the Black Lion’s head. Even Riel had to admit her skill.

“So you were confident for a reason.”

“Took you long enough to realize?”

Yuria’s playful smile in response was so unexpected that Riel was caught off guard.

“I thought you hated me?”

“I told you from the start that wasn’t the case. I’ll be more honest from now on. —At least until you start hating me.”

“Why would I ever hate you?”

“It’s inevitable. It’s already been decided.”

“As long as you don’t get in my way, that won’t happen, so just behave.”

As they spoke, the restraints on the last Black Lion were released, and Cecil, holding its leash in one hand while subduing it, called Riel’s name. Stepping forward as summoned, Riel added one last remark to her.

“And by the way, you’re far from being able to get in my way.”

“Since it’s your last day staying at the castle, are you really not going to rest today either, Riel?”

A voice called out from behind Riel, who was stacking books in the royal library and scribbling unknown characters onto parchment.

“This is still inside the castle, Instructor.”

“You don’t even think of me as an instructor.”

“I’d need to have learned something first.”

“You were a child who had nothing to teach from the very beginning. What could I, a swordsman, possibly teach a mage who felled a Black Lion in a single strike?”

If there had been any gaps in his mana control, there might have been something to teach, but Riel had already mastered the basics. If it were swordsmanship, she could have passed on more advanced techniques, but magic was entirely outside her expertise, so Cecil had left him to his own training.

The only things he had really learned from her were the weaknesses and countermeasures for monsters, as well as information about the high-ranking members of the Demon King’s army she had encountered. Useful, yes, but he had memorized it all within the first month, leaving nothing left afterward.

“The others have gone off to enjoy what might be their last vacation. What are you doing?”

“Preparing so that vacation won’t be their last. As long as you’re alive, you can always play later.”

He had no intention of dying, nor would he let the comrades he had grown close to over the past year die either. Riel continued writing as he answered.

“I can’t help but respect that about you. I like it.”

For the blunt Cecil, this was the highest form of praise, and a faint blush crept across her face. However, it was so subtle that even someone else might not have noticed—let alone the oblivious boy in front of her, who mistook Marika’s obvious affection for familial love.

“I haven’t been able to watch the others train lately since I’ve been holed up here. How are they doing?”

“Much better. Leona kept trying to tank hits instead of dodging, so I gave her a shield—seems to be working well. Yuria, as you know, is just absurd. She’s gone beyond the point where her body can’t keep up with her mind. Or should I say her soul can’t keep up? Once her body catches up, she’ll be the perfect hero. Her swordsmanship is still lacking, though.”

“If you use noona as the standard, anyone in the world would fall short.”

This was their conversation on the night before the hero’s party’s departure.

After that, the boy would go on to defeat formidable foes time and again, becoming a hero known to all.

During their long journey, they would sometimes fall into traps.

Sometimes find treasure.

Sometimes narrowly escape death.

Sometimes share meaningless jokes and laugh with their comrades.

And sometimes, even love.

It was a difficult and painful time, but that made the occasional moments of joy all the more precious.

And at the end of their journey—

“I’d like to hire this person as a porter. What do you think?”

“Hello! Camp setup, cooking, night watch, odd jobs—leave it all to me!”

He was an energetic, robust young man. Though not quite a complex, Riel—who had always been dissatisfied with his slender frame—admired his sturdy build. While members of the same sex could be rivals competing for the opposite sex, they could also be comfortable companions who shared the same understanding.

With four women in the party and Riel already dating Yuria, there was no reason for him to see the porter as a rival.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Riel recoiled in shock as he saw the porter with his arms around Leona and Erwin, the two women, and moved to intervene.

Thwack! Thwack! His arms were instantly pinned from behind. Turning around, he saw Yuria and Marika—the two women he, no, she had loved most—holding his arms.

“Finally caught you.”

The porter, still embracing the two women, reached out toward him. Squeeze!

“Ghk?!”

His breasts were grabbed and squeezed tightly.

“What the hell—”

“Still don’t get it?”

At that voice, he looked up at the man, now so much taller that he had to crane his neck. His own reflection stared back from those pupils.

“You’re my woman now, Arina.”

For a moment.

The face she had forgotten while dreaming of those happy times. The self she had truly loved—Riel Frost—had vanished, and now Arina’s face was reflected in the porter’s eyes, imprinted back into her own vision.

“Gah—!”

As if she had seen a ghost, Arina jolted upright, eyes snapping open. She took several ragged breaths, wiping the cold sweat from her brow as she clutched her chest.

“Where… am I…?”

Looking around, she saw the glass tank that had once been empty now filled with swirling demonic energy.

“Right… I’m in the Demon Tower.”

And she was no longer a man, but a woman. The large breasts that entered her vision without even lowering her head, the delicate voice that grated on her ears—they were all hers now. Gripping her chest, Arina felt the urge to tear them off.

This isn’t me.

Looking back on those memories now, she realized just how pitiful her current state was. She almost wished she hadn’t woken up.

“Even my dreams are betraying me now. Damn bastard…”

Arina trembled with fury as she recalled the porter in her dream, groping her chest and sneering at her.

If only it had been Ian in the dream… If the man who took my first time had been Ian…

More than becoming a woman, what truly ate at her was the unfairness of losing her virginity against her will.

The thought crossed her mind unbidden, and Arina glanced around, wanting to wash away the discomfort. She wanted to see Ian and talk to him as soon as possible.

“Master, are you done?”

So she called out for her master, who should have been waiting for her to wake up—but there was no answer.

“Master?”

No one was there. If it had been Ellin, she would have been sipping coffee and reading a book while waiting for Arina to wake up. But nowhere in the room was there any sign of her.