Ch.128127. Summer Vacation (1)

# 127. Summer Vacation (1)

“His number? I don’t know it…”

“Huh? You don’t know?”

When I nodded, Elin looked quite flustered.

“But you’re in the same class…”

“What does that have to do with anything? We’re in the same class, but we weren’t particularly close.”

“You really don’t know?”

“No, but why?”

I was curious why Elin, who was closer to Leo than I was, didn’t have his number, and also why she was asking.

“Um… I just need it…”

“You need it?”

“Yeah…”

Both her attempt to hide the reason and her embarrassment seemed suspicious.

I asked Elin with a hunch.

“Could it be… you like him?”

“Huh? What!? It’s not like that!?”

“Then why…?”

Honestly, if it wasn’t that, there wasn’t really any reason for her to know his number.

If she had other business with him, she could just ask him directly.

“Well… summer vacation is coming soon, right?”

“Yeah… that’s right.”

“So I was wondering if he’s coming with us…”

That forced excuse.

Seeing her like that gave me an odd feeling.

I got up from the bed and said to Elin.

“If you’re interested, you should ask him yourself. I don’t know.”

Then, just like Ariya yesterday, I continued speaking as I walked out of the infirmary.

“Besides, he seems to like you too.”

“No… hey! I told you it’s not like that!?”

I deliberately ignored her faintly audible angry voice as I left.

Once I was far enough that Elin couldn’t hear me, I muttered quietly.

“That’s something you should do on your own.”

The truth was, I did have his number.

During the survival event, we were on the same team, and since we’d gotten a bit closer recently, I knew his phone number.

But I hid that fact from Elin.

‘It’s no fun if I spoon-feed her everything.’

Watching from the sidelines was so entertaining that those words came out unconsciously.

Besides, even without my help, someone like Elin would figure it out on her own.

“More importantly…”

Right now, what mattered more was where our team members were.

Of course, since they were all in the habit of training every day, their location was predictable.

“They must be there…”

Today was Saturday, beloved by all.

But for us, it was a bit awkward.

The reason was…

“As expected, they’re here…”

On our schedule, Saturday was the day for mock battles, and as I predicted, our party members were gathered at the dueling grounds conducting practice matches.

I sat on a bench near the arena where the mock battle was taking place, blankly watching them.

“Hmm… I feel like I just kept losing.”

Seeing her easily handle all the party members by herself made such thoughts flood my mind.

‘Was it a fight I couldn’t win from the beginning?’

‘Did I actually do well?’

Her performance was so impressive that such thoughts naturally arose.

Even though she had been injured so badly yesterday.

“Oh… it’s over.”

While I was spacing out, the mock battle had ended, and they were already approaching me.

They came toward me.

Among them, she was almost running, clearly in a hurry.

“Um… are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine… but what about you, noona?”

“Ah… I’m fine too.”

Something about her attitude as she said this seemed strange.

She seemed both flustered and embarrassed.

“That’s good then.”

“By the way, did you meet the Saint yesterday?”

“Yes… briefly when I woke up. But she left right away.”

“We’ll see her again soon anyway.”

With summer vacation approaching, we’d be able to see her again soon.

As that thought crossed my mind, I naturally had an idea.

‘Should I use that?’

Saint Ariya.

Ariya, befitting her title as a Saint, must have many rare and overpowered skills.

Area healing, buff skills—she had incredible skills that only she possessed.

Of course, those skills didn’t really suit me.

‘It’s tricky… I wonder if she can give skills…’

It would be better if she could give skills, but the very idea of transferring skills was absurd.

Though, the idea that I could make someone else’s skill my own was equally absurd.

While I was thinking about this, someone who, like Ariya, was a potential target for my [Returner’s Privilege] spoke to me.

“Hey!? Are you okay?”

“At least better than you right now.”

Reina was covered in wounds from the mock battle earlier.

It felt quite strange to be asked that by someone who should be heading to the infirmary or getting treatment from Chris right away.

“Me? This much is… nothing.”

“Chris, hurry up and treat her.”

“Wait, let me finish myself first.”

Chris was also injured similarly to Reina, and he was treating his own wounds first.

Not just those two, but everyone else was similarly injured from their intense fighting.

The fact that she alone had inflicted all these injuries made me newly appreciate her incredible skill.

“Everyone’s working hard from the morning.”

“Aren’t you going to join?”

“Of course.”

Since the day before yesterday, I had unavoidably neglected training.

So from today, I needed to train properly.

However…

“Just rest today.”

“What?”

“Don’t push yourself and rest until today. This is not a request but an order. An order as the party leader.”

It took me a moment to process those thunderbolt-like words.

“You… want me to rest?”

“Yes, just for today. This is not a request but an order. An order as the party leader.”

With her putting her foot down like that, there was really no way around it.

“Alright… I understand.”

“And yesterday… you did really well. Honestly, I thought I’d win easily, but I almost lost.”

“I still have a long way to go.”

But it was true that I had nearly caught up to her level.

At the beginning, there was a huge gap between us.

However, even if we were almost equal, a loss was still a loss.

Moreover, it was a recent loss on the big stage of the final exam survival event.

“So… you lost after all.”

“I’m sorry for losing.”

“Is saying sorry enough?”

Chris’s nagging continued, and the more I heard it, the more my guilt grew.

“But… it was really close.”

“We almost won, by a score of 4 to 5.”

“We lost by such a narrow margin…”

“Yeah… I guess we were bound to lose from the start…”

Chris seemed to be somewhat resigned about yesterday’s events and was focusing on treatment instead of continuing our conversation.

And in place of Chris, Rachel spoke up.

“It did seem that way. The Princess was also on the verge of collapsing.”

“What does it matter… we still lost.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. We were at a disadvantage from the start. We were outnumbered 5 to 6, and the Princess was on their team.”

Rachel was right that we were at a disadvantage.

But that doesn’t mean our loss should be considered inevitable.

“If we had done better, we could have won, especially me.”

“You’re still so strict with yourself.”

“Because I’m the one who performed poorly.”

Since the main team won despite having one fewer member, I couldn’t blame them.

“I need to work harder.”

“You’re so… intense. But…”

Rachel glanced at her for a moment before asking me.

“What are you doing during the vacation?”

“Vacation…? I have some business to attend to.”

“Business?”

“Yeah, really important business.”

Restoring the balance of power that had collapsed.

It could be said to be determining the future of the Kainis Empire.

Though I wouldn’t be handling it directly.

“What about you?”

“Me? I’ll be going back for a while.”

It seemed Rachel would be returning to the Orion Kingdom during the vacation.

Hearing this, Reina said:

“I’m going with her. Jealous?”

“You… why?”

“Just visiting a friend’s house.”

“Don’t just play around—train hard and clear dungeons regularly.”

“Ah~ That’s enough nagging~”

Of course, people like Reina and Rachel would do that without being told.

They were already accustomed to that training routine.

“You two definitely don’t need reminding. What about the rest of you?”

Briton, Chris, and Eve told me what they would be doing during the upcoming vacation.

Briton said he would be spending time with his family, and Chris said he would be going to the front lines with his father.

But Eve…

“I don’t have any plans.”

To Eve, who had no plans, Chris made a good suggestion.

“Then want to come with me? It’ll be good field experience.”

“Oh? Should I? I’ll ask if it’s okay first.”

Given how much freedom Eve’s family allowed her, they would probably permit it.

It seemed that during the vacation, everyone would be going their separate ways.

“I hope you all work hard and get injured a lot.”

“That sounds… a bit off?”

“I mean work so hard that you push your limits.”

Hearing what each party member would be doing during the vacation made me look forward to it even more.

And the same went for the journey I would take with her.

Of course, there would be many people coming along, but it would still be a journey with her.

I looked at her, already up on the arena preparing for another mock battle, and muttered:

“I wish it would come sooner…”