Chapter 86: Metamorphosis

“Many apologies for destroying your door,” I said, bowing my head to Joseph in a sign of apology.

Sarah had already put on her clothes, and I had put on my pants, though I hadn’t worn a shirt since it no longer fit my body. It would be too ridiculous to wear a tight shirt in front of everyone, so I would have to get some new clothes.

“Richard, is that you?” Joseph said to me. Even though he was taller than me before, he must have noticed the difference in my height, not to mention my muscles.

“Yes, it’s me. Some things happened.”

“In just one night?!”

“It’s a bit difficult to explain. Again, I’m sorry about your door,” I said, with Diane—the one responsible for all this ruckus—by my side.

“I promise to make amends for my mistake,” Diane said, her voice filled with shame. “I thought that my— I thought that Rick was in danger.”

I looked down at the girl by my side, because after my transformation I had become a bit taller than her.

The only reason I can think of for this sudden change happening to me was the increase in my stats after defeating the Wolf Lord. In my previous life I was 1.85 m (6’1’’), and I hadn’t liked that my new body was only 1.70 m (5’7’’). Fortunately, I had regained my original height, but that wasn’t all — I also had muscles now. Not as much as the miners, but I was certainly in great shape.

I could see her looking at me from the corner of her eye, only to quickly look down at the floor, avoiding my glance.

Diane was acting differently since her Affection level went up, and I don’t think badly of it. I liked the idea of a cold girl acting sweet and cute towards me. On the other hand, my Swordmaster and my Saintess were being very touchy with me.

“Rick, you’re so strong~” Sarah said, poking my new muscles to see if they were actually real.

“My prince is too tall. You were already handsome, but now…” Alicia said, grabbing my arm and rubbing her cheek against it.

Joseph didn’t seem to mind the two girls clinging to me and continued speaking, “Unfortunately, the carpenter who used to work in town went to another city. I can manage some repairs here and there with a few tools, but…”

Joseph looked at the torn-off door, scratching the back of his head as if thinking, ’How am I going to fix this mess?’

“It doesn’t look too bad,” a feminine voice from beside the door said.

Erina was analyzing both the doorway and the wooden door lying on the floor, her hand on her chin as if pondering a solution to the problem. After a moment, she nodded to herself as though she had reached a conclusion.

“Hmm, this wood is good quality. The door is still intact even after that brutal kick. Luckily, the doorway wasn’t damaged to a level that can’t be fixed. I believe I can do something about it,” Erina said, smiling at us as if she were having fun with the situation. It wasn’t the malicious smile she showed when scheming against someone, but an innocent one, like a kid who just found a new toy.

Erina had changed her clothes. She was no longer wearing the white uniform of the Silver Fang. Instead, she wore a red buttoned outfit over a white shirt underneath, paired with a black skirt.

“Erina is used to doing some manual work. During her time as a student, she helped with handiwork, so don’t worry. If she says she can fix it, then consider the job done,” Another girl said, her monotone voice approaching me.

Justine’s clothes had also changed, and now her curvy body was covered by a green outfit with a black skirt similar to Erina’s. She was talking about Erina’s life at the military academy. Sometimes the students had to take care of the handiwork themselves.

“Really?” Joseph’s eyes widened, still surprised by that revelation.

Erina stepped closer to us and spoke to Joseph with confidence, “If I have the right tools, I believe I can fix this door by tomorrow.”

“So fast?!!” Joseph and I asked at the same time.

Erina puffed out her chest, very proud of herself. “I may not look like it, but I’m very skillful.”

“Well, I have a lot to do, so I’ll be counting on you to fix the door,” Joseph said to Erina. After that, he turned to me, still finding my new look strange. “I think it’s better if you guys stay in another room while the door is being fixed.”

I felt Alicia dragging my body closer to hers. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Since we’re already using a room, you can sleep in the bed with me, and Sarah can sleep on the floor.” Alicia said. From the way she said that last part about Sarah, I could clearly feel the animosity directed at her.

Sarah looked irritated by that comment and asked the blonde girl, “Do I look like some kind of dog to sleep on the floor?”

Alicia hid behind my body, pretending to be scared of Sarah. “Rick, protect me! Sarah wants to bite me!”

“You little…!”

“Hahaha,” Joseph couldn’t hold back his laughter at the ridiculous situation, even after having his door broken down. Maybe this man really does have nerves of steel. “You can go to Alicia’s room, but if it gets too cramped, let me know and I’ll arrange another one.”

I nodded, but Diane didn’t seem satisfied with the solution. “Mr. Joseph, can I help in some other way? I don’t feel good about causing this trouble and not paying for it.”

“What are you talking about? Your friend said she would fix the door, and you guys said you would look into what you could do about our mine. So the way I see it, it’s something like the cost of you staying here. We could reduce your reward by the value of the repair job, but from what the girl said, that won’t be necessary,” Joseph said calmly.

“I see,” Diane replied, though she didn’t seem any less guilty than before.

“Well, I have some work to do downstairs at the tavern. If you need anything, call me.”

“All right,” I said to him, and without another word, Joseph left us there.

And with his departure, the commotion that had been postponed seemed ready to begin. Sarah, who had been checking my new shape, looked at Erina with a confused expression.

“Hey, haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” Sarah said, looking closely at Erina.

She probably didn’t remember Erina’s face very clearly because Diane had carried her like a sack of potatoes, jumping from house to house while trying to escape the shots fired by the Captain of the Silver Fang.

After a moment, she suddenly remembered, her expression turning to surprise as she pointed at her. “Y-You’re that bitch from Silver Fang who was shooting at us!!”

“B-Bitch!?” Erina startled, reacting to being cursed all of a sudden.

Sarah didn’t waste a single second. She wasn’t carrying her sword, but she immediately took a combat stance, as if she were about to punch Erina.

“Hey, wait a bit!” Erina said, trying to calm Sarah down, but it didn’t work.

“You’re not going to catch us off guard again!” Sarah said, her fist flying toward Erina’s face, but I intervened.

Sarah had her hair tied in a ponytail, as she usually did, and I took advantage of that by grabbing her by it.

“Ugh!” Sarah let out that sound when she felt her hair not following the movement of her body, stopping halfway. “Ouch! Why are you holding my hair, Rick?!”

“Because you are being hasty,” I said bluntly, without any regret for stopping her.

“What?! But isn’t she the woman who was shooting at Diane and me back in Valleria?” Sarah asked me, her hands trying to free her hair from my grip.

“Yes, she is. And the girl with glasses too,” I said, pointing at Justine. The black-haired woman seemed calm, but I felt that she would try to protect Erina using her magic if it really became necessary.

“So why are you stopping me? Let me go!” Sarah shouted at me.

“They are not our enemies now. Right, Erina?” I asked the woman with wine-red hair.

She looked at me, still surprised that she had escaped that punch, but she managed to answer, “Y-Yes, that’s true.”

“Eh?” Sarah seemed shocked with what we said. She looked at Diane, expecting her to be on her side.

“I talked to them last night with Alicia,” Diane said in a calm tone.

“And you trust them?” Sarah said, still trying to escape my grasp.

“Stop moving! You’ll just hurt yourself!” I said to the impatient Sarah.

“I don’t trust them, but I promise Rick that I wouldn’t fight. I trust Rick, so I’ll do as he says.” Diane said.

After looking at our group, Sarah noticed that everybody except her already understood the situation. Her expression told me she felt like the dumbest person in that hallway.

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