Strange Sounds Heard in the Middle of the Night
In the dead of night, Alvin suddenly dove into Dana's arms.
Dana, startled, fell over.
'What a mistake...'
It was because she kept reminding herself that this was an unprecedented opportunity.
Dana had committed a mistake she rarely made.
She tripped over her own feet in an absurd way.
This was even worse than any humiliation.
Dana wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.
'Even so, I didn't think it would go this far. I guess this is the end for me?'
Dana hadn't intended to become an adventurer from the start.
But she had younger siblings to feed and clothe.
Since their parents weren't home, Dana was their only hope.
So, she couldn't give up now in front of her siblings.
She remembered the time she first earned a big sum of money.
To fulfill her role as the head of the family, she had looked for jobs that paid well.
Then she learned about adventurers.
Adventurers were dangerous, but they paid well compared to the time spent.
Dana had had superior physical abilities since she was young.
So, she decided to give it a try.
Among adventurers, there were various roles.
Dana chose to be a warrior, using her sturdy body to the fullest.
Fortunately, the warrior role suited her well, and she grew quickly.
The more experience she accumulated, the more money she could earn.
So, she thought everything would go well in the future.
'If only that had been the case...'
It was a day when she confidently carried out her request.
It was a simple orc extermination request, like any other day.
So, the party members didn't take it lightly.
They thought orcs were just monsters.
But this complacency led to them being ambushed by a group of orcs.
That's how all the party members except Dana were wiped out.
Fortunately, they were saved by another adventurer party passing by at the dangerous moment.
But the fear of being left behind alone remained as a trauma.
At the moment she was left alone, struggling to survive.
Dana felt the threat to her life.
The orcs' attacks were so painful that she wanted to give up on everything.
After that, she became afraid to engage in battle.
If she fought, she would remember the fear and pain of that day.
She tried to overcome the trauma.
But there was no change compared to her efforts, and she only got scolded.
She only caused damage to other adventurers and couldn't do anything.
With continuous failures, she felt it was impossible to overcome with her own strength.
So, she was at a loss, wondering if she should give up and look for another job.
That's when she met him.
The opportunity to earn a lot of money.
'So, I can't give up here.'
Dana thought she couldn't overcome the trauma again.
But unlike other adventurers who had criticized her when they first met Alvin, he encouraged her and believed in her.
So, she gained courage and wanted to challenge again.
'It's over.'
But the result was miserable.
The sight of Alvin looking up from below seemed merciless.
She was sure she couldn't do it with him.
In the end, Alvin's sword didn't stop and struck Dana's butt.
“Ah!”
Dana screamed, thinking of the pain she would feel soon.
'Wait...'
'What is this?'
She thought it would be as painful as being hit by the orcs in the trauma.
But his sword...
It clearly hit her butt, making her butt tingle.
But...
“Hah... Haa...”
Surprisingly, it felt good instead.
And honestly, Dana thought she wanted to be hit more.
**
I thought the spar was meaningless after Dana's scream.
It seemed like I'd seen enough, and no matter the result, I had decided to team up with her.
But Dana, who had awakened.
Dana, swallowing her shame, got up from her seat and took her stance again.
“I’ll do it again!”
Her eyes were filled with determination.
The timid look from earlier was nowhere to be seen.
The dignified spirit seemed to say just go at it.
“Then, let's do it again.”
I took my stance in response to her heart, facing her.
Dana in her awakened state.
Personally, I was looking forward to seeing what she would look like.
I thought it was cool that she didn't fear pain and protected her teammates.
So, I wanted to see it again.
This time, Alvin dove in quickly and swung his sword.
Clang—Clang—
All of Alvin's swords were blocked by Dana's shield.
As if she wouldn't take the same hit twice.
Unlike before awakening, Dana didn't fear being hit at all.
Instead, she actively blocked Alvin's sword and pushed him back with her shield for a counterattack.
The more their swords clashed, the stronger she became.
'This is Dana.'
The brave Dana I created in the game had descended here.
As the creator, it was an emotional sight.
“Huu, this seems sufficient.”
The spar ended.
I approached Dana who was sitting on the floor resting.
“Then, like we talked about earlier, shall we team up?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Dana smiled brightly, happy with my words.
“I have a question!”
“What is it?”
“Will you spar with me like this from now on?”
Dana, the epitome of diligence.
After awakening, she was training hard for her development, as if she had learned something or changed her mindset.
Then, I had no choice but to help.
“Of course. Please take care of me from now on.”
“Ah! And please speak to me more casually!”
“Will that be okay? Sure.”
I reached out my hand to Dana who was sitting and helped her up.
Seeing her flinch when our hands touched, it was clear she was tired.
I had to send her back quickly.
“It was good to see you. See you next time.”
I briefly said when and where we would meet again, and parted with Dana.
“Yes! Definitely! I had a good feeling today too!”
Unlike before, Dana showed a lively appearance.
She looked like a completely different person from before awakening.
The meaningful expression she showed when parting was worrying, but since it seemed her worries had been resolved, I was relieved.
'I hope she hasn't become a pervert already?'
After all, even if she became a pervert, in the game it was just that she liked fighting wildly.
So, it was fine.
“Faran, then let's head back.”
Because we had sweated a lot after the spar, I wanted to go home and rest quickly.
“Master.”
When we almost reached home, Faran called me.
“Huh, why?”
“Master is truly a great person.”
On the way home,
Faran seemed deeply lost in thought.
It was probably thoughts about me.
“At first, I was surprised when you suggested it to Dana, but Master had anticipated all of this, hadn't you?”
Faran looked at me with sparkling eyes.
She seemed deeply impressed by Dana's changed appearance from before.
As Faran said, it was true that I knew Dana could become like that.
In response to her words, I nodded.
Relation Point Acquired
Current Relation Point: 55
“Master is truly a great person.”
It seemed I had gained respect from Faran thanks to this.
**
Time passed, and contact came from the guild.
It was that they had recruited the adventurers I wanted under the conditions.
I thought there was no problem anyway.
'How much money will I have to pay.'
Adventurers work to earn money.
Compared to their fame, it was nothing special, but if I paid a lot, it was fine.
It was too much money to refuse.
The adventurers I recruited were:
One healer
Two tanks including Dana
One ranged DPS
One mage
One melee DPS
Faran was also to take the role of scout and trap removal and go together.
So, total 8 people including me.
When I went to the recruitment place, the adventurers were greeting each other, seeming to have some familiarity.
Dana was seen greeting some people.
But somehow, her expression looked a bit gloomy.
“Everyone, welcome. I am Alvin Gilbert, your requester. Please take care of me from now on.”
We introduced ourselves in turn, talked about our roles.
“As you have heard, the dungeon we are going to this time is a newly discovered dungeon by the Gilbert family.”
“How far is it?”
The dwarf axe warrior, a melee DPS adventurer, asked.
“About a day's journey from here.”
“It's closer than I thought.”
The area around here had many people and was a capital, so there were many knights and adventurers.
So, there weren't really any dangerous dungeons or monster clusters nearby.
Therefore, when a dungeon is discovered, it's usually thought to be far away.
But the dungeon we were going to was one that exists for game users.
It was prepared for users who want to grow quickly in the game.
So, there were necessary items for users to grow quickly.
For example, skill acquisition books, stat increase potions, etc.
Although the dungeon difficulty varies slightly depending on the game's difficulty, in my knowledge, the difference is in the reward items.
Even if the reward is small, it would definitely be a big help to me now.
So, going now was definitely good for me.
“Then, let's start.”
We passed the outer wall of the capital and left the city.
This was the first time leaving like this since the time we went on an extermination operation with the Gilbert Knights.
Back then, walking for a long time wasn't easy either,
This time it would be a grueling journey.
After walking for a long time, the sun set.
We ate our own food, then took turns deciding who would do the night watch.
Thanks to everyone taking care of me, I was the first to take the night watch.
Sitting in front of the moonlight and bonfire, it felt like I had come camping.
The rest of the party went into their blankets and fell asleep.
Drroong—
A snoring sound was heard from somewhere.
No matter how seasoned the adventurer, fatigue was inevitable.
While I was hitting the bonfire and lost in thought, a strange sound was heard from somewhere.
Huuu—
At first, I thought it was bug sounds or monster sounds, so I listened carefully.
But this sounded like a human voice.
'Is there a person here at this time?'
I thought it might be a monster that lured people.
But I knew this area had been swept by the knights recently, so there were no monsters.
It was strange.
I quietly got up from my seat and drew my sword.
And, as I had learned, I stealthily walked towards the direction where the sound was coming from, killing my footsteps.
The source of the sound was closer than I thought.
It was a place with a lot of bushes, so it would be hard to find someone hiding.
Huuu—
As I got closer, the sound got louder.
Finally, when I reached the source of the sound,
I saw it.
There,
Dana was lying face down in the bushes with a red face.
