Don't Even Think of Sleeping Today

No.

I shook my head hard.

No, that wasn't it.

Think about this coldly.

Favorability didn't automatically mean romantic affection. Loyalty, respect—broadly speaking, weren't those kinds of favorability too?

Maybe I'd simply misunderstood the man I'd passed in the corridor earlier.

...But that empty hope shattered into pieces the very next day the moment I met Laward.

Laward's favorability was zero.

The reason that man's favorability gauge had been maxed out had nothing to do with loyalty or respect.

"Aaaargh...!"

"E-Eunsanim, what's wrong?"

"Stab them! Laward, stab my eyes!"

"What? I can't do that!"

I hadn't grabbed the free option without thinking. Even if it let me see a heroine's favorability, this was wrong. A gay radar bolted onto my eyes...?

And because the Favorability Scouter's effect was "always on," there was no way to escape it. That being the case—no, that being so—the only solution that came to mind was blocking my vision entirely.

Was I supposed to live with my eyes closed from now on, like some sword saint...? If I'd known it would turn out like this, I should have at least learned how they did it.

"Eunsanim, are you all right...?"

"I-I'm fine. Go on. You... need to train."

"Ah, about that..."

Laward subtly averted his gaze.

"What's wrong?"

"Eunsanim, the truth is... I don't think I'll be able to train this week."

"What are you talking about?"

Even knowing a few days' rest wouldn't hurt him, I pressed the point. The Laward standing before me was already stronger than the one I'd raised in the game. I couldn't see exact stats, but watching him handle Houndry had been enough to convince me. He'd polished his skill steadily through the semester and the break alike. Faith had become both his engine and his mental fortitude.

Yet ever since my conversation with Amelia last time, impatience had started to gnaw at me. I wanted more.

Someday Laward would surpass me. The approach of that moment left a bitter taste, but it had to happen. My previous life had been one I couldn't win alone. So just a little faster—

"Laward, I'm satisfied with your results. When you fought alongside the marquis, you exceeded every expectation."

"R-really? Thank you!"

"But that doesn't mean you can slack on training. Especially today—isn't it lower-body day? I know it's hard."

"It's not that I don't want to do lower body! I actually like it. I-it's just that I promised to do volunteer work at the monastery today."

"Volunteer work?"

Volunteer work, all of a sudden? It wasn't as if they wrote the hours into his student record.

"Yes, at the priest's request. About a month ago the monastery ceiling collapsed, and he said it still hasn't been fully repaired, so I offered to help a little. Apparently it turned into major construction."

A monastery with a collapsed ceiling... Hmm.

"Not just the ceiling—the floor cracked too, so it's basically a full rebuild... I hope that sacred place where we offer worship to the Goddess can return to its proper form soon."

That place... I was pretty sure I was the one who wrecked it.

"Is that not allowed?"

"I... see. A monastery dedicated to the Goddess shouldn't remain in that state. You... thought well."

"Thank you for understanding, Eunsanim...!"

"Yeah..."

Laward bowed at the waist and left. Alone again, my thoughts returned to the Scouter. I spent a long while banging my head against the wall in despair before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I finally pulled myself together.

"...Upgrade."

A thread-thin ray of hope appeared. Yes. Upgrade. Before buying the "damn Favorability Scouter" from the shop, I'd seen the fine print. It started at zero coins, but later upgrades could be purchased with coins. It would have been nicer if the text had simply said "don't buy this," but hope still existed.

Shop, open.

I rapidly worked the translucent window that floated before my eyes. Shop, Favorability Scouter, Upgrade. Until moments ago I'd been planning to save coins for "Ending Preview," but a far more urgent task had appeared. No matter what, I would fix my eyes—this cursed thing—first.

Dong—

Click—

I stabbed the second option before the full description even finished appearing. A hundred coins stung a little, but there was no room to hesitate. The other choice cost the same amount anyway.

I had enough coins on hand, so it was settled in an instant.

"Whew..."

I'd nearly been doomed to live while seeing sexual orientations I never wanted to know. Still, the fact that two upgrade attempts remained nagged at me. Other items didn't seem to follow a continuous upgrade path; the Scouter alone appeared to receive special treatment. Would it eventually turn into some kind of magic eye?

The system promptly delivered more unwelcome news. I'd intended to buy the five-hundred-coin Ending Preview; now I suddenly needed to scrape together another two hundred.

"...Let's just pretend the Scouter always cost a hundred coins."

Nothing in the world was free. I'd think of it as the price of eyes that could check the heroines' favorability at the right moments. I'd already confirmed the performance, and a hundred coins wasn't particularly expensive compared to other items.

"The problem is earning two hundred coins..."

Swoosh, swish—

I altered the numbers in a line I'd once spoken and opened the challenge list again, hunting for any challenge that paid two hundred coins in a single clear. The difficulty would be high to match, but with eighty of them total I figured there had to be at least one.

Challenges I could clear right now. Two hundred coins or more.

After filtering, one challenge stood out.

One of the challenges I'd glimpsed in passing not long ago. For a two-hundred-coin payout, the difficulty was practically "very easy." I already knew why a challenge that barely qualified as a challenge even existed: her power hinged on deep sleep.

Lucia was a character plagued by chronic fatigue and a reversed day-night cycle, so managing her exhaustion was critical. In the game she almost never got proper rest, but at full condition her stats multiplied several times over. A Lucia who was fine in broad daylight surpassed even Laward. Hidden stats visible only in the hidden ending. Unique abilities each heroine possessed.

"Well... putting her to sleep should be easy."

She wasn't a fussy infant throwing a bedtime tantrum. All I had to do was tell her to sleep well. I put the plan into action at once.

"Go to bed early today?"

Lucia echoed me with a blank face.

"I'd rather you told me the opposite."

"......"

"Or don't even think of sleeping well toda—ow ow ow."

Press—

I flattened her back onto the bed with a finger to the forehead just as she tried to sit up. It was around seven in the evening. Her active hours were only beginning, so I stopped her the moment she started throwing off the covers. Her habit of walking in with bizarre jokes was sometimes exhausting.

"For a forty, the heat level's way too high."

"Forty?"

Come to think of it, she'd pulled this kind of teasing even back when her favorability was zero...

"You've been a little strange since yesterday."

"Yesterday... something unpleasant happened."

"I... see? Are you all right?"

"Barely. Anyway, rest properly today. You've been working hard cleaning up Houndry all this time."

"I appreciate the time off."

She stacked both hands over her forehead like a shield and tried to rise again.

"But Lucia still has things to do today. I have to look after the kids and clean the place and—aaah."

Of course I pressed her forehead hard again, shield and all. She sank.

Thump—

That made twice. Lucia sprawled on the bed in a big X and stared up at me as if she couldn't make sense of any of this.

"Why are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you suddenly doing this?"

Why? Because I needed two hundred coins.

"No special reason. I'm just giving you a one-day vacation."

"Then please let me ask Fran to watch the kids. I don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know whether Lord Karma has memorized the name, but—"

"Fran?"

"There's a particularly feminine guild member. I think he'd take good care of the little ones."

"Ah. Fran was expelled yesterday. Probably."

"Why...?"

"Because something unpleasant happened."

"......?"

"I'll find a replacement for Fran myself, so stop worrying and rest."

Whoosh—

I snuffed the lantern and stood from the chair beside the bed.

"Well then, good night."

In the darkness, as I groped for the door, Lucia's fingers snagged my sleeve and stopped me cold.

"I can't sleep."

"Trying to sleep at the hour I always wake up—I just can't fall asleep at all."

In the unlit room, her clear voice rang out quietly and calmly.

"What am I supposed to do about that...?"

"Read me a book."

"There's no way Houndry keeps books around. You know that better than I do."

"Then tell me an interesting story?"

"Do you really think you can expect that kind of thing from me?"

"Otherwise I won't sleep. I'll cry. Waaah."

What I had here was worse than a fussy infant. Did I look that strange for telling her to drop everything and rest today? Maybe I'd been too cold usually, and she was seizing the chance to throw every tantrum she could.

"That's an order. If you don't close your eyes and lie down this instant—"

"Lucia never had parents, so I always envied things like that."

Damn it.

Hit by an unblockable, I sat back down. The lantern stayed off.

"If you feel like it, you can even pat my head. Just say, 'You worked hard, you worked hard.'"

I ignored that and searched for a story to tell her. Actually starting was hard. What could I say that would make her quietly drop off? I had no stock of tales prepared for an event like this; the only option was to drag something out of my own head.

I took experiences from my previous life—especially from the Holy Knights—and retold them with a few alterations. Slowly, quietly, in the pitch-black room.

"...If that arrow hit you, you turned to stone.

"Arrow or not—no matter how hard you dodged, it always chased you down in the end.... It was a 'snake.'

"Yes, Lucia. You heard right. Stone.

"Stone.

"Hm, what happens? I'm not sure how to describe the sight. You just harden into something like a statue. You undergo Petrification.

"Statue... or maybe doll fits better. Because it's a doll of stone.

"That holy knight forgot sleep and food and researched. He had to find a countermeasure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no matter what. He had to break through. Before the rest of his brothers hardened solid as well."

I kept talking alone for quite a while before I realized Lucia's responses had stopped.

"......"

She must have drifted off without noticing while she listened. Sleeping well. Just when the story was about to get interesting—terrible timing.

"Hah."

I let out a breath of relief and began to rise carefully—

"Mm... nnh..."

A soft, pained murmur leaked out. Startled, I looked back. Her long lashes lay neatly closed. Just sleep-talk, then.

"You worked... hard..."

Ah.

Ah...

A mere sleep-mumble froze me solid. I hardened like stone.

"......"

I pulled Lucia's blanket up over her and closed the door. I swallowed the urge to tell her that the story still wasn't finished—that, if anything, it was starting over again from Chapter One.