Chapter 12: The First Companion
Chapter 12: The First Companion
Sara was waiting right where she had been standing, not having moved a single step.
“The total came out to 7 Silver and 26 Copper. Here, your half is 3 Silver and 63 Copper. It’s late, so let’s sell the materials tomorrow and split that then.”
“…I really can’t accept this. I was nothing but a burden all day; I can’t take money on top of that. And this is less than you usually make, isn’t it?”
“Stop being difficult and just take it. If we start arguing about money splits from day one, it’ll become a headache later. Our party’s rule is simple: we split everything evenly, no matter who did what.”
“Then, here’s the 2 Silver I borrowed this morning. Thank you for lending it to me.”
With a strange expression, as if she both understood and didn’t, Sara hesitantly took the money and handed back the 2 Silver.
I can’t tell if she’s just diligent or a total brat. Maybe both?
“Alright, let’s call it a day. See you tomorrow. When should we meet?”
“Huh?! Ah, r-right. Let’s meet as early as possible. I’ll get here first and wait for you.”
Hmm? She’ll wait for me without even knowing when I’ll show up?
Come to think of it, don’t tell me…
“Hey. Be honest with me. Do you even have money for a place to sleep tonight?”
This was a girl who couldn’t even afford the 2 Silver for adventurer registration. There was no way she had any.
Yes! This is a god-given opportunity! I can’t let this slip away!
“Ugh.”
As expected, Sara groaned with a look that said I’d hit a nerve.
“Hah… Follow me.”
Guwon desperately suppressed the rising corners of his mouth and led the way.
Oh, dear God. Thank you.
“One room, and dinner and breakfast for two.”
Arriving at the inn he usually stayed at, Guwon booked a single room as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Wait a minute! Why are you only getting one room?!”
“Why? Because I don’t have the money, of course. I told you, I’m a stranger here who just arrived in this world not too long ago.”
Of course, the part about not having money was a complete lie, but Guwon said it with a bold, shameless expression.
You can’t show any weakness in moments like these. The one who wins the battle of wills wins the war.
“Then I’m fine. I’ll just sleep outside.”
“Hey! Why can’t you trust people?! You think I’m going to do something to you while you’re sleeping?!”
“Yes.”
…Goddammit. Look at her, answering so quickly.
After I worked so hard to raise her level all day.
What a cold-hearted bitch.
Fine. But I’m not one to back down. Time for my trump card!
“If you really feel that way, fine! You take the room! I’ll sleep outside. A girl like you, sleeping out in the open at night… who knows what kind of trouble you could get into!”
Guwon spat the words out forcefully and, pretending to be angry, began walking toward the exit, stomping his feet as loudly and slowly as possible.
Please stop me. Please.
We built up some camaraderie in the dungeon today.
I’m counting on you not to be that heartless.
“Wait.”
Just as Guwon was about to step out the door, Sara called out, as if his silent pleas had reached her.
Sara! I knew I could trust you!
“How can you tell me to stay here alone when you haven’t even paid?”
Ah, for fuck’s sake! Is she for real? You could probably stab her and not a single drop of blood would come out!
“Here, take it.”
Feeling completely defeated, Guwon handed her 4 Silver.
Sara looked surprised, then stared down at the money, lost in thought.
“……You really don’t have any other intentions, do you?”
“About what?”
“……No, it’s nothing. Alright. I’ll trust you. But if you try anything funny, I will never forgive you.”
Her eyes flashed with the same intensity she’d shown when she was castrating the wolfdogs.
“I told you, I’m not going to do anything.”
Seriously, I’m not.
And so, after all that trouble, Guwon finally succeeded in staying in the same room as Sara.
It was a little forced, but don’t people grow closer emotionally when they get closer physically?
Even after we were inside the room, Sara’s defenses were ironclad.
She remained on high alert, not letting Guwon even approach within a one-meter radius.
We spent the entire day together in the dungeon, and she’s still this wary.
I thought I worked my ass off for her in there, putting my own body on the line.
Wouldn’t most people develop a little trust after all that?
Besides, Guwon truly had no intention of pouncing on her right now.
Forcing himself on a girl who wasn’t interested might feel good for a moment, but there’s nothing to gain in the long run.
What Guwon wanted wasn’t a one-night stand, but a companion who would be with him for a long time.
He even had a rough plan laid out, though it wasn’t anything grand.
Now was the time to break down her guard and earn her trust.
“Let’s wash up. Who wants to go first?”
For some reason, that sounds like something a couple at a love hotel would say before getting it on.
As if Sara had the same strange thought, she crossed her arms to cover her body, the gleam in her eyes growing even sharper.
“Hey, hey. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just asking who wants to wash up first. We both need to, right?”
They had been hunting in the dungeon nonstop from morning until now.
Both of them were drenched in sweat.
“I get that you’re confident in your looks, but cut the drama. If I was going to attack you, I would’ve done it back in the dungeon when we were alone.”
“I heard the clerk mention this inn has a communal bath. There’s no need for both of us to wash up in here, is there?”
Dammit! I was deliberately not mentioning that.
How did she find out? Well, if she knew, I guess it makes sense she’d be on guard.
“Oh, r-really? I always wash up in my room, so I had no idea. In that case, I’ll go to the communal bath. You must be tired from your first day in the dungeon, so just relax and wash up here.”
Guwon fled toward the communal bath.
Yeah, whatever. It’s not like I can touch her anyway.
Listening to her shower in the room would just get me needlessly worked up. Tsk. Tsk.
Even as he thought that, Guwon washed himself as quickly as possible in the communal bath and hurried back to the room.
For the record, his clothes were washed in a magical device that resembled a washing machine. It was an incredible invention that used water magic to clean clothes perfectly and leave them completely dry. He wanted to become a mage someday, if only for that one spell. The only problem was, he’d heard you had to be able to sense and handle mana to become a mage, and he wasn’t sure if the game system’s adjustments would apply to something like that.
When he entered the room, Sara was already out of the shower, drying her damp hair with a towel.
Shit! Couldn’t she have taken a little longer?
I’m sharing a room with a pretty girl. Even if we can’t have sex yet, couldn’t there at least be a heartwarming event where she absentmindedly walks out naked and we run into each other?
Is it so wrong of me to hope for one of life’s small pleasures?
“Oh my, you were quick.”
“…I was hungry, so I washed up fast.”
Not as fast as you, though!
Still, the sight of Sara with her flushed skin and damp hair after a shower was a feast for the eyes.
Yeah. I definitely made a good choice for a companion. She’s really pretty.
If she’s this beautiful at such a low level, what’s she going to look like when her level rises and her Charm stat gets a boost?
“Hm? What is it?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. If you’re done, let’s go down and get something to eat.”
I had been staring at her, completely lost in the moment.
I never knew a beautiful woman fresh out of the shower could be so captivating.
“Is there a reason we have to eat together? I’ll eat in the room, so don’t mind me and go ahead.”
“Hey. Why are you so uncooperative? Isn’t this when we’re supposed to go eat together and build some camaraderie?”
“Is there a reason we need to do that?”
“We’re going to be companions from now on. Do we really need a reason to get to know each other better?”
“I think the ideal party is one where we go into the dungeon together but don’t interfere in each other’s private lives.”
“Are you an idiot? We’re going into a dungeon where we’ll have to watch each other’s backs, where life and death are on the line. You want to go in with people like that? Those types will bail the second a better offer comes along, and they’ll run away to save their own skin at the first sign of a crisis. That’s not a party, that’s just a disorganized mob. I, for one, refuse to be in a party like that.”
Guwon preached like a seasoned adventurer.
That’s how it usually goes in novels, anyway.
“…That makes sense. Alright. Let’s eat together.”
Persuaded by the aura of a veteran adventurer radiating from Guwon, Sara nodded with a look of resignation.
For someone with such a prickly attitude, she’s surprisingly gullible. I’m worried about her future.
In the end, we decided to eat in the room.
She wasn’t showing it, but Sara seemed quite tired and didn’t look like she wanted to move.
Her poker face is so good I didn’t even notice.
“By the way, there’s something I’ve been curious about. Why did you want to go into the dungeon in the first place?” Guwon asked the question that had been on his mind since they first met.
“What do you mean, why?”
“Well, from what you said, it sounds like you were just living with your grandfather in some rural village. I was just wondering what suddenly possessed a country girl like you to come to the dungeon.”
“…Because I want to get stronger.”
Sara’s expression clouded over slightly as she answered.
“You want to get stronger?”
“Yes. Fighting strong monsters in the dungeon is the fastest way to get stronger, isn’t it?”
What are you, the protagonist of some hot-blooded manga? Heading to the dungeon just to get stronger?
But Sara’s expression was completely serious.
He’d thought she must have some goal, given how desperately she was trying to raise her job level, but he never imagined her goal was simply to become stronger.
No, she’s not some battle-crazed maniac. Usually, people want to get stronger for some other purpose.
It seemed she had no intention of revealing her true objective.
But this wasn’t a bad situation for Guwon.
In fact, it was a good situation in many ways.
It was a very desirable situation, both for a dungeon companion and for his future plans.
“As a goal for a companion, that’s as admirable as it gets.”
“What about you? Why do you go to the dungeon?”
“I don’t have any grand goal either. I just go because my abilities allow me to make a decent living.”
“What a waste of talent. Shouldn’t a man have a grander ambition?”
That’s not something I want to hear from someone whose only goal is to get stronger.
Besides, my real goal is to become the Harem King, which is as grand as it gets, so don’t you worry, missy.
“Didn’t you say I had no talent earlier?”
“Are you still hung up on that one little comment? How petty. I never said you had no talent. I said there was a difference in talent. I was just saying my talent was superior.”
I wasn’t hung up on it at all. Why would I, with my game system, care about something like that?
Besides, it seemed she was not only confident in her looks but also had immense pride in her own talent. For a mere level 5 archer.
What the hell did her grandfather do to raise her to have this kind of personality? I’d love to see his face.
“Oh, is that so? Well then, please hurry up and put that talent to use in battle.”
“…Don’t worry. I will definitely repay the debt I owe you from today.”
“It’s not really a debt…”
She’s so prickly, yet so earnest about the strangest things. I can’t even be sarcastic with her.
After they finished eating, Sara went downstairs to return the dishes. In the meantime, Guwon went to the window to wrap up his daily routine.
It was a little late today, so it wouldn’t be as efficient, but he couldn’t skip his routine.
The inn was located directly across from the Guild building, so opening the window provided a clear view of the adventurers coming out.
Guwon’s daily routine was to end his day by looking down at the adventurers from this window.
Of course, he wasn’t just watching.
There was a purpose to it.
And that purpose was…
Sex Analyze!
He used the skill on a pure-looking mage who had just walked out of the Guild.
Instantly, not only did the areas most women find erogenous—like her breasts and genitals—light up, but so did her armpits and the inside of her throat.
Armpits, with a face like that!
A-And… her inner throat! Is that…! With that face, she does that?!
Gulp.
Guwon unknowingly swallowed his saliva, his eyes turning sharp like a hawk’s.
You could call it an excellent daily routine that combined hobby and practical benefit.
Thanks to this wonderful routine, his Sex Analyze skill had leveled up quite a bit.
Sex Analyze Lv. 15
Active Skill
Cost: 8 Resources
Analyze a target’s sexual disposition.
You can identify the [Erogenous Zones] of targets up to [15 levels] higher than you.
Thanks to this, he could now use it on targets up to level 28 without issue.
The pure-looking beauty he just saw was level 27, so he’d been able to see her stats just barely.
My luck is good right from the start today. Hehehe.
Guwon reached for his waistband to pull down his pants.
“What are you doing over there?”
Just then, Sara returned from taking the dishes back.
Crap. I forgot she was here. I almost fucked up big time.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Don’t mind me, do your thing.”
Guwon answered, still facing the window.
If he turned around now, the magnificent tent pitched by his mighty member would be exposed.
“Hmm? You’re acting suspicious.”
He could hear Sara’s footsteps approaching from behind.
She wouldn’t even come within a meter of me until now, so why is she coming closer all of a sudden?
Don’t come here. Go away.
“What are you looking at?”
Sara came right up next to him and asked.
“I don’t know, just watching the other adventurers gives me a sense of purpose.”
Guwon subtly leaned his body away from Sara and spouted the first nonsense that came to mind.
“I see.”
Saying that, Sara also began to look down at the adventurers with him.
She didn’t see the tent, did she?
Dammit. Come to think of it, I guess I can’t jerk off today.
What was I even thinking, trying to stay in the same room with her when I can’t even sleep with her yet?
Ugh. My one-fap-a-day routine… is ruined.