While You Were Away (1)
Layla did not trust Hex.
From their very first meeting, the man had opened with something like, "Damn, those are some huge tits." How was she supposed to put her faith in someone like that?
The constant sexual harassment and pure scumbag behavior that followed only drove her loathing of him through the roof. She had sworn that if the chance ever came, she would erase him from existence.
"I'm going alone."
So when that same Hex announced he was heading out to rescue a village girl who'd been kidnapped, Layla thought this might finally be her opportunity.
She simply could not believe he was doing it out of any good intention.
If he so much as laid a filthy hand on that poor girl, she fully intended to kill him herself.
The thought that Kyle might be disappointed weighed on her, but she had already decided the world would be better off without Hex in it.
"So while I'm gone, look after those two for me."
"…Okay."
Mela's face was clouded with worry, as if Hex had said something else to her as well.
Leaving Mela behind like that did trouble her—but that only hardened her resolve to put Hex down for good.
After comforting Mela, she slipped away and tailed him in secret.
Once they reached the village, she watched Hex use a potion on a young man who was barely clinging to life.
"W-we don't have any money…"
"I know."
Layla could not hide her shock.
She had fully expected a man like him to sneer something along the lines of, "Don't worry—I'll take good care of your fiancée for you."
Even a low-grade potion was far from cheap. She simply could not believe that human garbage would waste one healing a stranger.
Just how vile a thing is he planning…!
Her suspicion only deepened.
Rumors had long claimed he took pleasure in harassing women right in front of their lovers. Maybe this was just the setup for that.
A scene unspooled in her mind.
Hex, standing over the healed young man, toying with the girl he had just "rescued."
"Hey, give us a better show. I went to all the trouble of saving you—least you can do is put some effort in."
"No…! Don't look!"
"Hah! For someone saying that, your pussy's gripping my cock so tight it won't let go. Hey—your fiancée got gobbled up by goblins, and she's still this snug?"
Layla clenched her fists.
That absolute piece of trash!
But it would never happen.
She would kill him with her own hands before he ever got the chance!
With that thought burning in her chest, she followed Hex into the goblin den.
BOOM.
Was he just that excited about the woman he was about to violate?
Hex literally pulverized the goblins.
Time to get ready.
Layla began storing her magic.
Her detection spells had already confirmed the kidnapped girl was in the deepest chamber of the cave.
The moment Hex so much as looked like he might touch her, she planned to blow him to pieces on the spot.
But Hex simply handed the girl his outer cloak without a single lewd word, then led her back to the village.
Along the way, he even offered her words of comfort—completely unlike him.
There's no way that man would act like this.
What the hell was he scheming?
The finale? Was this the finale?
Was he holding himself back just to set up something even more twisted for his own amusement?
But when she watched Hex refuse even the reward and leave the village behind, Layla had no choice but to admit she had been wrong.
Maybe… he wasn't that bad after all?
Come to think of it, everything she knew about Hex's evil deeds had come from rumors. She had never actually witnessed any of it herself.
Yes, he was a walking sexual harassment machine and a complete bastard—but he wasn't the kind of irredeemable monster she had decided needed immediate execution.
In truth, that was only because Hex had always been careful enough never to get caught. But Layla had no way of knowing that.
And so she reflected.
She had only recently sworn never to let prejudice color her judgment of someone's actions again—and here she was, making the exact same mistake.
I should probably learn a little more about that guy.
She had no choice but to acknowledge that her hatred for Hex had lessened, if only by a fraction.
Affinity Level with Layla has increased.
0 LV → 1 LV
What the hell?
I stared at the system window that had just appeared, checking it over and over without even thinking to dismiss it.
No matter how many times I looked, I hadn't misread it.
My Affinity Level with Layla had gone up.
But why all of a sudden? What could have happened?
Don't tell me…?
I started to scan my surroundings, then stopped.
It would look way too suspicious, and deliberately hunting down someone who was trying to stay hidden never ended well.
Besides, something else was bothering me far more.
She was watching what I did?
My face suddenly felt hot.
At the time I'd thought I was being cool, but looking back, half the things I'd said and done were pure cringe.
Especially that line—"If that bastard ever abandons you, I'll punch him in the face for you." Just remembering it made me want to crawl into a hole and die.
If Layla had heard that, she definitely would have made the most disgusted face imaginable.
I forced the image out of my head.
Still… so Affinity Levels really do exist.
Until now, I hadn't even known the party had an Affinity Level system between members.
Because other than Kyle, no one's Affinity Level had ever gone up!
I'd just assumed Affinity Levels were exclusive to the protagonist.
The fact that it's been stuck at 0 LV this whole time is honestly kind of shocking.
At that level, you weren't even registered as an ally, which meant the friendly-fire system was fully active. It was a miracle I hadn't gotten caught in one of her attack spells during a monster hunt.
Either way, this was good news.
I'd been upgraded from "insect" to "just some guy I hate," which meant she might at least pretend to listen when I talked.
But where exactly had Layla been watching me from?
Clairvoyance magic burned through too much mana to be practical for something like this, and surveillance or eavesdropping spells bounced right off Hex's absurd magic resistance.
So she had to have been nearby—and yet no one had noticed her. That didn't make sense.
No way. She wouldn't…
A certain possibility flickered through my mind, but I shook my head almost immediately.
There was no way she would go that far just to keep an eye on me.
The weather was getting chilly, too. No way.
I shoved the useless thoughts aside and headed back toward Aiden.
Events were still unfolding there, after all.
I wasn't too worried—but I still needed to prepare for the worst.
Mela better be doing exactly what I told her…
While Hex and Layla were away from the party, Kyle and the others had been diligently working through commissions.
Got it? Only take the high-paying ones. Don't go sticking your nose into every sob story.
Hex had said it with a faintly embarrassed look, as if even he knew he was in no position to give that kind of advice. And Kyle had followed those instructions to the letter.
Instead of taking jobs from people too poor to offer decent pay, he had been completing commissions for wealthy merchants.
It went against his own beliefs, but he told himself it was a necessary compromise.
It's so I can save more people later.
Of course, if something like a dangerous beast threatening the townsfolk came up, he would have taken it regardless of the pay—but Aiden was such a safe city that nothing of the sort ever appeared.
Having finished one commission, Kyle stood once more in front of the request board.
There was still plenty of daylight left, so he figured he could knock out one more.
Something suitable caught his eye almost immediately.
"Alright, let's try this one next."
Just as he reached for the posting, someone tugged on his sleeve.
It was Mela.
"Oh, Mela—you're done already too?"
She'd said she had business in the underworld. Had it wrapped up that quickly?
Mela fidgeted for a moment, then began leading him outside.
Kyle was confused by her behavior, but Mela had never been good at expressing herself, so he quietly followed.
He figured she must have a reason for acting this way.
Following her lead, they arrived at a deserted stretch of street.
"Mela, can you explain now?"
Kyle glanced around, then asked,
"Who are those people?"
As if answering his question, a group of figures began slowly emerging from the shadows.
Watching them, Mela's expression darkened as Hex's words rose in her mind.
"Before the sun sets, bring Kyle here."
She hadn't wanted to listen to that man—but she couldn't ignore what he had added next.
"If you want Emily to stay safe, you'd better do as I say."
Kyle and Emily were her benefactors.
The thought that she might somehow bring harm to them left Mela with no choice but to obey.
She thought of Emily—who, like her, had also been given some kind of message by Hex.
Somewhere in a dark space.
A blue flame burned in midair.
Beneath it, Emily lay collapsed as if unconscious, and beside her, a mass of pink flesh twitched and shuddered.
Moments later, the blue flame began to flicker—and the flesh started to change.
Schlick—
The pink mass split into countless thin tendrils that writhed and coiled.
Slowly, they began to crawl toward the fallen Emily.