The Powerless Hero's 101st Regression Diary

Chapter 8. Dorn (3)

What the hell was I doing. Get a grip, seriously.

‘Yeah, it’s best to pretend I don’t know anything right now, right?’

A grown man and woman had slept together on the same bed in a drunken stupor in an inn room. I didn’t care, but if pure-hearted Dorn found out, it was obvious she’d be uncomfortable.

Just like in the previous life, I’d pretend not to know until we grew close enough and Dorn confessed on her own.

‘Wait—my clothes? Are the clothes still on?’

Thankfully, both Dorn and I had passed out on the bed fully clothed.

‘Well done, instincts. You held out. Good. Dorn is a friend. A friend. I’ll just head down and pretend nothing happened.’

I carefully got off the bed, wary of waking Dorn.

I packed my things and headed toward the door.

And then.

“Yaaawn… Are you awake?”

Dorn sat up with a big yawn.

“Ah… Oh! Haha, wow. I must’ve drunk a lot—my head’s killing me. I’ll head downstairs and order some hangover stew. Take your time and come down when you’re ready.”

Without even glancing back, I fled to the first floor. Damn it, why did I have to run away? It wasn’t like I did anything wrong. Still… she probably knew now that I was a woman. What now? Wait. Did I just talk down to her without thinking? We weren’t at that level yet.

I clutched my aching head and made my way downstairs.

“Anything good for a hangover, please.”

I handed over the payment for the meal along with a 1 silver tip to the warm-looking innkeeper lady.

She smiled brightly and went into the kitchen.

“Oww, my head…”

As soon as I sat down, the pain hit. How could I play this off naturally?

Dorn was so innocent, like a blank slate—if I just acted like nothing happened, maybe she’d let it go too.

No, seriously, why was I even worrying about this? I didn’t do anything. Nothing happened.

It was Dorn who was hiding her identity, and she was the one who let it slip because she got drunk.

“Here you go. Enjoy your meal.”

As I was sorting out my thoughts, the innkeeper brought out seafood stew for the hangover along with a few slices of baguette.

I dipped the bread into the stew and shoved it into my mouth.

‘And really, what does it matter if Dorn’s a woman?’

It didn’t change a thing.

Dorn was still my friend, and I still needed her for the journey ahead.

If she wanted to keep hiding the fact that she was a woman, then I’d pretend not to know.

“Right. That’s all I need to do. Play dumb and move on. Dorn’s a little dense anyway—it’ll work out somehow.”

At that moment, Dorn came down to the first floor and ordered the same meal from the innkeeper. Her hair had been trimmed short again. Looked like she’d reactivated the Polymorph Artifact. And then.

“Um… Savior.”

Our gentle Dorn called to me with a flushed face, sounding ominously serious.

“P-please keep it a secret that I’m a woman. And… from now on, you can’t sleep next to me without permission.”

Dear god. What the hell was this now?

The innkeeper, who was serving the food, gave us a very peculiar look.

Then she covered her mouth.

No. No, ma’am. Whatever you’re imagining, it’s not that.

I like women, okay?

“Ah…”

So flustered, I dropped the piece of bread I was chewing on.

I looked at Dorn with wide eyes, and she kept her lips tightly sealed, wearing a complicated expression.

Sure, the innkeeper's misunderstanding was bad—but Dorn’s was worse. She thought I was some shameless scoundrel who slept with women and then calmly ate breakfast in the morning.

Still, the hopeful part was the phrase “from now on.” It meant she wasn’t cutting me off completely. With that in mind, I braced myself and tried to think of how to recover from this mess.

The phrase “without permission” echoed in my head, but I chose not to dwell on it.

‘No weird thoughts. Stay focused, Savior.’

This was the biggest crisis of my life. I couldn’t lose my friend Dorn over something so ridiculous. Time to find a solution.

Haven’t I said it before? My greatest weapon isn’t knowledge of the future or hidden treasures.

It’s the experience I’ve earned from crawling through chaos.

The experience of having lived a hundred lives told me this: when in doubt, charge straight through. With great difficulty, I forced my reluctant mouth to move.

“I’m sorry, Dorn. Even if my head rolls, I’ll keep your secret safe. But I think you’ve misunderstood—I really didn’t do anything.”

“…Yes.”

Dorn cut me off coldly.

Damn it.

I was trying to explain, and now things were even weirder.

Without a word, Dorn lowered her head and started spooning stew into her mouth.

“…I’m sorry.”

I apologized again.

I wasn’t even sure why, but it felt like the right thing to do.

“It’s okay… I’d just rather not talk about this anymore.”

“Ah… got it.”

Dorn had drawn a line.

Clink, clatter.

All that filled the awkward silence was the sound of our utensils.

“What are your plans for the next expedition?”

Surprisingly, it was Dorn who broke the silence.

“…Huh?”

I blinked and stared at her.

“You said it yesterday. That you wanted me as a teammate. That you had something you needed to do and you needed me for it. That I’m the only one in this world who truly recognizes my worth. That I should trust you.”

I… I said it that clearly? That optimistically? The words almost slipped out, but I kept my mouth shut. Saying that now would only make things worse.

I carefully chose my words. Even if I’d been drunk, what I said to Dorn was sincere.

Now was the time to prove it. That I wasn’t just some big-talking fraud. That I had a vision for how I was going to survive this world.

Dorn had big dreams. She’d run away from her noble house because there was something she truly wanted to achieve, even disguising herself as a man to do it.

In the past loops, it was clear—that was her identity. Her passion for ancient civilizations. It was the only area in which Dorn, normally soft and compromising in all things, refused to yield.

What I could do for her was to create an environment where she could freely chase those dreams.

“Before that, I have a question.”

Dorn looked straight at me. Her large, round eyes reflected my serious expression.

“The relic we brought back from this expedition—when will your analysis be complete?”

“At… at the earliest, two weeks. If it takes longer, maybe up to a month. O-of course, it could take even longer…”

She thought it over and then replied.

“Then the next expedition will be in a month. Once your research is done, we might have new information, so please finish your work. If it takes longer, the expedition will be after that.”

“…What?”

“You proved to me in your first expedition that your archaeological skills are real. So now, it’s my turn to prove myself. I’ll bring back a D-Rank Mercenary Badge within the month.”

A D-Rank Mercenary Badge. Once you hit D-rank, you could form a team, so this was my way of indirectly proving that what I said yesterday wasn’t drunken nonsense. Of course, getting the badge didn’t mean I could immediately form a team. Unlike yesterday’s small-scale exploration, forming a team was a whole different level.

Minimum five members. To maintain the team, you had to generate consistent income—By excavating ancient ruins or selling monster parts, like we did last time.

“I’m just a porter right now. The only two things I can promise you are this: plenty of research time and full authority over where we explore. I’m giving both to you.”

Usually, the team leader had full control over where a team explored. Handing that decision-making power to an archaeologist or historian was unheard of. Sure, that person might report information to the leader, who’d then assess the credibility and decide—but to fully hand over all decision-making?

Even for a team that hadn’t been formed yet, it was unprecedented.

“…How… No, why?”

Dorn’s eyes widened.

“I told you yesterday, didn’t I? I believe in you. And since you believe in me, you didn’t write off what I said as drunken talk—you’re asking about the next expedition, right?”

I spoke with conviction.

“One month from now. That’s when we’ll head out next. I may not be able to form a clan by then, but I’ll at least become a D-rank mercenary and lead a team. I figured only then would you consider betting your life on me.”

“B-bet my life?”

“Yes. Also, could you let Bob and Kevin know? If I want to become D-rank in a month, I need to get moving now.”

With that, I stood up.

Dorn didn’t try to stop me or ask more questions. For some reason, her face just turned red again.

Leaving her behind, I exited the inn.

***

The first place I went after parting with Dorn was an alchemy tools shop. I spent a hefty 4 gold out of the 10 gold we’d received as payment to buy the lowest-tier alchemy tools.

‘What I need most right now is gold.’

Gold made everything easier. And that applied to becoming a D-rank merc too.

The requirement to be promoted to D-rank was to win a one-on-one duel against a current D-rank mercenary. If you slipped some cash to your opponent, everything could go smoothly.

I’d even raised my mercenary rank like that in a past life.

But this time, I needed real strength. Before, I only needed the D-rank badge to build a team.

Now, I truly needed to be D-rank-level strong. After all, I was supposed to one day slay the Mad Dragon—I couldn’t even get a D-rank badge in a month? At this rate, I’d never reach my goals.

So, my plan was simple: earn a ton of gold and pour it all into myself.

The fastest way to get stronger now was to upgrade my Mana Heart into a Single Core. For that, I needed elixirs. And to make or buy elixirs, I needed a lot of gold.

Of course, if I just borrowed money from newly-rich Dorn, things would be easier.

But hadn’t I just promised to prove myself? Borrowing her wealth could wait until more trust had been built.

‘Trying something I only dreamed of in the previous loop—because I had no Mana Heart then—this is thrilling.’

With a racing heart, I made my way to a shabby hay market.

Yeah, the place that sold feed for cows and horses.

“I’d like to buy all the Blue Butterfly Grass you have. Dried or fresh—either is fine.”

Blue Butterfly Grass was used for livestock feed. It was a weed, but widely bought by farmers, so I couldn’t get it for dirt cheap.

“All of it? I don’t recognize you. Got yourself a big ranch or something?”

The old hay merchant welcomed me—probably hadn’t had a big sale in a while.

“All together, that’ll be 2 gold and 80 silver. Heh, it’s been a while since I landed a deal like this.”

Smiling, I added one more request.

“Sir, could I rent an empty hay storage for two weeks? If I include that in the purchase, I’ll pay 4 gold total.”

“No reason you can’t. I won’t be getting a new shipment for another month, so feel free.”

With the remaining 2 gold, I bought every small container I could and had them delivered to the empty storage.

Everything was ready now.

Why is alchemy called alchemy? Because it’s the art of turning things into gold.

True, no one succeeded in making literal gold, but countless failed attempts birthed items just as valuable as gold.

“Like this ‘coagulant,’ which will become a must-have item for mercs in ten years.”

Heheheheheh.

I chuckled quietly as I opened my lowest-grade alchemy kit.