NTR | C4 – I’ve Lost My Mind

“…It seems he’s caught on.”

“Ugh, me too. It’s all because of that bastard Philip…”

Judy, Chloe, Irinette, and Cecilia – the women in Evan’s party apart from Evan himself – were having a secret meeting at the moment; this meeting had ulterior motives, so they could only hold it behind Evan’s back.

“I had a bad feeling about this. It would’ve been stranger if we didn’t get caught, ugh…” Judy’s muttering elicited questioning looks from the other women.

Though she hesitated at first, Judy ended up telling the truth in response to their questions.

“Yeah? Even so, doing it in Evan’s bed… that’s a bit much…”

“Hah. It’s odd that we didn’t get caught.”

Those were the words of Cecilia and Irinette respectively.

As for Chloe, she was not in a position to gossip herself and remained silent.

“I didn’t want to do it either! You think I’ve gone mad, rolling around with that pervert Philip in Evan’s room? That pervert keeps pushing it, that’s why!”

“Still…”

“Hmm. Philip can be quite overbearing.”

Of course, Cecilia and Irinette weren’t blameless either — all four women currently conversing were well aware of that fact.

“What if Evan finds out everything? What should we do? I feel so guilty towards Evan…”

“…Do you really think he’s figured it all out? Evan can be quite oblivious, Chloe, you know that.”

“That’s true… His recent behavior hasn’t seemed out of the ordinary at least.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right. Even though he’s changed from before, he hasn’t gotten angry with us. He still seems oblivious.”

“I agree. He’s different from before, but he’s never been angry with us. I guess he still doesn’t know.”

There was a good reason why they felt guilty about Evan’s obliviousness. It was because they had recently slept with other guild members. Naturally, it wasn’t from force or coercion. They willingly entered the embrace of other men of their own volition.

And there were reasons behind their actions too.

“…Should we have refused that offer?”

“But it wasn’t as simple as that. It was a chance to turn our lives around…”

Currently, the women lacked affiliation with any major group.

Though they had formed a party of five, it was just a party and nothing more. Compared to larger guilds, they were a modest group.

Then, one day, two officials from the Scavenger’s Guild, Amir and Gael, made them an offer.

An offer for recruitment – the condition was sexual servitude, including surrendering their virginity.

It was an outrageous and impudent demand, and naturally, they refused it. However, unable to perpetually rebuff the men’s seductive advances, the women could not stubbornly refuse forever. So they offered up their virginity, solely seeking career advancement through this choice born of their willpower.

Though they didn’t necessarily need to consult Evan or seek his approval, this was undoubtedly betrayal, and the likelihood of Evan taking it well was slim.

While they couldn’t confront the situation head-on, the lingering disappointment was inevitable. With such reasoning, the party members silently harbored the truth within themselves, concealing it from Evan.

“So, what are you all going to do? Even if you feel sorry for Evan, you can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity,” Chloe threw in a discreet remark. 

The other heroines expressed their thoughts in their own ways.

“…I’ve already made up my mind. And it’s too late to turn back now…”

“I still can’t give a definite answer. Who knows what ulterior motives those Scavenger guys might have.”

“I’m with Cecilia on this one. Even if I backed out now, things couldn’t go back to how they were before. So, I’m going to talk to Evan separately. This tiresome party has come to an end.”

After Judy’s resolute tone at the conclusion, the party members rallied their spirits.

Yes, it was too late for second thoughts. There was only one option left.

Afterwards, they discussed at length how they should comfort Evan.

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

It’s been a week since I was possessed into the idiotic body of Evan.

During this week, I haven’t really done anything of significance. Just an endless repetition of eating, sleeping, and relieving myself. I occasionally crossed paths with the heroines, but never engaged in conversation with them.

Perhaps they sensed my unusual demeanor, as they didn’t initiate any conversations either.

After spending those meaningless 7 days like this, today, once again, I found myself doing nothing.

I just want to drift away like water, but my pessimism and grumbling about the world can only last so long – I should start getting my act together now.

Struggling to grasp my hazy consciousness, I began assessing the situation.

“Hah. So when are you going to send me back home?” I spoke into the empty air again. Today, the goddess remained silent as always.

I don’t know if she was hiding out of guilt or fear of my retaliation.

But I wish she’d show up sooner rather than later. If that crazy woman made a promise, she should keep it, dammit.

“Tch, I’ll give it one more chance.”

With difficulty, I rose from bed. I can’t keep going on like this forever.

You never know, right? If I diligently play Evan’s role, maybe she’ll actually send me back to Earth.

Harboring that faint glimmer of hope, I left the room.

—Creak

As I was about to step through the open door, a woman was lingering outside. Soon spotting my presence, the woman let out a short gasp and spoke, “Eh, Evan. You’re awake.”

“Um, good morning.”

A white-haired woman with long braids.

She was dressed in armor, with a sword strapped to her waist.

Based on her appearance, this woman must be Irinette — Evan’s sword instructor.

Contrary to her confident appearance, she seemed somewhat cautious in her demeanor, “By any chance, will you be resting again today? We have quite a few requests piling up, you see…”

“You don’t need to wait for me. You all can go on missions yourselves.”

“Ahem. How can we leave without you? We have to do this together.”

Even as she spoke, Irinette couldn’t meet my gaze. Was she acting this way out of guilt? She didn’t seem at ease with her own transgressions.

But what does it matter to me? It’s something completely unrelated to me anyway.

Without a shred of resentment or even interest, I replied, “You’re right, we’re comrades for now so we should stick together.”

“Ahem. But did something happen? You seem rather low on energy lately.”

“Not really? I’m just the same as usual, so don’t worry about it.”

As I brushed past Irinette, I continued, “Let’s go downstairs. It’s been a while since we went dungeon delving.”

“Oh, got it. Okay.”

As I descended the stairs, I was greeted by the bustle and noise of many people.

On the first floor, where I arrived after a short while, I found it teeming with crowds.

Mercenaries drinking alcohol from the early morning. Adventurers inquiring with the counter lady to accept missions.

Among the crowds were Evan’s companions as well.

I walked over to those familiar faces.

Irinette. Judy. Cecilia. Chloe.

Taking in those four women at a glance, I couldn’t help but feel mixed emotions within me.

“Uggh, finally showing up, huh! Because of you, seriously!”

Evan’s close friend Judy vented her irritation.

“A whole week was way too much, don’t you think? Just the requests we missed out on without you number in the dozens!”

“Ah, so noisy.”

“What? This is too much!”

When I frowned and responded curtly, Judy’s tone became even more sharper.

“There’s a limit to how much we can endure! We were worried seeing how troubled you looked, but this is just going overboard! And if something’s bothering you, you can consult us about it, can’t you?”

“I don’t know. It just happened, so just let it go.”

“No way! I’m asking because I’m curious! Curious! Answer me!”

I wonder how I should handle this. Of course, Cecilia stopped Judy, so I didn’t have to.

“Ju, Judy. Calm down first. Your voice is too loud.”

“Ugh! This is frustrating!”

I averted my gaze from the squabbling Cecilia and Judy when Chloe reached out and placed her hand on my forehead, “You don’t have a fever, do you?” Her soft touch was accompanied by a concerned tone, as if trying to comfort me.

Though Chloe seemed quite sincere, I simply brushed her hand away, “Why are you all making such a fuss? I’m really fine, so let’s hurry up and go.”

“Jeez. I’m just worried about you, why react like that.”

“There’s a limit to how much you can worry. This is overprotection, you know? I’m tired of it.”

“…Evan, you’re acting strange today. You’re not like yourself. Why are you like this?”

Not like myself? Hmm. This was the first productive conversation I’ve had with these girls.

And it was an accurate observation too. I masked my flustered feelings with a cough, “We’re busy right now. Stop dilly-dallying and let’s get to work quickly.”

After saying that, I headed towards the request counter.

Just as I was about to speak to the attendant, Judy spoke first, “We’ve already accepted a request. Remember that giant hog rampage some time ago? Turns out their den was discovered.”

She handed me a piece of paper containing the request details.

“It’s ranked D-grade. But the reward is quite generous for that rank. Should be worth considering, don’t you think?”

She glanced at the other party members, seeking their agreement.

After brief contemplation, the rest nodded in assent.

I didn’t voice any objections either.

“Okay, let’s register for this one then.”

Afterward, we prepared our equipment.

Protective gear to absorb external impacts, followed by artifacts that enhance physical abilities and mana.

As I watched my party members diligently equip themselves, I thought to myself, quite unnecessarily fussing over this, aren’t they?

‘Are they all safety fanatics? It’s just a few piglets, why are they going so overboard?’

No. Evan’s party was said to be D-rank

And according to the novel’s depiction, these girls were utterly inept fighters below their rank. It was said that the four of them together can’t even take down a single ogre properly.

A ramshackle bunch of members.

Yet the party persisted solely thanks to Evan’s capabilities.

While not particularly skilled himself, at least Evan wasn’t completely useless.

‘Heh heh. I can already see the darkness ahead.’

I held my breath as I recalled the bleak development of the novel.

I didn’t have these worries with the previous hero party, those were the good old days.

Then the irritating face of Karen suddenly came to mind and I frowned.

Come to think of it, there were no particularly good times after all.

While I was wasting time with unproductive thoughts.

My colleagues seemed to have finished their preparations and were about to leave.

I got up from my seat to join them.

“Hm? Judy, your laces are undone.”

“Uh-huh. I know.”

It looked like she wasn’t ready yet.

So I sat back down to wait.

“………”

But what’s this? No matter how much time passed, Judy didn’t move a muscle.

She just said she knew. If you know, then hurry up and tie it up, what are you doing?

“Judy. Your bootlaces are undone. Aren’t you going to tie them?”

“Huh?”

Judy tilted her head at my puzzled question, “I told you, didn’t I? That I know?”

“….?”

At first, I didn’t understand.

But seeing her outstretched feet towards me, I finally realized.

“…Don’t tell me you want me to tie them for you?”

“You’re acting really weird. Are you hurt somewhere? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

“Erm… Aren’t you the one who’s hurt? Why would I tie your bootlaces?”

“Well, because I don’t know how to tie them. That’s why you always tied them for me.”

…What kind of nonsense did I just hear?

So you’re telling me that an adventurer who’s going out to fight monsters doesn’t know how to tie their boots?

Why? How can you not know? How is that possible?

As much as I understood, I refused to accept it. It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be.

“Well? Hurry up and tie them already.”

“…Hah.”

I let out a brief sigh and took a moment to gather my thoughts.

But no matter how I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with anything to say.

‘How should I deal with this useless woman…’

As I was sighing inwardly, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind.

It was Cecilia. Holding out a flask filled with blue liquid, she spoke, “Um, Evan? Could you open this for me?”

“…Can’t you just unscrew the cap and open it yourself?”

“Erm. I don’t have the strength…”

Oh for fuck’s sake.

I nearly lost my mind at that moment.

“Dammit, I told you I would do it! Evan! Is this the right way to tie them?”

What? I think I’ve actually lost my mind.

End of chapter……Thank you for reading……

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