I’m a D-Rank Adventurer, for Some Reason I Got Recruited Into a Hero Party, and Now the Princess Is Stalking Me - CH 17

Raffine rushed to get to see him soon after hearing the news.

Manipulating the information so that her sisters wouldn’t hear, and taking only Shion as an escort, she prepared a gorgeous carriage and servants to make it look like an aristocratic hobby trip. Then, she sent an undisclosed request to the adventurer’s guild, and disguised herself as a black-haired girl with the『Phantom Ring』given to her by the boy.

「… No matter what you say, they’re still garbage. Pick that up and get lost.」

After getting ready, Raffine went to the meeting place from her request, but it seemed like there were some people arguing.

One was a B-class adventurer who was said to be sent by the Stolz family, and the other was a sloppy, unmotivated young man.

They’re the same as that person…

The young man had the same black hair as that boy.

Looking at the man’s back, she felt nostalgic for some reason- the young man looked like he was about 25 years old. If he were that boy, he would be around 18 to 20 years old, so I assumed he was a different person.

The B-class adventurer pulled out his sword to attack the young man, so Raffine stepped in with《Word Magic》. She then admonished him firmly and threatened to report him to the Stolz family if there was a next time.

Afterwards, she wanted to talk to the black-haired young man a little― and after getting a little angry, she forcibly brought him into the carriage for a suitable reason and asked him a question.

『No … I was the only one with black hair in my village, and there wasn’t a strange guy wearing a mask.』

However, the young man seemed to truly not recall or know of the young boy. Raffine was a little disappointed― she had been convinced that the “black-haired hero” she was going to meet was the young man, so she took a moment to quickly regroup her thoughts.

After that, the young man said that he wanted to hear about her “soul mate.” Raffine forgot about her appearance as a lady as she talked about her relationship with the boy. Hours had gone by before she knew it, and she became embarrassed that she had been talking so passionately.

Shortly after her request began, she realized that the young black-haired man was strange for a D-class adventurer. He had extraordinarily observant eyes that let him see through the power of Shion, a former S-class adventurer. For some reason he had mastered the dimensional magic《Item Box》. He had a lot of sweets from the famous confectionery store 『Chartet』. Moreover, he gives away rare sweets that can only be found and sold at the main store. He was a weird young man, but… more than that, he was so eager to see him that she soon didn’t care.

And― nothing happened, about four days passed smoothly, and it came to the point where we arrived at Etal soon.

From the bottom of her heart, Raffine was filled with the desire to see him soon. However, as an ideal princess, she was desperate to dress up as a proper lady. Her heart was racing just thinking about him.

In just a little bit I can meet the boy― or at least I hope to.

~

It was too abnormal. It was a hellish sight.

「Okay! I’m sure everyone is hiding in a safe place! I’m sure that person is…」 She looked away from the miserable sight and shouted desperately to herself. That boy is alive. He’s definitely alive. There’s still hope.

『Look― see his body over there?』

When she saw it, what hope she had crumpled away with a gara gara sound. The person in her line of sight was undoubtedly a zombie with black hair.

「…… That can’t be ……」

Everything went dark.

It was pitch black, and her thoughts were spinning, as if her head was messed up. She didn’t want to believe it.

There’s no point in a world without that boy. I’d rather―

『Actually, you don’t care about the citizens of Etal at all, what should I do?』

一A thread of hope appeared.

Revive. The boy can still be revived. I can still meet the boy.

「P-please! Save him, save him please……!」

Anything can be done if that boy comes back to life. That boy can do anything. I would give my life for that boy.

The young D-Class adventurer glances at the begging Raffine,

「―《Immortality Purification ― Turn Undead》」

The city of death was restored to its original state.

She couldn’t comprehend it. She was so confused that she could only open her mouth and stare.

The young man was baffling, he had overwhelmed one of the four heavenly kings of the Demon King Army as if twisting a baby’s hand. And the life of the skeleton trying to escape by taking the B-class adventurer hostage―

『If I do this, I can solve it, right?』

―was extinguished near the bottom of a tree.

It wasn’t possible. There were many-layered protective barriers around each of the four heavenly kings, and they were further strengthened with the help of a magic tool named《Mamoru》.

It could only be a fairy tale, to be able to destroy a protective barrier that couldn’t even be scratched by even imperial attack magic…

「….Ah」

Badump, her heart beat. The back of the young man- for some reason it reminds her of that boy.

I thought the “black-haired hero” was supposed to be that boy. But- I can’t take my eyes off of the young man.

She was stunned to see the rest of the adventurers running over to the youth and surrounding him.

No way. Maybe. Such a thought…

「Eh?」

A young man rushed towards her with a worried face.

~

「Are you okay?」

The young man covered her so that he could serve as a shield for Raffine.

「Y- yes…」She muttered, stunned.

She hadn’t known what was happening for a moment, but then she understood. She had been saved. The young man stepped in front of Raffine and shielded her from the flames of the “Crimson Lotus”.

Tokun, his heart beat. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the man and his noisy heart.

「Aww… I can’t wear this outfit anymore, I really liked it…」

The youth’s clothes were burned black, and they seemed unwearable. Even after taking that magic head-on, he somehow still didn’t have a scratch on him.

「 This is just so great. I’m going to have to throw this shirt away. With how bare my back is, it’s better to just be naked!」 After stating that, he took off his shirt in front of a blushing Raffine.

「―Huh?」

Her eyes widened. The young man had lean muscles reminiscent of harsh training, and a firm, well-proportioned body. However, there were countless scratches carved into it, as if he had fought countless life-threatening battles. The largest of the scars was a set of three claw marks that raked down the entirety of his chest.

「Th―those… scratches…」

「Hmm? …Ah, that’s right… Uwa, that’s kind of embarrassing. I don’t like people looking at those much.」

Shyly, he holds the clothes in front of his chest to hide the scratches.

「Why… How did I not notice…」

「Huh? What?」

If she thought about it, there had been many hints. For one, the young man had black hair, and behaved oddly.

But― I thought that the “Black-Haired Hero” was that person, so I didn’t even think about asking him. I also assumed his age and didn’t even ask him about that, either.

「What’s wrong? With how you’re looking at me… Oh, did you finally realize how handsome I am? Fufu, don’t start acting shy on me now!」He put his hand on his chin and struck a pose, laughing nihilistically.

「Yeah. Yeah, you’re really cool.」

The muddy eyes of the youth seemed cool and intelligent,

His unmotivated attitude made him seemingly look calm and collected,

His odd behavior and strange words and deeds made it seem as if he were a kind-hearted and good person that liked to make people laugh.

That’s what it looked like to Raffine, at least through her Otome filter.

「Oh, really? Well… now I’m a little embarrassed since you’re saying this right to my face…! I am a handsome guy so it can’t be helped, but I’m not used to being told outright, okay?」

As the young man scratched his head shyly, Raffine pressed him close to her body and hugged him tightly. He began mumbling confusedly, 「Huh?」「What’s this?」

Raffine continued holding the young man close, and while feeling the warmth of Jirei Laro, she said this―

「Finally― I’ve finally met my “Destined Person”!」