“Good job. Salvage and let’s head back,” the tester said. When we returned to Perseverance, he hurriedly reported to ADAS and went off with another party. I passed easily.

To celebrate my passing grade, we had mead, which I lowered the temperature of, and dinner in a tavern. We laughed, chattered, and enjoyed ourselves. I pondered if they forgot I was a monster too. The mead got us a little hammered, so we lugged ourselves back to the inn somehow, and crawled up to our rooms.

As we were about to get to the rooms, Solina pushed Tina with me so we’d share a room. She and Adam took the other room. Wait, what? Why? I’m confused! I was closest with Solina, so I assumed she’d want to be roommates with me, not Adam. Are they dating? I pondered.

Tina cast Clean on herself and removed her cloak. I did the same and locked my eyes on my bed. My eyes squinted to see better. I found that the bed was a bit, bigger than I expected. But I paid it no mind and dropped myself onto the sweet fluffiness. Ah, man, this feels great!

“So,” I felt a bit of weight on the other side of the bed as it shifted, “what did you want to talk to me about?”

I opened my eyes and looked at her, and realized she was much closer than I expected. She couldn’t decide if to focus on my eyes or my lips.

Oh! Oh… It occurred to me now why Solina pushed her towards me when we were just about to enter our rooms. I could see Tina’s nervousness, but she continued anyway and placed her leg over me to mount me. Wait! I’m not gay! But, she looks really pretty. I trembled. That’s just the alcohol talking, Deidre! But, this never happened before. What if I never get a chance like this again? I mean, Solina was okay with it, right? Right?

I raised my hands like a rusted robot and put them on her waist, and she lowered herself and put her lips to mine. I could smell the alcohol, and I could feel her thirst for me. It was, thrilling, especially feeling that someone wanted me that much. Her tongue wiggled I into my mouth and my eyelids shot open. Her eyes looked right into mine, and a jolt of electricity shot through me when our gazes met each other so closely. My hands gently travelled up from her waist until they swerved underneath her loose blouse and cupped her breasts. Her moans were exhilarating, but she wouldn’t be the only person letting out noises; her fingers undid my belt and swept down, rubbed around, and entered me.

Sometime after, I laid awake. That was fucking amazing! I looked at her beautiful sleeping face. How is she sleeping so soundly after that? I can’t believe I was missing that all this time. W-what does dick feel like then? Ah, goddammit Deidre! Stop slutting! I turned towards my little spoon and nestled next to her.

When I woke up, she was already gone. Ah, yesterday was so much fun! I sat up, yawned, and stretched. I wonder if she actually likes me or if it was just a fling for her…

I cast Clean on myself and my clothes, and in the middle of it, I found Tina’s panties. Huh? I scratched my head. What am I supposed to do with this? I flung it onto the bed. Wait, what if housekeeping finds it? Shit… I stuck it in my dresser drawer and was about to leave. Goddammit Deidre, that’s not even a proper hiding spot.

Just then, my book flew off me, nudged open the drawer, and sucked in the underwear like a black hole. I stood there in awe. This damn book. “Thanks, this works.”

When I went downstairs, I saw my amazing party of adventurers were having breakfast. Solina looked like death itself – she did drink copious amounts. I cast Intermediate Heal on her to fix her hangover.

I joined them for breakfast, and they were mostly silent. What’s with this awkwardness? “I’m E-rank now, right? What will we do today?”

Solina grinned. “Anything we want!” She looked up in triumph. She would constantly put forth positivity even when no one else had to heart to do so. “What do you guys say we hunt something more difficult now?”

“Like what, Lina?” Adam asked, a bit draggy.

Solina smiled mischievously. “Gnolls at south river.”

“No way!” Tina folded her arms in defiance. “Those things are nasty, the ground is mushy, they smell horrible! They’re way too noisy, and there’s too many of them. Not doing it!”

“Come on, you damn wizard! Stop bein’ such a wuss!” She pouted and laid her arms down on the table. “Besides, we got Deidre with us now.”

“Yes well, I get what you’re coming from,” Adam said, “but I don’t want to become dependent on anyone’s ability.”

Solina grunted. “Okay, okay, fine! What do you guys want to do then?”

I tried to listen to them, but they kept going back and forth. At some point, I tuned out and began reminiscing about my brother, Isaac. We’d bicker over trivial things like food, video-games, or whatever else we’d fight over. I really missed him. I know he’d miss me too, because it wasn’t easy dealing with a heartbroken mother. What’s worse, I died – it was hard to imagine how it affected them. He had friends, but they weren’t close like he was with me. I was afraid he’d keep it all inside and hope time would fix it. I wondered how I’d feel if Isaac was the one who died, and I had to deal with his death. Hopefully, he kept good and lived his life.

“—re! Hey Deidre!” Solina shouted me out of my daydreaming.

“Huh?” My mind finally returned to the present. “Sorry, what’d you say?”

“I said,” she slammed a black quest down on the table, “we’re doing this!”