Ch.158158. It’s Faster to Ask for Forgiveness Than Permission

Due to Celia spreading my intentions, my scheme to go out alone with Alkine was exposed even to Lilith.

When Lilith found out I had arranged to spend time alone with Alkine, she covered her mouth with trembling hands.

“How… how could you do this?”

“What’s so shocking about it?”

“Actually, I don’t really mind.”

Was it all an act? As she spoke, Lilith’s hands weren’t trembling at all but remained perfectly calm.

I had expected this. Despite her high favorability rating, Lilith still maintained a somewhat easygoing side. Even when she showed an intense reaction to something like this, it felt deliberately exaggerated.

That’s what I thought, but…

[She feels very, extremely disappointed in you.]

When I checked her thoughts just to be sure, they were completely unexpected.

Wondering if I had missed something important, I quickly looked at Lilith again, but no matter how carefully I observed, I couldn’t see any issues. What problems? She looked perfectly serene.

What’s with her? She’s really good at pretending to be fine.

But her thoughts clearly expressed disappointment.

It was an awkward situation where I wasn’t sure how to comfort her. Looking at Celia beside me, I saw she was in a similar state. No, this was a different kind of trouble since she wasn’t pretending to be fine.

“I’ll answer before you ask. No.”

[Absolutely not. Absolutely. Not.]

A strong rejection came before I could even ask the question. This put me in a difficult position since I couldn’t cancel the promise.

But… I’ve noticed this before—the intensity of Celia’s emotions seems different. Sometimes when I read her thoughts, the firmness of her sentences is on another level. It feels like something I absolutely need to pay attention to.

What should I do?

I glanced at Lilith hoping for some help, but she just shook her head.

“To be honest, I don’t like it either.”

Why aren’t you pretending to be fine this time? I really don’t understand.

But if I gave up now, I didn’t know what Alkine might do to me. If I was going to be the bad guy whether I took Celia and Lilith along or went without them… wouldn’t it be better to at least be the bad guy who keeps his promises?

With that thought, I decided to brazenly go through with it.

“Sorry!”

Just throwing out that one word of apology… I bolted.

Yes, I simply ran away.

You know that saying? It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

What else could I do? Talking wouldn’t work. All I could do was act first and deal with the consequences later.

Perhaps they hadn’t expected me to do this—Celia and Lilith just stared at me with bewildered expressions instead of chasing after me.

I kept running all the way to the Student Council Hall.

Fortunately, they didn’t chase me.

Successful… well, not really. They didn’t miss me because I escaped… they let me go.

They’ll probably use this as leverage to demand something later.

I was already dreading whatever backlash would come.

As I waited there nervously…

“Sorry I’m late. I had more to organize than I expected.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Alkine came to me as I waited alone.

Perhaps because I was preoccupied with thoughts of the coming backlash, it didn’t feel like I had waited long.

Alkine looked at me and around us, then showed a slightly surprised reaction.

“How did you manage to leave them behind?”

Though she said that, it seemed she hadn’t actually expected me to come without Celia and Lilith.

What do you take me for? I’m a man who keeps his word.

But I couldn’t show such confidence because the method I used to keep that word was too shameful…

“I just ran away.”

“…You didn’t persuade them?”

“I failed.”

I decided to just quietly let it go.

Alkine heard my answer and let out a small laugh.

“Really? That’s trouble. They’re not the type to let this slide.”

She was right about that.

Neither Celia nor Lilith was the type to just let something like this go.

But what could I do?

[I am very satisfied with your decision.]

This was the right answer for her.

“Oh, right. Ludion. Come closer for a moment.”

“Suddenly?”

“Just come here. So… here, like this…”

Slash—

As I approached, Alkine cut something.

Confused, I looked at her with a puzzled expression, and she said with a refreshed look:

“I cut off the surveillance magic. You never know, right? What if Celia is watching?”

It seemed she had found and severed the surveillance magic Celia had placed on me.

It was an impressive feat, but knowing Alkine’s skills, I wasn’t particularly surprised.

However…

“That’s unexpected.”

“What is?”

“I thought you didn’t care. When we went drinking in Ritten yesterday, you left it alone.”

I was just surprised by her sudden concern.

“Ah, right. But until yesterday… I trusted Celia.”

…Does that mean she doesn’t trust her now?

I wondered what could have caused this loss of trust overnight.

That question was immediately answered by Alkine’s testimony.

“She seemed to know everything we talked about at the tavern.”

“…I see.”

Celia, that was going a bit too far.

But I guess she felt guilty about it too. She made it obvious when she could have hidden it.

If she had learned something from that, she might not do it this time… but this is how the boy who cried wolf is created. It can’t be helped.

“Then it’s self-defense.”

“Right?”

I could almost see Celia’s dejected face upon discovering the surveillance magic had been cut… but I had nothing to say about it. After all, I was the one who gave her permission to place that surveillance magic in the first place.

“It’s okay. I left the tracking magic alone. If I messed with that too, I think she’d really come after us.”

It seemed the boundaries of their mutual checks were already established. I shouldn’t get too involved.

Let’s leave it. Let them resolve it themselves.

So now…

“Is there anywhere you want to go?”

Since it was vacation, we could go out without permission slips. The options were wide.

Wide, but…

“If I could have my way, I’d want to take you to my home.”

“That can’t be done in just one day.”

Unfortunately, the options weren’t that wide.

Her home was in the north—the end-content zone.

The fact that it was an end-content zone didn’t matter much. My specs weren’t so far behind that I’d be in danger there.

However, the north was far away.

Not just far—extremely far.

As if to prove it was an end-content zone, it took several months just to get there.

Because of this, Alkine hadn’t returned home since enrolling in the academy.

Knowing this, she must have been joking.

It was clearly a joke, but hearing someone who hadn’t been home for years say “let’s go to my home” made me feel conflicted.

I could sense both her desire to take me to her home and her own wish to go home.

Perhaps that’s why I found myself suggesting:

“Should we go during the break? To the north.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about since my plans for the break are done. If we ask Celia, I don’t think it’s impossible. Since Celia would have to come with us, it might be different from what you had in mind…”

“W-wait. Are you saying we should go to the north during this break?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think that makes any… Oh.”

Alkine, who was about to object, stopped mid-sentence as if realizing something.

Right. She had experienced it firsthand recently.

Celia’s high-speed flight.

With that extraordinary speed, visiting the north during the break wasn’t impossible.

If she could reach Ritten in half a day, she could probably reach the north in a few days.

Considering the round trip, Celia would have to fly continuously for several days without rest, which would be quite taxing for her… but it was possible.

“Would Celia help?”

“If you beg her nicely, I think she might reluctantly agree.”

Celia. She acts cool, but she’s actually a woman with more affection than anyone.

If not for that, neither Alkine nor Lilith would have been able to come near me, let alone increase their favorability.

She claims she’s sacrificing herself for me, but I, who knew her well before and know her even better now, can be certain.

The reason she accepts them is… because she’s grown attached to them too.

If Alkine were to say she’s giving up on me now, Celia would grab her and ask why rather than be happy about it.

That’s the kind of woman she is.

Therefore, if Alkine said she wanted to go home, Celia would surely help.

She might make some demands of me as an excuse, but she wouldn’t refuse.

‘Wait. She’s helping Alkine, so why would she make demands of me?’

I decided not to worry about such absurdities. In my position with three women by my side, I should be able to accept this much.

After hearing my words, Alkine seemed to ponder for a moment, then suddenly glared at me as if she’d realized something important.

“Wait a minute. Ludion. Do we have to talk about Celia even when we’ve come this far?”

“Wow, you’re really troublesome.”

Alkine usually gives me looks when we’re alone, telling me not to think about other women, but it was quite ridiculous that our conversation drifted in that direction even during this kind of talk.

Of course, I understood, and since she was someone who claimed to like me, I found her troublesome but cute.

…Right. I should discuss this when Celia is present.

It was meaningless to proceed without her anyway.

I brought the conversation back to the beginning.

“Then let me ask again. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

“First, we need to go out. And I heard there’s a new shop that’s quite delicious, so I’d like to visit it. Also, a theater troupe has recently settled in and is performing plays, so I’d like to see that, then take a walk together, have dinner at my favorite restaurant, and have dessert at a nearby café.”

…I see?

The plan was more detailed than I expected, so I couldn’t help but ask:

“Did you plan this in advance?”

“What if I did?”

Alkine asked back with a playful expression, but I decided not to question the truth.

“Well, shall we go?”

A date that somehow came to be. Better to proceed before any unnecessary words came out.