Ch.99Festival (3)

The two of us ate lunch at a suitable street vendor. It’s definitely delicious—no wonder Ju-an eats so much.

Anyway, now that we’ve filled our stomachs, we have nothing to do again. Should I go find Agath or Rebecca?

“Ju-an, do you have anything you want to do?”

“Something to do… Are you interested in the assassin experience booth? I heard Philax is there.”

“Absolutely not.”

I refused with a firm voice. Rather than going to a place like that, I’d prefer to visit a magic experience booth or a dark magic booth.

“Is there a reason you don’t want to go?”

“I’ve been under so many assassination threats lately that I just want to avoid anything related to assassins.”

“If that’s the case, it can’t be helped. What do you want to do then?”

“Should we go listen to the Saint’s speech?”

Rebecca had said she would continue her speech until 5 PM today. So it wouldn’t be bad to just show our faces and leave.

But Ju-an asked me with an uneasy expression.

“That’s going to be a normal speech, right?”

“Definitely not.”

“Then why are we going to see it?”

“Because abnormal speeches are much more entertaining than normal ones.”

Maybe she’ll go berserk in the middle like last time and say something like “Shocking! The Goddess doesn’t actually exist!” That would at least be worth watching.

“We don’t have anything else to do anyway. So let’s just go watch.”

“Hmm… Alright.”

Ju-an still looks uneasy. What’s the big deal? It’s not like we’re going to get into trouble.

***

Rebecca’s speech was below expectations.

“The Demon King will soon invade this world. So we must unite our strength.”

Rebecca was just halfheartedly reading the words written on paper like someone reading a textbook. When is she going to go berserk?

While thinking that and continuing to watch her speech, Rebecca finally shouted in an energetic voice.

“It’s break time now!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Rebecca quickly came down from the podium and ran to the waiting room.

“Ju-an, I’m going to say hello to Rebecca for a moment.”

“Are you sure it’s okay? What if something bad happens?”

“It’s fine. They might be strange people, but they’re not that dangerous. Probably.”

“Alright. But just in case, I’ll come with you.”

So Ju-an and I entered the waiting room. There, a familiar scene unfolded.

“Agath, I just had a good idea. Let’s just tell the truth that there is no Goddess and then leave.”

“Please don’t do that…”

“But this benefits both of us! Agath, you’ll benefit by being freed from the doctrine, and I’ll benefit by not having to read this damn text.”

“Please, really don’t… Do you want to get your head cracked by the Pope again like last time…?”

“Then are you just going to watch this injustice? This absurd situation where we’re forced to praise a non-existent bitch?”

“Let’s calm down and take a deep breath first…”

From what I can see, Rebecca is about to cause a major incident. It won’t be long now.

While standing there imagining that future, I made eye contact with Agath who was trying to control Rebecca.

“Hello… Why are you here…?”

“Just had nothing to do, so I came.”

“Then please help me…”

“Goodbye.”

I quickly left the waiting room with Ju-an. It’s clear that Rebecca is about to do something.

Thanks to that, I now have two options. Either watch Rebecca cause trouble here or find something else to do.

“Ju-an, is there anything you want to do?”

“At least I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

“Why? I think something’s about to happen if we stay just a little longer.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t want to stay.”

It seems Ju-an isn’t used to this kind of daily life. Can’t be helped—I’ll have to find something else to do.

So I left this place with regret, knowing something was about to happen soon.

***

In the end, until evening came, Ju-an did nothing but walk around and eat things.

This is more like a food tour than a festival. But Ju-an seems happy, so I guess it doesn’t matter?

Anyway, even after eating so much, Ju-an ate more than five times what a normal person would eat for dinner.

As much as I envy being able to eat a lot, I don’t want to be like that. I’d rather have a body that eats less like I do now.

Now we really have nothing to do. We’ve tried most of the food, and there are no more booths worth experiencing.

Usually, festivals have so many booths that it’s hard to choose, but here the problem is that all the booths are similar.

True to the name of the Holy Nation, over 90% are religious activity experiences, so there’s really only 10% that’s actually enjoyable.

Why do people here enjoy this and call it a festival? Is praying and praising the Goddess that enjoyable?

Anyway, we’ve experienced all the enjoyable booths, so there’s nothing left to do here. Let’s just go back and rest.

“Should we head back now?”

“I heard there’s going to be fireworks soon. How about we watch that before leaving?”

That’s not a bad suggestion. At least fireworks are worth watching.

“Okay, let’s watch that and then go back.”

So Ju-an and I looked for a quiet place with a good view and no people around, and we found the perfect spot—the rooftop of the observatory.

It’s normally off-limits, but since Ju-an is a hero, the security guard just let us through easily.

But something seems strange. Leo and Ju-an are both heroes, yet why is their treatment so drastically different?

If we’re talking about treatment, Leo should be receiving much better treatment. But strangely, people continue to fear Leo.

No matter how extreme his actions might be, is that really the right way to treat a hero who saved the world?

While questioning this uncomfortable reality, I heard the sound of fireworks from the sky.

Boom.

A pleasant explosion sound, neither too loud nor too soft. And such sounds continued one after another.

Beautiful fireworks kept blooming in the sky. It would have been a shame if we had just gone back.

While staring at the beautiful scenery, Ju-an calmly spoke.

“Only one week left.”

“Is it already down to that?”

The moment I first came to this world still feels so vivid. Back then, every day was so bleak that I wanted to die.

But now I’m not afraid of tomorrow at all. I’ve somehow adapted to this new life. This new life where everything has changed.

Anyway, there’s only a week left until we fight the Demon King. Yet there’s nothing much I can do. I even wonder if I’ll survive.

“Am I going to die after a week?”

This isn’t a joke but a serious question. I was kidnapped even in the Holy Nation, so how can I be sure I’ll be safe elsewhere?

Even if I survive, what comes after worries me more. There’s a high chance I’ll just be a burden by being taken hostage.

“It’s okay. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you.”

“…Why are you saying such embarrassing things? I appreciate it, but you won’t have time to be by my side while fighting on the front lines, right?”

“Then should I just take you with me everywhere?”

“If you do that, I’ll just hold you back. I should just find a safe place and hide.”

“Still, I want to keep you with me. I can’t feel at ease unless you’re by my side.”

Ju-an has a unique stubbornness. Usually, I just let it go, but sometimes he pushes certain things to the end.

And right now, Ju-an is in that state of pushing to the end. So it’s obvious that no matter what I say, it won’t make a difference.

“Alright, but if it gets dangerous, just leave me and run.”

“I’d rather die with you than do that.”

“If you keep saying that, I won’t stay by your side at all.”

“Then I’ll have to sacrifice my life to save you.”

“No, you’re the one who needs to live, you idiot!”

“Okay, then how about we both survive?”

“…Yes, that’s a much better answer than before.”

As long as Ju-an doesn’t die because of me, that’s all that matters. If that happens… no, I’ll prevent such a situation even if I have to sacrifice my entire lifespan.

Anyway, it seems I’ll have to keep rolling around for a while.

“Then I’m counting on you.”

“I’m counting on you too.”

So the two of us looked up at the fireworks blooming brilliantly in the sky.

***

We stared at the fireworks for about 30 minutes. But there were still 30 more minutes until the fireworks show ended.

I wanted to stay together even after the fireworks ended, but Ju-an said he had something to take care of related to the hero’s mark, so he decided to leave first.

As a result, we parted ways at the early hour of 9:30 PM. We probably won’t have days like this for a while.

Anyway, we decided to walk together until our paths diverged. But because of the festival, there were too many people.

At this rate, I felt like I would get swept away by the crowd. If only I had some strength, it would have been fine.

While thinking that, I felt something hard touch my right hand.

“Sorry, let me borrow your hand for a moment.”

Looking at my right hand, I saw Ju-an’s hand, full of calluses. This way, we won’t get separated.

Come to think of it, holding hands like this, watching fireworks together, and various other things that happened today feel like scenes from a movie I watched yesterday.

But there’s one difference—Ju-an is much cooler than the male protagonist in that movie.

Anyway, as I walked holding Ju-an’s sturdy hand, we already reached the place where we had to part.

“Well, goodbye.”

A weak voice came out of my throat. I still feel too regretful.

“Take care, I had fun today.”

Ju-an also replied with a voice that seemed very regretful. Then he left for somewhere.

My hand feels empty. I wish I could hold that hand a little longer. Right, my face must be extremely red now, like the female protagonist in a romance movie.

But there’s one difference between me and that character. It’s the feeling towards the other person.

The character in the movie probably felt romantic feelings for the male protagonist. But I’m feeling a different emotion from that character.

I like Ju-an now.

No matter how dense I am, I can’t help but notice at this point. It would be harder to deny these feelings.

Of course, there are many things to refute. But with just those, I can’t possibly hide these feelings.

When did this start? Did the feelings that emerged when I lost my memories grow?

Whatever the case, the fact that I like Ju-an now remains unchanged. And that’s why I’m more confused.

I don’t feel any resistance to these feelings I have for Ju-an. I was clearly a man, and I still have no intention of dating men.

Then why do I like Ju-an now? I don’t know that either. I don’t know the reason, but I just really like him.

If this is happening because I changed into a woman’s body, I could just wish to return to being a man.

But I really don’t want that. Something deep inside my heart is screaming not to do that.

I really don’t know what to do from now on. This clearly shouldn’t be happening, but I don’t want anything else.

What should I do from now on…