The Young Lady Looking Outside in Her Underwear
A young lady looking outside in nothing but her undergarments.
A sharp explosive crack rang out from my fist. All I'd done was throw a punch. I couldn't exactly leave this kid behind, after all.
Monsters did turn up fairly often along the road—low-tier things like goblins and slimes. Still, for Lunel, who wasn't yet skilled with magic, they were more than she could handle.
"Unni? You're sure you're okay?"
If there was a problem, it was that my strength was simply too much.
A goblin went sailing cleanly into the distance and slammed back-first into a tree. The thing that had been screeching and thrashing about went limp in a single blow and closed its eyes right then and there.
"I'm fine, so don't worry so much."
I answered gently and gave a small nod. I had no idea why this kid's cheeks were turning red. Was she feeling unwell?
Haa... Still, I never imagined I'd be this strong.
Every punch, every kick landed at a lethal level. A slime had popped out and startled me, so I'd kicked it on instinct—and it had shattered into pieces with a boom.
Honestly, even though it was my own body, it was almost frightening.
Then again, why didn't the goblin explode...?
Hit something like a goblin with this much force and it should have been pulverized on the spot. Instead it just went flying, crashed into a tree, and flopped over. It was as if the world itself refused to let any blood be spilled. Bizarre didn't even begin to cover it.
"Unni, you're incredibly strong! That's amazing!"
Lunel was looking up at me not with contempt or fear, but with eyes full of pure admiration. Ah... at this rate, getting her to hate me was a lost cause.
I was supposed to do awful things to this kid and tank her affection points into the ground, but somehow everything had gone sideways from the very start, and my head was already throbbing.
At this rate, nothing I tried would work. Should I just leave her here? She was the protagonist, after all. She wouldn't die... right?
I considered it for a moment, then discarded the idea. It wasn't a good one. No matter how I sliced it, abandoning a little kid like this in the middle of a forest crawling with demonkin was something my conscience simply wouldn't allow.
Better to just tear into her verbally and lower her affection that way.
I let out a heavy sigh and fixed her with a look of pure disdain. I caught a flicker of her flinching, but it didn't last long. The admiration was already sparkling back into her eyes.
I needed to cut this off here.
"This is what happens when you try to help with clumsy magic like that."
"Nh..."
I'd gone ahead and called her magic clumsy to her face, so now I had to figure out what to say next. I was watching her quietly, turning it over in my mind, when I noticed she looked like she was about to cry. Her condition was clearly not good.
Hey—don't you dare cry! If you suddenly start crying, I'm going to feel bad too!
"Ahem... Still, you can help a little, can't you?"
"Yes! I can help you, Unni!"
Lunel answered with a nod and a bright smile. Her eyes were sparkling so brilliantly it was almost blinding.
Honestly, it was a little overwhelming.
Crack—boom—the sound burst from my fists as the monsters blocking our path went flying outward. Screaming was routine; most of them dropped dead on the spot. And still not a single drop of blood. At this point I was starting to wonder if someone was censoring the whole thing.
"Nngh... O stars, please grant me your blessing!"
She was chanting something that sounded like a magic spell, raising her staff toward the sky and spinning it around. It was actually pretty cute.
In the game I'd written her off as a weakling who did nothing but lean on the male lead, but up close she wasn't half bad.
Not that she was any help whatsoever, which was a bit much.
I'd already smashed three goblins that came at us, and all she'd managed was to summon a tiny cluster of stars over her head and...
"Eeeek!"
...deliver what amounted to a light flick to the forehead.
That was magic? Honestly, raw physical force seemed far superior.
Thud, thud—I glanced at the goblins and other demonkin sailing into the distance. Once the fighting was wrapped up, I drew a breath and tipped my head toward the sky.
"We've arrived."
After walking for what felt like forever, it seemed we'd finally reached the city. I could just make out the castle gates not far ahead.
"Uuuu..."
Lunel was sniffling, her head hanging low. She clearly hated how completely useless she'd been. Fair enough—I'd knocked out every approaching monster with my bare hands, and all she'd managed was a couple of forehead flicks.
Should I comfort her? No, no matter how I looked at it, that wasn't something a villainess would do. I needed to lower her affection. Consoling her here would only make things worse.
Right. Time to tear into her. Then I'd slip into the city like it was nothing and disappear. Perfect.
I cleared my throat, drew a breath, and turned toward Lunel. The girl, a full head shorter than me, was staring at the ground as if she couldn't stand how powerless she'd been.
I watched her for a moment, then spoke.
"You weren't nearly as much help as I expected."
"Ah... th-that's, um..."
I deliberately ignored the tears that looked ready to spill at any second and pressed on, slow and steady.
"Judging by the fact that you came into the forest, you're an alchemist, aren't you? Going out looking for materials is one thing, but wasn't that an awfully reckless thing to do?"
"Nh... I-I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize to me. You should be apologizing to yourself. If you're going to wander alone through a forest crawling with monsters, you at least need to know how to protect yourself."
I rested a hand lightly against eyes that looked ready to overflow. I gently brushed away the dampness gathering there and held her gaze.
I heard her swallow. Standing outside the city walls, with the distant bustle of people faintly audible, locking eyes with Lunel felt stranger than I'd expected.
"You never know what might happen otherwise. Isn't that right?"
"Y-yes..."
"From now on, don't push yourself so hard. Be careful. I don't particularly want to watch you die."
Mmm... was that enough of a dressing-down? I'd called her a weakling and as good as labeled her a pathetic mage who'd get herself killed, so she had to be furious.
It felt reasonably satisfying. With that, I casually turned my back and started toward the castle gate.
"W-wait! Unni!"
I ignored whatever she was trying to say and stepped through the gate. I could hear Lunel hurrying after me, but it didn't last long. Before long I'd melted into the throng of people.
"Unni... Unni!"
I could hear her calling for me. She was clearly furious. Heh... her affection points had to have plummeted after that.
Haa... Still, it was already evening.
Time felt like it was flying by. Light spilled from the streetlamps lining every road. Beneath them, people in all kinds of clothes were heading out to their various business.
It was a very different scene from any city center I knew. Not bleak at all. If anything, the nightscape was so full of life it was a pleasure just to look at.
Of course, I needed to head home. It was getting rather late.
"Haa... And when am I ever going to get used to this skirt?"
The way it fluttered left my legs feeling so exposed I thought I might lose my mind. Honestly, it was a blessing Lunel hadn't seen my face back in the forest.
If she'd watched my cheeks go red every time the skirt flared with those booming punches, she definitely would have found it suspicious.
The frilled top was hard to move in, too. And the way it left my chest oddly exposed made the whole thing feel... strange, somehow?
It was an outfit that practically oozed embarrassment. I had no idea when I'd be able to wear it like it was nothing, but it certainly wasn't today.
"Haa... Today was pretty exhausting."
I'd put this body through its paces and met Lunel for the first time. Stealing an event the male lead was supposed to witness was a problem, but... well, I'd tanked her affection pretty thoroughly, so maybe it didn't matter?
After getting an earful about being a weakling mage, she had to be plenty angry.
I hoped she'd hate me as much as she possibly could. That way I could spend the rest of my life loafing around with nothing to do.
And honestly, she might be weak now, but she'd get stronger eventually. There was no need to obsess over her right this second.
I wondered when I'd run into her next. Tilting my head, I stepped inside the house and stripped my clothes off without a second thought. The breeze that rushed over me felt wonderful.
I let out a breath and leaned out the window. Somehow I felt people's eyes on me, and my cheeks seemed to warm—but that was probably just my imagination, right?
Well, who was going to care? Sure, the figure was nice, but in the game everyone said the heroines—not me—were the pretty ones.
People here clearly preferred a flat build. A slim waist and a big chest probably weren't their thing.
Having reached that conclusion, I was leaning out and looking outside in nothing but my undergarments without a care in the world.
The wind brushed past my body.
The cool sensation against skin still damp with sweat wasn't half bad.