Dawn broke, and as people began their activities and the town showed signs of liveliness, albeit not as much as the day before, Izayoi, assuming that Yuka would be awake by now, returned to the inn.
"Time to get up, Yuka."
"Uun… Five more minutes."
This exchange repeated six times. Yuka, wrapped in a blanket, showed no signs of getting up, and Izayoi was beginning to contemplate using more forceful methods.
Incidentally, the door to the room was open. Izayoi sighed, wondering what was the point of wandering around town until dawn thinking the door was locked.
Even shaking her and calling out didn’t wake Yuka. Izayoi, losing patience, forcefully pulled off the blanket covering her.
"Fugya!"
Yuka, uttering a scream unbecoming of a maiden, fell face-first onto the bed. It seemed like she had no awareness of being a girl.
"Ah, come on…"
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Yuka sat up and glared at Izayoi, the perpetrator who disturbed her peaceful sleep.
"It's been a while since I slept in a bed, can't you let me enjoy it a bit more?"
"You’ll be sleeping in a bed for a while now."
They had already prepaid for a week, so they were guaranteed to sleep on a bed for at least that long. But Yuka sighed and shook her head dramatically.
"It's a matter of mood, mood!"
"Is that so?"
Yuka dressed, putting on her armor and sword placed by the bed, while Izayoi, feeling it inappropriate to stare, decided to wait outside the room.
For a while, he absentmindedly watched the flow of people passing by. Suddenly, a finger poked his cheek.
Silently, and with half-closed eyes, he glared at the perpetrator. Yuka, her mouth covered by hand, was shaking with suppressed laughter.
Seeing this, Izayoi lightly tapped Yuka’s head.
"Ouch, there was no need to hit me!"
"It's not like I lost anything."
"Just because you don’t lose anything doesn’t mean you can hit me!"
"Quiet, sleepyhead."
"What’s with you, old drunk!"
They exchanged harsh words and glared at each other. Well, only Yuka was glaring; after tapping her head, Izayoi only responded nonchalantly.
The verbal sparring between Izayoi and Yuka continued, and they argued all the way to the Adventurer’s Guild.
▼
"Hey, you two are lively this morning."
In front of the moderately crowded Adventurer’s Guild, a figure approached Izayoi and Yuka with a refreshing smile. It was Lilith, with whom they had shared a drinking table the night before.
Ignoring Yuka’s slight confusion at the unfamiliar person, Izayoi responded with a shrug.
"You too, don’t seem to have a hangover."
Izayoi looked Lilith up and down. She now had two swords hanging on her hips, both looking of high quality. One of them was more decorated like a knight's sword.
Lilith turned her gaze towards Yuka, who seemed somewhat isolated.
"Izayoi, would you introduce me to this lovely young lady?"
Though she already knew her name, Izayoi pushed Yuka forward.
"Eh? Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Yuka."
"Nice to meet you, I’m Lilith."
As Lilith reached out her hand with a bright smile, Yuka shook it, albeit with confusion. They seemed to get along well.
Yuka shot Izayoi a puzzled look, probably struggling to determine Lilith's gender.
Realizing this, Lilith asked, "Is something wrong?"
Yuka looked to Izayoi for help, to which he sighed and glared at Lilith slightly.
"Don’t tease Yuka."
"Sorry, but her reactions are just too cute."
"C-cute…"
Blushing at Lilith’s unexpected compliment, Yuka seemed to have misidentified Lilith as a man.
Izayoi decided to reveal the harsh truth.
"Lilith is a woman."
"–Eh?"
Stunned, Yuka froze and then turned to face Lilith, who maintained a pleasant smile, her true thoughts hidden.
"…This is, like, fraud."
Yuka’s voice was utterly exhausted. Between a demon lord who looks seventeen but is centuries old, and a woman adventurer who looks like a young nobleman, they did indeed seem like a deceptive bunch.
Izayoi was aware of this and while he could sympathize, he was more on the side of enjoying teasing Yuka, so he had no intention of consoling her.
Be strong, Hero Yuka.
Izayoi prayed silently as Yuka’s reproachful gaze met his.
"So, what’s your relationship with Lilith-san?"
Faced with Yuka’s sharp question, Izayoi and Lilith exchanged glances.
"We spent a night together."
"Don’t phrase it like that, it’s misleading. We just had a drink."
"Was I just a fling to you!"
"Stop it. Not just Yuka, even the people around are giving us sharp looks."
"You're the worst."
With maximum contempt in her voice, Yuka spat out these words and disappeared into the Guild ahead of them. Watching her retreating figure with a sigh, Izayoi shifts his attention to Lilis, standing next to him.
"Sorry for making you play along with that troublesome act."
"It's no big deal. We just carried out the exchange we decided on beforehand."
Lilis shrugs, signaling not to worry about it. The interaction they just had was actually arranged by Izayoi and Lilis the night before. The reason for such a complicated interaction was the piercing gazes directed at Izayoi now.
"Still, I didn’t think you would be this overprotective of Yuuka. I can’t say much since I’m partly to blame."
"Well, who knows what you're talking about. Let's go."
Abruptly ending the conversation, the two follow Yuuka into the guild, feeling the piercing, hostile gazes on their backs.
The guild, as usual, is bustling, and the area around the request board and the reception desk is particularly crowded. Early in the morning, adventurers, especially those still low-ranked, flock in search of good requests. This is unchanged even the day after a festival; if anything, more adventurers are energized by the festive mood.
Yuuka is quickly swallowed by the wave of adventurers. Izayoi, standing a step back from the crowd, examines the requests on the board. With his demon lord specs, reading the contents of the requests from a distance is no trouble.
He searches for a request suitable for their current rank among the many available. However, the rank F requests are mostly simple tasks like nearby material gathering or subjugating small monsters like goblins.
All of them seem quite easy and unfulfilling for the two. "Anything will do," Izayoi nonchalantly settles on an easy herb-gathering quest.
He grabs the request form and, navigating through the adventurers, grabs Yuuka by the scruff of her neck, who was about to be crushed by the crowd, and escapes.
"I feel like I understand how ladies at a bargain sale feel…"
Yuuka mumbles, her eyes vacant, as she is lifted up like a cat by Izayoi.
"Adventurers flock for good requests at this time, especially the low-rank ones since they are fewer compared to the number of adventurers. I also had a tough time in the past."
Lilis gives a wry smile to Yuuka, who looks exhausted before even starting the quest.
"So, what kind of request did you choose?"
"A simple herb-gathering."
"I wanted to see you guys in action, though."
"Too bad, but these herbs grow in the woods near the town, so the chance of combat is low. …At least with monsters."
The murmured words did not reach either Yuuka or Lilis.
"Anyway, we need to accept the request. Yuuka, can you do it?"
"Why are you pushing it onto me? Do it yourself!"
"I don’t know how to."
"You just have to bring it to the reception! Ah, fine, give it here."
Reluctantly, Yuuka takes the request form from Izayoi and heads quickly to the reception.
Watching her back, Lilis tilts her head and asks, "Why did you push it onto Yuuka? You should get used to dealing with the reception considering the future."
"Well, think of it as role-sharing."
"She seemed very displeased, though."
"I don’t care."
"I'm struggling to understand whether you are overprotective or just lazy…"
Lilis furrows her brows, seemingly unsatisfied with Izayoi's answer. But Izayoi can’t give a more explanatory response and has no intention of revealing his true feelings.
Ignoring Lilis’s gaze, he waits, and soon Yuuka returns, looking somewhat dejected.
"...I’ve accepted the request."
"Why are you looking so down?"
"Well, the receptionist was the same person as yesterday, and she was… very frightened…"
"Ah, I see."
Izayoi couldn’t blame her; if something had gone wrong, she might have been reduced to splinters along with the table. The staff member must be quite uneasy.
He involuntarily smirks and looks at the reception, meeting eyes with the mentioned staff member, who quickly looks away and focuses on her work.
This is mainly due to Yuuka overdoing it, Izayoi thinks, watching the diligent staff member.
"Ugh… There’s no need for her to be that scared. I’m just a harmless girl…"
That’s because harmless girls don’t smash tables with their bare hands, Izayoi wants to say, but instead, he lets Yuuka’s grumbling slide.
"There, there, don’t be so down. No matter how you look at it, Yuuka is a lovely girl."
"Right! I am a normal girl, aren’t I!?"
"Of course."
"Ugh… Lilis…"
Yuuka regains her spirits, being comforted by Lilis. Watching this, Izayoi feels a bit sad, realizing how he’s being smoothly captivated by them.
Was it really a joke?
Izayoi, belatedly worried, is filled with uncertainty.