Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 66

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 66

I sensed something strange and pulled Adam’s arm.

At first he didn’t move, but when I applied more force and pushed, he finally moved.

“What was that person earlier? It’s not like he’s senile!”

“It’s fine. It was a story I’ve heard many times.”

Having hurriedly left the bookshop, I deliberately got angry loudly as if for him to see.

Adam rarely got angry. Even in situations where an ordinary person would be outraged and flip tables.

He rarely expressed emotions to begin with.

At times like this, he really seemed like a doll made to kill the Demon King, which made me feel sorry for him.

It must be wrong that I worked him hard from a young age.

It was all my fault.

After much deliberation, I decided to give him a special prescription.

I spread both arms wide.

And I nodded toward Adam, who was quietly watching to see what I would do this time.

“Hero.”

“…?”

“Come here.”

Adam stepped back as if he didn’t understand.

He should understand and respond when I hint at something.

But now wasn’t the time to blame him, it was time to give him a warm hug.

Just this once, I smiled kindly and explained gently.

“It’s a warm human hug.”

“I’ll decline.”

“Agh!”

Instead of the embarrassed Adam, I hugged him first.

Because I rushed at Adam, it was more like being hugged than giving a hug.

I could feel how tense he was all the way here.

Thanks to that, the tension transferred through our bodies. It was like two stiff logs hugging each other.

I quickly spoke the words I had been thinking.

“You don’t have to listen to what other people say.”

“…”

“Adam is free now!”

While hugging Adam, I looked at him and smiled brightly.

Why does a Hero who even killed the Demon King have so many worries?

I didn’t want to burden his busy mind with new worries when he should just be thinking about enjoying today’s festival.

“Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

Adam stared down at me.

Then he grabbed my shoulders and carefully separated me.

And as if he couldn’t concentrate at all since earlier, he looked toward the place we had just passed.

“Wait a moment.”

And with those words, Adam disappeared.

‘…Could it be that my loving hug was too passionate?’

It was a hug of friendship without any ulterior motives!

It was meant to give warmth to the human-hating, misanthropic Hero.

I really didn’t put any ulterior motives into it.

…Really.

No, could it be that my ulterior motives were conveyed to him just from one hug?

“Hero! It’s a misunderstanding!”

If that’s the case, I need to clear up the misunderstanding right away.

At this rate, Adam’s heart that had barely opened might become a closed door again.

Love is, no. Friendship is an open door, Hero!

“Ugh.”

Just as I was about to run down the hill, I frowned at a sharp pain.

“Oh, no.”

I had been trying to endure it, but my ankle had been aching since earlier, so the skin must have been properly scraped.

In the end, unable to go down or up further, I waited for Adam blankly.

“Hero?”

Then, as if he had been running, Adam was climbing up the hill with an unfamiliar box in his hand.

“Eve. I told you to stay still, but you couldn’t stand it and came out.”

How did he know when I only moved a little?

Like someone caught playing a prank secretly, I pretended not to know.

Then Adam knelt in front of me with a small sigh.

When he took off my shoes, the skin on my heel was slightly scraped.

Adam frowned slightly, then took out new shoes from the box and put them on me.

‘So he went down suddenly to buy shoes.’

I had been hiding the pain, but he acted as if he had read my mind.

Even at his small consideration, my face turned endlessly red.

* * *

She was really someone who required a lot of attention.

I had thought her behavior was unnatural since earlier, but I only found out later that she had hurt her foot.

And she had been feeling pain for a while but pretending not to know. Once I became aware of it, her every action caught my eye.

Adam thought of Iberis, who used to hide her pain from him, and swallowed a sigh.

I wanted to give her only good things, but that ended up hurting her.

Adam took off his clothes and laid them on the ground. Iberis, who had been moving her now more comfortable foot, stood there blankly before realizing his consideration and sat down.

As if this kind of consideration was awkward for her, she blushed and took out the basket she had brought.

“Hero, please try some!”

“…Did you make this, Eve?”

Adam just quietly looked down at the sandwiches neatly arranged in the basket.

His eyes were filled with indescribable suspicion.

“No, Ben made them!”

“Ah.”

Adam put the sandwich in his mouth without any hesitation. Following Adam who ate the sandwich first, Iberis also picked up a sandwich but paused at a strange feeling.

‘Something feels bad?’

I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but I was angry.

Adam never ate more than two bites of food that Iberis made.

Remembering that fact made me feel slightly choked up.

But when I thought of Ben’s face and then Adam’s face in succession, I could understand.

‘Even I wouldn’t eat something I made with that level of skill.’

Mm, of course, of course.

Knowing their skills well, the heart that had been sulking for a moment melted away.

Ben had made the sandwiches when he decided to go see the Founding Festival with her.

I felt sorry for leaving him out and eating them, but the taste of sandwiches eaten while enjoying the festival melted smoothly in my mouth.

The sandwiches that had filled the basket were quickly finished.

As we ate sandwiches on the hill, the sun began to set.

“The sunset is starting to appear.”

“Indeed it is.”

Iberis sat quietly and looked up at the sky.

She quietly looked down at the streets that were more crowded than in the morning. The colorful and brilliant street scene was almost blinding.

“What are you thinking about?”

Iberis, whose gaze was captivated as if being drawn into that scene, muttered without realizing it.

“I’m thinking that I’m truly happy that the Hero asked me to come to the festival together.”

At those words, Adam showed a slightly surprised expression, then smiled beautifully.

“Then I should try to make it even more fun.”

“It’s already enjoyable enough!”

It was a fact without a single lie.

Iberis had already been excited to the fullest even before coming out.

It was the first time Adam had suggested going somewhere first.

Adam had surely proposed it without any particular thought, but she was still happy.

At that moment, lanterns began rising one by one toward the sky from one place.

Some people were also sending them floating down the river.

Everyone must be making wishes.

Iberis, who never missed out on such events, sprang up from her spot.

The pain in her feet was now an afterthought.

Adam looked down at her feet with concern, but she ran down the hill wearing the new shoes Adam had bought her.

And like a student who had forgotten their supplies, she came back and took him along.

“Hero! You have to make a wish too. Hurry!”

“Understood. Let’s go slowly, Eve.”

Adam was dragged along obediently with a reluctant expression.

Iberis hurried down and bought two small white lanterns from a child selling them in a basket, handing over coins.

They were crude and small lanterns, as if handmade.

However, Iberis was simply delighted.

Having bought two including Adam’s, Iberis ran to where he was waiting.

Bringing the lanterns, Iberis used Adam, who was a head taller than other people, as a landmark to navigate.

She headed toward him, but her body swayed back and forth in the crowd moving in the opposite direction from her.

Eventually, Iberis resorted to grabbing his wrist as soon as she got close to Adam.

She did this because she was afraid that at this rate, they would get separated by the crowd before they could even release the lanterns, let alone lose them.

Adam looked down at his wrist that she had grabbed, then obediently followed behind her.

Unlike him who was larger than others, Iberis was small, so if she got lost in the crowd, he felt he might not be able to find her again.

He had been wondering what to do when she approached first, which was unexpected.

Adam felt the small warmth from his hand. Because it seemed like it would disappear at any moment, he felt an inexplicable anxiety.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————