Reluctant Hero | Amaki Ren

Chapter 30 | Cal Mira

"This isn't so bad." 

After the banquet, Sakura and Ren returned to their inn with their party members to prepare for their departure tomorrow morning. Though Naofumi walked out on them when they were arguing with the other heroes again, the Queen made it upon herself to schedule their departure using the same ship to head to the island.

"Sakura-sama~" The two young ones of her party whined behind her, both plastered with pleading expressions as they bugged their leader. "Can we have one day off? There's a beach there!" 

Haru was about to stop the two and pull them by their collars, but was stopped with their leader's answer.

"If you still have the energy to swim, then you guys can go to the beach after leveling up. That's my only condition." She says, irises still focused ahead of her as she walked alongside the Sword Hero. 

He was the first to touch the inn's door, opening it for her to enter before him. Sakura thoughtlessly entered and had their parties follow behind. They ascended the stairs and reached their floor without hurdle. 

"Good night, Sakura-sama!" 

"Sleep well, Ren-sama." 

"See you all tomorrow." 

One by one, as they walk through the hallway, their party members disappeared into their rooms. By the end of the hallway, only Ren and Sakura were the ones left. 

The raven-haired male unlocked their inn with the key that was provided to him, given that he is the one who rented it. 

"Remind me why we're sleeping in one room together?" Sakura asks, following him inside with a small frown on her face. She goes to the bathroom and closed the door, swiping down the air in front of her to show her menu. 

"Because your party's lacking one room when you were renting the other day." Ren sighs, tapping on his own menu to change into his nightwear. His previous clothing glowed a soft blue color before dying down to show that his battle clothing was replaced by a simple pair of pants and a white shirt. "I don't understand why you even forgot about that earlier this morning. I literally offered my bed to you." 

"Well, sorry, but I wasn't woken up by the best of dreams." 

Sarcasm was dripping from her words, and he couldn't help but deadpan at the way she answered him. He turns around, back facing the sofa as Sakura stepped out of the bathroom in her nightwear. 

"The Queen said we're traveling by ship tomorrow?" He asks, changing the subject pretty quickly. He sat on the armrest of the sofa and folded his arms, eyes focused on the girl moving towards the bed. 

She slowly nods back in response, going under the sheets in a blink of an eye. She curls on her side and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you look so bothered? It's just a ship." She said. "Unless..."

A small smirk suddenly popped into her face. "Are you scared of the sea or something?"

"What?" Ren's eyebrows furrowed. "No. I was just making sure that we're riding by ship." 

"Ah," Sakura snapped her fingers from underneath her sheets. "Do you get seasick pretty quick?"

Blink 

He turns away from her, huffing. 

Sakura found it amusing, how he's so easy to read and tease at the same time. It just might be the only reason why she doesn't really mind his company. 

Her chuckles echoed through the room, and it wasn't long 'til it reached Ren's ears. Grunting, he snapped his eyes back on the giggling girl to deny her assumption, but was stopped when her relaxed face came into picture.