Dungeon Sherpa

　Yuika woke up in a bed she had never seen betownfore, and tried to piece together her fragmented memories.

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　The succulent taste of chicken skewers dripping with oil mixed with the bitter taste of ale.
Forcibly sitting Mariete on her lap, patting Mariete, squeezing Mariete’s cheeks, hugging Mariete with all her might.
Until then, Yuika had been trying to restrain herself and keep up appearances as a ‘good sister’, but now it had been all for naught.

　After that, she blacked out.

　It felt like someone had carried her on their back.

“… Uugh”

　Her clothes were the same; her boots were arranged neatly beside the bed

　She didn’t remember taking them off by herself, so it was probably taken off for her.

　–I’ve done it now.

　I’ve never experienced such a blunder even in labyrinths.

　What was that, that bitter drink.

　No matter what kind of mental attacks monsters use, I’m confident I can resist, but just one cup and I ended up like that.

　But maybe it won’t be as bad as I thought…

“Anyway, I need to first apologise.”

　Yuika left the bedroom with a heavy heart, and entered a bright living room.

　The morning sun had already risen.

　Perhaps the fatigue of travelling from the Royal Capital still remained, she ended up oversleeping very comfortably.

“Good morning, Yuika”

　A young man in an apron grinned and greeted her.

“G, good morning…”

　His name was Rowe.
A Sherpa she had decided to hire just yesterday.

　She wasn’t aware of any specific details, other than that he was an excellent Sherpa, and that had an Adventurer level of at least 5.
He was good at handling matters, and could settle issues efficiently.
In just half a day, he was able to finish procuring all the necessary supplies.

　Light brown hair tied in a braid and brown eyes, a likeable young man.

　He had a lanky physique from which you couldn’t guess that he was a Sherpa, but his basic physical abilities were surely supplemented by his Adventurer levels.
He also had a proven track record, so there was nothing to worry about.

　Living with his much younger sister, he seemed to be a very doting brother to the point of idiocy.
But with such a cute sister, that couldn’t be helped.

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　The little girl, who was standing on a stool and stirring a pot, handed her spatula to the young man and rushed over.

“Good morning to you.”

　She clasped her hands in front of her and bowed.

　She was so lovably adorable that Yuika almost fainted for a moment.

“Good morning, Marin”

“Are you okay now?”

　Yuika gently stroked the girl’s hair as the girl looked up at her anxiously.

　The girl’s name was Mariete.
Rowe’s sister.

　She had light brown hair that was relatively short for a girl, and it seemed that she was used to having her hair stroked.

“I’m sorry for yesterday.
That… must have made you uncomfortable.”

“Yesterday?”

　Mariete thought for a bit, but nothing really came to mind.

“There’s no need to worry so much.
If Marin is uncomfortable with anything, she’ll run away immediately.
Since she was quietly sitting on your lap, it means she was okay.”

“Is, is that so…”

　Encouraged by Rowe’s words, Yuika was relieved.

“Well then, breakfast is ready.
Please sit at the table.”

“No, that’s–“

　As expected, it was a bit awkward to impose so much to the extent of also having breakfast.
She thought of trying to refrain, but gave up after seeing Mariete’s expression.

“Sister’s food too, I helped out!”

　A beaming face full of expectations.

　She had done her best to prepare breakfast for her.
Even a hero wouldn’t be able to refuse in this situation.

“Understood.
It’s shameless but I’ll gratefully have some breakfast.”　

　Breakfast was a warm, homely meal.

　Freshly baked bread with grilled, melted cheese.
Vegetable and egg soup.
Freshly squeezed milk.
Grilled, lightly smoked bacon – even though this was homemade, it was a fragrant and exquisite meal.

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“If you’d like, I can prepare this during the labyrinth exploration.
But it’ll cost you extra.”

“Please.”

　An immediate decision.

　It seemed like Rowe and Mariete had gotten up earlier and went to the morning market.

“I couldn’t get any good leafy green vegetables, so I wasn’t able to make a salad.”

“This milk, I squeezed it.”

　There was a store in the morning market that brought goats so that milk could be directly squeezed.

“Hou, that sounds interesting.”

“In the market, there are many many things, and they sell a lot of things there.”

　The morning market is open once every week.

　To briefly mention some of the other things they bought, they also purchased insect repellent powder and stomach medicine.

　Spring was ending and they were beginning to welcome the early summer.

“The grass in the garden is getting longer, it’s about time to cut the grass.”

“Un.
I’ll help.”

　Seeing the daily life of another family in front of her left Yuika a bit bewildered.

　The two siblings were close; they were firmly rooted in this area, and lived along with the seasons.
Their parents seemed to no longer be around, but they were able to live while supporting each other.

　This conversation was fresh and dazzling to Yuika.

　For someone who usually spent half the year in underground labyrinths, this scene was something she had no connection to.

　Something she could never ever obtain.

“I’ll walk you halfway.”

　After breakfast, Yuika ended up being guided till she was close to her inn.
She was still unfamiliar with the geography of this town, so she couldn’t refuse even if she wanted to.

　Mariete, who was holding her hands, gradually became less talkative and less energetic.

　Because she knew it was almost time to part.

“Sister.
Please come, and play again.”

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“Ah, I got it.”

　Yuika bent down and hugged the little girl.

　During the next meeting, she’d be sure to bring a wonderful gift.
No expense would be spared – she decided secretly.

　After calmly parting with the siblings and returning to her inn, Yuika’s mood quickly took a turn for the worse.

“–Wha, what did you say!?”

　Berii’s eyes rolled upwards.

“You drank and got drunk, and stayed overnight at the Sher, Sherpa’s house?”

“Don’t raise your voice.
The other guests can hear you.”

　In a private lobby, the party members sitting around the table were all silent.

　Yesterday, after going to confirm the details of the Sherpa, Yuika had failed to return to the inn on the same day.

　Was she lost in an unfamiliar place, or involved in some incident? Her party members were worried, and had gathered in this private lobby to think about how they should proceed.

　However, all of a sudden, Yuika appeared, sat down on an empty chair, and in good spirits, explained the ridiculous situation.

“A shopping date with a man, ah, coming back in the morning…”

“What’s up with that? Certainly it’s true that I came back in the morning.”

“No, nothing was done to you, right?”

“What do you mean by that?”

　Berii was a petite woman with soft blonde hair.
Her job, Light Warrior, emphasised speed and attack power, in their party, she was responsible for the role of vanguard.
She was a girl who knew no fear; even when confronting the rock type monsters that she was somewhat bad with, she would grind her teeth and get on with it.

“I mean weren’t you assaulted!”

“Assaulted? By whom?”

“That, the Sherpa called Rowe! Weren’t you drunk? You managed to protect your chastity, right?”

　After understanding what she meant, Yuika frowned and affirmed with a serious face.

“That’s something only men and women in love would do.
It’s not something you just do when you get drunk.”

“Ah~, this princess is hopeless!”

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　While Berii was tearing at her hair, the Raider Nuuk started to admonish.

　A man in his early thirties with dark skin, a bald head and eyebrows, and an unreadable face.

“For letting the Black Princess go alone, we are all responsible.”

“That is so.”

　The one who agreed was a man with a hoarse voice.

“You also said you were going to tour around while eating, and ended up having a jolly good time.”

“–su noisy old man.”

　He didn’t look the right age to be called an old man.
At most, he looked around his early thirties.
However, this man was someone who had already acquired more than three different elemental magic Gifts, and held the job of Sage.
Rumour had that his actual age was actually over 60.

　This person’s name was Magikan.

　According to the records, he was a legendary Adventurer who had achieved the position of Hero three times on the ranking charts, each time with different parties.

　Anyway, Berii started preaching to the intelligent but naive Yurika about various issues concerning men and women, while Nuuk warned everyone against acting thoughtlessly on their own.

“Let’s get rid of that Sherpa called Rowe.”

“Wait a minute.”

　Yuika squinted at Berii’s suggestion.

“Rowe hasn’t done anything wrong.
In fact, he introduced me to a store selling high quality potions, and was able to efficiently finish purchasing supplies.”

“For all that, can’t we just leave it to the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“When we arrived in this town and were surrounded by a large crowd, someone here had to start singing my praises in detail.
Sorry if I didn’t want to shop while feeling suffocated by other people.”

“The mayor’s dinner party too, you missed your appointment.”

“I don’t remember promising to attend.”

　After cutting off Magikan’s interruption, Yuika stood up.

　Her strong-willed almond-shaped eyes pointed up, and her lips pursed sullenly.

“Anyhow, I have decided for our Sherpa to be Rowe.
He meets all our requirements and he’s also recommended by the Sherpa Guildmaster.
There’s no reason to reject him.”

　This was the decision of the leader of “Twilight’s Sword”.

　As expected, no one dared to oppose her right in her face, but in the eyes of the silent Berii, a dark flame of jealousy started swirling.
After witnessing that Sherpa’s skills, if he made even a single mistake, she would get him fired.