Chapter 16

…An offer to recruit me after only our second meeting?

“I will personally recommend you. With a recommendation, your training period will be cut down to six months, and you can be appointed to the priesthood immediately upon completion. Ah, and I’ll also cover all your living expenses.”

He even threw in a promise of sponsorship. I had to wonder what exactly he saw in me to make such a proposal. However, setting aside whether or not the Order of Ralphican was a good workplace, I was someone with a mission to fulfill. I politely bowed my head to express my refusal.

“I’m truly grateful for the offer, but I already serve someone at the moment. My apologies.”

Kalat looked visibly disappointed, though he didn’t seem intent on pushing the matter further.

“I see… If you ever change your mind, please come find me anytime.”

“Yes. Well then, I’ll see you during the expedition.”

“Priest-nim! I have it right here!”

Claire returned with the report in hand. With that, our somewhat awkward conversation came to an end.

As soon as I returned home, I told Mina about what had happened today. I figured it was better to tell her now than to have her feel betrayed later.

‘It would be a bit much to just disappear without a word.’

Building affection with the people around me wasn’t a bad thing in the long run.

‘It’s better not to damage our relationship if possible.’

Who knows if it might help the story later?

“You applied for the expedition?”

“Yes, please keep it a secret from Lord Hereis.”

There was no telling what the protagonist would say if he caught me following him in secret. He might stop me from going altogether. Or, in a fit of pique, he might even fire me for disobeying orders. After all, I was essentially ignoring his earnest request to stay by Mina’s side because he was worried about her.

“Hey. How could you do this? Sneaking off like a greedy snake while leaving me out?”

“I seriously feel so betrayed right now. How could you?”

Mina’s backlash was stronger than expected. To stop the plummeting affection, I hurriedly delivered the excuse I had prepared.

“Lady Mina.”

“What? You traitor.”

Though my name had been changed to “Traitor” in an instant, I didn’t back down and stood my ground.

“While Lord Hereis is away, he entrusted you to my care. As an employee, I naturally intended to follow those instructions.”

“…”

“However, since you wanted to go so badly, I tried to find a way on my own. That’s when I happened to find out they were accepting civilian volunteers.”

“Then why are you the only one going? I can just apply too.”

“I tried to submit an application for you as well, my lady, but they said nobles aren’t allowed.”

The recruitment office looked ready to take anyone, noble or commoner, due to the shortage of people, but…

“What? No, why?”

Since it was a lie, I didn’t know the reason either. I decided to just make something up.

“I suppose if an accident happens during the expedition, a person from a noble house would be quite a burden. Perhaps that’s why.”

“…I guess that makes sense.”

“Since things turned out this way, I will keep a close eye on Lord Hereis for you.”

Mina blinked in confusion, then her eyes went wide. Realizing what I “intended,” she smiled broadly and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Right, so you’re going to stay by Lord Hereis’s side and stop that woman Arianne from getting close to him?”
“Exactly.”

I gave her a firm thumbs-up.

Mina grabbed my thumb with both hands and shouted energetically.

“I’m counting on you, Belita!”

I was just thankful she believed me.

“Not just Sir Arianne—any woman who tries to get close to Lord Hereis, you just go ‘snap’ on their necks! Got it?”

Along with her violent words, Mina made a gesture of slicing her throat with her right thumb. Maybe it was because I was technically one of those women who had to get close to him, but I felt a chill run down my neck. Come to think of it, a sudden question crossed my mind at this point.

‘Wait, am I okay though?’

Biologically, if the world saw me as a woman, shouldn’t she be wary of me too?

“For some reason, I feel at ease with you. I trust my gut. I’m counting on you.”

Surely she hadn’t instinctively realized I was a man. Feeling a strange sense of dread, I forced myself to nod.

Time passed, and the day of the expedition finally approached.

‘It’s finally tomorrow.’

There hadn’t been any notable events in the meantime. That made sense, considering this was the intermission between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. The main event had ended with the Arena battle against Arianne, so this could be seen as a period that gets skipped over in the story.

‘Of course, it’s not like I just slacked off.’

Mina and I performed our duties as servants, and the protagonist lived out a mundane daily routine of going to work.

I had been worried that some strange event might pop up. But it turned out to be a groundless fear. Not only was there no broadcast, but not a single event—positive or negative—regarding affection levels showed its face.

In other words…

‘It means I could afford to relax for a while.’

Always being on edge, wondering when the protagonist and the heroines would meet, was more stressful than I had anticipated. This sweet peace was about to come to an end, but just knowing that there was a rest period when the story wasn’t progressing was a huge gain.

During that time, I diligently studied the blood-stained safety rules I’d received from the recruitment office to prepare for Chapter 2. I also repeatedly went over my plan to seize the spot of the most important hidden heroine.

‘Theoretically, I’m perfectly prepared, but…’

Things never go exactly according to plan. Perhaps because I was worrying too much, the worst-case scenarios now replayed in my head automatically even when I wasn’t trying to think of them. It was going to be an arduous journey, so I needed to get some deep sleep, but I couldn’t drift off at all.

‘…’

I might as well double-check my luggage.

‘I’m dying of exhaustion.’

In the end, I stayed up the entire night.

“I’ll be back. You two take care while I’m gone.”

-Let’s goooo

-Oh, we’ve moved on to the next chapter

-Which chapter is this?

-222

-Thanks!

It felt like things got noisy the moment dawn broke. The chat notifications ringing in my ears brought my dazed, sleep-deprived mind back to reality.

“Lord Hereis. Please… please return safely…!”

I was currently out to see off the protagonist as he departed for the expedition. As Mina grabbed the protagonist’s arm just as he was about to open the front door, pleading with a watery voice, the options immediately appeared.

Here we go again.

“Both of these increase affection, right?”

-Yup

-Yeahhh

-Affection points being served on a silver platter

A clicking effect appeared over the first option. In that split second, I naturally stepped between Mina and the protagonist. The protagonist, who was about to move toward Mina, stopped in his tracks as I blocked him. His golden eyes, filled with obvious bewilderment, turned toward me. Regardless, I quickly held out a neat, elegantly wrapped navy blue pouch.

“Lord Hereis. This is a gift prepared by Lady Mina.”

For the record, I had gone to buy this gift with Mina separately. She had called me to help her pick something out. Of course, since I couldn’t stand to watch her affection level rise through a gift, I had made an excuse last night that the wrapping looked lacking and took it with me.

‘That’s why I was able to be the one to hand it over today.’

-??

-???

-She’s even blocking this? Who is Belita, seriously?

-Blocking Master. Blocking Master.

“No, Belita, seriously, what is with you? Are you doing this because you’re a heroine? Or what?”

-LOL

-How would we know?

Knowing nothing of my schemes, Mina thanked me for bringing it out at the perfect time and began to explain the gift passionately while standing beside me.

“It’s nothing much! I just put a charm in the pouch to pray for your safe return!”

She spoke while looking only at the floor, her hand pressed against her cheek in embarrassment.

“I thought it would be nice if you kept it on your person…”

Quickly masking his bewilderment, the protagonist smiled kindly and took the charm from my hand. He tucked it into the inner pocket of his uniform with a delicate touch, then patted the fabric over it.

“Thank you. So it’s like a protection charm. I didn’t expect you to prepare something like this. I feel much more reassured.”

“Oh, of course I had to! I’m… I’m always thinking of you, Lord Hereis…”

Now that the gift ceremony was over, the time for parting was near. With reddened eyes, Mina spoke her heart, struggling desperately to keep her voice from breaking into sobs.

“Hic. Sniff.”

Ultimately, tears began to track down her cheeks one by one.

-Aw, she’s crying

-The MC is going to be away for a long time, after all

-The sorrow of an unpopular heroine

“I-I’m going to miss you…!”

-T-T Can’t he just take Mina with him?

-It’s time for Arianne’s power-up arc, so stop.

“Mina…”

“Lady Mina. It’s okay. You have me…!”

The moment I sensed a subtle atmosphere developing between the two of them, the words flew out reflexively. Since I was the one comforting Mina first, the protagonist wouldn’t have an opening to cut in.

“Hey… But you’re also… Hic!”

A resentful look flashed in her eyes, as if asking why I was lying when I was also going on the expedition, but she stopped herself after glancing at the protagonist. I was actually moved by Mina’s consideration for my secret.

“Anyway, I hic shouldn’t keep you any longer.”

She was right. It was about time for me to get moving as well. The protagonist nodded at the sky, which was gradually growing brighter.

“I’m sorry. I should be going now.”

“Please come back safely…”

“I will pray for your safety, Lord Hereis.”

“Right. You two take care.”

The protagonist patted the crying Mina’s head and departed. There was no change in affection levels.

“You have to go too, right?”

Mina wiped her tears and turned toward me.

“Yes. It’s almost time for the assembly.”

“Your luggage?”

“It’s in my room. I’ll bring it down quickly.”

I ran up to my second-floor room, changed my clothes, and grabbed my things.

“Is that all you’re taking?”

Mina tilted her head when she saw my modest luggage, which seemed a bit small for a six-month journey.

“They said I should keep it to a minimum considering the travel time.”

General servants had to travel on foot for the entire expedition. If things got really difficult, we might be allowed to hop onto the luggage wagons, but the more stuff I had, the more I would suffer. Besides, there was no need to pack everything since we’d be stopping at villages along the way. I could restock what I needed then, so there was no point in starting out heavy.

“I suppose. I’m sure you’ve taken good care of it.”

Mina let out a small sigh.

“Now I’ll be the only one left.”

“Please look after the mansion.”

She nodded lonely at my request. Then, she held something out to me.

“Here. Take this. You’re heading somewhere dangerous too, so it didn’t feel right not giving you anything.”

It was a piece of paper with mysterious writing on it. The color and shape were different from the one she gave the protagonist, but its identity was the same: a charm.

“This one is a charm for good luck. It’s boring to buy the exact same one, right?”

I had no idea she’d prepared one for me. I was with her at the shop, but I didn’t see when she managed to buy this behind my back.

“Come back safe. And if things get dangerous, stick close to Lord Hereis, even if you have to force it.”

I thanked Mina and headed toward the assembly point.

Deep in a lush forest. Dragging my exhausted body, I followed the expedition members through the biting heat of the sun. As a general servant, my assigned duty was to assist the expedition members. In short, I was a manual laborer.

“Hey there!”

While I was busy trudging through the underbrush, a woman who looked to be about Belita’s age approached and spoke to me.

Options sure pop up whenever it’s boring. I went with the standard choice and asked for the identity of the woman who spoke to me.

“Oh, sorry! It’s just that I think this is the first time I’ve seen someone my age here!”

This expedition consisted of the Imperial Knights, the capital district of the Order of Ralphican, their personal servants, the medical team, and us volunteers.

To move such a large number of people efficiently, they had divided us into groups based on similar occupations. Just as the woman said, she and I appeared to be the only women in their twenties in this group.

“I’m Emily, a maid belonging to the Order of Ralphican!”

“I’m Belita.”

Despite my dry response—I didn’t even mention my affiliation—Emily didn’t seem offended at all.
She appeared to have a remarkably generous nature.

“That’s a pretty name! My name is so common. I’m jealous!”

“…”

“Should we speak casually? We’re going to be seeing each other for a long time!”

“Sure, why not.”

“Great! You’re a volunteer, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Gosh, that’s amazing! Our Order had to fill some spots because there were so few volunteers this time. I’m one of them!”

No wonder. I had thought there were a lot of people from the Church, and that was the reason.

“But even if it wasn’t because of the Order, I think I still would have come!”

On this expedition that everyone else was avoiding?

Why?

“That celebrity is here. You know, Sir Hereis is joining us!”