Ch.9898. Finally Looking This Way

Regrets are such strange things.

Even knowing that you’d make the same choice if you could turn back time, your current emotions still lean toward regret.

If you could overcome that and move on, it would be quite admirable.

This might seem random, but to put it simply, Celia is not a particularly admirable person.

“…She’s staring at us.”

“Indeed she is.”

“You idiot. Don’t look back.”

After walking away from Celia for a bit, I can’t help but turn around to see her. For someone who told us to go ahead, her expression is full of lingering attachment as she keeps catching my eye.

She’s just standing there, staring intently at me… which feels incredibly awkward.

Of course, she wasn’t following us, so she soon disappeared from view, but I couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that she was still watching us from somewhere.

“Will she be okay?”

“With her personality, if she really hated it, she would have openly followed us.”

“True. You’re right.”

More accurately, she’s probably enduring even if she doesn’t like it. But the fact that she can endure means she’ll be fine.

Right now, I should focus on making sure her efforts pay off.

I glanced sideways at Alkine walking beside me.

Our eyes met—she had been watching me already.

“Finally looking my way?”

Only then did I realize I hadn’t given Alkine a single glance despite her being right next to me.

But listen, it’s not like I was deliberately focusing only on Celia. Honestly, I was just feeling awkward.

I’ve mostly worked with Alkine on business-related activities, so I’ve thought of our relationship as somewhat professional.

Yes, she confessed to me, but nothing more happened after that. We weren’t exactly in the kind of relationship where we’d suddenly go on dates.

That’s why my attention kept drifting to Celia watching us from behind…

“I understand you have to prioritize Celia, but it still hurts to be an afterthought even when I’m right beside you.”

No matter what excuse I made, I was clearly in the wrong.

“I’m really sorry…”

Unable to even make excuses, I could only apologize. She glared at me for a moment before breaking into a slight smile.

“Then focus on me from now on. I’ll forgive you depending on how you behave from here.”

The intense passion in her eyes as she said this filled me with an inexplicable anxiety… but in my current situation, all I could do was nod in agreement.

And so our date finally properly began.

I keep using the word “date,” but there wasn’t anything particularly special happening.

We were just walking side by side.

But one thing was certain—the atmosphere was definitely not as light as usual.

“…”

“…”

We walked in silence for quite some time.

Both of us occasionally moved our lips but couldn’t seem to form words as time passed by.

‘Awkward.’

That’s probably the most appropriate word to describe the current situation.

Truly, the palpable awkwardness in the air made it difficult to know what to say.

Should I talk normally like usual, or should I discuss this date we’re on?

Just as I was about to say something, feeling like this was going nowhere, Alkine beat me to it.

“Ludion. It’s even more awkward when you’re being so cautious. Just act like you normally do. That’s what I li— what suits my preferences anyway.”

And with those words, I realized I’d been thinking about this all wrong from the beginning.

I never tried to seduce them in the first place—I just acted like myself.

Why was I now trying to impress these women who approached me for who I am?

Being conscious of this unfamiliar situation had made me unnecessarily timid.

I felt like a weight had been lifted. I shouldn’t have made her comfort me first.

“I’ll do that.”

“Good.”

From now on, I should take things more lightly.

I noticed we had already reached the plaza.

It’s a crowded place, but do I really need to worry about people’s gazes now?

After what happened yesterday, rumors must have spread everywhere, so there’s no point in worrying anymore.

“Senior? Don’t you think you’re sticking too close?”

“There you go again, just calling me ‘senior.’ Add my name when you address me.”

“Is that really important right now…?”

“It is important. Hurry up.”

…Suddenly I have a lot more to worry about.

What about all these whispers coming from around the plaza?

Yet Alkine remains fixated on making me say her name.

She seems somewhat embarrassed by the attention, glancing around occasionally, but her determination doesn’t seem likely to crumble under shame.

“Senior Alkine? I’m concerned about the stares—maybe you could give me a little space?”

“Drop the formal title. Speak more casually.”

“Alkine senior. I’m concerned about the stares—maybe you could give me a little space?”

“No.”

“I figured as much.”

I expected that. If she were going to back off after a simple request, she wouldn’t have stuck so close in the first place.

“This is a date, right? We should at least make it feel like one.”

What happened to the person who just told me to act normally? Now she’s suddenly talking about dates again.

Her thought process is hard to follow, so I decided to just go with the flow.

“Can I link arms with you?”

She’s being so forward that it’s a bit startling.

“I rarely get opportunities like this. Your side is always occupied by Celia. I should do what I want while I have the chance.”

“Do as you please.”

There’s no point in physically resisting. Rather than struggling and being forced anyway, it’s better to just go along with her requests.

She might be a bit demanding, but she’s not asking for anything difficult, so I decided to accommodate all her wishes.

So we walked arm in arm for quite some time. Despite everything, time really is the best medicine—I soon adapted and we were able to have various conversations.

Because we displayed this all over the place, I ended up being the subject of all sorts of rumors and nicknames… but I suppose that’s unavoidable.

I decided to think of it as the rightful responsibility of a man who receives affection from both Celia and Alkine.

After walking around for who knows how long, generating all kinds of gossip from “two-timer” to “that-crazy-trash-who-plays-with-both-the-princess-and-student-council-president-should-die,” the sun finally began to set.

After finishing dinner right on schedule, we headed to the Student Council Hall.

This was for the wall repair work that had been in Celia’s plan.

I wondered what kind of plan this was, but when we arrived, the wall really was cracked.

“Why is the wall like this?”

“I don’t know either. It was like this when I came today.”

I clearly remember it being fine until yesterday. It’s quite puzzling how it could crack like this overnight.

How did Celia know to include this in the date itinerary?

Could she have directly… Well, I decided not to think about that part.

For now, we need to focus on the repair work.

But how exactly do we repair this?

Previously, when Celia blew up the ceiling in the student cafeteria, I observed the construction work.

I know that magic doesn’t play a major role in construction work. It’s actually quite similar to the construction sites I imagine…

People like Celia who can freely levitate objects don’t do construction work. At that level, they’re high-skilled personnel who don’t need to do this kind of work.

So wall repair should be a simple task, but since I’m not knowledgeable in this area, I’m not sure what to do.

While I was pondering this, Alkine brought a bucket from somewhere.

“It’s nothing complicated. Just fill in the cracks, let it harden, then smooth it out.”

She seemed quite familiar with this, suggesting she had considerable experience.

“Do you do this often?”

“Well, considering all the activity that happens around here, buildings tend to get damaged quite a bit.”

Ah, right. In a place where combat-oriented students attend, it wouldn’t be strange for walls to break down regularly.

I’m sorry, Celia. I thought you caused this damage and were pretending not to know, but my suspicion was unfounded.

Wait… then how did she know about the cracked wall… I decided not to think about it again.

Anyway, the bucket Alkine brought contained some kind of sticky gray mass.

It looked similar to cement, but it was bubbling and boiling, suggesting it had some fantasy elements added to it.

The game never described construction methods, so I didn’t know such things existed… it doesn’t look like something I want to touch.

“I’ll leave it to you then.”

But having come this far, I couldn’t do nothing.

Alkine had brought appropriate tools, so I decided to use them to fill in the cracks in the wall.

Actually, this kind of work is easy.

Don’t underestimate me—I’ve done this before in my original world when I was forcibly isolated from society. I might not be great at it, but I’m somewhat familiar.

“…You’re good at this?”

“Everyone can do this much.”

“No… usually people either can’t fill it properly or make a mess even if they do.”

“They’re just rookies.”

“Rook… what?”

Oops. Better not explain that one.

I brushed it off and finished by smoothing out the protruding cement.

It turned out cleaner than I expected, which was satisfying.

There’s something really fulfilling about completing this kind of work neatly.

I turned to look at Alkine who had been watching from behind, feeling satisfied.

“Is this good enough?”

“Yes. Good job… huh?”

Just when I thought we were done, Alkine’s reaction seemed a bit strange.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um, well. Hmm…”

When I asked, she hesitated for a moment, then scratched her cheek and pointed at the air.

“You can’t see this?”

“See what?”

“That’s a relief. It’s nothing important. Just saying that now that the favorability has reached 20, there’s some kind of reward.”

I wonder what could be written there that makes her glad I can’t see it. I was curious, but right now the reward for reaching favorability 20 was more important.

“But…”

Just as I was about to ask about the reward, Alkine added something.

“It’s asking why it took so long, and saying it will open a rift right now so I should focus on the conquest first.”

“…What?”

I couldn’t understand what she meant. Before I could process it, the situation exploded.

RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE

Behind the Student Council Hall, where the crack was, red energy erupted explosively.

Of course, that visual effect was probably only visible to me, but… even so, the scale was quite serious.

“This wasn’t in the date course Celia planned.”

“You idiot. How can you joke at a time like this? We need to hurry!”

I made a quip out of bewilderment and got scolded for it.

Right, rewards aside, putting out the urgent fire should be the priority.

Alkine and I quickly started running toward where the rift had burst open.