A Date? (4)
The outings with Ethan… or "dates," as I refused to call them — continued through the rest of the weekend, even after that. Though the outfit I'd changed into was no longer my maid uniform but a red dress befitting a noble young lady.
The maid uniform I'd been wearing until moments ago, along with the other clothes bought at the shop, was scheduled to be delivered back to the academy dormitory.
Perhaps it was because I'd changed my clothes, but compared to earlier, the stares pressing in on me seemed to have lessened somewhat. Probably people were deliberately averting their eyes, sensing that I really might be a noble young lady.
Most of the maids here were commoners who rarely rose above the rank of baron, so being stared at for a while wouldn't cause any real trouble — but a woman who clearly looked like nobility could be the daughter of a viscount or a margrave, for all anyone knew, so not letting their gazes linger was simply the safer choice for their own well-being.
The first place Ethan took me after we left the clothing shop was an ordinary Italian-style restaurant. Of course, there was obviously no country called Italy in this world — it just meant the menu was roughly in that style.
A salad, grilled freshwater fish, a light pasta, and a mildly sweet dessert for afterserve — a passably decent establishment, all told.
I had no intention of complaining or nitpicking no matter what kind of restaurant he took me to, but even setting that aside, the place Ethan had chosen had a clean, pleasant atmosphere.
"Is the food to your taste, Lilith?"
"Yes, Ethan. It's delicious — a lovely restaurant."
I wondered for a moment whether he was planning to order wine and manufacture something like a confession scene, but thankfully it seemed that wasn't his purpose in bringing me here.
No — or perhaps Ethan had never even thought about confessing in the first place, and I was just jumping to conclusions for no reason.
Please, let me be the clueless, delusional maid who doesn't even know her own situation. That would be far better than receiving some impossible confession I could neither accept nor reject and having things turn awkward between us.
"I hear you've been getting close with the daughter of Viscount Blaze lately. According to the rumors, you spend an hour with her after classes, talking about all sorts of things."
"Viscount Blaze seemed to lack a proper grounding in spiritology, so I've simply been helping her. She may be the head of the Magic Ministry, but spirits don't seem to take to her at all."
"…I suppose so. You did contract with Sylvie not long ago, after all."
For the record, Sally and Sei hadn't joined today's outing. They'd burned through quite a lot of mana during yesterday's live monster training.
Sally, being a high-ranking spirit, was perfectly fine, but Sei, an intermediate spirit, looked a little worn out, so I'd fed her mana until she was stuffed and tucked her into bed in the dormitory.
And since Sei was staying behind in the dormitory, Sally — Sei's hopeless simp — naturally stayed behind with her.
…Leaving them on their own for a day or so shouldn't cause any problems, right?
"And what about you, Ethan? Are you getting along well with your classmates? I hear that Hero Gehmajoshigi-gwat has been showing quite an interest in you, my lord."
"…Well, I don't particularly care for that fellow."
"I'm sorry?"
"He has a bad reputation, so you'd best not concern yourself with him either, Lilith. He already keeps two women around him as it is, and lately it seems he's been flirting with Miss Nathalie and Her Imperial Highness as well."
"Uh… I-is that so…"
As for Nathalie, befriending her had been his goal from the moment he enrolled in the swordsmanship department, surely. After all, in the mid-game, it was the Nathalie–Thomas pairing that could cover the protagonist's inadequate durability.
And hovering around the Imperial Princess was probably a mandatory event. If his goal was a clear run, he'd be determined to complete every required event. If he carelessly skipped one and the later storyline tangled up, all the outside knowledge he'd so painstakingly gathered might become unusable.
I could understand, to an extent, why Ethan looked on Gehmajoshigi-gwat with such displeasure — but knowing the full circumstances as I did, all I could feel was pity for this pointless wariness of his.
Going by this reaction, I doubt I'll get a chance to make contact with Gehmajoshigi-gwat anytime soon.
Until I somehow resolved Ethan's wariness toward the protagonist, there was no way I could talk to him or probe the guy's intentions.
And if the guy happened to think Ethan was a villain, I'd need to clear up that misunderstanding too.
Anyway, chatting away like that about recent happenings, Ethan and I took a leisurely stroll along the wide lake that encircled the Isle of Knowledge, letting the time slip gently by.
With the atmosphere more relaxed than it had been in ages, my heart grew a little calmer as well.
This is nice — time like this.
Ever since the second semester began, my to-do list had ballooned out of nowhere, and lately there had been plenty of things giving me headaches in one way or another.
Maybe what I'd needed all along was a chance to while away the hours like this, unhurried.
Ethan had been quite busy in his own way lately, too — perhaps he'd secretly been longing for time like this as well.
Wait. Am I seriously getting the wrong idea again?
Him asking me to spend time with him as the noble lady Lilith was probably just his way of creating a comfortable atmosphere.
Having a maid hovering at your side even on a rare day off could feel a little stifling, after all.
Come to think of it, if he wanted to confess to his personal maid, he could do it anytime, anywhere. If he'd harbored any strange feelings for me, he would have pounced the moment we started sharing a dormitory.
Yes — I was definitely just letting my imagination run wild with this whole "date" nonsense. Honestly, I'm so self-conscious sometimes.
As my heart settled, the tangled worries I'd been carrying in my head flew off with it, and my mind grew all the more at ease.
After enough time had passed for the light lunch to settle, Ethan made a careful suggestion.
"…So I introduced Sei, the one I'd contracted with that day, to Viscount Blaze, and she suddenly said something to me and bolted off somewhere…."
"…Um, Lilith."
"Yes?"
"If you're not opposed… would you like to rest on that bench over there for a bit?"
"Are you tired, Ethan?"
"It's not that I'm tired — I spotted a cheese shop while we were walking just now. If you'd like, I thought we could take a short rest there and have a little picnic."
…Right up until we'd been talking, I hadn't given it any thought, but hearing Ethan say it and becoming conscious of it, I did feel a little peckish.
Maybe it was because my tension had eased and my guard had come down.
Until a moment ago, I'd been wound tight at the thought that Ethan might get swept up in the mood and confess to me, after all.
Or maybe it was simply that lunch had been such a light menu, and the stroll had worn my appetite back in.
"In that case, I'll go and fetch it. You rest here, Ethan."
"Ah — no. I'm the one who brought it up, so I should—"
"You paid for everything at the clothing shop and the restaurant today too, didn't you? So at the very least, I'd like to be the one to buy the snacks."
"Still, even so…"
"Weren't you the one who told me to act like a noble young lady, Ethan? Or is the ideal noble lady you envision the shameless kind of girl who never once opens her purse from start to finish and just sponges off others?"
"…All right, Lilith. I'll leave it to you, then."
Judging that further persuasion was pointless against my resolute attitude, Ethan finally nodded and permitted me to open my purse.
Good grief — having to coax his approval this persistently just to buy a few coins' worth of snacks.
"I saw the cheese shop on the way here myself, so I know where it is. I'll be right back."
"Mm. Stay safe out there."
I answered with a small nod, then turned and retraced my steps along the path we'd just strolled.
It was still inside the Isle of Knowledge, after all — how dangerous could it possibly be?
"Beautiful miss, is there anything I can get for you?"
"Could I have one piece each of Gouda and Cheddar? Something in slices small enough to snack on simply will do."
Listening to the gruff, burly-armed man behind the cheese shop counter, I ordered two kinds of sliced cheese displayed at the front of the shop.
I was hardly cultured when it came to food, and the only cheeses I knew by name were Gouda and Cheddar. Blue cheese was something I'd never eaten raw, so it didn't stir any particular urge to try it. Ricotta or Emmental didn't seem like the sort of thing a shop like this would carry anyway.
"Out for a picnic with your betrothed, I take it? I saw you passing by together a little while ago."
"Uh… he's not my betrothed. We are planning a picnic, though."
"A family member, then?"
"Not quite family either… it's a rather complicated relationship."
"…Ah, I see."
Well, nobles everywhere — not just at the academy — tended to have all manner of tangled family arrangements.
An heir adopted from another house to carry on the family line, step-siblings born of remarriages between noble houses with no blood relation whatsoever, or even children born of incest, and so on.
It was knowledge best not dug into too deeply; nothing good ever came of it.
And the commoners living on the Isle of Knowledge, used to crossing paths with nobles regularly, were quite perceptive about such matters.
Hearing the words "complicated relationship," the shopkeeper seemed to grow self-conscious under my gaze and hurriedly wrapped up my order, handing the package over.
"Two silver pieces, miss."
"Thank you. Have a good day."
"Enjoy yourselves out there!"
For a paper bag holding just two slices of cheese, it felt oddly weighty — as if he'd slipped in something extra as a service.
This was the sort of event that happened now and then when your Charm stat was high enough, so I didn't think much of it. After my recent level-ups, my Charm had already broken into the triple digits, after all.
In games like this, this is usually the moment when, separated from the protagonist, the heroine gets kidnapped or something.
Of course, the current me had trained up my dagger skills to a respectable degree, so far from being kidnapped, anyone who tried to jump me had better worry about their own neck instead.
In the inner pocket of my maid uniform, never missing a single day, three daggers always nestled against my chest…
…Oh. Right.
Come to think of it, the daggers were still tucked inside my maid uniform, left behind when I changed clothes earlier.
I'd meant to retrieve them when I changed again, but with everything happening so quickly, I'd forgotten to pick them back up.
…Well, it should be fine. It's just a few missing daggers — nothing's going to happen over that.
Still, with the daggers suddenly gone from my person, an oddly anxious feeling crept over me, so I kept my senses sharp and alert as I made my way back to the lakeside bench where our rendezvous awaited.
Thankfully, no dangerous encounters with kidnappers or bandits occurred along the way.
"Ah, Lilith. There you are."
"…Yes, Ethan."
"Why are you walking around looking so on edge? Did something strange happen, or…"
"No, Ethan. It's nothing worth worrying about."
What would Ethan think if I told him I was anxious because the daggers had vanished from my clothes?
But the moment I approached Ethan, paper bag of cheese in hand, a long corked bottle caught my eye — held in his hand.
And at the very sight of it, the wariness toward Ethan that I'd momentarily set aside sprang back to life in an instant.
"What is that, Ethan?"
"Ah, this? I bought it while you were off getting snacks. It felt a little empty having nothing to drink, and I figured wine would pair nicely with cheese."
"…I see. So that's why there's alcohol…"
"You're going to have some too, right?"
"…Well, yes. You went to the trouble, Ethan — of course I will."
…Kidnapping event, whatever. Forget the strangers on the street — the real thing to guard against might be sitting right in front of me.