Let's Try a Kiss First

“But—”

I opened my mouth, a counterargument rising to my lips.

After the House of Hasgard had been wiped out, the assassins had come after me.

If Amelia’s guess was right—if their goal had been to spare only one—there would have been no reason to hunt me down.

“But…”

I dragged the memories of my past life out with difficulty.

No matter where I fled, they had followed. The pursuit had continued until, by chance, I reached the monastery and met the bishop.

Up until then they had been trying to catch me and kill me—

…Had they been trying to kill me?

“Hasgard. Your house has a spirit, doesn’t it? Is there any chance they were after that? What spirit do you possess?”

“Steel.”

“And the contractor?”

“My father, the current head of the house. It has been passed down for a hundred years.”

“A spirit that serves as the guardian deity of the family, then…”

Amelia propped her chin on her hand and pondered.

The look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of concentration on her face was pure armchair detective. It was hard to believe she ranked dead last among the second-years.

“Hasgard, hear me without misunderstanding. Suppose they massacre every member of your house save one. What becomes of that Steel?”

“By the terms of the contract, the remaining person inherits it.”

“No matter who that person is?”

“No matter who.”

It had happened that way in my previous life, so I could vouch for it. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠myself was the proof.

I had commanded both Steel and Light at once. In this world, even a contract with a single spirit earned you named status—and I had held two. That uniqueness was one of the reasons I had never thought of myself as an extra, right up until the apocalypse.

Now… it meant nothing.

“Hmm… I see.”

Having obtained the answer she wanted, Amelia gave a light nod.

“In that case you and I are still in a dangerous position, are we not?”

“You believe the Death God Cult will not give up?”

“I trust my instincts. Killing me gains them nothing. No matter how I turn it over, what they are truly after is my brother—the one who would fall if I died.”

“You’re certain he would fall.”

“Of course. That pathetic brother of mine couldn’t last a single day without me. Extreme thoughts would come naturally.”

If that were true—if Amelia’s deduction was correct—then in the game there must have been a route where that brother joined the Death God Cult.

By her account he was the finest swordsman in the royal family. If such a route existed, he might even have stood out among the cultists. He might have become one of the high-ranking executives known as the Five Lanterns.

For something called the “Five Lanterns,” I had only ever seen four of them.

“When you say brother, which prince do you mean?”

“The fourth. Kairon.”

…Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. I had never known much about the royal family to begin with.

At least I had a name now. From here on I would simply have to investigate.

“You must be careful. Even if today ended luckily, you could still be their target.”

“Then you will simply protect me, will you not? As you did today.”

“I cannot stay at your side at all times. It would be better to summon your guards.”

At my answer her eyes narrowed.

“Hmph…”

She puffed out her cheeks and glared at me, full of displeasure.

What now?

“Very well, you are right. You must be busy with this and that. Forgive me. Go on your way.”

The tone was cool, but her expression was anything but.

Ah.

I think I understood.

Even if only in words, she had been hoping for something like “I will protect you.”

Perhaps I should play along a little here.

She was a heroine whose every ending I had already cleared, but that did not mean I could simply abandon her.

Coldly considered, there were a couple of reasons.

First, I could not afford to give up a connection to the royal family.

Second, even with all endings locked, the challenges remained.

Among the challenges I had checked earlier, several involved Amelia, but one stood out vividly in my memory.

Ah. So that was the one.

Perhaps I could aim for it right now.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Earlier you said you had things to do—”

“I did not. After the terrible ordeal Your Highness has suffered today, how could I leave you alone? I will remain at your side for the rest of the day.”

“Hmm. Will you, now.”

Her voice was sheepish, but her face already looked satisfied.

As transparent as her skin was her expression.

“Come to think of it, where are Your Highness’s guards? Do you have any means of contacting them?”

“I usually leave them behind. I have no particular means of contact either.”

“That is a dangerous lack of caution.”

“Is it? I used to think it was better this way. Today that belief proved a fatal mistake.”

“Do you not trust your guards?”

“If someone as strong as you is the standard, there is not a single one worth trusting to begin with. In any case they will be nearby and will find me soon enough. At this hour I am always here.”

“I will go fetch them.”

“Leave them. I am deliberately letting them be. They will learn of today’s events soon enough and must take responsibility. I ought to have every last one of them beheaded. Their remaining lives are short, so I am allowing them to enjoy themselves for now.”

Ah… so that was her thinking.

I could not decide whether to call it generous or cruel.

“Therefore, you alone will suffice today.”

“Yes. I will protect you.”

“Pfft.”

The moment I spoke, Amelia burst out laughing.

“For the son of a count, you still seem to lack proper etiquette. If you mean to swear an oath to the royal house, this is how it is done.”

With a soft rustle she slipped off her white glove and offered the back of her hand.

Even without the glove the hand remained snow-white.

“Kiss it.”

She commanded with a playful smile.

The smile she wore while demanding a kiss somehow looked alluring.

I took her slender fingers lightly and drew them closer. Then I brushed a kiss across the back of her hand and carefully lifted my head.

Checking her reaction, I found Amelia had turned her face aside, cheeks scarlet, trembling faintly.

Why are you the one more embarrassed…?

In truth I had steered her into bringing up etiquette and offering her hand. By pretending not to know the forms and playing the oblivious fool, I had angled for the challenge of kissing Amelia.

There had seemed to be a trap in that challenge.

It never specified where or how the kiss was to land. So I had tried, thinking even a kiss on the back of the hand might count.

…But the challenge was not completed.

022

Shop, open.

The Challenge Shop unfurled before my eyes.

I looked over the items listed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the shop.

They definitely felt like conveniences designed to make multiple playthroughs of a dating sim smoother.

Hmm.

True to a dating sim, there were gifts as well.

A gift that raised favorability for a specific heroine—and lowered it if given to the wrong one—cost 100 coins. A gift safe for anyone cost 500.

I had no immediate need to raise favorability, so I moved on for now.

“Oh.”

This one looked promising.

Ending Preview.

It was exactly the item I needed right now.

I had learned that locking endings not only ruined Laward’s romance routes but also earned me coins. Excluding the hidden ending—number 31—there were thirty endings I needed to clear. Fifty coins per ending meant 1,500 coins if I cleared all thirty.

Spending 500 coins now to gain 1,500 later.

Moreover, vacation was almost over. From the first-year second semester onward, the information I held would begin to run dry. Having seen only the single hidden ending, I knew far less about the others than I had thought. I needed to learn them properly before I started missing any.

“The problem is I’m a hundred coins short…”

I would have to clear other endings or complete challenges to earn them. The Challenge Shop had finally opened, and the one thing I wanted to buy was just out of reach for lack of a hundred coins.

I needed to find the fastest challenge I could complete and clear it.

With that thought I pressed the shop’s sort button.

Sort.

Lowest price first.

I still needed to save money, but walking away without buying anything felt wasteful. This was a privilege I had only just obtained. Even a ten-coin trinket would do—I wanted a taste.

When the items reordered by lowest price, I was surprised to find a free one.

Reading the description, it seemed to be an item you obtained free and then upgraded over time.

But wasn’t the ability to check favorability in a dating sim completely broken?

In dating sims, the favorability of your capture targets mattered more than anything. Some games changed endings over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a single point of difference. Being able to see the numbers was an enormous advantage.

And it was free.

Mother—Countess Hasgard—had always said there was no such thing as a free lunch, but I could not resist this. The fact that I could later spend coins to upgrade it only sealed the deal. There was no reason not to buy it.

I pressed the purchase button firmly.

Aside from the purchase message, nothing changed in my vision. The description claimed a “constant” effect, so I had expected to feel the difference immediately—but there was nothing.

Knock, knock—

To test my first purchased item, I went looking for Lucia. There was no particular reason. I happened to be in the Houndry hideout in Karma mode, and she was simply the closest person.

“Lucia. It’s me.”

Knock, knock—

When I knocked again, footsteps sounded from inside.

“Y-yes, just a moment!”

Her voice was higher than usual for Lucia. After that came rustling from within the room. More precisely, the sound of someone getting dressed—but as a gentleman I will not describe the details.

Click—

For reasons unknown, Lucia opened the door with her upper body slightly hunched, in a slouched posture.

“What is it?”

My vision had changed.

Beside Lucia’s face floated a small heart icon. The number written inside the heart was 40.

With 99 as the maximum, 40 was higher than I had expected. High enough, even, considering only a single ending had been locked.

A thoroughly satisfying experimental result.

“Karma-nim?”

“No. It’s nothing. Rest.”

“There’s really nothing wrong?”

“Yeah.”

Lucia looked puzzled, but she gave a shallow nod and closed the door.

Now I could read the heroines’ favorability with precision. If I obtained the Ending Preview on top of that, I could freely adjust favorability and clear every ending.

All this for zero coins. Perhaps the first-stage privilege had included the Favorability Scouter all along.

“Ah, Karma-nim! Good evening!”

As I walked down the corridor, smiling inwardly, a guild member passing by bowed his head deeply in greeting. I returned it casually, and the man carefully edged out of the narrow hallway so as not to bump into me.

Huh?

What was that just now?

I was familiar enough with the guild members’ faces by now. He was clearly a man of Houndry. Clearly a man.

So why…

…was his favorability 99?

“No. Please, no…”

Mother had been right.

There was no such thing as a free lunch.