https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/27/
Trigger warning: Physical assault and attempted rape depicted in the following chapter.
Intrusion
Night was already falling by the time I got back to the dorms from the handshake event and managed to take a breather. I’m exhausted just from this, but I’ll probably be way busier if I actually became a hero.
I still don’t know what these ‘grassroot’ jobs are, but just as I was thinking about cancelling the whole appointment, Dahlia was already at my door. She had prettied herself all up in a nice dress and makeup, and since I would feel bad turning her down at that point, the three of us including Melia left the dorms together.
Our current home is in an area of town where lower nobles and wealthy merchants live, so there are streetlights installed at regular intervals along the road. That, plus the gatekeepers standing at attention in front of every single house here, and suddenly roaming the town at night didn’t feel that dangerous.
We didn’t share any kind of particular conversation between us, and we arrived at a mansion not very far from our dorms without incident. Meaning this place must belong to some wealthy merchant or someone of comparable status.
Dahlia gave her name to the guard, and we were let in without any other safety checks.
We were on our way down a long road connecting the mansion to its wall.
“Um……whose mansion is this?” I asked Dahlia.
“Ronaldo Ruhuna. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Ronaldo Company?”
Dahlia answered as if I was an idiot for asking. Same last name as me, but he isn’t any relative I’m aware of. Maybe a family member of Lily then? When Melia and I both shook our heads, Dahlia snorted.
“Both of you are from the countryside right? The Ronaldo Company deals mainly in food, and even shopping in the markets, you will have dealt with them before even if you didn’t realize it. There will be many other big names at tonight’s get-together as well. I am the one introducing you to them, so don’t do anything rude.”
“What kind of meeting is this? Are we looking for patrons to help establish a guild?”
Dahlia answered with only a wink. A bad feeling was welling up in the pit of my stomach, but I couldn’t build up enough of a nerve to run away before we entered the mansion itself.
I followed after Dahlia, climbing up the steps towards the second floor. There was a double set of doors waiting to welcome us as soon as we got to the top. Dahlia used both her hands to open it, revealing a large, dark room behind.
It was a spectacle that made me want to cover my eyes. Men and women were tangled together everywhere I looked. It was the worst-case scenario of all the bad feelings I had had walking here.
When you’re a commoner with nothing to your name, you lack both power and money. The best way to establish yourself is to find a rich merchant to serve as your patron. This is the harsh reality I had avoided acknowledging.
“Well, let’s go and say hello. Now come on…..where’s Melia?”
Dahlia restlessly looked all around us. Melia, who had been following along in the rear until now, was nowhere to be seen. Apparently she left me on my own. Very smart of her, if not a little heartless to have left your friend behind.
“Oh…..um…..I’ll go look for her. I’m not great with this kind of thing anyway…..”
I want to spin on my heels and dash away from this mansion as fast as I can. I put my hand on the doorknob ready to do just that, but Dahlia grabbed my arm and twisted it with enough strength to make me think she was going to rip it off. Is she using magic to make herself stronger? There’s no way an ordinary woman could have this kind of grip.
“O-Ow! Let go!”
“This is the perfect place for a dancer like you, don’t you think? Melia would’ve been an excellent bonus, but you’ll do fine as well. Come on, follow me.”
“No! Stop…..”
Dahlia dug her free left hand into the pit of my stomach. I buckled over, unable to breathe for several seconds, and she took that opportunity to wrap her arm around my body.
I was dragged across the large room just as I was into a smaller connected antechamber on the other side. A large canopy bed was placed in the middle where a young woman was straddling some guy.
“Ronaldo-san. Thank you for waiting. Let’s have some fun tonight.”
When he heard Dahlia’s voice, the man raised the upper half of his body up, looking at us both as the girl on top of him continued her servicing. This must be the previously mentioned company owner.
“Oh, Dahlia, you’re late. Get here sooner!”
“No need to get your feathers ruffled. I brought you a dancer tonight.”
“I already have a dancer.”
Ronaldo pointed to the girl already on his lap.
“But this dancer is a hero candidate.”
Ronaldo stopped mid-sex and looked me up and down. His eyes licked my body all over, making my skin crawl in the process. Just having to endure this much makes me realize I could never make a living with this particular part of the dancer career options.
“Come here”
I realized he was talking to me when Dahlia pushed my back. Well, I figured he was, but I wanted to put up whatever modest resistance I could manage.
I’d like to avoid any pain, so I took a step forward. Then Ronaldo started staring at me again.
“Not bad. Try giving me a dance.”
“I…..I don’t want to. I’m going home. I didn’t know what this place was when she brought me here…..”
After a short silence, Dahlia and Ronaldo shared a look with each other. And laughed.
“Are you insane? After coming this far? Just between you and me, this guy is collecting votes from those people who don’t care about these auditions. We are talking a number of votes that can easily get you through at least the first round here.”
Dahlia spoke up to try and convince me.
Ronaldo alone has enough voting power to get someone through the first round. I always figured there were people with power, operating behind the scenes like this.
“Isn’t that…..unfair?”
“Sure, but it can’t be helped. What other weapons do we low-ranked commoners have?”
Dahlia is ranked 49th, but since she is a mage, she is competing with Nerine. The difference in power and popularity would be obvious to anyone.
“I’m saying this for your sake. Give up on being a hero and obediently give yourself over to Ronaldo-san. You’ll be taken care of even if you drop out. There are only benefits for you here.”
I always knew in the back of my head that there was no sweet, fairy-tale story for me. My life was never going to magically change if I entered the Hero Auditions. After all, if you can’t stand out in the crowd, you won’t be invited to any guild let alone become a hero. The only option left to commoners who are about to drop out is to use the only weapon they have left to find patrons and establish their own guild.
But I’m not throwing away my pride for a life like that.
“No. I’ll compete, fair and square. And if I fail, I will move on. So, let me go home.”
“You really don’t know how to read a situation. You’re not leaving after coming this far.”
Ronaldo threw the girl on his lap to the side and walked towards me. His left hand shot out, wrapping his fingers around my throat.
His anger’s been building up ever since his bit of ‘fun’ was interrupted, and my refusal threw him over the edge. He slapped me across the face with his free right hand.
My left cheek hurt like hell. Then another slap came in. This time he clubbed me in the ear after I turned away on reflex. A high-pitched ringing rattled my brain, and the entire left side of my face felt hot. The taste of blood flooded my mouth a second later. I must’ve bit my lip on accident.
“I’ll forgive you if you beg me to take you right here and now. Even if you managed to get out of here, I can easily sweep whatever you claim under the rug and have you dragged back to this room. That’s the kind of power you’re dealing with. Give it up.”
Ronaldo voice fell to a whisper, escaping out of a vulgar smile. The difference in strength between us is obvious, and with Dahlia here too, I can’t escape. And I’m already sick of what saying no is going to get me. Apologize and pretend like I want it. That’s the only option he’s leaving me with.
I was desperate, but the moment I was about to give up hope, the door to the large room flew back open.
“Ronaldo! This ends.”
The ones who rushed in were Lily, Olive, and the nobles who usually hang around them. Ran and Ren had come with them as well.
Lily soared across the room, kicking Ronaldo away from me. He toppled onto the ground, and a couple of the noble girls pinned him to the ground.
“Lily-chan!? Are you okay!?”
I didn’t notice because she was in the way back of the group, but Melia had also come in with the others. She rushed over right to me.
“Ah…..Melia…..I thought you ran away.”
“There’s no way I would do that to you! I went to go find help. I’m sorry I scared you. Let me take care of this.”
Staring into Melia’s eyes, I finally realized I had been saved. The tears broke forth after the relief knocked me to my knees.
When Melia put her hands to my face, a pleasant warmth spread through my head. It was also a little ticklish.
A faint light wrapped around me, making the pain disappear as if nothing had happened. Soon the taste of blood had left my mouth as well, and I was back to normal.
When I looked around, I saw that the rest of the room had been completely locked down by the hero candidates who had broke in.
The rest of the party’s participants had been given some scant clothing to wear and gathered together in one group.
I was taken to be sat down with that group. When I took a closer look, I recognized some of the other girls as being hero candidates as well. Dahlia wasn’t the only one participating in these parties. I don’t know their ranks, but with how little of an impression that they’ve left on me, they’re probably mid- to lower-ranked. And all of them were staring at the ground, not willing to look the nobles in the eye.
Standing in front of us were the nobles, led by Lily, with some of the high-ranked commoners as well. You can guess which ones were looking down on us and which ones were pitying us. Melia was shrewdly standing with that group as well, but I’m pretty sure she’d originally be on this side with us. Or, maybe I should be standing on that side with them?
Thinking about it from their point of view, my placement makes sense. I was in here when they put on this raid of theirs.
I wanted to clear up any misunderstandings they’d have, but I had to keep quiet after Lily started talking.
Experimental Translations 