Me, a priest? How could that be!

Chapter 5: People's joys and sorrows are not shared.

Staring at him with those seemingly innocent but actually extremely dangerous eyes, Charlotte felt a complex mix of emotions, like "when your little finger kicks a cabinet, before the pain even hits, but you know you're facing an impending hell with nowhere to escape—the excruciating pain is about to come!"

Even without a mirror, he knew his expression must be quite something.

next second.

"Help me! Ahh ...

run away.

Don't worry about whether you can escape or not, just run.

And so you can see a boy in tattered armor chasing after several giant toads on the plain.

But he was, after all, a person who had never been before.

Despite being surrounded and blocked by the giant toad, their escape route was eventually blocked.

The monsters' menacing gazes gave Charlotte the illusion that she was a female knight surrounded by goblins. Was she going to have to say, "Goo, kill me?"

"Croak—"

The giant toad showed no mercy, sticking out its tongue as soon as its prey fell into the net, attempting to capture its dinner.

However, due to their lack of intelligence, the monsters lacked the team spirit of cooperation, mutual benefit, and sharing of food. As a result, their five tongues landed on Charlotte's head and limbs respectively, and then they all pulled back with force.

No!

Five won't do!

Charlotte's expression changed drastically as his head and limbs were pulled and he was suspended in mid-air. The giant toads were exerting their strength, and if this continued, he would be torn to pieces by the five toads!

You'd think he was cosplaying Shang Yang!

However, Charlotte was powerless to resist. Her mouth and nose were blocked by mucus, preventing her from making a sound. She could only wriggle her body to offer weak resistance, while praying that the giant toad would open its mouth because it disliked iron objects.

...No.

Although giant toads dislike iron objects, it doesn't mean they can't swallow them. In addition, perhaps driven by biological instinct, they are motivated by the competitive spirit that "only the strong deserve to obtain prey," so they are unwilling to let go and instead tighten their grip more and more.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm--"

This was tough on Charlotte.

He's not like Tom and Jerry, a nonsensical comedic character who can survive having his head and limbs stretched out. If things continue like this, he'll be cut into five pieces, die, and then return to the heavens.

That would be so embarrassing!

Just as Charlotte was about to faint from suffocation, her face turning a purplish-red, two people were running towards her from not far away on the plain.

One is a blonde female knight, and the other is a silver-haired female thief.

"Chris, hurry up, hurry up!"

"Wait, wait a minute, Darkness, you're running too fast! Besides, who would actually go out on the plains looking for giant toads and crawl into their mouths? That's just too weird!"

Her friend's urging made her feel somewhat helpless.

The two had been drinking and chatting at the Adventurers' Guild to pass the time when they overheard the merchant saying that on his way there he saw someone deliberately crawling into the mouth of a giant toad on the plains, and occasionally letting out a terrifying laugh, warning adventurers going out on quests to stay away from that pervert.

Darkness couldn't sit still any longer.

She appeared to be a cold and aloof female knight, but was actually a complete pervert. He slammed his hand on the table, grabbed Chris's wrist, and rushed towards the plains outside the town, eager to see her true face.

Chris scoffed at this, thinking it was just the ramblings of a merchant who had drunk too much bubble wine. After all, how could anyone actually do that on the plains?

"...You're kidding, it really exists!"

The thief's "clairvoyance" skill revealed a scene that left her speechless. Even with her vast knowledge, she was unable to describe what was happening.

"That is..."

Darkness rushed to the scene and saw several giant toads gathered together, their tongues binding someone.

Upon witnessing this scene, the perverted female knight blushed, gasped for breath, and writhed in pain.

"Ha...ah...ha...ah! How perverted is this? To play and frolic with so many giant toads, and let your body be covered in their stinking slime, it's really...a very high-class tentacle play!"

"...No, that's not true!!"

Chris immediately denied it.

When she saw Charlotte's ashen face, she realized that the novice adventurer in front of her was on the verge of death, and she quickly called on her best friend to come to her rescue.

"Darkness, come quick, help!"

"oh oh!!"

The two frantically killed the giant toads one by one. What was puzzling was that these monsters would rather be killed than give in. It was truly baffling why they were so stubborn.

"Oh no, his chest cavity is full of mucus, we need to get it out quickly!"

"I'll help!"

Charlotte, whose chest was being compressed, barely opened his blurry eyes. Because he was lying face up and his brain was deprived of oxygen, he could only vaguely make out the blurry image of a girl under the sunlight. He murmured:

"Goddess-sama...?"

It was probably just my imagination. The girl who helped him stiffened for a moment, but before she could think any further, her vision went black and she passed out completely.

……

"Hmm, an unfamiliar ceiling."

It could be forever, or it could be just a moment. Charlotte slowly woke up. Lying on the bed, he gazed at the wooden ceiling and slowly uttered this incredibly classic line.

It seems I've survived by sheer luck.

Just then, someone pushed open the door and entered. Upon seeing him slowly sit up, a relieved and joyful expression immediately appeared on his face.

"Mr. Charlotte, you're finally awake!"

"...Big sister?"

It's the union's receptionist. So that means this is the union's staff break room?

Look around.

This was indeed the case.

Then the older sister started scolding him again, because Charlotte was unconscious and covered in slime when he was brought here, which made her very sad and worried.

There seem to be some misunderstandings that haven't been resolved.

Charlotte looked around and asked, "Big sister, I was saved, right? So who saved me...?"

"The one who carried you back was a blonde female crusader, and a silver-haired female thief was with her. They said they saw you being attacked by giant toads on the plains and came to your rescue."

A blonde female knight and a silver-haired female thief.

This combination is not common in Axel.

The former's blonde hair indicates she is a noblewoman and a female knight-errant; the latter has rare silver hair and is a female thief... It's likely Darkness and Chris.

Then why would you save yourself?

Was it just a chance encounter? Or... did you hear someone playing with a giant toad's slimy tentacles on the plains, which is why you rushed over and found yourself in need of rescue?

I feel the latter is more likely.

Just then, the deafening cheers and laughter of the adventurers outside the room caught Charlotte's attention.

"Big sister, what happened? Why are they all so happy?"

"Actually, it's because the high-ranking demon who had been causing trouble outside Axel Town has finally been defeated, and the adventurers are celebrating." The lady at the counter explained with a smile, and exclaimed, "That archmage is truly worthy of being a Crimson Demon; the power of her magic is incredible!"

Well……

Remembering the explosive magic I saw on the plains, it turns out that Megumin was fighting the high-ranking demon Houst at that time. That makes sense, that makes sense.

Push open the door.

Inside the guild, an adventurer was boasting about himself, while the adventurer next to him was also taking credit, and the person opposite him was pounding his chest in regret for being late.

In the corner, a few people were laughing wildly, playing drinking games.

In the center of the crowd were two Crimson Demon girls with black hair and red eyes, one smug and the other shyly dodging.

Only Charlotte was covered in slime and looked utterly disheveled.

Human joys and sorrows are not shared; he only found their noise bothersome.