Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Haaa...
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With Lili hooked onto my left arm, I pulled her in closer with my right hand, drawing her straight into my embrace.
"I rushed back home to make love with Lili."
I bragged about it loud and proud.
Hmm. Well, she's a lady, so I couldn't exactly say something crude like, We had sex and made out for hours before crashing. I had to soften it a bit.
Actually, even if it were a guy, I probably wouldn't have said that either.
I sure as hell wouldn't let some dude hear that my Lili was on the menu.
"Ah, yes... make love...? Make love with me... Yes?!"
"Lili was just so lovable."
"Master..."
Blue-hair was glitching out like a broken robot, but Lili had started rubbing her cheek against my chest, so I didn't pay it any mind.
Us with Lili—we're too cute!
"Lili..."
"Master..."
"What are you even saying right now...! Haa... Are you listening?"
Just hold on a sec. Let me savor a bit more of our Lili's cuteness.
Lili always acted lovable, but she'd never really played up the aegyo this much before. Right now, in this moment, I had a duty to snapshot it a few dozen—or million—times with my brain cam.
To return the favor for her cheek-rubbing, I pressed my cheek to the top of her head and rubbed back.
"Am I the weird one...? Am I getting toyed with...? They don't even care..."
Nope. Not at all.
Why on earth would I toy with you? Not a single microgram of reason for that.
Hell, not even quark-level. Zero, buddy.
"Um... excuse me...?"
Ah, ten more seconds.
"Ahem! Ahem!"
Couldn't ignore her forever. What a pain, Blue.
"Yes, yes. What is it?"
She stared at me with cold, dead eyes, her face full of annoyance, let out a heavy sigh, and spoke in a tone of pure resignation.
"...Lili is your slave, right...?"
"Of course she is."
Do you think we'd be this cuddly if she weren't my slave to begin with?
I could shout NO! without a second thought.
Saying that made me suddenly crave a look at Lili's face, so I grabbed the cheeks of the girl buried in my arms and pulled her out.
"Hweeh?"
Her squishy cheeks mangled the sound, making our Lili even cuter!
While I was at it, I squished and twisted her face every which way.
Pretty from above, pretty from below!
Wanna lick her.
"...Anyone seeing this would think you're lovers."
"? What's the difference?"
"Heh heh..."
No, actually, isn't master-slave even better?
With the Slave Seal, there's nothing we hide from each other—like an eight-lane highway with no traffic, we can charge full speed ahead without a hitch!
No pointless worries about coming on too strong and seeming easy or cheap.
The more aggressive, the better!
Slaves are the absolute best!
"Ah... yes..."
Blue gave me an even colder look, her face screaming she had no clue what I meant.
Wasn't planning to explain anyway, so fine by me.
More importantly, how long is she gonna stare? Time for her to head off on her own way.
"Ah, well, go take care of your business. Feels like I've taken up too much of your time."
"Yeah, sure. See you around."
So she did realize she was wasting time. Not completely clueless, huh.
"Well then... have lots of lovely fun, you two!"
"Oh my..."
Lili saw her off with a beaming, gentle smile.
Did Blue grow on her?
"Take care going back, Miss Claire."
Look at our Lili's manners.
But why's she heading back the way she came, Blue girl?
Wasn't she going the opposite direction from where I came?
Felt kinda bad if meeting me threw off her plans, so I pointed it out.
"Didn't you come from that way? Why head back?"
"Ah... I was just thinking of taking a stroll. But, um, changed my mind. Heading back now."
Slightly furrowed brows, pouty lips.
Philtrum stretched a bit sideways.
Hmm. Looked like our jealousy fest killed her motivation for a walk.
Poor thing. It'll be worse during term time, and she's already got no immunity?
Obviously, I'll be bringing my treasure Lili to the Academy as my precious belonging, and I have zero plans to handle her while minding others' stares.
It's my thing—I'll do what I want. What're they gonna do?
With our feelings growing stronger by the day, could someone with that mindset even endure us?
But saying it outright would probably get me an earful, so I decided to shut up.
"Alright then, get some rest~"
"...Yeah. See you."
We gave light nods and parted coolly.
Or more precisely, since our paths overlapped a bit, Blue started shuddering at the sound of our jealousy bait from behind and bolted away in a hurry.
"Wanna do a celebratory kiss now that the buzzkill's gone, Lili?"
"...I love that idea, Master."
"Haaa......"
Whoops. Did she hear? Whatever, hurry up and go. Shoo shoo.
Mwah.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ah."
I'd just bought a water kit and was heading toward the market when I spotted another familiar face.
A redheaded young man, face scrunching up in a whole different vibe from Blue girl earlier.
Basically Goldilocks's concept flipped on its head—that guy.
"Hello."
My right arm was wrapped around Lili's waist, busy groping her nonexistent belly fat, so I gave a casual wave with my left hand and a friendly greeting.
He stared blankly at my hand on Lili's belly for a sec, then snapped out of it and greeted back.
Guy's jealous, huh?
"Yes. Hello."
Hmm? His tone last time reeked of arrogance, but he could sound pretty friendly too.
Talk about a likable type. Impressive!
So I tossed him a polite line at least.
"Thanks for the help last time."
"No... that idiot was an embarrassment to the Empire anyway. Even if it wasn't me, someone else would've stepped in to shut him down."
Redhead grinned sheepishly, playing humble.
Now that he'd humble-bragged, I was fresh out of lines.
"Appreciate it."
So I wrapped it up quick.
We were practically strangers anyway—no real chit-chat material.
I said that, bowed lightly, and started to leave.
"Um... if I may."
I had nothing else to say, but Red here did.
"Red" felt off, though.
What was his name again? Sounded like someone who'd piss blue piss from afar.
Right—Jeras Pairan.
"Yes, Jeras? What's up?"
"By any chance, have you seen Miss Claire on your way?"
"Cla...ire?"
Who? Oh!
Blue girl's name was Claire.
"Yeah, saw her near the general store a bit ago."
"Ah! Really?!"
"Said she was heading home, though?"
"Ah...? Did she...?"
Face screaming "No way," tone dripping with disappointment.
This stinks.
Isekai! Academy! Can't miss out on rom-com!
Obvious at a glance—this guy's got the hots for Blue girl.
She was pretty cute, aside from the flat chest.
Looked like she handled a sword well in our scrap too.
Glancing at the sword sheath on Jeras's belt, even as a fellow swordsman, I could see the appeal.
A textbook noble guy who's all proper and skilled with a blade, and a tomboy noble lady who's no slouch herself.
Boom—instant episode.
Tomboy heroine with a carefree vibe starts subtly crushing on the upstanding sword-protagonist. After he casually helps her through some incident, she can't stop thinking about him.
And get this—the seemingly worry-free tomboy's secretly fretting over something he effortlessly fixes, plunging her into love's swamp. Classic cliché flashed through my mind.
You know the taste, and it's scary addictive. Already drooling.
Gonna need a kiss with Lili later to rinse my mouth.
Truth be told, I applied to the Academy half-cocked, figuring isekai fantasy romance or whatever. But spotting this hook? Now I wanna spectate the payoff.
Didn't expect much from classes anyway.
My power level's like this 'cause I slacked on training.
If I'd had drive earlier, I'd have grinded hard.
So even more...
'Academy, I'm hyped!'
"Yuha?"
Daydreamed too long, huh.
"Suddenly remembered something I had to do. My bad."
"No problem. I'll head out then."
But if he's already looking for Blue first, guess it's a guy-falls-first storyline.
That's fine too.
"Haa... The market event's a big deal whether it happens or not... Then Behemoth blows up outta nowhere. Fuck, nothing's going right. Time's tight. Haaa..."
Jeras grumbled under his breath as he walked off.
Probably stepped out hoping to bump into his crush by chance, but no dice. Gotta be it.
Pure love route!
"Fun, huh."
"What's so funny?"
"That guy's totally into Blue-hair girl from earlier."
"Rea...lly?"
Lili didn't seem convinced, but I had my own little certainty brewing.
Actually, I just wanted to see those two hit it off at the Academy.
If the chance comes, I'll play secret cupid and nudge 'em together!
Blue bird delivering love's message to Blue girl!
Gonna be a blast.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Having gotten word that her master was near the Academy, Gloria quickly left the city, linked up with Mimi, and headed straight there.
At first, Gloria had carried the mobility-impaired Mimi on her back, but a day later, the wounds had mostly closed, leaving only internal injuries. Now they were both walking on their own two feet.
Mimi winced with every painful step.
But with the excitement of finally meeting Master and the anxiety that he might not like her showing up like this, she couldn't just walk in silence. She spoke up to Gloria.
"Ria! By the way, what's that Master's scent I smelled coming from Ria's chest?"