Chapter 69 – Three-Way Confrontation

Three-Way Confrontation

“Actually, I came because I have a favor to ask of you, Ariel.”
Riste speaks with a rather serious expression.
It’s quite rare for Riste, who is a Saint, to come asking for a favor.

…Embarrassingly, until now, I was usually the one in the position of asking for favors.
“A favor?”
“Just a moment before that.”

Riste pats the seat next to her. It’s obvious what that gesture means. She wants me to sit next to her.
‘Who does she think will go…!’
Seeing her gesture softly as if calling a pet, I made a resolution. I won’t get caught up in Riste’s pace anymore.

…How can Riste be so nonchalant in the first place? It’s frustrating that it feels like I’m the only one who’s conscious of it.
‘I’m the one who received the confession…’
After that day, we became something like lovers.

The reason I say “something like” is because I was too flustered that day to properly respond to their confessions.
…And the majority of the reason for being flustered was the Riste in front of me now.

“Are you not coming?”
My resolution to not get caught up in Riste’s pace anymore melted away when she spoke again in a slightly sad voice.
It’s unfair to use that expression and those words.

“That’s right. Well done.”
As I quietly moved to sit next to her, Riste stroked me as if petting a dog.
“D-Don’t…”

“Don’t what? This?”
When I slightly moved my body to avoid her touch, Riste gently wrapped her arms around my waist as if to prevent me from moving.
“Huhu. You smell nice, Ariel.”

It’s like hugging a big teddy bear. Of course, I’m playing the role of the teddy bear.
‘I hate myself for wanting to escape but not wanting to escape…’
Just as I was about to get dizzy from her natural touch and scent,

“U-Unni…? What are you doing right now?”
I heard Pfel’s voice, her pupils shaking as she saw our position.
‘Wait, didn’t she go out to play with Cherni and Saya…?’

I don’t know why Pfel, who said she was going out with Saya and Cherni after Riste arrived, is still in the house, but it’s become a very awkward situation.
How should I explain this? It feels like a child witnessing their parents trying to have some alone time after putting the kids to bed early.

“W-Well, you see…”
“Eep.”
To make matters worse, Riste even lightly kissed my cheek. What is she doing now…!

“R-Riste?!”
Pfel’s pupils, which had been shaking, now became completely lifeless as she witnessed this.
Not knowing where to start explaining in this situation that left me bewildered, I chose to close my eyes and escape from reality.

‘I wish this was all a dream…’

Of course, the convenient scenario of waking up in bed didn’t happen when I opened my eyes.
‘Sigh…’

Thinking that I couldn’t hide what happened between Riste and me from the children forever, I finally explained to Pfel what had happened between us, softening it a bit.
Even though I softened it, the situation was so shocking that Pfel’s face was colored with bewilderment,

“Riste unni confessed to Ariel unni… and our unni accepted it. Is that right?”
“…That’s right.”
After that, Riste and I were currently kneeling politely in front of Pfel, waiting for her judgment.

To be honest, I’m not sure why we’re being scolded, but… we couldn’t help but kneel in front of Pfel with her lifeless eyes.
It seems the fact that Riste and I became lovers was a big shock.

Well, if I think about it from her perspective, it’s stranger not to be surprised when your older sister and her friend become lovers.
If it were me, I’m confident I’d do two backflips in surprise if I heard Riste and Marian were dating. No, I might even do three.

‘I wonder if she’s very angry…’
Pfel is looking down at Riste and me kneeling expressionlessly. I feel a pressure from Pfel’s lifeless eyes that makes it hard to even open my mouth.
To exaggerate a bit, it’s almost like the feeling of facing a Demon Lord for the first time.

“So you’re saying… Ariel unni and Riste unni have become lovers…”
Pfel muttered in a voice filled with complex emotions.
Fortunately, it’s a comfort that Pfel doesn’t seem to feel disgust at the fact that two people of the same gender are dating.

If Pfel had looked at me with disgust, I might have immediately used a memory erasure spell to wipe my mind blank.
“…Pfel. Please give Ariel to me. I’m confident I can make her happy.”

“R-Riste?”
Meanwhile, Riste suddenly utters a line that could come from a morning drama I saw in my previous life.
At her words, surprise flickered in Pfel’s lifeless eyes.

Then, emotions started to return to Pfel’s eyes.
“…Riste unni.”
Soon, tear drops like blue jewels began to well up in her eyes.

“Is it true…? Do you really have to make unni happy…?”
Pfel’s words that naturally broke my heart. Riste’s expression remains serious as she listens.
“Of course, Pfel.”

After that, a silent conversation passes between the two, and overwhelmed with emotion, they both start hugging each other without anyone initiating it.
‘What is going on…’

I’m grateful that I can deeply feel both of their thoughts for me, but… why is a scene from a drama unfolding right in front of me?
I remember snorting and changing the channel when such scenes appeared in dramas, but witnessing it in real life leaves me dumbfounded.
Moreover, the subject is me.

‘The sky is so clear…’
Whether it knows my current feelings or not, the sky was clear without a single cloud.
“Sigh.”

Pfel, still in Riste’s embrace, let out a short sigh. Then she turned her gaze back to me.
“Does Marian unni know too?”

“…Huh?”
“I mean, does Marian unni know. That you two have become, you know, lovers.”
Pfel’s face slightly reddens, seemingly embarrassed to say the word ‘lovers’.

Without time to admire Pfel’s reaction, I realized there was one point I had overlooked.
‘How do I explain about Marian…’
This is troublesome. How do I explain that Marian has also become my lover? It was already like this with just Riste.

I hesitated to answer Pfel’s question and glanced slightly at Riste, but…
“Hmm… The sky is really clear today.”
…Riste seems to have no solution either, as she’s looking at the scenery outside and avoiding the topic. Really unfair.

“Unni?”
“W-Well, Pfel…”
With a miserable feeling, I confessed to Pfel that Marian had also become my lover, as if making a confession in church.
Upon hearing this, Pfel,

“…What did you say?”
She began to stare at me with dead eyes again, just like before.
“So, you’re saying unni has two lovers, Riste unni and Marian unni…?”

“Th-That’s right.”
Fortunately, perhaps because she had already received the shocking news of Riste and me dating, it didn’t take long for life to return to Pfel’s dead eyes.
“Unni, really…! Are you using some kind of magic to seduce people around you?”

“…I’m not doing that.”
Pfel speaks to me as if in disbelief. No, but I’m the one who received the confessions. It’s not like I actively seduced them…
But I couldn’t say that out loud. I was steeling myself for Pfel’s upcoming reprimand.

But then…
“I guess it’s possible. There’s no one as cute and lovable as unni. It’s actually unbelievable that unni would have only one lover.”

‘Huh, a compliment?’
…Somehow, I feel like Pfel’s reaction has become more lenient than before.
Looking at her expression, she doesn’t seem to be in a bad mood either… What’s going on?

“Does this mean I have a chance too…?”
“Hm? What did you say?”
“…It’s nothing.”

Pfel looks at me with a meaningful smile.
…Why do I feel like a frog in front of a snake?

“When are you going to tell Saya and Cherni?”
“Umm… Well. I guess we’ll keep it like this until they naturally find out later.”

An unni with two lovers. I think it might be a bit early for Saya to accept. I’m sorry, Saya, for having such an octopus-like unni.
“True, it’s still early for Saya. I’ll try to casually bring it up to Cherni later.”

It seems Pfel had the same thought as me on this matter.
As family living in the same house, we can’t hide it forever, but my selfish desire is to keep it hidden at least until Saya matures a bit. Though I’m not sure when that time will come.

“Well, let’s end this conversation here for now. Come to think of it, didn’t you two say you had something to talk about? That’s why we left you alone… You didn’t lie just to have some time alone, did you?”
Pfel’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“N-No, that’s not it. Riste said she had a favor to ask me…”
That’s right. Come to think of it, the reason Riste came to our house was because she had a favor to ask me.
But then the flow of conversation not only went off on a tangent but drifted all the way to Andromeda, no, beyond the observable universe.

I naturally turned my gaze to Riste beside me.
“Ah.”
Riste let out a short exclamation as if she had forgotten.

“Well then, you two talk. I’ll go water the garden. …You know what’ll happen if you do anything strange, right?”
“O-Of course.”
It hurt a little that I seemed to have been branded as someone who does strange things in Pfel’s mind.

After Pfel left the living room, Riste and I were left alone again.
“Huhu. Now we’ve even received approval from Ariel’s family. Marriage isn’t far off.”

‘Marriage, she says.’
The question of whether a clergy member can even get married briefly crossed my mind, but I decided to think about that later. It’s not the stage to think about that now.

“Riste. Won’t you tell me what favor you wanted to ask me?”
“Ah, right. Ariel is so cute that I keep getting sidetracked. It’s all Ariel’s fault.”
…I truly feel like the most wronged person in the world.

“I’m joking. The favor I want to ask Ariel is a mission to infiltrate a certain religious order. It’s an official request from the temple.”
“…Infiltration? Me? There must be many others who could do it. Not that I’m refusing.”

I do have quite a knack for infiltration. It was a while ago, but I even infiltrated the Black Market with Marian.
I might be better than even a really skilled thief or assassin, unless they’re truly exceptional.
With perception inhibition magic, disguise magic, detection magic, and even combat ability. I have almost all the elements needed for infiltration.

“By the way, the compensation is…”
Whisper whisper. Riste whispers the details of the compensation in my ear.
“Leave it to me.”

At the compensation that made my jaw drop, I reflexively answered Riste.
…It seems I should change my profession from magician to assassin or thief.