Chapter 19

A stifling, high-humidity hall, dark without a trace of sunlight. Had the black mage Clarise not been lowering the temperature, more than half of Rex's party would surely have collapsed from heatstroke.

Even the locals frequently succumbed to the conditions. For travelers unaccustomed to such an environment, it was downright unbearable. Yet this harsh climate was simply everyday life in the volcanic city of Saikoro.

"...Flatche-san, are you alright?"

"Hmm... I think it's heatstroke. Doesn’t seem like dehydration, though. Maybe she just passed out from relief after making it to the shelter?"

Amid these brutal conditions, Rex and the others were reporting the events in the cave to Emma. The ambush, the enemies' use of poisoned arrows, the zombies self-destructing, the wolf-like demonkin among them, and how they had molten lava poured onto them.

Emma nodded along, busily taking notes. Compiling and reporting their findings seemed to be her job. One might wonder why Penny or Clarise didn’t just report directly to the king...

Meanwhile, Karin and Mei had taken it upon themselves to look after the unconscious Flatche. Since Karin had been with Rex and Mei with Clarise, neither had anything separate to report.

"Still, Emma’s probably got a lot to ask Flatche, so we might as well wake her up now."

Karin murmured this to Mei as she wiped the sweat from Flatche’s brow. Though Karin and Mei had nothing to report, there were mountains of questions for Flatche—what kind of treatment she’d endured while captive, what conversations the enemy had had, and so on.

"Is it really okay to wake her?"

"The poison’s already gone, and there’s nothing wrong with her body. Like I said, it’s just heatstroke plus exhaustion or stress knocking her out. Honestly, waking her up to drink some water would be better for her."

With that, Karin began gently shaking Flatche’s shoulder, preparing slightly warmed water nearby.

"Flatche~, rise and shiiine~. Mornin’~."

"...Nn—"

As her shoulder was shaken, Flatche twisted her face into something bitter, groaning as if trapped in a nightmare.

If that was the case, all the more reason to wake her quickly. Karin decided to shake harder—

"...Never thought I’d get turned into a woman by a demonkin..."

"...Huh?"

Was she still half-asleep? Those delirious words slipped from Flatche’s lips. The two of them froze for a few seconds, processing what they’d just heard—

"...Wha—!?"

Horror turned them to ice.

---

"Karin-san? That just now..."

"Calm down. Doesn’t necessarily mean anything."

Sleep-talk was, by nature, often incoherent. It could’ve just been nonsense from a dream, completely detached from reality.

But on the other hand... humanoid demonkin sexually preying on human women was a known atrocity dating back to ancient times.

Beast-type demonkin didn’t lust after humans. But those closer in form to humans—like zombies—would casually devour women in that way.

────A female swordsman, taken prisoner by humanoid demons. No matter what treatment she’d endured, none of it would be surprising.

"We gotta ask her and confirm. If it’s a misunderstanding, it’ll just be a funny story... but if not, Flatche’s gonna need support."

"...Right. And if it is that kind of story, she probably wouldn’t want too many people hearing. I’ll step out and leave this to you, Karin-san—a nun with plenty of life experience—"

For Mei, who wasn’t even an adult yet, this was an unbearably cruel reality.

Adventurers always danced with death. Female adventurers faced horrors like this. She’d known it intellectually, but living safely by Rex’s side had kept the reality distant.

It was too heavy to face head-on. There was no way Mei could handle Flatche’s situation.

...But Karin’s reaction?

"Sorry, Mei. Could you talk to Flatche for me instead?"

"Eh? Huh?!"

She was already on her feet. With a gleaming smile, she bolted like a startled hare.

"Got my own reasons, can’t help this time! Sorry, Flatche’s all yours!"

"Wha—?!"

Just like that, Karin dumped everything onto Mei and sped off, leaving only Mei—still cradling Flatche’s head in her lap.

"Ka-Karin-saaan?!"

The nun ignored Mei’s pleading cry, darting straight toward Rex and the others gathered around Emma.

She just dumped the worst part on me, Mei thought bitterly, resentment screaming inside her. But she couldn’t even move, stuck as Flatche’s pillow.

────But Karin did have her reasons. Because right now, the demon inside her was howling with laughter at Flatche’s misfortune.

If she stayed by Flatche’s side any longer, she’d be grinning ear to ear, trembling with sadistic delight—and that would only fray Flatche’s nerves further. Karin knew that all too well.

Incidentally, she was also a little turned on by Mei’s despairing expression. At her core, Karin was still very much a demon.

---

"...Huh!? Where... am I?"

"Eep! F-Flatche-san, you're awake...?"

Unfortunately, right after Mei had cried out for Karin, the female swordsman Flatche woke up.

"Ah... right. We managed to escape, didn't we?"

"Y-Yes, that's right—!"

The swordswoman shook her head lightly, confirming her surroundings. Mei, meanwhile, was desperately trying to figure out how to talk to her without touching on sensitive topics.

At a glance, Flatche seemed no different from usual. But to Mei, her expression carried a certain darkness—as if she were drowning in despair.

I can't say the wrong thing. The young black mage's eyes darted nervously as she carefully continued the conversation.

"...Ah! Um, Flatche-san! Over there, you see... Rex and the others are giving their reports about what happened in the caves..."

"...I see."

"I-I mean, you don't have to talk about anything you don't want to! But, uh... I was just wondering if, maybe, you could tell us what happened while you were captured...?"

Straight to the point—and the moment the words left her mouth, Mei's face paled.

Crap, why did I just ask that outright?! I should've been more subtle!

Flustered, Mei waved her hands, about to backtrack and say "Never mind that question!"—when...

"Nothing. ...Nothing happened."

"O-Oh! R-Really...?"

Flatche answered quietly, her expression devastatingly hollow.

...That's a lie. Something unspeakable had to have happened. There was no way she'd been left alone all that time while captured.

Karin-san, help me. I was right—Flatche-san went through something horrible.

"A-Anyway! Karin-san said the poison's already out of your system, so, um... You should drink some water to help with the heatstroke..."

"Got it. Thanks."

Obliging Mei's suggestion, Flatche silently downed the cup of water. In those brief seconds, Mei's mind raced.

What should I do? Flatche was strong-willed—she probably didn't want anyone to know. But pretending not to notice and leaving her to suffer alone felt wrong too.

Should I press the issue? Or play dumb? She wanted to consult an adult like Karin, but that woman had fled at the first opportunity. Useless.

Next option...

Rex-sama? Absolutely not. He was probably the last person Flatche would want knowing.

General Penny? She kinda reeks of incompetence. Emma-chan? No way she could discuss something like this with a girl younger than her.

Which leaves... Clarise. As much as it pained her to admit, Clarise might actually be helpful. For all her airheadedness, she rarely gave bad advice. And despite appearances, she was an adult woman—with plenty of romantic experience (or so she claimed).

As infuriating as it is... maybe I should ask that idiot sister for help—

"Hey. Mei-chan, why've you gone quiet?"

"Eek!? N-Nothing! It's nothing!"

"...Is that so?"

The swordswoman eyed Mei suspiciously—which was fair, given how the girl had been standing there frozen, face cycling through a hundred expressions in silence.

And then—

"Hey, Mei."

"Y-Yes?"

"I didn't... say anything weird in my sleep, did I?"

It was Flatche who cut straight to the heart of the matter.

---

Alright.

Now, about the clearly strange behavior Mei-chan’s been showing since earlier.

"W-what? I-I didn’t hear any sleep-talking at all! H-hah, what a weird thing to say, Flache-san?"

Pursing her lips like a duck, her eyes darting everywhere as she deflects with a forced smile. She’s so warm and cute—no, wait.

Mei-chan is obviously hiding something. She wasn’t like this before we fled the cave and ran here. Seems like I must’ve muttered something in my sleep while I was unconscious.

And honestly, I can guess what it was. Because the nightmare I was having earlier… was about being turned into a girl by the demons.

Mei’s flustered, evasive attitude. The horrific nightmare I just had. Putting it all together, the sleep-talk I must’ve let slip was—

────Words that hinted at the truth: I used to be a man!

Crap. If it gets out that I was originally male, and if Rex finds out… he’ll see right through me in an instant. Then all the times I acted like "one of the girls," bathing together, or getting carried away and pouncing on Karin—my whole character would be called into question.

This is bad. What exactly did I say in my sleep? Calm down, it’s not time to panic yet. No one would jump to conclusions just from sleep-talk. At most, she probably just has suspicions.

"...You’re a terrible liar, Mei. What exactly did I say?"

"Wha—huh?!"

Mei’s shoulders jerk. Looks like I hit the mark. She’s really not used to lying.

But this is really bad. I need to make sure Mei-chan keeps her mouth shut.

"I don’t know what I said, but I have a favor to ask."

"Y-yes! I mean, I wasn’t lying!"

"Please. Don’t ask any questions—just keep what I said in my sleep locked away in your heart."

That’s why I didn’t try to explain. Any excuse would only deepen her suspicions.

Mei-chan is a kind girl. If I ask her sincerely, she won’t go blabbing about it.

"Flache-san… that’s…"

"Please. Don’t tell anyone."

"...Okay. I understand."

Maybe my sincerity got through to her, because Mei-chan agreed to keep quiet. As expected, the best approach is to drop the tricks and just be honest.

"But, Flache-san… if you’re ever suffering and can’t handle it alone, please talk to me, okay?"

"...Thanks, Mei-chan."

Ah… her kindness is so comforting. My heart, wounded by the despair of never being able to return to being a man, is soothed by her.

But there’s no way I can confide in her about this. I’m lying about my gender. The wretchedness of my own heart makes me sick.

Someday, I’ll have to come clean. But right now, with my spirit crushed, I can’t bring myself to expose everything. If they all hated me now, I’d never recover.

"Alright, let’s go. We should report to Emma, right?"

"Yes. ...Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Though, I was out cold most of the time, so I can’t give much of a report."

"Out cold…? Oh, right."

As I stand up, Mei-chan looks at me with this weirdly pitying expression. What’s that about?

"It must’ve been so intense you passed out…"

At that moment, Mei-chan mutters something under her breath, and an icy chill runs down my spine.

I feel like I’m being horribly slandered. Who’s spreading weird rumors about me?! Oh, I bet it’s Rex. Yeah, definitely Rex. I’m gonna kill that bastard.

Forgetting, just for now, that I’ll never be a man again—I let out a completely baseless grudge toward Rex and charged ahead anyway.