episode_0016

We escaped safely.

“Hah… hah… hah… Ugh!…”

As soon as we arrived at the inn, the backlash began.

It was the backlash from the buff potion.

When you drink it, your stats rise,

but once the buff ends, you suffer a debuff equivalent to the stats you gained.

At best, your stats drop slightly,

but at worst, you accumulate fatigue until you’re practically incapacitated.

Since I drank quite a few buff potions,

I was definitely going to be incapacitated.

“Ueeegh…”

“M-Master?!”

“Are you okay?!”

“Uh…”

“I’m fine…”

If there was one thing to be grateful for,

it’s that I wasn’t completely paralyzed.

‘If I couldn’t move at all, it’d be game over…’

Huh?

Game over because of the Ice Princess?

Well…

That too.

If the buff potion backlash had hit while I was fighting the Ice Princess, it would’ve been instant defeat.

But.

That’s not what I’m worried about.

“One twin room, please.”

I’m talking about getting devoured by Ria—that would’ve been the real end.

“How dare you slyly ask for a twin room?!”

She said this while looking at the staff.

“Two single rooms!”

“No.”

“One twin room, please.”

“I can’t leave an injured master alone!”

“You’re not planning to have sex, are you?”

“I am.”

“You brat!”

“Whaaaat?!”

“That’s all it takes to become family!”

“Shut up!”

“You save that for when you truly love someone!”

“But I do truly love you!”

“It’s fine!”

“It’s not fine!”

“If you’re serious, go learn what love means first, rookie.”

“Love?”

“Yeah.”

“Not the affection you feel for family or friends.”

“Romantic love.”

“That’s the same thing!”

“You don’t know the difference, which is why I’m calling you a rookie.”

“Hiiing…”

“What even is that…”

“You’ll understand what kind of feeling it is once you meet a guy you truly like.”

While patting Ria’s head, I paid for two single rooms.

“Uu…uuuh?!”

“Master!”

“What?”

“How mean! Taking advantage of my distraction to book two singles!”

“You’re awful!”

“Yep.”

“That’s just how I am, so go over there and quietly sleep.”

“Hiiing…”

Ria seemed ready to argue,

but I had already finished paying.

She sighed and started walking away—

Wait, no.

She came into my room instead.

“Ria?”

“I’ll sleep over there later.”

“I’ll nurse you until you fall asleep.”

“Don’t need it.”

“It’s just fatigue from the buff potion backlash.”

“Still…”

“Leave it.”

“We have a lot to do tomorrow, so go sleep.”

“Huh?”

“What are we doing tomorrow?”

“We’re recruiting the Ice Princess.”

If we win, we can recruit her.

If we lose, we can’t.

…Except,

even if we lose, there are plenty of ways to recruit her.

‘In the game, even just having halfway decent fingers meant you could easily beat someone like the Ice Princess.’

‘There was no need to look for other ways.’

But since I lost,

I have no choice but to try another method.

…The moment I thought that,

I realized just how monstrous Ria really was.

‘Just how strong is Ria, who boasts a near 100% win rate against someone like the Ice Princess?…’

Ria, the world’s only S-rank character.

Even though she lacks proper skills due to being early in the game,

she’s the Heroine with overwhelming stats capable of utterly wrecking the Ice Princess.

She doesn’t even need skills—just basic attacks.

Ah.

And that’s without her broken .

If she were in her “ ” with her broken , the Ice Princess wouldn’t even stand a chance.

‘Sigh…’

‘If only her crybaby personality wasn’t a thing, she’d be soloing everything…’

I take back what I said at first about the personality being somewhat good.

In the game, I could just force her to fight,

but in reality, she freezes in fear and becomes incapacitated.

It’s really hopeless.

If this had happened in the game, I would’ve pressed restart immediately.

…But I didn’t say that out loud,

because tomorrow, everything will be over.

‘Recruit the Ice Princess as my first companion.’

‘Then escape.’

Great.

A perfect plan.

‘If I just hand the Ice Princess the guidebook properly, she’ll handle things herself.’

Which is why

tomorrow is crucial.

Whether I can finish everything and escape in a day,

or if it’ll take 2-3 days to finish and then escape—that’s what’s at stake.

‘Based on Ria’s current state, escaping quickly is the answer.’

‘If I take it easy and get devoured, my plan to see a lovey-dovey ending with my favorite character will be over.’

My favorite character is fine with harems.

But.

If Ria and my favorite character ever met, there’s a near 100% chance my favorite dies.

Either slain by Ria,

or killed while running away from her.

One or the other.

So.

A harem route where I romance both Ria and my favorite is impossible.

If I can only choose one,

then of course I’d choose my favorite.

…With that thought,

I thoroughly ignored Ria’s temptations and explained tomorrow’s plans.

“Got all that?”

“We have a lot to do tomorrow, so go sleep.”

“Master…”

“What?”

“Can’t I just sleep here?…”

“No.”

“The bed’s too small to fit us both.”

“If we cuddle, it’s fine!”

“I’m not fine with it.”

“Go sleep.”

“Hiiing…”

Ria was banished with a sullen expression.

Click!

I even locked the door.

‘She might break in while I’m asleep and force sex on me.’

I want to believe she wouldn’t go that far, but…

Right now, Ria is pure.

Too pure.

She probably thinks sex is just a way to deepen friendship and become true friends.

So.

Since Ria wants a lifelong friend, she might bulldoze her way into it.

‘It’s not like friendship sex is a thing…’

‘As if she’d actually do that…’

Well…

To be honest, I wouldn’t hate it.

Back then, I liked Ria and the Elf Mage the most.

If I hadn’t met my favorite character,

I might’ve aimed for Ria’s pure love route or even a harem route.

But.

Right now, my heart belongs to my favorite.

‘Yeah…’

‘This is the right choice…’

The other girls can get their happy endings without me.

But,

my favorite character is guaranteed a bad ending if I’m not there.

‘That’s the one thing I can’t accept.’

I don’t want to see the ending where I read the diary next to my favorite’s corpse in real life.

Just hold on a little longer.

Tomorrow, I’ll finish everything and go save my favorite.

…With that thought, I fell asleep.

At the same time.

Banished from the room, Ria thought to herself.

‘If the first companion gets recruited, Master will run away.’

That’s why she refused to fight.

When told to fight the Ice Princess, she pretended to be scared and cried.

As a result,

Master fought in her place,

and lost.

If things had ended there—with the first recruitment attempt failing—

she could’ve stayed with Master a little longer,

planting the idea that he wanted to stay with her.

But that wasn’t the case.

Master already had a backup plan.

‘If things go as planned, the recruitment might be done by tomorrow.’

Then it’s over.

No time left to persuade Master.

‘Sigh…’

‘I need more time…’

Her wish.

She planned to negotiate by offering to transfer her wish to Master if he helped defeat the Demon King.

But.

Bluntly saying, “I’ll give you my wish, so come with me,” might backfire.

She wanted to figure out what Master truly wanted,

then properly appeal to that to keep him by her side.

So.

She needed time to learn Master’s wish.

And the way to buy time was simple.

Beat the Ice Princess,

recruit her.

Then.

Have the Ice Princess pretend to refuse joining, buying more time.

Perfect.

A flawless plan.

…With that thought, she secretly left the inn.

At the same time.

The Ice Princess had recovered using magic.

“Huu…”

A spell that converts mana into vitality to heal.

It consumes a lot of mana,

but that’s exactly why she liked it.

‘I have too much mana to control anyway.’

‘Burning it off is a relief.’

Mana.

Others crave even a little more of this power,

but not her.

To her, it’s a disgusting burden she’d rather discard entirely.

‘When I sleep, I can’t control my mana…’

‘So I release cold energy…’

A frigid aura strong enough to freeze an entire house.

This is why she’s alone.

If someone stayed beside her,

they might freeze to death from her uncontrolled cold while she slept.

‘Sometimes it goes wild even when I’m awake…’

When control slips, it rages.

She unleashes massive cold, freezing everything around her.

So she had no choice but to live alone.

Building a home where no one else lived,

avoiding people.

Because if her mana raged while with someone, they could die.

She could kill a friend.

She hated that, so she chose solitude…

‘I’m lonely…’

She wasn’t the type to enjoy being alone.

She liked being with others.

But.

Her disgustingly vast mana made it impossible.

She hated it so much.

She wanted companionship.

To be with someone.

But.

She couldn’t be with someone who’d die if her mana raged.

So she searched for someone stronger.

Someone who could endure her cold.

…With that thought, she even traveled to the land of ice, , where people were most resistant.

But even there, no one could withstand her cold.

She despaired—

until someone came.

She hoped.

Her heart raced at the thought that maybe, this person could endure it.

And.

That hope was rewarded.

Someone who could take her sword strikes and remain unharmed existed!

‘Ria, was it?…’

‘Uuu…’

‘I want to be friends…’

‘She invited me to join the Hero’s party…’

‘I wonder if she’ll come back tomorrow…’

She hated being alone.

She wanted to be with someone.

But.

She didn’t want to kill anyone.

She had desperately wished to meet someone who could endure her cold—

and now she had.

It made her so happy.

Thud! Thud!

“!!!!!!”

The person who withstood her cold had returned.

But…

Something…

felt different.

‘Last time, she just cried and acted weak…’

‘But now…’

She radiated the aura of a true warrior.

“I’m here to beat you and recruit you.”

“Come at me.”

There was no trace of weakness.

But.

That only made her happier.

She’d have befriended anyone who could endure her cold,

but a strong companion was even better.