episode_0178

Inferosil… Anyway, Agnes couldn’t hide her excited emotions on her face after making a contract with a flame spirit that seemed to overflow with a sense of chuunibyou.

“Agnes, where are we? Why are there so many strange rocks and trees as soon as we leave the forest? Who is that over there? And…”

“This is the academy, a place where humans gather to study. The rocks and trees over there are like houses where humans live, but they are processed with magic, not in that shape…”

Perhaps because it was the first spirit she contracted, Agnes couldn’t stop answering the spirit’s questions with a rather excited expression.

Since entering the academy, this was the first time I had seen her smile so happily.

…She always seemed to have a sullen or angry expression in front of me.

“If only she smiled like that more often.”

Dealing with tsundere characters’ temperaments is only possible in games outside the game, in reality, meeting a tsundere was just a woman with a bad personality.

And I realized that fact clearly during this semester.

But well, in the end, I managed to get Agnes to contract a spirit before the communication class with the spirit ended, so my goal was achieved.

Moreover, as a fire magic expert, Agnes contracting a flame spirit could also lead to unexpected growth events.

“Anyway, Agnes will probably join the hero party at some point, so getting stronger can’t hurt.”

It remains to be seen how the hero party, which can bring up to 8 people including Serista, will be formed, but Agnes was determined to join the hero party for her own purposes.

And the hero wouldn’t reject her, as she was irreplaceable as the firepower specialist. Even if there were no plans to conquer anything.

In other words, almost confirmed as a party member, Agnes getting stronger would make it much easier to subdue the demon king, and ultimately, the probability of my peaceful future coming was higher.

It was definitely the right choice to attach a flame spirit to her as her first spirit.

“Besides, if Agnes gets stronger, the chances of her eyeing other party member candidates will decrease.”

Since the hero already had Serista, I didn’t think she would covet Reelis, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan.

While thinking about that, as I watched Agnes teach the flame spirit the knowledge of this world at a rapid pace.

At the moment when she was busy talking with her spirit, our eyes met.

“…And this is the dormitory, where you and I will be living from today…”

“….”

“…Agnes?”

“Just a moment. Infernosilia.”

Despite seeming to be having a lively conversation with the spirit, Agnes suddenly closed her mouth when our eyes met.

She glanced at me and then pretended not to notice, but I could hear her footsteps approaching me from her side.

Her steps seemed to convey that she had something to tell me, with a subtle sense of caution.

-Tap, tap.

“….”

“Um… Reelis.”

“Yes, Blaze.”

“…Thank you.”

…Of course, she should be thankful. I went through so much trouble to give her a spirit.

It was an achievement that seemed impossible no matter how twisted it was in the original work.

The flame spirit I attached to her was almost like force-feeding it to her.

Even though Agnes was Agnes, she was grateful to me for creating the spirit contract, and I casually replied to her gratitude, pretending not to notice.

“I just feel fortunate that the spirit contract with Blaze went well.”

“Lilith….”

“Even so, I think you need to improve your social skills a bit, especially since you tend to call people crazy as soon as you meet them. It’s for Blaze’s sake, after all.”

“…Say one more thing. Annoyingly.”

No matter how incompetent you may think you are, you can’t live your whole life as a tsundere. With that kind of personality, you’ll probably end up with either a hero ending or a single ending in the game.

Anyway, since I managed to finish what needed to be done today, it was time to head back.

…In order not to get caught sneaking out without Edan knowing, I had to hurry back.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Several hours had passed since the earth spiders had completely settled in the deep dawn.

The curfew time at the dormitory had long passed, naturally it was late at night. Walking quietly through the corridors of the Swordsmanship Department’s dormitory, I made my way to mine and Edan’s room.

I had to make sure that no one found out that I had pretended to sleep with Edan and sneaked out at night.

“If I had told the servant that I was going out alone at night, they would have definitely stopped me.”

It was a shameless act even as a full-time maid, and Edan himself probably tried to interfere with my outing with unnecessary worries.

Perhaps it was because of what happened at the Lake of Knowledge before, but he had become more protective of me than before.

Even if it was for Agnes, there was a considerable possibility that he would be opposed to me going out alone as a temporary lover.

“But it would be too rude to wake Edan up and take him with me.”

It would be ridiculous to take a third party like Edan to the scene of something between me and Agnes. It would be fortunate if I didn’t get laughed at by Agnes for always bringing Edan along.

That’s why I came up with the plan of a secret outing.

Since Edan rarely woke up until the wake-up time after falling asleep once, it wasn’t difficult to determine whether he was asleep or not. But the problem was when to go back.

“The REM sleep cycle returns every 90 minutes. The cycle from deep sleep to deep sleep is also 90 minutes….”

Roughly, I should return about 3 hours after I left.

It took 22 minutes to get out of the dormitory and move to the Dark Forest. Agnes returned from the Spirit Pond after an hour and 47 minutes. It took 19 minutes to talk with Agnes after she returned. Another 22 minutes to return.

I decided to wait for about 10 more minutes and go back, thinking about the last assignment that needed to be completed this week.

“The only remaining task is the swordsmanship duel with Harold the day after tomorrow….”

Since I was going to participate as a pair with Edan in the final hunting festival, I didn’t have to worry about it.

What was really important was the swordsmanship duel with Harold.

The one-on-one duel with Harold was still a task that I couldn’t be sure of winning.

Of course, Harold had penalties such as losing his stamina, magic power, and only using basic swordsmanship, but the real penalty was the difference between a Sword Master and an ordinary person.

Unable to anticipate any gaps that Harold, who had experienced all sorts of trials and tribulations as a Sword Master, couldn’t foresee, it seemed impossible to come up with a plan. The real issue was whether there were gaps that even Harold couldn’t anticipate.

With that thought in mind, I quietly waited for time to pass in front of the dormitory door.

After silently counting to 600 in my mind, I carefully stepped into the dormitory as quietly as possible.

*Creak, click.*

“….”

Upon entering, all I could see was a dimly lit room.

Relying only on the faint light emitted by Sally, I had to move cautiously, but since I needed to walk quietly anyway, not being able to see the floor clearly was not a big issue.

I had gone out wearing my sleepwear and didn’t bother changing clothes when I came back.

*Softly, softly.*

Moving as quietly as possible, I slowly made my way to Ethan’s sleeping bed.

After gently sliding into the empty space next to him, I naturally prepared to go to sleep.

*Sigh.*

‘…Phew.’

Somehow, it seems like I wasn’t caught.

I momentarily forgot about the swordsmanship duel with Harold that had filled my mind until now.

After all, lying on the bed and thinking wouldn’t help me win, and I didn’t even know if the strategy I had prepared would work in practice before actually facing him.

Besides, we had the final hunting festival with Ethan coming up next week, so I didn’t have the luxury of focusing only on this.

I was tired from my late-night outing and quietly buried my body in the blanket.

As I closed my eyes quietly and prepared to fall asleep, a slight movement happened on the bed where I lay.

*Sigh, rustle.*

“….?”

…What, is he just tossing and turning?

Talking in his sleep was a characteristic of REM sleep. It could have been dangerous if I had come in a little later.

I momentarily felt a chill at the thought that Ethan might have woken up as soon as I opened the dormitory door.

Well, in the end, I was able to safely finish my night outing and return home.

*Clatter.*

‘…Huh?’

Thinking that way and trying to reassure myself, I felt a sensation of my left wrist being gently held inside the blanket.

My mind stopped thinking about what I was doing and froze for a moment.

‘Anyway, this guy has some strange sleeping habits…’

Why would he hold someone’s wrist while sleeping?

He held it so tightly that even a slight shake indicated that he had no intention of letting go.

…Well, I guess I’ll just have to sleep like this tonight.

After all, it was the time when I should have been deeply asleep next to Ethan, so it would be better not to try to detach myself for no reason and raise suspicions.

At least being caught in a sleep talk was better than being caught for going out at night.

“Lily…s…”

“….!”

What, what is it?

Was he really awake?

At Ethan’s sudden call of my name, my heart sank for a moment.

After hesitating whether to respond or not, I could finally calmly judge the reason why he called my name.

‘…It’s just a common sleep talking habit.’

It was just a coincidence that my name came up.

Since I had the most contact with Ethan after entering the academy, it was natural for him to dream about me.

It must be a dream about our last date or something that happened on the lake.

So, he naturally held my wrist and called my name.

Thinking that it was nothing serious, I tried to go back to sleep, but another round of tossing and turning followed from Ethan’s side.

…A much larger and more troublesome tossing and turning than before.

*Slowly.*

‘…Wait, hold on.’

Naturally turning towards me, it seemed like Edan just laid down on top of me.

Feeling a sense of bewilderment at his attitude of treating me like a pillow and squishing me, I couldn’t help but wonder.

‘Even if it’s a habit to sleep like this….’

Isn’t this a bit… more excessive than usual?

Even on days when I toss and turn a lot, I don’t think he has ever wrapped around me so excessively before.

Anyway, no matter how much I try to ignore it and fall asleep, I couldn’t do so in this state.

Therefore, as I made up my mind to push Edan away and move to the side to sleep, the moment I grabbed his shoulder and tried to push him to the other side.

…Through my ear, Edan’s clear voice quietly reached me.

“Lily.”

“….?”

“…Where did you go and come back from?”