Can Someone (Anyone!) Please Turn Off the Auto-Skill Setting?! - Chapter 23
The journey to the Demon King’s castle had been smooth, if not for the occasional attacks by pesky demons that always seemed to crop up when least expected.
“These lowlifes keep coming at us,” Aaron muttered as he easily cut down another group of attackers, cracking his neck as if the battle had been no more than a warm-up.
“Get up. Let’s keep moving,” he urged, pressing Nancy to keep pace.
Nancy, however, was having none of it. She grimaced and finally put her foot down.
“Aaron, we’re staying at that village tonight.”
“No,” Aaron said firmly, shaking his head.
They were already behind schedule, and he was determined to make up for lost time.
But Nancy wasn’t going to back down either.
After walking nonstop for a week, her body had reached its limit. She was exhausted, and sleeping outside had become unbearable. She longed for a hot bath and a soft bed at an inn, not another night camping on the cold, hard ground.
“I’m paying for the inn, so I decide where we stay!” she snapped. “Whoever’s footing the bill should get the final say!”
“Fine. But at least let’s make it to the next village,” Aaron countered, gesturing toward the forest path ahead, which led to another village far out of sight.
Nancy, standing on the road to the nearby village, glared back at him.
“But the village we’re going to now is famous for its hot springs!”
“We’re not here for sightseeing.”
He was right, of course, but after hearing “no” so many times, Nancy was at her wit’s end. She finally stuck her fingers in her ears and walked toward the village, yelling, “I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”
Aaron watched her retreat, contemplating whether he should just sling her over his shoulder and carry her along.
But he quickly dismissed the thought—last time he had forced her to keep going, she had secretly added dirt to his stew as revenge.
‘She’ll probably fake a stomachache tomorrow and insist on resting all day,’ he thought, recalling her mischievous grin from before. It wasn’t the kind of face one expected from a righteous hero.
He had scolded her thoroughly for that incident, and she had promised never to do it again. But he had a sneaking suspicion she might try something similar in the future. Sighing heavily, Aaron followed after her.
Nancy had already found the inn by the time he caught up.
“Do you have a room for the night?” she asked, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to only rent one room. Aaron was immediately flustered.
He had requested countless times before for her to rent two rooms, pointing out how inappropriate it was for a man and woman to share. But Nancy was firm. “Who’s paying for the room?” she always asked, reminding him that the cost would come out of her pocket.
Aaron, without any money, had no choice but to grudgingly comply.
“I’ll be sharing the room with him—the big guy,” Nancy said, motioning to Aaron as she spoke to the innkeeper.
Aaron glared at the back of her head. She had started off addressing him as “Sir Aaron,” but somewhere along the way, he had become just “the big guy.”
Honestly, “big guy” wasn’t even the worst thing she could have called him.
‘Everyone used to mockingly call me the “V****n Knight” behind my back,’ he thought, bitterly recalling the nickname.
Sure, she had once been kind and encouraging, like the “pepper” she resembled to him due to his enchantment. But that was long gone. Now, she was cranky, weak beyond belief, and…
“Got any bigger beds? The big guy’s uncomfortable with small ones,” Nancy added casually.
Aaron’s irritation eased slightly at her remark. Whenever she sensed that his frustration was reaching a peak, she’d throw in some considerate comment, melting his anger away. She had a knack for that.
The innkeeper confirmed there was indeed a large enough bed, and Nancy booked the room. Inside, there was a bed big enough for Aaron, large enough that his feet wouldn’t hang off the edge.
But it was just one bed.
“If you want, I could bring another mattress. There’s a small fee, though,” the innkeeper offered, sensing Aaron’s discomfort.
Nancy, however, declined without hesitation.
“No need. That bed’s big enough for two.”
Aaron’s face darkened. Sharing a room was one thing, but sharing a bed?
This definitely wasn’t right. Aaron hoped she would reconsider.
“I’m off to bathe. I’m dying to get clean.”
Nancy announced before Aaron could say anything, and she disappeared from the room, leaving him alone to stare blankly at the empty space she left behind.
He sighed.
If anyone from the Holy Order found out about this, his vow of chastity would immediately be questioned. Who would believe that nothing happened when they’d been sharing a bed?
None of his fellow knights, that was for sure. Maybe the commander would stand up for him, but he also knew about the prophecy and might be even more suspicious.
Aaron bathed, but he was too preoccupied with his thoughts to enjoy the hot spring. He finished quickly and headed back to the room, determined to tell Nancy that once they returned to Verus, he’d pay for separate rooms.
When he got back, she wasn’t there yet. But something shining caught his eye. It was a ring, hanging from a chain—it definitely wasn’t his.
Was it Nancy’s? He couldn’t recall ever seeing her wear a ring.
Curious, he picked it up, and as soon as he touched it, a sense of familiarity washed over him.
