I Got Fired as a Hero Today - Vol.1 Chapter 8: Arata, Goes to the Library

Arata arrived at the library at six in the evening.

The library closes at seven, so there’s not much time.

No matter how much he can use the [Reading] skill, he won’t be able to access the [Books] section on the status screen unless he goes through it page by page.

“Now that I think about it, it might be surprisingly hard to read.”

When he was engrossed in reading, it was already seven o’clock before he knew it.

He heard the sound of footsteps. Since the library is closed, it must be the staff checking around.

Is it already over…

As he was thinking that, there was a change on the status screen.

The [Stealth] skills have been acquired.

Is this supposed to help him get past the staff?

He can obtain it and level it up to level 10.

For now, he hides behind the bookshelf and holds his breath, as the staff member checks the room. He sneaks around quietly to avoid being found.

“Huh? No one is here. I thought there was a person.”

They walked away as they muttered to themselves.

After a while, he heard the sound of a key being locked in the back.

He didn’t know if the [Stealth] skill was activated, but it seemed like he managed to shake it off well.

However, unfortunately, the lights inside the library were also turned off.

Outside, the sun has already set, and only a faint light comes through the window.

There are no streetlights like in Japan.

The lighting is created by magic stones, but since the light leaks outside through the windows and reveals that there are people inside the building, they can’t turn them on.

However, he finds the text indicating that the [Night Vision] skill can be acquired on the status screen.

Can he read a book in the dark?

When he set it to level 10, he could barely read the text. However, in complete darkness, it was impossible to read anything at all.

Even moonlight was fine, so he needed a faint light source, and he searched for a slightly brighter spot in the darkroom to read.

It was originally a skill for fighting and moving in the dark.

For that reason, his speed reading pace has slowed down.

In the dark room, he diligently immerses himself in reading.

However, won’t reading a book in the dark make his eyes worse?

Even if he read books about skills, they don’t cover the types of skills very well.

That’s because it’s rare for people who have acquired a skill to openly talk about it.

He has read about ten books on skills, but for [Stealth], there is only one line, “a skill possessed by assassins,” and for [Night Vision] and [Reading], he hasn’t found even a single line of description so far.

However, it seemed that [Swordsman] and [Cooking] were major skills, as there was a lot written about them.

As expected of a royal library, there is a vast collection of books, but finding the necessary information here is quite difficult.

He had no choice but to do it steadily.

He read until nine o’clock and then went out through the back door.

◆◆◆

The other party members were having a social gathering at the tavern.

Even though it’s a social gathering, only Atsushi and Kotoko from the hero team can drink alcohol.

The adventurers Gyle and Rusdo, along with Comoran, are having a great time with the five of them.

Since Kotoko is the type who can get along with anyone, she becomes the mood maker.

The table was divided between those who drink alcohol and those who don’t.

At another table, Chloe, Suzu, Takahito, and Miku, and across from them, Hinako, Touka, Tsubasa, and Rina were seated in that order.

Chloe says she can’t drink alcohol.

Takahito was sitting right next to Suzu, quite comfortably.

“Suzu, you went into nature today, but were you okay with the bugs and stuff?”

Takahito looks at Suzu’s bare legs and says.

Takahito’s glasses were shining.

“Oh, this? It’s fine because there’s an insect-repelling magic stone sewn into the back of the skirt.”

As expected, Suzu didn’t show the underside of her skirt like she did during the day.

Instead,

“Takaito, this is it.”

Miku lifted her skirt and showed it off.

She lifted her skirt so high that her thick thighs and panties were visible.

“Don’t show it! Don’t show it!”

Takahito shouted.

“Oh, that’s nice. Well then, show me yours too.”

That said, she put her hand on her pants’ belt.

“Stop it!”

He was desperately holding onto the hem of his pants to resist.

In a moment of uncontrollable momentum, both of them ended up collapsing onto the floor.

“T-Tsubasa! Help me!”

“Ahh, what am I doing? Hey, Hinako.”

Tsubasa called out to Hinako.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I wasn’t listening.”

Hinako was deep in conversation with Chloe.

Tsubasa was somewhat surprised by the way she was being treated. Most women were paying attention to her.

As evidence, the magician Rina, who had just met Touka today, was actively trying to communicate with Tsubasa.

Well, it must be some kind of mistake, Tsukasa thought to himself and then dealt with Touka and Rina.

In the back, Miku had Takahito in a half-butt state.

“Why was there such a big discrepancy in today’s test results?”

Suddenly, Touka had a question.

“Ah, that was Arata…”

When Hinako was about to answer that,

“Well, of course, it’s because you gathered it together with Chloe, right?”

Tsubasa’s voice drowned out that opinion. No one probably thought it was due to Arata’s appropriate advice.

Since the conversation just flowed as it was, Hinako didn’t bother to correct it on purpose.

If Suzu and Chloe had been there, it might have been corrected, but at that time, they were away using the restroom.

◆◆◆

After returning to the dormitory, Arata felt hungry as he headed to the kitchen for the live-in staff.

Since no one was around, he started cooking for one.

He cooked rice, made vegetable soup, and grilled some unidentified meat that was in the fridge.

The chef, Martha, told him that he could also use the refrigerator freely.

It seems that the overall living expenses for heroes are covered by government subsidies, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

“Could you be Arata-san?”

While he was cooking, someone called out to him.

When he looked, there was an old man wearing glasses standing with a fish and a sake bottle.

“I heard that my mother-in-law and daughter were taken care of during the day.”

It seems he was Martha’s husband.

His name is Kyle. It seems that he and his wife, Martha, work as servants at the lodge.

“I got this at the morning market if you don’t mind.”

He gave him the leftover fish from the cafeteria.

Morning market. It seems he holds it here every morning regularly.

“We’re open from six to eight in the morning on that main street. A long time ago, a summoned hero brought Japanese food here, so we also sell miso and soy sauce.”

While thinking it was interesting, Arata decided to go soon.

“By the way, would you like to drink this together?”

Kyle shakes the bottle.

“Sounds good, definitely.”

He was also intrigued by the alcohol from another world.

The sake that was poured for him was slightly cloudy, and when he tried it, it seemed to have a high alcohol content.

“Whoa, I totally lost it!”

“Haha! Was it a bit too early for Arata-san?”

Kyle said that and drank the alcohol as if it were water.

Indeed, Kyle is right. He didn’t really understand the taste of alcohol. Since there was tomorrow as well, he couldn’t drink recklessly, so he sipped it slowly.