Chapter 3: First Impressions

Judging by the four people’s expressions, it seemed she wasn’t being kicked out. She summoned a clock to check the time, realizing she had slept longer than expected. About fifteen minutes had passed.

It was just a good, deep sleep after a tiring journey.

“Rui, I’ll say it again. Welcome to our party. I’m Aswell, the hero and leader of this party.”

Starting with the hero, the remaining three introduced themselves as well.

“I’m Aria. I’ve been tasked with defeating the Demon King, alongside the hero. I’m called a saintess, but I don’t think I deserve that title yet…”

Saintess Aria’s appearance was a collection of clichés. Slightly curly blonde hair, gentle eyes and a delicate personality, and a…voluptuous chest.

“I’m Serin Kint. I joined this party as Aswell’s teacher and a knight. Nice to meet you.”

Next was the female knight, with her striking blue hair like the ocean. Compared to the titles of elf princess and saintess, hers seemed less impressive, but in reality, it wasn’t.

She had another title that the other heroines didn’t: the hero’s teacher. She also possessed a chest that could make even a pacifist violent.

“Raphilia. Archer. I’ll decide whether it’s nice to meet you after observing you.”

Lastly, the elf with forest-like green hair. Contrary to Aria, she splendidly broke the cliché of “elves have small chests.”

With that, the three introductions were over. Having read the original novel multiple times, she already knew their names and characteristics, but there was no reason to reveal that, so she listened quietly.

Moreover, hearing the self-introductions they made whenever other heroines joined in the novel gave her a strange feeling. Like hearing a celebrity’s famous line in person.

‘Well, I’m not a heroine.’

She deactivated all the magic spells marked “[Process Complete]” and bowed her head.

“Let me introduce myself again. I’m Rui. I’ll be in charge of overall support in the party.”

She hadn’t yet come up with a proper title for the area she would be in charge of. She planned to provide support with equipment, buffs, and various conveniences.

‘Hmm, supporter? Or enchanter?’

It was closer to supporter, but felt like a mix of things. So, she just went with ‘support’.

Joining the party was just the first step. The hero’s conviction and appearance had minimized the discord, but it hadn’t disappeared completely.

Hadn’t Raphilia said as much?

In other words, to be recognized as a proper companion, she had to overcome two major challenges.

First, prove her usefulness as a companion. She also had to reassure the hero, who had defended her.

It wouldn’t do to embarrass him after he put his faith in her.

Fortunately, she had enough skill to avoid doing that.

The second…didn’t apply to the hero. It was what she had to make clear to the three heroines.

‘I’m not a heroine.’

To make it clear that she had absolutely no romantic feelings for the hero. This was actually more important to her than the first challenge.

The first one was likely to be resolved naturally over time. No, it had to be.

But the second one might not be resolved even after several rebuttals and demonstrations.

She was prepared to do anything until their vigilance completely disappeared.

“Rui, your room is the one on the far left on the second floor. I’m right next door, so if anything happens…”

“Huh? Right next to the hero’s room?”

“Yeah. Since you’re new, I thought it would be convenient to be close by to teach you things.”

“…Any other empty room is fine with me.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but the other rooms aren’t cleaned up. That room is the only one that’s clean because I cleared it out for physical training. Oh, are you uncomfortable because of me?”

The hero asked with an awkward smile.

‘No, it’s not you.’

She glanced sideways. Three gazes, each carrying a different kind of coldness, were fixed on her.

I’d rather switch rooms with one of them. But her inner thoughts didn’t reach the hero.

“Phew…”

Having endured the icy stares, she entered the room the hero had assigned her. It was certainly much cleaner than the other rooms, which looked like storage spaces, indirectly revealing the hero’s cleanliness habits.

‘What good does knowing that do?’

She was here to advance her magic research. She just needed to move around for her main purpose.

Click.

The door closed, and she grabbed the doorknob that appeared in the air.

Creak.

An antique door, different from the room’s door, slowly opened, revealing a familiar scene.

“This is so much more comfortable…”

Beyond the door was her laboratory. The hero’s party’s journey wasn’t going to end in just a month or two.

So she had literally packed everything and brought it with her.

“This wasn’t something a human should do…”

Putting her laboratory into subspace. It was something she never wanted to do again. Developing that had delayed her joining the hero’s party.

Still, she managed to join before meeting the witch heroine.

“Let’s store these results for now…”

She put the completed experiment results in a corner of a drawer while waiting for the hero’s party’s meeting. If her prediction was correct, the party would be leaving this town soon.

So, for now, it was more efficient to review and check for any mistakes rather than proceeding with new research.

Scribble. Scribble.

She took out her pen and wrote in her journal, then closed the lab door and came out. Then she took out four magic tools from another subspace.

Gloves with different patterns and colors, her first gifts for the hero’s party.

“They’re prototypes, but they should be usable.”

Test runs were for cowards. A real woman like her made things perfectly usable from the start.

“Hmm, Aria’s overall movements are more flexible and slower than I expected…”

She took out her pen again and started to engrave letters on the gloves. There was a big difference between making something after directly observing and making something based on rough estimations.

She had already modified fourteen formulas after seeing Aria’s physique and movements. Still, this was a more stable method than making them on the spot.

She finished processing the gloves for the four, starting with Aria. As the sun began to set, she was dozing off after completing the gloves when…

Knock, knock.

“Wah!”

“Rui, are you in there?”

It was the hero’s voice.

“Yes,” she mumbled.

“Can I come in?”

Why was he asking permission for every little thing?

Truly heroic.

“Yes, come in.”

“Thanks. We’re going out for dinner now, so Rui… you…”

She yawned as she greeted the hero, but his gaze seemed unusual. As she looked at him questioningly, the hero seemed to realize something and quickly turned his head away.

‘What?’

“Um… Rui. Sorry, but your clothes…”

Clothes?

‘What about my clothes?’

At the hero’s hesitant words, she glanced down.

‘Oh.’

She remembered. She had naturally changed clothes after entering the room. Not into comfortable clothes after feeling tired, but into soft pajamas. And because of her restless sleeping habits… the buttons on the front had come undone quite a bit.

‘Ugh.’

The only fortunate thing was that only her stomach and shoulders were visible. But since this was the first time this had happened, she froze.

“So-sorry. We’re going to have dinner, so come down if you’re joining us. Or I can bring it up to you. …I’ll just go now.”

After the hero hurriedly left, silence filled the room.

‘We just met today.’

To meet him like this on their first day… She cursed her past self for not fixing her habits.

But regrets were regrets, and she needed to eat dinner. She also had to give the gloves to the four of them.

She wasn’t embarrassed about meeting the hero’s eyes or anything.

Absolutely not.

I messed up.

I should have realized Rui’s voice was that of someone who had just woken up. I ignored it and went in, causing a disaster.

‘I should apologize.’

Even if it was just a part, it was still a woman’s body. There were things you could do by mistake, and things you couldn’t.

Aswell, the hero, felt remorse as he waited downstairs.

“Hero? What’s wrong?”

“Huh? …Oh, nothing.”

Aria was concerned about her condition, but she couldn’t respond ass she usually would. The more she tried to erase it from her mind, the more vividly the scene from a moment ago replayed.

‘What if Rui is so shocked she decides to leave…’

What should she do? she was a warrior who had wisely resolved various incidents over the past year, but she couldn’t think of any solution now.

That’s when…

Creak… creak…

she heard someone coming down from the second floor. There were already three people besides her on the first floor, meaning there was only one person who could be coming down.

“Good evening, everyone.”

She came downstairs slowly, with a nonchalant expression. In her hands were four unknown bags.

“You’re here. Shall we go then?”

“It’s still awkward with Rui…but we can get closer while eating!”

“Hmph.”

The three started walking ahead, and the hero and Rui followed a step behind. Aswell usually walked at the front, but he had something to apologize for now.

“Um… Rui… about earlier…”

As Aswell was about to apologize, the mage, who was shorter than him, spoke.

“It’s okay. It happens. I wasn’t careful enough.”

“…But.”

“Rather, I’m sorry. I showed you something unsightly.”

Unsightly? Aswell realized he was denying those words in his mind before he even knew it.

Even though the lights were off, the glimpse he had of her body was quite…

‘Crazy.’

“I’m still sorry. If there are any errands you need me to run later, just tell me. I’ll do anything.”

“Hmm, okay. Then…”

“Hero! We’re here!”

Their conversation ended there. The five entered a famous restaurant in town.

True to its reputation, the restaurant was quite large, and many people filled the interior.

The five entered a private room where others couldn’t see them, ordered their food, and fell into a brief silence. It was Rui, the mage who had just joined today, who broke the silence.

“Everyone, please take these.”

As if she had something planned, the mage handed each of them a bag. They all took out the contents of their bags and examined them.

“This is…”

“Gloves?”

“The material looks quite high-quality…”

“Rui, what are these?”

The mage answered the hero’s question.

“Consider them my first support items. I’ve incorporated appropriate formulas to match each of your characteristics and fighting styles.”

They looked like gloves made by a skilled craftsman.

Wait, ‘match each of you’, ‘appropriate formulas’?

A sudden silence fell over the group.