Heroine Netori

Upon opening the door, the smell of alcohol pervaded the air. Was this a tavern or a guild?

Inside the guild, it resembled a tavern with tables filled and people who looked every bit the adventurers gathered in small groups, indulging in their drinks. The guild walls were plastered with requests, and next to them hung numerous wanted posters of criminals. In the back, there was an area designated for staff, where a woman who appeared to be a guild member was scratching her head while reading some documents. It seemed that approaching her was the right move.

Feeling tense, Siu stiffened, and Sophia, clinging to my back, and I approached the woman. Just then, a rugged-looking adventurer nearby spoke up.

"Hey! What are you kids doing here? Go back and suck on your daddy’s tit!"

Already seeming irritated, the woman walked over to the adventurer and slapped him across the face, shouting,

"It’d be your mother’s breast, you idiot! Stop disturbing the business and get lost!"@@novelbin@@

Wow, she's tough... The adventurer who was slapped fell to the ground, then staggered back up and nonchalantly rejoined his drinking buddies.

"Damn woman! My teeth are all loose now. Hey! Anyone want to buy a tooth for a drink?"

Despite his appearance, he was just a typical drunk.

"What can I do for you? Is it a request?"

As the adventurer walked away, the woman asked us with a bright smile, though there was something intimidating about it. Not just to me—behind me, I heard Sophia swallow nervously.

"We came to register as adventurers."

"Oh, what a pity. Do you have a guarantor? No, I thought not. It’s 1 gold per person, wait here. You’ll need to take a skill test. Ugh, even these kids want to be adventurers now."

Suddenly, the woman’s smile vanished and she spoke in an annoyed and brusque tone.

"Do you have an ID? No? That’ll be another gold. And for an additional gold, I can bypass the test and register you directly as Level 7."

Level 7 was the lowest rank of adventurers. Hardly even adventurers, more like interns. They couldn’t go monster hunting and were limited to gathering herbs or carrying loads.

"It seems like a rip-off..."

"I have a recommendation letter. Here."

I was prepared for this. Originally, the plan was to get it through the village chief's connections to the head of the Gie Trading Company, but getting one from someone even higher up was even better.

"Really? Let’s see... Louise, Louise... What?! Louise Klein?!"

The woman looked at us in shock.

"You didn’t forge this, right? You know that would be serious trouble?"

"You’re welcome to verify it."

"Of course, I need to! This shouldn’t be happening… Follow me."

Having a strong backer certainly made a difference. Her condescending tone completely disappeared.

Following her upstairs, we entered a luxurious reception room—a stark contrast to the first floor. Sitting on plush sofas, we were served what seemed like very high-quality tea, even to my untrained taste buds. After a brief wait, not the same woman from before but the head of the adventurer's guild came to the reception room.

"Wow! I never thought I’d see an adventurer vouched for by Klein Louise!"

I hadn’t expected it either. It was just a shot in the dark asking Louise, but she agreed immediately and wrote the letter.

"Those goblins have been a real headache for us. The Gie Trading Company has put in requests, but no adventurers were willing to take them on. They’re that dangerous, but you managed to handle them yourselves! Never judge a book by its cover, huh!"

"Um, we..."

"Yes, we did it. Honestly, we were just lucky. Those goblins let their guard down."

Louise had embellished the story a bit. Siu, oblivious, was about to spill the truth, but there was no need to correct him.

"Hmm… Monsters are just monsters, after all. Well... with the endorsement from Klein Louise and dealing with a Grade 5 monster, you can start at Level 6. Ah, I’d like to make it Level 5, but rules are rules. Still, you’ll be promoted in no time if you complete a few quests."

With a reputable guarantor, everything went smoothly. After some more discussion, we were issued our adventurer cards.

And just like that, all three of us became adventurers.

====

Thanks to the division leader's kindness, we took up residence in an inn right in front of the guild. This inn, run directly by the guild, was notably safer than others, and not just anyone could stay there—only adventurers with some credibility could.

After renting two rooms, we quickly unpacked and headed down to the first floor to finish our dinner. As bedtime approached, I put my planned operation into action.

"...which is why we can't let Sophie sleep alone."

"What? Even so, that’s..."

"No, it's right. Leaving a woman alone in a room, even in a trustworthy inn, is risky. If people find out she's alone, annoying types will definitely start bothering her."

"Then with whom...?"

Siu glanced at Sophia's expression, feigning indifference but clearly hopeful.

"You two use it. I'm the eldest, right? Let's use the room comfortably."

I signaled to Siu as I spoke. Of course, I had no intention of doing that. This was a strategy Sophia and I had prepared. The plan was to make Siu think I wasn’t interested in Sophia, and for me to share a room with her. Sure enough, Siu hesitated now that the opportunity had come.

"So... me and... Sophia... is that okay? I don't mind but..."

His ears turned red, and he was sweating nervously, his eyes darting around. That poor guy. At this rate, how can he even end up with a side heroine? Maybe I should take him to a brothel to get some experience.

"...Sorry. I'm embarrassed... Can I just stay in the same room as you?"

As planned, Sophia spoke up, and Siu looked incredibly disappointed but ultimately didn’t ask her to stay in his room.

"Sigh..."

I heaved a sigh while looking at Siu, who then gave a sorry look.

"It can't be helped. I'll share a room with Sophie. Let's call it a night and meet downstairs in the morning."

"Okay! Hehe."

"...Yeah."

Sophia clung to my arm as Siu trudged off to his room.

-Thud!

Once Siu left and the door closed, Sophia rushed to lock it and then threw herself into my arms. I naturally laid her down on the bed and stroked her hair.

As we cuddled, the realization that a day had passed finally hit me. It had been a day filled with so much.

Fighting monsters for the first time, Being stabbed, Poisoned, Almost dying, Meeting the guard, And becoming adventurers.

...I had pretended to be cheerful in front of the kids, but I was scared too. Even in 'Heroine Netori,' the pain and fear were real. The fear of death, the thought of never seeing Sophia again, terrified me.

As I was reflecting on the day, Sophia suddenly burst into tears.

"Sniff... Brother... Brother...!"

Seemingly recalling today's events, Sophia cried, trembling in fear. Her whole body shook as she buried herself in my embrace. I held her tightly, but her anxiety didn’t fade.

"Sob... Sob sob... You can’t die, brother..."

"Never... never! Hic... Don’t leave me... okay?"

"Sob... just thinking that you almost died... my heart hurts... healing spells aren’t helping..."

Sophia sobbed uncontrollably, hugging me tightly. I could feel my chest getting wet from her tears. I cherished Sophia, who loved me so deeply. At the same time, I despised myself for causing her such pain.

"Sophie..."

I leaned down and kissed her.

It tasted salty, like our first kiss.