A Fellow Countryman (3)
After the Hero and Lilith stepped away for a private conversation, Serista's dormitory fell quiet.
"……."
"……."
"……."
In the meeting room where Ethan, Agnes, and Serista remained behind, only a peculiar awkwardness and silence drifted through the air.
Lilith was close with both Ethan and Agnes, and the Hero was acquainted with both Agnes and Serista. Strip away Lilith and the Hero, and what remained were people who were, for all practical purposes, nothing more than friends-of-friends. With three or more in the room it wasn't so bad, but leave any two of them alone and the atmosphere turned delicate — the kind of silence where dredging up a conversation topic felt like a monumental task.
With three such people gathered in one place, the awkward energy was only natural, and it was none other than Ethan who finally broke the silence first.
"It seems everyone's run out of things to say. Without Lilith and that Hero here, I suppose it's because none of us are truly close with one another."
"…Y-yes."
"……."
"If neither of you intends to say anything, I'd like to make a statement of my own. Would that be all right?"
"Oh, b-by all means, Young Lord Blackwood!"
"…Do as you like."
Just as the Hero and Lilith were making use of a rare moment alone together, this gathering of three was also a combination that almost never came together under ordinary circumstances.
They were three people with entirely different interests and no common ground whatsoever — and yet Ethan had managed to find a single point they all shared. And the moment he realized that shared point was connected to his own personal objective, he drew the other two's attention.
"To begin with, this concerns the two people who just stepped outside."
"Yes?"
"Mm?"
"Is there anyone here — Lady Serista, or Lady Blaze — who actually *wants* that Hero and Lilith to grow closer?"
"……Pardon?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What does it mean? It means exactly what I said."
Judging that Lilith and the Hero would take a while to return, Ethan began laying out his personal aims and intentions before the two women in front of him.
"To be perfectly frank — I do not want Lilith and that Hero to become close."
"Wh-wha—?!"
"Yeah, that was obvious at a glance."
"And I suspect it goes for the two of you as well. Am I wrong, Lady Serista?"
"Wh-what are you talking about? I, I don't particularly…."
"That you hold romantic feelings for the Hero is something I already know, so there is no use pretending otherwise."
"Y-ye— WHAAT?!"
Startled by her own feelings tumbling out through someone else's mouth, Serista panicked like a startled hamster and scrambled for an excuse — but Ethan and Agnes were already fully convinced that she liked the Hero.
"N-no, that's not it at all…! I, I would never harbor such improper feelings toward the Hero…!"
"Perhaps you'd best lower your voice. Should you be careless, the Hero outside might just overhear."
"Haak?!"
"…I knew it too. It's written all over your face."
"Huk—hahk?!"
After confirming Serista covering her mouth with both hands and repeatedly making stricken faces, Ethan turned his gaze directly to Agnes this time.
"And I imagine Lady Blaze isn't particularly fond of Lilith growing close to that Hero either. Am I wrong?"
"…I don't even like that guy."
"I know. But that's precisely why you'd hate to see Lilith end up dating him all the more."
"……."
"The man's relationships with women are already a tangled mess — do you genuinely want your one and only close friend diving into that? And from what I hear, your other friend, Princess Seraphin, has taken an interest in that Hero as well."
"Wh-what?! P-Princess Seraphin does?!"
"Surely you, Lady Blaze, wouldn't enjoy watching two friends fight over a single man. Am I mistaken?"
"…No, you're right."
"N-now, hold on just a moment…. The Princess taking an interest in the Hero must be some sort of misunder— no, w-wait, I-I never had any improper feelings toward the Hero in the first place…."
"Then it seems our common goal has roughly been settled."
Brushing off Serista's clumsy performance with practiced indifference, Ethan simply pressed on with what he had come to say, conviction burning in every word — and at last, the true reason he'd summoned the two of them spilled out.
"To put it bluntly: I will never hand my Lilith over to that Hero. Not under any circumstances."
"I… see…."
"…Suit yourself."
"Which is why I'd like to request your cooperation. Yours, Lady Blaze. And yours as well, Lady Serista."
"C-cooperation? Wh-what exactly would we need to…."
"I'd like you to steer circumstances however you can so that Lilith is never placed in a situation where she's alone with the Hero."
"I-isn't that a bit wrong, though? I-I believe everything the Hero does has meaning…."
"I'm not forcing anyone. If it doesn't sit well with you, then simply let what I said go in one ear and out the other. If you truly have no such feelings, you have no reason to be shaken in the first place.
That said, one thing is certain: I will take every measure within my power to ensure those two never cross paths. Even if the two of you refuse to consent, it makes no difference to me — so keep that in mind."
"……."
Ethan's sudden declaration of sabotage against the Hero and Lilith's relationship.
The remark left Serista considerably flustered — yet somewhere in her chest, a strange, fluttering feeling had begun to stir.
If the young Lord Blackwood truly set his mind to it and cut off the Hero and Lilith's relationship, the day her secret — that she was a genuine saintess — came to light would never arrive. Which meant she might be able to remain at the Hero's side that much longer.
And what tipped the scales of her decision was the answer from Agnes, who had seemed to be staying neutral.
"…Fine. I'll help."
"Truly?"
"In exchange — promise me you'll take responsibility for Lilith, all the way to the end."
"I swear it upon the name of House Blackwood. And conveniently, we have a saintess present — a most fitting witness, wouldn't you say?"
"…Good enough."
"I-I'll… keep it in m-mind too…."
"Thank you, Lady Serista."
"I-it's not as if I harbor any strange feelings for the Hero, or any j-jealousy toward Lady Lilith… I mean, Lilith… no, wait, Miss Lilith or whatever…. I-I simply believe the Hero ought to practice some m-moderation these days, that's all…."
With even Serista's unexpected cooperation secured, Ethan nodded to himself in satisfaction.
Thus was born the temporary alliance of Ethan, Serista, and Agnes.
"Hey. You're Lilgirlchang, aren't you."
"…I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Lord Hero Gehmajoshigi-gwat. Who on earth is this 'Lilgirlchang' person?"
"It's you, dammit! We were chatting shamelessly just a minute ago, so why are you suddenly putting on an act?!"
"……."
Ah, for fuck's sake.
Who would have thought my old handle from my past life would get exposed *here*, of all places?
I should have opened the conversation more carefully. Instead I got carried away, chattering on about this and that, and stepped right on my own tail.
If it had stayed at the level of mere suspicion, I could have somehow talked my way around it. But hearing the name Lilgirlchang after so long had made my body freeze up for a moment, unable to react naturally.
"Wow. Is this actually real? You're seriously *the* Lilgirlchang?"
"……."
"The same little shit who trolled all over LuaGal calling Lilith a 'slutty bitch whore,' and you got isekai'd INTO Lilith? Holy crap, dude, you're an actual legend. Pfft—khk—"
"Grrrgh… fffuck…."
Haaah… goddamn it.
Why did I have to get found out like this, seriously.
Out of all the countless Lumia Academy players out there, why did the one who got isekai'd as the Hero have to be a LuaGal user? And why, of all guides he could have read, did it have to be *mine*?
The sheer absurdity of fate's little prank left me feeling almost hollow.
"Wow, seeing this, I guess karma really is a thing. How is Lilgirlchang *Lilith*? God, this is amazing. Khehek."
"…What was your LuaGal handle, anyway?"
"Me? It's been so long since I got isekai'd I barely remember, but I think it was RedeemingLove?"
"…Oh. So that was you. No wonder you played everything straight by the guidebook."
My memory isn't good enough to recall dynamic IPs or anything, but I do remember the names of the regulars who often commented on my guide posts.
One of them went by 'RedeemingLove' and left questions on every single one of my guides — and because he showed up on practically every post I ever wrote, he stuck in my memory.
Compared to all the unhinged lunatics who haunted that gallery, it was honestly a blessing that *this guy* got isekai'd as the protagonist. At least in my memory, he'd followed my guides faithfully from start to finish.
Had he not died in an accident, he probably would have wrapped up his 25th playthrough and the final chapter of my guide. But since that run left only the ending scenes unfinished, clearing the game wouldn't have been affected either way.
…Still. Having my identity as Lilgirlchang exposed like this was something I never saw coming.
"Ugh, whatever. Let's just hurry back before anyone notices. If we stay out any longer, they'll actually get suspicious."
"Yeah, sure thing, little whore~."
"…And I'm only saying this as a precaution — do NOT call me that in front of Ethan. I'm serious. I will actually try to kill you."
"Pfft, r-right. Must be nice, being so loved. Khhek…."
"Sshkk… grrkh…."
All I'd wanted was to confirm whether he was a fellow Earthling — a countryman — and somehow the whole exchange had devolved into the two of us exchanging our old community handles instead.
I should have just shamelessly pushed through and pretended to be some anonymous drive-by poster….
Whether the revelation that LuaGal's own Lilgirlchang had transmigrated as Lilith of all people struck him as hilarious or not, the Hero kept snickering to himself all the way up to the door of Serista's dormitory.
And when the two of us returned to the meeting room, what greeted us was a dormitory whose atmosphere had, inexplicably, grown several degrees more awkward than before.