Chapter 35: Guild Quest
Chapter 35: Guild Quest
In the end, I made a few excuses to Kanna and declined her clan invitation for the time being.
“Diana, Sara, why don’t you two head back to the inn first?”
“Huh? Why?” Sara asked, suddenly looking at me with suspicion.
What’s with that look? Seriously, you think I’d go fool around with them when I promised to sleep with you tonight?
“We still have to report the guild quest, settle up the magic stones, and sell our items to split today’s earnings. There’s no need for all of us to crowd around for that. Let’s just have one person from each party go.”
“Oh, that makes sense. Okay. I’ll see you back there.”
And so, Amy and I were chosen as the representatives to handle the finances.
“Oh my? You’re here with someone new today.”
The receptionist, the beautiful guide lady, greeted me with a line reserved for skilled players who switch up their women daily.
I never thought I’d actually hear someone say that to me. I’m moved.
“Yes. Our parties teamed up today. Is the guild quest still active?”
“Of course. It’ll probably be running for quite some time.”
“Is there any standard for when it might end?”
“Let’s see… Probably until the higher-ups are satisfied with the quality of the map? Or maybe it’ll continue until at least one more new Transcendent Species is discovered, like you did yesterday, Guwon.”
“What? The adventurer who discovered a Transcendent Species on the upper floors was you, Guwon?”
“Haha. Well, yeah.”
I puffed out my chest, enjoying the look of astonishment on Amy’s face.
Good. If the guild quest is going to continue for a while, it won’t interfere with my plans for tomorrow.
“Here’s our map, then.”
“Ah, wait a moment. Ma’am, could I possibly borrow a pen?”
I stopped Amy just as she was about to submit the map they had drawn.
I had wandered around the Wolfdog territory quite a bit, so there were several areas on my map that were missing from hers.
Taking the quill pen from the receptionist, I looked at the map and began filling in the blanks without hesitation.
“…That’s amazing.”
“Why are you so surprised now? You saw me navigating without a map, didn’t you?”
“But I feel like that’s a completely different issue from this… The more I see of you, Guwon, the more mysterious you seem.”
Well, she wasn’t wrong.
Still, it felt a little awkward when she said it with such admiration, her already large eyes widening as she stared at me.
After I finished supplementing the map and handed it to the receptionist, she also seemed quite surprised.
“You’ve completed a great deal of it. But what’s this area you’ve marked as a Goblin encampment?”
“It’s a place where Goblins gather, and there were more than just one or two. Goblins, Hobgoblins, you name it—they were all swarming there. The settlement was so large I couldn’t even see the end of it.”
“What?! You’ve brought us another piece of major intelligence. That’s incredible, especially coming right after yesterday.”
It seemed no other adventurer had mapped the area as far as the Goblin encampment.
Then again, the path to get there was a bit of a maze. Thinking about it that way, maybe Amy was the amazing one for getting that far by creating a map purely on her own abilities.
The receptionist took out a massive map and began filling it in by comparing it with the one I submitted.
As I watched the map fill itself in real-time even in places her pen didn't touch, I figured it was probably being updated by some kind of magic, compiling reports from all over the guild.
From the looks of it, two or three other parties had mapped areas just as deep as we had.
Fortunately, they had gone in different directions, so our paths hadn’t overlapped.
“For this guild quest, the reward will be based on the area of the map you’ve completed. The guild still needs to verify its accuracy, so payment will be made tomorrow.”
“Ah. So we don’t get it right away. Does that mean we have to come back together tomorrow?”
“I’m sorry. The people we usually party with had to leave suddenly on an errand. We actually have three other party members in our clan.”
I thought she’d be happy, but Amy unexpectedly gave me a roundabout refusal.
I had thought a party of two warriors and a priestess was a strange balance for members of a large clan, but I guess that was the reason.
In the end, all Kanna’s group did in today’s battle was defend against monsters for a short while and have Amy occasionally heal.
Guwon was basically carrying them already, so she probably felt it would be shameless to bring twice as many people along. She had a conscience.
Fighting alongside them today, I had come to realize the usefulness of a tanker and a healer.
I’d briefly considered asking them to stick with us, but having nine people grouped up on the upper floors, not even in the deep layers, would be far too inefficient, wouldn’t it?
It couldn’t be helped. From tomorrow, it would be back to just the three of us.
“Then what should we do… Ma’am, can you split the reward between me and Amy here tomorrow?”
“Of course. Shall I do that for you?”
“Yes, please.”
Thankfully, that was possible.
After settling the magic stones, we went straight to the general store and sold off the rest of our items.
We were told to take weapons to the blacksmith, so we had to make the extra trip to Hanna’s smithy for the rusty sword from the Hobgoblin. But just as Kanna had said, the rusty old thing fetched a pretty decent price.
Even after splitting the profits with Amy, my earnings shattered my previous record, just as I’d expected.
Ooh. With this much money, I could probably take a break and live comfortably for a while.
Of course, I wouldn’t, since I still had my goal of helping Sara.
In any case, all hail the infinite respawn.
“Well then. See you around. Let’s hunt together again if we get the chance.”
I gave a simple farewell and was about to leave, but Amy hesitantly grabbed the hem of my clothes.
“…Um, if you’re free, how about we sleep together tonight?”
Ugh. She still hasn’t given up.
She might look shy on the outside, but I knew better.
Those were the eyes of a hawk targeting its prey.
No way. Absolutely not.
Death by exhaustion. Just how much do you have to get drained for a person to end up like that?
I don’t want to die that way.
“Huh?! Uh, well, you see, I have something I need to do today…”
That much was true.
Today was the monumental day I was finally going to have a proper experience with Sara.
“Was what you said about giving me a hands-on experience a lie?”
“No, of course not, but…”
“Don’t tell me… you’re scared?”
Amy said the one thing she absolutely shouldn’t have, a remark that struck at a man’s pride.
“What?! As if! I’m a Saint! A Saint! The three of you could come at me at once and I wouldn’t even flinch! Fine! I’ll give all three of you a death by pleasure. Don’t come crying to me for forgiveness then, because it’ll be too late!”
“Wow! I’m so excited! Our party is planning to take a break in five days. Are you free then?”
“Fine! I’ll see you then!”
“Okay. In five days, then. Please come to the inn we’re staying at. The location is written here.”
As she spoke, Amy handed me a slip of paper with the inn’s location marked on it, as if she’d had it ready all along.
“Well then. In five days. I’ll be looking forward to it. You have to come. You have to.”
With those words, Amy vanished like the wind before I could say anything else.
Huh…? I get the feeling I was just skillfully talked into this…
No. She challenged my pride as a man. I couldn’t possibly back down.
Besides, it wasn’t a bad deal.
I’d gotten carried away and said I’d take on all three of them, but there was a significant level gap between us. And it wasn’t like she was asking to do it every day, just once.
Surely I wouldn’t be completely drained in a single day, right?
If it gets too tough, I can just activate my skills at full power and make all three of them pass out.
Reasoning with myself like that made me feel much more at ease.
Alright! A many-on-one experience is essential if I’m going to build a harem anyway!
Let’s just think of this as a big step toward creating my harem.
When I entered the inn, Diana and Sara were waiting in the dining hall.
“Hurry up. I’m starving to death here.”
“Huh? Why haven’t you eaten yet?”
“You were the one who said we should eat together to foster camaraderie, weren’t you, Guwon?”
It seemed Sara had diligently remembered and put into practice what I’d said on the day we first met.
What a good girl. If only you were always like this.
Big brother will show you a glimpse of heaven tonight.
As we ate, Sara was clearly thinking about what was to come. Every time our eyes met, she would blush and look away.
Come to think of it, unlike Diana, she was a genuine virgin.
Other adventurers were generally casual about sex and didn’t really have a sense of shame, so her reaction was refreshing.
A sweet feeling washed over me, and I gazed at Sara tenderly.
“Ahem. You two are so sweet, you’re practically oozing sugar.”
It seemed our display was a bit of an eyesore for Diana, who was watching from the side.
“Th-That’s not it!”
“What do you mean, it’s not? Your entire bodies are screaming, ‘We’re going to have sex now.’”
“Y-You’re misunderstanding.”
“Oh? Is that so? In that case, would you mind if I borrowed Guwon for today? I need to experience his Saint skills firsthand to understand them in more detail.”
Diana provoked Sara with a perfectly straight face.
Today? You’re being pretty bold, considering Sara doesn’t know what you did yesterday.
Is this what they call the wisdom of age?
“N-No, you can’t!”
Sara fell for Diana’s provocation immediately.
Her usual cool expression completely crumbled, and her flustered state was quite cute.
Don’t worry. Diana’s just teasing you.
Of course, you’re too cute for me to tell you that.
“So I was right, wasn’t I?”
“Th-That’s…”
Sara shot me a look, pleading for help, but I just watched the situation unfold with a silent, satisfied smile.
For the first time in my life, two women—and two beautiful ones at that—were bickering over me. Why would I ever stop that?
Of course, Diana was just teasing, and Sara wasn’t clinging to me because she liked me, but for the level-ups. But so what? I might as well enjoy the feeling.
I never thought a day would come when I’d feel like this.
Thank you so much, Earth Goddess, for sending me to this world!
After our slightly boisterous meal, we returned to our respective rooms.
Sara had just come back from the dungeon and hadn’t washed up yet, and she would probably need some time to prepare.
I also went into the shower and washed myself thoroughly.
Just as I was thinking Sara must have had enough time to get ready and was about to leave my room, I heard a knock on the door.
Yesterday, Sara came to me, but things didn't work out. So today, I was planning on going to her. Could it be that she came to me again?
But when I opened the door, Diana was standing there.
“Oh? Diana?”
“What? Are you displeased to see me?”
“No, of course not. What’s up?”
“What a strange question. I’m here to study the Saint’s skills, of course. What else would I be here for?”
“Huh?! I’m sorry, but today I’m with Sara…”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know after you made it so obvious during dinner? We can just finish before you go to Miss Sara, can’t we?”
For some reason, Diana’s attitude seemed a little different from usual…
I could sense a strange sort of urgency from her, as if she couldn’t maintain her usual composed demeanor.
“Are you sure about that? I mean, I’m fine with it, but things would end up completely half-assed, wouldn’t they?”
There were only two ways to finish that quickly.
First, I could use my skills at full power to satisfy Diana quickly.
In that case, she would probably lose her senses just like yesterday and be unable to properly observe my skills.
Or, I could just let her experience a few skills and end it there, without necessarily satisfying her.
In that case, there was a very high probability that Diana would be left sexually frustrated.
“…I see.”
The intelligent Diana seemed to have understood what I was saying immediately.
It was strange that she was only realizing it now.
“My apologies. I suppose I became too impatient with my research and lost my composure. It’s not as if today is the only day we have.”
Was she really that engrossed in her magical research to get so worked up?
“Yeah. Let’s sleep together tomorrow for sure. I promise.”
“Mm. I understand. You must. You must keep that promise.”
“Yeah. I will.”
Even though I knew it was because of her research, the way Diana repeatedly sought my reassurance was cute.
Besides, I already had an excuse prepared from last time, so Sara probably wasn’t expecting to do this every day.
Tonight, I’ll go all out with Sara, and tomorrow, it’ll be Diana’s turn.
Scheduling nights with different girls on a daily basis. Am I not a total Casanova?
After sending Diana back for the night, I finally stood before Sara’s door.
I thought I wouldn’t be nervous after what happened with Diana yesterday, but surprisingly, I was.
Knock, knock.
“Y-Yes. I-It’s open. Please, come in.”
A voice, thick with nervousness, came from inside.
Knowing that Sara was nervous too, I paradoxically felt a little more relaxed.
Alright. Let’s do this.
I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped inside.