Chapter 44: Guild Quest
Chapter 44: Guild Quest
“Hmph. My turn, I suppose.”
Diana simply used magic to light the dry branches Sara had gathered, then stood up and began another long incantation.
She then unleashed a rather powerful-looking wind spell at a large boulder, slicing it thin.
Magic really is convenient.
“Come now. Hurry and bring them over.”
Perfect. I was feeling like I was on pins and needles letting them do everything anyway. I should at least do the heavy lifting.
We placed the thin slabs of rock over the campfire and laid the orc meat on top.
If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was pork.
Its appearance and smell were completely indistinguishable from pork.
As Guwon took out a fork, Sara and Diana quickly picked up a piece and brought it to their mouths.
“It's delicious. Aren't you having any, Guwon?”
“Hmph. You'd better eat quickly. If you're too slow, I'll eat it all.”
Right. It's just meat, after all. What could possibly be wrong with it?
Guwon vigorously shook his head to banish the lingering image of the orc's filthy face from his mind, then put a piece of the meat in his mouth.
Ahh. If only I had some soju to go with this, it'd be perfect.
The moment I took a bite, I completely forgot it was orc meat.
The party ate as if in a competition.
Of course, there was more than enough orc meat for all of us to eat our fill, so it wasn't much of a competition.
“It's a little late to ask, but is it really okay to have a fire going?”
Guwon leaned back, rubbing his full stomach with a leisureliness that was hard to imagine inside a dungeon.
“Hmph. Shouldn't it be fine? I've already set up an alarm spell at the entrance. As long as a monster doesn't suddenly pop out of this pond, we shouldn't have to worry about a surprise attack.”
Diana said with a carefree smile.
Hey, that sounds suspiciously like a death flag...
Splash!
“Ngh?!”
Goddammit! I knew it!
A pillar of water suddenly shot up from the lake, and something came flying toward Diana.
Diana's back was to the lake, so her reaction was slow.
“Diana!”
Fortunately, however, Guwon was able to react in time.
Before the unidentified object could touch her, Guwon grabbed Diana's arm and pulled her into his embrace.
“O-oh my. T-taking advantage of the chaos to embrace a helpless maiden. You're quite the rogue, aren't you?”
You can still make jokes in a situation like this?
She's so damn carefree.
The water settled, and the creature that had attacked us finally came into view.
The attacker's identity was... what the hell is that? Seaweed?
Tendrils of seaweed, which seemed to have been reaching for Diana, were now swaying limply in the air.
It looked like a large, tangled mass of seaweed.
“What a strange-looking monster. Do you know what it is?”
“Hmph. I've never seen one of these before either.”
“Let's just attack!”
Sara was right. Whatever that thing was, we could figure it out later.
Since it attacked first, it was clearly hostile.
Guwon pushed Diana behind him and took a stance.
But there was a limit to what Guwon could do.
The creature was floating in the middle of the pond.
If I tried to swim out to attack it, I'd just be walking right into its home turf.
Leaving the offense entirely to Sara and Diana, Guwon focused solely on blocking the seaweed tendrils that shot toward them.
Its main body seemed to be the clump in the center, so no matter how many times Guwon struck the flying tendrils, it didn't seem to do much damage.
I tried using Saint's Touch just in case, but it seemed useless since there was no stun effect.
Still, the creature flinched every time one of Sara's arrows hit its central mass, so her attacks were definitely working.
While Guwon defended and Sara attacked, Diana finally completed her spell.
The electricity she unleashed shot forward, traveled along the arrow embedded in the monster's core, and fried its entire body.
The creature shuddered once after being hit by the spell, and then its floating tendrils fell one by one.
“Is it over?”
“Looks like it.”
We grabbed one of the seaweed tendrils floating in the pond, pulled the central mass over, and cut it open, revealing a Magic Stone.
The only items it dropped were a few seaweed tendrils.
“What a pain in the ass to kill for such a pathetic reward.”
“Hmph. Not all hard work is rewarded in kind. Don't be too disappointed.”
Yeah, I guess, but still.
Still, since it was a monster even Diana didn't know, maybe we'll get a decent reward if we report it to the Guild?
“But for a monster to come out of the pond... it makes me nervous about camping here.”
“But it will be difficult to find a better spot than this.”
They were both right.
I'm getting sleepy, but what should we do?
“How about we just sleep as far away from the pond as possible?”
I guess that's our only option.
In the end, the party decided to simply move their camp to the wall on the opposite side of the passage.
“Then I shall set up an alarm spell by the pond as well. Come along.”
“W-wait! Why does Guwon need to go with you to set up an alarm spell?!”
“What if I'm nearly dragged away again like before? He's insurance. Insurance.”
“Then I'll go with you.”
“You look like you'd just get dragged in with me, so just wait here quietly.”
This time, it seemed she was genuinely taking him as insurance rather than just to tease Sara. Diana easily rebuffed Sara's offer, grabbed Guwon's hand tightly, and headed for the pond.
“Won't this make it hard for you to cast spells? Can you do it with one hand?”
“Hm? Oh, oh! Now that you mention it, you're right. For me to make such a mistake... Well, it can't be helped. You'll just have to hold me tight from behind.”
Diana's reaction seemed strangely exaggerated.
Hey, I thought you weren't teasing Sara this time? Could you keep it down?
No, it's probably too late. I can feel Sara glaring daggers at my back without even having to look.
As Guwon hugged her from behind, Diana waved her arms, drew a magic circle in the air, and completed the spell in an instant.
That was incredibly fast. Did you really need both hands for that?
“Even with the alarm spell, we should probably stand watch, right?”
“Hmph. There's no guarantee something like that won't happen again.”
“I'll take the middle watch, then.”
As they say, the first and last watches are the easiest.
Since Guwon had the most stamina, he decided to make the sacrifice.
Besides, my conscience wouldn't let me take an easy shift while making the girls take the hard one.
And so, the watch order was decided: Diana, then Guwon, then Sara.
I was worried about how we'd keep time since I was the only one who knew it, but Diana solved the problem by suggesting we use magic to cut a piece of wood to a specific size, light it, and pass the watch to the next person when it burned out.
Yeah. It wouldn't be perfectly accurate, but it would be close enough.
We hadn't planned on camping when we entered the dungeon, so we didn't have any blankets. We just gathered some dry leaves to make the ground a little softer.
When we get back to town, the first thing I'm doing is buying a blanket for my inventory.
As I made that resolution and lay down, Diana quickly scooted over and sat right next to me.
I expected Sara to protest, but instead, she silently followed Diana's lead and pressed up against my other side.
“Um... ladies?”
“Ahem. You never know if that seaweed might stretch all the way over here.”
“That's right. You're most vulnerable when you're sleeping.”
The two women said, as if making excuses for their actions.
Of course, I was happy. Sleeping with a beautiful woman on either side... what a blissful situation.
However...
With these soft things pressing against me from both sides, how am I supposed to sleep?!
It's already hard enough to sleep in a place that's as bright as day even at night.
Even with his eyes closed, the pressure of the soft objects made it impossible for Guwon to fall asleep.
Dammit... And I can't even touch them. Is this some new form of torture?
“What's wrong? If you can't sleep, shall I sing you a lullaby?”
“No, I'm good.”
I'm not a child.
Sara, next to me, was already breathing evenly, seemingly fast asleep.
Dammit. Am I the only one who's conscious of this?
Guwon closed his eyes and tried desperately to ignore the soft sensations on either side of him so he could get some sleep.
“Hey. It's about time to wake up.”
It seemed I had fallen asleep at some point.
Guwon slowly woke to the sound of Diana's voice as she shook him.
“Sleep well?”
When I opened my eyes, I was startled to find Diana's face right in front of mine.
Why does she have to stick her face so close? It makes my heart pound.
“Yeah, sort of... You must be tired too, so get some sleep.”
Honestly, I didn't feel like I'd slept well at all.
I'd only slept for a few hours, and maybe I'd gotten used to waking up refreshed from the effects of Healing Sex over the past two days, because I felt even more sluggish than usual.
Guwon carefully sat up, leaning against the wall so as not to wake Sara, but Diana immediately lay down, using his lap as a pillow.
Hey. How am I supposed to sleep later if you do that?
Before Guwon could say anything, Diana was already breathing evenly, fast asleep.
Ugh... Right. She must be tired too, and she did volunteer for the first watch. I'll let this slide.
I'm bored.
Not much time had passed, but Guwon was already fiercely bored.
Isn't there something, anything, I can do to kill time?
Knowing full well there was nothing around, Guwon's eyes darted around, scanning the area.
Aaargh. I'd rather a monster show up at this point.
Unable to contain his boredom, Guwon's gaze fell upon Sara and Diana.
Right. I might as well enjoy the view.
Guwon looked back and forth between the two of them.
Both of them were so beautiful that the Guwon from my original world couldn't have even dreamed of being with them.
They shared the common trait of being incredibly beautiful, but their looks were distinctly different.
Sara was a sharp-featured beauty with the slender figure of a supermodel, while Diana had a cute face and a gentle aura to match her petite frame.
And girls like these were clinging to me on both sides.
Normally, it would be a situation where it wouldn't be strange to lose control of my lust and pounce on them, but Guwon suppressed the urge.
Have I matured a little from my experiences so far?
No, maybe I'm just more relaxed because I know I don't have to go wild with lust right now since I'll have my chance later.
In any case, Guwon decided to be content with just feasting his eyes on Sara and Diana.
...But maybe just a little touch of their breasts would be okay?
That wicked thought reared its head, but Guwon held back.
What if I accidentally wake them up?
After enduring that long trial, it was finally time for Sara's watch.
...Phew. My reason has triumphed.
He gently shook Sara awake, and she groggily opened her eyes.
Yep. As expected, a beautiful woman is beautiful even when she's just woken up.
“Thank you. I'll take over now.”
“Okay. Good luck.”
Guwon quickly closed his eyes, eager to escape his time of trial.
“...Can you really sleep like that?”
Sara questioned him as he tried to fall asleep while still sitting up.
“Yeah. I can sleep in any position.”
Besides, I can't move since Diana is using my lap as a pillow.
If I move now, she'll definitely wake up, so I have no choice.
“...Is that so.”
As Sara said that, her hand suddenly reached for Guwon's crotch.
“S-Sara?”
Startled, he almost shouted, but he suppressed his voice as much as possible so as not to wake Diana.
“If you're going to sleep in that position, shouldn't you at least have Healing Sex active so it doesn't affect your performance in battle tomorrow?”
W-what is she talking about?!
Are you the same Sara I know? Until just a little while ago, you hated sex like it was the plague, didn't you?
“Besides... it was my turn today anyway.”
As she spoke, Sara's face looked incredibly seductive.