## Chapter 103 – (10)
After a passionate night, the next morning.
Lexi and I woke up, our eyes meeting.
“…”
“…W-What are you looking at?”
Lexi’s first words, with her long ears completely flushed, were quite intense.
After that, we both wordlessly gathered our clothes and went downstairs.
We were hungry from all the vigorous activity, so we sat down in the dining hall for breakfast.
We didn’t have much conversation during the meal, but as we were finishing up, Lexi spoke up.
“…Want to grab a drink together again sometime…?”
“…Sure.”
Our usual way of speaking had returned.
We decided to bury what happened last night.
…Until we drink together again next time.
I led Lexi to the Black Knights’ quarters.
Thanks to wandering around so often, I felt like I roughly knew the area now.
The roads weren’t that complicated, and each street had representative buildings, so it was easy to memorize the routes by focusing on those.
It was early in the morning, so the area in front of the Knights’ quarters was rather deserted.
Only Commander Dana, who had woken up early, was staring at the training dummy.
The same dummy I had shown Ethan how to use, blowing its head off.
Lexi and I approached the Commander.
“Commander.”
“Hm? You’re up? …And who’s this…?”
The Commander turned to look at me and immediately asked about Lexi beside me.
Lexi, receiving her gaze, answered as if she had been waiting for it.
“I’m Lexi, here to provide support for the dungeon.”
“Ah… I see, nice to meet you.”
Commander Dana flinched when she saw Lexi’s long ears, but she slowly took Lexi’s outstretched hand and accepted the greeting.
In the original story, Commander Dana reluctantly extended her hand first to initiate the handshake, but Lexi offered her hand first, as if she remembered what I had said.
Commander Dana seemed a little surprised that an elf would act this way.
“Those ears… you’re an elf, after all…?”
“Yes.”
“Well, for an elf… no, that was a slip of the tongue. I apologize.”
“It’s alright. I hear that often.”
The words exchanged were gentler than in the original story.
Lexi, perhaps thinking of me, quietly responded to the Commander’s potentially rude remarks.
She was being well-behaved.
The two of them went into the conference room to discuss the support, and I headed to my room, which I felt like I hadn’t seen in a while.
When I opened the door, I smelled flowers, and I saw Cecil wearing my clothes.
“…”
“…”
The clothes were a bit too big, and her cleavage was visible through the loose opening.
We looked at each other, and Cecil pouted her lips as she spoke.
“…You promised a massage…”
“…”
Her tone was slightly resentful.
Unable to answer her words, I simply gave an awkward smile.
And instead, I slowly handed Cecil the perfume I had promised.
I had remembered her while buying things and bought a new one.
“…Was giving it to you at this timing a bit off?”
When I imagined it in my head, I thought it was a good time.
But giving it to her at this moment, it felt strange, like I was giving her perfume as payment for freely touching her body.
“…Pfft.”
Cecil, unable to spit on a smiling face, looked back and forth between the perfume I gave her and my awkward smile, then gave a small smile.
And she said, as if grumbling,
“…Actually, my body does feel refreshed…”
Whether the massage using internal energy was effective or not, Cecil was making a curious expression, saying that her stiff body had been relieved.
Cecil said she had to go back to her room and brushed past me, leaving a word behind.
“Next time too…”
She didn’t say what would happen next time, but I smiled and said.
“Sure.”
I stretched and took out the items I had bought yesterday one by one, decorating the room.
Lights, bedding, towels.
And even extra perfume.
Perhaps because there were many things yesterday, I was a little tired, so I only replaced those things and lay down on the bed.
I figured Ethan would come to wake me up anyway, so I thought I’d sleep for at least an hour.
***
“Ugh…”
I tossed and turned.
I slowly opened my eyes.
The sky was bright as if it were cloudless, and the light coming in through the window felt stinging.
Other than that, nothing had changed since before I went to sleep.
But why?
For some reason, one corner of my heart felt uneasy.
“…What time is it?”
I bought all sorts of things, but I didn’t have a clock, so I slowly got up from the bed and looked out the window.
There was no one outside.
“That’s strange…”
No one?
Could it be that no one has woken up yet?
It didn’t feel like I had slept that briefly.
Rather, I felt like I had slept soundly.
“…Haa! Hap!”
When I opened the window, I heard an unknown shout.
I wanted to see where the sound was coming from, but unfortunately, it was in the opposite direction of the window, so I couldn’t see.
“…Could it be?”
One possibility came to mind.
I quickly changed into the armor hanging on the stand and went outside.
The sound was definitely coming from the open space in front of the quarters where the training dummies were.
And there, as expected, was Ethan, swinging a huge sword while sweating profusely.
“Heave! Haa!”
And quite quickly too.
His growth rate was terrifying.
“…Is this even possible?”
Even when I was attending the martial arts school in the Murim world, I was treated as a genius, but Ethan was on a different level.
Come to think of it, in the original story, Ethan grew enough to save the Knights Commander in just one year, even though no one taught him.
In the original story, Commander Dana wanted to teach Ethan and ordered one of the knights to teach him, but the knight didn’t teach Ethan.
Now that I think about it, I think I know why the knights were keeping Ethan away.
Ethan had joined the Knights, a job that many people wanted and admired, simply because he was in a village that was attacked.
He was bound to be the target of jealousy and envy.
The other knights probably didn’t even think that Ethan would have this much talent.
“…Stop.”
“Ah, you’re awake?”
“Thanks to you.”
I don’t know why, but Ethan didn’t wake me up.
When I asked him why, Ethan mentioned one person.
“The mage who came to support us said you must be tired…”
It seemed to be Lexi’s consideration.
Ethan, who had been training from morning until late lunch without waking me up, already looked very exhausted.
It was time to provide other help rather than helping with the training itself.
“Alright, wipe off your sweat and follow me. Let’s go to Adventurer’s Street.”
“Yes? Why there…”
“We need to replenish your nutrients.”
Ethan quickly wiped the sweat off with his collar and followed me.
When I was looking for lodging in Adventurer’s Street before, I saw more restaurants than lodging.
From the moment I saw those restaurants, I thought of Ethan.
Breakfast and dinner were served at the Knights’ quarters.
However, it was hard to say that it was delicious or plentiful.
Just bread and soup, and some sausages or processed vegetables.
That was enough for me, but Ethan’s case was a little different.
For Ethan, who was sweating and working harder than anyone else in the Knights, that amount of food wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gap between his teeth.
Above all, no food was served for lunch when the Knights went out to subjugate monsters.
Even Ethan, who was still growing, needed more nutrition than others.
“This isㅡ”
Ethan opened his mouth as he looked at the large restaurant.
It was the largest and most luxurious restaurant in Adventurer’s Street.
Even so, judging by the fact that the restaurant was full of people, it seemed to be very popular.
Even the employees’ uniforms were luxurious.
With neat, uncluttered attire and matching movements, the employees were moving in an orderly fashion.
A female employee approached us and gave us something like a menu, and I handed the menu to Ethan as it was.
“Order whatever you want.”
“Yes? Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
I glanced at the prices on the menu, but there was no problem at all.
I had spent money lavishly while buying various items, but I still had plenty of money left.
Besides.
Being nice to Ethan was also a kind of atonement for me.
Ethan hesitated and eventually chose two dishes.
I ordered my own food and an extra meat dish.
It felt like I ordered a little too much, but it would be fine if we left some.
“Here are your orders.”
The food came out quickly, and Ethan was waiting for my permission to eat.
“What are you doing, why aren’t you eating?”
Only after I said that did Ethan devour the food almost like he was inhaling it.
It was pitiful that a guy like him couldn’t even say he was hungry because his position in the Knights was ambiguous.
So I said without realizing it.
“Well, if you just build up your body, many women would be all over you, right?”
That was my honest thought.
He had the looks, the appearance, and a good personality.
Of course, there was a hidden meaning in these words.
Since many women will like you, don’t be too obsessed with the Commander.
But Ethan’s answer was consistent.
“…Then maybe the Commander too…”
“…”
This unwavering heart was also an element that women liked.
But that’s why I felt uncomfortable.
Someday.
I had to be the one who stole my first disciple’s first love.
And not in the distant future.
And from the depths of my heart, my uncontrollable twisted lust was boiling up.
One way or another, I was enjoying being the one who stole.
“I don’t know…”
I avoided answering and instead handed the ordered meat dish to Ethan.
Ethan simply thanked me for my consideration and picked up the meat.
That sight eased my guilt a little.
