* * *

Maybe we should just head to the restaurant.

“Let’s go quickly. It’s a popular place. If we’re late, we might have to wait. Isn’t it annoying to be hungry and have to queue?”

The Hero suddenly grabbed my arm.

Startled, I stopped in my tracks.

“Are you really okay?”

“…”

Was he still hung up on those rumors?

I told him twice already that it wasn’t true!

Why doesn’t anyone believe me?

“I just want to stay with you!”

I get that I seem suspicious, but I said it wasn’t true, didn’t I?

“I’m not clinging to you for medicine or anything like that. I just want to stay by your side!”

Even though I didn’t want to raise my voice to the Hero, it happened naturally.

The Hero usually doesn’t care about others.

No matter what’s happening around him, he walks away, expecting people to figure it out themselves.

So, the fact that he kept asking must mean he genuinely believed the rumors.

If I don’t clear this up properly, he’ll keep misunderstanding.

“….”

The Hero glared at me sharply, and the oppressive aura around him made me instinctively step back.

Was he angry because I yelled at him?

Can’t he let it slide, just this once?

My hands trembled as I took a deep breath.

Calm down.

I can’t leave his side now.

No matter what, I have to endure.

‘I’m scared.’

Does he know I’m hiding something and is mad because I keep lying?

Should I ask him to wait a bit longer?

But I really do want to stay with him right now…

“Let’s go.”

The Hero turned away.

Only then did the suffocating tension in the air dissipate, and I could finally breathe freely.

God, I thought I was going to faint.

Being able to breathe is such a blessing.

Without asking where he was going, I simply followed behind him.

If the Hero decides to go somewhere, you follow.

No questions asked.

We arrived at the brick-oven grill I’d mentioned before.

I saw him shove the map he’d been looking at earlier into his pocket.

So, he had been curious about the place.

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

If I find his quiet excitement about food endearing, is that just my affection for humanity’s savior playing tricks on me?

Not that he ever answers my questions.

“Isn’t the oven cool? I heard it burns hotter than most fire magic, so even pyromancers have to be careful.”

The place was noticeably warmer because of it, but the taste made it worth it.

As soon as we walked in, all eyes turned to us.

The attention was even more intense than back at the adventurer’s guild, probably because I was chatting away beside him.

I ignored it.

Now’s not the time to care about others.

The Hero seemed a little upset earlier, and I needed to cheer him up.

A young waiter approached, eyes wide, and informed us that today’s options were roasted wild boar or pheasant.

Though visibly intimidated by the Hero’s aura, he managed to get the words out.

“What do you want? I’ve tried them both, and they’re both great.”

The Hero didn’t answer me.

Instead, he raised two fingers.

The waiter hesitated for a moment before realizing it meant the second option—pheasant—and quickly took our order.

He’s always been taciturn, but today he’s practically mute.

How long will it take to coax a word out of him?

‘The Hero’s not easy to please.’

It’s hard to gauge his emotions, so I can’t tell what kind of words he likes or if I even need to flatter him.

Though my energy is draining, I need to hang in there.

‘I have to hang in there!’

I have to do what I can right now.

If I let this opportunity slip through my fingers, I won’t have anything left to try, and all I’ll be able to do is wait helplessly in the background.

But the hero didn’t say a word the entire time he was eating roasted pheasant from the oven that day.

I kept trying to make conversation so much that I couldn’t even focus on my own meal, but he stayed silent!

I wondered if he didn’t like the taste, but seeing how he licked his plate clean and ordered two more servings, that didn’t seem to be the case.

In the end, I got so embarrassed that I just quietly gnawed on some boar meat.

I’d never had such a cold and lifeless oven-roasted pheasant in my life.

The meat was supposed to be warm and comforting, fresh out of the oven, but somehow it felt like biting into a block of ice.

I trudged home afterward.

I didn’t even fight anyone, yet my jaw ached from all the talking.

The moment I got back, I went straight to my room and flopped onto my bed.

Aimone, who had been removing her makeup, followed me and poked her head into my room.

“Raul. Are you hiding something from me?”

Plenty.

But judging by the look on her face, Aimone didn’t really believe that was possible.

He had that ‘what nonsense is this’ expression.

“Why?”

“Earlier, Vasco asked me if you had an incurable disease.”

Called it.

“Tell him to wash his feet and go to bed.”

Getting closer to the hero is going to kill me.

---

I woke up to the sound of someone pounding on the door at the crack of dawn.

After dealing with the hero yesterday, I was physically and mentally exhausted, and honestly, I wanted to stay in bed a little longer.

When I ignored the racket and stayed curled up under the covers, Aimone kicked my door open with a bang.

“I’ve been handling your guests for a whole week, so today, you’re going.”

Fair enough.

As someone with a history of moping in the corner, I couldn’t argue.

I quickly tidied myself up enough to look presentable and went to see who was causing such a ruckus.

The moment I stepped out, Vasco grabbed my shoulders.

“Why are you coming out so late?”

Excuse me?

You’re the one waking people up at the crack of dawn, and now you’re complaining?

Even after I said I’d cover the penalty fees for you?

“Beauty sleep is the secret to staying handsome.”

“This isn’t the time for that crap!”

Vasco yelled with such enthusiasm, then hesitated.

“…Really?”

Do you think so?

Being an adventurer isn’t exactly a job where you get to sleep in.

My looks are all thanks to my parents, not some magical skincare routine.

Anyway, the shouting woke me up a bit.

“So, why are you here?”

“Oh.”

Vasco seemed to come back to his senses and suddenly puffed out his chest, looking smug.

His sudden shift to arrogance was amusing, considering how seriously he had been pondering whether more sleep could make someone better-looking just moments ago.

I could see why he’d be concerned about that, though.

His looks weren’t exactly remarkable.

“You’re going to be grateful to me.”

“Wow, thanks.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I played along to keep him in a good mood.

“Exactly! No one else would go to this length for an abandoned comrade like me.”

“Of course. It was so great traveling with you.”

When I fed into his ego, he grinned and shrugged his shoulders, clearly pleased.

Adventurers are usually all muscle and little brain, so a little flattery goes a long way.

That’s how I usually manage to get along with my comrades easily.

Except for the hero.

He’s impossible to read.

“Ahem. I found a way for you to avoid squandering your entire fortune.”

“Seriously?”

I couldn’t help but answer with genuine curiosity.

I hadn’t expected this.

Even at my most optimistic, I thought Vasco had come to confirm whether I was really dying.

Vasco’s face grew even more triumphant.

“Of course! I don’t lie about these things.”

He sounded so convincing that I almost wanted to believe him, but it’s always wise to be skeptical when it comes to adventurers.

In this line of work, everyone’s desperate to earn money, even if it means risking their lives.

Why else would anyone fight monsters while living in constant fear of death?

You’d have to be insane or lured in by the incredible rewards.

Trusting someone based on a flimsy bond of friendship could leave you stripped of everything, even the clothes on your back.

Still, I decided to hear him out first.

“How? It’s not just the original deposit anymore; the penalty fees have ballooned to ten times the amount. How could I make that much in one go?”

“Shh.”

Vasco glanced around nervously before lowering his voice.

“This is valuable information. Keep it under wraps. You never know who might be listening. Come with me.”

At times like this, the best course of action is usually not to follow.

If you do, you’ll end up ambushed and knocked out by his waiting buddies.

But I could handle most small fry, so I decided to go along.

* * *