Aftereffects: A New Day Dawns
The day had dawned. Tweet tweet! The chirping of birds and warm sunlight pulled me from sleep. As I shook the haze from my mind, the brief dizziness vanished in an instant, leaving me refreshed. I stretched, rubbed my eyes, and was about to sit up when it happened.
“Hwaa…! I slept so… mmph!”
A powerful pressure clamped down on my body, and something huge and impossibly soft swallowed my face whole. My breath cut off. My mind snapped awake. I thrashed and struggled, but the restraint only tightened, pinning me harder.
“Mmph… S-stop…”
After desperate wriggling, I finally managed to yank my head free. Whoever had the nerve to ambush me like this, I was going to see their face. I looked up and saw…
Hestia. The same blank expression as always, eyes gently closed, sleeping as peacefully as a child. Like a little girl clutching a giant doll she refused to surrender, she had both arms and legs wrapped tightly around my entire body. And she was doing it… completely in her underwear.
The soft warmth of bare skin pressed against me made my thoughts blur. …Just how long had she been holding me like this?
I pulled my head out from between the two generous mounds once more and opened my mouth.
“This is insane… Hestia? Wake up. Hestia!”
But my call only made her cling tighter, as if she had no intention of letting go. In the end I was buried again in the impossibly soft valley of her chest… forced to endure the faint, sweet scent of her skin as it scrambled my senses.
……I give up.
Just don’t throw a tantrum about being embarrassed later.
And so I closed my eyes once more, nestled in the embrace of a warrior whose body was far too soft for her title.
More time slipped by. When sunlight finally poured through the inn window and bathed the bed in bright gold, Hestia began to stir.
“…Mm, mmm…?”
“Did you sleep well?”
“……”
“……”
“…It appears I… continued to hold you the entire time…?”
“Yes.”
“……I apologize…”
With movements as stiff and unnatural as a broken machine, Hestia carefully unwound her arms from around me. Finally freed, I stretched luxuriously and muttered loud enough for her to hear.
“Ugh…! How many hours has it been since I last changed position?”
“……”
“Still, it was warm, so I slept well. How about you, Hestia?”
“…It was… acceptable…”
Hestia calmly picked up her outer garments from the bed and began to dress, covering her underwear-clad body. She tried to maintain her usual composure, but the violent trembling in her golden eyes gave her away completely.
…Just as I expected.
Of course I had teased her, but the fact that she was now writhing in embarrassment was entirely her own fault. I had simply gone along with what she started.
Hestia sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly into space. Taking the hint, I began gathering our things first.
“I’ll head down first. Take your time getting ready and come down when you’re ready, Hestia.”
With that, I left her alone to collect herself and stepped out of the room.
The moment I reached the first floor, the innkeeper came rushing over. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Something was clearly wrong.
“D-did you have a peaceful night…?”
“Yes, well… I slept comfortably enough.”
Inn beds were all the same anyway. When I answered out of politeness, he dramatically clutched his chest and spoke in a trembling voice.
“I-I’m relieved to hear that… The hero… she wasn’t uncomfortable, was she?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t ask.”
“Ugh… Then, perhaps… any complaints about the bed being too narrow or the room too small…”
“……?”
Why was he suddenly conducting a customer satisfaction survey? Was he nervous because Hestia was the hero? While I tilted my head in confusion, he muttered to himself in a tiny voice, assuming I was an ordinary person who wouldn’t overhear.
“This is a headache… If I had known the companion was a man, I would have given them another room…”
Ah… So it was his doing.
Seeing him glance nervously up the stairs with a tense expression, the pieces finally clicked. I had thought something felt off. Because Hestia was so socially unaware, she often took cues from the people around her. The reason we had only been given one room was almost certainly the innkeeper’s fault.
When Hestia told him she had a companion, she had probably simply called me a “friend.” Hearing only that word, the innkeeper must have assumed I was a woman and assigned us a single room. If he had known I was a man, he would have given us two without being asked. But Hestia was never one to provide detailed explanations…
Any other adventurer or mercenary would have demanded a second room. Hestia, however, had likely thought, Is this how it is? and simply accepted what she was given. After all, she had traveled alone until now. Renting a single room would have felt more natural to her. Seeing the innkeeper offer only one room, she probably concluded that companions normally shared a room.
If the innkeeper had been perceptive enough to give us two rooms, she would have assumed separate rooms were the norm. Thanks to his mistake, we had ended up in a truly troublesome situation.
…The more I thought about it, the more irritated I became.
“Oh, that’s right! Now that I think about it, the hero’s expression this morning didn’t look very good.”
“R-really?!”
“Yes… I wondered what could have happened to make her look that way.”
BOOM!
A massive impact shook the entire inn. The innkeeper’s face stiffened at the unexplained noise. Seeing my chance, I decided to tease him a little.
“Sigh, the hero really… I told her to hold back at times like this…”
“D-don’t tell me… that shock just now was…?”
“It’s probably exactly what you’re imagining.”
I shook my head with an expression of helpless resignation.
“Dear me… It seems the hero is quite upset.”
“Hieek!!!”
The innkeeper’s legs gave out. He collapsed to the floor, face completely white. The ridiculous sight was satisfying enough that I decided to stop tormenting him and admit I had no idea what had caused the noise either.
But before I could speak—
Thud… thud…
“…I apologize for making you wait…”
“Oh? Hestia, you’re here?”
“…Yes…”
Hestia descended the stairs unsteadily. Her usual blank expression now carried a faint trace of exhaustion, and she kept subtly avoiding my eyes. I knew it was because her embarrassment hadn’t yet faded. The innkeeper, however, knew none of this. He simply bowed repeatedly, sweating profusely.
“Oh! My dear hero! I hope the night was peaceful? If there was any inconvenience at all, please tell me. I will take every word to heart…!”
“It is fine.”
Even under the overwhelming hospitality, Hestia responded with her usual brevity and moved to stand beside me. She hesitated, then spoke in a tiny voice.
“Um… yesterday, I…”
“It’s okay.”
“Y-yes?”
“I said there’s no need to apologize. Honestly, I wasn’t even upset.”
“…Thank you.”
Hestia bowed her head in gratitude. Only after hearing my answer did the shame finally seem to leave her. The awkwardness between us eased considerably.
Honestly… she really was a funny woman.
Hestia gave the innkeeper a short farewell and turned to me.
“Then I will wait outside. Once your conversation with the owner is finished, please take your time coming out.”
“Ah, that’s not neces—”
“Guest, if it would not be too rude, may I ask you one question?”
“Yes?”
I had actually planned to leave with her since I had nothing left to discuss, but the innkeeper suddenly grabbed me. With no choice, I let her go ahead.
Watching Hestia’s retreating figure, the innkeeper whispered to me in a low, cautious voice.
“By any chance… what is your relationship with the hero…? If you find the question impertinent, you need not answer!”
“Well… we’re just friends, I suppose?”
I answered vaguely, but he pressed on, curiosity burning in his eyes.
“…Are you truly nothing more than friends? O-of course I am not demanding an answer.”
“Well, we’re close enough to sleep in the same bed, holding each other tightly.”
I gave him the honest truth.
CRRRACK!!!
An enormous tearing sound, like wood being violently ripped apart, echoed through the entire inn. Both the innkeeper and I whipped our heads toward the source.
There stood Hestia, face flushed crimson, holding a grotesquely shattered wooden door in her hands.
“Ugh……”
With trembling hands she covered her face, then bolted out of the inn.
“……”
“……”
The innkeeper and I stared silently at the destroyed door for a long time. I had thought yesterday’s intense emotion was the peak, yet the feeling radiating from her just now had been every bit as powerful.
…Let me say it one more time. She really was a fascinating woman.