Choice (1)
The next day, Erinn gathered the party members who were still in the house.
"You've all given it a little more thought, right~?"
Then she spoke.
"Honestly, I figure our opinions are pretty much the same."
At Erinn's words, all three of them nodded slightly. They had already been leaning toward accepting Karna's proposal, and the fact that Albrecht and Clara had offered to help yesterday had only hardened their resolve.
Ser-Aria spoke up.
"This is our chance. If we can wipe out the Oblivion Legion, no one else will have to suffer from that curse."
"In theory, Albrecht's power really can neutralize the curse, so..."
Following right after Ser-Aria, Freya voiced her agreement.
"Now is the perfect time to take down the Oblivion Legion."
Letisia did not object to either of them. She simply gave a slight nod to show she agreed.
Hearing the three of them, Erinn let out a light laugh. It seemed she had been the only one still fretting right up to the end. Feeling a little sorry for having shown weakness as the party's leader, she spoke more brightly.
"Alright, let's do it~ We can worry about that Defense Minister woman throwing a fit later, whatever~♡"
At Erinn's decision, the three nodded. With the decision made, they needed to tell Albrecht and Clara the news before going to see Karna.
"Then I'll go ahead and tell the two of them..."
"I'll do that."
Someone volunteered to go in her place. It was Letisia. She lightly stroked her hair as she spoke.
"Um... Erinn, Clara's probably still wary of you after yesterday, right? So it would be better if I went."
"...Aha♡"
Erinn smiled knowingly. With her sharp instincts, there was no way she would miss the real reason Letisia was offering to go instead.
"Then I should go. I acted on my own, so I need to apologize too."
"What?... What if Clara gets mad? I'll go and explain it properly."
"No. Even if she gets angry, it's right for me to go apologize myself. And we have to leave together anyway, so we should clear the air first, right~?"
Letisia went "Ugh" and shut her mouth, as if she had nothing left to say. But Letisia, who desperately wanted to go see Albrecht somehow, did not back down easily.
"B-but still..."
Yet she could not come up with any excuse, so she could not continue. Looking at her, Erinn said,
"I appreciate the thought, but I'm fine. I'll go myself, Letisia."
Saying so, Erinn started to rise from her seat. Just then, another person spoke up.
"Then go together!"
"...Huh?"
"What?"
It was Ser-Aria. She spoke as if wondering why they were making such a fuss about it.
"If Letisia goes with you, there'll be someone to stop Clara if she gets mad, right?"
"There's no need to go that far..."
"Come on, it's good to prepare for the worst."
Ser-Aria chuckled as she spoke.
"You never know. Clara might really be furious."
"..."
"You two go. Don't fight over something pointless."
Even Erinn could not argue with Ser-Aria's suggestion. And neither could Letisia.
I wanted to go alone...
...I wanted to go alone, but this much is fine...
After a brief moment of hesitation, the two answered at the same time.
"...Okay~."
"Understood."
They accepted Ser-Aria's opinion with different feelings. Letisia stood up to follow Erinn, who had risen from her seat.
"Then we'll be back."
"I'll be right back~."
Erinn and Letisia opened the door and left, heading for the house next door; Freya could see them through the window. After watching them for a moment, Freya glanced at Ser-Aria.
"What are you doing?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't play dumb. Aria, you know too."
Freya said,
"What kind of feelings those two have for Albrecht..."
"That's why I sent both of them?"
"What?"
"Ah, maybe..."
Ser-Aria smirked.
"Are you sulking because I didn't send you, Freya?"
"...What!? W-what are you talking about?"
"Why is everyone so bad at being honest?"
She pulled a bottle of alcohol from her waist and gulped it down. Then, with a cheerful "Kyaa," she said,
"It'd be better if you were honest too, you know?"
"...Even if I'm honest, I'd only be a burden to Albrecht."
"Huh?......No, that's not what I meant."
Ser-Aria said, a little flustered.
"I wasn't talking about your... tendencies."
"...How can you separate that?"
Freya blushed slightly and hugged her large saintess's bosom as she spoke.
"It's true that I want Albrecht to look at my body..."
"......I, I was talking about other feelings."
Ser-Aria scratched her cheek, looking a bit troubled. As expected, understanding this saintess's heart was harder than anyone else's.
"Anyway, I was saying don't do anything you'll regret. Look at those two."
Ser-Aria said with a light laugh.
"Their faces look so much better. When Albrecht left, they didn't even look like people who were properly alive."
Saying so, Ser-Aria took another swig from the bottle. Watching her, Freya thought for a moment before nodding.
"......Yes."
People were knocking on the door first thing in the morning, so I came out with a half-asleep face. And sure enough, familiar faces were waiting.
"Hi~♡"
"Good morning, Albrecht."
It was Erinn and Letisia.
"We came to tell you about yesterday's discussion~."
"...But why did both of you come?"
At my question, Letisia smiled a little awkwardly. That expression showed me exactly what kind of feelings she had come with, making me feel a bit awkward myself. Then Erinn spoke.
"It just happened~? We came like this yesterday too~."
"Well, that's true..."
But hearing Erinn's answer, Letisia made a slightly surprised face. Wondering why she was reacting like that, Erinn laughed lightly.
...Why are you two laughing among yourselves. What is it. Let me in on it so I can laugh too.
That was what I was thinking, but Erinn did not seem inclined to explain as she said,
"Clara needs to hear this too, so can we come in?"
"...Sure. I'll wake Clara."
"She's still asleep?"
"Yeah."
Last night, Clara had not fallen asleep early. Of course, neither had I. We had not done anything in particular; it was just that, thinking we might be heading to the battlefield soon, she had chatted with me quietly until we fell asleep.
I thought it would end quickly, but Clara teased me, so I teased her back, and... we ended up falling asleep later than expected.
...Wait a second.
"...Wait outside for a bit."
"Huh?"
"Why?"
"...I need to wake Clara."
"What does that have to do with..."
Erinn, about to ask what that had to do with anything, suddenly froze. Seeing her, I struck first.
"No. We didn't do anything. We just slept in the same bed..."
"...S-same bed!?"
Of course, Letisia, who had not caught on first, looked shocked upon hearing it belatedly, but I was innocent. I still had not done anything with Clara!
But the misunderstanding did not seem easy to clear, as Erinn showed a bit of fluster as she spoke.
"I-it's fine~. You two are dating so... it could happen, yeah..."
"...We just lay down together talking and fell asleep!"
"Ah?"
I sighed lightly and said,
"I told you to wait because I thought you'd misunderstand like this... but since you already know, just come in."
"I-it was that...?"
"Yeah..."
Realizing I was not lying, they looked relieved. Letisia was one thing, but why was Erinn like that....
Anyway, I brought them into the house. Then I had them wait in the living room and opened the bedroom door. There, Clara was sleeping soundly on the bed.
Maybe because I had left, she was curled up tightly with the blanket rolled around her, looking incredibly cute. Without realizing it, I smiled and approached her.
"Clara."
"Mmm...?"
"Erinn and Letisia are here. They came to finish talking about yesterday. You need to hear it, so wake up."
"Okay......"
Clara rubbed her eyes and sat up while still curled in the rolled-up blanket. What kind of balance sense does this person have....
"Yaaawn..."
"Sleepy? I told you to sleep early."
When I said that looking at the sleepy Clara, she smiled bashfully and said,
"I felt good yesterday."
"...Huh?"
"Talking together."
Ah.
I nodded and answered.
"I liked it too."
But that line could easily be misunderstood....
"Y-you said you didn't do it!?"
"Th-that's right!!"
And sure enough, Erinn and Letisia, who had somehow followed in behind me, reacted intensely.
"We didn't!! And don't eavesdrop on conversations!"
"Th-then what felt good~?"
"...She said the time we spent talking together felt good. Why do you skip the middle and eavesdrop?"
"Ah..."
Erinn and Letisia finally understood and looked a little embarrassed. Looking at them, Clara tilted her head, then smiled gently and greeted them.
"Good morning."
"Ah, yes. Did you sleep well too, Clara?"
"What a sleepyhead~♡"
Hearing Erinn's teasing, Clara smiled bashfully and seemed to try to get out of the blanket, unrolling the one she had been wrapped in. And then I, Erinn, and Letisia were all surprised at once.
"Ah..."
"C-Clara! Clothes, clothes!!"
"Huh?......Ah?"
Apparently the buttons had come undone while she tossed and turned; Clara's sleepwear had slipped down, fully exposing one shoulder and even revealing her upper chest. More precisely, about half of it was showing. Realizing that, Clara blushed slightly and yanked her clothes up.
A brief silence fell. Then Clara, still red-faced, glanced at me and asked,
"...Did, did you see?"
"Huh?......Yeah......"
Uh, this isn't right. I should have said no, but without thinking I answered blankly like that.
"How can you affirm that, Albrecht!?"
"Wow, pervert~♡"
...Yeah.
It was an answer that left me with nothing to say even if called a pervert. Why would I say I saw it.
But Clara's response was even more unexpected.
"......It's fine if it's Albrecht."
"......Huh?"
I felt like my brain had stopped, as if hit by a hammer. And the two next to me seemed the same.
"W-what did you say...?"
"......Pfft, Clara's gotten a lot better at jokes too~♡"
Letisia could not hide her shock, and Erinn tried to dismiss the situation as nonsense. But Clara did not take back her words, nor deny them, and stood up from her spot.
No, rather....
"...Does it seem like a joke?"
She affirmed it.
Hearing that, my eyes went wide. I was not so stupid as to not understand the meaning of those words. As I stared blankly at Clara, she approached me with a slightly coquettish smile. At that, my whole face burned.
"You said you came to talk."
Having come close, Clara naturally took my hand and interlocked our fingers. Then she raised that hand to show it. As if deliberately flaunting it.
"Yeah, tell me. What decision did you make?"