The Hero Stole My Lover, So I Decided to Steal the Hero's Lover Instead - Chapter 20-21

Chapter 20: The Hero’s POV

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As he tried to calm himself and think about how to respond….

Bang bang!!

Someone knocked on the door really hard.

“Who is it?”

Cain asked sharply. But inwardly, he was pleased to have an excuse to dodge the question. The knock had come at just the right time.

“It’s me…No, it’s us, Cain.”

“Just a moment.”

Telling the people behind the door that, Cain quickly picked up his clothes scattered across the floor and got dressed. Then, to Sheryl, who had been watching absentmindedly, he gave a cold order.

“You get dressed too.”

Though she was slightly dissatisfied that she hadn’t gotten a proper answer to her earlier question, Sheryl obediently climbed out of bed and began putting her clothes on.

“Who is it?”

“My comrades.”

“So, your party members?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Cain ran a hand through his hair to tidy it and opened the door. Standing there were the three members of his party: the Fist Saint, the Sage, and the Saint. Each of them was an expert in their respective field.

“Yo, Cain. How’s it going?”

The Fist Saint—Daryl—spoke.

True to his title, “Fist Saint,” he fought using his fists as weapons. His build was just a bit sturdier than Cain’s—not quite a hulking brute—but his punches packed such power that he could easily take down men much larger than himself. His rough appearance gave off an impression of both playboy charm and brute force. He wasn’t as handsome as Cain, but he had enough looks to attract a decent share of attention.

“Good grief. Are you playing around again?”

The Sage—Ronnie—said.

He was a slender man with glasses. Unlike Cain and Daryl, who were both rather promiscuous, Ronnie wasn’t into women—but he was an extreme miser. He had joined the party, of course, for money. And when it came to acquiring wealth, he didn’t care how it was done—robbery, fraud, even murder.He was a wolf in a sheep’s clothing villain. Unlike Daryl, his dark inner nature didn’t show on the surface, which made him all the more dangerous.

“My, Cain-san…”

The Saint—Anita—said.

She was the sole woman in the Hero’s party. Originally a nun who worked at a temple, she had formed relationships with many of the temple’s associates, which led to a total breakdown of interpersonal relations within the temple. A true femme fatale. That said, her healing magic was top-notch, which earned her a spot in the party as their support. For the record, she had already slept with all three male members of the party.

“Hey everyone.” 

Cain said cheerfully. 

“What brings you here so late at night?”

“Well, actually…” 

Ronnie started.

“We got a little nudge from the Holy Kingdom’s army. They’re urging us to invade the Demon King’s territory now.”

“Ahh, so they finally pushed us, huh…”

Cain let out a sigh. He’d figured they’d be nudged eventually.

“They didn’t say it had to be right away, though…”

“I gave ‘em the excuse that we’re sticking around this town for training and prep’ or something.” 

Daryl added.

“So I think we can probably stay here for another month or so without too much pressure.” 

Anita said.

“But if we keep lazing around like this, someone might go and rat us out to His Majesty the King.”

And so, Ronnie continued with a smile,

“This isn’t about proving ourselves or anything, but why don’t we take on a few quests? It’s late today, so we’ll start tomorrow.”

“Quests…? What? Are we adventurers now?”

Cain said with a look of distaste. He looked down on those filthy adventurers.

“Come on, what’s the harm? We buy some time, and we earn a little cash.”

Cain didn’t care about the money—he had more than enough. What mattered was buying time.

I guess I’ve got no choice. Might as well do a few quests.

He still wanted to enjoy this town a bit longer. Once they entered the Demon King’s domain, there would be no time for playing around. At best, he could fool around with Anita.

“Alright. Let’s meet at the Adventurer’s Guild tomorrow morning. That work?”

“Sounds good.”

Ronnie nodded and went off to the inn where he was staying.

“Well then, I think I’ll go have a drink.”

Daryl said, heading off toward a tavern. And Anita—

“Please let me stay over tonight.”

She said while stepping right into the house. Cain didn’t refuse her, which earned a dissatisfied look from Sheryl.

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Chapter 21

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To get closer to Alicia or to become friends with her, I needed to see her often and chat regularly. But wouldn’t it seem suspicious if we ran into each other every single day?

Despite that anxiety, I made a habit of “coincidentally” running into Alicia almost daily (mainly on the roadside) and striking up conversation. Fortunately, Alicia didn’t find those conveniently timed encounters strange. In fact, she seemed to think of them as fate.

Fate really is a convenient word…

I thought, deeply moved by the existence of that word.

I also started frequenting the flower shop where Alicia worked. Just looking at the flowers wouldn’t leave a good impression (especially with the shop owner), so every time I went, I bought a few flowers.

Flowers were surprisingly expensive, so I completed daily quests to earn flower money. Thanks to that, my house ended up filled with flowers, vibrant and colorful. I would fall asleep each night while being surrounded by the scent of fresh blossoms.

“How’s it going?”

One day, Sharon came to my house—well, technically, the house was under Sharon’s ownership—and asked me that question. It had been a while since I’d seen Sharon. Apparently, she’d been quietly keeping tabs on the Hero’s party (mainly Cain) lately.

When I asked, “You’re not letting your subordinates handle that?” Sharon replied, “It’s actually kind of fun.” She seemed to be doing it partly as a hobby.

It had been a month since I first met Sharon. Which also meant—it had been a month since I first met Alicia.

A month. It felt long, but also short.

“Not bad.” 

I replied.

“It’s been a month. So? Have you made any progress with Alicia?”

“Yeah. We’ve started going out together more often.”

“I see. That would be what they call a date, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so.”

A date. You don’t need to be in a relationship to go on a date. But the kind of relationship where you go on dates—well, that’s already pretty close to being lovers.

“Have you held hands, kissed—anything like that? Or not yet?”

“Not yet.”

Sharon thought for a moment, then said.

“We’re going to see Alicia. I’m going to confirm how high her affection level toward you is.”

“Confirm it… And then what?”

“If it’s above a certain threshold, I’ll give you the go-ahead.”

Gulp!

I swallowed hard. A “go-ahead” from Sharon—that was the signal to steal Alicia away from Cain. I hated Cain. I even resented him. But somewhere in my heart, I still felt a twinge of doubt.

Is it really okay to steal someone else’s girlfriend? 

That pang of guilt lingered in my heart.

There has to be a better way, right? No. This is revenge. Unless I hurt Cain to the point his heart is shredded beyond repair, this will all be meaningless. I’m going to get revenge on that bastard, right? I’m going to make him feel the agony of having the woman he loves stolen from him, aren’t I???

“What’s wrong? Getting cold feet?”

Sharon stared into my eyes, as if reading my thoughts.

“No, I’m not backing down.”

“Good. Then let’s go.”

Sharon stood up. Then, almost to herself, she muttered,

“It’s about time we carried out 『Project NTR』.The Hero’s party is going to arrive in my country soon.”

And so, Sharon and I headed for the flower shop where Alicia worked to see her.

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