Chapter 128: A Nighttime Confession and a Shared Sofa

“Aha ha…. Then, have a good one, Ms. Sharon.”

I didn’t care when I came in, but now that I was dressed to go out and trying to leave the magic building, I couldn’t help but notice Sharon at the front desk giving me the eye.

Even as we received Sharon’s greetings, we quickly hurried out of the magic building.

Presia aside, I can honestly say that I’ve spent the last three days wandering around with my friends and have seen most of the festival streets.

If there’s one place I’ve deliberately avoided, it would be the temple where Mariel is staying.

The temple is also doing something strange to commemorate the festival, and I’ll find out what it is when I go to pick up Mariel tomorrow.

“So, where do you want to go first? Anything you want to eat, see, or do? Tell me anything. I’ll take you to the best place I know.”

“I don’t know.”

I was trying to use my experience from the last three days to guide Presia to the best place possible, but I was blocked right from the start.

“Hmm…. Then, should we just walk around for now? Tell me if anything catches your eye.”

With that, I took her hand and stepped into the heart of the festival.

---

“…Um, Boss? Shouldn’t we pick something soon?”

How long have we been walking?

I don’t know. We just walked, and walked, and walked.

To exaggerate a bit, I think we circled the city where the festival is being held several times.

“But…. It’s fun just walking around with Elysia like this.”

“Boss…!”

I didn’t expect to be moved by the words of a girl who is two years younger than me.

Even the fatigue I felt from walking disappeared with Presia’s one sentence.

Of course, I knew that I had become very close to Presia, but hearing it directly like this is bound to feel different.

However, Presia didn’t seem to realize how embarrassing her words were, and she was still holding my hand tightly, looking straight ahead as she walked.

What can I do for our wonderful Boss?

As I looked around, something pretty good caught my eye.

“Boss. This way….”

As I took her hand and led her, Presia followed me into a street stall.

The stall had a lot of merchandise displayed on one of its makeshift walls, and targets lined up on the other.

I guess the way it works is that you hit the targets and get prizes according to your score.

“Kyaa! Man, that was so close! Here, take this participation prize.”

There was already a customer, and the stall owner’s gruff voice greeted us.

Looking at him, he seemed to be an academy student, but since I didn’t recognize his face, he must be from a different year or a different department.

The stall owner handed the male student a keychain as a participation prize.

The male student handed the keychain to another female student who was watching from behind.

“Sorry, I wanted to win first prize and give it to you as a gift….”

Tch, they’re a couple. He should be studying, but he’s got a girl on his arm.

But I’m not jealous of those couples today. Because I have a beautiful girl named Presia next to me.

Of course, we’re not a couple, sadly!

“Oh my, pretty young ladies have arrived.”

The stall owner, who was picking up the darts that had missed the target and fallen to the floor, found us and approached us with a handful of darts in his hand.

“As you can see, it’s 3 silver per game, and you get 10 darts to score as many points as possible. Hitting the same target is okay, of course. When the game is over, you can choose a prize according to your score! Wanna try it, ladies?”

I paid the stall owner three silver coins and received a basket of darts.

“Okay, Boss, try throwing first.”

“Okay.”

Following my guidance, Presia stood at a spot away from the target and picked up a dart.

But how many would she hit, considering that Presia likes to lock herself in her room more than moving her body?

The dart she threw with a delicate swing of her arm didn’t even hit the target, instead flying to the side and embedding itself in a strange place.

Two, three, four…. She kept throwing one after another, but each time she threw, instead of getting closer to the target, she just cut through the air here and there without distinction.

The result was zero points.

Presia received a keychain like the male student before her.

If it were a normal dart game, I would have expected to get lucky and score some points because the target itself is big, but since each target is placed separately, you can’t expect even the minimum score if you don’t hit that target.

It’s a bit much to call it a trick, but it’s probably the stall owner’s tactic to avoid losing as much as possible.

Presia had her cheeks puffed out and was making a sullen expression, so the teddy bear that was hanging on my shoulder jumped down and approached her to comfort her.

“Okay, okay. Is this young lady going to try too?”

At the stall owner’s words, I paid 3 silver again and stood where Presia had thrown zero points.

Hoo….

I took a light breath and took out one of the darts in the basket.

It would have been more certain if it had been a slightly heavier throwing weapon like a dagger, but it’s not a big problem. It’s not for killing, it’s just a matter of hitting a stationary trajectory.

Instead, I needed to get used to the center of gravity of the dart, so I played with it for a moment, throwing it into the air and catching it once or twice.

Once I got used to it to some extent, I recalled my old senses and threw the dart I was holding towards the highest and smallest target. The trajectory of my hand, which was swung excessively for throwing a dart.

Unlike the darts Presia had thrown, the dart, filled with force, stuck to the target with a thud!

The stall owner flinched for a moment at the sight, but he smiled and relaxed his expression, thinking it was a coincidence.

But what a pity. It’s not a coincidence.

Sorry. I’m just going to take a little bit.

---

“Ehehe….”

After finishing the dart throwing and exchanging prizes, Presia was giggling as we walked out. Was she that happy?

Presia was holding a huge teddy bear that she could barely hold with both arms, and I was holding a similar-sized rabbit doll that we were walking with side by side.

These were none other than the first prize from the dart throwing a little while ago.

Normally, it’s one prize per game, but I was able to get one more doll by negotiating with the stall owner on the condition that I wouldn’t play any more games.

It was only a negotiation, so it’s definitely not a threat.

“Do you like the gift?”

“Yeah…. It’s the first time I’ve received something from Elysia.”

Was it?

Presia, with a happy expression, was burying her face in the teddy bear she was holding tightly in her slender arms as she walked.

Seeing her like that, I wondered why I hadn’t given her a gift sooner.

However, it was very uncomfortable to walk around the crowded festival streets with such big dolls, so we briefly stopped by Presia’s room to drop off the dolls and came out.

This is already the third time I’ve been to the entrance of the magic building today.

But it doesn’t seem like I need to be mindful of Sharon this time, as she was talking to the investigator duo, who had only shown their faces and passed by earlier.

I wondered if they were gossiping about their boss, but seeing them talking with serious faces, it seemed to be work-related.

Thanks to that, I didn’t have to be mindful, so it wasn’t bad for me.

---

“How was it? Did you have fun today?”

After taking Presia, who had become fond of the festival, around here and there for a long time, the sun was setting before I knew it.

I, Presia, the teddy bear, and the rabbit had no idea how time was passing.

I went into the cleanest-looking street food restaurant, finished my meal, and asked Presia about her day while drinking the drink that came as a dessert.

“Yeah…. It was a lot of fun. I’ll probably never forget it…”

The corners of her lips were slightly raised, to the point where you wouldn’t notice it unless you looked closely, and it was hard to tell if she was smiling.

Maybe if you didn’t know Presia, you might think she wasn’t very happy.

But if you know Presia, who is usually awkward at expressing her emotions, you’ll know how happy she is right now.

The teddy bear and the rabbit, who couldn’t eat and were just watching, also crawled onto the table and started jumping up and down in place, raising their hands.

That’s probably their way of expressing joy.

“So…. I don’t want to go back. If I go back, walking around the festival streets with Elysia will be over.”

Presia’s lips, which had been raised a little while ago, drooped down, and a gloomy voice flowed out shallowly.

Unlike me, who had already finished my drink, Presia’s drink still had a lot left, as if to postpone the time to go back even a little bit.

“Boss.”

I put aside the completely empty drink glass and gently placed my hand on top of hers, which was fiddling with the cup for no reason.

“I told you before. I’ll always be by your side, Boss. I’ll work with you for the rest of my life.”

A promise that was already several months old.

But a promise that neither I nor Presia would have forgotten.

“What if the festival ends? Next year, the year after, and every year in the future, I’ll always be walking around the festival streets with Boss. Do I look like a liar to you?”

At my question, Presia just shook her head silently, denying it.

Well…. Actually, I’m a liar. Because I’m hiding the fact that I was originally a man.

No, I just didn’t say it, so it’s not a lie? Then I’ll just say it’s half a lie.

“Okay, then shall we get up now? There’s still time left until today’s date is over, so let’s make good use of the remaining time!”

“Okay….”

I got up from my seat, turned my back to her, who was sitting in the chair, and squatted down.

“Elysia?”

“You must be tired from walking around all day today, so hurry up and get on my back.”

I walked around all day to the point where even I was tired, so how much more tired would Presia be, who isn’t trained?

When I came into the street stall for a meal, I saw Presia secretly massaging her legs under the table, accumulating fatigue.

She probably didn’t want to show me that she was tired because she didn’t want to go back after the festival ended.

If my eyes, my sense, were even a little bit dull, I wouldn’t have noticed.

But who am I? I’m Elysia Frentz, who everyone recognizes as a genius at reading the room.

At least if you don’t have as much acting skills as me, who is a genius at acting, it’s impossible to deceive me.

“Teddy bear, rabbit. Boss must be very embarrassed. You guys get on my back first.”

At my words, the teddy bear and the rabbit jumped down from the table, and then quickly climbed onto my shoulders, riding on my hands and back.

“Okay, okay. There’s still the last first-class seat left, so hurry up and get on.”

I can’t see it from behind, but I can imagine the teddy bear and the rabbit recommending my back to Presia with the sensation of tapping my back.

“Okay….”

Presia hesitated and put her hand on my shoulder, then slowly put her weight on my back.

Fortunately, she was wearing a long skirt that wouldn’t be a problem even if I carried her on my back, so there was no problem.

I wonder how long I’ve been wandering around as Presia’s personal vehicle. The stores with pubs and bars will be open all night, but the other stores are slowly closing one by one.

The curfew was approaching, so I carried Presia on my back to take her home, and slowly walked towards the magic building.

She must have felt that today was coming to an end, and she wrapped her arms around my neck tightly.

But she knew that today wasn’t the end and that there were many more days to come, so there were no complaints.

Instead, she tickled my ear with a soft voice.

“You know, this is my first time at a festival like this…. I lived in a slum when I was young, and fortunately, I opened my eyes to magic at a young age, and after I was accidentally caught by the Emperor’s eye, I was always stuck in the house I received from the Emperor.”

It was the first time I had heard Presia’s past story.

Of course, I knew that Presia hadn’t grown up in a good environment, but this was the first time I had heard about the slum.

A slum….

Before coming to the assassin’s guild, I don’t remember anything because I was young, but even so, I don’t even have memories of my family, so I must have been one of the orphans who rolled around in the slums.

“When it comes to festivals, it was just a noisy marketplace to me. Instead of walking around these streets, it was better to just stay home and refine my magic. Or just get a good night’s sleep.”

Her voice, recalling the past, contained loneliness and loneliness instead of longing.

“But…. This time it was different. Why? It’s just another boring festival every year…. The only thing that’s changed is that I’m with Elysia…. I was looking forward to the festival for the first time because I thought I was walking around the festival streets together. I wanted to walk around this mess, which is no different from a marketplace, with Elysia.”

But the loneliness and loneliness in her voice had already turned into anticipation and joy.

In the still noisy streets, only her small voice was clearly audible to my ears, as if only she and I were here.

“My world is changing with just the fact that Elysia is next to me. The things I knew are actually things I didn’t know, and the things I didn’t know are things I’m learning anew.”

No. It was I who was able to change by meeting Presia, by meeting everyone.

“Elysia is my first friend who made me dream of tomorrow, who had been living without purpose every day…. She’s also the person who first taught me the joy of the festival,”

Her voice is gradually getting smaller, probably because she woke up too early in the morning, but her every word is echoing louder in my ears, in my heart.

“I’m glad that Elysia is my first assistant. I’m grateful that Elysia is my first disciple. I’m happy that Elysia is my first friend. And…. I hope that Elysia will be the person who tells me about the things I don’t know for the first time in the future.”

Does our cute little Boss know? How embarrassing she is confessing.

She’s probably pouring out the words she’s always wanted to say but couldn’t, drunk on the emotions she’s been feeling all day and drunk on the sleepiness that’s calming her consciousness.

I was also tired from walking around all day, so I was getting sleepy listening to her soft voice.

So these words are just her self-confession that she’s spitting out while drunk on sleepiness. She might be kicking her blankets in embarrassment tomorrow morning.

“I’m really happy that Boss is by my side. I promise you. I will walk alongside you on the path you’re going to take.”

“Really…?”

“Am I that unreliable? Then, if I break my promise…. You can punish me with your specialty, magic. It wouldn’t be bad to hit my butt once like you used to. How about it?”

Her voice, which had been gradually fading away from sleepiness, was giggling, as if she was laughing at my joke to change the atmosphere.

“Hehe…. Did you promise? I’ll hit Elysia’s butt if you don’t keep it….”

“Hehe…. So don’t worry and rest easy.”

Whether it was simply because she couldn’t overcome her sleepiness, or because I had reassured her several times, I heard small breaths instead of answers.

Although Presia, the only one who talked to me, had left for dreamland, I arrived at the magic building while walking with the night sky as my friend.

Sharon, who was working in the morning, had already changed shifts, and another employee was sitting at the information desk.

I didn’t want to wake up the sleeping Presia, so I just nodded and greeted her, and went up to her room, 707.

I was careful not to wake Presia with the sound of the door creaking open, and carefully headed to the inner room.

I laid her down on the sofa that replaced the bed, and laid the rabbit, who was also asleep for some reason, next to her.

The teddy bear, who was still awake, brought a thin blanket and gently covered Presia.

But my eyes still couldn’t leave Presia.

It’s against the rules and perverted to do this to a sleeping girl, but…. It’s okay for today.

I lightly kissed her forehead and said good night to her, who had already left for dreamland.

The curfew is almost up, so I have to go back quickly if I don’t want to be late.

I got up from my seat, turned my back to Presia, and started walking back to the dormitory.

Jjooeeuk

However, I couldn’t help but stop walking at the feeling of my clothes stretching, not even taking a step.

“Huh?”

When I turned my head to look, Presia, who was lying on the sofa, had her eyes half open and was just stretching out her hand and holding the end of my clothes.

“Boss?”

“Can’t we…. Sleep together today? Like before….”

Looking at her red face, it seemed like my embarrassing action of kissing her forehead had been discovered, but fortunately, she still seemed to be half asleep when I heard her speaking.

Even if you say like before…. I’ve never slept with Presia before.

I have to go back to the dormitory right now if I don’t want to get points deducted and scolded by the dormitory supervisor, but I couldn’t bring myself to shake off Presia’s hand.

It wasn’t just Presia’s small fingers that were holding me back.

The green eyes that were looking at me hazily, drunk on sleepiness, every word of the conversation we had on the way here, and today with her were holding me back.

Okay. What’s the big deal if I get a deduction for sleeping out for one day? How much would I get scolded?

In order not to worry my friends who would be waiting in my room, I wrote a note on a blank piece of paper that was rolling around, saying that I would be sleeping in Presia’s lab for today only, and handed it to the teddy bear.

“Can you give this to my friends in my room?”

The teddy bear, who received the note, put his hand on his head and saluted, then waddled out the door.

After confirming that the teddy bear was leaving, I slowly laid down next to Presia, who was leaning against the back of the sofa and making room for me.

However, no matter how big the sofa is, it’s just a sofa, and it’s not enough space for two women to lie side by side.

Whether she knew that I was half hanging off the sofa, or just because she was sleepy, Presia snuggled into my arms.

Okay. I can’t help it if I don’t want to fall off the sofa, so this is an unavoidable action.

I hugged Presia, who was snuggling into my arms, tightly once again, just like I had hugged Rinne in the old school building because of Rinne’s prank.

I know I’ll regret it tomorrow morning in embarrassment. It might become another dark history of mine.

But it’s not me who’s feeling embarrassed right now, so let’s postpone that to tomorrow’s me.

Good luck, tomorrow’s me.

Good night, Boss.