Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Da?te (1)

I was on the way back after stopping by the infirmary with Zeto.

After checking Zeto’s condition, Priscilla said,

“There is nothing wrong with his health.”

Then she mentioned Zeto’s swordsmanship and told him not to overdo it for the time being, saying perhaps his body had been overloaded.

“True... even during the mock battle...”

The scene of Zeto collapsing while vomiting blood suddenly crossed my mind.

Though it had been illusion magic, the chill of that moment had still not faded.

Why on earth did Zeto push himself that far?

Was there some reason he needed to use such dangerous swordsmanship?

“...Miss Yuri.”

As I sank into thought, Zeto’s voice came from beside me.

I turned my head and took him into my eyes.

As always, he was smiling.

“...”

Even though I had heard Priscilla say it with certainty, an unknowable unease settled in one corner of my heart, disturbing my head.

When I gave no answer, Zeto soon continued speaking.

“Thank you. For worrying about me.”

“It was nothing...”

I lowered my head deeply.

He had a talent for making people embarrassed.

“Was his body truly just weak?”

But his body back then, when I saw it on the airship... had not seemed that weak.

Soon, Zeto’s firm muscles flickered before my eyes.

They were so stimulating that they made it impossible to think of anything else.

I glanced furtively at Zeto walking beside me.

Even in uniform, his figure was not hidden.

“Starting with those broad shoulders...”

I gulped.

Immediately, I shook my head and tried to empty it.

This was not the time.

After barely clearing my head, I asked Zeto a question.

“...Zeto, why do you push yourself that far?”

“Push myself...”

At my question, Zeto trailed off.

It was something I had been curious about for a while, but I was only now asking.

Zeto, who had been pondering something carefully, opened his mouth.

“...To protect precious people.”

“Precious people...”

As I repeated Zeto’s answer, he stopped walking.

At this, I also stopped and turned back to look at him.

“Miss Yuri is one of them.”

“...Me?”

“Yes.”

“...I’m precious to you?”

“Of course.”

No hesitation could be felt in Zeto’s voice as he said that.

As if asking why I would ask something so obvious.

That was how he said it.

Zeto said he would protect me.

Like a knight from a fairy tale.

Likewise, he too was someone terribly precious to me.

I was so happy I felt I might leap, but because I was embarrassed, a strange answer slipped out before I knew it.

“I-I don’t need you to protect me, okay? I’m strong enough... And who are you saying will protect who...!”

I turned my head quickly.

It was difficult even to look at Zeto.

My heart was pounding. The trembling would not settle.

At my answer, I heard Zeto’s laughter from behind me.

“...Hurry up. We will be late for class.”

“Yes.”

Zeto, answering in a voice full of laughter, approached beside me, and we began walking down the corridor together again.

While staring blankly at his face, I thought.

That I too wanted to become someone who could protect him.

First, I would need to do something about this body that kept bleeding at every chance.

“...Were there any elixirs left at the main house?”

***

“Blanc, there is something I want to talk about.”

“Hmm... What is this, calling me by name for once? It must be important.”

Blanc, southern branch manager of the Black Hand guild, asked this while placing the documents she had been reading to one side of the desk.

Blanc was curious.

What could the platinum-blonde girl before her be curious about, to have come seeking her?

If she had come to ask for information as usual, her attitude was different. It made Blanc suspicious.

Having cleared the desk to show she would focus on her, Blanc rested her chin on her hand and looked steadily at Eisel.

Before long, Eisel opened her mouth.

“It is...”

“I’m listening.”

“...I want to know how to capture a man.”

“Hm...?”

At Eisel’s words, Blanc doubted her own ears.

This was not because Eisel, who had been extraordinary from the very first meeting, had come to the southern branch manager of the continent’s foremost information guild merely for romantic counseling.

“Eisel, you...”

“...”

Eisel quietly turned her head and avoided Blanc’s gaze.

“Do you have someone you like...?!”

At Blanc’s excited voice that followed, Eisel squeezed her eyes shut.

Blanc had an unusual amount of interest in Eisel.

Eisel was not ordinary.

This mysterious girl, about whom no information could be found no matter how Blanc tried to dig, would provide Blanc with information she needed.

In exchange, Eisel also received the information she wanted from Blanc.

Eisel, who could be called an extremely excellent informant in this way, was adored by Blanc.

“So? Who is it?”

“Secret. At the very least, I do not want to tell an information guild.”

“You know I can find out somehow, and yet you still say that? Should I investigate? Should I just investigate?”

“...He is just a student in the same class.”

Eisel lowered her head deeply, her face flushed.

Blanc’s interest surged wildly.

She thought that Eisel could make such a normal, embarrassed expression too.

After all, the Eisel Blanc knew had always maintained an expressionless face, whether when bringing information even the Black Hand could not easily obtain, or when asking for information about demons.

“You came to the right place, Eisel. I think I can give you the answer you want.”

“Really...?”

Eisel’s eyes widened.

Eisel had come to Blanc because, thinking Zeto’s curse had worsened, she felt she needed to try a more certain method a little faster.

Blanc’s confident expression was enough to give Eisel trust.

After all, was not an information guild ultimately a profession that handled information and people?

Even looking at the alluring dress Blanc wore before her eyes, Eisel reached the thought that Blanc seemed far more accustomed to “love” than herself.

“Hmhm, how to capture a man, is it...”

Blanc smiled faintly and trailed off.

“But do you really need such a method...? What man would not fall for your looks? You are this pretty and cute.”

“...Enough, it is urgent. The situation is urgent.”

“Urgent how?”

“...A woman I need to keep in check has appeared.”

Since there was no need to mention Zeto’s curse, Eisel roughly glossed over it.

“Oh my.”

Blanc simply found the situation amusing.

Stories about young students going through turbulent youth were a great stimulation to her, who was worn out from work.

“What is the situation like?”

Blanc asked Eisel.

“The situation...?”

“You must have done something, no?”

“...Nothing much. Unilateral contact... perhaps?”

“Hmm... Then what about the girl you are keeping in check?”

“She probably has not done anything in particular either...”

“Neither side has done anything? Then what kind of keeping in check happened, exactly...?”

“...Is that so?”

At Blanc’s doubt, Eisel scratched her cheek.

“Still... I am certain we are aiming for the same man.”

Eisel retraced the actions Yuri had taken toward Zeto in the previous round. This round was not very different.

It was only that, in this round, she herself had fallen far behind.

Looking at Eisel’s serious eyes, Blanc soon burst into loud laughter. In her eyes, Eisel was simply cute.

“I thought this would happen...”

Eisel glared at Blanc and thought that.

“...Ahem.”

After stopping her laughter, Blanc cleared her throat.

“In any case, then you have not even gone on a date, have you?”

“A date?”

At Eisel’s question, Blanc asked back carefully.

“...Surely you do know what a date is?”

“No, I know that much, but is that so important? We are in the same class anyway, so we meet every day... and sometimes we run into each other alone...”

“My goodness...”

At Eisel’s indifferent answer, one eyebrow raised, Blanc covered her mouth in horror.

Soon, placing a hand on her forehead, Blanc opened her mouth.

“Eisel... Love is about getting to know each other, is it not?”

“...I know more about that man than anyone else.”

“Then what does that man know about you?”

“...”

Eisel fell silent.

Through the previous round, she knew many things about Zeto, and there were countless memories she had built with him.

But in truth, Zeto knew extremely little about her. That thought came to her. Because she was a regressor, she had hidden many things.

No, perhaps because Zeto had easily figured out her tastes, she had thought there was no need for such a process.

“Each other. In other words, being ‘together’ is important. Love is not something achieved by pushing yourself forward one-sidedly, you know?”

“Together...”

It was quite different from the information Eisel had learned from the book.

That could not be helped... because the book Eisel had read was truly about how to capture a man, in other words, merely “how to seduce.”

It was a little far from “emotional love.”

Blanc had known for some time that Eisel was greatly lacking in something mentally or emotionally.

Using her outstanding observation, she examined Eisel’s attitude and immediately recognized what she needed, what she truly desired.

“It is too early to speak of love without even a light date. Whatever happens, a love confession comes after that.”

“Mm...”

At the mention of a love confession, Eisel felt needlessly guilty.

It was because she remembered the not-quite confession she had uttered to Zeto in the flower garden, using liking flowers as an excuse.

“The method is simple. Go and ask him to go on a date. You can do that much, yes?”

“...Yes.”

Eisel nodded.

She was having the somewhat absurd thought that, if she went on a date as Blanc said, she could make Zeto fall in love.

“This is your first date too, right?”

“Probably.”

“Good, then this time, we will specially help you.”

Blanc said that and rose from her seat.

At her words, Eisel tilted her head.

“We...?”

“...Hmhm, there is such a thing. A service, a service. Since it is a date, we should put plenty of effort into it.”

Eisel did not know what it meant, but for now, she accepted it.

Whatever it was, if it could capture Zeto, it was enough.

Blanc smiled at Eisel, who was looking at her indifferently.

From what Eisel had said, Blanc thought that giving a different impression from “usual” through a date would likely be enough to give him great favor.

And so, she intended to make Eisel “dress up” fittingly for the first date of her life.

“She would look good in anything...”

Just what kind of man would not be seduced by Eisel’s appearance?

***

After Edward’s class ended, Eisel asked whether the two of us could talk for a moment, and I left the classroom and walked with her.

What was she trying to say?

As I quietly followed her, we reached a secluded place with no people around.

Then Eisel, who had been walking ahead, turned around and looked at me.

With her arms hidden behind her, she was hesitating about something.

When I tilted my head, she opened her mouth.

“Da...”

“Da?”

“...Date me. With me.”

Eisel’s words continued softly.

At the sudden request for a date, I lost my words.

[... ]

Sierra was likewise speechless.

Looking at Eisel with her mouth slightly open, her pupils trembled fiercely.

Eisel stared straight at me and waited.

For my answer.

Perhaps Eisel, whose whole body was fidgeting, could no longer wait, because her mouth opened again.

“...Do you perhaps dislike it?”

“...No?”