She was too busy reconsidering and weighing the various options right in front of her.

“Yes! Understood, Commander! I’ll be going now, Pereira.”

Natalie watched Bertel bow and turn away with satisfaction, then got back into the carriage.

Judging by current affection scores and single increase rates alone, she should consider Bertel as the number one male lead candidate.

Yet it was also difficult to completely rule out the others.

However, her initially excited mood gradually settled as she thought more about it.

It should have been reassuring—she should have been happy that her escape options had increased—but somehow, she found it hard to shake off an increasingly uncomfortable feeling.

The feeling that she was missing something, the doubt about whether she could really escape this world so easily and comfortably, and the strange guilt about so readily abandoning McClain, who had once been her favorite male lead, even if the substance was different—all these feelings pricked at a corner of her heart.

※※※

The lodging Bertel had arranged was a small inn with a restaurant on the first floor.

Since it wasn’t a period when outsiders flocked to the territory, each person could be assigned their own room.

When Natalie came downstairs for dinner, she spotted McClain hurriedly leaving the inn and asked Orlando:

“Where is the commander going?”

“Ah, he said he had somewhere important to go.”

Natalie nodded in understanding at Orlando’s answer.

She figured he must have received another quest.

“Has something else happened?”

“Not exactly. It seems the lord of this place somehow knew we had arrived and requested a brief meeting.”

Orlando’s answer made Natalie look surprised.

“Ah, is the expedition route confidential?”

“No, not particularly, but our schedule is tight, and as I mentioned before, stopping at territories often leads to getting involved in troublesome matters.”

“Ah… so this time too…?”

“Well, fortunately, it doesn’t seem there’s a separate request this time. The lord said he had something important he wanted to give to our commander.”

“Something he wants to give?”

“We cleared out goblins on our way here, didn’t we? It seems the attacked village was under this lord’s jurisdiction.”

“Aha!”

Now understanding the reason for the outing, Natalie clapped her hands once and nodded. He had gone to receive a quest reward.

Before departing, when the headman gave him something, she naturally thought it was a reward for eliminating the goblins, but apparently not.

The item from the lord must be more valuable. Could it be some kind of artifact?

Later, when they became a bit closer, she would have to casually ask him what reward he received.

Meanwhile, Bertel, who had arrived at the territory first and heard various things, continued with his kind explanation.

“From what I heard, that village earned quite a lot from medicinal herb cultivation, so they paid substantial taxes to the territory. That made it difficult to ignore the situation.”

“I’m sure it did.”

“Plus, our commander is quite famous. With his relationship to His Majesty the Emperor, the prestige of the Lindhart ducal family, and even his reputation as the Empire’s greatest warrior.”

“That’s right, that’s why we’re all following the commander.”

“It’s not because he’s famous, but because he’s strong. The commander is a true warrior.”

As the other members each added their comments, the cheerful dinner came to an end.

“It’s getting late. Everyone rest well.”

However, things were just beginning after dinner when she went up to her room.

Her plan to lie comfortably on the bed and carefully consider which option to choose was practically impossible from the start.

She had no time to herself because men kept knocking on her door to appeal to her affection.

The first to knock on her door was, surprisingly, Jorel Hato.

Knock, knock, knock. When she opened the door to the careful sound, Jorel Hato stood there with slightly reddened earlobes.

He was even more serious and taciturn than Bertel, to the point of seeming indifferent, so she never would have expected him to visit her.

“Oh my, Sir Hato. What brings you here…?”

“Um… I found something while scouting the area this afternoon.”

“You found something?”

“Yes, this. As far as I know, it’s used as an ingredient for potions…”

“My goodness! It’s a Veramot egg. This is really difficult to find—how did you discover it?”

“It happens that our route passes close to a Veramot habitat. I looked carefully while scouting and noticed it, so I quickly brought it back.”

“That’s amazing!”

While expressing admiration, her mind was racing.

Could he have deliberately scouted the Veramot habitat to appeal to her? This definitely wasn’t something you could just pick up along the way. Should she classify this man as a scheming male lead type?

Perhaps lacking social skills, Jorel awkwardly said goodbye and hurried away. Though he moved like a water-soaked swallow during scouting, his creaking steps down the corridor seemed incredibly anxious.

After Jorel, Muki knocked on her door. He too was carrying various items.

“This is special sleeping medicine from our homeland. Take it right before bed for deep sleep.”

“Sleeping medicine? I don’t need sleeping—”

“And this is my cushion. Hug it while sleeping for comfort…”

But Muki seemed deaf to her refusals as he busied himself with handing over all sorts of things.

Munash, Orlando, and Bertel came looking for her before Muki even left.

“Huh? What brings the three of you here?”

“Brother, you said you were going to bed early, so why are you here?”

“You also said you were going to sleep, so why are you here?”

“My, Pereira is quite popular. I just came up to check if you were safe, and it’s a good thing I did.”

At Orlando’s smooth response, Bertel quickly joined in.

“I also stopped by to check on you before bed.”

Then Muki made a disgruntled sound, seemingly deeply offended.

“Nothing bad happens because I’m here. I can protect her.”

“Why would you protect Miss? I will protect her.”

And what silenced all the commotion at once was McClain’s cold voice.

“All of you, stop talking nonsense and return to your rooms.”

Once she removed her colored glasses, she saw it clearly. Natalie turned out to be a woman with dangerous charm.

A woman who made anyone want to be near her, who made them want to appeal to her somehow, whose gaze drew people in and whose smile was infectious.

It wasn’t just because of her beautiful appearance. She was kind but had her own strength.

She had frightened eyes but knew how to step forward bravely.

Yet to McClain, these qualities about her were rather irritating.

Watching his team members fawning over the woman drove him crazy. Beyond being annoying and irritating, he was now at the point of exploding with anger.

It wasn’t the woman’s fault—he knew that—yet he kept getting angry at her for responding kindly to everyone.

He would get angry, then find his gaze fixed on her again. After discovering himself staring blankly, he would get angry once more.

It felt like he had developed bipolar disorder out of nowhere.

“This is driving me crazy.”

This couldn’t continue.

If he stayed passive, he might find himself bewitched and begging her to accept him before he knew it.

Get a grip.

You’re not the real McClain, and that woman isn’t the real Natalie.

If there were no way to return and he had to live thinking “this body is my body,” that would be different.

But he knew how to get back.

A fairly certain method.

And he absolutely had to return.

His family, his real friends, and the company he had practically raised were all in that other world.

That was the real reality.

It was fortunate, if anything, that he had come to his senses before being so captivated by the woman that he would give up everything.

Besides, the woman herself didn’t seem to have any intention of permanently residing in Natalie Pereira’s body.

If they were both lucky enough to return to reality, they wouldn’t even recognize each other.

Though they shared time in this place, they would ultimately be strangers who would have to start anew with unfamiliar faces.

Moreover, all the information he had was merely about the character Natalie.

He knew virtually nothing about her in reality.

No, there was one thing.

She was a somewhat experienced office worker.

Even if they were fortunate enough to meet after returning to reality, he couldn’t guarantee he would still be drawn to her as he was now.

So this current attraction was extremely irrational, unreasonable, and wasteful.

This fantasy world setting was clearly evoking these bewitching emotions.

It was because of the world with mages, sword masters, demon races, and monsters.

So he shouldn’t be curious.

It absolutely shouldn’t happen.

He was definitely thinking this as he walked. He definitely was, but…

“My, Pereira is quite popular. I just came up to check if you were safe, and it’s a good thing I did.”

“I also stopped by to check on you before bed.”

Familiar voices grated on his nerves.