At st, Ryan had returned from the Demon Continent.

  Before entering the tavern, he felt a trace of guilt. After all, being transported to the nd of demons hadn’t been something he could control.

  And even though returning had turned into a troublesome ordeal, he felt a strong sense of relief as he went to look for his companions.

  Of course, he didn’t know if they had truly waited for him.

  Or if they had been searching for him.

  Or how they would react once they saw him.

  But there they were, their faces gloomy as they continued drinking, murmuring and shouting his name.

  The discomfort of the tavern’s customers was clearly directed at them.

  Yet no one said a word. After all, the aura they gave off was intimidating. Their S-Rank power made itself known.

  When Ryan saw them, he couldn’t help but smile.

  'Well, look at that. They really are here after all.'

  He walked toward the table where they were sitting. Karol followed him in her current state, without mana.

  "Hey Ryan, those two are in your party, right? I think they’re pretty drunk."

  "Ryan?" Helen murmured when she heard the name.

  When she lifted her gaze and saw him, the bottle slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor.

  Then she ran straight toward him.

  "Ryan!"

  She jumped on him and wrapped her arms around him.

  "Why? Where were you? Damn it, I feel really dizzy..."

  Mirian had also stood up and was hugging Ryan.

  Both of them were extremely drunk, barely able to stand on their own.

  "Easy, easy. We’ll talk ter, but you’re bothering the customers. Let’s go to the room."

  Mirian grabbed Ryan’s arm tightly, but colpsed back into a seated position when she couldn’t keep her bance.

  "I… I feel sick..."

  Karol walked over and helped her up.

  "Come on, I’ll help you."

  Ryan looked at her and gave a faint smile.

  "Thanks. I’ll carry Helen."

  They went upstairs. Ryan carried Helen on his back.

  Meanwhile, Karol supported Mirian as they walked.

  Mirian wasn’t nearly as bad as Helen.

  When they reached the room, Ryan id Helen down on the bed, and Mirian climbed onto the same bed.

  "Are you really Ryan?" Helen asked in a weak voice. Her eyes were half-open, surely from the liquor and exhaustion.

  Dark circles were visible under both their eyes, as if they hadn’t slept for days.

  "What have you two been doing this whole time? Why did you drink so much? You can’t even handle alcohol."

  Helen grabbed Ryan’s hand and pulled him, making him fall onto the bed between them.

  "Shut up… you abandoned us..."

  Mirian pressed against Ryan on one side, while Helen clung to him from the other.

  Both of them began caressing his face.

  "No, I didn’t abandon you. I just ran into some trouble..."

  Ryan paused.

  "And I came back as fast as I could. I’m sorry for making you worry."

  "I don’t want excuses!" Helen grabbed Ryan’s face and turned it toward her, then kissed him.

  Ryan’s eyes widened in surprise, but he returned the kiss.

  'I don’t like taking advantage of a drunk girl… but if I stop her now, I have no idea how she’ll react.'

  "That’s not fair, Helen… I-I missed Ryan a lot too."

  Mirian took Ryan’s face and pulled him toward her, separating him from Helen’s lips. Then she kissed him as well.

  "How shameless! You seriously do those kinds of things with each other?!"

  "Of course not! Can’t you see they’re drunk?!"

  "Yeah, sure! I’m leaving!" Karol smmed the door and stormed out of the room.

  "Ryan… come here. I won’t let you leave again."

  Both of them pinned Ryan down on the bed, hugging him tightly. They kissed his neck, cheeks, and lips again and again.

  'This isn’t exactly the welcome I was expecting...'

  But after a moment, the kisses and caresses stopped. Their breathing became slow and steady.

  "Well, they fell asleep."

  Ryan got up from the bed and watched them for a moment.

  'They look completely exhausted. What did they even do these past few days? Were they really searching for me? Idiots.'

  A clear smile spread across his face.

  Knowing that there were people who cared that much about him made him feel something warm and pleasant.

  Ryan also went to sleep. Helen and Mirian remained asleep in the same bed.

  Hugging each other.

  He left them like that; he didn’t want to wake them by moving them to separate beds.

  ◇◇◇

  At dawn, Ryan left the room after taking a shower and changing his clothes.

  Helen and Mirian were still asleep. He took the opportunity to go down to the tavern for breakfast.

  "Your name is Ryan, right?"

  Ryan fixed his gaze on the person who had spoken.

  "Oh, you're the guard from yesterday. How is the boy?"

  "Sorry to bother you so early. But about the young boy you left with us yesterday, we already know where he comes from," the guard replied. A woman in uniform was standing beside him.

  "I see. But is he with his family now or still in the infirmary? I’ll go check if he’s doing better."

  "Yes, in fact he is better. You see, the boy is the heir of a viscount from the neighboring nation of Varvylon."

  "The nation of Varvylon?"

  "Yes. And the boy is currently under the care of Baron Thomas. It was Lord Thomas who asked us to bring you to him. He wants to thank you for bringing the boy back."

  'A baron? It was a noble who handed him over in the first pce, wasn’t it?'

  "And this Thomas will let me see the boy if I go?"

  "Of course. That’s why he invited you to his mansion. You’ll be able to speak more comfortably there."

  'Well, I’ll have to make sure that’s true.'

  "Ryan!" Helen came running from behind and grabbed his arm, hugging him tightly.

  Almost instantly, Mirian did the same.

  "Ryan, you really came back! Last night I had a very strange dream about you," Helen said while holding onto him firmly.

  "Hehe, now that you mention it, I had a strange dream too," Mirian added.

  'Except that wasn’t a dream!'

  "I won’t forgive you for disappearing for so many days. Where were you? I was about to go look for you on the Demon Continent!"

  "Helen wanted to go there, but I convinced her there was no way you could be in a pce like that."

  'But that’s exactly where I was!'

  "Then Mirian suggested you probably ran off with some cheap woman..."

  'What kind of guy do these two think I am?'

  "Don’t lie! You were the one who said that!"

  "Huh? What are you talking about?! Of course not! That was you!"

  Cough, cough.

  The guard interrupted them.

  "Huh? And who the hell are you, bastard? Can’t you see we’re talking?!"

  The guard frowned. Just as he was about to reply, the woman beside him stepped forward.

  "We’re sorry to interrupt the heroes who saved the viscount’s heir, but the Baron, who is a close friend of the Viscount, wishes to thank you on his behalf. That’s why we’re here, to escort you to him."

  "Oh, so that’s what this is about. I thought you were just here to bother us about the destruction of the—"

  "Shhh!"

  Mirian abruptly cut Helen off.

  Then she whispered in her ear.

  "Shut up, will you?"

  'What did these two do this time?!'

  The guards looked at them suspiciously, but they had come with a request. At the very least, it seemed they didn’t want to get involved in anything else.

  When they stepped outside, a carriage was waiting.

  "Hey! What took you so long!" Karol shouted from the carriage window.

  "Huh? And what are you doing here?"

  Rudriel