“Here we are.” We stand before a run-down building with a bucket instead of a signboard, though the name 'Bronco's Bucket' is painted on it.

...at least the roof is not full of holes, even if there are parts that got mended here and there. So this is 'the price-range' for Rank 0 mercenaries... well, I guess most people at the beginning of a mercenary career can't get as many monster-parts as we do...

The geezer holds an open hand towards us, now that his job is done. “Phew.” I put some coins into it.

“No food left?”

“Nope. Your buddies have it.”

“Too bad. Well, have a nice day.” The self-called traveler waves at us, as he returns to his dirt-hole.

“Strange fellow.” Maybe he'll report us. He just seems to be too relaxed about all of it. This is suspicious as hell! Should we look for another inn? I mean, even though it'll waste time and money, we can afford something better.

Kyou-san thinks otherwise, apparently: “Ken, we're going in.”

“...” I open the door. The inner part of the inn is clean at least, the counter and a stairway are to the right; a common room is just in front of the entrance. I turn to the counter and see a man in his forties there, writing something. So we're not worth your time? “A room for four,” I say loudly.

The man looks up. “Welcome to the Bronco's Bucket. A room for four?” He has the cheerfulness of a businessman, who doesn't even bother that we're a quite suspicious group as long as we're paying. “Erm... one room for four? Not two rooms?”

Kyou-san is about to say something, but I but I give her a telling glance to let me handle it. “We're mercenaries as you can see. One room is enough.”

“But...”

“...ah, I see.” I point at Kyou-san. “My little sister,” then at Rine, “my lover,” and finally at Ara-san: “A friend.”

“...Oh. I see.” The inn worker seems to understand the gist. Well, sharing a room with three women would be a bit odd, and might get ugly in several ways, especially with all that sexual stuff. One man sharing a room with three girls would be suspicious.

However, since Ara-san is an alfr, she’s discounted right away. If Kyou-san is a relative and Rine is the actual lover, it becomes much easier to understand. Not like anyone would suspect us to be having sex in an inn or something like that if we share the room under this premise.

“Onii-chan. You just broke Rine.” Kyou-san pulls my sleeve, while she speaks in a hollow voice, which clearly shows her discontent. She looks at me with upturned eyes, as if I had just ripped off the head of her favorite stuffed bear.

Still, that's nothing compared to Rine, who is shivering while creating some sort of fluffy pink aura behind her. Or maybe it's just my imagination since my senses aren't able to catch how happy Rine is. “L--Lov---Lover ~ ?! My dear called me his lover!”

Rine, stop it. It's creepy as hell. Is that drool coming from the corner of her mouth?

Since Kyou-san and I are both Asian, making us siblings was the easy way to go. I doubt that they can even tell that we look too different to be related.

Ara-san was safe from the start, humans and alfar don't mingle sexually unless there is a damn cursed ring, which makes the impossible possible because of wtf.

So what about Rine? Well, since she's unmistakably native as a blonde, she can't be a relative. Making her a friend of Kyou-san or Ara-san would still give the possibility of a secret affair or something like that. However, if I just go and say that she's my girlfriend, there will be no strange rumors or something like that. That's what I thought.

What I completely forgot here was that Rine is actually a living human being, who definitely is too direct and honest with her emotions, and me overlooking that will make me suffer.

In times like this, it's best to turn to the manipulative Kyou-san. I send her a message with my eyes: 'Can you handle it?'

'What is there to handle, O-ni-i-chan?'

'How can you give me an Onii-chan-look!?' Well, guess she's pissed because I didn't tell her that beforehand again.

“Ara-san? Could you-”

“Kenta-kun called me his friend. I kinda like that, but somehow...”

…

… …

What is wrong with these girls!?

“Could you just give us the keys?” I'm too unnerved to deal with them.

“As long as someone stays to check in properly, it's fine. A cheap one or something better?”

“Something better.” If we're staying at an inn, we can afford a bit of luxury, especially in an inn like this.

“Here you go.” He puts some keys with a imprinted brass pendant on the counter.

Kyou-san picks them up and declares: “We’ll go ahead, Onii-chan.” Please, stop calling me that! The way you accentuate it gives me shivers!

The girls go up, Kyou-san more or less pulls Rine and Ara-san with her.

The man at the counter smiles at us wryly. “Hard, I guess.”

“You bet.”

“Let's talk business. You are mercenaries, right?”

“Yeah, Lion's Squad. Rank 0.”

“Looking for requests?”

“No, just passing through.”

“Alright. Room for 4, that's 680 Newgold per day. Or 6,000 for a week. Meals and baths included.” The innkeeper points at an abacus on the counter, suggesting me to use it, if I can't do mental math.

Well, those are around every shop in this world, so I guess there are enough people who can't, but if I, a Japanese, wouldn't be able to do some simple additions, I'd be ashamed.

So let's do some math, won't even need [Student]'s [Calculator]-skill for it. 680 Newgold per day, while 6,000 for a week. A week in this world is ten days, so booking a room for a week would cut some costs.

Yet a week just seems too long for our needs. “Here.” I pick some coins from my purse. One big gold-like one, three smaller ones and six silvery coins. “Two days for starters.”

“Alright. We have three bathrooms. Let me see the board... They're currently free, so you can use them now if you like.”

“Bath...” Taking a sniff from my sleeve, I realize that even after the rather short way from Aroahenn, I already smell bad. “Yes, seems like a good idea. Two of them, for an hour.”

“Certainly. I can ask the kitchen for some snacks if you like. Otherwise, you have to wait for the evening.”

“...can we ask later?” I'm currently not hungry, but I don't know about the girls.

“If the kitchen still has some, it's fine. Finally, can you read?”

“Yes.” Good thing that I'm learning to read this world's script, it still takes some time but combined with the hero-translator, I should be okay.

“Great. Then please read the behavior rules of the inn and Goldbrunn in general for mercenaries.” Urgh, he just presents me three pages of small text, all of them written in the native letters.

“Phew...” In games, all of that would just be cut into a small dialogue and an options screen. So much simpler.

―○●○―

The room is neither cramped nor spacious. Four beds are standing at the walls, same goes for two desks and four small three-drawer dressers. Rine-chan is still in her dream world, Arako has already fallen into one of the beds, and Ken is still downstairs, making a deal with the innkeeper.

But seriously? Little sister?

… Who is even older, Ken or I? If he had birthday back in Japan, it was never apparent. If not, he had the same kind of sad birthday party as I, without anyone around.

Depressing...

Let's think positive. Or rather, let's just think normal, because Rine-chan is so overwhelmed by Ken's pretext that she just radiates optimism, which gives me the warning to stand with both feet on the ground.

Somehow I have qualms about letting her know the truth about Ken's 'lover'-arrangement. I think Ken is somehow afraid of Rine-chan, so he will probably not answer her feelings.

What a jerk.

Well, Rine-chan deserves much better anyway.

“A short briefing before Ken comes into the room.” Arako is inherently lazy when it's not about studying heroes, while Rine-chan is badly organized, so somehow I ended up being the one who keeps us girls in line. Somehow really similar to back when I was class president. “We need to look for a training ground here and try to get some time without Ken so that we can discuss things.” While Ken is in charge of the team, there is much we have to discuss without him.

“...uh... we still train even here?” Arako grumbles. She was the one who asked Rine-chan and me if she could join this morning, but she's already sick of it.

“You don't have to if you prefer overworking yourself again.”

“...no...”

“Good. Rine-chan, wake up.” I pinch her cheek lightly.

“Hub!?”

“We'll go out in the evening and look for where we can train. Maybe we can also get an opportunity to have a meeting tomorrow.”

“Wife conference?”

“...yes, wife conference.” I don't like that term. “Now, I need to look at your arm again.”

“OK.” Rine-chan sits down on one of the beds and presents her broken arm.

I use my skills to discern if the recovery time is delayed. It seems that just traveling and some light exercises have no ill effect, as long as she doesn't move the arm too much. Being a hero would be convenient if you weren’t kidnapped in the process.

“Everything is fine. Maybe we can speed it up a bit if you can rest properly.”

“Great! I can't wait to get it healed!”

“And no hugging until then.”

“Yeeees...” She certainly doesn't like that ban, but she does it too forcefully to be good. “Kyou, Dear called me his 'lover'!”

“*Sigh* I know, I was right there.”

“So what comes next?”

“...nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing. Excuse me for saying it, but he lied.”

“... … lied?”

“He used a pretext for some reason. Well, actually he kinda thought it through by his standards. To cut it short: I'm not his little sister either, so it was a whole big lie.”

“...” Rine-chan's eyes open widely as if she has just realized some world-shattering news. Maybe kids feel like this if they learn that Santa Claus isn't real. “*sniff*” Ah, now she cries.

That's why I didn't want to tell her.

The door opens, and Ken comes into the room. Can't he learn to knock!? “Everything is dealt with and-”

Rine-chan steps in front of him. “Kenta!” Her eyes are full of tears. “When you told the man that I was your lover, was that a lie?”

I can see several nuances changing his face, which would translate to the following thoughts: 'What is she talking about?', 'Oh, she means that?', 'Erm, should I tell her?', and 'Ah, what a pain, just make it short.'

So his answer doesn't surprise me: “Yes, it was.”

Within a second, Rine-chan's face is full of anger, and her right, healthy arm moves to slap him. Ken tilts his upper body back, he saw through that motion. Too bad that Rine-chan moves her right foot a bit forward and closes her open slapping hand into a fist, which changes course right into his solar plexus without even breaking her movement.

Ken might have expected her slap and was able to follow it with his sharp senses, but changing attacks mid-course was outside of what he could answer. In Rine-chan's fist is enough strength to slam Ken to the floor.

If he wasn’t wearing armor right now, then he would most likely cough like crazy or pass out, since the solar plexus is a vital spot, and if you hit it, the opponent gets air-shortage and great pain, but his red armor could redirect much of the force, so he is most likely just in pain.

That's until Rine-chan takes his right hand in hers, lifting it up while forcing the rest of his body down by pushing her foot into his armpit. Then she twists his arm, which makes him wince. “Kenta! Please don't lie. If you lie, you hurt people.”

What irony, now Rine-chan is hurting Ken. He somewhat deserves it, since he played with her feelings. He should have known better, but this is only the second time Rine-chan is really angry at him, and since we're usually more cautious than that, she has never resorted to physical violence before.

I certainly don't plan to make her angry at me again.

“Ken,” I sit down on my heels to get a better look into his pain-contorted face: “now explain to us, why you didn't tell us this idea of yours again. I mean, we already had this discussion, and you could have clearly told us about it.”

“Shut uaaahhhh-” The moment he tried to talk back, he moved and put him into even greater pain.

*sigh* “It could be so much easier.” Is it some sort of stupid pride, the lack of trust, or just because he's dumb. Maybe I'll never figure that out. “Rine-chan, would you let him go, please?”

“No.” She pouts.

My eyes wander to Arako, who sits on the bed with a piece of paper and a coal-pen in her hand, writing something down. I go to her and peek into the paper. She seems to be following how much HP and SP Ken loses while comparing his and Rine-chan's stats.

Too bad Ken, no support for you. We’ll just have Rine-chan let out some steam then.

I could certainly argue with her, but I think it's better for her to just let these feelings go. It's not me on the receiving end, after all.

Well, I could give him a hint. I make sure to establish eye-contact with Ken. 'Just apologize.'

'Hell no!'

'You like pain? So you're a masochist?'

'...no, and shut up!'

'OK. Then I'll just watch your suffering in amusement.'

'...fine...' “Rine...” Oh, he spits these words out like it takes a lot out of him. “...I'm sorry.”

“You better be!” Rine-chan is still performing her hold. “I’ll let you go if I can hug you.”

Sigh, this girl. “Rine-chan, no hugging for now. Remember your arm.”

“Ah.” Rine-chan tilts her head while thinking about what she may demand from him. “Then call me 'sweetheart’.”

“No-urgh...” Ken's face is distorted in pain, but I can see from his expression that he thinks it's worth the pain.

“...Kyou?” Is she out of ideas already?

Rine-chan is somewhat throwing a tantrum. Since I'm her best friend and something like her second mother, I have to decide if I want to give her what she wants or if it would be better for her to deny it.

Looking at the situation, there is only one way. “Rine-chan. You can't just use force to get your way. It may work in the short run, but if you press Ken in doing things to you, he will end up hating you.”

Without a moment of hesitation, Rine-chan released Ken's hand and kneeled down to him. “Sorry. I... I didn't mean to, I was just so angry and... Dear, please don't hate me.” Now she's crying for another reason. What an emotional girl.

Maybe all of this is getting to her much more than we assumed. She accompanies us while turning her back to her home, being forced into a marriage with someone she didn't choose, and trying to convince herself that it's what she wants.

Or maybe she's just so full of passion, that she goes way overboard.

I look at Ken, who clearly has no idea how to handle her in this state. 'Just say that she doesn't have to worry about it.'

“Don't worry about it?” Don't make it a question, you dumbass.

“Yes!” Rine-chan smiles at Ken, who seems to be a bit enchanted by it. Just drop dead.

“Arako, you get some data out of it?” I don't even know half of the thought-processes of my alfr friend, but she seems to always be collecting data in her mind and writing it down, whenever she has the time.

Otherwise, she's the laziest bum I've ever seen. It's like whenever heroes aren’t involved, she just withers away. I'm sure that Ken and Rine-chan don't even notice how much she's slacking off.

For example, whenever I cook, Rine-chan tries to help me. I think she likes to learn how to cook. Ken will either maintain his equipment, take a bit time off to read the book he got from Rine-chan, go out doing some experiments with Arako, or patrol the parameter.

What Arako does is mostly depending on Ken. If he's away, she will either write and go over her notes, or fall to the ground and just do nothing. When I don't remind her, she won't clean her dishes after a meal. Whenever it's time to air the pelts and blankets of our bedding, she rushes it.

She says she worked as an accountant back in her homeworld, but I'm sure she also did just the minimum amount of work then.

Looking at her now, when I got her under my thumb, she seems like a decent person, but whoever remembers how her home looked like, shouldn't be tricked.

So in general, there are only two things that make Arako do stuff voluntarily and those things are knowledge about heroes and Ken. That's why I asked her, to get a bit of a better grasp of how she thinks.

“Data, yes, although they make as much sense as most of the other parts. Currently crunching numbers, but my theory of flexible stats seems to be accurate, just trying to fill in the variables.”

“That means?”

“That [Attributes] may only show either the maximum or the average capacity in the status screen, making it much harder to get an understanding of them. For example...” She takes a look at her notes. “What do you think did more HP-damage? The punch or the hold?”

“The punch?”

“In fact, no. While the punch did more damage to Kenta-kun in general, he lost the most HP when Katarine-san tightened her handhold.”

“How could that be?”

“I have two theories. Either the armor mitigated some damage, or the hit on the upper body doesn't have as much effect on Kenta-kun's health. It may be more painful, but the stress to his joints is more damaging overall.”

“I can see that, but what does it have to do with [Attributes]?”

“Maybe a hero's [Vitality] is not the same over his whole body?”

“...” This could be. Not that I really understand what Arako is implying here.

“NO HUGGING!”

“Buuuuuut-urgh!”

At the other end of the room, Ken is currently pressing Rine-chan's face away from him. It looks like they did some of their usual routine again.

“Ken, Rine-chan, I know you’re having fun, but now we have to talk business, and Rine: No hugs, your arm!”

“Phew...”

“OK...”

Like children. “Ken, anything we need to know? Like what kind of excuses we have to use so that everything fits within the little story you're forcing on us?”

“...erm... just don't talk about the details?”

“Then let's just assume someone asks us from where we are, which is sure to happen at some point, since we're Japanese. What would be your answer.”

“'Mind your own business!'”

I rub my temples. He didn't even hesitate. “So you didn't think this through. You may avoid people, but that makes us stand out... you just stay quiet, and I’ll figure out the details.” If I let Ken handle this, he will most likely blow it all out of proportion. “Anything else?”

“The rules. In a nutshell, no large weapons in the taproom, no picking fights here, and in general, we should somewhat behave.”

“Logical.”

“Ah, and we can use the baths.”

This notion piques my interest. “Tell me about this.” As a true Japanese, I can't pass up the chance to get a proper bath. I'm aware that I don't smell good currently, since during traveling there is not much opportunity to clean myself properly.

So let's get rid of that stink and become halfway civilized again!