“If you meet someone suspicious, don’t be overconfident in your abilities and quietly report them to the guard.”
Even academy students with considerable skills can be in danger if they don’t know the opponent’s information.
Because there are unknown powerhouses, monsters, and Jötunn all over the world.
Reginleif, who warned them with such examples, clapped her hands.
“Now, don’t be scared by exaggerated rumors and go home safely-”
***
“Elsie, let’s go. I’ll walk you home.”
Thrud, made uneasy by the rumored weirdo, spoke faster than usual.
Elsie didn’t dislike Thrud’s concern for her.
But Elsie scratched her head, feeling sorry that Thrud always went with her, even though they lived in opposite directions.
“It’s okay now. You don’t have to bother coming and going every day because of me.”
Elsie was getting used to life here to some extent.
At least she wasn’t doing stupid things like getting lost anymore.
Of course, she still had a lot to adapt to, and she was still lacking in knowledge-
‘Am I a child who can’t even go home?’
Elsie looked at Thrud with a slightly confident face.
She just stared at Elsie silently with her mouth shut.
“Elsie…”
“Yeah?”
“Are you going to say something that makes me sad?”
“Huh?”
Thrud, with a displeased face, hugged Elsie and lifted her up, saying with force.
“Can’t friends do that much for each other?! Besides, there’s a rumor about a strange perverted weirdo, so I’m more worried about you!”
*Crack!*
“Cough!”
“You can’t even handle your strength properly! You said your body could be damaged if you try to force energy operation!”
(Crack crack!(
“Wait… cough-”
Elsie’s waist bent like a bow from Thrud’s assassination choke disguised as a hug.
Her terrifying strength was at a dangerous level to be received by Elsie’s slender body.
‘I’m dying… this is a direct trip to Valhalla…’
As the air escaped her lungs, Elsie collapsed on the floor like a puppet doll when Thrud, realizing what she was doing, released her arms.
“E, Elsie! Sorry! I just got carried away with my concern…!”
“W, were you going to kill me with your concern…”
Elsie, who had briefly glimpsed the light of Valhalla, staggered to her feet.
Gasping for breath, Elsie leaned on the desk and accidentally met Han Doyun’s eyes.
“What are you looking at, is it a spectacle…?”
Han Doyun turned his head away at Elsie’s question.
Elsie was momentarily annoyed by his blatant disregard.
“Tch… I knew it from when he went to eat a hot dog alone.”
“That’s right, Elsie! Don’t mind Doyun and let’s go quickly!”
“…Still, we used to go back together often… how can you be so disloyal.”
Elsie glanced at Han Doyun for a moment.
Thrud swallowed hard, remembering what had happened in the delinquent’s hideout before.
“Elsie, don’t tell me… you still… Han Doyun?”
Thrud lowered her voice as she watched Doyun’s reaction.
“Still what?”
Elsie just tilted her head, wondering what she meant.
Elsie, shrinking at Thrud’s lowered voice and posture, asked her.
“Why are you suddenly lowering your voice like that?”
“Elsie… are you still worried about Doyun?”
“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Why, when we went shopping last time and saw Doyun working as a mercenary…”
“Ah-”
The light armor Han Doyun was wearing at that time. It still stimulated Elsie’s romantic fantasies.
After that, Elsie went out into the streets and secretly glanced at other mercenaries, and as a result, she was able to confirm her own judgment.
“No matter what you think, I like the design that Han Doyun wore.”
“The design… you like it?”
Elsie nodded, staring at Thrud’s golden eyes.
“It’s cool… well, you might not think so… but I’m concerned about it.”
“Ehk-?!”
Thrud, realizing that she and Elsie were completely off topic, raised her lowered upper body.
Thrud glanced at Han Doyun and then looked back at Elsie and lowered her body.
“Th, then! What you were concerned about was…!”
“Of course it’s the armor that jerk wore.”
Thrud covered her mouth with her hand at Elsie’s nonchalant tone.
It was an answer that didn’t feel even a tiny bit of such emotion, just embarrassment.
Thrud, realizing that it was entirely her misunderstanding, began to laugh in vain.
Elsie, dumbfounded, stared at the giggling Thrud and then glanced at Han Doyun.
***
Doyun, who had turned his head away in embarrassment at being watched by Elsie, flinched when his name was mentioned.
‘What are they saying…?’
Doyun’s hearing was maximized at the sight of the two girls whispering as his name came up.
Concentrate all your senses on hearing.
A swordsman is not just someone who swings a sword.
Seeing the direction the sword is going and reading the opponent’s movements to create the optimal sword path.
That is the basis of the sword.
In order to perform it perfectly, not only sight but also hearing was a very important element.
Therefore, Doyun’s hearing, which had been trained repeatedly, was naturally enhanced at the moment he wanted.
It was his trick of limiting the enhancement of senses, which people who fight using physical abilities commonly use, to hearing only.
Faintly, Elsie and Thrud’s whispers began to be heard.
“Why sud…denly lower… voice…?”
“Elsie… don’t tell me… Doyun is bothering…?”
Even with enhanced hearing, it was impossible to perfectly understand all the whispers.
Only limited meanings could be grasped due to excessively faint voices or noise buried by surrounding sounds.
‘Worried? What does that mean?’
Feeling the blood rushing to his ears, Doyun began to concentrate more.
“Why last time… saw Doyun…”
“Ah-”
What could it be? Curiosity welled up.
Doyun, frustrated by not being able to hear well, further increased the energy output used for sensory enhancement.
“No matter… think, I Han Doyun… like.”
“…like?”
*Kugung-!*
Doyun, who was concentrating on his hearing and eavesdropping, felt his heart sink.
Surprised by Elsie’s last voice, he stopped sensory enhancement and staggered from the shock.
‘What?’
Doyun, shocked by the unexpected conversation, covered his face and felt his heart pounding.
Doyun rolled his eyes and secretly looked at Elsie.
Elsie, who was watching Thrud giggle, looked at him for a moment.
‘Elsie… me…?’
Elsie had never shown any signs of that?
He couldn’t be sure. Even so, Doyun’s heart beat fast.
***
The way home was the same as usual.
Or maybe it was different from usual for someone.
But at least for Elsie, it was the same after-school path as usual.
“I’m really okay…”
“What if something happens that’s not okay? What if that rumored pervert really comes out?”
If a weirdo really appeared as rumored, Elsie in her current state would be helpless.
“W, well, of course, I might helplessly have that… thing stolen.”
Elsie wiggled her fingers, unable to say panties out of embarrassment.
“But if something like that really happens, I’ll use my strength even if it’s too much!”
Elsie, unable to tolerate being helplessly defeated by a giant chicken and a shirtless pervert, burned with fighting spirit.
“Haa- That’s why I can’t send you alone. What if your body breaks down like that?”
“…”
Elsie had nothing to say.
If she was swayed by the momentary battle instinct and her body broke down, she would be moving away from her goal.
‘I can’t do that. I can’t aim for the championship of the martial arts tournament unless I’m fully prepared.’
“Your house is in a remote place, so if something happens to you, there’s no one to help.”
Doyun stared at Elsie with wide eyes at Thrud’s point.
That’s for sure. Elsie’s house was in a very remote place.
‘If something happens to Elsie, who can’t use her strength…’
The giant chicken and the perverted weirdo’s clutches reaching out to Elsie.
The heinous imagination unfolded and trampled on Doyun’s mind.
That must never happen.
Thrud, raising her finger, was about to start lecturing.
“Knowing that you would be like that, the communication device I ordered…”
Thrud hesitated, remembering that she had ordered a communication crystal for Elsie to exchange simple greetings.
‘Wait- when was the receipt date… oh-‘
“Oh, it was today!”
“Wh, what?”
Elsie, with wide eyes, looked up at Thrud with a surprised face.
Thrud, stomping her feet, looked down at Elsie anxiously and then looked at Doyun helplessly.
“Sorry Elsie! I don’t think I can go with you today! If I don’t receive the order, the deal itself will be canceled!”
“Well, that can happen. I’m really okay by myself, you know? Who would come to such a remote place.”
“No way! Doyun! O, only today, please take care of Elsie!”
“Huh?”
Thrud, who shouted urgently, ran towards the commercial district.
The technical goods store that was commissioned to make the communication crystal was a picky place run by dwarf wizards.
The Dvergr, dwarves who value promises, strictly adhere to the production period of ordered items.
At the same time, she strictly adhered to the delivery date agreed upon with the client, and if the client failed to meet it, she would cancel the transaction altogether.
They were a troublesome bunch, but their quality and performance were guaranteed, so Thrud sped off to avoid being late.
Elsie and Doyun stared blankly at Thrud, who had disappeared into the distance.
Then, turning their heads, the two quietly looked at each other, and an awkward silence hung between them.
‘Am I going to have to go with Elsie alone?’
Doyun’s face flushed involuntarily.
“Hoo—don’t worry about what Thrud said, let’s just go home,” Elsie said nonchalantly and walked ahead.
Doyun, who had overheard Elsie and Thrud’s whispers a moment ago, felt his heart pounding at Elsie’s last words.
[‘Han Doyun… I like him.’]
Elsie’s faint, lingering voice.
*Thump, thump!*
His heart beats loudly.
‘If I didn’t mishear…’
It was a complete mishearing, but he had no way of knowing that.
‘What is Elsie thinking right now? It’s just the two of us?’
Doyun’s eyes glazed over as he stared, mesmerized, at Elsie’s swaying long silver hair as she walked ahead.
And Elsie…
‘What should I eat for dinner?’
Of course, she wasn’t thinking anything.
Just contemplating the dinner menu in a state close to oblivion.
And so, without knowing what future awaited them, the two walked on.