"Louis-nim, do you need any help?"

"Louis-nim, watch out for that stone!"

"Louis-nim, if you haven't had any sleep, I can..."

Ever since that day, Aria had been sticking to me incredibly closely. It seemed she felt obligated to repay me for the help I had given her.

The intention was good.

But compared to usual, it was happening an unusually excessive number of times.

"Um... Louis."

"Yes, Lady Lafirier?"

"Did Aria do something wrong by any chance?"

"What?"

"I mean, I don't know what she might have done wrong, but it would probably be best to stop treating her like a servant..."

"I didn’t ask her to do any of this."

I found myself having to make this kind of excuse. In the end, before the hero and the other two started questioning me further, I had to put a stop to her actions.

"Lady Aria, starting today..."

"Oh, Louis-nim! Today, I'm going to make carrot soup with special pork I bought from the village! Would you like more?"

"…Alright. Just this once."

Unfortunately, after that, she tried to approach me again, saying things like she had found some good magic ingredients or discovered a new carrot soup recipe. But I barely managed to stop her.

"Louis-nim! I got a message that the church might be able to procure the ingredient you said you liked last time! Oh, wait a minute. You've got something on your mouth... Hehe, seems like the new carrot soup I made yesterday suits your taste!"

"Yes, the soft texture of the fish goes well with the carrots."

It seems like having a lot of patience and self-control is a talent in itself.

"…Doesn't it feel like she's got something on you?"

"Yeah. Otherwise, there's no way Aria would be serving you like this."

I ignored the distant whispers between Lafirier and Serlin and focused on the new carrot soup in front of me.

Since Aria had made her choice, I had to prepare to greet the witch heroine who would join us soon.

‘If things go according to the original story, there will be a minor incident, but nothing serious.’

The incident is simple. The hero will save the witch heroine and suffer a slight burn on his back in the process.

After that, the witch heroine will feel guilty every time she sees the scar on the hero's back.

‘Maybe I should try to prevent that this time.’

The scar on the back serves as an important point in connecting the hero and the witch heroine later on, but for the hero, it’s just an uncomfortable injury.

So instead of letting the burn happen, I thought about creating a different moment to bond them.

More than anything, the idea of the hero getting hurt bothered me, so I wanted to prevent that event from occurring.

‘It’s about time I set things in motion.’

Up until now, I had been supporting them through magical tools and spells, so I hadn’t felt it, but the hero’s party had been craving more firepower since the citadel incident. This need for greater firepower had coincided with the witch heroine’s joining the party, despite some initial friction.

However, having passed the citadel event, the party would likely feel less need for massive firepower than they did in the original story.

‘If we fail to recruit her... we won’t be able to stop the major events later.’

There would come a moment when an enormous amount of firepower would be absolutely necessary, and the witch heroine’s magic would be perfectly suited for that. If we missed out on recruiting her, finding another mage or witch to fill that role would be impossible.

Her position in large-scale battles was critical, so I had to recruit her by any means necessary.

"Well then, let's stop here for today. Everyone, I’m heading to the adventurer’s guild."

At that moment, the hero, having finished packing, mentioned going to the local adventurer’s guild.

‘…There must be a large-scale extermination request?’

Since we were heading north, the number of monsters would naturally increase. As a result, there would likely be requests for large-scale exterminations that regular adventurers or mercenaries couldn’t handle.

‘Good.’

I could use that request to emphasize the need for firepower.

"Hero-nim."

"Huh?"

"I’ll go with you."

"Y-you too? Why...?"

Saying "to emphasize the need for large-scale firepower" would raise suspicion. I quickly looked around for an excuse and mumbled, wringing my hands as I avoided his gaze.

"…Just because."

If I say it’s just because, what could he say?

"O-okay!"

In the end, the hero agreed to let me accompany him. Of course, he didn’t have much of a choice. If he had refused, I would have demanded the return of his gloves and boots as compensation.

"Then let’s go."

"…Sure."

I gently grabbed the hero’s sleeve, and we headed for the adventurer’s guild.

Before joining the hero's party, I had visited the adventurer’s guild a few times. I used to take on requests to obtain magical ingredients, but the guild I visited wasn’t that large.

Although the village I lived in was close to the Imperial capital, it wasn’t a big place.

It was about the size of a small bank or a neighborhood office from my previous life, but the adventurer’s guild in this village was several times bigger.

"…"

"Louis, is this your first time in an adventurer’s guild?"

"…Yes."

As I said before, this wasn’t my first time. But given the size of this place, I was sure there were things I didn’t know, so I decided to play it safe and pretend I didn’t know. After all, it would be more embarrassing to confidently say I knew something and then get caught.

"Well, just follow me. Some adventurers aren’t very nice."

With that, the hero took the lead. Watching him, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of regret.

‘He should be doing this for the heroines.’

My heart skipped a beat.

Since I wasn’t one of the heroines, knowing the full context made the situation feel a bit bittersweet.

"There sure are a lot of people here."

"That’s right. This place has way more traffic than the shady magic shops you usually visit... Ouch."

"Don’t tease me."

This place wasn’t shady, it was just frequented by serious magic users. As I lightly hit the hero, I noticed a large bulletin board installed far away.

"Ah, that’s the request board. The size of the board depends on the guild’s scale and the number of visiting adventurers."

Judging by the size of this board, it meant a lot of adventurers either lived in or frequently visited this village. It wasn’t a large town, so why did the guild need such a large board?

"…Is it because the forest is nearby?"

"Bingo. It’s not just a regular forest, it’s a swampy area with lots of monsters. Plus, the nearest large city is also close by."

That explained why this village had such a large adventurer’s guild despite its small size. The forest nearby was teeming with monsters, and the village served as a waypoint between the swamp and the large city.

It was interesting to learn something that the original story hadn’t explained clearly.

"But I’m not going to that board."

"Why not?"

"I usually take on the requests that most adventurers avoid."

At the same time, the hero glanced in another direction. Following his gaze, I saw a middle-aged man smiling at us.

I followed the hero towards him and soon realized who he was.

"Greetings, hero-nim. You must be tired from your long journey."

"It’s nothing, Guildmaster."

He was the branch manager of the adventurer’s guild in this village. Since the hero’s party often handled canceled or difficult requests, it seemed like he frequently dealt with this high-ranking official.

"I received news of your arrival in advance from the previous village, so I set aside a few special requests for you to choose from. Please select whichever one you like."

"Thank you. Louis, let’s choose together."

"Yes."

The hero would probably choose the most challenging, long-pending, or highest-ranking request.

As for me, I planned to pick the most annoying one, or the one that required the most extermination.

‘This one’s too small, this one’s troublesome, but I doubt it’ll connect to the witch heroine.’

As I carefully looked through the requests, one caught my eye.

It was a request to exterminate a large group of monsters that resembled oversized rodents.

The fact that it didn’t take place in the swamp and involved a large number of monsters made it a perfect choice.

Just as I was about to grab the request slip, another hand appeared.

"Oh."

"Oh."

It was the hero’s hand. Unable to stop, both our hands ended up stacked on top of the request slip—mine underneath, his on top.

For a moment, silence fell between us.

"Oh, s-sorry."

"It’s fine."

"Do you think this request is a good idea, too?"

"Yes, I think it’s the best one. The other requests seem like things regular adventurers could handle."

"Alright, Guildmaster. We’ll take this one."

"Haha, understood. You two make quite the pair."

"Huh?"

"Ah, nothing. I’ll go ahead and start the approval process."

With the guildmaster gone, leaving just the two of us in the room, the hero hesitated before apologizing to me.

"S-sorry."

"For what?"

"For... holding your hand..."

"…It’s fine. It could happen to anyone."

My heart skipped a beat.

I brought the hand that had overlapped with his to my chest as I responded.

"It was just an accident, after all."

Yeah. It was just an accident.