Crunch, Crunch... A Priestess's Bold Confession
The crunching, smacking... Smack, smack... Smack...
As the wait for the boss room door stretched longer than expected, we naturally ended up taking a meal break. Today's menu was the usual monster meat skewers. The ingredients you could find in the dungeon were limited, so the same dishes kept appearing on our table.
Still, we couldn't skip meals just because the taste had grown stale. To keep our strength up for battle, we had to force the stuff down even if it was the last thing we wanted.
"Monster meat skewers again today......"
Adelheid stared weakly at the skewer in her hand and let out a small, complicated sigh. Her eyes carried a strange melancholy as she looked at it.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. It's not really a problem. I was just talking to myself......"
Adelheid spoke softly and took the tiniest bite from the monster skewer. The dry texture and lingering fishy aftertaste seemed to bother her greatly. After forcing the meat down, her brow furrowed deeply for a moment.
"......"
Even after eating plenty of monster meat with me throughout our dungeon runs, Adelheid still hadn't gotten used to that dry, heavy flavor. Well, that was probably only natural.
There was no way the former daughter of a ducal house could casually swallow such crude food. No matter how necessary it was for survival, chewing the same thing for nearly two months would make anyone sick of it. The strange part would be if she wasn't tired of it.
"It's all right, Lady Adelheid. I struggled with it at first too, but after eating it day after day, I got somewhat used to it."
I had been turning these thoughts over in my head when Renya, sitting quietly beside Adelheid, suddenly flashed a bright smile.
"Next time I'll gather better ingredients and cook you something delicious. So please just bear with it for today."
"Re-Renya......"
Renya's cheerful face gently comforted Adelheid, who couldn't hide how fed up she was. Since Renya had taken over nearly all the cooking and chores in our party for the past month, Adelheid couldn't bring herself to refuse. She forced down the dry meat and offered an awkward smile in return.
"You need to eat plenty since you're our knight who has to work hard."
"...Thank you, but the mood seems a little different now, doesn't it?"
"Huh? What mood?"
"It feels strangely more comfortable. Weren't you keeping a slight distance from us just a few hours ago?"
I accepted the monster skewer Renya offered and murmured quietly. At that moment, her gaze lingered briefly in the air, as if replaying my words. With the skewer still in her mouth, she blinked blankly for a second, then gave a soft smile and continued in her usual bright tone.
"It has become comfortable. Very much so."
"Why all of a sudden?"
"Hmm, how should I explain it? Maybe because the knight's spirit you showed earlier left a strong impression?"
My spirit from earlier left a strong impression? What was she suddenly talking about?
"Because of our class, priests have no choice but to rely heavily on warriors. But finding a truly reliable one is incredibly difficult."
Renya spoke calmly and quietly swallowed the monster meat she'd been chewing.
"But after watching you overwhelm the Imperial Knight Order and drive them into the boss room, I became certain."
"Certain of what?"
"That I must secure this person no matter what. That I can trust and follow him to the very end."
Renya's calm confession followed right after. The completely unexpected answer left my mind momentarily blank.
"M-must secure no matter what? What on earth are you saying all of a sudden, Renya......?"
Adelheid looked equally flustered. She quietly set her skewer down and stared at Renya in a daze.
Yet Renya didn't flinch. Instead, her eyes shone even clearer and more transparently as she gazed straight at me.
"It's exactly as I said. I've completely fallen for the knight's manly side."
Renya's abrupt confession hung in the air. The atmosphere around us froze awkwardly in an instant. Her eyes were far too serious and direct to brush off as a joke.
"F-fallen for me......?"
"Yes! When I'm with the knight, no dungeon feels scary at all!"
Adelheid, doubting her own ears, repeated the question again and again. Renya simply nodded with that same bright, untroubled smile, showing not the slightest dissatisfaction.
"When else would I ever meet someone as reliable as the knight?"
"Get a hold of yourself, Renya... A priest, who above all should be pure and upright, how can you say such bold things......"
"I'm only a priest by profession. I have no connection to the church whatsoever."
"What? No, what do you even mean by that?!"
The situation was enough to make anyone's head spin. As I sat there blinking blankly, wondering what the hell was going on—
"......?"
It had already been nearly two months since I set foot in this other world, yet this was the first time a window displaying favorability had appeared.
It wasn't strange for an RPG to have a favorability system. But this felt far too sudden. When I had been alone with Adelheid, no such window had ever shown up. So why was it only appearing for Renya?
"......!"
While I stared silently at the favorability window, one thought flashed through my mind.
Does raising this to the maximum give some kind of reward?
I set aside the question of why it only appeared for Renya. What mattered now was what this system meant for me. There was no way it had appeared without reason. There had to be something to it. Something significant.
"What are you thinking about so blankly?"
Renya's curious voice suddenly cut into my thoughts.
"Ah, it's nothing. I was just lost in thought for a moment."
"Lost in thought?"
I barely managed to pull my scattered mind back together.
"Anyway. As long as it doesn't interfere with our party activities, I don't mind."
"Ooooh......!"
In games, favorability systems usually involved giving gifts. There was no time to overthink the details. Since I didn't know what kind of reward might come, I should just hand her anything I could spare whenever I had the chance.
"However, if I determine it's hindering our farming or strategy, I'll kick you out without hesitation."
"What?! All of a sudden?!"
"I'm aiming for the end content of this world. I don't have time to leisurely pursue romance."
"...Wow, your sense of purpose is incredibly clear. That's really cool!"
I had no idea how she'd gotten so thoroughly smitten, but I'd given the warning at least. She wasn't completely oblivious, so she would probably behave herself from now on.
Just as I was wrapping up the situation and preparing to finish the meal—
Rumble rumble rumble...
The massive stone door of the boss room, which had been firmly shut, began to move slowly with a tremendous vibration.
Rumble rumble rumble...
The entrance to the boss room swung wide open. Was it finally over...?
"The door opened!"
"It's far too quiet inside... They couldn't have been wiped out, could they?"
Renya, who had noticed the door first, shouted loudly. Adelheid followed, scanning the boss room with wary eyes.
"There's no way. They're the Imperial Knight Order, after all. They wouldn't fall so easily."
"That's true, but... it's too quiet. I don't see a single shadow of a person......"
The two followed behind me as I walked forward slowly. Just as Adelheid said, the inside of the boss room was unnaturally silent. At this point we should have seen something by now......
"Huh? Isn't that the armor the Imperial Knight Order members were wearing?"
I had been quietly gripping the handle of the greatsword on my back, wary of the strange unease, when Renya suddenly pointed somewhere.
"Armor engraved with the Empire's crest... It looks like it is."
Adelheid frowned seriously as she spoke. When I turned my head toward where their gazes were directed, I immediately saw crushed armor and shattered fragments scattered messily across the floor.
"...They were defeated."
"The supposedly powerful Imperial Knight Order, wiped out so miserably... How could such a tragic thing happen......"
I muttered while rummaging through the iron fragments scattered on the ground. Renya, who had naturally joined me, kept her eyes fixed downward with a look of pity.
"...What are you two doing?"
Adelheid, watching us from a short distance, asked in bewilderment.
"We're farming."
"I can see that. But why are you doing it right now......"
"After defeating the boss, don't we return to the village immediately without time to collect anything?"
"Even so, isn't this too immoral?!"
Adelheid frowned deeply in disgust. Then Renya, who had been rummaging through the iron pieces with me, gently clutched the necklace around her neck and spoke softly.
"I see it differently, Lady Adelheid."
"W-what do you mean......?"
"Rather than leaving the belongings of the deceased to be damaged by monsters in the dungeon, wouldn't it be more respectful to recover them and put them to proper use, carrying on their will?"
Renya spoke in a compassionate voice and took a quiet breath.
"Therefore, this isn't an immoral act. It's closer to saving the pitiful souls of those left behind in this dungeon."
Renya's words were strangely logical and persuasive. Adelheid opened and closed her mouth as if at a loss for words, then let out a small, gloomy sigh and helplessly hung her head.
"Am I the strange one......?"
The moment Adelheid, having given up on everything, pouted and knelt on the floor—
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga......!!
The entire floor of the boss room suddenly shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.