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CHAPTER 14
The hand checking whether I had a fever slowly slid down and touched my cheek. When I opened my eyes, Calion’s face was right in front of me.
“Master.”
His voice was soft—so gentle it was hard to believe he had been relentlessly tormenting me just last night.
The corners of his eyes, framed by long lowered lashes, were slightly red. He looked shy, but the desire to be close to me was unmistakable. His slightly parted lips revealed a glimpse of a red tongue. Thinking back to last night made me dizzy again.
“Master.”
He called me again. Drawn in by his pleading gaze, I opened my mouth, and he carefully pressed his lips against mine.
His tongue slipped between my lips, teasingly entering and retreating, and my eyes slowly closed.
Remaining duration of Charm Skill: 32 hours.
I startled at the system message flashing in my mind and snapped my eyes open. Calion, surprised as well, pulled back.
“Master?”
His puzzled voice reached me, but I couldn’t focus on it.
“32 hours?”
Wasn’t it supposed to be 2 hours?
It said it extended by 2 hours each time it reached climax… which meant that last night I had—
“Have I lost my mind?”
The blood in my body felt like it had gone cold.
I wanted to try things with Calion before I died—not die during it. If it weren’t for the Charm skill’s fatigue negation and stamina maintenance effects, I might have literally died from overexertion.
“I—I’m going to get up.”
If this turned into that kind of atmosphere again, I wouldn’t be able to leave the bed from morning until night.
With a groan, I sat up.
Now that I thought about it, the sheets felt oddly soft.
‘We soaked them pretty badly last night… did Calion change them?’
I wasn’t sure whether that was fortunate or unfortunate.
“By the way, Calion. Where’s Senes?”
“My brother finished resupplying and left early at dawn. He said he would look for work for you.”
I had dragged Calion into my room yesterday afternoon, and things hadn’t ended until deep night. After I passed out, he even cleaned me up and changed the sheets.
And when I woke up, he had just come out of the bathroom—meaning he probably spoke with Senes only at dawn.
Which meant Senes had definitely noticed that Calion stayed in my room from yesterday afternoon until dawn, and what we had been doing.
‘This is insane. How am I supposed to look him in the face?’
I pushed Calion toward his room, telling him to pack first before coming down with me. No matter how shameless I was, I didn’t have the courage to appear in front of Senes with him at the same time.
‘Do I look like I want to announce I slept with him?’
After sending a sulking Calion away, I got dressed and went downstairs. In the lobby, I saw Senes standing there.
‘Here comes the lecture…’
There were other people around, so surely he wouldn’t make vulgar jokes in public. I sincerely hoped he had at least enough common sense to keep his mouth shut.
Tense, I walked step by step and stopped in front of him, ready to defend myself if he accused me of seducing his innocent younger brother.
But instead of the expected verbal attack, he simply looked me over and asked flatly:
“Have you eaten?”
That was unexpected.
“I usually don’t eat breakfast.”
“So that explains the weak constitution. Skipping breakfast isn’t something to be proud of. Eat this.”
Senes handed me something wrapped in paper.
Bread with meat and vegetables inside—somewhere between a sandwich, hamburger, and hotdog. It was still warm and fairly large.
“I bought it for myself, but I lost my appetite. You should eat it.”
“…What’s in it?”
Suspicious. Was he trying to poison me?
“Isn’t it obvious? Grilled lamb, cheese, tomato, potato, sauce, and shredded carrots…”
That’s not what I asked.
But it didn’t seem like anything suspicious was inside. I cautiously took a bite.
Even through the paper, it was warm—and the moment I bit in, hot juices and rich flavor spread through my mouth.
“Wow… this is really good.”
The melted cheese and sauce soaked into the grilled meat perfectly.
Does everything in this world taste this good?
I suddenly felt like I could live here forever.
Before I knew it, I had eaten half of it. Strangely, even though I normally struggled with breakfast food, it went down easily.
As I licked sauce off my lips, a system window popped up.
[Senes] has used [Skill: “Healing Through Feeding!”] on you.
Your stamina has been restored.
For 2 hours, stamina recovery speed is doubled.
“…So it was him.”
No wonder it tasted so good.
So he made it himself but pretended he bought it. Did he not want to show he was taking care of me?
Hmph. As if I couldn’t see through that lie thanks to the system window!
“Senes.”
“What?”
“It’s delicious.”
“……”
One of his eyebrows twitched upward, as if surprised by the praise.
I finished the rest in front of him. Even though it was a lot, my stomach didn’t feel heavy at all.
‘Must be the recovery effect.’
I had barely been able to walk earlier due to fatigue, but now I felt completely fine.
“You’re done eating? Then let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“…Where do you think?”
How am I supposed to know? I don’t know anything about this town.
“Master. Do you even remember why you came here?”
“To the inn?”
“To the village.”
“…Ah.”
Their goal was to bring me safely to the village. Then they would leave again to hunt monsters, while I stayed and settled down.
And to settle down, I obviously needed a job.
“Memory loss, huh? You really forgot everything. Your promises, your goals, your duties, your responsibilities. Is there anything you do remember?”
“I didn’t forget! I just woke up not long ago, and I was going to find work myself!”
“Sure you were.”
Senes snorted.
“You move slowly, act slowly. If I left you alone, you’d just lie in bed for days, then wander around the village sightseeing instead of finding work.”
“That’s… I’d need to learn the area first…”
“And when your money runs out, you’ll finally panic and look for a job. Then you’ll pick something unsuitable, complain it’s too hard, and quit immediately.”
This guy was really attacking me now.
Did I really look that irresponsible?
“I wouldn’t!”
“I saw you yesterday. You didn’t even step outside your room.”
“That’s because Calion—!”
My face burned instantly.
So he knew.
No—of course he knew.
Now I was mortified.
“I already found you a job. Be grateful.”
“Wow, thank you so much.”
My teeth ground together as I spoke.
He had found me a job at an antique shop as an accountant.
Apparently the owner was old and needed someone to handle bookkeeping and cleaning.
“…So basically, I’m going to be a clerk.”
At least it wasn’t dangerous. But something about the way Senes explained it made it sound like he was throwing me into a suspicious, low-budget labor trap.
Still…
I sighed.
At least it was work.
