Return of the Former Hero

Chapter 143. Former Hero’s Hands are Tied

I asked around regarding the Adventurer Guild to the maids who were busy with cleaning the first floor of the mansion. According to them, there were remnants of a building that used to be the Adventurer Guild HQ near the center of town.

There’s no Adventurer Guild in the town of Aria at the moment.

Of course, there was originally one, but it went out of business after bandits occupied the town.

How could the bandits occupy the town with such a large amount of inhabitants in the first place? The knights responsible in patrolling the area had left town and renowned adventurers happened to be away from the town… in other words, the town was attacked at the worst possible moment.

Rithina said that although there was no evidence, it appeared to be intentionally planned to make the attack succeed.

Well…it seemed that it’s the handiwork of that Bau-something something-san, I guess? To put it simply, that was really the case.

It’s already in the past.

The now is more important.

I left the hall, walking leisurely to the ruins of the Adventurer guild hall.

A great amount of cleaning and rebuilding was organized with the goal of restarting the service by tomorrow.

The Adventurer Guild is like a consultation service for this country.

Unless it’s an unexplored land, there will be one in each town and village. It’s basically a government office after all.

If one wanted to stay or do some work in a certain town or village, they’ll have to register with the adventurer guild first.

This needs to be done every time you move places. You’ll have to cancel your registration before leaving.

It’s called an Adventurer’s Guild, but all adults are supposed to be registered in it.

It handles the registry of permanent residents as well as the temporary ones. Basically a lot of things.

I don’t know much of the details though.

…and then, while I was thinking about such things, while enjoying the view of the gradually recovering town, I found the person I was searching for at the front of a certain store.

Still dressed in a maid-like outfit and sporting her long hair in a ponytail, just like how I met her at Torres town, Etna-san was standing there checking out the fruits sold in the store.

In her hands were large paper bags.

Probably filled with mostly food.

Etna-san, how could you maintain your slim figure despite always eating that much?

Laurier is also a big eater, but Etna-san is in a league of her own.

She may not do a lot of exercise during her work hours, but that proportion though.

Simply amazing.

Later, I’d love to check her measurements directly.

Hers will surely feel smooth and delightfully bouncy on parts. Gehehe.

I wondered whether I should greet her normally, or give her a little surprise. As mischievous thoughts grew inside my mind, I approached Etna-san only to have two men standing between us.

Eh? Who? What?

Those two guys actually drew their swords, possibly regarding me as a threat.

Eh?

Suddenly I noticed that two other men had also appeared behind me.

Ehh?

I didn’t get to look at those behind me, but the two standing in front of me were particularly scary with their bloodshot eyes.

[Well…]

I tried to say something, but got interrupted by one of the guys trying to attack me without any warning.

Uwa…

I was a little surprised, but still managed to avoid being hit. It’s not a difficult attack to dodge anyways.

I noticed the residents had started gathering to see the spectacle.

What’s with these guys?

It’s becoming noisy though.

Aah, is that it?

Probably remnants of the bandits?

Eee.

Why were they attacking me at such a timing?

Though it actually seems like a sound plan to attack the town lord when he’s out on his own.

It’s a bit surprising that they could recognize me despite the fact that only a few days had passed. Not like it’s something hidden though.

Anyways, how dare they interrupt my reunion with Etna-san. Just go die.

The four bandits who surrounded me closed their distance.

At least they didn’t start throwing various vicious magic spells at me; not like I expect that these random bandits are capable to do that..

Oh well, let’s just prepare to counter them all.

Just when I thought so.

[Ha-Haruto-kun….?]

Behind those bandits, Etna-san who finally noticed me called out my name.

She said it in a small, barely audible voice. But one of the bandits heard her anyways.

Apparently they even knew of my name, which is a bit scary.

Regarding Etna-san who knew my name as an acquaintance of mine, one of the bandits turned toward her, sword raised.

The moment I saw that, my body moved without thinking.

Ignoring those already swinging their sword at me, I dashed in with full power.

Before the bandit could do anything else, I already grabbed his sword.

[!?]

The bandit was surprised that I suddenly caught his sword.

And then, I moved with a strength that even impressed myself.

I guessed I grabbed the sword with more than necessary strength.

They can’t even be considered an opponent in my eyes… even so, I’m not going to let them do any harm to Etna-san.

Due to having applied too much strength, the sword let out a squeaking noise before breaking.

[Wha…gufu]

The bandit tried to utter something, but was interrupted by a backhand to the face.

The bandit spun in the air three times, before landing back on the ground in a thud.

That was somewhat funny.

Seeing that I’ve KOed one of them, the other bandits who previously stood before me attacked.

I parried the sword with my left hand and smashed his jaw with my right.

The unconscious bandit crumbled to the ground like a doll having its strings cut.

Seeing that they’ve no chance to win, the remaining two who were standing behind me earlier attempted to escape. As if I’ll let them.

[Earth Bind.]

Even if you guys tried to endanger Etna-san even if for a moment, that’ll still make me mad, a bit.

Usually I would restrain my target with ivy, but this time around I imagined a slightly more offensive type.

Rather than ivy, earthen spikes jutted out from the ground, piercing the feet of those two bandits.

Whoops, I guess that was a bit too much.

Having their feet pierced, the bandits instantly fell to the ground. No matter how loud they shout, it’s impossible for them to move due to the constraint of the Earthbind.

They also fell unconscious just like the previous two, which made me feel a bit nervous.

Eh?

That much is fine, right?

You’re not dead yet, right?

I checked and felt relieved that the two were still alive.

Well, not like I care if these bandits die.

In the meantime, the knights who heard the commotion arrived.

That was a fairly fast response. Umu. As a lord, this made me proud.

Ah. Now I can understand the feeling of those magistrates who hid their real status in dramas.

I see. This is actually quite fun.

I let the knights handle those bandits.

And finally, I got to meet Etna-san.

[Well…]

[Haruto-kun! That was amazing!]

She didn’t seem to fully understand what was happening, but still regarded me as amazing nonetheless.

Faster than I could speak, Etna-san already beat me to it with her complexion.

[No, it’s nothing much.]

Deee

[No way. That’s amazing!]

I tried to act modest, but Etna-san refuted me excitedly.

Holding my hand as she did small hops, she was that excited.

Uwa, how cute.

I was ambushed by bandits just now, but I had to thank them for their trouble.

It was such a nice timing.

By the way, Etna-san’s hands are so soft.

May I hug you?

Surely it’s good to go.

She shouldn’t mind after what happened.

But, I guess I should drop that thought.

I’m still unaware of the level of our relationship yet.

It’s just something trivial anyways.

[Ara?]

Just before my reasoning collapsed on its own, Etna-san noticed something.

She realized that she’s been holding my hands.

When I looked at it, I noticed that blood had dripped from the tip of my right index finger.

Ah, I guess it was from when I caught that sword with too much force?

[This is bad. If you don’t disinfect it…]

After saying so, Etna-san was oh so worried.

Haa…

Is…is this really okay?

This is an example of every man’s dream.

We don’t have any disinfectant at hand!

It’s as if the heavens had heard my wish. No disinfectant around at the moment.

As far as I know, there is no actual theory that support [This kind of wound, it’ll be cured if I lick it] but it’s not like I’m complaining here.

In addition to that, I think that it’s necessary to [lick] it in a circle.

Eh? Am I wrong?

If anything, if it ended with just [I see. This seems alright.] without any licking involved, I would end up hugging my pillow in tears tonight.

Actually, Etna-san is honest and a bit of an airhead, so I think she’ll most likely do it.

Guh….

The, the difficulty is extremely steep.

B-but how…!?

And then, while I was thinking of stupid things in my head, Etna-san actually lifted my hand.

W-w-wha…

This is it. Here it comes.

She lifted my hand to face level; my finger dangerously close to her lips.

Her soft lips parted, revealing her pink tongue inside her dimly lit mouth.

My index finger entered Etna-san’s mouth, kept there by being clasped by her lips. Her lips were softer than I expected.

A soothing feeling enveloped the wound and a weird sensation ran through my spine.

I felt my finger blanketed in warmth before being pulled deeper into her mouth.

Through my finger, I felt the entirety of Etna-san’s mouth and my ears caught the subtle wet sound.

Oooohh…

Etna-san is sucking my fingertip.

The wet sound of her tongue swirling around my finger.

Looking down, I saw Etna-san’s expression.

I felt inwardly satisfied with the sight of Etna-san sucking my blood through my fingertip.

If I lose focus, I might’ve fallen on my knees by now.

Great. This felt really great.

Speaking of which, I’ve heard that the fingertip is a particularly sensitive area.

It’ll be nicer if my other sensitive part receive the same treatment, but this is fine as well.

Addicting.

[Nn…]

What sounded like a small moan leaked out of Etna-san’s mouth as the hold on my finger slowly loosened.

Finally, free from the small injury, she released my hand.

Kuu…

The blissful time has ended.

[The bleeding…seems to have stopped. You should disinfect it properly later, alright?]

[Ah, yes. Thank you very much.]

With a sense of bliss, I responded to Etna-san.

I could still feel that sensation faintly on my finger tip.

Can I keep this feeling?

I guess the answer is obvious in my eyes. For sure.

Afterward, I escorted Etna-san to the Adventurer guild and we had a little chat. I returned to the mansion alongside Sharon after that.

While we were talking, I couldn’t help but stare at Etna-san’s lips.

On the way to the mansion, I decided to have everyone do the same with my index finger as I watch them go one by one tonight.