Sleep Together

The person who kept showing me the exact opposite of what I knew about her was a little…

No, quite concerning to me.

In a completely different way from when I was worried about the trouble that this most willful person might cause in various places.

How could someone change 180 degrees in just a few hours? What on earth could have happened?

–Tap.

“Hmm, you don’t seem to have a fever…”

The temperature I felt through my palm wasn’t particularly hot or cold.

However, her face, which had somehow become slightly flushed.

Her two ears, which had turned a bit red, were modestly rejecting the name of normalcy.

“Daina Unnie.”

“Y-yes?”

“Let’s talk. Just the two of us.”

I forcibly led the person whose condition had somehow become even stranger after I touched her.

I thought it would be better to confront the issue directly rather than letting her suffer or worry alone.

Not long after, we arrived at a cafe right below the observatory.

After deliberately sitting in the innermost seat. Facing directly those bright yellow eyes that had been slightly trembling for quite some time, I opened my mouth again.

“Did Iji Oppa scold you? Telling you to be more respectful to me?”

“What? N-no. I didn’t really talk with Iji about anything.”

“Then, did the goddess say something to you?”

“Nothing like that either…”

I continued with this sudden game of twenty questions, trying to find the cause of Daina’s complete transformation from head to toe.

In a world where the butterfly effect has an abnormally large influence, experiencing something I hadn’t experienced before wasn’t a good sign.

But we’re still in the early stages of the story. I thought that even if something had gone wrong, I could still turn it around or fix it.

However, all I got back were just a couple of nods.

“Th-then why on earth are you acting like this…?”

As my suspicion grew, I finally uttered a relatively direct question compared to all my previous inquiries.

What came back was a puzzled expression, as if she didn’t understand what the problem was.

“Um, Lua-nim. Am I making you… uncomfortable?”

“…Honestly, yes.”

However, the truth that I unconsciously blurted out seemed to shock her a little…

No, quite significantly, to the extent that it was literally visible.

“I-I’m asking because I don’t want to be uncomfortable with Daina Unnie. What’s the reason for your sudden change?”

I hastily added additional words toward her face, which was darkening by the second.

Either way, I couldn’t let my relationship with Daina sour.

Although I couldn’t say our first meeting was good, neither in my first playthrough nor now, I had already experienced several times what would happen if I maintained a bad relationship with Daina until the end.

“I just… like you, Lua-nim. I want to treat you better…”

“I like Daina Unnie too. So, help me continue to like Daina Unnie in the future.”

In the end, I very temporarily changed my life’s genre to a dating sim.

I knew it couldn’t be helped in order to minimize variables and risks, but… sigh.

How did I end up doing something akin to psychological counseling with a saint?

“Daina Unnie. How do you think of… no, how do you feel when you see me?”

Only then, after I uttered a question with multiple meanings, did I hear words from Daina that resembled her true feelings.

The problem was that words beyond what I had anticipated also came along.

“My chest hurts when I see you, Lua-nim. No, perhaps I should say it trembles.”

“Even though you’re right in front of me like this, it feels like you might suddenly disappear somewhere.”

“I feel like I’ll regret it later no matter how well I treat you. Thinking I could have treated you better.”

“Even though I know in my head that we’ll part ways in a few days, I don’t want to part until I die. No, even after death.”

She continued to choose and list words that would terrify others if they heard them.

Even some words that seemed to cross the line were included.

I was enveloped in a numbing shock, as if I had been hit hard on the back of my head, by the abnormal level of obsession that could possibly be worse than Asha’s.

I knew she wasn’t in her right mind, but why on earth did she become unhinged in this way too?

Is this what they mean by someone who has no middle ground?

Not long after, another sincere request finally reached my ears.

“Um, Lua-nim. Would you come with me?”

“W-where to…?”

“To the Holy Country. They probably won’t accept you easily, but… I’ll figure something out.”

Unlike our first meeting, I knew this time she wasn’t trying to take me as a pet cat, but still, what’s not possible is not possible.

Why did she think I might suddenly disappear in the first place?

I also couldn’t really understand why her chest hurt when she saw me.

If a stranger heard this, they’d think it was a love confession or something.

Even if her affection level had skyrocketed to the limit, it shouldn’t be to that extent, right?

Yes, what the affection system means is simply person-to-person goodwill. It definitely wouldn’t mean affection in a different sense.

“…If love means cherishing someone more than anyone else in the world.”

Judging by the words coming from her face, which for some reason was surrounded by a sense of determination, I seemed to have been mistaken.

Less than a second later, after taking a deep breath. Her appearance showing once more a gaze imbued with resolve and determination.

And so, finally.

“I, I lo─”

Just as the person who had completely forgotten her duty as a saint was about to cross a line that should never be crossed in any moment.

–Thump!

“S-stop right there!!”

I hastily covered Daina’s mouth with my hand, barely preventing the situation from descending further into catastrophe.

I didn’t even want to imagine a scenario where rumors spread about the Holy Country’s saint having a not-so-desirable preference.

At the same time, I realized that the power of the affection value was much stronger than I had thought.

In the end, there was only one option available to me.

“I appreciate you thinking of me so dearly. I do, but…”

Forcibly redrawing the line that Daina had crossed without knowing it herself—I decided to exclude the possibility that she knew and crossed it anyway.

I continued speaking in a slow and calm tone to ensure Daina wouldn’t misunderstand.

“For now, it’s enough if you just remember me as someone precious to you. I’m sure we’ll be able to meet again someday.”

Therefore, I hoped Daina would be satisfied with being remembered as a good person to me for the time being.

If she were to desire a relationship beyond that, she would almost certainly have to say goodbye to a happy ending.

“…Then, you don’t dislike me, do you?”

“No, I don’t. I probably won’t ever dislike you… in the future.”

But only on the premise that Daina understood what I was saying.

I breathed a sigh of relief as she slowly nodded, saying she understood.

And so, when we left the cafe and walked back to the guild headquarters together, things seemed fine.

The only problem was that since I didn’t have to attend Odd’s classes while Daina was staying in this city, I didn’t have much to do apart from small requests.

But secretly entering a dungeon while accompanying Daina was absolutely something I should never do.

In the end…

“…Would you like to go for a walk?”

“Yes~.”

Just like yesterday, I moved outside the guild headquarters toward various delicious snacks and sights in the city.

To be fair, I could have just stayed in the guild headquarters without needing to go out, but…

When I thought about just being there without doing anything with someone who was showing an overwhelming level of affection, for some reason that seemed more burdensome.

And so, places I naturally headed to after completing requests each day after that. So-called scenic spots or famous tourist attractions.

Thanks to that, I was able to visit places like aquariums or monster experience centers that I had only known by name before.

If anything seemed strange, it was that she was less surprised or amazed than I had expected… but she didn’t seem to dislike it.

After that, days repeated where I would complete small requests with Daina and then find places to spend time, until it was eventually the night before Daina would leave for another place.

“Good work today too! Ah, I’ll send you the photos we took today later.”

Just as I had done until now, I said goodbye in the corridor connected to the guest quarters.

As my eyelids were getting heavy, I was about to head home when.

–Grab.

“Just for today… couldn’t you sleep with me? No, let’s sleep together.”

I was firmly grabbed by a shadow that had somehow approached right behind me.

Seeing how aggressively she came forward, someone who hadn’t made any significant requests for a while didn’t seem likely to give up easily.

…What should I do…?