Chapter 150 |
"...Did I hear that wrong? I can't figure out why someone who wasn't an option has appeared."
Lucia couldn't believe what she was hearing.
But my opinion hadn't changed.
"Wasn't it about choosing the most attractive person here?"
Thud!
"Ah, no, I mean... We didn't exactly decide on that..."
"Then there should be no problem in choosing Rezé, right?"
Thud!
"...Really?"
I shrugged in response to her.
A gesture that spoke louder than words. Then,
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The unkown person kept banging their head on the table.
They were truly crazy.
But the women sitting at my table were no less crazy.
"Eek, eeeeek! I, I don't taste good! You, you can't eat me!"
Rezé shrieked as she curled up inside a box.
Why does saying someone is attractive translate to wanting to eat them?
I couldn't understand the thought process of a herbivore. Trying to understand it was strange in itself.
"To think my charm is less appealing to these green behind the ears kids... Can I really not compete with age? Is being cute and young the best?"
Mumbling to herself.
Lucia was deep in despair.
"..."
Rodelin glared at me silently.
My head instinctively turned away, avoiding her piercing gaze. That's how intense it was.
Fleeing, despair, silent glares.
This table was filled with madness.
But the craziest person among them was...
"Dare to aim at my friend... You must have guts swelling up big time. Let's check it out."
The friend-obsessed Luna.
How does one check the size of one's guts?
I wanted to ask, but decided against it. Luna was carefully wiping a dining knife.
It wouldn't be surprising if my liver was extracted right then and there.
But I had no choice. In this situation, choosing Rezé was the best option.
Lucia, Rodelin, Luna, and Rezé.
The reason I chose Rezé among them was...
'It's because getting too close would be problematic.'
Yes. That was precisely why I chose Rezé.
Getting too friendly with central characters could complicate things in various ways.
'If I had chosen Lucia here...'
Lucia, who gets nagged by her nanny dozens of times a day.
-'You should marry quickly. Your charm as a woman is fading day by day.'
-'Hehe, Nanny. My charm is still intact. Zero said I was the most attractive woman today. That means my charm is overflowing. Even children can't take their eyes off me.'
-'Oh... Is that so.'
Lucia would brag to her nanny about today's events, and the nanny, thinking I had feelings for her, would kidnap me.
It could lead to a marriage story and force me to leave the academy.
What? Is that too much of an imagination?
'Can you still say that after seeing that nanny?'
Naturally promoting Lucia as the best bride, seeking a good groom regardless of age.
Stalking me, leading Lucia to the restaurant where we were.
Kidnapping wouldn't even count as a crime to such a nanny.
'Lucia plays a significant role in the latter half of the story.'
There's a truckload of high-level demons that Lucia needs to defeat in the story.
If Lucia ends up marrying me, she'd be too infatuated with me to fight demons, leading us closer to destruction.
'Too much charm can be a problem, you see?'
That's why Lucia wasn't an option.
Rodelin was a similar case.
We're already quite close, and getting closer would make it unsurprising if Rodelin decided to join our party.
A character who, along with the protagonist Alex, drives the story.
If Rodelin joined our party, it would significantly alter the story I knew, and the first party members would likely meet disastrous ends.
A problem in the first party would make progressing the story impossible, which is the worst-case scenario I envisioned.
We must avoid it at all costs.
'I do want to change Rodelin's future, but...'
Just this moment alone won't change that future.
Sacrificing others, this world, for the sake of saving just Rodelin is unthinkable.
Hence, Rodelin was also not an option.
Initially, the only options I could choose from were Luna and Rezé. Just those two.
'Well... I could have chosen Luna.'
We're just friends, and she always tells me not to fall for her.
Choosing Luna in this situation felt like losing somehow.
That's why I chose Rezé.
A choice that wouldn't affect the future, an unburdened herbivore.
Huh? If there weren't such conditions and I just had to choose someone I liked?
That would be obviously...
Whoosh!
At that moment, something sharp flew towards me.
It was a knife. Thrown by Scarlet.
I was lifting a plate reflexively when,
Snap!
"...!"
Scarlet's eyes widened.
Because Lucia caught the knife out of thin air.
With her bare hands.
"I was just doing the dishes! I'm so sorry!"
Scarlet bowed deeply immediately.
But Lucia had no interest in him. Her focus was on...
"Zero, let's do it again. Without that girl. Then it would definitely be me. Right?"
...me.
Lucia pointed the knife at my neck.
She looked like she would stab me immediately if I didn't say she was the most attractive woman.
Was it a headache coming on? Rodelin held her forehead and said.
"Put it down. It's so ugly I can't bear to watch."
"No! I have... I haven't lost yet!"
Lucia began to exert more force with her hand.
A blue aura was undulating. She had started to threaten me using her aura.
It was reason enough for Rodelin to scold her.
"To use aura in such a setting, and to intimidate a student at that! Do you not have any awareness as a soldier!"
"But, Delin... Before being a soldier, my heart as a woman is dying! Are you saying it's okay for this sister's heart to die?"
"If your heart can be recovered in such a way, it's already doomed! Calmly accept reality and devote yourself to self-improvement!"
"Waaaah! I hate you, Delin! I thought you, of all people, would understand my heart!"
Lucia threw herself on the ground and began to roll around.
"Get up this instant! What a disgrace!"
Rodelin struggled to lift Lucia up.
But stopping Lucia was an impossible task.
Once again, the situation turned into a mess.
I had no choice but to step in.
"Keke, don't fight over me. Even if you all want me so badly."
"That's not what it means!"
"That's not the point!"
"That's not it!"
Lucia and Rodelin yelled at me.
Look at this greatness, bringing quarreling children under control in an instant.
It's definitely me.
I was praising myself for quickly settling the situation when I realized something strange.
'Huh? Now that I think about it, who said the last part?'
I turned my head to the side, and there was a person in a black robe, fuming next to me.
Perhaps they was too excited. The robe lifted slightly, revealing the face underneath.
"...Yuridia?"
"Yes? Wha-what... I, I'm just a passing citizen."
Yuridia hurriedly pulled down her robe.
But everyone had already seen her face clearly.
Was it too hard to bear everyone's gaze?
"Waaah! Womanizers are the worst-!"
With that, Yuridia ran out of the tavern as if fleeing.
Truly, she must be crazy.
*
"Hmm, it's already this late... I'll take my leave first. I have an appointment."
Rodelin got up from her seat.
We decided to leave together. Our goal of dining was achieved, and Rezé, who was force-fed(?), looked like she was about to die.
'Well, I have some questions to solve.'
Such as why Caron sent me here, or why Scarlet attacked me.
And the most puzzling of all.
'Why is he being nice to Rezé, not Luna?'
It was a meal filled with questions.
Despite thinking hard in the midst of the busy situation, I couldn't figure out Caron's intentions.
'I'm tired of thinking.'
It's fair to say I lost in this battle of wits with Caron.
But.
'That doesn't mean I gained nothing.'
The information I have. Using it, dealing with Scarlet would be easy.
Yes. I was planning to use Scarlet's weakness to figure out Caron's intentions.
"Then I'm off too. There's no training today, so I should get some sleep."
Lucia left the tavern like the wind.
Coming and going, truly like the wind.
"Hu, huff... huff."
"Are you okay? Let's buy some digestives on the way home. She looks like she's going to die."
Luna was supporting Rezé. I said to her,
"Keke, please go ahead."
"Huh? Why?"
"I'm going to leave a tip. The service was exceptionally good, after all."
Throwing knives to cut meat from afar and even sticking forks in.
It's the kind of service you can't help but tip for.
"Well, we did enjoy the meal. Then, please take care of it for us too."
Oh, are they planning to share the tip?
I extended my hand towards Luna.
But Luna, supporting Rezé, was only heading towards the entrance.
Ah, I see. It's up to me to cover it all?
As I pondered what to do with my awkwardly hanging hand, Rodelin offered a silver coin.
"Thank you for the invitation today. I'll add this to the tip."
Her usual demeanor. But I could feel it.
It was filled with coldness.
'Could it be that her affection has decreased?'
Getting too close is problematic, but drifting apart isn't good either.
The problem is, I don't understand why Rodelin suddenly acted this way.
As I was contemplating, Rodelin muttered,
"Well, it can't be helped. Being stiff like me, it's natural not to be popular."
"Excuse me?"
"It's true that Rezé is cute. Incomparable to me..."
My mind started working faster than ever before.
I reached a conclusion in just 1 second, but immediately dismissed it.
It didn't seem like something Rodelin would think.
"Being unattractive might be the highest praise as a soldier. So, it's fine."
But no matter how much I thought about it, there was only one conclusion.
So... Rodelin is actually...
Jealous?
--TL Notes--
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