The life of an adventurer and mercenary is one of becoming accustomed to saying goodbye. Half of the senior adventurers who trained me are dead, and the other half retired. That says it all. Even though temple priests can use healing sacred laws, the harsh medieval environment makes it difficult to transport patients to the temple in the first place.


    And high-rank monsters, like ogres that occasionally pop up in the local hills, can turn people into a meat paste that even a saint''s ancestors couldn''t save if they all gathered together.


    So what we need to do is humbly accept farewells and move forward.


    "H-Humbly? It just hurts..."


    "Whew, I''ll give you a massage, with divine energy..."


    "Ugh, I shouldn''t have, gotten on this, carriage..."


    No matter what I say, my companions, with their insides churning from the carriage''s bumps, probably won''t understand.


    Grace, Irene, and Katie were making various "urk" and "eek" noises, suffering with each jolt of the carriage. Han Se-ah was guiltily averting her gaze from them, only to face a barrage of insults from viewers.


    Whether it was because she was circulating divine energy instead of mana in her body, or because she could hold her liquor better, Irene was the first to recover from the hangover. She had the other two lying on her thighs, kneading their necks, but all three still looked equally pale.


    "No, they looked too weak to walk, so I just suggested we ride something. Filming three suffering people at once and selling it for money? You''re really cherry-picking from all these chat messages. Just say it outright. You''re dead, seriously."


    -Logically ???????? Since they''re hungover ??????? Putting them in a carriage ???????


    -As a long-time viewer of Han Se-ah''s streams, knowing this isn''t malicious makes it even scarier. You really have no sense...


    -Wasn''t the atmosphere really solemn just a moment ago? Why did the conversation turn out like this?


    -So the 2★ priest and rescue team lost contact, so you tried to drink to forget, but now you''re torturing your hungover companions with a full course carriage ride?


    -Why not just rest and heal with divine energy before walking... Putting these hangover-stricken kids in a carriage...


    The viewers'' observation that when something bizarre happens to the party, it''s usually Han Se-ah''s doing, was spot on.


    Seeing the three looking nauseous and struggling to walk, I suggested we rest for the day and leave tomorrow. But perhaps due to psychological burden and sadness, they wanted to set out slowly today. After all, even if we entered the tower, we wouldn''t be fighting right away, so if we were going to rest, we might as well do it at Zedeau''s mansion on the 50th floor.


    But their enthusiasm took a strange turn, and the suggestion to rest at the mansion became resting at a safe zone on the 51st floor, which then became going up to the 52nd, 53rd, and even the 54th floor. Our companions were acting overly enthusiastic, as if they understood why I had made them drink that hard liquor.


    The final blow came from Han Se-ah, who suggested, "In that case, why don''t we just ride a merchant carriage?"


    "Oh my, heroes. Are you alright? I, I should have driven a better carriage."


    "It''s fine. It''s much better than walking."


    The carriage we hitched a ride on belonged to a merchant group heading to the tent village in the 54th floor''s safe zone. We weren''t stuffed in the back of a cargo carriage with supplies, but riding in the carriage of the merchant group''s general manager, who was excitedly fawning over us as VIP guests.


    He was a shrewd man who calculated in 0.1 seconds how beneficial it would be for the merchant group to have the hero party accompany them, even if he had to suffer in the cargo carriage with the workers.


    Of course, such a profit-savvy merchant wouldn''t be riding around in a top-class carriage made by the Magic Tower for his personal use. It rattled on the mountain roads of Zedeau''s domain and clattered on the prairie''s dirt roads. The carriage swayed, exacerbating the effects of the hangover.


    Though their revenge was more like playful clinginess, refusing to let go. I also noticed them subtly gesturing to call Irene over. This left Han Se-ah somewhat isolated, but... she had accumulated quite a bit of bad karma.


    It''s not that Han Se-ah had done anything particularly bad to her companions.


    As a streamer, she often wandered off alone to communicate with viewers and complete missions, so they naturally accepted it. When a genius mage says she needs to sense mana and wanders around the city alone, you can''t really interfere.


    Even if left alone, she''d follow along eventually, and...


    "You''ll stay with us today, right Hanna?" Irene asked.


    "Hm? Oh, yes, . It''s not big enough to wander around separately anyway."


    The kind-hearted Irene made sure to check and take care of her.


    Grace was on my left, Katie on my right. Behind us, Irene and Han Se-ah naturally linked arms. As beautiful women flocked around a scruffy adventurer and mercenary, we couldn''t help but attract attention.


    Even armor that didn''t reveal skin and neat hoods that completely hid their hair couldn''t conceal their beautiful appearances, so this was only natural.


    The only reason we weren''t bothered was probably because this place was filled with top-tier adventurers who had reached the highest ranks and famous mercenary groups. At that level, it would be strange not to know the heroes'' names and appearances.


    An exotic black-haired beauty mage, a golden-eyed nun in thick habit, a gray-haired beauty with leather armor and a Magic Tower composite bow, and a silver-haired princess in light armor. With such distinctive looks and colorful hair - black, gold, gray, and silver - rather than plain brown, it would be strange not to recognize them.


    "Hey, I haven''t seen those faces before. Where are you from?"


    "...Huh?"


    "Not you, lanky guy. I mean the ladies behind you."


    ...Didn''t I just say it would be strange not to recognize them? What''s this about?


    As Han Se-ah''s camera focused on the scene, a voice cut through the viewers'' incessant chanting of acronyms. Turning my head, I saw a man standing before us, the very image of a "sleazy young master," with long hair neatly pulled back.


    He had dark blue hair, almost black, styled in a slick-back, and a beauty mark under his eye. He was handsome enough to have plenty of ★s, but there was something oddly off about his aura.


    I''m not judging him negatively for hitting on someone he just met, but isn''t there a meme that if a sleazy-looking pretty boy has a beauty mark, he must be a gay character? Actually, isn''t this blatant flirting an act of asserting his heterosexuality to the world?


    "By the way, your gaze seems quite impure," he said to me.


    "I like women," I muttered reflexively.


    "...?"


    Seeing the viewers burst into laughter at my unintentional comment, I guess the meme about long-haired pretty boys with beauty marks being gay exists in Han Se-ah''s Earth 4 as well.


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