The Archangel's Jealousy and the Hero's Breakdown
Pshoo-shoo-
!!!!!!!!!
The heroes, having witnessed the angels suffering from nosebleeds through the cubes scattered about, quickly exchanged glances. Perhaps because they had already experienced this phenomenon once before, they nodded in unison and moved into action.
Moving with practiced synchronization, as if they had rehearsed this dozens of times, the heroes turned their backs to me, forming a tight, circular defensive perimeter as if to shield me from the angels.
Of course, it was an open secret that as they moved, they couldn't help but steal ecstatic, sidelong glances at my body, quickly covering their mouths to suppress their happiness...
Good grief.
You greedy things!
...
Phew...
Anyway, how do I handle this situation...?
While I was standing there, flustered and clutching my water-soaked T-shirt, unsure how to manage the mess I’d caused (?), Arthur—who had been genuinely focused on the Azure Dragon and the Gacha—noticed the slight commotion. Rather than looking around, she turned her head sharply toward me without a moment's hesitation, clearly sensing I was the root cause.
And upon seeing my drenched T-shirt clinging to my abs through the gap in the heroes' formation, Arthur clutched her forehead, at a complete loss for what to do.
Just then, Remiel, who had been watching us from beneath the machine via the cube, spread her wings and flew up to the top of the machine. She pulled a pure white cloak from her subspace and handed it to me, telling me to cover myself.
...
...
Grind, grind...!
At that moment, Archangel Gabriel stood in the air, flapping her wings with a gaze tinged with madness, biting her nails as she stared at the human male who had dared to choose to blow her away.
Gabriel stared at the human male with wide eyes, seemingly too shocked by his unbelievable choice to process anything else.
"Th-this...!?"
And then...
As she continued to watch, Gabriel saw Remiel, the other Archangel who had climbed onto the machine, in close (?) physical contact with the human male.
Looking back and forth between Remiel and the human male as if she couldn't comprehend it, the light began to fade from Gabriel's crazed eyes, replaced by a dead, hollow stare.
"........Why? Only Remiel? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Only Remiel? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? You sent me away. Why? But Remiel is allowed? Why? Can't I? Why? Why? Why...?"
Staring at the human male with dead eyes, Gabriel suddenly recalled what he had said to her earlier.
- Except for the players! Regardless of anything else! No one else can stand up here! -
..........?
???
If the human male's words were true... then it meant Archangel Remiel had obtained the qualification of being a... "Gacha Player" who could use the human male's abilities.
????????
How?
If I, a mere Archangel, just pestered him to let me do it...?
- Regardless of rank, what's wrong is wrong! -
.........
Never... the human male didn't seem to prefer doing things unfairly based on "rank" or anything like that... so even thinking about it again, that didn't seem to be it.
The only thing driving her insane was...
Why was Remiel, who was also an Archangel, allowed, while she wasn't?
"I was kicked out... but why... Remiel, why are you... allowed? ...Could it be that you and Remiel have... some sort of relationship...? As I thought... there must be something going on! Maybe the human threatened Remiel!"
Having sharply grasped the subtle something between the human male and Remiel just by watching, Gabriel's dead eyes were now burning with the intensity of a jealous wife hunting for evidence of an affair.
...
...
The heroes had initially tried to keep the angel who approached me in check, but upon realizing it was the familiar face of Remiel, they quickly stepped aside to let her hand me the cloak.
As I accepted the cloak from Remiel, I realized I was drawing the attention of all the angels. I was about to offer a casual word of thanks, but I decided to draw a clear line between angel and human, using formal, polite language.
"Th-thank you, Remiel! You saved me."
..!
However, contrary to my expectations, Remiel was glaring at me with a displeased expression, her eyes narrowed at my formal, distant tone of gratitude, which I had used to be mindful of the other angels' eyes.
?
What's wrong, Remiel?
When I looked at her with a "Why?" expression, Remiel mouthed the word "Friend" and looked at me with pleading eyes, as if asking me to speak informally so we could feel closer.
...
...
Ah.
My Secret Friend...
Should I pretend I don't know?
Feeling a bit mischievous, I feigned ignorance and mouthed "Why?" back at her, just like she had.
At that, Remiel pouted, looking as if she hated me to death, and tugged at the hem of the cloak I was wearing, urging me to answer.
"Why are you doing this?"
"......Y-you... you're mean!"
Perhaps feeling sulky, Remiel let go of the cloak's hem with a pout.
I quickly grabbed the hand she had pulled away, shook my head slightly, and gave her a playful, charming smile as I spoke.
"Aww! Why are you like that~ Thanks for bringing me the cloak, Remiel~♡!"
".... Hnnng!"
Caught off guard by my unexpected, charming "filial" attack, Remiel couldn't even think to cover her mouth with her free hand. Her expression of pure joy was captured by the cube and broadcast to every angel in existence.
- .......... -
The angels were speechless for a long time at the scene unfolding before them, before the place suddenly erupted into a chaotic clamor, like a marketplace.
This is insane...
Did I... just see that?
Yeah... you saw what I saw.
Wow... what was that charming voice? To receive something like that... I'm so jealous of Remiel-nim...
Wow... I didn't know a man could react like that too...
Ah...
...
...
"..... Grr..."
Watching the scene, Arthur bit her lip, perhaps angry at herself for creating such a situation and for the fact that she couldn't intervene in that moment. She neurotically fed all her remaining coins into the machine and pulled the lever mindlessly, trying to finish her turn quickly.
Clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk-
Kyaooo...!
Kyao..!
Kyao...
Perhaps reading Arthur's heart, the Azure Dragon cried out in a weak voice from her shoulder, as if feeling sorry for her master who was angry at herself because of it.
...
...
"...."
Naturally, I kept in mind that the goal of this Gacha was to prove my abilities in this arena. I patted the heroes who had formed the ironclad defense on the shoulders a few times to thank them, then lifted the microphone to continue the proceedings.
"Alright! We had a short happening just now! I ask for your understanding regarding my inability to respond smoothly to the unexpected situation...! Now then, let's continue with the Gacha! Cube! Could you follow me?"
As I approached Arthur, who was still sulking at the Gacha machine, the cube zoomed in on me, broadcasting my every move.
"Player Arthur! Sulking like that won't increase your drop rates!"
".... I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at myself...! Eek..!"
"...."
However, Arthur, who had been replying without taking her eyes off the machine screen, couldn't finish her sentence due to my sudden action.
Why?
Because I had pressed myself tightly against Arthur's back and, as if naturally comforting her, wrapped both my arms around her waist in a so-called back hug.
".... Y-y-y-y-you...!"
Flustered by my sudden event, Arthur was startled and tried to overlap her arms with mine to pull them away, but she froze at the words I whispered into her ear.
".... Should I... let go...?"
".........."
Arthur stood there without a word, her arms still overlapping mine, as if she didn't dislike it.
".... Arthur, tell me. Do you hate it?"
"..... What if I do?"
Ho... you hate it?
Well, what can I do...
I don't like using things like this to throw my weight around... but Arthur?
"As I said before... I won't force you to do anything you dislike. I won't ever do anything you hate again."
I loosened my grip on her waist, and just as I was about to pull away—
Tight-
Arthur used her arms, which were still overlapping mine, to press down and hold me in place, preventing me from escaping.
"... You said you hated it."
"....."
Hmm...
So this is how you want to play...?
Should I give you another stimulating shock...?
Then... should I add a little service...?
I slowly turned my head and leaned in toward the back of Arthur's neck, bringing my face right to her ear.
"... Arthur...♡"
".... H-hick!"
Arthur flinched in surprise at my whisper, and the tremor was transmitted directly through my arms.
"We have to do the Gacha. Do it with me, then."
"......"
After whispering to Arthur, I slowly pulled back, keeping my hands on her waist as I looked at the machine's screen and led the proceedings.
"I ask for your understanding that we are proceeding in this posture to care for a player who was showing signs of psychological instability!"
"....!@#@!$%$#$%#$...."
I heard a whispering sound from Arthur, so I lowered my head to look, and she was muttering quietly enough for only me to hear.
"... I want to enjoy this a little more... but for the next turn... I have to proceed quickly..."
Clearly, she still had a lot of lingering regret, as she was slowly stroking my arms with her own, which were still overlapping mine.
Anyway... you like it, yet you act all high and mighty...
"...."
Thud-
Unable to move because my arms were sealed, I lifted my head and rested my chin on top of her head.
"Alright... you don't have many coins left. I'll cheer for you, so go ahead and pull~?"
".... Okay."
...
...
Now you should let go, Miss Arthur?
I opened my mouth to help Arthur, who was still holding onto my arms, come to her senses.
"... Miss Arthur? Could you let go? We have to pull the Gacha."
"Ah...."
Arthur's voice, thick with regret, echoed quietly through the arena via the cube.
The angels, as if their emotions had been projected onto Arthur, reacted exactly the same way.
Arthur seemed to regain her reason, loosening her grip and slowly reaching one arm out to grab the lever.
You certainly know how to separate business from pleasure, Arthur.
But there's still one shot left, what do I do... Arthur...?
I wrapped one arm around her entire waist and overlapped my other hand onto hers, which was gripping the lever.
Then, with my chin still resting on her head, I opened my mouth and, without her consent, put strength into my hand to pull the lever.
".....!"
"...... Arthur... Fighting.... ♡"
Clunk-
Kwooooooooom!
As if to represent Arthur's exploding emotions, a pillar of light, split half-black and half-white, shot up into the sky from the machine's screen.
.....?
Black and white coexisting...?
What kind of item is it...
Well, it doesn't matter as long as it appeared!
Good job, Arthur!
Oh, wait... I have to finish this.
I lowered my chin from her head and tried to pull away from Arthur while delivering the closing remarks.
"Ah~ Player Arthur! It seems the 'lover concept' cheering worked! You finally did it!"
I tried to pull away, conscious of Arthur's arm still wrapped around mine.
Tight-
"....? Player Arthur?"
Arthur wouldn't let go, holding onto me tightly with her remaining hand.
What's wrong?
Ah...
She wants me to add more lines?
I placed my hand, which had pulled the lever, onto her head and stroked it as I spoke.
"Arthur~♡ You worked hard!"
"........@!#@!#!#@!!@#!#!#@#@!@!#!@#@# ......"
?????
I leaned in close, bowing my head to hear what Arthur was muttering with her head hung low.
"....... Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Lover? Heh...."
"...."
And surprisingly, a broken Arthur, as if a switch had been flipped, was standing right in front of me.
........
What the...?