Chapter 654: The Formidable Alicia
Chapter 654: The Formidable Alicia
We did sleep at an inn, but that’s not to say I had relations with any of my girls.
It had been the same when we stayed here before, waiting for the trio from Arachne.
It wasn't that I’d decided it was a bad idea to expend energy at night while we were exploring the dungeon, or for any reason like that.
If I were going to abstain for that reason, I would have done the same when we were staying in the town on the upper floor and hunting.
The reason we didn't have sex at the inn on the 4th Floor was much simpler.
Quite simply, it was because we couldn't get separate rooms.
The deeper you go into the dungeon, the harder it becomes to protect the towns from monsters.
That's why the towns get smaller on the lower floors. On this 4th Floor, there were only two inns in total, including this one.
Of course, the number of adventurers using the dungeon towns also decreases the lower you go, so two inns were somehow enough to meet the demand. Even so, separate rooms were out of the question.
Three people to a room, minimum. Adventurers who make it this far usually come down in parties of at least three anyway, and they're veterans who understand the inn's situation, so no one complained about this kind of arrangement.
That’s also why the Arachne trio wasn't staying in one room for no reason when I went to apologize to them.
Anyway, for that reason, we rented the largest room they had at this inn and all stayed together.
We even pushed the three beds together and all slept in a pile.
Because of that, I couldn't even attempt any sexual acts, or anything even remotely similar, the entire time we stayed at the inn.
No. I'm not saying I was unhappy about it, though.
Sleeping all together like this really felt like a true harem!, so I was actually quite satisfied in my own way.
Anyway, after spending a night at the inn and feeling refreshed, we finally concluded this dungeon expedition by taking a teleportation circle back.
At first, the plan was just to map out a decent portion of the 4th Floor, but somehow we ended up taking down the Floor Boss before coming back.
I was humming happily on my way to the Guild, having achieved more than planned, but as soon as I entered, I felt that sense of unease again.
“Hey. Guwon. What did you do this time?”
Of course, it seemed I wasn't the only one who felt that unease, as Sara shot me a look full of suspicion.
“Seriously. What do you take me for? And you could at least call me Oppa…”
“Come to think of it, you did go up to the surface alone in the middle of all this.”
Don't ignore me, you brat!
“It didn't seem like the right atmosphere to ask back then, so I let it go… Oppa. What on earth did you do?”
She's casually calling me Oppa again.
Hey. Are you playing hard to get right now?
Anyway, setting aside Sara's way of speaking, I could completely understand why she was saying this.
That was because the way people were looking at me was too… normal.
No. It went beyond normal; it felt like they were consciously trying to avoid looking in my direction.
Of course, this was much better than the previous situation, where, because of those weird rumors, people with no confidence in their looks glared at me like I was the enemy of all women, while those who were confident in their looks had their eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“No. I really don't know what's going on either. At least, this current situation has nothing to do with me going up to the surface…”
I trailed off, forced to stop talking for a moment.
Is that really true? Does it really have nothing to do with it?
The strange rumor about me that had been spreading among the adventurers.
It was definitely about how I only judge women by their looks and won't even bother with anyone below a certain standard.
And when I went up to the surface, I rejected Alicia.
An executive of a clan considered one of the best among the many adventurer clans.
Of course, it's true that Alicia's looks—her coffee-colored skin, her firm, well-trained body, and her fierce-looking face—were the type to polarize opinions.
But even taking that into account, no one could deny the fact that Alicia is a beautiful woman.
Could it be that a rumor spread about me rejecting Alicia?
From what I saw before, it seemed like the entire Arachne Clan was interested in Alicia's love life.
When a lot of people are interested, it's only natural for rumors to leak out.
I rejected Alicia before we even left to hunt the 4th Floor Boss, so more than enough time had passed for that rumor to spread even to the general adventurer population.
Besides, since I rejected such a beautiful woman, the rumor about me only judging women by their looks would naturally be proven false.
Because that fact came to light, the people who were spreading rumors about me are now probably unable to even look my way out of guilt.
Thinking about it that way, everything seemed to fit.
Then, could it really be…?
“I knew it. Looks like you do have some idea what's going on.”
When I stopped talking mid-sentence, Sara's gaze grew even more suspicious.
“…I'm going to go talk to Miss Rachel for a second and figure out what's going on.”
I ignored Sara for the moment and immediately ran over to Miss Rachel.
“Miss Rachel. I'm back.”
“Welcome back, Guwon-ssi.”
She must have already seen me approaching, because as soon as I walked up and greeted her, Miss Rachel offered me a perfect receptionist's smile and greeted me back.
First, I handed over my magic stones to be appraised as usual, and while they were being counted, I casually posed a question to her.
“Um… Miss Rachel. By any chance, did you hear any strange rumors while I was in the dungeon?”
“Hm? Rumors? Ah… Actually, I heard about it directly from Alicia-ssi.”
In response to my question, Miss Rachel gave me an unexpected answer with a vague smile, as if she didn't know what kind of expression to make.
What? She heard it directly from Alicia?
Wait. No. Now that I think about it, that makes sense.
I've never personally seen Alicia register her party or get her magic stones appraised, but when I first met her—when she took my virginity—it was right after she had hit on Miss Rachel and gotten rejected.
Considering that, it wouldn't be strange at all if Alicia always went to Miss Rachel for party registration and magic stone appraisals.
But still, does a person normally talk about that kind of thing themselves?
No. More importantly, if she heard it directly from Alicia, does that mean Alicia came to the Guild to go to the dungeon in the meantime?
“Um, Miss Rachel! So, that is… How is… Alicia…”
To be honest, just thinking about rejecting Alicia made me feel restless and uneasy, so I'd been trying my best not to think about it ever since.
But now that I'd heard she'd met Alicia since then, even I couldn't keep ignoring this strange sense of guilt.
“Hehe. You don't have to make that face. She seemed to be forcing it a little, but otherwise, Alicia-ssi was her usual self.”
And as if she understood how I felt and was telling me not to worry, Miss Rachel lightly tapped the tip of my nose with her finger as she spoke.
Hearing that, I finally felt as if the weight that had been pressing down on a corner of my heart had lifted a little.
I see. So Alicia is okay now.
I heard she'd been doing nothing but drink ever since I ran away, and I even heard a slight tremor in her voice after I properly rejected her.
The truth is, I was only forcing myself to look away; I'd been worried about her the whole time.
“Still, that girl… I knew she had an easy-going personality, but I never thought she'd go around blabbing to you about getting rejected. I swear, there's no stopping her.”
“Ah… well, about that…”
Feeling much lighter, I said it lightly in a joking tone, but upon hearing my words, Miss Rachel made a look of pity for some reason.
“Miss Rachel? What's wrong?”
“N-No! It's nothing!”
At my simple question, she jumped in surprise and waved her hands frantically in denial.
It was her flustered reaction when faced with an unexpected situation.
It seemed her pitiful reaction just now was her true feelings slipping out unconsciously.
“Come on. Your face says it's not nothing. What's going on?”
“Really! It's really nothing!”
“Miss Raaachel.”
“Y-You can't make that face at me! It won't work! I made a promise! I can't tell you!”
“The fact that you're saying that means there really is something, isn't there.”
“Aah! I'm an idiot! An idiot!”
When I spoke with a triumphant smile, she looked flustered and reprimanded herself by lightly bonking her head with her fists.
I gently took her fists in my hands to stop her, and brought my face even closer to hers.
“Miss Rachel. Just tell me. I won't tell anyone.”
“I-I can't! I promised to keep it a secret from you, Guwon-ssi!”
But she shook her head desperately and kept her lips sealed.
Damn. It's not working.
A promise? Did Alicia tell her to keep quiet?
“Hoo. Alright. Then I guess I have no choice but to grab whoever I can and ask them. Judging by the reactions, the rumor about me rejecting Alicia seems to have spread everywhere. Someone is bound to know the details.”
In the end, I decided to give up on getting any more information out of Miss Rachel.
“Aah… Guwon-ssi. That's…”
“What? Don't tell me I can't do that either?”
“But that's… haaah… what should I do.”
Hearing my words, Miss Rachel's expression grew even more pitiful.
She let out a deep sigh and covered her face with her hands.
“Haaah… Guwon-ssi.”
After covering her face like that for a moment, Miss Rachel finally lifted her head, her expression colored with resignation.
“Yes?”
“You absolutely, poooositively cannot say that I told you this!”
“Okay.”
“And you can't show any sign that you know in front of Alicia-ssi!”
“Yes. I promise.”
“All of you, too.”
“Huh? All of… Whoa, you scared me!”
Tilting my head at Miss Rachel's words, I turned around to find that my girls had all gathered behind me at some point.
“You all heard…!”
“If we were going to hear it from you anyway, is it not more convenient for us to hear it directly rather than secondhand?”
No. I mean, of course, that's true, but!
“If you came up here to reject another woman in the first place, you should have just said so. Why did you hide it?”
Well. There were a lot of circumstances!
I didn't know the rumors would spread this far back then, and if I went around talking about rejecting her, I'd feel bad for Alicia, and it would feel like I was bragging to you guys, which would make me feel even more sorry.
Most of all, Alicia and I are still friends, so if you all found out she saw me that way, you might become unnecessarily wary of her.
“Guwon-ssi. You must have been struggling with this all on your own. I'm sorry for not realizing it sooner.”
No, my angel. You are always the oasis of my heart. Just having you by my side is more than enough.
“A-Anyway! For now, let's hear the details from Miss Rachel!”
It's all out in the open now anyway, so there's no need to hide it.
Giving up, I turned my gaze back to Miss Rachel.
And Miss Rachel let out a deep sigh before slowly opening her mouth.
“You all felt it as soon as you came up this time, didn't you? The way the adventurers look at Guwon-ssi has clearly changed from before he went down into the dungeon.”
“Yes. So it really is related to me rejecting Alicia.”
“Yes. To put it simply, Alicia-ssi, who came to the Guild for the first time in a while, overheard that rumor.”
“Ah…”
The moment Miss Rachel said that, I could already start to imagine what must have happened next.
Alicia has a fiery and straightforward personality.
She must have heard the rumor and immediately run up to the adventurers who were talking about it and…