Chapter 45: The Old Man Has a Nightmare

I returned to the cheap inn and handed the innkeeper a copper coin for one night.

She questioned me about Fel’s absence, but I managed to talk my way out of it.

But… the room I was shown to was a dingy, cramped, moldy hovel—the cheapest in the inn—and couldn’t even compare to yesterday’s.

Well… it can’t be helped.

This is my reality… my everyday life.

I collapsed onto the filthy futon, which felt less like a bed and more like a sack stuffed with straw.

The floorboards creaked loudly, and from somewhere I could hear the scurrying of rats.

Staring up at the stained ceiling, I was at a complete loss.

Starting tomorrow… what on earth am I going to do…?

My termination seems to have been postponed, but there’s no telling for how long.

I have to find a job…

But there’s no way a perpetually F-rank old man like me can find any decent work…

The crushing weight of reality and the sheer number of things that had happened today swirled together in my exhausted mind.

The more I thought, the more confused I became.

Eventually, the exhaustion and the lingering effects of cheap booze began to slowly drag my consciousness into darkness.

Unable to fight against my heavy eyelids, I fell into a deep sleep.

…In that slumber, I was tormented by a terrible nightmare.

In the dream, Emma-san, Alicia-san, and even Mira-san were all surrounding me, caught in a furious argument.

I couldn’t quite make out what they were arguing about.

All I knew was that their expressions were terrifying, and the brunt of their anger was ultimately directed at me.

‘Shuzou-san! That is quite enough!’

‘Sensei! How long do you intend to be so indecisive!?’

‘Mikami-san! Make yourself clear!’

Pressed from three directions at once, I desperately asked, “Huh? W-What are you talking about!?” but they only repeated, “You need to decide!”

Overwhelmed by their intensity, all I could do was stumble about in confusion.

And behind them, Fel was laughing her head off.

“…Hah!”

The sound of my own ragged breathing jolted me from the nightmare.

A cold, unpleasant sweat covered my forehead.

Hah… hah… wh-what was that dream…?

It was strangely realistic and vivid…

My heart is pounding…

I placed a hand on my chest, trying to steady my frantic breathing.

Still, why were Emma-san and the others fighting like that…

And what were they telling me to decide…?

I mulled over the dream’s contents, tilting my head in confusion.

And it was at that moment…

I realized there was a strange sensation in my right hand.

Hmm…? It’s… very soft, and warm… and it feels like it’s clinging to my hand… so pleasant…

Wondering what it was, I turned my sleep-hazed eyes to my right—and gasped.

There, clad in a thin, silk-like nightgown, was Alicia-san, breathing peacefully in her sleep.

It was a shockingly revealing state, unimaginable from her usual modest sister’s habit.

Her sleeping face, illuminated by the moonlight, was so divinely beautiful it was truly befitting of her title as Saint.

But that wasn’t the problem. My hand… my right hand was resting directly on top of the deep valley of her ample bosom!

The unbelievable softness and elasticity I could feel at my fingertips…!

Wh-wh-wh-wh-what is thisss!?

My mind completely shut down, and my body froze as if paralyzed.

A-Alicia-san!? Why is she in my bed!? And my hand! Of all places, on her chest!?

For a while, I remained frozen in that position.

No, I was absolutely not enjoying this situation! Absolutely not! I was just so shocked and stunned that I couldn’t move! It’s true! I had not one iota of an indecent thought about savoring this divine softness, this warmth, this faint heartbeat against my fingertips…!

“Uuunh… Sensei Mikami… I… I won’t… let anyone… take you from me… ever again…”

Muttering something in her sleep, Alicia-san rolled over with a soft turn.

By some stroke of fortune—or misfortune—her movement dislodged my hand from her chest.

“Whoa!”

I let out a pathetic yelp and scrambled away from Alicia-san.

My head still spinning, I happened to glance to my left.

And… someone was there, too…

Huh… i-is that… could it be… Mira-san!?

She was wearing nothing but her undergarments, another incredibly sultry sight that was impossible to imagine from her usual cheerful receptionist persona, and she was sleeping soundly.

Moreover, she wore a blissful smile.

“Mikami-san… heh heh… I’ve… I’ve been watching you… ever since I was a child… That’s why… more than anyone… I’m the one… who should be… your special…”

She was also talking in her sleep, occasionally squirming her body.

With each movement, the soft curves beneath the thin fabric were emphasized, and my gaze was glued to her.

…Mira-san, too!? And she’s wearing… something incredible… What in the world is going on!?

To my right, a Saint in a state of undress; to my left, a guild receptionist in a similar state…

I stared blankly for a time at a scene that had no business being in a cheap hovel.

Then, my utterly confused mind finally reached a single… just one, single, lucid conclusion.

…Ah, I see now…

It all felt strangely clear.

I’m still dreaming. This is a continuation of that nightmare…

No… maybe the nightmare just turned into a good dream…

That’s right, yeah.

Something this convenient could never happen in real life.

Ha… haha…

Right, this is a dream.

As I thought that, my heart began to calm down.

…But, wait a minute.

As my composure returned, a devilish whisper echoed in my mind.

This is… inside a dream… right…?

I looked again at the sleeping faces of the two beauties on either side of me, and at their defenseless forms.

If this is a dream… then doing this and that… just trying a little something… should be fine, right?

For example, let’s see… maybe I could just confirm that… divine softness from before, one more time, with this very hand…

…No, no, no… hold on, me.

Even if it’s a dream, to even think about doing something like that to sleeping women… especially to people I know… isn’t that the lowest a person can sink?

Wrong is wrong, even in a dream… I’m not that much of a scumbag… probably.

Even in my dream, I was all alone, agonizing and waffling back and forth between my indecent thoughts and what little conscience I had left.

It was at that very moment.

Creeeak…

Behind me, the room’s old wooden door slowly groaned open.

I felt a vague, yet intensely powerful, sense of dread, and my heart gave a great, sickening lurch.

Slowly, so very slowly, I fearfully turned to look behind me.

Standing there—was Emma-san.