The day after enjoying the bad route, "The Werewolf’s Pregnant Wife."

After returning from university, Shiori quickly finished her real-world tasks and logged into "Fantasia World."

"Well then... let’s go look for quests at the ’Guild’ again today."

Having decided to take on another quest, Shiori logged into the "Town of the Forest People" and walked straight toward the "Guild."

A few minutes later.

Arriving at the Guild, Shiori began scanning the quests posted on the bulletin board.

"Hmm... Oh, right. I’ve never tried this type of quest before."

As she read through the details one by one, something caught her eye. She turned her gaze to two particular quests.

They were escort quests — protecting merchants transporting goods from the "Town of the Forest People" to "Middle City."

Since it was something she’d never done before, and since she had the chance, Shiori decided to take one this time. She picked up two escort-type quests from the board.

"The recommended level is the same, and the destination is the same... the only difference is the merchant’s personality..."

The quest names were "Escort the Vegetable Merchant (Recommended Level 25)" and "Escort the Toy Merchant (Recommended Level 25)".

Content-wise, there were no significant differences between the two.

The difference lay in the merchant’s nature — what kind of person he was.

The vegetable merchant’s disposition was "good," while the toy merchant’s was "lustful."

"...In that case, I’ll take the ’Escort the Toy Merchant’...♡"

Between "good" and "lust," there was no doubt which would be more enjoyable.

With a smile, Shiori decided to take the "Escort the Toy Merchant" quest.

"Oh... so you’re my bodyguard this time?"

"Yes, that’s right."

The location was the entrance to the ’Town of the Forest People’.

Shiori had arrived in front of a carriage.

The carriage looked like a covered wagon, loaded with five or six wooden crates.

"Well, well... what a beautiful woman."

"Knowing that a beauty like you will protect me will make even a dull journey enjoyable. I’m counting on you."

The man speaking to Shiori was the merchant ’Lauter,’ who had posted the quest.

His appearance — a slightly overweight man in his thirties or forties — was exactly what you’d expect from a "petty merchant."

That man, Lauter, looked at Shiori’s beautiful face and body like he was devouring her with his eyes. Then, with a lecherous smile, he said that to her.

"...Yes, nice to meet you."

While Shiori responded to his blatant lust with a cold attitude, she was gradually getting aroused inside.

"You’re making such a naughty face... oh my...♡"

"So, shall we head out right away?"

"Ah, yes. But before that... I’d like you to sign this."

"This is......?"

Trying to hide her excitement, Shiori asked.

Lauter handed Shiori a piece of paper.

"It’s a ’contract.’ I give one to everyone who provides me protection. Please read it, and if there are no problems, I’d like you to sign it."

"If you cannot sign this... I’m sorry, but the payment will be reduced to one-tenth."

"I see. Well..."

After listening to Lauter’s explanation, Shiori took the document and began reading.

"We will not harm our clients."

"If your belongings are stolen, we will compensate you for their value."

And... "I will not go against the client’s demands."

Although it was a long document with many clauses, that was the gist of it.

While the promises of not causing harm and compensation for damages were understandable, Shiori was particularly concerned about the phrase, "I will not resist your demands."

"So... even if I were sexually harassed, I wouldn’t be able to resist, right? Hehe... that’s fine, I’ll go along with it...♡"

"Hmm... I understand. I just need to sign here." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Only that clause was strangely convoluted, written in a way that was hard to understand at a glance.

Sensing that this was probably Lauter’s way of making a move on her, Shiori signed the name box at the bottom.

"Hehe... Okay, thank you."

"Shall we go then? Please get in."

"Yes, understood."

After Shiori signed, Lauter secretly, but undeniably, gave a nasty smile.

Pretending not to notice his grin, Shiori watched as Lauter sat down in the driver’s seat and reached out his hand.

Following his lead, Shiori sat down beside him, and the carriage slowly began to move.

"Wow... I’m so happy to be riding alone with such a beautiful woman. This is so much fun, I’m getting excited."

"...Please drive quietly. I won’t take responsibility if you lose the goods in an accident."

Inside the moving carriage.

Lauter kept calling out to Shiori, a smug grin on his face.

Shiori responded curtly, but kept her eyes on their surroundings, staying vigilant for any attack that might come.

"Oops, sorry. I’ll drive seriously now... hehehe..."

"Yes, please..."

"...This guy has been staring at my body the whole time... I can’t believe it...♡"

Lauter nodded at Shiori’s warning and turned his attention back to driving.

But even then, he kept glancing at Shiori’s face and body, flashing a lewd smile.

"...Since I’m in a carriage, maybe I should have worn the ’Archer Shrine Maiden Outfit’ instead. If I wore that outfit, my chest would bounce more with the carriage’s movement, and he’d look at me in an even more suggestive way...♡"

"Well then... let’s wait and see what happens next...♡"

Slowly getting aroused by Lauter’s lecherous gaze, Shiori kept her eyes sharp, watching for anything to happen.

As the carriage continued, it entered a road surrounded by forest.

Lauter had only been glancing at Shiori and calling out to her occasionally, but finally, he made his move.

"...Hehehehe"

"Ah...! Hey, what are you doing...!"

His gaze remained fixed forward.

Lauter gently reached out one hand and stroked Shiori’s thigh, visible beneath her skirt.

Shiori reacted instinctively to his lewd touch, swatting his hand away as she cried out.

Lauter turned to Shiori with a smirk and began to speak.

"Hey, no need to get so angry."

"Isn’t it just that our hands accidentally touched?"

"By accident...? How could your hands even touch...? Please be careful..."

Shiori responded angrily to his unrepentant tone and shifted her seat slightly away from Lauter.

"Whoa... it’s dangerous if you get too far away."

"Come on, come a little closer..."

"Ah...! Wait...! Let go...!"

Then Lauter reached out again.

He wrapped his arm around Shiori’s slender waist and pulled her close, pressing her against him from behind.

Because of how she was pulled, Shiori ended up with her chest pressed tightly against Lauter... She quickly pulled away, glaring angrily at him.

"What’s going on...? Stop touching me all the time...!"

"Oh... that’s scary. I’m sorry, I’m sorry."

"It wasn’t on purpose, so please forgive me... Hmm...!?"

Lauter didn’t respond to Shiori’s anger, apologizing with an exaggerated attitude... and then it happened.

Suddenly, several figures emerged from the trees on either side and blocked the carriage. Seeing this, Lauter hastily stopped the carriage, and the figures — men — began to speak.

"Heh heh... Hey, merchant. If you don’t want to get hurt, leave your goods here."

"Don’t worry, we’re kind. We won’t take everything... Half is fine."

"Oh... now that I look closely, there’s a real beauty here. Hey, hand her over too."

"Once we’re done having fun, we’ll give the girl back. Hehehe."

The men appeared to be bandits.

However, their average level was around 20, which wouldn’t be a problem for Shiori if she fought seriously.

"W-what...!? Bandits...!? ...!? Y-you...! P-please...!"

"Honestly... I get it. I’ll take care of it...!"

"Haa... For now, let’s go deal with these bandits...!"

Therefore, Shiori jumped out of the carriage at Lauter’s frantic request and raised her rapier.