Saikyō Fuyoshi no Mujikaku Hāremu Bōkentan: Nakama no Kao mo Sujō mo Shiranai kedo Tabun Zen'in Otoko da to Omo u [Prologue] [Free]

I kept my arms crossed, groaning under my breath as I paced back and forth, completely lost in thought. I’d already been at it for nearly thirty minutes, right out in front of the church on a relatively busy street.

"Should I ask for advice, or should I just drop it? If I actually talk about this, will they just laugh in my face? No, they’ll definitely laugh. I know I would. But it's not like I have anyone else I can talk to. Agh, screw it! Time to bite the bullet."

I walked through the grand gates and pushed open the heavy church doors. Inside, the air felt solemn and sacred, and the stark silence instantly made me tense up. The people inside were offering prayers to the Great Goddess of the Earth, the deity governing fertility and prosperity. The statue carved in her image was a stunningly beautiful woman, draped in a fabric so thin and fluttering it barely qualified as clothing. It was honestly pretty erotic. Totally hot, actually.

"Damn, that’s sexy."

The thought slipped right out of my mouth. Instantly, every single person praying turned around and glared daggers at me.

Ah, crap. My bad.

Before any of the devout followers could come over and grab me by the collar, I bolted toward my actual destination: the confessional.

The confessional. It was a place for disclosure where the church welcomed anyone, regardless of whether they were a believer or not. Thanks to a soundproofing spell cast on the private booth, a decent amount of anonymity and privacy was guaranteed. The priest listening on the other side was also bound by a vow of secrecy, meaning he couldn't utter a word to anyone else. In short, it was the absolute perfect spot to talk about things you couldn't tell a soul.

The wooden box itself looked ancient. It had clearly been sitting there for ages; the surface was faded, and the paint was peeling off in several spots. Who knows how many hands had gripped it over the years? The doorknob was worn down and polished smooth.

I swallowed hard and opened the door to the booth.

A bell suddenly rang out. Someone had just entered the confessional. Unfortunately, the priest was out at the moment, so Sister Clarissa hurried into the adjacent booth.

"Come to confess your sins, have you? The Goddess forgives all transgressions. Please, go ahead."

Directly in front of Clarissa was a small window, covered by a wooden panel so the person on the other side couldn't peek through. Judging by the voice filtering through the wall, her visitor seemed to be a young man—likely around her own age.

"I didn't really come to confess a sin. I was hoping to get some advice."

"Advice? Of course, that is perfectly fine. Please, speak your mind."

"Before I do, can I ask you something? Usually, a priest handles the listening, not a sister. So, uh... I was just wondering if I can really trust you."

"You have nothing to worry about. In our church, sisters are also permitted to hear confessions as representatives of the Goddess. Your secrets will absolutely never leave this room."

"Well, if you say so. Just make sure you don't tell a single soul, okay?"

"Naturally. You have my oath before the Goddess."

Clarissa braced herself and sat up a little straighter. Getting a request for advice in a confessional was incredibly rare. She didn't know how it was at other churches, but it almost never happened here in this town. The fact that he had come all the way here made it glaringly obvious that he was dealing with something he couldn't share with anyone else. She wondered what kind of problem it could possibly be.

"So, I formed a party here in town, but... well, the thing is, I don't actually know what a single one of my companions looks like. Do you think they just don't trust me?"

"..."

"Sister-san?"

"My apologies. I am having a little trouble wrapping my head around the situation. To be clear, you mean you have never actually met them?"

"No, that's not it. They definitely exist, and we work together as adventurers. It's just that they all hide their faces, so even though I'm the leader, I don't know what they actually look like underneath. But they're all incredibly reliable companions, you know? It's just that their identities are a total mystery."

As the pieces rapidly clicked into place, Clarissa pinched the bridge of her nose.

(What in the world? They're companions, but he doesn't know what they look like? Is this guy getting scammed or something?)

Completely oblivious to Clarissa’s internal chaos, the man on the other side of the wall kept right on talking.

"I used to work solo, see. But due to certain circumstances, I had to put a party together. I pretty much just accepted everyone who applied one after another, and before I knew it, we became the strongest party in town."

"If we are talking about the strongest party in this town, that would be 'Silver Blade' or 'Unknown', correct?"

"Hey, no prying."

"Ah, my apologies."

Faced with the man's calm rebuke, Clarissa refrained from digging any deeper. However, a very specific face had already vividly formed in her mind.

Unknown. An adventurer party that had rocketed all the way to S-Rank in a remarkably short period after forming. True to their name, everything about them was shrouded in mystery, making them a completely anonymous group. That said, their sheer ability was the real deal. They shared a fierce rivalry with Silver Blade, the town's other S-Rank party, and the two groups were constantly being compared to one another.

Naturally, the leader of such a party was incredibly famous. Even Clarissa, a simple sister, knew his face and name by heart.

The leader of Unknown: Lux Thirdwood.

He was a master Enchanter capable of applying mind-bogglingly high-level buffs. However, his reputation left a lot to be desired. He had a foul mouth, a terrible attitude, and was incredibly lazy. He was constantly hitting on rookies at the Guild, and people around town generally regarded him as a top-tier adventurer who was also a total piece of trash. He was precisely the kind of person who desperately needed to take a page out of the playbook of the young, flawless 'Sword Saint'—the prodigy who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship at a tender age and defeated the Demon King entirely on his own.

...Or so the rumors say. Not that I would ever think such a thing, of course. Clarissa maintained a pleasant smile on her face while mentally flipping him the bird.

"Are you listening, Sister-san?"

"Yes, of course. So, to sum up your dilemma, you wish to know the true identities of your companions. Is that correct?"

"Exactly. I guess things went south because I set our recruitment policy to 'any race, appearance, or background welcome, as long as you're strong and have basic common sense.' But really, they're all genuinely good people. Which makes it even harder for me to just bring it up."

"If you chose not to care about those things initially, shouldn't it be fine to leave things as they are?"

"Once something starts bothering me, it just constantly loops in my head. I mean, Sister-san, if you had an acquaintance who wore a mask twenty-four hours a day, wouldn't you be dying to know what they looked like?"

"I don't happen to know anyone like that, personally."

A brief silence fell over the booth. However, the man started up again as if nothing awkward had happened at all.

"There are four members in my party, right? And every single one of them hides not just their face, but their race and even their gender. Isn't this, like, a total recipe for the party breaking up?"

"Whatever makes you think that?"

"If they can't reveal who they really are, it means they don't plan on staying around forever, right? Isn't that the ultimate proof that they don't trust me? Once that thought popped into my head, I've barely been able to sleep more than six hours a night."

"That is plenty of sleep."

"If even one of them walks out, I won't even know how to look for them. See, my life right now is the most comfortable it's ever been. That's why I really want to keep things exactly the way they are. Isn't there something I can do?"

Hearing the man's earnest plea, Clarissa focused her mind. The man on the other side of the wall might have been a sloppy, no-good slacker, but as a servant of the Goddess, it was her sacred duty to extend a helping hand and offer salvation to anyone who asked. Besides, if an S-Rank party responsible for protecting the town from monsters were to disband, it would cause a massive crisis. Treating the issue with the gravity of a personal matter, Clarissa offered her best advice.

"What you need to do is build an even deeper bond of trust with your companions. Why not start by talking to them more and truly confronting the issue together? Perhaps they have their own reasons or personal hardships that prevent them from opening up."

"W-Wow, I see! So if they truly trust me, they'll show me their faces, and the party won't break up!"

"Well, I cannot guarantee anything regarding the party breaking up..."

"Thank you so much. I'm really glad I came to talk to you. Do you mind if I come back for advice again sometime?"

"Of course. You are welcome anytime."

The man practically bounced out of the confessional, sounding absolutely thrilled. Left behind in her booth, the sister let out a heavy sigh.

If it were up to her, she'd really prefer it if he never came back.