Chapter 127: Holiday Encounters, a Dressed-Up Boss, and Shoulder-Mounted Companions

Even though I’m not a student of the Department of Magic, I’m now so used to entering the Magic Building.

Just passing through one door, the interior, which had a stark temperature difference from the outside where the festival was in full swing, welcomed me.

Sharon, the information desk staff sitting at the central information desk in the lobby, was the first thing that caught my eye.

Wow, she can’t even rest during the festival period and has to work. Even though I’m just a student, I’m just pained to see it.

Moreover, even the outsiders who might visit the Magic Building are playing because it’s the festival period, so you can see that there are almost no actual visitors. At best, it’s just the familiar faces who visit from time to time like me.

There’s nothing more painful than having to go to work, work overtime, and work extra hours on holidays when everyone else is playing.

Frankly speaking, it’s not important that I’m having a hard time. No, it is important, but relatively less important.

Then what’s important?

It’s the fact that when I’m working, I have to just watch everyone else playing.

You might say that I have a twisted personality, but this is a feeling of jealousy that everyone has!

Oh, I got too caught up in Sharon, who is diligently guarding her place even during the festival period.

I’m still just a student, so I can’t even imagine working.

“It’s been a while, Sharon.”

“…Ah! Hero!”

Sure enough, Sharon must have been free, and she was sitting and reading a book diligently. In fact, she was so engrossed in reading that she didn’t notice that I had come until I approached her and called her name.

“It’s the festival period, but you’re working, so you must be having a hard time.”

“Hey, people don’t come here much anyway. I’m just sitting here guarding my place. Look, I can read books as I please, so it’s not hard.”

“Haha….”

Her mouth is clearly saying that she’s okay, but why is the vitality disappearing from Sharon’s eyes?

“Here, here. Eat this and cheer up. It looked delicious on the way here, so I bought it.”

I handed her one of the bags I was holding.

It wasn’t anything fancy, just one of the foods that were being sold at the festival stalls.

In fact, since I was planning to go back to the festival streets with Presia anyway, I didn’t intend to wrap it up and buy it.

But I only glanced at it while passing by, and a girl with purple hair and a yellow hairpin was eating it so deliciously that I was captivated. When I came to my senses, I was holding a bag of packaged food in my hand.

Well, I was curious about the taste since it was a food I had never seen before, but I could just buy it and eat it with Presia when I went out.

I can afford to show this much generosity for the workers who are working without being able to properly enjoy the festival.

“Oh! You did this for me….”

Actually, it just happened to be in my hand, and I just happened to hand it over, but I didn’t say it out loud.

She’s taking my kindness more greatly than I intended, so I’m not such a stupid guy as to spoil it.

“By the way, you must really like books. You were so focused that you were slow to answer when I called you.”

“Ah…. I’m not usually like this, but there are so few people today…. And it was an important part….”

“No, no. It’s not that there’s a problem. Actually, I like reading books too, so I understand.”

Of course, I only read novels.

“Oh. Then would you recommend a book to me? I’m curious about what kind of books the Hero reads.”

If possible, I wanted to tell her about a scholarly book with impressive titles at times like this, but I only read novels for fun.

“Um…. Among the books I’ve read so far, When Lilies Bloom is the best. The psychology of the characters is well-described, and the foreshadowing and devices are well-used.”

In fact, most of the books I read are books recommended by Celian.

I enjoyed reading it myself, and since it’s a book that Celian recommended, it would be okay to recommend it to others.

“Hmm…. The title has a great feel to it. I’ll keep it in mind and borrow it from the library to read it. Thank you.”

“Then I’ll go up now. Keep up the good work. Huh?”

As I was about to turn around to wake up Presia, another victim of holiday work caught my eye this time.

“Erin! Stella!”

The investigator duo.

I had only seen their faces once, but I remembered their names, perhaps because I remembered that they had been considerate of me.

However, Erin and Stella seemed to have finished their business in the Magic Building, and they left in a hurry without answering, perhaps because they couldn’t hear my voice.

“Um…. Unlike Sharon, they seem to be very busy.”

“…I wasn’t in a position to complain. Then you must be busy, so go up now. I’ll enjoy this food that I’ve never seen before.”

Sharon was shaking the bag containing the food I had bought from the street vendor towards me as she said that.

I greeted her once again and headed to the 7th floor where Presia was.

Knock knock

“I’m coming in.”

Of course, I knew that there would be no answer from inside, so I knocked and stepped inside, uttering words that were little more than a notification.

Huh?

It was time for the nocturnal Presia to be sleeping soundly on the sofa in the inner room, but she was not sleeping at all. She was all dressed up and ready to go out, waiting in the first room.

Our boss has changed!

Presia was a child who could do it if she wanted to! I believed it. I believed that Presia was a good child who could wake up early in the morning.

“Welcome.”

“…Ah! Hello.”

I had expected that I would have to wake up Presia, who would naturally be sleeping, and I thought it would take some time to go out and look around the festival.

Therefore, I was momentarily flustered by her unexpected appearance. Presia greeted me when she saw me coming in.

In the meantime, Gombaeng was politely bringing Presia her coat, and Tokkaeng ran straight to me when she discovered me, climbing up my feet, up my body, and onto my shoulder to greet me.

“Yeah, yeah. Gombaeng and Tokkaeng, hello too.”

As soon as I called their names, Gombaeng nodded his head towards me even while he was putting the coat on Presia, and Tokkaeng, who was so excited, went left and right on my shoulders, substituting for an answer.

“Um….”

Presia, who had been taken care of by Gombaeng and had even put on her coat, called out to me.

“Yes? Do you have something to say?”

“Um…. Yeah…. That’s….”

However, Presia was only mumbling, and she was just fidgeting with her index fingers while putting her hands together in front of her chest.

Even in the meantime, she was peeking up at me every so often with her head down, and it seemed like she wanted to say something.

It seemed like she wanted to say something, but it seemed like it was difficult to say it out loud, so I quietly waited for her to speak, smiling gently so that she could feel comfortable talking.

“…Kay?”

“Huh?”

She seemed to want to say something, but she spoke so quietly with her head down that it didn’t reach my ears properly.

“Is it okay…?”

“Yes? What is?”

“That’s…. The clothes I’m wearing…. Do they suit me well?”

Was that what she wanted to say?

Presia, who didn’t usually care much about the clothes she wore, was dressed in very cute clothes, to the point that she spoke up first.

The pure white blouse with light frills appealed to her cuteness, and the wine-colored skirt that came down below her waist created a ribbon with the string that tightened her waist, emphasizing her waistline and giving it a point.

Even though, Presia was wearing a choker of the same wine color as the skirt around her slender neck, appealing to the s*xiness hidden in her cute appearance.

…S*xiness to a 16-year-old girl. I must have really gone crazy a few days ago.

Anyway, Presia was putting a lot of effort into dressing herself up, unlike usual.

“Is it strange…?”

Presia, who had no interest in dressing herself up, lost confidence and made a sullen voice because I was just staring at her without saying anything.

“Ah, no! Rather than strange, I was just surprised that it suited you so well.”

“Really? Hehe….”

“I don’t know who you’re going with, but it’s really lucky to be with such a cute boss!”

By the way, that lucky person is me.

“Ehehe…. Is it that cute?”

“Of course. Ugh…. I want to show everyone this cute boss, but on the contrary, I want to hide it so that only I can see it.”

It’s not flattery that I’m saying because Presia is my boss, but it’s coming from my heart, even if there’s a little exaggeration.

That’s how much more cute Presia was than usual.

Thump Thump

However, while I was diligently praising Presia, someone tapped my shoulder.

In fact, the only person who could pat my shoulder was not a person, but Tokkaeng, who was hanging on my shoulder.

When I turned my head and looked at Tokkaeng, Tokkaeng tilted his head as if he wanted to say something while hanging on my shoulder.

“Huh? Why?”

However, there’s no way Tokkaeng can speak, so I asked without understanding Tokkaeng’s intention.

Then Tokkaeng’s long, straight ears were folded in half as if he was disappointed.

However, Tokkaeng didn’t sulk with disappointment, but hung on my shoulder with one hand and tapped his head lightly with the other, turning my eyes away.

“Ah!”

Only then could I realize what Tokkaeng wanted to say.

There was a red ribbon on Tokkaeng’s head, which usually had no decorations.

In addition, there was a small and thin red scarf around his neck, the same color as the ribbon.

“Did the boss put it on? It suits you so well. Cute!”

Tokkaeng was expressing his joy by spinning around on the floor, as if he had never been sullen.

His folded ears were also stretched out again, just like Tokkaeng’s mood.

I looked at Gombaeng as well, just in case, but surprisingly, Gombaeng had nothing that decorated him. Of course, his cute tail was cute, but that was what I always saw.

Perhaps seeing Gombaeng’s personality, he must have put all his attention on choosing Presia’s clothes instead of decorating himself.

I should prepare a gift for Gombaeng later.

“Then shall we go?”

I stretched out my hand towards her, looking at Presia’s face, which already looked full of expectations.

Presia’s small hand came up on my outstretched palm.

At the same time, Tokkaeng and Gombaeng climbed up on one shoulder and one shoulder again.

It seems that Tokkaeng, like Presia, decorated himself because of today’s outing.

A cute beauty, Presia, in one hand, and Gombaeng and Tokkaeng on both shoulders….

Isn’t that the best?