Honest Conversations (3)
“When Albrecht looked at me, it gave me the shivers in the best way—but when anyone else saw me, it didn’t feel good at all. It just put me in a foul mood.”
Freya’s confession, so far beyond ordinary common sense, left everyone reeling in one way or another. Of course, I—the very subject of that confession—was no exception.
Right then Clara jabbed me in the side with her finger.
“…You were peeking?”
“….”
…Well, what was I supposed to do? A man’s eyes go where they go. That’s just nature.
Seeing Clara staring at me with that thoroughly sulky look, I felt an unexpected twinge of guilt and scrambled for an excuse.
“…I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“……You can look at me.”
“?”
Clara whispered it, then turned her face forward again. I stared at her blankly for a second before coughing awkwardly to pull myself together.
“…Ahem! So Freya, what you’re saying is you want me to play along with your exhibitionism?”
I looked at her, half-incredulous. Only then did Freya seem to realize she had said something she shouldn’t have.
“Ah… ah! That’s not what I meant…!”
“It isn’t?”
“Well… it is, kind of…!”
“…It is?”
“Ugh, that’s….”
Freya floundered, ducked her head a little, then covered her cheeks—now far redder than before—with both hands and mumbled,
“I-I don’t know how to explain this….”
…I don’t know what you’re thinking either.
I let out a quiet sigh. I’d hoped we could have an honest talk, but of course the first thing out of anyone’s mouth had to be something this abnormal.
Was it a mistake to think I could have a normal conversation with these people? Then again, Erinn and Letisia looked pretty shocked too, so maybe those two were a little different.
Wanting to hear their thoughts next, I decided to wrap up the conversation with this particular saintess first.
“…Bottom line—what is it? You want me to come back so I can satisfy your urge to flash people?”
“Th-that’s not it….”
“Then what?”
When I pressed her, Freya answered,
“It’s not only that….”
“So it is part of it….”
“I-I won’t deny that, but there’s a bigger reason.”
“…A bigger reason?”
Now that sounded worth hearing. I waited. Freya fidgeted a little before she spoke.
“As a-as a Saintess, I shouldn’t feel this way, but….”
Pretty sure you already do. I doubt I’m the only one thinking that.
“Albrecht… I want you by my side…….”
“…Because you need someone to stare at your body?”
“I-I keep telling you that’s not the only reason!”
“If it’s not that, then what….”
Looking faintly frustrated, Freya lifted her head without even trying to hide the bright crimson flooding her face. She glanced sideways at Clara standing next to me, then spoke to me again.
“…I-I don’t really know.”
“You don’t know….”
“I’m not… at the stage where I can be sure yet. But I truly do want Albrecht to come back to the party and not leave us.”
…So if it isn’t because you want me staring at your body, then what is it?
I was puzzled, but Freya didn’t seem to be lying. There really did appear to be some other reason. Why she had looked at Clara at the end, though, I still couldn’t tell.
“…All right. I heard you.”
I turned my head and looked at Letisia, who had been standing beside Freya.
“Letisia, are you thinking something similar?”
“Yes!? Ah, I….”
Letisia closed her mouth for a moment. She seemed to need time to sort her thoughts. While she did, I noticed her cat ears twitching.
“…I also hope you won’t leave, Albrecht. Truly.”
“Why?”
“…….”
Letisia lifted her head a little. Meeting my eyes straight on with those green irises, she spoke with complete sincerity.
“…After you left, I thought about it a lot. At first I thought the heaviness in my chest was just the pain of parting—that that was why everything felt so stifling.”
“…And?”
“I realized it wasn’t that, the moment I found out where you were.”
Wasn’t that?
I felt a flicker of unease. This pattern… somehow I already knew where it was going.
“I don’t know when it started. But I think it had already taken root without me noticing, quite some time ago. When I still thought you were ‘Allen,’ though… there were all the cruel things he used to do to me, and I felt too guilty toward Erinn to even acknowledge it.”
“…Hold on, Letisia. That sounds like….”
I had a very clear idea of what she was about to say. Clara, panicking, even tried to stop her. Of course she did. Clara had just laid her own true feelings bare to me; if Letisia brought this up now….
“…There’s no point trying to stop me. Sink or swim, I’m going to say it.”
Letisia neatly folded both hands and rested them over her chest—right over her heart—as if making a solemn confession. The sight made both Clara and me freeze for a second.
“But once I learned you weren’t Allen, and then you vanished from my side… so many thoughts came flooding in.”
“….”
“No matter what I did, I felt gloomy. Nothing satisfied me. I don’t know when it started either, but at some point you had become someone I couldn’t live without.”
And then she said it—looking somehow apologetic, eyes a little sad… yet smiling as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Albrecht… I think I’m in love with you.”
“….”
“I’m sorry. I know saying this puts pressure on you… and I know bringing it up now will only confuse things. But….”
Letisia continued,
“I don’t want to hide it anymore.”
After Freya, Letisia had also laid her feelings bare. Watching them, Erinn’s thoughts grew tangled. It wasn’t that she thought their choices were wrong—she simply wondered whether she herself could ever speak so honestly.
Freya clearly hadn’t settled her own heart yet. Even if she didn’t look all that different from Letisia on the surface, there was a real difference between having decided and not having decided.
Letisia, on the other hand… even Erinn could see the signs had been there for a while.
Even back when they all still thought Albrecht was Allen. The way she had sought time alone with him, the way she would get flustered or shy over the smallest things he did.
The pure delight on her face when he praised her dress at the banquet—same thing.
So Letisia confessing her heart this openly… Erinn didn’t find it strange at all.
But what about Erinn herself?
She thought back over her own behavior. Yes, she had acted under the belief that he was Allen—but that didn’t make any of it good behavior.
All she could remember was teasing him, looking down on him, acting high-and-mighty. Even if deep down she already felt affection for Albrecht, when she considered everything she had done… her conscience stung far too sharply to speak honestly now.
So Erinn chose a slightly less honest answer. Ser-Aria had advised her to be frank, but right now, confessing this feeling felt like the height of shamelessness.
To Albrecht, who was still reeling from Letisia’s confession, Erinn spoke quietly.
“…I just want you to come back. I don’t want anything more than that.”
“…And why is that?”
Erinn took a moment to gather her thoughts, then answered.
“I realized you’re a precious comrade.”
“…….”
“It hasn’t been that long, but your empty place felt huge. I’m serious. This isn’t just me being sad that you left.”
Erinn said,
“It might already be too late, but just know that this feeling is real.”
“….”
Albrecht scratched his head. Just as Erinn claimed it was sincere, she didn’t look like she was lying.
Hearing her call him a truly precious comrade made him happy—and at the same time, a little disappointed.
“…Okay. I understand. But I’m sorry.”
“Huh…?”
“I’m not going back to the party. Or rather—I can’t right now.”
Albrecht simply wasn’t ready to rejoin them yet. He had already finished preparing to stay in Parvata for a while.
“I just bought a house, and sure, I could put it back on the market… but I’ve agreed to learn magic at the Red Magic Tower and help with their research. On top of that, I only just started taking on work as an adventurer through the Adventurers’ Guild.”
“….”
“If I joined the party under those circumstances, I’d have to break every promise I’ve already made… and it wouldn’t really help me either.”
Albrecht knew full well that staying with them would make it easier to snag hidden pieces. But living apart from the party members here had shifted his thinking a little.
He still wanted the hidden pieces—but he also needed to build real strength of his own. Riding on the party’s overwhelming talent forever wouldn’t do.
“So I can’t go back to the party right away.”
Seeing Albrecht refuse, Erinn looked thoroughly flustered.
“I-if it’s because of the things I did, I’ll apologize again….”
“No, it’s not that. I’ve heard all of your opinions… and I fully understand that you sincerely want me back. And the way you treated me—you all had your reasons for it.”
Albrecht explained that it wasn’t about any of that.
“It’s just that I’m not satisfied. I want to get stronger on my own rather than rejoin the party right now.”
“….”
“So for a while… I’m planning to stay in Parvata and work with the Red Magic Tower.”
Faced with that explanation, Erinn couldn’t find any words to persuade him. It wasn’t some other excuse—he wanted to grow stronger himself. You couldn’t choose the path of someone else’s life for them.
“Letisia.”
Albrecht called the name of the woman who had just confessed her honest feelings to him. Then he spoke softly.
“…I don’t think I can give you an answer right now.”
Hearing that, Letisia was surprisingly calm—almost as if she had expected it. Of course she was surprised, but she didn’t make a scene that would put him on the spot.
She simply asked the one thing she was curious about.
“…Is it because of Clara?”
That question was essentially a request for an answer about the way Clara had just acted toward Albrecht.
Clara tensed slightly.
“…It’s not that.”
The words that left Albrecht’s mouth made Clara flinch. They sounded like rejection, and tears nearly welled up before she could stop them.
She had finally expressed her feelings honestly, only to hear this roundabout refusal. She hadn’t expected him to accept her unconditionally… but the situation today must have played a big part in his answer.
She had always been grateful to her comrades, and even after leaving the party they were still precious to her… yet today she felt a little resentful. Why did they have to show up today of all days?
“There are other reasons too.”
But the words that followed made Clara’s eyes go round. Saying there were other reasons meant that what he had just mentioned was also “a reason.”
No one present failed to understand that. Letisia’s eyes widened slightly, then she smiled gently and looked at Clara.
“…I’m happy for you, Clara.”
“…I…….”
“It’s all right. You… moved first because you felt something for him differently from me… so of course this would happen.”
Letisia rose from her seat first.
“…Erinn, let’s go back. Albrecht already said he can’t return right away. Insisting any further would just be a nuisance.”
“…But I…….”
“He didn’t say he would never come back.”
“…!”
Letisia looked at Albrecht.
“I’m right, aren’t I, Albrecht?”
At her words, Albrecht nodded and added,
“If there’s still a place for me with you when that time comes, I won’t have any reason not to return.”
Letisia gave a small nod and looked at Erinn. Erinn, too, seemed to fully understand and accept what Albrecht had said; she nodded lightly and stood up.
“…I’ll wait.”
“You don’t have to force yourself….”
“No. I’m going to wait.”
Erinn said,
“Our party’s porter has to be you. No one else.”
“….”
Freya and Ser-Aria rose from their seats in turn. And finally, Erinn offered Albrecht a farewell that looked toward the future.
“I’ll be hoping you come back. Really.”
Once they stepped out of Albrecht’s house, Erinn’s group fell silent. Letisia, who had essentially been turned down, of course—but Erinn and Freya also just stared blankly up at the sky.
Watching them, Ser-Aria clicked her tongue inwardly. At this rate, would they even be able to function properly once they got back? They might end up in a situation just as bad as before they came… no, possibly worse.
Especially with Clara having openly declared her affection, and Albrecht not looking particularly unwilling to accept it.
Things could get even messier…
Ser-Aria fretted. What would be the best choice here?
“…Ah?”
Then one good idea struck her. Albrecht clearly wasn’t unwilling to return to the party. He simply wanted to grow stronger on his own and was seizing the opportunity that had fallen into his lap.
In that case, if he could raise his skills faster, he would be able to rejoin the party sooner—that was the conclusion she reached.
“…Shall we head back?”
“…Yeah.”
“Yes… we don’t have anything to do right this second, but we should still go….”
“Hold on!”
Ser-Aria grabbed the party members who were about to leave with lifeless voices. The three of them turned back, tilting their heads.
“…What’s wrong?”
“…Did you leave something behind?”
“No, not that. Let’s not go back just yet.”
“…What? What are you talking about?”
To her puzzled comrades, Ser-Aria declared,
“Let’s live in Parvata for a while too!”