A Piercing Gaze
A Piercing Gaze
Kylon offered me the same thing at lunchtime, just as he had in the morning.
"A Stamina Potion. It's good for fatigue recovery."
"...Uh, hmm. Thank you. I'll take it."
I hadn't expected him to give me this before we even ate, so I accepted it with a reluctant expression.
Although it was a Stamina Potion the size of a yogurt bottle, I knew well that it boasted incredible effects, as if nothing else could compare for fatigue recovery.
I stared at it for a moment, then looked at the soup and bread placed before me.
Agnes ordered oil pasta, and Flora ordered stew. Linda ordered steak, so it seemed everyone's preferences were quite apparent.
And Kylon ordered french fries and fried fish to go with them.
In short, it must have been Fish and Chips.
After glancing at it, I gripped the Stamina Potion Kylon gave me tightly, then subtly placed it aside and carefully picked up my spoon.
To be honest, I tried not to mind, but Linda's gaze made me uncomfortable, so I quickly lowered my head.
Unable to bear her subtly blatant, glaring gaze, I simply kept my head down and put soup into my mouth.
What I tasted when I put it in my mouth was just a bland flavor.
I even thought, 'Should I just drink water?', but since that clearly wouldn't provide any Nutrition, I carefully picked up the bread next to me, tore it into small, bite-sized pieces, and chewed it.
As I chewed, feeling the dry texture linger in my mouth and absorb all the moisture, Linda's gaze felt stinging, so I quickly averted my eyes.
Looking at Agnes, I felt it was rude to stare at someone eating so elegantly, so I shifted my gaze to Flora.
However, Flora, who was impudent and teasing when dealing with Kylon, showed no emotion towards me, as if indifferent.
Perhaps her sassy persona is only shown to those she has some Favorability Score for.
Thinking that, I eventually let my gaze drift to Kylon, but then I realized that looking at Kylon in this situation was a landmine, so the moment I made eye contact with him, I quickly lowered my head and stared at my soup.
Hmm, parsley on yellow soup.
No, Kylon, isn't this situation happening precisely because you keep giving only me Stamina Potions since this morning?
The Conditioning isn't even over yet, so shouldn't you not be doing this to me while exuding such a strong pure-love vibe, as if we're lovers?
If you're going to give them out, give them to everyone, or at least do it secretly.
I hope they don't misunderstand that I'm cutting in line. Of course, it was unthinkable for me to approach him first, but could I endure these stares? That wasn't it either.
Ugh, I groaned, finished my meal for Nutrition, hugged my slightly cold stomach, and poured the Stamina Potion Kylon gave me into my mouth.
After taking it once in the morning and again at lunch, I felt like all the remaining fatigue had vanished, and my mind felt at ease.
Because I had stayed up all night, my heart was beating irregularly and I felt sensitive over nothing, and my body even felt disconnected from my mind, but now, without any of that, I felt like I had returned to my original state.
As I let my shoulders slump and exhaled deeply, Kylon cautiously asked me from beside me.
"...Are you okay?"
No, you should worry about Linda first, not me.
She's glaring at me. I'm scared right now.
But unable to show it, I could only give a bitter smile and reply.
"Ah, yes. Thank you. I don't know what to do with this, you're paying attention to something so minor..."
"We're departing tomorrow, and the Saintess-nim's role is important."
"Ah, ahh. Yes. I understand completely."
It seemed Kylon wasn't completely oblivious and had said that on purpose.
And as if it was the right choice, Linda's gaze had softened a little.
At Linda's expression, which seemed to say, 'What, so that's what it was?', I let out a sigh of relief and nodded.
My body almost went limp from the sudden release of tension as her suspicion faded, but driven by the compulsion that a Saintess shouldn't show such a display, I decided to act exactly as I had learned in the Nunnery Training Center for a moment, maintaining a proper posture.
What a relief. I was almost afraid I'd get slapped here with a feeling of 'How dare you covet someone else's man!'
What could be more absurd than getting unjustly dragged away and slapped over a topic I didn't even want to argue about?
With such minor thoughts, I was able to calm my mind a little until the others finished their meal.
*
After finishing our meal, the place we arrived at was a weapon shop.
They sold bladed weapons there, but not exclusively bladed weapons.
They also sold protective gear, and various odds and ends needed for combat.
Though it was called a weapon shop, it was convenient to think of it as a place where you could buy most combat supplies.
Agnes seemed interested in the Thin Sword Rapier, her eyes sparkling as she looked at it, while Linda quietly stared at the Knuckle.
But unlike Agnes and Linda, whose eyes sparkled at the weapons, Flora snorted as if what she desired wasn't here, merely glancing around as if looking, yet not looking.
And Kylon was directly asking the shop owner there.
"We're planning to deal with the giant insects said to be in this forest. Do you have anything useful?"
"Ah, if it's that..."
It was clear that good news was quickly coming to him, who was looking for something helpful for the next battle, whether he was exploring the surroundings to some extent or just happened to guess correctly.
The owner briefly went through a door behind the counter, which seemed to be a storage room, then came out and placed a glass container with a 'thud' on the counter.
The bottle, palm-sized and shaped like a low, round container, was filled with a thick, viscous liquid.
It was the kind of sticky, unpleasant feeling you'd get if you touched it.
Just as I thought it didn't look very good, the owner immediately spoke.
"This is made from the sap of a tree that insects dislike. We don't know how effective it will be against large ones, so take it all at once."
At those words, Kylon paid the price and acquired it, as if it were a reasonable choice.
Honestly, if you hear the follow-up line like that, don't most people decide not to buy it? Why is he the opposite? Watching Kylon nod with such thoughts, I couldn't help but sigh.
Still, I tried not to show it, and breathed in careful, divided breaths.
Honestly, I didn't realize it when I was just sitting in my room playing games all day and night, but it seems that appearances are very important once you go out into society.
Because that was precisely the reason I was suffering like this now.
Sigh, what a mess this is.
It was better to save my words anyway, as talking too much wasn't going to do any good.
Come to think of it, it meant it wouldn't be good to talk to those bitches who would be doting on a single man.
Wasn't there Linda, who was already glaring fiercely at me just at lunchtime today because I had received two Stamina Potions?
Just thinking about it again sent shivers down my spine.
"So, we've bought the medicine... Does everyone else need to buy anything? Linda, I think this one would be good for you."
Kylon said that and walked away from the counter towards the shop display.
He saw Linda looking at the Knuckle and Gauntlet on the display closest to the counter, then chose a weapon that would increase attack power within the budget, nodded, and took it himself.
Seeing Kylon take the item she had been carefully eyeing to pay for it, Linda seemed quite pleased, her lips curving upwards as she trailed after Kylon.
"Are you really buying it for me?"
"Yeah, if you have something like a Knuckle, you won't hurt your hands."
"Thank you! I'll use it well!"
Behind her cheerful reply, I felt a sharp gaze for a fleeting moment, but I decided to pretend not to notice. I didn't need anything from the weapon shop, so it was better not to receive anything.
If I could receive something, a light knife would be nice, but since my knife had already been confiscated before, there was nothing to expect.
"Then, Agnes, is this good...?"
Perhaps because Agnes already had a good rapier, Kylon gave her an auxiliary Dagger instead of the Thin Sword Rapier she had been looking at.
And it seemed that sense worked again, as he succeeded in gaining Agnes's Favorability Score.
"...Kylon, you have a good eye for exactly what's needed, don't you?"
"Well, this much is obvious. It's a sword from a noble family, so it won't fall behind."
Saying that, Kylon chose a Dagger for Agnes to wear on her thigh as a backup and added another remark, gaining her Favorability Score.
Just as I was secretly admiring whether this was all just a pretext for raising Favorability Scores disguised as shopping, Kylon glanced at Flora.
And Flora, perhaps feeling his gaze, quickly turned her head.
"I am a supreme magician, so weapons found in a place like this are..."
"How about this?"
But Kylon didn't take out another weapon; he simply took out something like a bag.
It was a bag that looked like it could hold just one book and be slung over a shoulder, so I wondered what it could possibly be used for.
However, Flora's Glabellum twitched, perhaps because it was quite a good bag for a magician.
"Don't you need this either?"
At Kylon's repeated question, Flora's lips kept mumbling, as if she wanted to say something.
The moment Kylon cautiously tried to put it back on the display, as if testing Flora, Flora's voice, which had finally burst out after holding it in, rang out.
"Fine! I'll admit you have good taste!"
"Oh? Then Flora's decided on this one."
Having chosen the medicine and items for the three women, he cautiously cast his gaze towards me.
But he soon turned his head and simply returned to the counter.
I had bought a bag yesterday, and a Potion bottle yesterday, so there was nothing I particularly needed to buy.
But more than those reasons, it seemed the biggest factor was simply that he didn't want to give me a weapon.
Well, I could understand, so it didn't really matter.
I wasn't the type to feel disappointed just because I didn't receive a gift.
With the Hero's voice as the last sound, the shopping came to an end.
"Please ring these up."
Clink.