You Can Come Out Now!!
The bustling movements finally quiet down, and a cute-looking soldier with orange short hair peeks her head into the barracks, saying just that.
I lightly slap my cheeks and stand up from my seat. Looks like I've momentarily forgotten my place after spending the last few days with Siron.
"You've worked hard."
"N-no, not at all!!"
It was just a perfunctory courtesy, but the soldier blushes bright red, scratches her head, and ducks back out of the barracks like she's fleeing.
I follow after the vanished soldier and step outside the barracks. The surroundings are dead silent, and I can't spot any other soldiers nearby. The area around the barracks, which had been so chaotic, now feels peacefully serene, like it was all a lie.
I silently apologize in my heart to the soldiers who must've been digging ditches or something pointless that wasn't even on the schedule, then head back to the guild.
"Ugh. So... what?"
Back at the guild, I head straight up to the kitchen on the second floor and give Amelia unni a detailed report of everything that happened at the guard post.
But after hearing the whole story, all she does is shrug and down another glass of her bland beer.
"What the fuck, you little shit. You've already gone and fucked everything up, and now you're asking me 'What should I do?' What the hell am I supposed to say?"
"Ugh..."
"Exactly. A guy like you should've just stayed cooped up in your room like a good boy instead of poking around everywhere and getting all these bitches in heat. That's why shit like this happens."
"I didn't poke around anywhere..."
I just went to introduce my business item and offer to treat them to dinner. I'm seriously wronged here.
"Guys like you always do exactly what they want and have no clue what they've actually done. You're lucky the guild's got your back, or you'd already be dragged off somewhere and gangbanged to hell and back."
The big-titted unnis putting on a cum show. Actually sounds great. Just thinking about it makes my dick swell up.
No, that's not the point.
"Anyway, unni. So what should I do?"
"Fuck's sake. What do you mean 'what'? Just go eat dinner and come back. Why are you making a fuss? Shut up and fetch me another beer."
To appease Amelia unni's mood, I take the empty wooden mug, crack open a fresh oak barrel, fill it up, and hand it back to her before asking,
"Unni, you know it's not just about going to eat dinner, right?"
"Pfft~ Oh yeah?"
"You know exactly what's up, so why keep pretending...?"
She sees right through me. Amelia unni, who seems even more sly and experienced than me when it comes to sex, couldn't possibly not know what I'm really worried about.
"Smith. Smith. Our hardworking, polite little Smith!!"
"Yes, unni. Your polite Smith is right here."
"This beer's gone flat, so quit your whining and go eat dinner quietly. Got it?"
Amelia unni's sly eyes sharpen just a fraction.
"Answer me."
"......Yes."
"Good. Now hole up in your room until Kernax shows up. If I catch sight of you before then, I'll smash your fucking head in. Understand?"
I nod like hell and bolt back to my room like the wind, collapsing onto the bed.
"That little shit Smith..."
What a thoughtless bastard. I didn't think of it at first, but after the guard captain chewed out her subordinates and left first, while I was alone in the barracks, it suddenly hit me.
What it means in this world for a man to keep hitting on a woman with "let's have dinner" over and over.
In Earth terms, it's like a total bombshell beauty showing up at a guy's workplace to invite him to dinner. Even after he politely tries to refuse.
And on top of that, the venue's not some public restaurant—it's her personal living space!!
That's some next-level fuck invitation. Even a 26-year-old virgin like me can see it's blatant sex appeal.
In other words, I've just unleashed a brainless sex appeal on the guard captain.
If Siron finds out, her real-deal head-knock will split my skull like a summer watermelon.
This is a genuine crisis.
"I'm fucked. You little shit, Smith."
Just like Amelia unni said, I decide to humbly accept the situation.
Siron will be pissed, sure, but I doubt she'll actually split my head open.
Thinking back to what she said when she got jealous at the temple with Ardella—it's okay to sleep with other women, as long as I love Siron the most.
"Thus, I, Smith, shall humbly accept this situation."
To prepare for tonight's event—which is pretty much a sure thing—I decide to spend the remaining time recharging my stamina and close my eyes.
* * *
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Sigh...?"
The sound of someone knocking on my beat-up door jolts me upright in bed reflexively.
—Smith. You in there?
Hearing the guard captain's voice from outside the door, I wipe the drool from my mouth and glance out the window.
"Oh shit. I slept like a rock."
She said she'd come before sunset, but the pale moon's already up outside.
I jump out of bed.
"Coming right now!"
Luckily, I fell asleep in my clothes, so no need to change. I rub my mouth with my sleeve again, roughly fix my hair, and open the door.
"Oh... straight from work?"
"Some unexpected commotion came up, so I had to handle that. Sorry if you were waiting."
"No, not at all. I lost track of time. For real."
Deep in sweet slumber, I'd time-slipped away. I wave at the guard captain, still in her greaves from earlier, quickly shut the door, and step out of the room.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
Drawing all eyes from the guild folks as we naturally head outside, I trail silently behind the guard captain striding ahead.
"Is the guard captain's place on the west street?"
"My home's on the north street."
"Then business at the temple?"
"I don't drink much, so I don't keep any booze at home."
"Ah..."
I wisely don't say something clueless like "You don't have to buy any just for me!"
Honestly, back on Earth I enjoyed liquor beyond soju, and after tasting that weirdly drugged wine before, I can't even stomach the guild's bland beer anymore. I'm pretty excited to see what booze she'll get.
"But isn't the west side all temples and related buildings? They sell liquor out there?"
"Smith. The temple's main product is booze. Especially the wine from the Temple of Rapitera—it's top-notch, so popular you need reservations to snag any."
"Whoa..."
A temple selling booze? Well, with those nurturing big tits and mandatory vacuum blowjobs from the priestesses, why not booze too?
"Wait here a sec."
"Yes. Take your time."
Left alone by the street fountain, I kill time gazing at the moon and twinkling stars in the night sky.
Even alone, the street's lit by magic lamps everywhere, and holy knights guard the nearby temple door—no need to worry about danger.
"Hmph. Hope I'm not keeping you too long."
"No, it's fine. Wow, you bought a lot. Let me carry some."
"......Smith. If you don't want to embarrass me, just follow quietly."
"Ah, yes."
Right. This is a gender-reversed world. That was like a frail woman offering to carry a burly man's load.
I might not look fragile, but that's probably how these women see me.
Anyway, I scurry after the guard captain as she resumes walking silently.
"Guard captain."
"What."
"You walk to the guard post every day?"
"As if."
"Thought so."
We've been heading deep into the north street for a while now.
"Walking doesn't build stamina. Running from here to the east gate makes for a decent warm-up."
"Ah, I see."
She runs it. Even at full speed without stopping, it'd take me at least 30 minutes. I give up thinking.
"We're here."
Mindlessly following her, we arrive at a two-story building that screams communal housing.
Molingta's guard captain must pull a fat salary. Yeah, suits her upright image—frugal and modest.
Click.
The guard captain opens the door, and I step naturally inside.
That's when I realize I've badly misjudged something.
Unlike the guild's third floor or a normal inn corridor I expected, the interior greets me with walls lined razor-sharp with swords from the get-go.
Clunk.
I turn at the sound behind me—the door's shut, faint light leaking from the handle.
"Ah, almost forgot."
"Huh?"
The guard captain suddenly grabs my wrist and pulls me close.
"Don't touch the door. It's got a built-in shock spell for anyone but me—stings a bit."
"......"
I glance again at the glowing handle. A chill runs down my spine.
"Windows too...?"
"Something like that."
Cold sweat trickles down my back. Am I trapped?
Simple summary of my situation: without the guard captain's permission, I can't get out.
I don't know the shock spell's intensity, but "stings a bit" from someone beyond human norms? Unreliable info.
"Well, nothing here for a man like you anyway. Follow me."
"......Yes."
Ignoring the sword walls, it's a modest house like in foreign movies or dramas.
The guard captain sets the paper bag from her hand on the kitchen shelf, then leads me upstairs.
"Sit here and relax. I'll wash up and change quick."
"Ah, yes. Go ahead."
She leaves me in what seems like a parlor, then exits.
Sitting makes me fidgety, so I wander to the window and peer out.
Faint light spills from similar buildings' windows, illuminating the street.
"Pretty."
Gazing at the round moon calms my scattered mind, soothing my heart.
"Siron... hope she's doing okay."
It's only been half a day apart, but weirdly, I miss her already.
Before confirming our feelings, she terrified me—but now half a day without her sparks all sorts of worries.
Is this love's power?
As I stare at the golden-glowing moon, lost in sentiment, the door opens.
"Hm. Stargazing?"
"Ah, yes."
Oh shit. The guard captain's reappeared, her new outfit churning up my settled heart again.
Golden blonde hair glistening wet and fresh. White shirt half-unbuttoned, spilling out her ample tits. Below the "isekai dolphin pants" I named—the training shorts adventurers love—pale, toned thighs gleam.
I swallow hard.
"Smith. You wash up too."
"......Pardon?"
Catching my fill of her outrageous look, her unexpected order startles me.
"Why so surprised? You'll wait while I cook anyway. Regrettably, nothing in my house to interest a man. So at least clean up."
"Uh......"
"This way."
While I agonize over refusing, I come to and find myself before a massive bathroom—practically a private bath.
"Towels, change of clothes, everything's set inside. Wash up and come down to the first floor, or wait in that room."
She says her piece, abandons me at the bathroom door, and leaves.
"Hmm..."
Standing before the translucent door, I hesitate a bit.
Is it really okay to shower like this? After whispering love to Siron under the moon just now?
"But turning back now would be rude..."
Yeah. Rude, right...
I nod and quietly open the bathroom door.
Hot steam wafts out with a faint mint scent—the same from her body.
The steaming bath she just used.
"Right. Not rude. Then."
When I snap to, I'm buck naked, closing the door to trap her scent inside.