Chapter 108: Unspoken Tensions and Unexpected Reactions

I slowly turned my body and tilted my head toward the voice that had called out behind me.

The first thing that entered my vision was a woman’s chest, positioned directly in front of me.

Without raising my head, I subtly lifted my gaze to see who the owner of that chest was.

And then, my eyes met a pair of deep blue irises staring down at me.

Celian’s eyes, always reminiscent of the clear sky, now held a darker, deeper hue—like the vast, unending ocean.

“Ah… Hey, Celian?”

I hesitantly raised a hand, offering a timid greeting while trying to calm my suddenly tense body.

However, Celian simply continued staring at me in silence, ignoring my greeting.

“Celian…?”

“Heh… So, El just offers her body to anyone, huh?”

A different voice answered from behind Celian.

I shifted my head slightly to look past Celian and saw Yuri standing there.

“Oh, Yuri, you’re here too. Your class must have ended already.”

“……”

Like Celian, Yuri didn’t respond.

I tried acknowledging her presence, but neither of them spoke.

What was going on? Why were both of them just standing there, silently staring at me?

The weight of their stares sent a chill down my spine, making goosebumps rise on my arms.

It suddenly felt colder in the café—perhaps the cooling magic inside was a bit too strong.

And yet, if Celian and Yuri were here, where was Anne?

Normally, she would have been the first to greet me.

Ignoring the two silent figures for a moment, I scanned the room for Anne.

As expected, I found her standing a short distance away, alone.

Her bright red hair made her easy to spot.

“Anne! Why are you standing over there by yourself? Come over here!”

I waved my hand enthusiastically, trying to shake off the growing tension.

“I saw nothing, I saw nothing, I saw nothing, I saw nothing, I saw nothing, I saw nothing…”

Anne was curled up, trembling as if she were freezing.

Even Linne, despite being a ghost, was shivering beside her.

She was muttering something under her breath in a rapid, panicked whisper, but since she was a bit far away, I couldn’t quite make out what she was saying.

“Yahoo! Drinks are here!”

Just as I was growing increasingly confused by Anne, Celian, and Yuri’s strange behavior, Mariel returned with drinks in both hands.

She had been lightly hopping as she approached but suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

Because of that, her drinks sloshed slightly, spilling a little over the edges.

Still, she remained unfazed and casually walked over to the table.

“Here’s your caramel macchiato, El.”

She set my coffee down in front of me before placing her own extravagant, ridiculously expensive drink on the table.

Then she took her seat across from me.

“Wait a second, Senior! Your hands are covered in coffee!”

Despite the spill, Mariel seemed completely indifferent, as if she hadn’t even noticed.

Seeing her remain so nonchalant, I sighed and pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket to wipe her hands.

“It’s hard to clean properly if you keep squirming. And stop trying to wipe it on my hand—use the handkerchief.”

It seemed she had purposely left her hands sticky just to mess with me.

Even as I carefully wiped them clean, she kept slipping her fingers out from under the cloth, lightly brushing them against my hand to tickle me.

But since I was the one holding the handkerchief, her plan to get coffee on my hand ultimately failed.

Even after I had thoroughly wiped away all the coffee, Mariel continued rubbing her fingers against my skin, refusing to give up.

“Alright, all clean now. Do you see any spots I missed?”

I grabbed her hand and inspected it closely.

Thanks to my meticulous cleaning, not a single drop of coffee remained.

“Fufu, thanks for that. Now then, let me enjoy this very expensive drink that my dear junior so generously treated me to.”

Mariel emphasized each word dramatically, as if savoring the fact that I had paid for her drink.

“It’s really no big deal. Though… I can’t afford to do this every time.”

“Really? But we’re so close, aren’t we?”

…I just hope she remembers that when she tries to rip me off in the future.

“…Can I sit next to you, El?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, of course. I forgot to introduce you, didn’t I?”

“No need. The Saintess and I have met before. Right, Mariel?”

Celian pulled out the chair beside me and addressed Mariel directly.

Now that I thought about it, Celian had once been assigned to protect the Saintess alongside me.

Not to mention, they had crossed paths multiple times through me.

“…If it’s former Hero candidate Celian, then of course I’d remember. It’s nice to see you again.”

Shiver.

A sudden chill ran down my spine, making me shudder.

Yet Celian and Mariel remained completely unbothered, casually sitting in their seats.

“Alright, Anne, come sit over here too.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sor— Hic!? Y-Yuri? You’re okay now, right?”

“What do you mean? I was always fine. Come on, Linne, you come here too.”

Yuri, the first to ask for permission, dragged Anne—who had been mumbling to herself from a distance—over to sit with us before taking her own seat.

But wait… Linne might not be an evil spirit, but as a ghost, wasn’t she still vulnerable to holy magic? Was it really okay for her to be around the Saintess?

Fortunately, despite knowing Linne’s true nature, Mariel didn’t seem to care at all.

“Fufu… Is it because El bought me this drink? It tastes even more special.”

Back when I was paying, my hands had been trembling at the sheer cost, but seeing her enjoy it so much, I felt like every silver coin spent had been worth it.

If a smile from a beauty like Mariel was the price, then a few silver coins were practically a bargain.

“You seem pretty close with El.”

“Of course! You heard earlier, right? El and I are close enough that she’ll buy me expensive drinks without hesitation!”

Mariel lifted her drink slightly, as if showing it off.

“…El, you really never get tired, huh?”

Out of nowhere, Yuri let out a sigh, staring at me as she said this.

Her words felt oddly out of place in the conversation.

Why would she suddenly bring up whether or not I got tired?

I thought about it for a moment.

Then, I realized.

Ah. She was probably referring to the rehearsal earlier.

“Well, the only thing I have in excess is stamina. If there’s one thing I’m confident in, it’s my body’s endurance. Something like a simple rehearsal won’t wear me out.”

I puffed out my chest slightly, striking a confident pose.

Even though I no longer had the chiseled six-pack from my old body, my current body was just as tough as the one I had trained to its limits as an assassin.

Unlike the assistant mages, who had collapsed several times during the rehearsal, I never felt fatigued.

“Hmm?”

I had said it half-jokingly, but the reactions I received were not what I expected.

Normally, someone would snicker or tease me about how this was normal for someone from the Knight’s Department.

But no one said anything.

Instead—

Celian, Yuri, and Mariel all stared at me.

And yet, their gazes weren’t meeting my eyes.

They were looking slightly lower… at my chest.

Had my joke been that awkward? Should I pretend nothing happened and move on?

Thankfully, Celian broke the silence.

“Well… El’s body is something to be proud of…”

She was clearly just going along with the joke to keep the mood light.

“Hehe… Right, right? That’s why Celian knows me best.”

Even knowing she was just humoring me, I couldn’t help but smile when a Swordmaster acknowledged my physical abilities.

“…And this proud body of yours—you did say you’d lend it to me anytime I needed it, didn’t you, my dear junior?”

“Well… if you need it, just say the word. Like I said, I’m good at physical labor.”

“Fufu… You two heard that, right? El and I have that kind of relationship.”

“”Ugh…””

Mariel sounded triumphant, while Celian and Yuri… looked strangely irritated.

Why were they acting like this?

It wasn’t like I had said anything strange.

Besides, if they asked, I would help them too.

“…Honestly, that’s nothing special. I sleep with El every night.”

“W-What!? That’s completely indecen— Wait. Never mind. You four share a dorm, so of course you sleep together.”

“Actually, we literally sleep in the same bed. Right, Celian?”

“Yeah… We ended up rolling around together on the bed just last night.”

At the start of the semester, they had at least tried to sneak into my bed quietly.

But now, they spoke about it like it was completely normal.

At least, unlike Anne, neither of them had terrible sleeping habits.

Whenever Anne sneaked into my bed, I’d always wake up with her legs thrown over my stomach, struggling to breathe.

Compared to that, Celian and Yuri were much better.

Even when they ended up in my bed, they always slept quietly, and I had never once woken up because of them.

At worst, I would wake up in the morning feeling a bit hot and stuffy, with my clothes slightly disheveled from sharing a cramped space.

“…Is that really true, junior?”

“Well… Lately, it’s only been three or four times a week.”

Maybe they had been considerate, knowing how exhausting my rehearsals were.

But… it wasn’t like it was a big deal.

We were all girls.

What was so strange about sleeping in the same bed?

Even back when I was a man, I had spent nights in a flooded-out assassin guild, packed tightly in a tent with my comrades.

Compared to that, this was nothing.

Honestly, if anything, this was even worse—because instead of sweaty, smelly men, I was surrounded by girls who smelled really, really nice.

…But it wasn’t like I could complain about that.

And if there was a problem, my friends would have said something.

So I simply looked at Mariel as if to ask, What’s the issue?

However, Mariel’s reaction was unexpected.

Her eyes widened slightly, and her mouth fell open.

She had an expression of utter shock.

…Did I say something wrong?