All the mushrooms are finally here!!

I handed a whole basket of long, JB-shaped silver tendon mushrooms to Gibor at the front desk.

“Pff! You really brought them back. How do you feel?”

Gibor looked at me with a wicked grin.

“Heh. You know exactly how I feel, and you still ask. Just wrap up the quest already.”

“Tooooon~ Did you finish your quest?”

Aerin, who’d just turned in her own quest, walked over.

“All done~~~”

I pointed at the basket of silver tendon mushrooms.

“Nicely done~~~ That makes you a Bronze Adventurer now. You won’t have any problem feeding yourself.”

Aerin walked over and patted my shoulder.

Just then, Gibor, who’d finished processing my paperwork, handed me a hexagonal copper plate. I took it and saw the Adventurers’ Guild emblem on the front, with my name engraved on the back.

“Congrats on officially becoming an adventurer. This plate is your adventurer ID. Wherever you go, this proves who you are. Don’t you dare lose it,” Gibor said in a serious tone.

“Congratulations… I’m really sorry for calling you a pervert all this time. Your behavior was kinda off, sure, but I know it wasn’t on purpose.”

Aerin looked at me with a deeply apologetic expression.

“Haha, it’s fine. I was the one who took it too personally.”

Being suddenly apologized to like that left me a bit embarrassed.

Right then, a young girl suddenly appeared in front of me.

“I finally found you!!!”

She saw me, didn’t say a word, and just threw her arms around me.

“Wh-…what is going on??”

Aerin jumped back in shock.

“You said once you finished your quest and came back, you’d let me repay you with my body in exchange for the Magic Staff!”

The young girl said something completely baffling while clinging to me.

“R–repay you with your body…?”

My mind went blank.

“R-repay you with her body…??”

Aerin echoed the words back, stunned.

“Kid!! Weren’t you out doing a quest!? How the hell did you manage to rope in the lord’s daughter!?”

Gibor stared at me, utterly dumbfounded.

“I didn’t do anything!”

“P-pervert!!!!!!!!!”

Aerin flew in with a kick and sent me flying right out of the girl’s arms.

“Why are you attacking my fiancé!?”

The girl grabbed her Magic Staff and pointed it at Aerin.

“Did he use some kind of mind control on you or something??”

Aerin hurriedly shifted into a defensive stance.

“Of course not. He just promised that if I offered myself to him, he’d give me the Magic Staff.”

“What Magic Staff? Get up and explain this. Now.”

Aerin turned and looked at me, who was currently stuck to the wall.

“I don’t really get what’s going on either! But the Magic Staff she’s talking about should be this one.”

I quickly pulled out the Magic Staff I’d shown on the street earlier from my backpack.

“…………………………”

“............................................”

The room suddenly fell silent.

“W-what’s with everyone?”

I looked around in confusion. It was already evening, so there weren’t many people in the guild, but the silence felt way too intense.

“T-this Magic Staff is…??”

Gibor stared wide-eyed at the staff in my hand.

“H-how much stuff can your sunflower even store!?”

Aerin looked at me, completely shocked.

“That’s the part you’re freaking out about!?”

“That’s right. No matter what, I have to obtain this Magic Staff. Even if I have to offer myself, I, Tia Isabella, will not hesitate.”

As she spoke, the girl puffed out her chest—no, her chest, not her… yeah, chest.

“Hold up. What do you even need this Magic Staff for?”

Why did it have to be this one?

“I can feel that the magic in this staff could easily wipe a city off the map. No… used properly, it could probably erase half a country. That’s why I must have it. I’ll use this staff on the battlefield to drive back the dogs of the Empire.”

Tia recited her grand speech, righteous fury blazing in her eyes.

“Uh…”

I felt ridiculously embarrassed hearing such chuunibyou lines.

“Hey, kid, I don’t know where you got that staff, but this is your chance. Lady Tia’s a Gold Adventurer of the guild. If she takes you along on quests, you’ll hit Silver or even Gold in no time.”

Uncle Gibor leaned in and whispered in my ear.

That so…? Once I hit Gold, I can rake in fame and fortune easy~

My eyes lit up.

“Tōn, what are you gonna do? Can you let me ride your coattails too?”

Aerin suddenly squeezed in next to me.

“Where’d you pop out from? Weren’t you just calling me a pervert and kicking me into the wall?”

I gave Aerin a sideways look.

“Please! Getting carried by a Gold Adventurer is like a dream. The pay, the speed we clear quests—normal parties can’t even compare.”

Aerin pressed her hands together and begged me.

“Fine, fine. Let’s hear what Tia says first.”

I lowered my voice so only the three of us could hear.

“Um… since I’m already your fiancé anyway… could you take me and my companion on quests and help us reach Gold rank?”

I tested the waters carefully.

“No problem!!! Whatever my husband asks, I’ll obey.”

Tia answered on the spot.

“Why are you still clinging to that ‘husband’ thing!?”

Aerin came flying in with another kick. I dodged it on reflex.

“This Magic Staff doesn’t matter that much to me. You can have it.”

As I spoke, I held the staff out to Tia.

A system window suddenly popped up in front of my eyes.

[Are you sure you want to transfer (Legendary: Midnight Aria) to Tia?]

I confirmed silently in my mind, then handed the Magic Staff to her.

“It really is a treasure… Thank you, husband.”

Tia gave me a satisfied smile.

“Pervert.”

Aerin spat the word at me from behind.

“Also, I never said you had to repay me with your body. Just call me Tōn from now on.”

I needed to clear this misunderstanding ASAP, or I was doomed later.

“No. A promise is a promise! Even if you don’t want to marry me, I’ll marry no one but you!”

Tia’s expression was dead serious.

“Uh…………”

Yeah, the trouble level was already sky-high.

“By the way, what’s your class, anyway?”

Aerin asked.

“Uh… I’m not really sure.”

“Don’t lie to me. Before you said you’d lost your memory, but you clearly remember everything now. Out with the truth.”

Aerin glared at me hard.

“Uh…”

My brain switched back into lie-fabrication mode. I pulled a Magic Staff out of nowhere earlier, right? Then I might as well say I’m a mage.

“I’m actually a mage. I came from really far away. On the road I ran out of food and water and collapsed. Some bandits passing by robbed me of all my money and gear. Luckily I used spatial magic to stash the important stuff somewhere else. It was too embarrassing, so I didn’t want to tell you.”

Perfect. This lie is flawless.

“So that’s how it is… Yeah, that is pretty embarrassing. And you even used spatial magic to, uh, make your ‘thing’ that big just to store stuff in it.”

Aerin looked at me with pure sympathy.

“What the hell goes on in your head!?”

I had to stop her train of thought before it derailed any harder.

“So your class is mage, then.”

Gibor cut in.

“Yeah.”

“Perfect. From now on, I’ll teach my husband how to become an outstanding adventurer.”

Tia nodded earnestly.

“I told you, call me Tōn. Stop calling me husband. That promise doesn’t count.”

No more unnecessary misunderstandings, please.

“So our party’s gonna be one lancer and two mages? That doesn’t sound reliable at all…”

Aerin looked honestly troubled.

“You’re the least reliable one here, you know that!?”

“Right, husband, where do you live? If you don’t mind, you can come stay in my room.”

Tia gave me a very tempting invitation.

“No! Absolutely not! This guy’s a pervert, how can you let him into the lord’s house!?”

Aerin rushed to shut that idea down.

“I’ve already offered myself to him. Even if he’s a pervert, I’ll accept him.”

Tia said this with total sincerity.

“D-don’t… I have a place to stay. No need to worry.”

I hurriedly cut the two of them off. If I really moved in, my life would turn into a never-ending mess.

“I see. That’s a relief then. Tomorrow morning, let’s meet here at the guild. I’ll take you two out on a quest.”

Tia gave us a bow and took her leave.

After she walked out, Aerin and Gibor just stared at me for a long, long time.

“Kid, I thought the worst-case scenario with that panty thief quest was you teaming up with the guy to steal underwear. Never in my life did I expect you to steal the lord’s daughter herself.”

Gibor sounded completely incredulous.

“Pervert…………”

Aerin muttered angrily, then turned and left.

“Sigh……………………”

I let out a quiet sigh. Looks like my otherworld journey wasn’t going to be easy at all…