NTR | C5 – I Am Tired

My expectations were already low, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed. And as if to mock my thoughts, the others were putting on a spectacular show.

“Ow! Why do you keep standing there! Move over to the side!”

“Kyaaah! Cecilia, are you crazy?! Why are you casting magic missiles at me instead of the monster?”

“Ugh, sorry. I’m just not doing well today…”

The two front-line fighters, Irinette and Judy, were tripping over each other’s feet, their formation in shambles. This was just the beginning of the party’s chaotic display.

Chloe, the archer, was shooting arrows at her own allies, while Cecilia, the mage, was miscasting healing spells and hurting them instead. They were a ragtag group of misfits, and the situation was a complete mess.

‘Damn it. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss those guys.’ I comforted myself with these useless musings.

“Evan!” Judy called out to me as I stood there, silently watching, “Why are you just standing there spacing out? We’re all falling apart because you’re not concentrating!”

“…Heh.”

“Hurry up and help!”

Reluctantly, I moved into action, since it seemed someone might actually fall if I didn’t. A true adventurer party relies on teamwork to defeat monsters. But this party was only a party in name only; there was no teamwork to be found.

So I decided to forgo any briefing and stick to solo play.

Swoosh! Crunch!

My changed body was still unfamiliar to me and due to this indescribable disconnect, I made a few mistakes. But as time passed, it gradually improved.

‘My strength is a bit lacking. I might drop my sword if I make a mistake.’

While my frail physique paled in comparison to before, this body did have its uses. I could easily handle around a dozen giant hogs. Of course, this was greatly influenced by my personal skills.

I was referring to the swordsmanship style I had honed during my time as Hero Mayer, as well as my unique sense of battle. These were my greatest weapons now.

I focused all my senses on my swordsmanship and thanks to the assimilation of my senses, it didn’t take long for me to fully adapt.

It wasn’t until after 10 minutes that I was able to wield my sword without any discomfort.

—Squeal!

—Kieeek!

Gushing sprays of blood traced the path of my sword and the monsters’ death throes echoed around me.

I let those cries spur me on, continuing my rampage.

In the midst of the slaughter, a giant hog charged towards me. I had been expecting it, so I easily dodged it. However, Chloe, who was behind me, wasn’t so lucky.

“Ugh!”

A thud was followed by her pained groan.

Tsk. Can’t she even dodge one of those? I glanced at her briefly before returning my focus to the hunt when…

“Evan! What’s wrong with you?”

…Judy’s sharp voice broke my concentration. Turning to look at her, she seemed visibly annoyed, “How could she dodge that! Because of you, only Chloe got hurt!”

“I, I’m fine, Judy…”

“And you’ve been straying from the formation the whole time! You’re supposed to be marking the monsters in the front!”

“…Me?”

“Yes, you!”

Judy had a point.

The original Evan wouldn’t have dodged that attack, considering Chloe behind him and Chloe knew that, which was why she was just standing there, stunned.

‘What was that saying again? Kindness begets entitlement.’

It seems the situation had deteriorated due to Evan’s habit of always helping out. So in a way, he bears the most responsibility for the party’s current state. To be honest, that’s true. If they just sit back and let Evan do everything, how will the party ever improve?

Sigh, And I’m the only one who has to suffer because of his good deeds.

“Evan, I’m really okay…” Chloe looked up at me with a bitter expression.

The other party members regarded Chloe with pity, but of course, I felt not an ounce of sympathy. 

If anything, I found it pathetic.

“Tsk. Move it. Don’t just stand there.”

“Huh? Wha-“

“Hey, Evan!” 

Judy, who was next to me, shouted.

She put her hands on her hips and glared at me, “Why are you talking to her like that? Chloe’s already feeling bad enough!” Anyone who saw this would think I was the one in the wrong

“It, it’s fine, Judy. It’s not Evan’s fault.”

“Still, you didn’t have to be so harsh! Even if you can’t apologize, you could at least try to comfort her!”

So this is it, huh? They want me to shut up and sympathize with her?

Truly, are these people really adventurers?

I let out a deep sigh and refocused on the hunt and voices calling out to me from behind were ignored — they were not worth listening to anyway.

───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───

“What’s gotten into him lately? It’s not like he’s a teenager or anything.”

Judy, the red-haired woman, spat out an irritated remark. She was quite displeased with Evan’s sudden change.

“I know, right? I’ve felt it since a week ago; he just hasn’t been the same,” Cecilia, the blonde-haired mage, chimed in, agreeing with Judy.

Normally, Evan would have apologized and healed Chloe’s wounds first. In fact, he wouldn’t have let Chloe get hurt in the first place, because that’s just the kind of man Evan was — someone who, even at his own expense, always protected his comrades.

“So, it wasn’t just me feeling that way? At first, I thought I was imagining things, but he’s becoming increasingly colder, right?” 

“Mm. His actions and tone have become so frigid. I wonder what he’s been through in just this past week.” The woman nodding in agreement was Irinette, her brilliant silver hair shimmering as she moved her head. “Lately, he’s even been skipping training, which is so unlike Evan,” she added.

Evan was usually the last to go to bed and the first to rise, his calloused hands a testament to his dedication. But recently, Evan had been noticeably absent from training. She, who used to spar with him every day, was particularly disappointed.

Anyway, Evan had changed in an instant, to the point where it was hard to believe he was the same person.

“………”

Chloe looked at Evan’s retreating back with a slightly disappointed gaze. She didn’t blame him. But she couldn’t help but feel hurt.

‘Evan….’

It wasn’t that she couldn’t avoid it – she just didn’t. Why? Because she was confident that Evan would protect her, just like he always had. The depth of that trust was proportional to the extent of her disappointment.

Judy looked at the dejected Chloe with a worried expression, then let out a deep sigh, “Geez. Does he have some kind of grudge against us? What on earth is making him act this way?”

They didn’t know the root cause of this change.

No, in truth, they had an inkling of what it might be.

“It’s probably that, isn’t it? He’s upset with us….”

“Ahem. He might actually know.”

“Even if Evan knows, it won’t change anything. Sorry, but we have our own circumstances too.”

“…You’re right.”

There was no option to simply follow Evan. It was a choice separate from any feelings of remorse.

The four women finished their discussion, and soon, Evan returned, signaling the end of the hunt.

The party members then returned to the inn, resuming their usual daily lives.

Of course, the only difference was Evan’s changed attitude.

“It’s chicken stew!”

Cecilia approached Evan as he was eating the stew at the table.

She already had a spoon in hand, but Evan’s brow furrowed at the sight.

“Evan, Evan! Where’s my bowl? I want to eat too!”

“Huh? Why are you asking me? If you’re thinking of getting it from me, forget it.”

“What, what? But, you know… I really like chicken stew…”

“Then you can cook it yourself. There’s not much left of mine, so get lost, tsk tsk.”

“…Ah. But I don’t know how to cook…”

Cecilia glanced back and forth between Evan’s face and the stew, bewildered. Even if there was only a sliver left, Evan used to share it. Cecilia missed that kindness of his.

“Evan, my bowstring is broken. Could you fix it for me?”

“Am I an archer? You fix it yourself.”

“Huh? How am I supposed to fix this? You’ve always done it for me.”

“I don’t know, I don’t know. Ask someone else.”

“Eh, Evan?”

Evan walked away without even glancing at her.

In the end, Chloe had no choice but to rely on herself. She used the skills she had learned from Evan over the shoulder to repair the bow…

But even then,

Twang!

The string snapped again almost immediately.

She bit her lip as she looked at the broken bow.

“Ah, Evan, there you are. Could you do the butchering for me? My stomach isn’t quite up for it, you see.”

“Butchering? Sorry, but I don’t want to do that either.”

“Hmm? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I said I’m not doing it. I don’t like getting animal blood on my hands either. And why are you trying to pass on your work to me? Anyway, I don’t want to.”

“H-Hold on a minute! Then what am I supposed to do with this…!”

Irinette was in a similar predicament.

Evan’s uncharacteristic behavior felt so awkward to her.

“…Ugh.”

She reluctantly resumed the butchering work, but as the blood splattered on her face, she dropped the knife.

That’s how Irinette ended up skipping lunch.

───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───

Three days had passed since then.

The party members had wanted to reconcile with Evan if possible, but the relationship only deteriorated further.

“This is getting way too much…”

“I agree. We may have done something wrong too, but even so, this is too much.”

“Hmm. I concur as well.”

The main topic of discussion was Evan’s change in behavior.

And without exception, everyone was unhappy with Evan’s transformation. Judy, Evan’s childhood friend, was practically on the verge of exploding.

“Geez, really! What’s so hard about tying my bootlaces!”

Judy, his childhood friend of 15 years. 

She knew how to handle Evan very well. Evan was a very easy going person, and the foundation built over 15 years was not to be taken lightly.

But that was now in the past.

“What should we do… Should we try apologizing to him?”

“What? Apologize? As if we’ve committed some great sin.”

“Hmm. We’re the ones who are suffering because of Evan’s tantrums. Evan should be apologizing to us.”

Judy shook her head at Irinette’s words.

She had a strange conviction that Evan’s heart had already left them.

“If he was sorry, he would have done something about it by now. Evan’s tantrums have been going on for days. Anyway, I can’t take it anymore.”

The guilt was gone. All that remained was an annoyed feeling.

Afterward, she came up with a brilliant idea.

“He’s acting like this because we’re being too nice. When we show him attention, Evan takes us for granted and ignores us.”

“…That’s not entirely wrong, is it?”

“Don’t you all think so? If we had gotten angry even once, Evan wouldn’t be acting this way.”

“That makes sense.”

“Judy’s right. That’s probably the case.”

Encouraged by the agreement of the other party members, Judy took it a step further.

She then proposed a suggestion.

“We need to show him. That we’re not just going to sit back and take this.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying we should confront Evan?”

“Something like that. Right now, Evan is treating us like cold leftovers, right? It wouldn’t be strange for us to get angry too,” She raised her index finger as she continued. “So we’re going to throw a tantrum too. For example, we’ll say we’re leaving this party because of you, Evan.”

“Huh?”

“Think about it. If we say we’re quitting the party, Evan will be desperate to stop us, won’t he? That’ll force him to change his attitude towards us.”

“…I see.”

“Hmm….”

For a while, the only sound was the silence around them.

And then, after a while, Chloe broke the silence.

“I’m in. I’m tired of being treated this way by Evan.”

Perhaps Chloe’s determined voice gave them strength.

Cecilia and Irinette also nodded their heads as if they had made up their minds.

End of chapter……Thank you for reading……

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Translator’s Notes :

The release schedule is 2-3 chapters a week.