Twisted Confessions
"Well, shall we grab some food? It's only jerky, though."
"Ah... I'm not really hungry."
"Me neither."
Renia and Dreyan shook their heads in unison.
Maybe it was because of her twin-tails, but the way Renia's hair swayed as she shook her head was strangely mesmerizing.
Ever since the experiments, my appetite hadn't been the same. Even if I was active for hours or went without eating for days, I didn't really feel hungry.
"Eh? Is no one hungry? I know we haven't been in here long, but I figured everyone would be starving after all that exertion."
"Well, I mean, after what we just saw..."
"Yeah, seeing actual internal organs... I don't think I can stomach meat for a while..."
I'd been a bit worried about slicing my own stomach open and letting my guts spill out right in front of them, but I hadn't expected them to be this traumatized.
Am I the weird one for not really caring about that sort of thing?
The two of them had looked fine after taking a quick nap, but just the memory of my abdominal incision seemed to turn their stomachs, and their faces paled instantly.
Then again, Renia had literally run out of the room to throw up, so expecting her to be perfectly fine after just one day was probably asking too much.
"If we ever get trapped somewhere and run out of food, you guys might have to eat my flesh to survive, you know?"
"Hic!"
"Ugh..."
Their reactions were hilarious.
Liliael was staring at me in utter horror from the side, but I casually ignored her.
"Well, if you're okay with bread for now..."
"...!"
At my words, Renia's face brightened instantly, and she nodded.
Just like Meria, kids were so simple and easy to please.
My original plan was to tag along with them for a bit and then slip away to travel alone once enough time had passed, but I at least had to repay them for helping me.
"Let's call it a day for the dungeon exploration and head back. Having two people in bad shape is just asking for an accident. Besides, seeing monster blood might trigger memories of... well, that. We didn't really get any loot, but hey, we can count finding Syaruen as our haul, right?"
She's not saying that just because of my joke earlier, is she?
Unlike my deadpan expression, the other two immediately perked up and nodded in agreement.
Over the past few days, I'd realized—unsurprisingly—that being in a party was actually quite comfortable.
Dreyan acted as a reliable shield, Renia attacked from a distance, and Liliael provided support.
Since the three of them handled almost everything with their preemptive strikes, I usually just delivered the finishing blows. Honestly, I started to wonder if I even needed to stay in this party anymore.
Since Meria had no combat abilities, my usual routine had just been taking occasional subjugation requests outside the village by myself.
I got along fine with Dreyan without any awkwardness. He clearly got flustered around me sometimes, which was pretty obvious despite his massive build.
And it wasn't like I'd gone into heat again and done anything stupid.
Back at the Academy, I used to look forward to hunting monsters, but unfortunately, reality never quite goes the way you want it to.
Hunting without a purpose was nothing but slaughter.
Unless it was for survival, food, population control, threat elimination, or official subjugation, mindless monster hunting was just ecological destruction.
Well, we have livestock for food, so I guess we can cross that one off.
I used to smoke like a chimney back then, bored out of my mind while doing nothing but monster subjugation quests.
"Phew..."
Renia and I had gone to a public bathhouse for the first time in ages.
"What's with those scars?"
Since she was always fully clothed, I'd never had a chance to see Renia naked. This was the first time I noticed two long scars running down her back.
"Ah, these? They told me I got them when I was a kid. I broke a glass window before I was old enough to even remember. Apparently, my mom scolded me half to death."
So she was a little troublemaker back then.
As soon as we got into the hot water, Renia stared at me for a moment before speaking.
"...Do you think I should start smoking too?"
"Where is this coming from? Smoking is bad for kids."
Though I was hardly one to talk, considering I'd started when I was seventeen or eighteen.
"I was just wondering if cigarettes were the secret to your amazing figure, Big Sis."
As Renia stared intently at my body, I submerged my upper half in the water to cover myself and gave her a dumbfounded look.
"...Do you really like Dreyan that much?"
Renia pouted, splashing the water with her hands.
"No, I don't! I'm going to make Dreyan fall head over heels for me, make him realize he can't live without me, and then dump his ass. Then I'll date a much hotter, cooler guy right in front of his face."
...Honestly, maybe I should just seduce Dreyan myself.
Her unrequited love had lasted so long that her mind had gone completely twisted.
"So, can I have Dreyan after you dump him?"
"Absolutely not!"
As if she'd ever let him go.
"I need to make sure I get a proper confession out of that bastard before you leave, Big Sis."
Is there a reason it has to be before I leave?
Wait, now that I thought about it, I don't think I'd ever heard the most important part of this story.
"Have you ever confessed to him?"
"Him?"
"You."
"No."
"Hmm, well... I guess you've never received one either, which is why it's an unrequited love."
"Actually, I have been confessed to."
"?"
Had I completely misread their relationship?
By "confessed to," we were both talking about Renia getting a confession from Dreyan, right?
"It's a bit complicated. But first of all, I'm the victim here. I'm not some weirdo who rejects a confession and then acts like this."
"I'm listening."
"Sigh..."
She let out a long, heavy sigh.
"I told you I've liked him since I was eight, right? It wasn't because of some grand event. It was just a childhood crush. But those feelings lingered, and because I was already in love with him, everything he did looked cool, making me fall even harder."
If he confessed to her after that, shouldn't everything have worked out perfectly?
"I didn't show it, though. I was too embarrassed, and I was scared things would get awkward if I confessed and got rejected. I was just biding my time, thinking I'll confess someday~ and then... how old was I? Fourteen? Fifteen? On his birthday, he suddenly told me he liked me."
"And then?"
"And then the bastard dumped me right on the spot."
Is he insane?
Before I could even process this absurd story, Renia kept going.
"He said he liked me, but he was still too lacking, so he'd become a cooler man and confess properly later. Can you believe that crap? He's a total lunatic, seriously..."
Renia's lips trembled as she finished, tears welling in her eyes.
"That absolute asshole... Who—hic—who said I'd only like him if he was cool...?"
Hearing only Renia's side of the story, Dreyan's actions made zero sense, but I supposed he had his own reasons.
Or maybe he was just trying to act like a cool protagonist.
Good grief.
I slid over next to Renia and stroked her hair. Sniffling and hiccuping, she clung to me.
"Sniff, hic... I'm sorry. Forcing such a weird story on you, crying over something so stupid, making a big deal out of nothing..."
"Boys will be boys."
"Anyway, that's why I couldn't even confess, and got dumped before I could. For now, I'm just settling for being normal friends. But it's been over three years! When is he ever going to confess?!"
"How are you going to get a confession out of him when he's like that? He said he'd confess once he became a cooler man."
"I don't know. I figure if we keep traveling together and I boost his self-esteem a bit, he'll eventually think he's hot stuff and finally confess."
Is that a compliment or an insult?
"I'll keep my right ring finger open for you until you're an adult."
"Ehehe..."
Renia seemed to cheer up a bit, her pink hair swaying side to side as she smiled.
My personality has really gotten weird when it comes to relationships, whether with guys or girls.
If Meria found out, she'd probably throw a fit, accusing me of preferring younger girls.
"You don't have any interest in dating, do you, Big Sis?"
Why does that question make me so uneasy?
"Nope. It's not that I hate the idea of dating, it's just a hassle. I've never really had a long or deep connection with a guy anyway. If I meet someone down the road, maybe I will."
I rolled my eyes, digging through my old memories.
"Back in my Academy days, when I was younger, I just liked hanging out and having fun with everyone. Once I grew up a bit, I was busy harboring an unrequited crush, and after that failed, my interest in romance just completely plummeted."
"Really? Thank goodness."
I was worried she was about to confess to me, so I was relieved that wasn't the case.
If word got out that I was seducing or dating a minor—and a girl, at that—it would cause all kinds of trouble.
"I was just having a silly little daydream. Since I've already claimed you anyway, if Dreyan suddenly fell for you, he'd just get instantly rejected by you, right? And even if he realized his feelings for me too late, I'd already be yours. No, wait—at the same time, you'd already be mine. He'd have to pay the price for falling for you instead of me!"
Just how far is this girl's imagination running?
"Big Sis, if by some miracle Dreyan confesses to you, you won't accept it, right? You did say you weren't going to date anyone."
I didn't say I'd never date anyone, though.
"Alright, alright."
"You can date anyone else in the world, but not him. Got it?"
"Yes, yes, ma'am."