Darkening

“Like I said, I didn’t do it on purpose!”

Even though the Blazing Soul Spear had only lost control for a single moment, the resulting fallout at the inn was massive.

For a wooden building, a sudden eruption of dancing flames is a nightmare scenario; if the place had actually caught fire, a simple apology wouldn’t have cut it.

The property manager stormed my room the instant the fire alarm tripped, kicking the door open without hesitation, and nearly fainted when he saw the room looking like it had been through a professional kiln-roasting.

In the end, it cost me a staggering eighty gold coins to settle the matter.

Naturally, that room was no longer habitable.

Because I’m a member of the Guild, the manager didn’t flat-out ban me from the premises, but the problem was that there were no other vacancies.

It was late at night, and most of the nearby inns were surely closed; I was facing the very real possibility of sleeping on the streets.

The thought of a beautiful girl like me being targeted by weird middle-aged men and drunks made my skin crawl.

“Serves you right.”

Yuli, dressed in cute white pajamas, had been woken up by the door-kicking incident and had spent the entire time standing nearby watching the manager scold me, occasionally covering her mouth to giggle with pure schadenfreude.

“Yuli, I was thinking…”

“Don’t even think about it!”

She rejected me decisively before I could even finish my sentence.

“Look, it’s dangerous for a beautiful girl like me to sleep on the streets. As the captain, do you really have the heart to watch your teammate meet such a tragic end?”

“Who cares about you!”

Ouch. It seemed she really had no intention of taking me in for the night.

Then again, the little girl was still mad at me; why would she ever agree to share a room?

What now? I searched my brain for anyone else I could rely on, but I came up empty.

‘Do I really have to go beg Ninina?’

There was no worse option; it was the literal definition of a sheep walking into a tiger’s den.

But as bad as that sounded, it was slightly better than the streets.

To hell with it—I could only pray that Ninina would find a shred of conscience and not lay a hand on me, though that was about as likely as a capitalist having a heart.

Having made my “worst-case” choice, I turned to leave, but I had barely taken half a step when a small, fair hand caught my sleeve from behind.

“The floor… is okay, I guess…”

Yuli’s voice was barely a whisper, but with my superior hearing, I caught every word.

What was she playing at? One second she’s looking at me with disgust, and the next she’s offering me the floor?

Little girl, is it really okay to be this fickle?

“…If you don’t want to, then forget it!”

See? I only stayed silent for a few seconds and she’s already angry again. Such a difficult girl to serve!

“I’ll stay! Of course I’ll stay! Forget the floor, even the bathroom is perfectly fine!”

Duh—at least those places were infinitely safer than the outside.

Besides, if I let a chance to share a room with such a cute girl slip away, would I even be worthy of calling myself a gentleman?

“Then get in here already!”

Yuli’s room was roughly the same size as my old one, but the difference lay in the heavy feminine atmosphere.

Stuffed bears and pink lace bedsheets were things that would never appear in my room, so the sight was quite refreshing.

The room had a wonderful, fresh scent—like stepping into a forest. It made my whole body relax.

Wait, this scent felt familiar.

Right—I had smelled this exact fragrance when I was holding Yuli earlier.

‘Could it be her natural body scent?’

“What are you mumbling about?”

“Nothing. I just said you have a really nice scent.”

As I spoke, I leaned in slightly and sniffed the air around her.

“…You pervert! I knew I shouldn’t have let you in!”

Flustered annoyance flashed across her face, and she immediately tried to shove me back out the door.

Hah, naive child! Do you really think the initiative stays with you after you’ve invited a wolf into your home? Not a chance!

I pretended to lose my balance and fall backward, taking Yuli down with me. Since I was prepared, the fall didn’t hurt a bit.

And of course, Yuli—whom I had pulled down on purpose—wasn’t hurt either.

To prevent her from thrashing around and causing an unpredictable accident, I simply held her tight, leaving us staring into each other’s eyes.

Big eyes met small eyes. Time seemed to freeze; neither of us moved, looking like two plaster statues stuck together.

“Eek!”

Of course, the silence was an illusion. If I hadn’t been holding her in a death grip, she probably would have punched me into a pulp by now. One grows wiser through experience; the ancients didn’t lie!

“What happened now!”

The property manager arrived again with lightning speed—he seemed to be getting faster every time.

“Nothing, we just saw a cockroach.”

“A cockroach? Again? Can’t you girls come up with a better excuse! If there’s a next time, both of you can get out of this inn and never come back!”

Wow. The manager, who had seemed easygoing enough before, was actually terrifying when angry.

“Hear that? It’s your fault for screaming so loud.”

“You… you! Mmph! Mmmph!”

Yuli tried to retort, but I used a free hand to muffle her mouth. The manager was at his limit; if we kept arguing, we’d both end up sleeping under a bridge.

Once he left, I released her.

The feral Yuli took advantage of my lowered guard and bit down hard on my neck.

“…”

It hurt like hell! But because of the manager’s warning, I had to suffer in silence, letting the pain leak out as tears from the corners of my eyes.

“Let go of me!”

Seemingly satisfied with her punishment, Yuli calmed down.

“If I let go, you won’t hit me, right?”

“I won’t.”

“Promise?”

“Yes. On my honor.”

Seeing her answer so solemnly, I breathed a sigh of relief and loosened my grip on her petite body.

And then, tragedy struck.

Thwack! A heavy fist landed on my abdomen with lightning speed. The impact was so strong I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.

“…You said… you wouldn’t hit me…”

The agonizing pain in my organs made it hard to breathe. That strike was terrifying!

“I didn’t hit you. Don’t go accusing me of things—this was a ‘lash of love’.”

She’s gone dark! This girl has gone full yandere!

“Now then, let me continue lashing you with love.”

Speaking without a trace of emotion, Yuli mounted me, her fists raining down on my body like points of light.

I felt the pain at first, but soon, I felt nothing at all.

Because my vision went black, and I passed out cold…