A Humble, Scary-Looking Mid-Rank Adventurer Is Offered Their Bodies by Every Member of a Rising All-Female Party, Begging: ‘You Can Do Whatever You Want With Me, Just Please Spare My Companions.’ - 35

Chapter 35: Toward a Bright Future

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When Balg woke up, he was struck by a strange sensation for a moment. It felt as though there was a major discrepancy in the flow of time within his senses. However, the surroundings were a dark cave, and there was no way to tell the time. On top of that, his body felt oddly heavy, and none of his fatigue had been relieved. If anything, he even felt more exhausted than he had before going to sleep.

When he tried to sit up and put strength into his body, his entire body screamed and crackled in protest.

“Ugh, gwoooh…”

“Balg-san! Good morning.”

Groaning as he somehow raised his upper body, the light-shielding cloth was pulled aside and Sierra appeared. She was not naked down to the last thread. In fact, she was wearing her usual clothes, with her hair tied up for ease of movement.

Seeing the girl smile gently and speak to him left Balg confused. The scene flashing back into his mind—the girl’s soft white skin, beads of sweat like pearls, her sweet cries—was that something he had dreamed? —

“Please rest well. Yesterday was…V-very intense, after all…”

“Ugh.”

Seeing Sierra blush and look down shyly, Balg became convinced that his memories were real. At the same time, he was struck with shock.

“W-what have I done…!”

It was an unforgivable blunder for an instructor. Even after declaring the area dangerous himself, he had failed to properly stand watch and had instead given in to desire and slept with young girls. He was unfit. Not just as an instructor, but even as an adventurer. If that was the case, he would have to atone with his life.

“Sierra, we’re calling off the exploration. Let’s leave the cave and return to town immediately.”

“Fo-For wedding ceremony!?”

“Wedding…? As of today, I’m retiring as an adventurer. I’ll take responsibility.”

“R-responsibility… Uhyu.”

Faced with Balg’s serious expression, Sierra, for some reason, looked delighted, pressing her cheeks and wriggling her body.

“It’s all right, Balg-san. I’ll properly support you from now on!”

“Support…?”

Watching Sierra clench her fist and declare this, Balg tilted his head. Somehow, it felt like the conversation was heading in a direction he hadn’t anticipated. Times like this required proper discussion to avoid misunderstandings.

“I did something irreversible to you girls. I can no longer remain in the position of instructor.”

“Yes, yes. I understand. Our relationship has already reached a point of no return.”

Balg spoke desperately, biting his lip. Sierra nodded with a smile like that of a holy mother.

“We talked it over after we woke up, too.”

While Balg was on the verge of death by overwork—or perhaps sweet death in bed—and indulging in mud-like sleep, the members of Aurora Blade, including Sierra, were having an honest discussion. The fact that they had become rod-sisters had already been brought into the open. Only Patema had been left stunned.

While repeatedly fending off monsters that occasionally tried to break through the barricade, they thoroughly discussed their future relationship with Balg.

“Balg-san. If it’s all right with you, would you stay with us from now on?”

Balg was stunned by Sierra’s words. Despite the unspeakably cruel acts he had committed, they were trying to forgive him with boundless compassion. What incredible benevolence. Just as he thought, they possessed a nobility far beyond what he could ever deserve.

“We were taught many things by you, Balg-san. Many things we never knew before. Nerva discovered a new side of herself. Fana reached a new state. And Patema learned that even things she couldn’t bear alone could be overcome together with her companions.”

When Sierra and Patema fed Balg mushrooms and began the second round, Nerva watched through a gap in the light-shielding cloth while fervently pleasuring herself. Seeing the man who was supposed to be her male taken by other women, especially her close companions, stirred her deeply. It was so painful her mind felt like it would break, but the climax she reached while watching was addictively numbing to her entire body.

Fana had shed the pretense of her duties as a priestess and learned to desire things herself. And that this was, in fact, the honest way for a living being to be. Patema learned through her body that she could never handle Balg’s stamina on her own. That was why the four of them decided to band together.

To begin with, they didn’t want to give up their work as adventurers, nor did they want any one of the four to be left out. If that was the case, then why not accept him together, all four of them? That was the conclusion they reached.

“The fact that we realized this at all is thanks to you, Balg-san.”

“No, that’s not true. I didn’t do anything. It was thanks to your own strength.”

“No. It’s because of what you engraved deep inside our bodies, Balg-san.”

“I-is that so…?”

Well, if Sierra said so, then that must be how it was.

Though he felt a lingering sense of unease, Balg somehow accepted it.

“From here on, we’re planning to defeat the Pain Serpent. Please watch us, and after seeing us, then decide.”

The subjugation of the Pain Serpent was a rite of passage for being recognized as a mid-tier adventurer instead of a beginner. Sierra and the others of Aurora Blade had come this far aiming for that goal.

“You’re right. Abandoning things here would be irresponsible.”

Balg felt ashamed of his selfishness. Despite what had happened, they were trying to overcome it. They were trying to show the man who had so shamefully laid hands on them just how much strength they possessed. If so, then he had a responsibility to see it through.

“Sierra, are you done talking?”

“How is your condition, Balg-san?”

“I made some food, can you eat it?”

As the conversation reached a pause, the other three entered with perfect timing, as if they had been peeking and listening in. Patema was holding a bowl of stew generously filled with chunks of meat.

“This meat…”

“It’s from a monster that attacked while you were sleeping, Balg. It was tough, but I simmered it thoroughly, so it’s tender now.”

“Eat up.” 

Nerva said while wagging her tail. Balg accepted the bowl from Patema and began eating with gratitude. It soaked into his completely exhausted body, which had been drained of all nutrients. It was a richly nourishing stew. However…

“Ugh.”

“What’s wrong? Did I put something you don’t like in it?”

“No, it’s just… The mushrooms…”

There were mushrooms in the stew.

“It’s not like I disliked them before. I wonder why.”

“W-why indeed…”

As Balg tilted his head, Patema followed with a dry voice. Thinking that strange things happen sometimes, he furrowed his brow and ate the mushrooms as well. They tasted the same as always, with nothing particularly unusual about them.

“Thank you, everyone. I’ve made up my mind too. I’ll take responsibility and see the four of you through to the very end.”

“-!”

Holding the now-empty bowl, Balg looked over the four members of Aurora Blade. He understood this to be his own form of atonement and responsibility. He could stop the exploration here and return to town, but he realized that would be far too selfish. Hearing this, Sierra and the others widened their eyes.

“Is that so? So you’ll see us through to the end…”

“That means permanent employment, then.”

“Responsibility…!”

“Nufufu. Just as I expected of the man I chose.”

Huh, somehow I feel like they’re taking on an entirely different meaning than me… 

Before Balg could dwell on that doubt, Sierra and the others sprang into action.

“If that’s settled, we’d better hurry up and finish what we need to do and head back to town!”

“We’re going to get busy from here on out!”

“Huh? Wait?”

Sierra and the others suddenly brimmed with motivation. Balg felt like he was the only one being left behind. But the girls didn’t stop. They prepared their equipment, took up their weapons, shouldered their packs, and in no time at all had even dismantled the camp.

“Now then, let’s go, Balg-san! Let’s go toward our bright future!” 

“Huh?”

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T/N: Poor Balg got mushroom trauma (╥ ᴗ ╥)