Ch.46Too Sudden. (3)

Left alone after her disciple went to his room, Riano quietly put down her spoon.

It wasn’t that the meal tasted bad. Rather, it suited her taste perfectly—she could have eaten much more. But despite that, she simply couldn’t manage to swallow any food.

‘Why did I say something like that…?’

She had intended to subtly express her feelings while answering her disciple’s question, but it didn’t come out as controlled as she’d hoped.

Though she hadn’t used direct words like “I like you” or “I love you”…

She had essentially told him that she saw him as a man, so depending on how he interpreted it, it wouldn’t be strange at all if he understood her meaning.

No, judging by her disciple’s reaction, he had almost certainly taken it that way.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done something so impolite as to slip away to his room, leaving his master behind.

Haah—

A deep sigh escaped from Riano’s lips.

She had no idea how she would face her disciple tomorrow.

If he treated her normally like before, that would be somewhat reassuring, but…

‘I don’t want that.’

If Crow reacted that way, it would mean he didn’t want to break their current relationship.

That would mean they couldn’t move beyond the master-disciple relationship, which meant there would be no development as a man and woman.

So rather than that, she’d prefer if he was a little awkward, just enough to show he was affected—just enough to start seeing her as a woman and feel shy about it.

…Though it would be troublesome if he was so affected that he left the house altogether.

* * * * *

At a time when I would normally have been fast asleep, I was tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep.

I should sleep now if I don’t want to be exhausted at work tomorrow, but…

‘It’s all Master’s fault.’

Not only could I not get our dinner conversation out of my head, but I was now finding justifications for behaviors I hadn’t understood before.

My conclusion was the fantasy that “Maybe Master likes me?”—but the reasoning behind it was quite plausible.

First, her face would flush whenever we made physical contact.

When I touched her forehead thinking she might have a fever, and when I silently held her hand—both times, Master’s expression was flushed.

Just like Lael and Derin when I made physical contact with them.

Second, her reaction would grow noticeably cold whenever the topic of women came up.

At first, I just found it strange. I thought that even if I got a girlfriend, it wouldn’t have anything to do with Master.

But if it was jealousy, wouldn’t everything make sense?

Getting angry at Lael and Derin, and shouting “What woman?” tonight—all of it.

Even with just these points, it was quite a reasonable suspicion, but…

‘Somehow, I just feel like it’s true.’

My final reason—my intuition—was screaming that she liked me.

Of course, it’s not objective evidence and might be hard to accept, but strangely, this was what made me certain.

Human intuition often turns out to be surprisingly accurate.

But how did Master come to like me?

As that question arose, I remembered what Derin had said:

“The catalyst isn’t that important.”

I smiled slightly as I recalled Derin’s embarrassed face and closed my eyes.

…And when I opened them, it was morning.

It didn’t feel like I’d slept at all, so naturally I wasn’t rested. I raised my leaden body and sat on the edge of the bed.

As I sighed deeply and recalled yesterday’s events one by one, a thought suddenly struck me.

‘How am I going to face Master?’

It was the same greeting I gave every morning, but today it felt more uncomfortable than ever.

But knowing all too well that no answer would come from just worrying about it, I got up from the bed.

I left my room and stood in front of Master’s door, swallowing hard.

‘Just open it, give a casual morning greeting like usual, and close the door again…’

I’d repeated this to myself so many times that it was almost brainwashing, but my nervousness wouldn’t subside.

After letting out a light breath, I opened the door and…

Just poked my head in.

Now that I was starting to see Master as a woman, I felt awkward about entering her room freely.

“Master, good mor—”

Master, who had been brushing her hair, turned her head and our eyes met. Captivated by her beautiful red eyes, I quietly closed my mouth.

The corners of Master’s lips curved up slightly, and her eyes formed crescent moons. With that beautiful smile, she said:

“Disciple, did you sleep well?”

“Ah, uh, um… Yes, I slept well.”

I had noticed that Master’s tone had become considerably softer recently, but today was exceptional.

Kindness? It wasn’t just that.

It was genuinely filled with affection, which left me stammering my response.

“Well, I’ll get ready for work then.”

“Alright, work hard today too.”

Leaving her waving goodbye behind me, I gently closed the door without making a sound.

After hastily getting ready for work, I looked in the mirror and noticed my hair had grown quite long.

‘I want to ask her to cut it.’

But thinking it would be too awkward to ask Master right now, I decided to ask either Lael or Derin instead.

With that thought, I slipped out the back door, where Derin was waiting as if she’d been expecting me. She glanced around cautiously before waving lightly in greeting.

“Good morning.”

“Yeah, good morning.”

After our brief greeting, she naturally stuck close to my side as we walked to work together.

The time I could spend with Derin was brief.

Although the workshop was quite far from the Academy, they were still within the same Royal Capital.

Considering she had dressed up nicely and come to see me early in the morning, the time felt too short.

So I began to feel a bit sorry for her.

“What time do you usually come out in the morning?”

“Hmm… about 30 minutes before you do?”

“But I leave at the same time every day?”

“Yes, just in case.”

Derin shrugged as if it were obvious.

Since she said she came 30 minutes early, I figured there was no need to discuss it further.

I was just planning to leave a bit earlier tomorrow and take a different route home.

It might be more fun to surprise her anyway.

After chatting about various things, we arrived at the Academy entrance, where Lael naturally took over.

It was nice not having to walk to work alone, but…

The stress was gradually building up as the fox and the cat growled at each other whenever they met.

“Good morning, Professor.”

“Yes, good morning, Student Lael.”

As always, Lael radiated a positive atmosphere.

It was enough to lift my mood just watching her.

She rummaged through her magic pouch and handed me a small container.

I had seen this container a few times at the beginning of the semester, so its contents were obviously…

“A sandwich.”

“Yes, you mentioned you’ve been waking up late recently and missing breakfast. So I prepared something simple. I hope it’s not a bother?”

I slowly shook my head.

“Not at all. I’ll eat it gratefully.”

I used to never skip breakfast.

It would energize me on sluggish mornings, and having something in my stomach allowed me to start the day’s tasks a bit faster.

But there’s no fighting fatigue, and recently I’ve been prioritizing sleep over meals.

Sleep turned out to be better than food…

Anyway, in this situation, offering a sandwich was incredibly thoughtful.

“Well then, Professor, I’ll see you later.”

“Yes, pay attention in class.”

If I remember correctly, her first class today was probably Basic Monster Theory.

It’s an extremely important subject that teaches essential knowledge for adventures, like basic information about monsters and how to dismantle them, but…

I suspect Lael might find it boring.

As an A-rank party leader, she should already know all of that.

After parting with Lael, I entered the professors’ office, sat down, and ate the sandwich while lost in thought.

Lael, Derin, Master, and possibly Elin—though that’s still uncertain.

A total of four women saying they like me, but unfortunately, I can’t give an answer to any of them right now.

Honestly, I’m confused too.

Having never been in a relationship before, I suddenly have not just one but multiple people expressing affection for me, and I don’t know how to handle it.

But I can’t make them wait forever, so I’ll have to give an answer someday…

Though I’m also afraid that might break our current relationships.

‘I do feel some interest…’

But I still don’t really understand what love is.

They say it’s something hot and passionate, something that makes you plead and yearn, something life-and-death—but I haven’t felt such emotions yet.

Instead, I’ve started to become interested.

I’m growing more curious about who these people are and why they like me.

I don’t know if this is a precursor to love, but if it is, I might be in a somewhat awkward situation.

Why am I curious about all of you…?