The Young Lady Who Realizes the World
From that day on, Lunel started trailing after me with the most peculiar determination. I had to wonder if her desire to grow stronger really ran that deep—though considering she was magic-specialized, tagging along behind me was about as useful as chasing her own shadow.
"Hah... hah..."
I didn't exactly shake her off. I figured if I just left her to trail after me without any consideration, she'd drop out on her own. And sure enough, she never managed to keep up through my morning jogs; she'd always fall behind.
"C-could you... slow down a little..."
I stole a glance at Lunel, who was gasping for air with her hands braced on her knees, staring at the ground.
Lora had no idea this kid was doggedly following me around. She must have written off the recent incident as nothing more than a girl that age getting carried away with some idle admiration—never imagining Lunel would actually start chasing after me. If she'd known, she never would have stayed behind at the house volunteering for cleaning and chores.
I watched Lunel pant for a while, then dropped down onto one knee in front of her. Looking at her, drenched in sweat, I thought... well, she was definitely pretty, but she looked a little disheveled.
Not that it mattered. Even a mess like this looked good on her.
Anyway, I'd been a man in my previous life. No matter how good this body of mine had become, I drew a hard line at anything involving men. That said... having girls quietly flock to me wasn't half bad, was it? I'd figured a figure like mine wouldn't be popular here—that the trend ran more toward flat, cute types like Lunel. Apparently that wasn't entirely the case.
She was ridiculously pretty to my eyes, but there was no law saying everyone else had to see her the same way. And on top of that, Lunel was already attaching herself to me of her own accord. Of course, from the standpoint of someone who needed to get herself banished, that wasn't exactly ideal.
I held out my hand. Leaving someone struggling that hard just didn't sit right with my conscience. Raising her affection this way wasn't supposed to be on the agenda... but lowering it was something I could do anytime. Helping her once wouldn't hurt.
"Ah... thank you, Unni."
She took my hand as she said it. I carefully steadied her, and I could feel her breathing gradually settle.
Hmm... still, wasn't she pushing herself too hard? Lunel didn't seem to have any talent whatsoever for physical work.
"By the way, Lunel? May I say something?"
"Ah, yes..."
"No matter how hard you chase after me, you won't get stronger that way."
I cut straight to the point. It wasn't even wrong. Eriana had been built like an iron wall from birth—idolizing someone like that and trailing after her wasn't going to accomplish a thing.
At that, Lunel tilted her head. She clearly had no idea what I was talking about.
"Lunel, you're... how should I put this... constitutionally frail, I think. It'd be better if you didn't worry yourself over physical training."
Ah, this was coming out way too kindly. Honestly, it made me nervous. If this fragile heroine got herself hurt running after me on a whim, I didn't think I could handle it. And pointing that out wouldn't even drop her affection! She wasn't the type to start hating me over something like that on her own, so calling out that her whole approach was wrong was the right move from the start.
"I-is that so? But I want to become strong like you, Unni."
She looked like she was about to burst into tears, and I let out a heavy sigh before I could stop myself. Did she have some kind of trauma about her weak body? This was getting a little intense.
I closed my eyes and thought it through calmly. Leaving her hanging after she'd gone this far just didn't feel right. How was I supposed to satisfy her? I needed to lower her affection, sure, but this had reached the level of obsession—I needed to take some of the wind out of her sails first.
Then I clapped my hands together as the answer hit me. I'd thought of a pretty good solution.
"Being strong isn't only about physical power. You can become plenty strong by learning magic, too. I know a powerful mage—how about studying under her?"
"Huh...?"
Suggesting magic out of nowhere must have thrown her. She tilted her head, then simply looked up at me in silence. After a moment, she gave a quiet nod.
"Yes... okay. If it's someone you trust, Unni, they couldn't be a bad person."
Wow... so this was the protagonist's class, huh. Her pure-heartedness was almost too much. Honestly, it was a little terrifying. Still, it worked out well for me. At least she wouldn't be pestering me for a while.
"That's a relief. Then let's go right now."
"What? But I don't even know who this person is."
"No, you do. There's no way you wouldn't. Didn't you meet her yesterday?"
At the mention of yesterday, Lunel's expression shifted for just a moment. Had she figured it out? Well, there was only one mage I knew. And since I had about as much magical talent as a rock, there was only one way I could help Lunel.
I took her hand. The look on her face as she followed behind me seemed somehow cold.
I had to bring Lunel all the way home. Our location was already known anyway, so it wasn't as if I was doing anything I shouldn't.
Speaking of which, Lora really was something else... When we walked inside, that disaster of a house had been cleaned up spotless. It didn't even feel like we'd been gone that long. Lora was clearly no ordinary maid.
I shook off the stray thoughts and introduced Lunel to Lora. Lora regarded her with an expression that had gone ice-cold, looking for all the world like she was about to explode at any second.
I explained everything about Lunel, one thing at a time. That she'd asked me to help her get stronger. That she seemed to have zero talent for physical work, so I thought Lora ought to lend a hand. I'd deliberately come all this way because she was a maid I could trust. She'd tried to attack Lunel back then, sure—but that had probably been a joke. She wouldn't have actually meant to throw a fireball that strong.
"So I'd appreciate it if you could help her out."
With that, I handed Lunel over to Lora. But something was definitely off. The maid was staring Lunel down with eyes so frigid they could freeze water solid. She looked ready to blow. I was tilting my head, wondering if I'd done something wrong, when Lora let out a long, heavy sigh and opened her mouth.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Huh?"
She'd dropped the formal speech. That meant she wasn't talking to me as the maid who attended me—she was talking as a friend. Switching personas through her speech register... she really was a strange one.
"Well, Lunel asked for help, so..."
"You want me to help some brat who decided on her own to stalk you? Are you out of your mind?"
"No, no, hold on. Calling her a stalker is a bit—you don't have to go that far..."
I trailed off and tilted my head. Thinking about it for a second, she wasn't wrong.
Wait. Was that how it looked?
To me she was the game's heroine, but from Lora's perspective, I'd just dragged some random stalker into the house and asked her to help the girl out.
A chill ran down my spine. What the hell had I been about to do?
I swallowed hard and snuck a glance at her. She was still glaring at me with clear displeasure, letting out another heavy sigh.
Ah... I see. I'd been trying to use Lora however I pleased.
Something felt wrong. It was like I was still treating this place as a world inside a game. Like I'd been standing in front of a doll that would do whatever I said, and so I'd acted without manners or consideration. Before, I never would have imagined doing something like this.
"Eriana?"
"Uh... Unni?"
Both of them were staring at me, looking thoroughly unsettled. Crap. I'd gotten so lost in thought that it must have been written all over my face.
"Ah—it's nothing. Don't worry about it. I'll be right back!"
"Wait—Eriana!"
"Unni! Where are you going?! That's a window!"
I vaulted the windowsill with practiced ease and dropped. My thoughts were a tangled mess. God... what had I been trying to do? How stupid had I been acting?
The shame hit me so hard and so late that my face burned scarlet. I couldn't bear to let them see me like this.
My feet hit the ground. The look on the neighbor's face as they stared at me in shock was quite something.
Leaving that behind, I broke into a run.
It pissed me off. It pissed me off that I'd thought I could just do whatever I wanted. That I'd done something so unbelievably rude to Lora—the closest thing I had to a friend. That I'd taken it upon myself to judge and redirect Lunel's admiration however I liked... I hated all of it.
I ran for the forest. I ran like a madwoman, pouring every ounce of strength I had into it.
I wanted to smash something. Anything.