“120 gold coins.”
Upon hearing the amount, Alex nearly jumped out of his seat; it was an incredibly massive sum.
I mean, sure, it sounds nice, 120 coins, but for a family of four, that’s not just ‘surviving’—we’re talking about living it up like nobility.
In fact, that’s probably close to the monthly living expenses of a noble like Lord Carteyn from the place they call Evian.
The cost to maintain that estate is around a hundred gold coins.
And that amount? It’s the price of the magic Yona needs to turn back into a man.
“Hey, no way. Absolutely not. Do you even understand how much 120 gold coins is?”
“Of course I do. I definitely know.”
Yona’s eyes were flickering oddly.
The moment Alex saw her gaze, he felt a chill; those golden eyes burned with a strange obsession.
Right then, Yona almost blurted out she’d do it, and Alex panicked, barely managing to stop her.
Covering her mouth, he insisted they think it over for just a bit longer, and they’d come back tomorrow, finally returning to their inn room.
“But seriously, if I can genuinely go back… if I can just become a man again, I would invest any amount of gold.”
“What kind of investment is that? It’s a scam, I tell you! Even if the couple gods said so, that was their daughter from the heavenly family—no, their son? Daughter? Whatever, she was a celestial being! You’ve got nothing!”
“What does that matter? Eska said if it’s confirmed I was a man originally, I could return. So what’s the problem? You don’t want me to go back to being a man?”
“Nope.”
Of course not.
Alex almost voiced that, but he managed to stop himself.
If she asked why, he wouldn’t have a real answer.
Because I like you, I love you, and I don’t want you to turn back into a guy—let’s be honest, even if you were a guy, I wouldn’t care; right now, you’re a woman and a ridiculously attractive one at that! I can’t let you go back!
Yeah, he couldn’t say that.
Saying that would make Yona think he’s a selfish jerk trying to keep her from what she wants for his own reasons.
Yona’s thought process was that straightforward.
“…It’s not about liking or disliking, but have you thought about how you earned that money? You’re going to dump it all into some magic without knowing if it’s real or not? What if it fails?”
Alex’s words were completely rational and also reasonable.
When Yona set off on this journey, she had just about ten gold coins in her hand.
And she had scraped together that pile of coins through hellish suffering, even with a demon clinging to her.
“They say it’s possible. If they say it’s possible, why worry? I’ve been saving up to turn back into a man. It’s just spending money for the goal. What’s wrong with that?”
That left Alex momentarily speechless.
He knew Yona was diligent about saving money.
When he asked why a healer would take on such dangerous adventurer work, considering healers tend to die quickly, wouldn’t it be better to run a comfy healing shop? Yona had said she needed to gather money quickly, and that adventuring offered more profit than the overly competitive healing shops.
Alex understood perfectly well why she was so eager to save.
As it was, Alex couldn’t bring himself to say anything more to Yona, who was now speaking.
Should he just let it be?
Was he really just going to let her undergo that procedure?
“Anyway, I’m going to have the procedure. No matter what anyone says, that’s my goal. I will absolutely return as a man and go back to the world I came from.”
With her eyes shining, Yona spoke, leaving Alex at a loss for words.
He wasn’t unaware of her longing.
Having spent time with her, Alex couldn’t bring himself to crush her dreams just for his own feelings.
“It’s okay, hey, Baldy. Even if I turn back into a man, huh? Do you think I’ll forget this friendship? You don’t have to worry about that!”
Alex raised his hand to push Yona’s hand, which was rubbing his head.
It was the first time he’d ever rejected her like this.
Yona froze for a moment as her hand stopped.
With a long sigh, Alex stood up from the chair.
Yona, perched on the bed, gazed up at him in a daze as he stood.
“…I won’t worry about that. Then you should rest. I’m a bit tired too, I’m going to my room.”
“Uh… W-what about dinner?”
The sun was already setting.
After spending the day at the Mage Tower, time had flown by.
“Just eat by yourself. I don’t feel like it.”
“Uh…”
With those parting words, Alex turned away.
Yona stared blankly at his retreating figure, mouth agape, watching him leave her room.
*
“Ugh.”
As she took a bite of the stew, the mushy texture exploded in her mouth alongside an odd sweetness, causing Yona to scrunch her face.
Spitting out the source of the sweetness, she discovered it was a carrot.
“Damn…”
Yona was alone in the dining area, eating her dinner.
A pot of stew, two pieces of bread, and milk.
Normally, the Evian Dalbyeol Inn would serve the stew without issue, but ordering it herself had resulted in a portion disaster.
She hadn’t expected the stew to be this huge, but with Alex gone, she had to eat it all by herself, and it was way too much.
Plus, there were way too many carrots and bell peppers inside—yesterday there had seemed to be a lot of meat, but today it wasn’t the same.
Every bite was filled with carrots and peppers, so she was forced to pick them out every time, which was quite a hassle.
‘What’s up with that guy?’
Chewing her bread, Yona took a sip of milk.
Definitely, the milk tasted great in this world.
Since there were no cold deliveries, most inns had their own cows, so while there was a slight fishy smell, once she got used to it, it was undeniably delicious.
‘Maybe if I asked for milk, he’d bring some.’
She had never seen Alex act like this before.
She didn’t know how he’d been before forming a party with Yona, but since they started hanging out, he had never gotten mad at her or shown any annoyance.
‘He didn’t get annoyed or anything, but… well, he did something worse.’
Didn’t he just push away her hand that was petting his head?
He had never done that before. Pushing her hand away as if telling her not to touch him.
Yona pushed Alex’s hand away as if to say, “Don’t touch.”
“Don’t touch…”
‘…Hmm?’
Yona suddenly stopped thinking right there.
She seemed to understand why Alex was so upset.
*
As soon as Alex returned to the room, he changed his clothes and lay down on the bed.
The inn was quite pricey, so the facilities weren’t bad at all. Even though there wasn’t a separate shower area like in Yona’s room, Alex wasn’t the type to need a shower every time like Yona, so it didn’t matter to him.
Instead, he made sure to wash his clothes whenever he had the chance. Thanks to that, just changing into fresh clothes made him feel rather refreshed lying on the bed.
‘…In the end, is it about going back to being a man?’
Honestly, he trusted that Mage Eska more than the Alebians.
The Alebians’ laboratory always had some mysterious, musty smell, and it was hard to find a place to step every time he entered.
Wasn’t this laboratory on a completely different level?
That proud and haughty mage, and particularly in a reasonable room in such a Mage Tower, didn’t seem the type to scam him for gold coins.
So it wasn’t about how trustworthy Eska was, but rather the trustworthiness of that magic she said she could do.
‘What should I do if Yona really turns back into a man?’
Alex was a perfectly normal heterosexual male.
He had absolutely no interest in men.
The idea that Yona could turn back into a man was something he had dismissed as impossible.
But now that it seemed it could actually happen, it was quite absurd.
‘What should I do…’
While Alex was rolling around in those thoughts, he unconsciously drifted off to sleep.
– Hey, Baldy.
Upon hearing the voice from outside, Alex’s eyes snapped open.
There was no way he could have not heard that voice.
Instinctively, as soon as he heard it, he responded, inviting her in.
The door opened, and it was indeed Yona.
In an oddly fluttering nun’s outfit, Yona quietly entered and hurriedly locked the door behind her.
“…What are you doing?”
“Well, I thought about why you were overreacting, Baldy, and I figured it might be because of that.”
Without waiting for Alex’s response, Yona approached and plopped down on the bed.
Already sitting up on the bed as she entered, Alex swallowed hard at the sight of Yona facing him.
Yona’s face was oddly red.
Her breath was unsteady, and combined with her flushed face, it gave off a strangely seductive vibe.
“So you figured out why I was overreacting?”
“Yeah. Hey, relax your hand.”
Yona reached out and grabbed Alex’s hand.
One hand each, Yona held Alex’s hand and slowly lifted it.
When told to relax, he did, and as she lifted his hand, he followed along.
“Gotcha.”
Things were fluttering in that nun’s outfit.
Without any hesitation, Yona inserted Alex’s hand between the sides of her nun’s outfit that she had already loosened—
“Hey, hey, what are you?!”
Alex couldn’t even finish his sentence.
In his hands, he was utterly captivated by the fullness, the softness, and the heaviness as if they had sealed his mouth shut, leaving Alex sputtering like a fish out of water.
“Th-this is too… uh? This is really embarrassing… If not now… then there might not be another chance…!”
Yona, struggling to speak, was gasping for breath like a fish out of water.
Her face, already flushed red, turned an even brighter shade, looking as if it was on fire. Meanwhile, Alex, grasping Yona’s chest, was floundering like a goldfish.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and don’t just stand there!”
The room was thick with a strange heat.
With his hands slipped into the open spaces of her nun’s outfit, Alex found himself frozen in place, unable to pull his hands away even though Yona had suddenly loosened her grip.
Squish, squish…
Every time he moved his hands, it was as if her skin set his brain ablaze.
The previously indenting softness of her chest now poked out like tiny little nubs, sending shivers every time his palm moved.
“Gah, gahh….”
Yona’s lips were quivering as they made strange sounds.
Then, “Uh!” she quickly covered her mouth.
Yet, she raised her hands to block her mouth, fearful that Alex might interfere with his own groping, and in Alex’s eyes, she looked unbelievably adorable.
The air was thick with heat, making it feel like anything could happen at any moment.
Yona felt her head spin.
Every movement of Alex’s hand sent a tingling sensation throughout her body that she had never felt before.
The coarse feel of Alex’s hands was enough to send her over the edge.
Yona found herself increasingly unable to control her body as a flush spread through her lower belly.
It felt as if something was rising up within her, a sensation she had never experienced, weighing heavily on her as her chest was fondled.
“Th-stop…! Stop!”
It was terrifying.
She felt scared.
This was a sensation she had never felt, taking over her entire body.
If it continued like this, the fear was that she would lose all her rationality.
As the overwhelming sensation weighed down on her, Yona jolted upright—
“Ugh, huh?!”
Losing her balance, she tumbled off the bed.
However, right before she hit the floor, Alex swooped in and caught her, acting faster than her fall.
In an instant, they were face-to-face.
With Yona half-lying back and Alex supporting her back and waist.
Their eyes locked—
“…Th-thank you!”
Yona hurriedly fixed her clothes and dashed out of Alex’s room.
There was a comical incident as she fumbled with the locked door, but that was a minor detail.
Only after the loud bang of the door closing did Alex stare blankly at it.
Then the door creaked open again, and Yona peeked her head in, looking at Alex.
“Sleep well! See you tomorrow!”
And then, the door slammed shut again.
Alex couldn’t help but let out a big sigh, smiling wryly.
There was nothing he could do.
Really, there was nothing he could do.
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