episode_0051

“Did you sleep well?”

The face of the beloved person, visible the moment I opened my eyes in the morning. There could be no better stimulant.

The academy dormitory room, unnecessarily equipped with two beds. A morning greeted, as always, while embracing the window, naked.

She looked at my face, her hair tousled, and quietly smiled, offering her morning greeting.

Just as I was about to return the greeting, I realized my lips were covered by something soft.

“Uum- uu—?”

Roughly—what is this?—, meaning that. Muttering with my mouth closed, I quickly figured out what it was.

Yuri was covering my mouth with her finger.

“Look, look. See how it’s sticking out.”

“Uum?”

“You must have had a good dream?”

I hadn’t noticed it because it happened naturally, but I could feel it because of the touch of her finger covering my mouth. I’m making a really ugly face right now…

Puaha—

Drooling sticky saliva.

“But… this doesn’t seem like my saliva…?”

“I don’t know? I don’t know—herp.”

Yuri’s mouth looked a little—no, very—moist as she smacked her lips. My half-open mouth was telling me what I’d been subjected to just before waking up.

Yuri licked the finger, sticky with the mixture of our saliva.

“So, did you like it?”

“…What?”

“The kiss, you were doing it enthusiastically? In your dream.”

Damn… So that’s what it was.

Last night’s dream was so comfortable and warm, the intense aftertaste of that lingering fantasy seemed to still linger on my tongue.

No, this is Yuri’s taste.

The faint afterglow of the dream was still softly enveloping my body.

I don’t remember exactly, but there was something red and warm, sunlight, evening, and a subtly spreading sweet taste. It was a clearly familiar scene, but once I opened my eyes, it felt like I was just looking at a painting in an art museum.

If you just ask me if I liked it or not… I did.

So I quietly nodded.

But I shouldn’t have. Because an unanswerable question came back.

“Who was it that made you feel so good?”

It was summer.

.

.

.

If your lover asks you, ‘Who is on your mind right now?’

There are three answers.

First, you.

This is the best answer, but if it’s not true, the backlash could be significant. Of course, since such things are impossible to verify, it all depends on your attitude when answering and after answering.

Second, someone other than you.

Yes. Sometimes, being honest is a good way. Asking such a question in the first place implies something suspicious. It may not be the answer your lover wants, but it’s a second-best option because it can be resolved through conversation.

And, the last one I chose, the third.

“I-I don’t know, I don’t remember well…”

Evading the answer, the worst.

Verdict, death sentence.

I clutched my swollen cheek and came to the meeting place with Eve.

“…What’s with that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember. I must have hit the wall while sleeping or something.”

Standing side by side with her tilting her head, I followed Yuri, grumbling, towards the Adventurer’s Guild.

Eve looked at my cheek once, and then at Yuri’s sulky back. She quietly nodded and sighed.

She ran a couple of steps ahead and stood next to Yuri.

Since she’s about to explain about the Adventurer’s Guild exam, it would be quite troublesome if the listeners were at odds. She seemed to want to reconcile us.

But, even Eve—

‘…Did you have a sleepless night?’

—didn’t seem to be in good condition.

The sadness she tried to suppress deep down was seeping out, resulting in a stiffer expression than usual. Realizing her personality isn’t usually that cold and aloof, it’s clear she’s deliberately turning her gaze away from the world.

Tightly bitten lips. Blurred pupils staring blankly at something.

At least her heart wasn’t here.

I approached Eve, who was slowing down, and pressed my shoulder against hers.

“Did you have a bad dream?”

“…It’s not like that. I had a good dream.”

“Really? Then that’s good.”

Paang—!

I slapped her back.

Because the morning posture determines the mood for the day.

“You seem to have had a good dream…”

“You heard everything already? I don’t know. I really don’t remember—”

Her voice trailed off. Because in Eve’s appearance, trying to dispel the haziness and looking at me, I felt a strangely familiar feeling.

‘…It’s probably because we’ve been together for quite some time.

It was almost three months since my first meeting with Eve, during which a lot had happened.

From the small commotion on the first day to the big commotion before we made the adventurer’s oath. After that, we three spent our days at the academy with Yuri, and on days without classes, we’d get together to study.

I thought it was because it had become a completely familiar part of our daily lives.

Because I couldn’t imagine that the girl with sky-blue hair in that old memory – no, fantasy – was Eve.

.

.

.

After a fierce storm sweeps through, what survives is not a thick tree with deep roots, but rather the reed that helplessly sways. A straight tree, when hit by a wind beyond its limit, will break; but the reed bends from the start, letting any strong wind pass through.

It’s often said that it’s not the strong who survive, but those who survive who are strong.

Thus, for adventurers who face countless threats, the first test is undoubtedly ‘survival.’

Strength alone is not the measure of survival. Like a tree breaking in a fierce wind, it breaks easily when faced with a threat stronger than itself.

But you can’t just lie down and give in to every threat like a reed. The threats faced by an adventurer are not simple storms; if a death god exists and is so inclined, he would easily pull it up roots and all.

In that sense, human ‘survival ability’ has various measures.

The most intuitive is the attack power that can defeat any threat head-on. Or perhaps it’s the durability that can withstand any threat.

If there’s such an extreme difference in power that such physical means don’t work, then you will need the wisdom to escape. Or, the resilience that won’t waver even in such a situation, or the healing power to heal any wound quickly. It might not be something that you could rely on normally, but if you really think it’s your last chance, luck might save your life.

In short, there’s no fixed answer.

If you follow a path others have already blazed, there will be a standardized solution to overcome it, but adventurers don’t only walk on the right path. Sometimes you need to use paths others don’t take, and venture into uncharted territories that no one has ever gone to before.

So if we were to distill the three most important things for an adventurer—

One, the intelligence to understand the nature of any threat. One, the mental strength to overcome any threat based on that information and find a solution. One, the fighting power to implement that solution.

—that would be it.

…This is a summary of Eve’s lecture that lasted about 3 hours.

“If that’s the case, you should have given the three-line summary first…”

“Huaa…”

Sitting still and listening to the explanation for a long time was surprisingly exhausting, and Yuri and I completely collapsed on the guild’s desk.

Tuk-

When our fingertips touched, she quickly withdrew her arm.

“…Humph.”

At first glance, it might seem like she’s very angry, but this guy is teasing me. Slightly raised corners of her mouth were clearly visible beyond her hastily turned head.

…How much longer will this go on?

How can I answer something I don’t know?

I just let go of my guilty mode, stretched out my arm, and hugged Yuri.

“Hiyat—”

“So… what should we do now?”

I looked at Eve, waiting for the next instructions. Yuri, hiding her reddened cheeks with her hair, followed my gaze to her.

I actually do know what’s going to happen next.

Until now, it was mostly what happened to the player ‘Narita Floraine Naifrantz,’ so I didn’t know much. It’s my first time living as a princess, naturally.

But adventurers are different. Akasuto play experience of about 20 years, I am no different from a 20-year veteran adventurer.

As I said before, experience is ultimately important for an adventurer. Intuition and fighting power can be enhanced by talent, but accumulated experience can’t be gained through such shortcuts.

But for the same reason, experience cannot be used as a grading criterion for the exam given to new adventurers. You can’t ask a newbie for experience.

So when Akasto says ‘Adventurer Registration Exam,’ there’s only one thing.

Eve went to the bulletin board next to the reception desk and tore off a suitable piece of paper.

Pallar—

“This is the registration exam. Three quest clearances.”

A short and simple condition. Let’s see how well you do.

It’s an adventurer-style interview.