GILF Hunter

Chapter 281: 281 ...Where am I?

Rin frowned as she felt the dazzling light leaking through the window.

Did I not close the curtains yesterday...?

Rubbing her half-open eyes, Rin, who had started to sit up to draw the curtains, paused for a moment.

As her mind, which had been submerged in fatigue and drowsiness, gradually woke up, she felt a sense of unfamiliarity with her current surroundings.

...Where am I?

Looking around, Rin belatedly realized that this was not her room.

This was... Ian’s room.

"...!"

Rin sat bolt upright in bed.

Trying to recall what had happened before she fell asleep... only then did she remember the events with Ian last night.

After doing it last night, she must have fallen asleep right then and there from exhaustion.

As shameful memories of the various things they did in the heat of the moment began to surface one by one, Rin clutched her head with a bright red face.

Yesterday, with the Captain... that kind of thing.

Even that.

A-and even that much.

How am I supposed to look him in the eye from now on?

The only saving grace was the fact that Rin was currently alone in the room.

It seemed Ian had probably left first due to some business.

...At the very least, it seemed she could buy some time to figure out what to say when she first saw his face.

Rin let out a sigh and tentatively put on her pajamas, which had been folded in a corner.

***

After first heading down to the first-floor bathroom to quietly wash herself, Rin felt a wave of hunger hit her late.

Lunchtime must have long since passed, but Tanya probably left something she made in the kitchen.

Thinking so, Rin peeked her head out and her eyes met with the other members gathered in the common room.

"...."

This was also something she wished would never come...

But eventually, it was bound to happen.

A comrade who went to the Captain’s room for a talk and ended up sleeping in that same room for the night.

There would certainly be a lot to talk about in many ways.

Rin had thought up various excuses in the bathroom.

Like saying they just talked all night....

Or that she was so tired she just fell asleep in the Captain’s room....

Or that they just slept while only holding hands....

However, looking at the sly expressions on her friends’ faces as they stared at her, it was clear that such excuses wouldn’t work at all.

"Rin! You’re awake."

"Oh, hey. Where did the Captain go?"

"He went out for a bit, saying he had work."

Tanya greeted Rin first and stood up from her seat.

"You’re hungry, right? I have something I made, so I’ll get it ready for you in a jiffy."

Tanya headed toward the kitchen to prepare Rin’s lunch.

Beside her, Mika, who was watching Rin, tapped the empty chair next to her with her hand.

Seeing Mika gesturing for her to sit there, Rin awkwardly turned her body.

"No, I... I don’t really have an appetite... ughhk."

Let’s run for now.

Just as she thought that and tried to turn back, Rin’s forehead bumped into something with a thud.

It was an empty space, but looking closely, some kind of translucent wall had been formed.

It was the remote barrier magic that Mika had been practicing recently.

Rin turned her head toward Mika and grumbled as if it were absurd.

"...You couldn’t even use it properly once until now, but you succeed at a time like this?"

"I’m the type that’s strong in practice."

"Succeed when we’re fighting...!"

It was a futile resistance, and even that was easily blocked, so Rin had no choice but to be dragged to the table where all her comrades were gathered.

Having received a bowl of stew that Tanya brought over, Rin looked at her comrades sitting beside her.

Mika and Tanya were on her left and right, and Lia was directly in front of her.

She was surrounded to the point where she couldn’t even lift a spoon properly with peace of mind.

Rin ate her stew, feeling as though she were sitting on a bed of needles.

Mika, who was next to her, watched Rin’s appearance quietly before asking the question she was most curious about.

Since they had caused such a fuss yesterday, they first had to know whether it was a success or a failure.

"So, how was it? Do you feel like there’s any effect?"

"What is?"

"...What do you mean, ’what’? Didn’t you go to the Captain’s room because of that?"

"...Ah!"

Seeing Rin’s reaction, which seemed more surprised as if she’d forgotten, everyone made the same expression.

Had she forgotten why she even went and just completely lost herself in *that*?

Belatedly realizing her mistake, Rin’s face also turned beet red.

Hearing those words, Rin belatedly checked her physical condition.

Is there anything different...?

Even as she thought about it, simply sitting still in the chair and clenching her fist gave her no clue as to what was different from yesterday.

"Uh.... I’m not sure yet. Though I do feel a bit more energetic than usual."

"By any chance, do you feel any mana?"

"How do I even feel that?"

"You know, inside your body.... Like something bubbling, or tingling...."

Maybe her mana had increased and Rin just didn’t know it.

Mika, thinking so, tried her best to explain how to feel mana to Rin, but first, understanding Mika’s explanation was an obstacle in itself.

"What on earth does that even mean..."

"Try to concentrate! Right about here, like a flash...!"

While Mika was grabbing Rin and struggling to make her understand mana.

Someone who had been staying quiet suddenly chimed in from the side.

"Wait a minute."

It was Lia, who had been silently listening to the conversation until now.

"That, it wasn’t just to tease me.... Are you guys actually serious?"

Lia was looking at everyone with an expression that still seemed suspicious.

Of course, Lia had taken Mika and Tanya to their rooms last night and heard plenty about why they had done such a thing.

However, she hadn’t been able to get a satisfactory answer.

Things like how drinking the Captain’s "essence" would cure a curse or have the effects of an elixir.

She had heard nothing but such absurd stories.

Hearing Lia’s question of "Have you been drinking?", Tanya and Mika had also made expressions as if they would die of frustration.

"It’s true, I tell you."

"Yeah! It’s not that we intentionally left you out, Lia, but we had to minimize the number of people who knew as much as possible...."

The two of them still had serious expressions.

Rin also nodded as if in agreement with that opinion.

At that point, Lia ultimately had no choice but to admit it.

Setting aside the truth of the matter... she realized they weren’t trying to tease or deceive her.

At least the three here truly believed it.

"You’re saying that kind of thing is possible simply because of a constitution?"

However, she still couldn’t take those words at face value.

Lia had never entered the Labyrinth herself, but being C-rank, she occasionally had opportunities to hear stories about it.

Stories like how it was a place where one’s soul gets cursed just by entering.

And how there are countless people who entered without properly having the means to block the curse and never returned.

There were also many stories of people retiring because they couldn’t cure a curse.

"To be able to lift a curse so easily... if there were such a person, there’s no way everyone would have just left them be...."

...I see.

Certainly, if it were true, it would absolutely have to be kept a secret.

Somehow, with the circumstances increasingly fitting together like cogs in a machine, Lia reached the point where she started to tilt her head in thought.

Lia nodded and replied that she understood when everyone said it must be kept a secret.

—Creak.

Just then, the sound of the front door opening was heard, and someone entered the guild house.

Only one person had gone out. Everyone’s eyes turned toward the entrance.

"Captain! Are you finished with your business?"

"Yeah. You’re all gathered here."

Everyone stood up to greet Ian.

And... without any time to mentally prepare, Rin’s eyes suddenly met Ian’s.

"...."

"...."

An awkward atmosphere that everyone could feel.

Since not even a day had passed, the memories of last night remained vivid for both of them.

There were too many people watching for them to honestly show their feelings.

In the end, only awkward greetings could be exchanged, with their true words swallowed down.

"W-welcome back."

"How are you feeling?"

"Oh, uh.... I’m fine!"

Faint smiles that they couldn’t help hung on the faces of the two as they conversed.

...It’s hot in here.

Mika, feeling a ticklish sensation as if she almost understood, nodded while smirking.

Tanya asked as she took the things Ian had brought in both hands.

"But what is all this?"

"Oh. It’s for Rin."

Looking at the items placed on the table, everyone, including Rin, was taken aback.

"All of... this?"

"I decided to help Rin get stronger."

Ian held out the items he had gone out and obtained today to Rin one by one.

"Here. This is a guild instruction voucher."

It was something he had obtained from the Mercenary Guild by paying guild coins.

He had never used coins this way in the game.

However, Ian’s prediction that they could be utilized more diversely in reality proved correct.

Ian had given coins to buy "duty hours."

The result was this ticket, which allowed a mercenary belonging to the guild to receive personal training for a day.

...The guild mercenaries Rin currently knew personally were two people.

Recalling Chris and Rebecca and imagining receiving training from them, Rin’s face froze white.

A chilling thought suddenly occurred to Rin.

Did I, by any chance, say yesterday... that I would do anything?

"Then this is..."

"It’s a potion that reduces stamina consumption. You can train longer if you use it."

"And this?"

"I thought Rin might not have any books to study from. The rest will be delivered tomorrow."

Hieeek....

A silent scream escaped from Rin.