TSPGD 03

Chapter 3

“What?”

It was obviously a room I had asked for first!

When I glared at the innkeeper, she rolled her eyes around and looked at me.

“…….”

“…….”

Our gazes collided in midair.

Then the innkeeper sneakily glanced sideways at the man standing beside me.

What? Don’t tell me she’s trying to negotiate right now?

I ground my teeth as I witnessed the innkeeper’s impressive salesmanship.

I couldn’t back down because of my travel expenses and my physical condition.

So, before the other side could steal the advantage, I desperately shouted,

“The room! I asked for it first!”

I squeezed out my dying voice and yelled.

The man slowly turned his head and looked at me.

I also turned toward the handsome man in the robe.

And finally, our eyes met.

“Holy crap.”

He was handsome enough to slap an idol in the face and make Hollywood look mediocre.

Even with a robe pulled over him, his handsomeness practically radiated outward.

Black hair, flawless pale skin, a straight nose, and red lips.

And eyes as blue as the waters of the South Pacific—though I’d never actually been there.

He had the kind of face that naturally inspired admiration.

It was an instinctive reaction to a face that looked as though it had been created by God himself.

But the man seemed displeased, because his eyebrow twitched.

“Holy…… crap?”

Apparently, my vulgar expression had bothered him, so I immediately explained.

“Ah, that’s not an insult. Um…… I mean you’re so handsome you make me want to swear.”

“So handsome that you make people swear…….”

The man casually touched the hilt of the sword at his waist.

I saw it and sucked in a breath.

Then I hurriedly changed the subject.

“……No. I mean, I asked for the room first.”

I quickly changed the subject, but I couldn’t hide how nervous I was.

The handsome man in front of me was around 190 centimeters tall, with broad shoulders.

His strength seemed to match his build.

He looked like he could send my head flying with one hand.

Apologize.

I quickly assessed the situation and immediately bowed my head.

“I’m sorry…… for swearing.”

“Hm.”

“But I asked for the room first.”

I could apologize for swearing, but I couldn’t give up the room.

If I leave now, I’ll die out on the street.

Whether I died this way or that way, the result was the same, so I was desperate.

But the man wasn’t backing down either.

“I heard this is the only place in the area with a room available.”

“So what am I supposed to do……? No, I mean, I asked for the room first!”

I bit down firmly on my lips, trying to solve the problem peacefully while making sure I only said polite things.

If I say the wrong thing again, I feel like I’m going to get sliced up right here.

Is the only way to solve this problem to spend money?

I sighed, pulled out ten silver coins, and placed them on the counter.

Clack.

The average room cost was five silver coins, so I had offered exactly twice the normal price.

“Quickly! Give me the room!”

I made my demand very clear to the innkeeper.

The handsome man in the robe stared down at me but said nothing.

Why…… is he looking at me like that?!

Unable to withstand his intimidating gaze, I turned away.

The innkeeper looked back and forth between me and the handsome man in the robe before saying something completely unnecessary.

“Pretty boy, why don’t you two just share the room?”

At such an absurd suggestion, I rejected it without a moment’s hesitation.

“No! And I’m not a boy!”

“No.”

Fortunately, the handsome man in the robe felt the same way.

“Hmm. Then it can’t be helped. This boy did arrive first, after all. Here, the room is at the very end of the second floor.”

“I told you I’m not a boy!”

The innkeeper, apparently annoyed, handed me the key.

I hurriedly grabbed it.

I was just about to walk toward my room when—

“Hey. You.”

The handsome man in the robe, who had been standing behind me, called out.

I stopped moving as though his languid voice had cast a spell on me.

I could have ignored him and kept walking, but my body wouldn’t move.

What?

Just as I wondered that, the man approached me.

Then he suddenly leaned his face close enough that I could feel his breath.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

I screamed in surprise, and then the man casually dropped a shocking question on me.

“You don’t look like a man.”

My heart began pounding.

My mind went blank at the unexpected crisis.

W-What? Does this handsome guy have some kind of sixth sense?

But I couldn’t admit it.

They say the one with the loudest voice wins.

So I bared my teeth like a pathetic little Chihuahua and shouted,

“W-What are you talking about?!”

Like a thief caught red-handed, I deliberately got angry and shoved him firmly.

What is he, a boulder?

I pushed with all my strength, but he didn’t move even an inch.

Instead, I stumbled backward against his unmoving, rock-solid chest.

“Hmm.”

The man didn’t take his eyes off me.

His blue eyes seemed to inspect me from head to toe, making me tense up.

Gulp.

I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

If they discovered I was a woman, I had no idea what might happen to me right here.

The entire tavern is filled with scary-looking men.

There were rough-looking mercenaries and all sorts of people whose occupations I couldn’t even guess.

Most of them looked dangerous.

I absolutely could not let them find out I was a woman.

I shrank back and cautiously avoided the handsome man in the robe.

“D-Don’t say pointless things and just go on your way!”

I spoke as firmly as I could and quickly turned around.

Knowing that attracting any more attention would put me at a disadvantage, I hurried toward my room.

Please, just let this pass.

Grab.

Suddenly, someone caught my hand.

The force pulled my body backward.

I fell backward like a paper doll.

“Huh?”

My head tilted backward.

The world flipped upside down, and I saw the man’s face.

Thump.

Before I even had time to admire his handsome features, the back of my head slammed directly into the handsome man’s chest.

I ended up practically falling into his arms.

Only then did a scream escape me.

“Eek!”

It all happened so quickly that I couldn’t regain my balance.

So I inevitably landed against his body.

And then he wrapped his arms around me.

“W-What?!”

It had turned into a back hug.

For a moment, I froze in shock.

But the man was so strong that I genuinely couldn’t move.

“Hey! Let go!”

Even so, I didn’t give up.

I twisted my entire body, desperately struggling to escape his grasp.

Then a cluster of light began to bloom from the hand holding me.

What is that?! What is he doing?!

I knew absolutely nothing about magic, so the sight of the glowing light terrified me.

It seemed as though the man was doing something to me, and my anxiety grew stronger by the second.

Damn it. I didn’t expect to have to use my self-defense sword this soon.

With my free hand, I pulled the sword from inside my clothes.

I managed to draw it out, but I immediately ran into another problem.

Oh, damn it. I can’t get it out of the sheath.

With no other choice, I decided to strike his wrist with the sheathed sword.

No matter how well-trained a man was, the wrist was still a relatively vulnerable target.

I swung to strike his weak point, but……

Click.

He caught the sheath with his other hand.

“Huh? You blocked that?”

I was momentarily flustered.

But because he had caught the sheath, I was able to draw the sword.

Shing.

I swung again, intending to bring the short blade down on his wrist.

Tap. Grip.

Damn it! Blocked again!

He discarded the sheath and grabbed my wrist.

Even in the midst of all this, the glowing light continued spreading through the air.

“Ugh! L-Let go of me! What are you doing?!”

“…….”

The man’s blue eyes silently stared at my wrist.

No, more precisely, it seemed like he was looking at the glowing light.

What kind of handsome pervert is this?!

They say leaving home means trouble, but apparently I was doomed either way.

Things had been difficult when I stayed home, and they were difficult after I left too.

I was beginning to feel miserable.

It was already unfair enough that I had died from overwork in my previous life.

But this romance-fantasy world I had transmigrated into was somehow even more ridiculous.

I was struggling desperately just to survive, and the unfairness of my situation made tears well up in my eyes.

“Why are you doing this to me?! I told you I got the room first!”

Once the tears started, they quickly streamed down my face, and even I couldn’t control them.

“Let me go! Waaaaah! It’s my room…….”

“…….”

“You were the one who came late, so why are you doing this to me?! Let me go! Waaaaah.”

I was too miserable and exhausted to keep struggling.

I simply went limp and sobbed loudly.

I became overwhelmed by the fear that this pervert might drag me away and do who-knows-what to me.

“WAAAAAAAH!”

At the sound of my crying, the noisy atmosphere around us gradually fell silent.

I didn’t care about the change and cried even louder.

Whether I die this way or that way…….

As I sobbed uncontrollably, the intimidating men who had been loitering around began approaching the handsome pervert in the robe.

Among them, a frightening-looking bald man with a long scar around his eye stepped forward.

“Hey, buddy. You into men?”

At the mention of that, the robed pervert didn’t answer.

Instead, he silently looked down at my tear-streaked face.

“…….”

“But what are you gonna do? The kid says he doesn’t like it.”

The bald man moved closer as though attempting to establish a very physical form of communication.

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

“You can enjoy yourself all you want, but don’t mess with kids.”

The bald man grabbed the robed pervert firmly by the shoulder.

“We may be a bunch of rough bastards, but we don’t mess with children.”

Hearing that, I looked at the intimidating men again.

Just because they looked scary……

didn’t necessarily mean they were bad people!

“Well, if you’re that desperate, you can try me instead. Heh heh.”

The bald man turned his hips and laughed lecherously.

I stared at the bizarre situation unfolding before me and suddenly stopped crying.

Ah. So I’m not destined to die after all.

This world had a garbage-tier social system, but apparently there were still people here with a decent sense of morality.

Moved by their courage, I pushed myself away from the robed pervert and escaped his grasp.

Perhaps the man had also sensed the crowd’s reaction, because he no longer tried to hold me.

So I was able to break free easily.

The men shouted after me.

“Hey! Kid! Get inside, lock the door, and go to sleep!”

“Th-thank you!”

Sniffling, I hurried into my room and locked the door.

Even as I dashed away, the man remained standing exactly where he was, silently watching me.