Women Are Such Creatures...
Women are such creatures….
“······And so, I decided never to set foot in that shop again.”
“Ahahaha! You really should’ve been more careful.”
“I’m not exactly the most perceptive person, so….”
“That’s true.”
“······.”
The conversation remained utterly pointless, and the only thing that kept growing was the pile of food on the table. I kept Elisha entertained at an appropriate level while simultaneously watching Yulia out of the corner of my eye. She didn’t join the conversation at all. She simply sat there in silence, listening intently to the exchange between me and Elisha.
Come on, can’t you take over for a bit? This is getting exhausting…
“Mmm! This one’s delicious too. Here, try some. Say ‘ah~’!”
“N-no thank you.”
I barely managed to refuse Elisha’s absurd demand. At the same time, I racked my brain for any way to end this situation. I didn’t want to stay in this awkward, nerve-wracking atmosphere a second longer. For that to happen, Elisha would have to let me go—but unfortunately, that seemed highly unlikely.
“Haa… It’s so nice seeing you after so long.”
“Th-thank you…?”
“Yeah, yeah. Keep pretending you don’t know what I mean.”
“······.”
······Up until a moment ago I’d only been half-sure, but it was clear now—Elisha was seriously pissed. I had no idea what she was so upset about, but the aura she gave off was incomparably more terrifying than usual. In contrast, the expression on her face as she leisurely ate the café’s desserts remained perfectly serene.
She’s actually scary…
“Ahem….”
Yulia, who seemed completely oblivious to the mood, cleared her throat to draw Elisha’s attention. Perfect. The boss monster’s aggro just switched targets. Time for me to slip away.
“Oh, I just remembered—I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I’ll be going first. You two take your time and chat.”
“Sit.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m really quite busy….”
I tried to stand up and leave after refusing Elisha’s command, but the moment her eyes turned toward me… I instinctively realized there was no escape from this seat.
“Are you going to leave?”
“······.”
Elisha’s gaze as she asked if I was really going to leave glowed with an eerie emptiness. Her blue eyes seemed to hold a vast amount of something within them… yet they contained neither disappointment nor regret, nor any silent threat. She was simply staring straight through me, but the sheer force of her will not to let me go came through crystal clear.
…Isn’t that what Transcendents do? She’s already manipulating intent…?
“I asked if you’re going to leave.”
“······No, actually, it wasn’t that important of an appointment.”
At her chilling voice, I ultimately tucked my tail between my legs. The thought that one wrong move might get me stabbed by a sword—no, a spear—had crossed my mind. Well, Elisha probably wasn’t that crazy. Probably….
Just as I was silently despairing at the prospect of sinking into the swamp of conversation with a regressor and waiting endlessly for time to pass—
“······Lady Elisha.”
Yulia, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke up. Both my and Elisha’s gazes snapped toward her at the same time. I hadn’t expected her to open her mouth first, especially when she’d looked like she had zero desire to participate in the conversation.
“Hmm?”
Elisha… seemed to be thinking about something else. With a smile whose meaning I couldn’t decipher, she tilted her head slightly and stared at Yulia. From my seat right beside her, the head tilt looked rather cute, but I had no idea how it appeared to Yulia, who was facing her directly.
As expected, Yulia flinched and avoided Elisha’s gaze… then subtly glanced in my direction, as if asking whether she’d made some kind of mistake. But that action itself was the real mistake. Elisha had caught her looking at me… and in that instant, her smile grew so bright it sent chills down my spine.
“Interesting, isn’t it?”
“······.”
“······.”
At her hollow remark, both Yulia and I had no choice but to clamp our mouths shut. We hadn’t done anything wrong, but for some reason it felt like we absolutely had to stay silent. Thankfully, Elisha’s eyes were fixed on Yulia. If they had been on me instead… I probably would’ve reacted exactly like the thoroughly intimidated Yulia beside me.
“Um… Th-that is….”
She couldn’t even meet Elisha’s eyes and kept fidgeting, but she eventually gathered her courage and spoke carefully. Contrary to my expectation that she might say something like Who do you think you are, butting into our conversation?, her tone was surprisingly gentle.
“Do you perhaps have business with the Saintess?”
“Arie? Why her?”
“···I thought there must be a reason you came looking for us….”
At Yulia’s hesitant demeanor, Elisha tilted her head again as if she genuinely had no idea what was going on.
“I don’t have any particular business with you or Arie, though?”
“H-how dare you speak the Saintess’s name so casually…!”
Yulia had held back once out of fear of Elisha, but she couldn’t hold back a second time and finally snapped. Elisha simply watched her in silence… The look in her eyes seemed to say, If you have a problem, come at me. It was nothing short of a provocation.
This wasn’t going to end well. I decided to step in.
“Haha… Please calm down, Miss Yulia. It seems Lady Elisha came here to see me.”
“···? Were you two already acquainted?”
“As you just saw, yes, we already knew each other. We first met when we were placed in the same group for a class.”
“Hmm, I doubt that was really the first time….”
Shut up. The first day doesn’t count. Anyway, to clear up the situation, I unraveled a few stories about my encounters with Elisha. Most of them were related to classes we’d taken together, but since Elisha had caused so many bizarre incidents, there was plenty to talk about.
…I’m not complimenting you, so stop nodding proudly like that…
In the blink of an eye, the atmosphere softened.
“That’s right, that’s right! That happened too…!”
Elisha burst into laughter and started smacking my arm repeatedly.
…It’s starting to hurt. Can you please stop hitting me?
But I didn’t have the courage to complain in front of an obsessed Elisha, so I swallowed the harsh words and forced an awkward smile. Yulia, who had been watching the two of us, suddenly asked me a question.
“Are the two of you… close?”
“No, not particularly….”
“We are.”
My opinion was naturally ignored.
“Ah, then did you come to see us because you’re monitoring the teacher?”
“Teacher…? If you’re referring to this cute guy sitting next to me, then yes.”
Elisha spouted some ridiculous nonsense, wrapped her arm around my neck, and pulled me firmly toward her. After Hestia, it had been a long time since I’d felt such a soft sensation against the side of my head.
…Every time this happens, I never know how I’m supposed to react…
Fortunately, Yulia didn’t seem particularly interested in me leaning against Elisha. She simply nodded as if she understood.
“I apologize. I’m sorry for taking Lady Elisha’s person away from her.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like you could’ve taken him anyway….”
I was just annoyed, that’s all…
The small murmur from Elisha reached only my ears. For a moment, goosebumps erupted all over my body, but I decided to ignore it again and pretended not to hear. My instincts were rarely wrong, after all….
After that, Elisha and Yulia chatted among themselves, completely leaving me out, and eventually parted on seemingly friendly terms. Of course, it wasn’t that they had actually become close—Elisha had simply stopped radiating open hostility. It seemed there had been some misunderstanding….
The moment we left the café, Yulia spoke to Elisha.
“I plan to return to the dormitory now. Would you like to come with me, Lady Elisha?”
“No, I’m going to walk him back to his dorm and then head off on my own.”
“Then I’ll come along as well… Ah, I understand.”
“At least you’re more perceptive than him.”
“···Why do you keep picking on me like this?”
It sounded like she was insulting me again, so I spoke up, but Elisha simply shrugged with a smirk as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
This is seriously pissing me off…
“See you next time, Teacher.”
“Yes, take care, Miss Yulia.”
Yulia left with a calm farewell, completely unaware of how I felt. She seemed to have already forgotten that I had saved her from Elisha’s torment earlier. After sending off that ungrateful girl, I was left alone with Elisha.
As I silently watched Yulia’s retreating figure, Elisha called out to me.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“···Yes.”
Not wanting to provoke her for no reason, I obediently followed. We walked side by side toward the dormitory. Surprisingly, she didn’t say a single word to me. She simply stayed glued to my side, staring straight ahead as we walked. In the end, I was the one who couldn’t stand the awkward silence and spoke first.
“Um… Lady Elisha…?”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“So, what was the real reason you came to find me?”
“I told you. I didn’t like the idea of someone making a move on you….”
Elisha gave me a warm smile. It was the kind of gaze one might give a small child who needed constant protection—honestly a bit burdensome for me. But I still found it hard to accept her words.
“A move? There’s no way Miss Yulia would ever make a move on me.”
“Well….”
“She’s a cleric, after all. That’s why I didn’t feel the need to be wary of her.”
“Hmph. What would you know about women?”
Elisha snorted at my words.
“You wouldn’t remember, but that woman has targeted you before.”
“Huh?”
“Of course you wouldn’t remember. It hasn’t happened in this timeline yet.”
For a moment, the urge to clamp my hand over Elisha’s mouth surged up, but I held it back.
…Are you seriously advertising that you’re a regressor? Don’t say stuff like that in front of other people…
That aside, Yulia had targeted me before? Even after searching through memories from other rounds, I couldn’t find anything like that in my head….
While I was tilting my head in genuine confusion, Elisha raised her hand.
- Swoosh.
…And then naturally began stroking my head.
“Eh…?”
As I stood there with my mouth agape in utter bewilderment, she giggled and whispered in my ear.
“I’m a woman too, so I prefer being the one receiving this… but it’s not bad this way either.”
“E-Elisha…?”
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you.”
Ignoring my reaction, Elisha leaned her face close to my ear and whispered softly.
“Women are far more cowardly than you think.”
With those final words, Elisha remained silent until we reached the dormitory. I mulled over what she had said, briefly thinking back on Yulia.
Oh right. I should’ve asked why she came to see me in the first place.
Damn regressor…