I Became a Raid Boss

The sunlight is just right, and the breeze is pleasantly cool.

What a perfect day.

“…You crazy bastards! It’s your fault for teasing me about being weak! I trained because of you! What do you think about that?! Honestly, I’ve been streaming a lot recently. I mean, aside from the times I sleep, I’ve had that thing on all day long! Can’t I take a break? Right? Am I right or not?! Just say I am already!”

It seems like this isn’t such a great day for someone.

Da-eun was passionately chatting a little away from everyone else.

She was shouting pretty loudly, but nobody seemed to raise an eyebrow, so it must be something related to that other world.

“…I’m sorry. I was wrong…”

It was so typical of Da-eun to back down after raising her voice.

But still…

I mean, suddenly doing a handstand seems a bit much, doesn’t it?

As Da-eun gathered her hands and attempted the handstand, it caught the attention of many, including Selin, probably because it didn’t fall under Edel’s filter.

“…Joanie?”

“Huh, wha…? Did you call me?”

“What are you doing?”

“…It’s a trendy exercise among the Apostles these days.”

“Oh, I see… But why suddenly do that…?”

“Whoa…! Phew, I think I’ve been a bit dull lately. This actually helps with back muscles, flexibility, and balance. Want to give it a shot, Selin?”

“Um, sorry but I’ll pass. I’m not confident in physical activity.”

“Hmmm…”

“…Joanie?”

“Honestly, I think it’s best if Selin skips it as well. …‘If you ask Selin for a bow, it’ll cost you ten bucks’—what’s that? You think I don’t see through your schemes? I already agreed to upload the clip of fighting whatever his name is, and we did the bow you asked for, so that’s it! You lot are just perverts…”

“What a unique person…”

“Yeah, I agree.”

At Atysha’s words, I also nodded in agreement.

Not in a bad way.

If Da-eun weren’t so unique, we wouldn’t even have gotten this close.

It seems Atysha didn’t mean it negatively either, as a small smile formed on her lips while looking at Da-eun.

“Thanks to Joanie, my hostility toward humans has greatly decreased…”

After such a long war between the Demon Race and Humans.

The second race war left a strong hostility between them.

Even if the Demons were the ones to initiate, they had their own ‘survival’ concerns.

They had to oppose the humans that rejected them, even when they understood them.

Especially Demons born during or after the war showed strong hostility toward humans, not having the complex feelings of previous generations.

But on the day Krumo’s shadow attacked the village,

They saw it.

A human running around without caring about the wounds on their body, trying to save a child they didn’t even know.

A heroic sight of someone sacrificing their life without hesitation for a stranger.

Of course, it wouldn’t be enough to erase the hostility built up until then, but…

“Since we’ve come to know there are good people, things will gradually get better…”

Atysha seemed to be bothered by the newly born Demons who blindly opposed humans.

Breaking the cycle of hatred, huh.

…Well, I don’t know.

Even if we cut off one-sidedly here, those on the other side will still be bound by the cycle, it seems.

I didn’t quite get that notion, but it’s not my place to argue about it.

So instead of challenging Atysha, I changed the topic.

“Are you all ready?”

“Perfect…”

Atysha confidently patted her chest, saying she had everything prepared: the ship to ride to Raxia, supplies, and the route.

“…And you’re driving like we talked about?”

“Yeah… Among those who can steer, there’s no one who can resist mana as well as I can…”

“Hmmm.”

“Why…?”

“Nothing.”

As I observed the dark circles under Atysha’s eyes, I shook my head.

Well, it should be fine.

If anything happens, I’ll just wake her up, right?

“…?”

Noticing something was off, Atysha turned back several times, brushing her head just in case.

After not finding anything unusual, she looked perplexed.

“I might be late to ask this, but… Are you sure you don’t want to rest a bit more…?”

“I’ve rested enough. If I rest more, my muscles might atrophy.”

“That’s true….”

“You’re not supposed to agree with that.”

I shot a glare at her. She’s one of the culprits who kept me bedridden, and now she’s pretending she doesn’t agree with me!

“I’m the type who doesn’t forget a grudge, just so you know.”

“…That sounds a bit scary…”

Atysha shuddered.

Yeah, this is the normal reaction.

When I say something like this, usually someone would get scared for a moment, then gladly hug me like nothing happened. But Atysha’s reaction was very textbook.

“Got you, Kana!”

“…Ugh.”

As if summoned by mentioning a tiger, someone rushed in and suddenly hugged me tightly.

I felt my body lift off the ground and said blankly,

“Put me down.”

“No way! You still haven’t fully recovered, so just behave and let me hold you! Hehe, so soft.”

“….”

I felt a warm sensation on my head.

Why are they rubbing my hair like this?

If this is what Dad meant by wanting me to look ‘like a girl,’ then I’d probably never manage that in my lifetime.

At this point, it’s Da-eun who’ll have it tougher while holding me, not me.

I thought that and relaxed my body.

Da-eun simply giggled in delight.

“It’s like a cat when you’re like this.”

“Whether it’s a cat or whatever, if you’re ready, let’s set sail.”

According to plan, we should have checked everything and set off by now.

But we couldn’t because of Da-eun’s sudden handstand show.

I thought it was somewhat amusing, so I didn’t intend to complain, but isn’t it time to set off?

“Or do you want to do it again?”

If that’s the case, I could help out.

I thought hanging upside down from the mast while sailing would be a unique experience.

Adding that in a low tone, Da-eun shook her head vigorously enough to make a whoosh sound.

“I-I’m fine!”

Then, still holding me, she quickly jumped onto the ship.

The ship Atysha prepared for us was quite large.

It made me think, “Are four people really going to ride this big ship?”

It was a genuine curiosity, not about wasting resources or anything, but could just four people really manage this big of a ship?

I suspect steering a ship this size would require quite a bit of manpower.

‘Well, they wouldn’t prepare it if they couldn’t handle it.’

There’s no way Atysha would prepare such a vessel just out of some indebted mindset, right?

“I’m confident when it comes to sailing, so don’t worry…”

Atysha seemed to have read my thoughts as she climbed up the ship, saying.

“If you live near the coast, you can’t help but get used to it. You need to go out to sea to catch fish… Of course, aside from that, I just enjoy sailing…”

“Oh, really? So fishing’s your hobby or something?”

“No… I just like steering the ship… The feeling of swaying with the waves and feeling the wind from Raxia brings me nostalgia…”

“Uh….”

“How great is it that we can go to the Raxia you wanted?”

“Yeah… indeed. Even if I can’t step on land…”

As I caught Da-eun’s words midway, Atysha nodded.

While we exchanged simple chats, Selin climbed onto the ship as well and checked if anything was missing before they headed to sail.

After thoroughly confirming everything was in perfect order, Atysha hoisted the sails and pulled up the anchor stuck in the seabed.

“Yuugh… bah…”

“Need help?”

“No, it’s fine…”

Despite Atysha’s groaning that drained the energy of those listening, Da-eun approached her and asked gently, but Atysha shook her head firmly.

In reality, though the shouting was tough, pulling up the anchor didn’t seem that overwhelming.

It seemed Atysha didn’t mention her hobby of sailing for no reason as she completed the sailing preparations alone, wiping the sweat on her forehead.

“Well then, shall we set sail…?”

“Do I not have to row?”

“You wanna row…? Here….”

Thunk.

“Ah, I didn’t mean it like that…!”

Da-eun looked miserable as she lifted the oar Atysha had tossed her.

Then, suddenly, her gaze met mine while she was carrying me in the other arm, and she brightened up.

“Well, if I think about rowing together with Kana, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…?”

“Why me?”

I never said I would!

I tilted my head slightly in confusion, and she looked down at me with betrayal in her eyes.

“…Like this?”

“What do you mean, ‘like this’? Isn’t it stranger to use someone like me, a high-class individual, to row a boat?”

“W-Well, I guess that’s true…”

“I wanted an oarboat date…” Da-eun muttered, incomprehensibly.

Looking up at Da-eun with a moody expression, I snatched the oar from her hand.

Whoosh.

And tossed it far away.

“Ahh!”

“Things like that are unnecessary.”

From the beginning, Atysha likely didn’t intend to row the boat herself.

She was just trying to tease Da-eun, after all.

With the way she was holding back laughter, it became evident.

After giving Atysha a knowing glance, she composed her face and spread her arms wide.

Fwooooosh—

From her widely spread hands and one intact horn, thick mana flowed out.

The mana flowed forth and generated a strong gust that struck the sails.

“Wah?!”

With the abruptly increased speed, Da-eun lost her balance and stumbled.

In an instant, her arms tensed up and firmly wrapped around my waist.

While I wasn’t exactly choking, the sudden pressure made it hard to breathe for a moment.

“…Cough.”

“Ah, I’m sorry…!”

“…If you’re sorry, won’t you put me down now?”

“Sniff, do you dislike me now?”

“If you keep this up, I probably will.”

Finally freed from Da-eun, I regained my freedom.

Stretching out my arms toward the sky and releasing the tension in my body, I noticed Da-eun looking at me with a pleased expression.

“…Why?”

“Just, the way you stretch is cute.”

“…?”

She finds everything cute.

Ignoring her familiar teasing, I continued to loosen my body.

In the end, Da-eun’s gaze didn’t leave me until I finished stretching.

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