No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

Hah… Hah…

In a dimly lit inn room, a woman in thin pajamas lay sprawled on the bed, panting heavily.

Her cheeks flushed from the heat, her skin glistening with sweat.

With every deep breath, the valley between her breasts swayed, droplets of sweat trickling down like dew, soaking the sheets.

Huuuuu….

A tired moan slipped through her clenched teeth. Her breath, mixed with exhaustion, spread like white mist.

‘Not easy, huh…’

I lay on the bed, catching my breath and trying to soothe my exhaustion.

I had no strength left in my body.

I had exhausted all my stamina while practicing the technique I finally unlocked from our last fight, [Strength Control].

It wasn’t going so well.

I tried to practice how to lower the output of [Strength Control] like Brunhilde from the original story…

‘Why is this so hard?’

It was frustratingly difficult.

The level of difficulty was like doing zigzag runs on a bike on ice.

The moment I relaxed, my stamina drained and the world started spinning, making me realize I wouldn’t be able to utilize it effectively until I could hit the final blow in a real fight.

Well, I still had to keep practicing.

To become a silver-tier adventurer, I needed to handle this power like a pro.

For that reason, I practiced adjusting the output of [Strength Control] until just before sleeping, then showered and went to bed around midnight.

The next day.

“Hi, Hilde. Are you awake? If it’s not too much trouble, would you like to have breakfast together…?”

Friede, from the room next door, knocked early in the morning, suggesting we have breakfast together like yesterday.

“Oh… just a sec. I need to change.”

I put on my quilted armor and helmet while heading downstairs with her, ordering a simple breakfast in the inn’s common area.

Freshly baked bread and warm corn soup. Not bad for a free menu for long-term guests.

“Um, you said we’re leaving tomorrow, right…? So, um, what are you planning to do today, Hilde?”

Friede asked as she dipped her bread in the soup, gently brushing her fingers on the table while inquiring about my schedule.

“Today’s plan? Well, first I’ll stop by the Request Office to find my last party member, and once I get them, I need to reserve a cart. That should wrap it up.”

“Oh, I see…? Well, um, you’ll be back around lunchtime, right…?”

“Probably. Why, do you want to come along?”

It would be nice to head to the Request Office together.

After all, Friede was part of my party, so it wouldn’t hurt for her to see the potential members in advance.

“Oh, no, um… I have some things to prepare! So, I’ll wait here.”

But Friede turned down my offer, glancing at the ceiling for a brief moment, perhaps remembering her own room.

“Alright then, I can’t force you.”

I shrugged lightly and nodded.

There wasn’t much I could do since she had things to prepare.

◆◆

After finishing breakfast, I returned to my room to gear up properly and headed to the Adventurer’s Request Office.

“I came to answer the undead extermination posting. Are you that Hilde who leads the party?”

“I heard you were looking for silver-tier adventurers.”

“Are you Hilde?”

Honestly, I expected only one or two applicants at most, but surprisingly many adventurers were there to apply.

Of course, having many applicants wasn’t always a good thing.

As the old sages said, whenever five humans gather, there’s bound to be one trash.

To make matters worse, half of the adventurers seemed to be a total wreck.

In other words, the chances of trashy applicants were no less than 30%.

The same went for this time.

While some adventurers were genuinely aiming for the silver-tier, a noticeable number had ulterior motives.

“I’m Leo. As you can see, I’m a swordsman.”

A blonde swordsman pretending to be polite but stealing glances down at my chest.

“My name? Rick. So, all your party members are women?”

It’s a wonder he didn’t let out a whoop like a feral beast; a tanning-skinned archer who looked like he shouldn’t be approached.

“Hmmm… You said you’re Hilde? Looks like an ill omen just settled on your shoulders. Lately, haven’t your activities been getting tangled or going awry? That’s because you haven’t been paying proper respects to your ancestors.”

Then there was that sham priest, either Bob or something.

After filtering through all of them and carefully choosing the party combination, I finally managed to find a new party member.

Back in the days of iron plates, I didn’t have the luxury to be picky about party members, so I just picked up whoever was available and set off…

‘Not anymore.’

The last request gave me a lesson: it was outright madness.

I couldn’t just randomly pick someone and risk getting another bald brawler type again.

After all that filtering, I managed to recruit…

“I’m Gerda. Nice to meet you.”

A female scout named Gerda.

A sturdy woman draped in a bear-skin cloak, complete with a hood and leather armor.

She had a bow made from animal horns on her back and a couple of short daggers and a one-handed sword at her waist.

Scouts are versatile as they excel in both melee and ranged combat. Simply put, they’re archers who can engage in close combat.

They have abilities for exploration and stealth, capable of delivering ranged attacks and switching to frontline duties as needed.

While they may lag behind warriors in close combat and below expert archers in shooting, even considering that, having one in a party could be quite helpful.

Since their basic skills were decent yet not outstanding, they often honed complementary skills like trap detection or handling poisons to increase offensive power.

…What, you think that’s a thief?

No way. If I said that, the scouts might just come after me!

Though their specialties are similar, scouts and thieves are distinct professions.

Think about it. Thieves are nothing more than worthless scum engaging in the transport business of stealing others’ belongings.

What kind of fool would accept a scumbag like that as a party member?

Thieves belong by the gallows or buried in a field of manure, not in adventurer parties!

“Nice to meet you.”

Anyway, at last, I gathered all my party members. Oddly enough, they were all women.

It couldn’t be helped; with three female party members already, I had no choice but to fill the last slot with a woman as well.

No sane man would want to join a party of three women. Most of them would just ogle their chests and thighs.

It was painfully obvious that allowing any of them in would only incite trouble.

Really, they all just drooled over my chest and thighs?

It was creepy, seriously.

Usually, with Kikel around, there’d be decent guys, but with three women, every guy came making his move.

◆◆

After finding a party member, I told Gerda to meet me again the next morning before leaving the Request Office.

I went to the cart rental station to book a four-seater cart, and by the time I returned to the inn, it was already a bit past lunchtime.

I didn’t have a clock, so I couldn’t tell the exact time, but I figured it was around two.

Since there were more applicants than expected, I was slightly late for our lunch appointment… well.

…It shouldn’t be a big deal.

Friede looked perfectly accustomed to eating alone anyway.

If she was hungry, she’d have eaten by now, or she could still join me if I got back.

Knock knock.

I went up to the third floor of the inn and gently tapped on the adjacent door to my room.

“…Who is it?”

A low voice filtered through the door. It had the tone of caution and wariness, like a puppy greeting an unfamiliar visitor.

Is she usually like that with unfamiliar voices?

It was quite unexpected, considering she’d always been stuttering and mumbling around me.

It was like seeing those keyboard warriors who become childlike in front of someone they actually meet.

If it had been a grown man acting like that, it would be embarrassing, but seeing a petite girl do it was kinda cute.

“It’s me. Hilde. Can I come in?”

“Huuh?! O-Oh! Just a second, please…!”

Friede gasped in surprise, with a commotion of shuffling heard before she finally spoke again.

Is she cleaning up a mess or something?

She must be scurrying around, hiding something, but I couldn’t tell exactly what without using any clairvoyance.

A moment later…

“P-Please come in…”

The wooden door creaked open, and amidst it peeked out a bird’s nest of tousled hair.

She seemed breathless, likely having rushed to tidy up and had slightly flushed cheeks.

What on earth? Did she have something embarrassing to hide, like a lewd book meant for a pubescent boy?

I chuckled lightly as I walked into her room.

Like any other inn, her room was no different from mine.

It was a simple space with a small bed, a mini bathroom, a wooden table by the window, and a wardrobe.

At the base of the wardrobe hung a hooded black fur cloak, and underneath it were her backpack and sleeping bag neatly arranged.

The greatsword she had carried leaned slope-wise against the dresser.

“O-Oh, please make yourself comfortable…”

Friede, who invited me into her room, plopped awkwardly onto the bed and smiled bashfully.

“Yeah, we said we’d have a meal together, and I ended up being late. Did you eat beforehand?”

“A-Ah, no! Not yet!”

She shook her head vigorously.

Even though it was well past lunchtime, she seemed to have waited just to eat together with me.

“Why didn’t you eat? You must’ve been hungry.”

“Well… you proposed to eat together, so…!”

“You really didn’t have to wait… hmm, then let’s head down and eat now. They should still serve food even if it’s a little late.”

“Yes!”

I smiled awkwardly, suggested we get food, and walked down with Friede, who hopped off the bed with a delighted look on her face, ready to have lunch together.

In the process, we chatted about our new party members.

“Gerda, huh…? So, um, she’s a woman too, right?”

Friede asked with her head slightly bowed, her voice dropping a bit while we were eating.

“Right! Doesn’t it make things easier for you? With three women and one guy, it’s bound to be uncomfortable otherwise.”

“Um, no… not really.”

Friede mumbled something barely audible.

“Hmm?”

Her voice was so tiny I couldn’t catch what she said.

“No, it’s… um, a bit uncomfortable, right? Maybe…”

See?

While it’s fine when it’s even, if the ratio is skewed all the way, it will naturally feel uneasy.

◆◆

Eventually, we finished our meal.

After bidding her a polite farewell and thanking her for the meal, Friede disappeared into her room, and I returned to mine, reclining on my bed for a little rest.

After a while, I got up again and started packing for tomorrow’s request.

I packed preserved food, supplies, oils or cloth for sword maintenance, and spare clothes.

Since it was an expedition with an uncertain time limit, I figured I should at least bring a change of clothes.

‘Hmm… just in case… I should pack an extra top and pants… oh, and some underwear too.’

While it was unavoidable during dungeon explorations, wearing sweat-soaked underwear for days would be an unbearable situation.

Not to mention, if I ended up stained with either monster blood or my own sweat, it’d be just foul.

So, I had to prepare my underwear properly.

‘Let’s see…’

Two for the top, three for the bottom…

“Hmm…?”

Why are there three?

I stopped putting the neatly folded underwear into my backpack and tilted my head in confusion.

As far as I remembered, I thought there had been four pairs left… but there were only three in the drawer.

What gives…?

Is it possible I mistook the count?

Been so long since I bought underwear, I couldn’t recall clearly, but I couldn’t help but think that was more than likely.

Looking around the room, there were no signs of robbery either.

It was completely puzzling.

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