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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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When they were suddenly stopped for inspection, Ha-neul was just as surprised.
‘What’s going on?’
This had never happened to her before.
Usually, the guards wouldn’t even bat an eye at them. She could definitely feel the heightened security due to the Lemegeton cult.
‘What should I do?’
Her mind went blank.
She had her adventurer’s badge, but Yor had nothing to prove his identity. Only she knew he was a demon blood carrier.
Several ominous thoughts crossed her mind.
Then, an idea struck her.
She could use the Illusion magic she had learned.
This magic could not only deceive people’s vision but also create things that didn’t exist.
“What are you waiting for? Just show it to him.”
She decided to put on a little act.
She ignored her pounding heart and pretended to be calm, as usual.
Fortunately, she was naturally stoic, so maintaining a poker face wasn’t difficult.
He quickly caught on and played along.
While he was pretending to search his pockets, she began constructing an image in her mind.
Simply channeling mana wasn’t enough to create an illusion.
She needed a concrete image to create a realistic illusion.
The image she chose was an adventurer’s badge.
Now that she had the image, it was time to show it to the guard naturally.
“…Wait, I’ll find it.”
She reached into his pocket without asking for permission.
She could feel Yor’s momentary surprise, but the situation was urgent.
She pretended to search his front pocket while secretly creating the badge with magic.
Illusion wasn’t a fast spell.
It took time to construct a detailed image.
As a result, she had to spend more time fumbling around in his pocket.
After a while…
She felt something strange in her hand.
A soft, fleshy sensation that was distinctly different from the rough fabric of his pocket.
And judging by the shape, it was quite large.
‘Huh?’
She wondered what it could be… and then she realized.
She was currently searching his front pocket, and there was only one thing that could feel like that in a man’s front pocket.
‘This is…’
Oh, shit.
She cursed internally.
They even implemented that kind of detail? What was going on in the minds of the developers?
Damn it, she should have raised her Synchronization Rate a bit higher. She regretted only raising it to 45%.
Another thought crossed her mind.
‘…This is bad.’
She had accidentally touched a man’s… well, you know. It was clearly sexual harassment.
In real life, she would have been arrested on the spot.
Of course, that wouldn’t happen in a game, but it could still damage her reputation with the NPC.
But she couldn’t stop the spell now.
With a strange mix of embarrassment, excitement, and anxiety, she finally completed the adventurer’s badge.
She showed the illusionary badge to the guards.
An adventurer’s identification badge with a large ‘B’ engraved on it.
The guards nodded.
“Wow, you’re already a B-rank at that age? Impressive.”
“Ahem, well… I would appreciate it if you could refrain from public displays of affection…”
They had even misunderstood the situation because of her actions.
“No, that’s not what…!”
“Well, have a good day. Thank you for your cooperation.”
She tried to explain, but the guards had already left.
Only the two of them were left standing awkwardly.
An awkward silence fell over them.
She tried to cool her burning face and stammered an excuse.
“Th-That was… just because of the magic… It wasn’t intentional… you know?”
She couldn’t just create an adventurer’s badge out of thin air, could she?
It was an act of God, so to speak.
How could she have known he had something so large down there?
She felt wronged.
Yor stared at her with a blank expression. It was his usual poker face, but his sharp features made it seem like he was glaring at her.
After a while, he grinned and said,
“…You’re quite the pervert, aren’t you?”
“No…!”
She desperately tried to defend her innocence.
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There was a slight(?) mishap, but the city tour continued smoothly.
I was a bit surprised, but I knew she did it to save me.
I wasn’t such a jerk to get mad over something like that.
‘Besides…’
Honestly, how could I possibly be upset about something like that?
The ‘men’ here might have a different opinion, but as a super chad, I found it rather amusing.
I even felt a strange sense of sadistic pleasure seeing her squirming in embarrassment.
I didn’t know much about this world, but it seemed like this kind of thing was a big deal for the ‘women’ here, legally speaking.
I couldn’t help but tease her a bit.
I told her she should have just asked if she wanted to touch it so badly.
Or that she could just take a peek right now if she was so curious.
I kept throwing out cheesy lines, and she just blushed and couldn’t respond.
“…Ugh.”
The result was this.
She was walking next to me, her face as red as a tomato.
She didn’t even respond when I talked to her. She seemed to be half-broken.
I finally stopped teasing her.
Honestly, I wanted to say, “But if I touch your breasts, wouldn’t we be even?”
But I held back.
It seemed a bit too domineering.
And I didn’t think I could control myself if I went that far.
She knew my secret, but she was still an otherworlder.
To her, this world was just a game. I trusted her, but I still wanted to keep some distance.
And the fact that we were in the city also played a big role.
I didn’t want to do anything rash in a place where I could be surrounded by enemies.
Of course, if I was in my Type B berserk state, it would be a different story. But that wasn’t the case right now.
“…”
“…”
Anyway, the teasing session had ended, and an awkward silence filled the air.
The streets were still bustling with activity, but we were walking in silence.
I wanted to say something, but she probably needed time to recover.
‘Well, it can’t be helped.’
I decided to walk around alone for a while.
“Why don’t we split up for a bit?”
“Huh? Suddenly? Why…?”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. There’s just a place I want to visit.”
I had two nostalgic scents.
One was the acrid smell of exhaust fumes from my past life.
And the other was the smell of people from my childhood in this world, before I turned 10.
These two scents would occasionally pop up in my mind and torment me.
The pain of longing.
I decided to take this opportunity to revisit one of those scents.
“Let’s walk together until we reach the middle of the city. Sorry for asking you to split up after coming all this way. Oh, and just to be sure, will this disguise hold up even if we’re apart for a while?”
“Ah, yes, it will… but…”
She looked a bit worried, but she eventually nodded at my request.
She must have sensed the seriousness in my tone.
I thanked her and we started walking.
We passed through the bustling center of the city and headed towards the outskirts, where even the guards rarely patrolled.
There was more trash on the streets, and more beggars who were far from wealthy.
Not everyone in a big city was rich.
Where there was light, there was also shadow. And where there was a downtown area, there was also a slum.
And this was my hometown.
Even though I was chased out when I was 10, the memories of that time were still etched in my mind.
“Let’s split up here. I’ll see you later.”
I parted ways with Ha-neul when we reached a certain point.
Then, I walked deeper into the slums.
If I kept going, I would reach an alley filled with criminals, and if I stopped in the middle of that alley, I would find the place where I used to live.
A small, shabby orphanage.
The place where I lived and was chased out was still there.
The building was overgrown with vines, and the facilities were outdated, but…
It seemed to be still operating. I could smell the delicious aroma of soup coming from inside.
I was filled with a strange sense of nostalgia.
Several questions popped up in my mind.
Was the nun who took care of the children when I was there still working?
If she was, she would be well past middle age, perhaps even approaching old age.
What about the kind old man who ran the bakery nearby?
Come to think of it, I didn’t see him on my way here. He must have closed his shop.
He sold bread at a price that even the orphans could afford. It was understandable if he had trouble making ends meet.
I hoped he had moved to the downtown area and was making a lot of money.
What about the kids I used to play with?
They would have graduated from the orphanage by now.
They were all grown-ups now, probably working somewhere in the city.
There was a girl who had a crush on me back then. I wondered what she was doing now.
I couldn’t even remember her face anymore.
“…”
I stood in front of the orphanage for a long time, indulging in nostalgia.
I didn’t go inside.
As someone who had been chased out of civilization, all I could do was watch from afar.
But looking back now…
The childhood I thought was so boring might have been quite happy after all.
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[Your Text Here]
Ouch, that was actually sad :<