Chapter 261: The Deepening Secret of the Dungeon
Chapter 261: The Deepening Secret of the Dungeon
While enjoying the protection they offered, I subtly kept a close eye on the trio.
Serena had a relatively calm personality, so I wasn't too worried about her, but Kanna and Amy were the ones to watch out for.
Kanna, for one, didn't think before she spoke, and Amy, despite being a cleric, was wild enough to suggest a foursome. There was no telling when one of them might drop a bombshell.
Of course, when I made that foursome promise, I wasn't in the loving relationship I was in now with my girls, so technically, I hadn't done anything wrong. Besides, I ended up forgetting about it and never went, so my conscience was completely clear.
But human emotions don't exactly run on logic, do they? It was best if they never found out.
I remained on high alert as we walked to the nearby village, but in the end, no one opened their mouth.
Amy stuck close to Leia, asking all sorts of questions about our relationship, and seemed to have read the room, refraining from mentioning our past. As for Kanna, she seemed too busy watching me and the mages from the Association to even think about speaking. True to her wild nature, she seemed to know her place when faced with a clear hierarchy.
In any case, we arrived at the village without incident.
Now, all I had to do was part ways with them.
"Kanna! Serena! Amy! You three!"
But as soon as we entered the village, someone came running toward us.
"A-Alicia-ssi!"
"Call me Instructor! Instructor Alicia! More importantly, you three just took off on your own…! Huh? Guwon? Why are you in a party with them?"
Alicia had been running toward the trio with an angry expression, but her face shifted to one of confusion when she saw me.
She seemed a little surprised to see the mages from the Association surrounding me, but it was just that—a little surprise. Unlike the trio, she wasn't intimidated in the slightest and stared me right in the face with confidence.
As expected of an executive of a major clan.
"No, we're not exactly in a party…"
"Aha. I get it. Kanna was fuming about how she should have had a go with you. Looks like you finally set a new date, huh?"
"…Had a go?"
"Set a 'new' date?"
I felt the temperature around me drop rapidly.
This is bad. This is a bad development. I'd been so focused on the trio that I never imagined someone else would pop up and expose me.
"Hey, hey. W-what are you talking about?"
Flustered, I tried to convey my intentions to Alicia with a series of frantic winks and glances, hidden from my girls.
Hey. You idiot. Read the room. Can't you see Diana on my back, or Sara walking next to me? Leia is walking with Amy right over there, and Silvia is behind me, probably sending me heated glares. You see all of them and you still say something like that?
I worked my facial muscles furiously, making a silent appeal, but Alicia, whether clueless or doing it on purpose, just gave me a bewildered look.
"What's with the wink? Hey. Chickadee. Are you trying to hit on me now, too? You want to add me to the mix for a fivesome? Ha! Getting a little full of yourself just because you're on a hot streak, aren't you? Forgotten what you were like when you were a virgin? A guy like you would just… finish in one pump like the old days the second you put it in me."
"You dumbass! How can you be so clueless! That's why you've reached that level without ever getting a man!"
"W-W-What! W-What does that have to do with you!"
I finally gave up on Alicia reading the room and had no choice but to lash out.
I had no idea if Alicia actually had a man or not, but with a personality like that, there was no way, no matter how pretty she was.
And judging by her reaction, it seemed my guess was spot on.
I wanted to hurl more insults at this clueless woman and make her cry, but now was not the time.
"Guwon. I'd like a word with you."
"Hoh. So, young Sara also has words for this man. What a coincidence. As do I."
"Guwon-ssi. Um, could you please tell us what happened?"
This is bad. This is really, really bad.
Sara was gripping my arm tightly, her voice as cold as when we first met. The pressure was immense. She was even using formal speech.
I couldn't see Diana's expression since she was on my back, but I was certain the tightening of her arms around my neck was not my imagination.
Her grip wasn't strong enough to choke me, given her low Strength stat, but this was definitely not a situation I could laugh off like when she playfully patted me.
And finally, there was Leia. Her eyes were dead.
Devoid of any life, as if all emotion had been extinguished, Leia's gaze was truly overwhelming.
Honestly, she was scarier than Sara, who was glaring at me with a frosty expression, or Diana, who was squeezing my neck.
She radiated an aura that seemed to say, 'If that's true, I'll kill you, Guwon-ssi, and then I'll kill myself.'
"W-Wait! Just wait a minute, you guys! Give me a chance to defend myself! Sara, could you maybe let go of my arm? It's going to break… no. You can keep holding it, just listen to me."
There's going to be a hand-shaped bruise there later.
"What happened with her was part of some adventurer tradition, a 'newcomer welcoming party' or something! I was the victim!"
"What? Hey! Back then, you also…"
"You shut up for a second! You clueless bitch who's never even had a boyfriend! You grabbed me by the collar at the Guild, dragged me to an inn, pulled down my pants, and took my virginity, didn't you?! Am I wrong?!"
"N-No…"
It seemed even the great Alicia took some mental damage from being called a clueless bitch who's never had a boyfriend. She answered weakly, looking uncharacteristically dejected.
But seeing her like that, I didn't feel the least bit sorry.
Hmph! You deserve to be hurt some more! Maybe then you'll learn some tact!
"You heard her, right? I was the one who was taken advantage of in that so-called newcomer welcoming party. And it happened less than an hour after I fell into this world, before I even had a grasp of what this place was. It was obviously before I met Sara, too. Got it? I'm the victim here!"
My desperate self-defense seemed to be somewhat persuasive, as the oppressive aura from Sara, Diana, and Leia lessened slightly.
But it wasn't over yet.
"Then, Guwon-ssi, since you're so confident, why don't you try explaining what happened with those three over there? You met them after you met not only me, but Diana as well, didn't you?"
"Right, about that. They saw my skill and treated it like some weird ability that only works on monster parts. So, in a fit of anger, I told them that with this skill, I could take on all three of them at once and show them heaven, and they told me to prove it, so… Aaaargh! It's breaking, it's breaking, it's breaking!"
"Hoooooh. So you met with them behind our backs to sleep with three women at once. No wonder you seemed so experienced when you were with me and young Sara at the same time…"
"No! It's a misunderstanding! I didn't sleep with them! You heard her earlier, didn't you?! Kanna was disappointed that she should have slept with me! The first time I was ever with more than one woman at once was with you two!"
"Don't lie! You made a promise to sleep with three women at once and you didn't do it?!"
"It's true! Because I forgo—because I loved you guys even back then! I was too shy to say it, but I'd actually liked you all for a while before that! That's why I felt reluctant to sleep with other women, so I didn't go!"
I never thought the day would come when I'd have to say something like this in front of so many other people.
I'm so embarrassed. I'm so embarrassed I could die. Right now, I felt like I could drown myself in a puddle on a plate.
But as embarrassing as it was for me, the effect was outstanding.
I felt the strength in Sara's and Diana's hands release at once.
Aaaah. Blood is finally flowing to my arm again.
"Is that true? I can believe you, right?"
Finally, you're speaking informally again, Sara.
"O-Of course, Sara. You don't trust me?"
"No…"
As I looked her straight in the eyes with the most serious expression I could muster, Sara blushed slightly and averted her gaze downward.
Yes! It worked!
"Ahem. A commendable thought. Were you that fond of me?"
Diana, too, released her arms from my neck and began to pat my head.
It was a little annoying how proud she seemed, but I had to let it go for now. I'll definitely make her cry tonight.
While Sara and Diana had calmed down, the same logic didn't apply to Leia, who I hadn't even known at the time.
Leia was still staring at Amy with that intimidating expression.
"Did you really not sleep with Guwon-ssi?"
"N-No! We didn't! It's true! We were waiting for him that day, but he stood all of us up! Really! We didn't even see his face! It's true!"
Amy answered like a frightened little animal, nodding her head frantically.
She was so desperate that she repeated the word "really" several times.
At least you're good at reading the room. Even if you are a wild child who'd easily break a cleric's vows.
"I see."
Only then did life begin to return to Leia's eyes.
She gently hugged my arm and smiled her usual angelic smile.
"I'm sorry, Guwon-ssi. It was something that happened before we even met, but still… I don't know what came over me. To think I doubted you…"
"N-No. If I heard that you had slept with a bunch of other guys at once before you met me, I would have been just as angry. It's a natural reaction. Don't worry about it at all. In fact, I'm happy you were jealous."
I said, letting out a silent sigh of relief that I had safely navigated the crisis.
Still, this incident taught me one thing for sure.
When she's truly angry, Leia is the scariest of them all. I'll have to remember that.
With my girls' situation settled, I turned to glare at Alicia once more.
She was still standing there blankly, a dejected look on her face, seemingly still suffering from the mental damage.
"What are you still doing here? You came to get your girls, right? Stop trying to cause a rift in someone else's clan and take them away. Now, go. Go."
I shooed her away with my hands.
"Uh… yeah… No, no, wait a minute! Hold on!"
"What now?!"
"I have something to say."
"Well, I have nothing to say to you! Get lost!"
"Hey, I've had enough of this little shit… Hooo. Hey. Wait. I'm not here to talk about personal stuff. I'm here to talk business."
Faced with my continued cold attitude, it seemed Alicia's anger was starting to outweigh her wounded pride.
The fire returned to her eyes and her words grew harsh, as if she was about to curse, but she took a deep breath and continued.
Looks like she knows how to control her emotions after all. I guess they don't make just anyone an executive of a major clan.
"Business?"
"Yeah. The Guild made a major announcement about new information recently. The provider was listed as Guwon, clan master of the Saviors. That's you, right? A name that unique is hard to miss, and based on what Kanna told me about your fighting style, you have to be the one who provided that info. Right?"
"Yeah. So what?"
It was obvious what Guild announcement Alicia was talking about, even without hearing the details.
When I admitted it readily, Alicia nodded in satisfaction and continued.
"So I have a proposal for your clan, or more specifically, for you. No, it would be better to call it a request. How about it? Would you be willing to help our clan collect monster penises?"
"What?"
"You probably guessed it when you sold the information to the Guild, but unless you have a special ability like yours, getting a penis isn't easy. All you have to do is get it hard, but that's easier said than done in the middle of a fight. That's why I want to ask you, since you can get them hard so easily."