After that day, Sophia and I decided to restrain ourselves until we reached Marta.

    "There''s no need to take risks for a moment of pleasure when you have a long tail," we reasoned.

    Siu seemed to suspect something between us for a few days, but eventually he seemed to conclude it was all in his head, as he didn''t bring it up.

    However, it was obvious he was still paying attention to us.

    "Siu, can we talk for a minute?"

    I couldn''t help it. I needed to clear up the misunderstanding.

    Well, it wasn''t really a misunderstanding, but anyway.

    During a break, I called Siu aside to speak to him.

    "Why have you been acting like this lately? Why do you keep watching us?"

    "Bro, it''s... Ah, it''s nothing..."

    "It''s nothing? You''re worried about what''s going on between Sophia and me."

    "..."

    "Ah, this clueless guy. Were you always this timid?"@@@@

    "But you and Sophia!"

    "Do you not see that Sophia is just trying to make you jealous?"

    "...What?"

    While I was clearing up Siu''s suspicions, I also tried to make sure he would no longer worry about us.

    It was a jealousy strategy.

    It wasn''t true, but it was enough to fool this naive guy.

    "Ever since the day you awakened as a hero, you''ve been distancing yourself from Sophia. She''s been waiting for you all this time."

    That was a lie.

    In reality, it was Sophia who had been distancing herself. But saying it this way, Siu would think, ''Ah, was that what I did? Right, that happened.''

    "I wish we could be as close as we used to be, but since that day I''ve felt a distance between us. You should be more proactive, that''s why Sophia is acting this way."

    "Oh...!"

    "Even though Sophia and I are close like family, we weren''t as close as we are now. If you know that, you should take the initiative to get closer to her instead of baselessly suspecting and getting discouraged, really..."

    "I''m sorry! I didn''t realize..."

    "And if Sophia and I were in that kind of relationship, do you think I would let her sleep in the middle? Next to another man? You know I''m sleeping on the outside because I''m concerned about you."

    Actually, that was what Sophia wanted.

    She said she gets more excited than usual when she''s next to Siu, so she wanted to sleep in the middle.

    And when I complained, she secretly touched my penis under the blanket.

    "...Bro, I''m really sorry. I''ve been feeling anxious."

    "What''s there to be anxious about?"

    Sophia asked in surprise, and the chief lowered his voice even more.

    "It seems... something has appeared on the way to Marta."

    =====

    According to the chief, traders from the Zie Commercial Company should have come from Marta, but they hadn''t arrived for weeks.

    A villager named Fred, frustrated, set out for the Zie Company to complain, but he too had disappeared.

    His family went looking for him and found bloodstains and his crumpled shoes on the road.

    Based on these three pieces of evidence, the chief argued that a monster had appeared on the road to Marta, hostile to humans and attacking anyone who approached.

    It sounded plausible.

    The chief said that if we waited, Marta would notice the situation and send guards or adventurers to deal with it... But we decided to set out.

    "Brother... are you sure it''s okay?"

    "We''re not going to solve it right away; let''s just check it out. If we can handle it, we''ll deal with it, and if not, we''ll quietly wait in the village."

    "We have been granted power by the goddess. Those with power have responsibilities commensurate with that power. We can''t just ignore Uncle Fred and wait idly. We have to save him."

    What are you talking about, you crazy guy? We''re just checking things out.

    It seemed like a quest had popped up, but it didn''t look like one we could complete on our own.

    However, it also didn''t seem like a quest to give up on. If we just waited and observed until the punitive force from Marta came, we might naturally get on the bus.

    It would be killing two birds with one stone, joining the punitive force without much effort and gaining favor while residing in Marta.

    Plus, it''s an early quest. Surely we wouldn''t be in danger with the goddess''s blessing?

    This was a reasonable thought... But it seemed like Siu really intended to resolve it himself.

    Is that why he became a hero? It''s irritating.

    After reassuring him that we were just going to check, we walked to where Fred''s shoes were found. As expected, there were bloodstains on the ground.

    Seeing the large stains, it seemed he had bled quite a bit; was it already too late to save him?

    "From here, we need to be cautious and ready to run at the first sign of trouble."

    "Uh... okay!"

    "Yes!"

    While Siu was confident, Sophia seemed nervous, her voice trembling.

    Seeing her like this made me tense up too.

    I took a deep breath and slowly stepped forward.

    -Swish! -Thud!

    Then, something small and round dropped in front of us.

    What is this? It looks familiar.

    A black, round body with a burning wick...

    A bomb?