Chapter 55. The Meeting Place (1)
Chapter 55. The Meeting Place (1)
"Ahaha, you recognized me right away, Dave? I didn't change that much."
With that, Serika swept a hand through the back of her hair. It was cut short enough to barely brush her neck, yet each strand gleamed with luster.
She'd been looking after it constantly. Even while grinding through orc hunts.
"Of course I recognized you. I thought about you the entire time we were apart."
"Huh, wha—?"
It wasn't a lie.
She was absolutely essential to my objective.
She might still be green, but hadn't she already grown enough for her very personality to shift?
"I never forgot you for a single moment, Serika. So isn't it only natural I'd notice right away?"
Of course, if only her appearance had changed I'd have been disappointed — but even now, the hand that had set her fork down bore the rough traces of hard use.
For her hands to change that much in a single month meant she'd spent that entire span of time swinging a blade.
Considering a hero's growth rate, she'd already left her novice self far behind in the past month.
She still wasn't ready to face the Demon King's army's officer-class fighters, of course, but that too was only a matter of time.
Until I could guide her toward the woman I intended to kill, I couldn't afford to let my attention stray from her for even a moment.
"...Yeah. Me, me too."
At words that concealed such hidden intent, Serika's face flushed and she ducked her head.
"I thought about you the whole time too, Dave. Even while I was fighting...."
Her shy demeanor betrayed not a trace of suspicion.
As if she couldn't even imagine what motives had driven me to approach her.
"You don't seem to have changed much, though, Dave."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. But honestly... I think that's better."
Right. If that was her assessment, my acting was holding up well.
A hero's growth doesn't extend to matters of suspicion, I noted, and scooped up a bite of the cake set before me, offering it toward her.
To keep playing the ideal lover she envisioned — at least for as long as we were together.
***
Becoming the hero's lover would be seen as an honor for any human.
But for someone hiding their true identity, it was a position to be avoided at all costs.
The hero was humanity's central pillar and its hope, inevitably the focus of attention for both the Demon King's army and all humankind.
I myself would never have even considered lingering in this party if not for my objective of killing that officer.
That being the case, I needed to avoid any public entanglements with women other than Serika — entanglements where the woman approached me of her own accord, without hypnosis.
However...
'Don't worry. I'm not going to meddle in the relationship between you two.'
'...Is that true?'
'I told you at the start. I suggested the arrangement simply because I wanted you to be my first.'
Fortunately, Ymir — unlike Serika — showed no signs of clinging to me.
If anything, she'd adopted an attitude of drawing no further lines between us.
'I'm grateful you went along with my stubbornness, but I honestly can't picture myself thinking in terms of being lovers or anything like that. So rest assured — I won't be interfering in whatever you have with that little brat.'
Was it simply her personality, or a principle against involving herself with a man who already had a lover?
Either way, she didn't seem likely to reveal she'd been with me. Even so, I couldn't simply pretend I'd forgotten what happened that day.
All the more so because there were things she didn't remember.
'Yes, because I resent you.'
Did Ymir realize?
If a feeling she'd initially dismissed as trivial were allowed to persist, how it might transform over time.
If she refused to let go of that feeling and kept nurturing it, what end her heart would arrive at — unable to forget that first taste of something special.
'And just as much... I didn't want to forget the first experience you gave me.'
She'd probably never imagine it — she who considered herself incapable of trusting other people.
That her lifelong habit of keeping others at a distance had actually stemmed from the fear of past wounds.
That deep down, she truly craved someone's affection, so much so that the specialness of a first time could overpower even hatred.
'Goodbye....'
I can't forget the last words she left me.
Even knowing I'm supposed to forget.
'Goodbye, Dave.'
Because even after seeing my true self, she was the first person to convey such a feeling to me.
"Ahem!"
How long had I walked through the night without shaking off those thoughts?
At the sound of Serika clearing her throat beside me, I belatedly snapped back to attention and turned to her.
"Ah, sorry, Serika. What did you just say?"
"Huh? No, I didn't say anything."
Serika looked flustered by my words, glancing away.
Thankfully, she didn't seem to have been trying to get my attention or to be upset. Her earlier cough had apparently just been from awkwardness....
"Um, Dave? So, well...."
...No, it wasn't just awkwardness after all.
The moment my focus landed on her, Serika began telling me what she wanted, as if she'd been waiting.
She directed her gaze toward an inn not far ahead.
"If, if it's okay with you, should we rest there for a bit?"
"...At an inn?"
"Ah, I mean, we could rest at the manor too but, how should I put it. Um, Ymir's there, you know? So I thought if we did... this and that, just the two of us, it might be a bother to her...."
Sweat beading on her skin, Serika's face went red. Anyone watching could tell she was keenly aware that what she was suggesting wasn't exactly honorable.
I could roughly guess what this was about. A hero's growth rate apparently applied to "that side" of things as well.
She'd surely been dealing with a vigorous libido all by herself while I was gone.
Having genuine feelings for me, she'd never have considered lying with another man, so even self-comfort must have been deeply unsatisfying in more ways than one.
"...Do you, do you think it'd be okay?"
So here she was, proposing we get intimate after so long apart.
From my standpoint, it was a welcome suggestion.
My departure was still far off, so I needed to keep my bond with her firmly cemented. And since she grew quicker at pleasing a man with every encounter, the act itself was enjoyable too.
"...Sorry."
But despite those advantages, I ultimately chose to put off being with her.
The reason was simple.
The act was steeped in pleasure. If I couldn't maintain rationality with proper presence of mind, gaping mental vulnerabilities would be laid bare.
Hadn't I, not so long ago, grown drunk on the superiority of having gained the upper hand over an archmage — and given her an opening to counterattack?
"Tonight I've got some things to take care of."
"Things to take care of?"
"Yeah. It's personal, so a little hard to explain...."
Yes, so for now.
At least until I've calmed the turmoil from what happened that day, I want to avoid bedding her.
Because even if she's a woman who showers me with more affection than I deserve, that very aspect could someday turn into an ambush from which there's no recovery.
"Mm, right. You've got your own circumstances, Dave...."
Serika let her disappointment show at the answer born of that judgment.
She looked far lonelier than I'd expected.
I understood immediately. The time that had been merely a single month to me — to her, it had been a stretch she'd spent looking forward to this without cease.
"...It's okay."
The moment I grasped that feeling, my hand reached out on its own.
"Even if not tonight, from now on we'll have plenty of time together."
Then I cupped the back of her head and drew her toward me, pressing a light kiss to her forehead.
Hoping that a small gesture like this might soothe her disappointment.
"Serika, you should get a good rest today too — for what's ahead. Got it?"
Just for a little while.
Whispering, hoping she'd grant me a reprieve until this turmoil of heart subsided — and at that, she flushed and buried her face against my chest.
"Okay. I'll wait."
Her hands clutched tightly at my chest.
I could feel how badly she didn't want to let go, but in the end she released me and began to pull away.
As if she'd realized that enduring such longing — wanting to stay because she cared — was also an expression of that very feeling.
And that feeling would only grow stronger from here on.
Maybe even to a degree I wouldn't be able to handle....
"...I need to check on something."
Yes. If I'm going to keep even that possibility in mind.
What I'm about to do from here on out is something absolutely necessary for playing this false identity.
***
-Jingle, jingle.
The place I arrived at in the end was a tavern located quite a distance from my base of operations.
When I opened the door and stepped inside, I could confirm the interior was considerably packed.
Though it was gradually approaching the dead of night, the energy inside was instead surging ever more sharply.
That wasn't simply because this tavern operated mainly at night.
"Well now, an adventurer?"
The proprietor happened to be at the counter by the entrance. I decided to ask and confirm whether the information I'd gathered was correct.
"Ah, yes. I came after hearing rumors. Is this the place where the Meeting Place is held?"
The Meeting Place.
Not exactly an official name, but he'd understand well enough.
The hours after a shop opens for business until just before it closes.
Taverns and eateries typically try to minimize losses by selling off leftover ingredients and liquor cheaply, and for cash-strapped adventurers, this window was ideal for grabbing a meal or drowning their sorrows.
And so, during the night, adventurers would naturally gather on a regular basis. What had come to be called a "Meeting Place" was a venue set up with subsidies from the Adventurer's Guild, which provided support to cooperative establishments that aided adventurers' activities.
This time slot, where a coincidental pattern had sublimated into a cultural fixture, offered the perfect environment for adventurers without a fixed party to recruit strangers as comrades.
"Yeah, well, that's right. Here to form a party?"
"Mm, I'd like to observe things a bit first."
"Whatever the reason, money's money. I'll pour you a drink — think about what you're ordering while you nurse it."
The moment I took the seat the proprietor guided me to, a mug of beer was plunked down before me.
The serving staff, dashing about frantically, set the beer in front of me and immediately bolted off to another table.
"Alright, tonight we drink till we drop!"
"Cheers!!"
What a raucous place.
Most of them had to be adventurers without even a party, yet they were mingling that boisterously.
Well, I suppose that just proves alcohol is a surefire way to forge bonds.
And for the same reason, it made infiltration easy for bastards like me, and just as easy to get lost in the chaos.... You'd be hard-pressed to find a better place for slipping in unnoticed.
Not that I'd come to gather intelligence tonight.
"Let's see now... who looks promising?"
Nursing my drink, I blended into the surrounding atmosphere and quietly took my time sweeping my eyes across the room.
What I needed was a woman....
If unavoidable, I'd make do, but ideally I wanted someone with no ties to others — and the more standoffish, the better.
It seemed like I could find just the right person here.... And there. As it happened, one promising prospect caught my eye.
"...That woman will do."
Still, I should prepare for the unexpected.
I quietly tilted my glass and resolved to spend some time observing the woman I'd marked as my target.
