The Case of the Washed-Up F-Rank Adventurer Who Maxed Out His Agility by Relying on His Worthless ‘Flee’ Skill and Accidentally Became the Strongest in the World. He Can’t, However, Escape from the Yandere Beauties. - Chapter 46
Chapter 46: The Old Man Wakes From the Dream
Her expression was exactly the same as the one she’d worn in the nightmare I’d just had… no, she wore a terrifying smile that was even more bone-chilling.
In a voice as cold as ice, yet strangely monotone and devoid of emotion, Emma-san spoke.
“Shuzou-san…? At this late hour, with my daughter, and with the Saint-sama… what, precisely, are the three of you doing? …You will explain it to me in detail, won’t you?”
Her eyes were not smiling at all.
They seemed to hold something deeper than darkness itself.
This is… could it be… reality…?
My faint, wishful thinking shattered into pieces.
No… I’m still in the dream… That has to be it… haha… This is just Act II of the nightmare.
C’mon… please… Let that be true…
I let out a scream in my heart that was more like a prayer.
And… I… decided to resort to my usual method.
Yes… my brain made the executive decision to completely “run away” from reality.
Yep… this is a dream…
I’ll just stop thinking.
That’s right… if it’s a dream, there’s nothing I can do.
Making clumsy excuses will only make the nightmare worse.
So running is my only option… and if that’s the case, there’s only one course of action to take…
I turned my back on Emma-san, pointedly ignoring her.
Then, I dove headfirst into the bedding!
BAFU!
I pulled the filthy cloth deep over my head and squeezed my eyes shut.
That’s it, I’ll just go to sleep.
If I fall asleep, this nightmare is bound to end…
Please, just end already…
Huddled under the cloth, my mind focused on one thing and one thing only—escaping the nightmare. I tried desperately to make myself lose consciousness.
But cruelly, no matter how much time passed, there was no sign of me waking from this nightmare.
And as I cowered in the bedding, the nightmare was steadily getting worse.
From behind me, I could now hear a tense, stinging argument between Emma-san and, apparently, a recently awakened Alicia-san and Mira-san.
“What, precisely, is the meaning of this, Alicia-san?”
Emma-san’s ice-cold voice rang out.
“For one such as the Saint to sneak into a gentleman’s bedchambers in the dead of night… You should know shame, not just as a lady, but as a human being!”
“This is… it’s a misunderstanding, Emma-san!”
Alicia-san’s high-pitched voice, laced with panic, shot back.
“I simply received word that Sensei Mikami was in danger, and for his protection… y-yes, I was merely standing by nearby as a precaution! More to the point, what about you! As the Guild Master, are you not being far too intimate with a common adventurer, along with your daughter? This could very well be called an abuse of your authority!”
“I was just worried about Mikami-san, so I came to check on him!”
This time it was Mira-san’s young but thorny voice cutting in.
“And just as I suspected… it seems there was a troublesome insect trying to latch onto him!”
Her glare was clearly meant to skewer Alicia-san.
“I-Insect, you say!? You little…! My, my, haven’t you gotten a sharp tongue in the short time I’ve been away!”
Alicia-san’s voice was now thick with palpable anger.
“Mira!”
This time, I heard Emma-san’s voice, now scolding Mira-san.
“I may have asked you to check on Shuzou-san… but this…! I never said one word about you sneaking in here in such shameless attire! Besides, even I haven’t…! Even I still haven’t spent the night in a bed with Shuzou-san, not even once…!”
It’s like my nightmare came true…
No, this is even worse.
I clutched my head under the bedding, awash in despair.
But just then, a very real fear crossed my mind.
Wait a second… if this continues, Emma-san and the others are going to get into a real fight right here… and if that happens, what will become of this rundown inn…?
One wrong move and it could get blown to bits in an instant…
And if that happens, knowing the innkeeper…
She’ll be absolutely livid and, without a doubt, demand… that I pay for the damages.
If that happens, I’ll be worse than homeless—I’ll become a debt slave, forced to spend the rest of my life in the mines.
A future of extremely realistic financial ruin.
That terror forced my frozen body into motion.
No… I can’t run…
This isn’t a nightmare.
It’s reality.
I have to accept it.
And if I run now, I’ll be saddled with a debt far greater than the cost of a room…
I… I have to be the one to get this situation under control…
For a reason that was, in a way, very much my own, I steeled myself.
My mind made up, I violently threw off the filthy covering and shot to my feet!
“““!”””
The three beautiful women, who had been in the middle of their argument, all turned to face me at once.
Mira-san and Alicia-san, clad in nothing but their undergarments, their youthful bodies on full display.
And Emma-san, wearing the same bewitching dress from last night that emphasized the lines of her body.
Three different women, but each an otherworldly beauty, all standing in the rattiest room of this rundown inn.
Looking at it again, the scene still didn’t feel real.
But contrary to their overwhelming beauty, their eyes… for some reason, their eyes were shining with a feverish, predatory gleam.
It was an unnatural light, like that of a predator that has found its prey, or perhaps one that held a hint of madness.
I couldn’t help but swallow hard, feeling a shiver run down my spine.
This is… bad.
My instincts were screaming danger louder than they ever did when I was surrounded by vicious monsters deep in the Great Forest.
As if on cue, the three of them called my name at the same time.
“Shuzou-san?”
“Mikami-sensei?”
“Mikami-san?”
The heavy tone of their voices, a mixture of various emotions like expectation and interrogation, extinguished the tiny flame of resolve that had just sparked within me. It vanished like a candle in the wind.
“Um… well…”
A pathetic sound escaped my lips, and I instinctively dropped my gaze to the floor.
Aah… I want to run.
“U-Um… l-ladies…”
I could hear my own voice trembling and cracking.
“S-So… I have no idea what you’re talking about… b-but, no… I understand completely, so… anyway… for now, why don’t we change locations!? L-Look… a cramped, rundown room like this… it’s not the place! Let’s go outside! The morning air feels great! Right!?”
Utterly incoherent, my only thought was to escape this place as quickly as possible, and that was the best suggestion I could muster.
Somehow, I managed to soothe and coax the three beauties—Emma-san, Alicia-san, and Mira-san—and succeeded in leading them out of the rundown inn.
Once outside, the sun was already high in the sky. It was the time of morning when the city was truly starting to come alive.
Alright… the real problem starts now.
Just then, Fel popped into view from out of nowhere.
“Well now, Master. A rather lively morning, isn’t it? For a man with a face like yours, you certainly get things done. To have three females waiting on you.”
Fel was grinning mischievously, her eyes darting back and forth between me and the three women.
