Chapter 67 – Alienation

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After a confession that only left me with questions, it was time, and I arrived straight at Miao’s shop.

“Huh, did she go somewhere for a bit…?”

Unlike usual, the door was firmly closed, and a sign reading ‘Closed’ was hanging on it. The agreed time was definitely now, so did something suddenly happen?

“Excuse me.”

“Eek…!”

I was just loitering, thinking of waiting, when suddenly I heard a voice from beside me. I was startled and quickly created some distance, and the man, looking embarrassed, scratched his cheek and said.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you…”

‘If you didn’t mean to startle me, you should have made a sound or something…!’ To come silently and then say you didn’t mean to, seriously? I felt a surge of frustration for a moment, but I tried to calm my pounding heart first.

It was too tall to get angry at. His face looked kind of gentle, but just the fact that he was taller than me already made me feel intimidated. Once I had calmed down somewhat, I managed to squeeze out a voice and asked.

“I-It’s okay… More than that, wh-what brings you to me…?”

“You’re here for this clothing store, right? It probably won’t be open today.”

“Huh? It won’t be open?”

I was surprised and asked back, and the man gave a wry smile.

“The store has been closed since morning. When that happens, she’s usually in a dungeon, so it’s best to come back in a day or two.”

“Sh-She went down to the dungeon?”

That can’t be. I don’t know Miao that well, but she’s not the type to break a promise without a word and go down to a dungeon.

But, on the other hand, I also thought.

Honestly, Miao and I aren’t that close. So maybe Miao just forgot about this light promise and went down to the dungeon…?

I was already feeling unsettled after ending the confession on such an unsatisfying note, and now that the appointment was canceled, I felt even more down.

“Huh? Mari, what are you doing here instead of going in?”

“Ah, Y-Yuika…”

I was thinking of going back when Yuika approached. I didn’t quite remember if Yuika was supposed to come too, but it didn’t matter now.

I staggered over to her, grabbed her sleeve, and said.

“Yuika… it seems Miao forgot about our appointment and went down to the dungeon…”

“Hmm? Miao? That can’t be.”

“But that person said so…”

“That person? Ah, Wei!”

I widened my eyes at the sight of her calling the man’s name in such a noticeably bright voice.

What, they know each other?

The man called Wei smiled and greeted her, and Yuika chuckled and said.

“It’s been a while, Yuika. Have you eaten?”

“You know I don’t really need anything as long as I have water and sunlight. What about you, Wei?”

“I ate lightly since I’m planning to go down to the dungeon.”

“Eating lightly, so fried rice? You ate that Dan Huang Chao Fan¹ with the egg wash, didn’t you?”

“You’re surprisingly accurate. Are you secretly watching me from somewhere?”

“Well, every time I ask, you always say that.”

“Oh, did I?”

“You did.”

It wasn’t just once or twice- Yuika added, and Wei scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression.

And as I watched the two of them chatting cheerfully, I felt a chill in the corner of my heart.

Just until a moment ago, Yuika’s attention was entirely on me, but as it was all taken away by Wei, I felt like an outsider in an instant.

You could call it alienation. But I didn’t have the courage to jump in and join the conversation, so I was just hoping the conversation would end soon when Wei looked at me and said.

“By the way, do you know this person?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. She’s like a little sister to me.”

Like a little sister? My eyes widened at the unexpected words. But Yuika didn’t look at me, and instead put her arm around my head, gently covering my eyes with her hand.

“Yuika?”

“I’d like to introduce her to you, Wei, but… if you’d talked to her, you’d know, but she’s very shy. Can you understand?”

“Of course. There’s a time for every connection, after all.”

“I knew you’d understand, Wei.”

Could you understand that I can’t see the world all of a sudden?! I tapped Yuika’s hand covering my eyes, but she didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go.

Oh well, Yuika must have a reason for what she’s doing. I gave up and stayed still, and soon, with Yuika finishing the conversation, one set of footsteps moved away.

And not long after, I regained the light of the world. It was a short time, but I missed it.

“Wei’s gone, shall we go in too?”

“Wa-Wait a minute. Before that, who was that person just now?”

I was also curious about where she was planning to go, but what I was most curious about was the man from earlier.

As I showed my curiosity, Yuika hesitated for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.

“He’s someone I worked with in the early days of U.P. His name is Wei.”

Wei… Judging by the name, he seemed to be of Chinese descent. But the name wasn’t really important. I carefully asked what I had been wondering about since earlier.

“Um, are you and that Wei person very close…?”

“Huh? Well, yeah? He’s a colleague who went through thick and thin with me up to the 4th floor. You could say we have a strong bond.”

“I, I see…”

Even though this is a world where you can revive after death, going down into a dungeon is basically a life-threatening task.

They were colleagues who entrusted each other with their lives, so of course, they would be on good terms, there was no reason for them to be bad.

It was obvious, but somehow I didn’t feel good.

I knew that Yuika, with her good personality, had many friends besides me. But I thought I was the only one she spoke to comfortably.

But there was one more, and he had even known her longer than me, and he was a man.

And Yuika even said they had a strong bond, so this… no matter how I looked at it, it seemed like she had feelings for Wei.

What would happen if the two of them started dating? It was a topic I would never usually think about, but because I was feeling so unsettled, my thoughts just kept going.

Dating means that each other becomes each other’s top priority. If Yuika and Wei started dating, it was clear that Yuika’s attention would naturally shift away from me.

I definitely didn’t want that. But, could I stop it just because I didn’t want it? In the first place, the opinion of a third party, an outsider, is irrelevant to dating.

If Yuika really liked Wei… all I could do was congratulate her.

Still, just in case, I grabbed Yuika’s sleeve and carefully asked.

“Um, do you like Wei…?”

“…Huh? Me? Wei? All of a sudden?”

The way she stammered and panicked made me feel like she was panicking because I had seen through her true feelings.

“I-It’s okay, Yuika. You can tell me the truth, I won’t be disappointed, I promise…”

Of course, my insides were burning, but I tried to put on a nonchalant smile.

If I looked dejected, Yuika wouldn’t be able to speak easily.

“Wait, Mari? Did I say something that could be misunderstood? Huh? No, right? No matter how I think about it, there was nothing like that? Huh??”

Yuika, who was rambling with a confused expression, finally pulled herself together and grabbed my shoulders, not too hard, and asked.

“Ma-Mari? Can you tell me why you suddenly said that…?”

“Huh? We-Well, you spoke to him so comfortably… and you said you had a strong bond… so I thought you might like him…?”

“Of course I like Wei, but it’s like as in ‘like’, not ‘love’, okay?”

‘Aren’t those pretty much the same thing?’ As I was thinking that, Yuika continued with a smile that was clearly filled with panic.

“And I only speak to him comfortably because Wei allows me to. And having a strong bond includes not just Wei, but also the President and Ulrika, and everyone else who cleared the dungeon with me…!”

I blankly stared at Yuika’s desperate cry.

“So you’re not planning to date Wei?”

“I don’t know why you jumped to that conclusion, but I have no intention of dating Wei at all?! Of course, that doesn’t mean Wei is a bad person, so don’t misunderstand, okay?”

“Ye-Yes…”

I cowered and nodded at the pressure of her face being right in front of mine. Scary.

“Phew, really! I was so surprised because it was such an unexpected thing to say!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

I quickly lowered my head and apologized, but unlike usual, she didn’t say it was okay. That must mean Yuika was very flustered.

I was feeling dejected when suddenly Yuika’s expression changed, and she turned her head with a look of realization and asked.

“Mari. Don’t tell me… no way, right?”

“Ye-Yes? Wh-What are you talking about…?”

“Right. It can’t be. You just met him today, there’s no way you fell for him, right? Besides, Mari isn’t that kind of person…”

What was she saying no way to? With a guilty conscience, I couldn’t speak rashly and just watched her, and after muttering to herself for a long time, Yuika shook her head.

“It’s nothing. More than that, the misunderstanding is cleared up now, right?”

“Yes… I’m sorry. I had a strange misunderstanding…”

“No, it’s okay. But thank goodness it didn’t get to anyone else’s ears.”

‘I almost ended up like the President…’ Yuika added that and took a deep breath before grabbing my hand.

“Then let’s go in. Miao must be waiting.”

“Huh? Bu-But Miao is now-“

I was about to say she was supposed to be in the dungeon.

“Huh…?”

Why is she inside?

Yuika nonchalantly opened the firmly closed door and entered, and there was Miao sitting on the counter in a loaf pose.

…Why?

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for… reading today…!

…I have no excuses, even if you hit me a hundred times.

I’M SO SORRY!!!!!!

I’LL WORK HARDER!!!

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Well someone sure is working hard… unlike me.

Oh yeah, ignoring the contents today, it should be obvious what Mari is about to be subjected to next, isn’t it?

No? Well, find out in the next chapter I suppose?

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