Part 1

“What! A demon in the mines?”

“This area is full of lower level monsters. Why did something so strong show up?”

Everyone in the guild was in an uproar after I revealed my game knowledge.

The only person not going crazy about it was Heroine-chan.

She froze up even worse than when I mentioned demons before.

Guildmaster turned to me.

“A demon in the “Magic Mines” is concerning. Are you telling the truth, Hero-kun?”

“Yeah it’s true. There’s a demon. That’s why I’m so scared. That’s why I ran away. I knew, there was no way I would be able to go from a new hero to fighting a demon in a few days.”

The mumbling in the crowd started to get louder.

It seems like they believe me.

I tried to warn her but now it’s too late.

I know this is the first town in “Light World” so the adventurers here are not that strong.

Adventurer-chan was probably one of the highest levels here.

Still there is strength in numbers.

If a lot of adventurers went, they had a shot of taking down the demon but now, they’re probably all too scared to accept the quest.

Adventure-chan looked worried about Heroine-chan.

“Heroine-chan are you ok?”

Hm… looks like she’s pretty scared now.

You can’t just talk so big and then chicken out like this now.

In the game she has a weakness when it comes to the demons.

With the help of the hero and his smooth talking skills, she was able to get over her fears and the two of them defeated the demon together.

“Hey Heroine-chan.”

“...”

It would be a problem if no one went on this quest.

That demon can do whatever it wants but I would feel bad for the miners if no one went to save them.

Guess I have to fix this although I have no intention of comforting her.

“Hey! Hey!”

I started poking at her.

“What?”

“Tomorrow you are off to the Magic Mines to fight a demon. What’s your plan?”

“...”

“C’mon. Tell us what your big plan is. Surely you’re not thinking of running away like some selfish hero right?”

Adventurer-chan tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey Hero-kun. You’re being a meanie right now.”

“Sorry Adventure-chan, this is just so ironic.”

Heroine-chan finally decided to speak up.

“... I’ll … I’ll defeat the demon.”

Good, she’s finally regaining some of her spirit.

She doesn’t seem too confident though.

I better turn it up a notch.

“You’re gonna fight the demon huh? The most powerful race of monsters. A weakling like you is gonna defeat it.”

“Y-yes. Yes I will!”

“You couldn’t even see through that little trick I pulled earlier. No way you can beat the demon!”

“You’re wrong! I’ll go to the Magic Mines and kill it!”

“Ha! I doubt it! You’ll run home crying once you see how scary that demon is! I’d bet anything that you can’t kill the demon!”

“You would?”

“Yeah I would.”

“Fine then. I accept your bet!”

“Huh?”

What did this girl just say?

“You said you’d bet anything that I can’t kill the demon! Well… I accept!

“What?”

“If I defeat the demon, you will come back with me. You will continue your job as the hero.”

“Woah woah woah. I just got a bit too excited. I take it back. I already said I don’t want to be a hero anymore! - Ouch! Who the hell threw that!”

The spectators started making a ruckus.

“Hey you idiot don’t talk so big and then chicken out now!”

“Yeah! You’re the one that started this whole bet you dumbass!”

Everyone throwing stuff and making a mess ticked off Guildmaster.

“HEY! Stop making a mess in my guild!”

Once everyone calmed down, Heroine-chan looked towards me.

“Well then… what do you say Hero-kun.”

How annoying.

I can’t just refuse in front of all these people.

“Fine.”

Part 2

After we shook on it, Heroine-chan left for the castle.

There was a decent amount of damage to the guild due to all the fighting so it closed early and everyone went home.

Guildmaster forced Adventure-chan and I to help clean up though.

“Make sure you get those floors shining. I’m letting you two off the hook by making you clean instead of charging you for all that mess.”

“You’re the one who kicked me into the table in the first place!”

“It was necessary. There would have been more damage if you had continued fighting.”

“I was about to end the fight right before you kicked me! And by the way, I was getting my ass beat for a while but you only stepped in once I was about to win. What the hell?”

“Idiot! I can’t have an adventurer hurting a customer.”

“That's so unfair.”

I looked over at Adventurer-chan mopping the floor.

She’d been lost in thought for the whole night.

Ever since Heroine-chan left, things have been quiet.

Now I know that those two were actually friends.

I don’t know how they are connected though.

“Hey Adventurer-chan, how do you know Heroine-chan? I’ve been wondering what your deal was since you were supposedly at the feast the day I came here.”

“We actually only met a few weeks ago. I saw her and her squad while I was out on a quest. I helped them clear out some monsters around town. From then on we’ve been friends. She even invited me to the feast in the castle with everyone.”

So this loveable idiot helps out more people than just me huh.

We’ve only known each other for a day and we’re already pretty good friends.

In fact, she’s probably my only friend right now.

I better be nice since she probably feels worried for one of her other friends going into that dangerous dungeon.

“Hey Hero-kun.”

“Yeah what’s up!”

“Do you think she can do it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think Heroine-chan can beat the demon?”

“Hm. Well, there was a pretty good chance before I revealed there was a demon, but now everyone is too scared to go on the quest so there is a lot less manpower.”

I’m sure Heroine-chan and her squad will be able to save the miners just like in “Light World” the game, but when it comes to going back in and facing the demon, I doubt it.

Although Heroine-chan is really strong, she and the hero were meant to fight it together.

She’ll end up having to abandon quest when she sees the difference in power.

Adventurer-chan was looking pretty determined.

“So there won’t be any adventurers going with her tomorrow huh?”

“Hey make sure you don’t get any dumb ideas. Even if I wanted to go, there’s no way I would be able to help. I know you’re worried about your friend but we would probably just get in the way.”

“Come on! If no other adventurers go, we’ll get the whole 200 thousand gold to ourselves!”

Huh?

“I thought you were worried about Heroine-chan you idiot! You were just thinking about the money!”

“Please Hero-kun - Oof.”

I threw my wet rag at her.

“I already told you no!”

“Oh you want to play with water huh? Well let’s see how you like this. WATER!”

“Aaaah! Hey that’s overkill! You’re flooding the room!”

“Hey you two idiots quit messing up my guild!”

“Ouch!” x2

Part 3

God yesterday was such a pain.

Luckily, after completing our first quest, I had enough money to spend the night at the inn.

Although it wasn’t a fancy bed in a castle, it felt good.

I’ve been sleeping on the floor the last few nights.

Yawn!

Since last night, a lot has been on my mind.

Heroine-chan and the other knights were supposed to head for the Magic Mines this morning.

If they somehow manage to pull off beating the demon, that means I have to become the hero again.

Without the urgent quest in the background, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting strong so quickly.

Still I would have to worry about getting strong at all.

All of my stats are way worse than they originally were.

It would be impossible for me to keep up with later game enemies now.

It’s probably best if I don’t become the hero anymore.

I will definitely just be a burden to the actual heroes.

I don’t have to worry too much though.

It would take a miracle for them to defeat that demon.

I’ll just continue focusing on being an adventurer.

Speaking of which, I better get going.

Adventurer-chan and I need to complete a bunch more quests in order to clear our debt.

I headed over to the adventurer’s guild to meet up with Adventurer-chan.

As soon as I walked in, Guildmaster started giving me a lecture.

“Ouch!”

“What the hell were you two thinking!”

“It wasn’t my fault! Besides, we couldn’t have done anything about it?”

“That Super Slime you two led to the gate caused a lot of trouble for the guards! It took out a watch tower before it was defeated. You two are lucky no one was seriously hurt!”

“Uh… sorry - Ouch!”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it. The guild is being charged with the damage costs! It’s being added straight to your debt!”

“What!”

“Adding that to the water damage in the guild Adventurer-chan caused last night, you now owe about 120,000 gold.”

That’s so much!

I’m gonna yell at that girl when she gets here.

“God you two are so much trouble. For being a supposed hero, you sure don’t act like one.”

“Hey I told you I’m not a hero. I’m just an adventurer who is looking for a way to go back home.”

“Yeah yeah yeah.”

“By the way guildmaster. Are you ok with me deciding to not be the hero?”

“Well, you do seem to have a weird amount of knowledge concerning the situation in that dungeon. I would have appreciated you going with the knights so things went more smoothly but it makes no difference to me. There are a lot of other responsibilities that adventurer’s have besides being hired to fight the demon army. It’s not like the knights or the church who are dedicated to it. As long as you guys aren’t lazing around, then I won’t have a problem what quests you do.”

That’s good to know.

I didn’t know what my relationship would have been with the guild since I was found out.

Looks like it’ll be alright to continue as an adventurer.

“Alright then, where is Adventurer-chan? I have another quest for you two.”

“I actually don’t know. She looks like the type to sleep in, but this is pretty late.”

A cute mage girl with a large staff walked up to us.

“Um excuse me.”

She seemed pretty shy at first.

“I actually wanted to join the quest to the Magic Mines. I met with the knights at the town gates this morning, but I wasn’t able to go.”

“Hey. Don’t be too hard on yourself. A demon is a difficult opponent. There is no shame in being too scared to go.”

“Huh? I wasn't scared. I’m not like you, you idiot!”

This girl is pissing me off.

“The captain of the knights told me that her pride was on the line with this mission, so she would have preferred if adventurers didn’t come with her.”

“Ok. So why are you telling me this?”

“Well they ended up allowing one adventurer to go with them.”

You have got to be kidding me.

“I saw Adventurer-chan go with them. She was grabbing the captain’s ankles crying. She begged “Please take me with you! Please! I have no more money! I need the reward to pay for my rent. Plus I still have to take care of a troublesome party member. He keeps racking up debt at the adventurer's guild. If I don’t do this quest we’ll surely be stuck with his debt forever.””

Something doesn’t sound right about that story!

“After crying for a few minutes, the captain let her go with them.”

Damn that girl.

I told her not to go!

“Hm. To go on that quest with such a small force is reckless.”

Guildmaster is right.

I feel kinda bad now.

I can’t believe she went actually went.

Looks like everyone else in the guild was feeling the same.

“Did she really go to fight the demon? That’s way too dangerous for her.”

“She’s not too bright, will she really be ok?”

“I hope she makes it back in one piece. She always treated me for drinks.”

The mood was killed after we all found out about Adventurer-chan.

I can't help but feel worried for her.

God why am I feeling sorry?

I told her not to go.

Seeing the distressed look on my face, Guildmaster started to tease me.

“Hoho. Seems like the mean spirited Hero-kun has a soft spot for Adventurer-chan.”

“Huh? Of course I don’t. I was just… worried for the knight squad. She’ll probably end up causing problems for them.”

“Is that so?”

Hey, what’s with that smirk on your face Guildmaster.

“I want to believe, but I just don’t know if she’ll be ok in there. She was such an important part in all of our lives at the guild!”

Hey hey, what the hell are you doing.

The other adventurers to join in.

“Yeah that’s true. I didn’t talk to her much but she always looked out for me!”

“Yeah. She would always treat me for food whenever I would fail a quest. Even if she didn’t have any money, she would rack up her own debt just to make me feel better.”

“Man, I wish there was something we could do to make sure she’s safe.”

Hey you guys stop it!

Otherwise I’m gonna end up doing something really stupid.

Guildmaster used her trump card.

“It really is a shame. She could never join another adventuring party because no one wanted to accept her large debt. Even still, she spent her time learning support skills for the day she would finally have a friend to go on quests with. The thought of her alone in that dangerous dungeon, oh it makes me shed a tear.”

Crap…

It was a critical hit.

“Aaaaah! God dammit!”

I shot up out of my seat.

Everyone stopped sulking and gave me their attention.

“Hey! Everyone here owes Adventure-chan. She cares about all of us so we better return the favor. I’m gonna go make sure she comes back safely. Who’s with me?”

Everyone stood up!

“We’re gonna go on that quest and back up Adventurer-chan!”

“Yeah!” x10

“We’re gonna go save all the miners trapped in the caves!”

“Yeah!” x10

“We’re gonna go defeat the demon!”

“...” x10

“Hey you idiots what the hell happened. We were all being so cool just now!”

“Don’t yell at us! You’re the one who ran away from the demon army! They’re scary!”

They have point.

Guildmaster moved me aside and got everyone’s attention.

“Ahem. If I may interrupt this very heart warming display, I have some news about the urgent quest. Due to the new information that a demon is behind this incident. The details of the quest have changed.”

What is she talking about?

“The reward is now double!”

“Yeah!” x10