Ch.169168. Journey? (10)

# 168. A Trip? (10)

Luna approached me with her usual mischievous expression, bringing her face close to mine.

In that moment, Luna’s moist lips touched mine.

Right on my lips…

Startled by Luna’s sudden action, I immediately jerked my face and body backward.

“Hey… what… what are you doing?”

“Hehe, I finally did it.”

“…”

I couldn’t say anything in that situation.

I felt no emotion and had no thoughts.

All because of that one action from Luna.

I struggled to open my mouth that refused to work.

“W-what kind of nonsense is this?”

“Sorry… I just wanted to surprise you a bit. You did it too…”

“…”

“Say something at least…”

I had played pranks too, but… nothing like this.

I placed my hand on my lips where the traces still remained.

While wiping away the lingering lipstick marks and their scent, I said:

“Wow… are you seriously crazy?”

“You just figured that out now?”

“This is… unbelievable…”

“You could just be honest and admit you liked it…”

“Don’t you do this to other guys?”

Hearing that question, Luna suddenly raised her voice.

“Of course not!?”

“Well… I guess not…”

“Seriously… thinking about it again, I can’t believe this…”

I never expected Luna would do something like that.

Not even as a remote possibility.

“By the way, can I tell the Princess about this?”

“Are you kidding!? Of course not…”

“Obviously not… that’s too bad.”

I was already flustered when I heard I should accept if she confessed, but this incident was even more shocking.

I stared at my hand with Luna’s lipstick on it.

Then I brought that hand to my nose.

A clear fragrance like summer forest grass tickled my nostrils.

“Why are you smelling it?”

“Good question…”

“You can smell it openly if you want.”

“Hey.”

“Sorry…”

Luna bowed her head, appearing to have calmed down.

She seemed to know she had gone too far, so I didn’t say anything more.

However, Luna’s thoughts seemed different from mine.

“But you don’t seem particularly affected by this?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I thought guys would like this sort of thing.”

“Everyone except me would like it, so do it to them…”

Other boys, except maybe me and Leo, would definitely like it.

Very much so.

But Luna didn’t seem interested in that.

“Why would I do it to them?”

“Then why did you do it to me?”

Luna’s face turned red as tea when she heard that question.

Despite her flushed face, she looked straight into my eyes and answered my question.

“Because I like you…”

“I’ve never seen someone look directly at someone with that expression.”

“Is my face red right now?”

“Very. But how can you say such things with that face?”

“I guess I have a talent for it.”

I somewhat agree with that.

A damn talent as far as I’m concerned.

“For flirting?”

“No… not that far… is it?”

“It is.”

“When you put it that way, I sound like a terrible person.”

“You’re self-aware.”

The fact that she knew but had no intention of stopping made her seem truly crazy.

Yet Luna was still acting embarrassed despite it all.

“But that was my first kiss with anyone…”

“So what?”

“Nothing… just saying…”

The Ferris wheel had reached the ground.

I stood up and said to Luna:

“Stop talking nonsense and get off.”

***

In the academy’s infirmary.

A girl covered in wounds was sighing deeply.

“Haah…”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“That’s why I’m like this…”

She stared blankly at the bandages wrapped around her body, stained with blood.

As she did, she thought about the cause of her injuries.

“As a magician… I dragged it out too long…”

“Exactly. Taking on Marco like that is so unlike you, Your Highness. Did something happen?”

Indeed, her usual self wouldn’t have done that.

She might not have given up early, but she wouldn’t have pushed herself to the point of injury like yesterday.

“I couldn’t help it… I wanted to win and show off…”

“To whom? Ah~ to your boyfriend?”

“Well… yes.”

“But what now? You didn’t win…”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Honestly, not winning itself didn’t matter.

It was an opponent she couldn’t defeat anyway.

But when Albert becomes a third-year and takes the graduation exam, then it would matter.

Because that boy had enough potential.

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“Exactly…! But if Albert wins later… he’ll probably show off, right?”

“What’s wrong with that? Besides, if someone is actually good, it’s not showing off, is it?”

“Anyway… this is a disaster…”

As her dejected voice filled the infirmary, the door opened.

Another girl entered, who was in the same situation but in completely opposite physical condition.

“I’m back! But the atmosphere here is like a funeral…”

“Did it go well?”

“Yes! Of course. It was such an easy exam.”

The difficulty level of high school graduation exams and middle school graduation exams are worlds apart.

However, the students taking these exams are also worlds apart in their abilities, so the difficulty gap isn’t that extreme.

Considering this, Ellin was clearly on a different level from other middle school students.

“You don’t have a single scratch…”

She looked back and forth between her own condition and Ellin’s.

Almost with envious eyes.

“Well… your exam was much harder. Didn’t you pass without a scratch when you were in middle school too?”

“Well… that’s true.”

“See? The high school exam is much more difficult. But you still did that well. That’s amazing.”

“Thanks…”

Of course, despite her injuries, she had undoubtedly shown the most impressive performance in the exam.

Most students couldn’t even reach the third stage or couldn’t touch a single hair on Marco’s head.

Ellin was watching a video of the amazing performance she had just mentioned.

“It was really close…”

“Close? He wasn’t even using the Hero’s symbolic weapon…”

“Beating Marco even without it would be impossible. The fact that you lasted this long is already incredible.”

No matter how cheap a mass-produced sword Marco was using, a Hero is still a Hero.

She had fought an evenly matched duel against such a Hero.

“Oh? You almost won here, didn’t you?”

The scene where she created an opening with magic, slipped through it, and tried to use [Absolute Zero].

At that moment, she truly almost won.

Of course, “almost” winning meant she didn’t succeed.

“Almost winning is still losing. If you lose, none of that matters…”

“That’s not true. It all counts toward your grade.”

“In terms of grades, I suppose it matters.”

Since the process is evaluated to determine rankings, both results and process are important.

And with their process being overwhelmingly good, she and Ellin would definitely take first place.

Riel, who had the same result but an empty process, wouldn’t rank highly.

“But why did you stop halfway, sister?”

“What’s the point… Graduating is enough. Honestly, I don’t even need to graduate.”

“I see…”

“What are you planning to do after graduation?”

A question somewhat difficult to answer immediately.

But Ellin responded without a moment’s hesitation.

“I want to join a party, a good one.”

“Really? That does suit you well. You won’t pretend not to know us after you make it big, right?”

“Of course not! Even if I join a party, I’ll still come visit occasionally.”

“Ah… occasionally? Like once every five years?”

Startled by those words, Ellin strongly denied Riel’s statement.

“N-no! I was planning to visit at least once every three months… And I was going to keep participating in the war too, as a mercenary…”

“Really? I thought you were cutting ties with us. That’s a relief.”

“I would never do that. You’ve all been so good to me.”

After her hasty explanation, she spoke to the relieved Ellin.

“But to make that much time, you’d need to join somewhere really good, right?”

“With my skills, couldn’t I join somewhere good enough?”

“Come to think of it, you’re right…”

“I might not make it to the absolute top tier, but I can definitely join a decent place.”

If someone else had said that, it would have sounded arrogant, but coming from Ellin, she had to acknowledge it.

“You’re right, Ellin could definitely do that. Still, work hard. Then you might even aim for the top tier.”

“Yes! Of course. Besides, I have to train every day because of that guy anyway…”

“By the way, when are they coming? I’m starting to miss them…”

“Soon, I think? In about three days?”

“That’s not ‘soon’…”

She murmured while looking at her phone filled with his pictures.

“I want to see him now…”

“He’s probably being lovey-dovey with that princess right now, don’t you think?”

“No way!”

“That’s not something the Princess can decide.”

“I suppose not…”

She didn’t know about being lovey-dovey, but she spent her days thinking about him having a good time.