Popular NPC in a Gender-Reversed Game

Our destination was a small village to the east.
It wasn't too far. In terms of time, it would take about three days.

Compared to the last journey that took more than half a month, this felt incredibly short.
Shin Hanbyeol was a bit disappointed by that.

‘I wish it would take as long as last time, like half a month...’

Well, they’d probably stay in the nearby village for a while, so Hanbyeol decided to take comfort in that.
Fortunately, the knights had loosely organized the group, so she ended up being on the same team as Yor.
This time, though, it wasn’t just the two of them like last time when they were hunting imps, so it seemed less awkward. Being with a ‘man’ 24/7 without much conversation was good, but also a little strange.

In that sense, the number of people was just right this time—neither too few nor too many.
There were only about 40 to 50 people organized to go after the demon in the north.
Since it was just for investigation, they didn’t need a large number of people.

The unusual thing was that all the clerics had been attached to this team.
It seemed that the demon in the north had mental-affecting abilities, so having the clerics along for purification could be helpful.

Because of that, the actual combatants were only about 30 adventurers, including the second knight commander, Odelia.
It seemed a little underwhelming to have so few for capturing a demon... but since this was mainly for investigation, Hanbyeol decided to let it slide.

"Ha... I’m glad you’re with me, Hanbyeol. It’s better to have you next to me."
"Thanks, I’ll be counting on you."

After the team was organized, Hanbyeol had a quick conversation with Chae-rin and Haneul.
Since they had been together a lot recently, they greeted Hanbyeol with odd expressions, but they seemed happy to see her.
Hanbyeol smiled for a moment, thinking she was speaking a little more than when they first met.

"Of course."

The next morning, they set off for the small village in the north.

Three days passed quickly.
The distance wasn’t long, and there weren’t any major events, so the time seemed to fly by.
Sleeping in the carriage was a bit uncomfortable, but it was the most comfortable carriage she had ever been in so far.
Since they had a cleric with them, the knights had gotten a pretty high-quality carriage.
It was a luxury fit for noble guests. Thankfully, that meant Hanbyeol was able to travel comfortably.

‘By the way... none of the clerics are making trouble.’

Hanbyeol glanced at the clerics gathered in one place.

The fact that she was a "manifestor" was already widely known. She had citizenship and had been active as an adventurer for quite some time.
There was no ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) way the clerics didn’t know she was a manifestor.

However, curiously, they didn’t say anything, just glancing at her.
Over the course of three days, they hadn’t even frowned when looking at her.
It was a different reaction than what Hanbyeol had expected.
She thought they might shout, "Heretic!" and try to break her skull as soon as they met her...

‘Does it not matter that I’m a manifestor?’

She couldn’t figure out what was going on with them. Were they staying quiet because of the Emperor, or did the church itself not care about manifestors?

‘Hmm...’

She felt a bit curious, but since they seemed neutral, Hanbyeol decided to remain quiet.
It was comfortable for now, and there was no need to disturb it.

Anyway, they arrived at the village in question.
Although it was called a ‘village,’ the sight before them wasn’t all that small.
It could easily be called a small town instead.

The streets were paved with stone tiles, and the village was surrounded by walls, making it look like a secure place to block monster attacks.
Of course, for those of us who had to investigate the area, it was quite inconvenient.

“It’s in better shape than I thought.”

As Hanbyeol muttered while looking at the outskirts of the village, I nodded in agreement.
‘I thought it would be ruins since a demon appeared.’
The village was too intact. If we didn’t know about the demon, we wouldn’t have guessed it had appeared at all.

“How should we investigate?”
“We’ll infiltrate. If fifty people go in all at once, it’ll definitely raise suspicion.”

Odelia suddenly cut in and answered in a loud voice, as if speaking to the whole hunting party.

“We’ll leave about forty people here... and the remaining ten will go in individually. That should make it easier to move covertly and retreat if we’re discovered.”

It was a good plan. The number of people left behind was a bit surprising, though.
I asked, and it turned out the remaining people were there to protect the clerics.
Since the clerics had almost no combat ability, a good number of adventurers were needed to keep them safe.

Truly, they were noble and important.

In any case, we quickly picked the infiltrating team.
I volunteered myself. It seemed less boring than staying behind.

‘Being with those clerics is uncomfortable.’

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

I didn’t know how the clerics felt about me, but I felt they had some sort of aversion. After all, we were natural enemies.
If they used even a little bit of their holy power, I’d be easily neutralized, like a vampire in sunlight.
Shin Hanbyeol naturally followed me when I raised my hand.
She was chosen for the infiltrating team too, and she came up to me right away, asking:

“Shall we stick together?”
“Mm... yeah.”

It was better to move together than alone.

“Let’s all pray for safety. If things get dangerous, we’ll retreat immediately.”

With that, we entered the village.
We moved quietly, like shadows, and hopped over the wall...

“Are you new here? Maybe travelers?”

“...?!”

Not long after, we were caught.

After passing through two blocks of the village alley, someone suddenly approached and greeted us!
Hanbyeol and I were startled.

But after a moment, we regained our composure and looked at the person who had called us.
The woman appeared to be in her early twenties, with brown hair and freckles on her cheeks, giving off the impression of a simple, country girl. She smiled brightly at us as she spoke.

Since we’d already been caught, we couldn’t ignore her.
I awkwardly smiled and responded.

“Haha, yeah... we were walking and just stumbled upon the village, so we decided to stop by.”

Still, I couldn’t stop suspecting. No matter how friendly she seemed, it was a little too unusual for an outsider to be welcomed this warmly.

“Welcome! Our village has a lot to see, and the people are really friendly. Since you’ve come all the way here, would you like me to show you around?”

It was a proposal we couldn’t easily refuse.
Since this was a closed-off village, word would spread quickly if we were caught.
It might actually be better to act like tourists and get deeper into the village.
I gave Hanbyeol a look.

‘What should we do?’
‘Let’s just follow her for now.’

She nodded in agreement.

We followed the freckled girl into the village confidently.
The villagers seemed completely at ease.
The sounds of children laughing and people working filled the air.

There were no signs of destruction or people with injuries from the demon.
Honestly, looking at it, I even wondered if the demon had made a mistake in targeting the village.

“Hmm? Are you travelers? Well, if you need anything, just ask.”

“You came alone? Ha, what a lovely young couple out traveling together!”

“Enjoy your stay!”

There were plenty of signs that something was odd.
The villagers were all too friendly.
Usually, in a village of this size, you’d expect more variety in the people, but they all greeted us with smiles, almost like they were trying to sell us something.

‘And...’

The way they looked at us was uncomfortable.
Instead of just smiling and moving on, they all seemed to take a long look at us as they passed by.
Although it was a common experience, today it felt unusually sticky.

Even Hanbyeol was receiving a lot of attention.

We entered the inn, receiving the villagers’ heavy attention.
The freckled girl had invited us directly to the inn.

“Since you’re here, why not stay the night? The next village is quite far, and it’s getting late. You’d be better off staying here. I’ll give you a good deal.”

It seemed like she was the daughter of the innkeeper.
At this point, I was really hesitant. Even if I’d fallen for a little bit of hospitality, it didn’t sit right with me.
It felt like I was being drawn into a scam.

‘...Hmm.’

But in the end, I decided to go along with it for now.
I was confident I could protect myself.

“Then, we’ll take two rooms. Oh, and we don’t need meals.”
“Hmm? Our food is really good...”
“Oh, I brought my own provisions. They’re about to spoil, so I need to finish them first.”

If I knew what was in the food, I could eat it comfortably.

“Ah, I see. Alright then.”
After paying, we headed to our assigned rooms.

Haneul looked curious when the rooms were mentioned but soon looked a little disappointed when I ordered two rooms.
It seemed like she had hoped for something else... but we were on duty.

The rooms were normal—one bed, one bathroom.
There was no strange smell, and nothing seemed suspicious.

For now, we’d stay here.
Since we’d already been discovered, acting naturally as travelers would be the best course.

Although I still didn’t know what the villagers were up to.

‘Tonight’s sleep is ruined...’

I thought, with a wry smile.

That night, everyone went to bed.
The moon had long risen, but I only pretended to sleep, keeping my mind alert.
Instead, I listened carefully for anything unusual from outside.

I expected it to be a boring wait, but... I quickly noticed something unusual.
I heard a familiar voice from outside.

“Should we just go in and eat now? I can’t wait any longer.”
“Shh, just wait, the mirror’s not ready yet.”
“Wow, but did you see her figure during the day? She’s right next to me, and I want to take her clothes off right now…”

It was the voice of the freckled girl who had guided us.

‘...As expected.’

There was something off here.