98. Two Leashes in Both Hands (End)
98. Two Leashes in Both Hands (End)
"As expected of Lewis! Incredible!"
"Haha... I just got lucky."
So, the original protagonist... huh.
That was probably right, wasn't it?
A water-attribute specialist named Laperinne, a dog—no, a dog beastkin Wizard named Shuri, and a pretty-faced male student called Lewis.
I suspected Lewis was the original protagonist simply because one of the original heroines was clinging to him. That alone gave me about eighty percent confidence, if not a full hundred.
I couldn't remember whether the duel with Laperinne was an event from the original or not, but the fact that he had points of contact with two heroines struck me as pretty solid proof regardless.
"Yohan? What's wrong?"
Was it worth making contact? If he truly was the protagonist, establishing a connection wouldn't be a bad idea.
In the first place, the trials I had to break through to see the ending were the same ones the original protagonist was supposed to overcome. Ideally, I'd let him handle the heavy lifting while I quietly skimmed off whatever I could for myself... but there was one thing I needed to confirm first.
Was that bastard a transmigrator?
"Yohan!"
"Ah, sorry. I had something to think about for a moment."
My head was a mess. The situation would change drastically depending on whether or not he was a transmigrator.
If he was a hundred-percent pure local, it'd be hard to trust him to reach a happy ending in this godforsaken game world, and if he was a hundred-percent pure transmigrator, he'd be running wild trying to exploit his game knowledge, which would be a pain in its own right.
To determine whether he was a transmigrator, I had to speak to that pretty-boy bastard. I scraped together an excuse and addressed Lu-whatever, whom the furry—no, beastkin heroine with the wildly wagging tail was hugging.
"Hey. I'm pretty sure dueling here is illegal."
It probably was, right? Honestly, I had no idea about the regulations. But generally speaking, brawling with magic in the middle of a marketplace like this was likely illegal, wasn't it? If not, then no harm done.
Anyway, my killer line seemed to have worked, because Lewis and Shuri stared at me in confusion. That was the kind of look people gave when a knight suddenly appeared at a moment like this. Perhaps because he was the protagonist, Lewis quickly composed himself and asked,
"Who are you?"
Who was I?
"Yohan Quartz. A knight serving at the Academy."
I produced the pendant symbolizing my knightly status and showed it to them.
And it was true that I served as a knight at the Academy—specifically at Dawn Hall. I had no authority to detain or harass students, of course, but using my position as an excuse for a brief conversation would not cause trouble.
I put on what I thought was a suitably dignified expression and began pretending to scold the two of them.
"Do you not realize how dangerous it is to fight a duel in a place where people are passing by?"
"Ah... that's true, but if I hadn't, Shuri would've..."
"Th-that's right! Lewis was trying to protect me..."
Wait, why were both of them turning pale? It wasn't because of my face, right?
I tuned out their enthusiastic excuses and glanced toward Laperinne.
She was still hanging her head, apparently unable to shake off the shock of her defeat. Losing a duel in the middle of the marketplace must've been pretty humiliating. Come to think of it, the protagonist (presumptive) little shit actually won.
Beating Laperinne in the early stages was seriously brutal. And he did it with a swordsman build, too. Laperinne was supposed to be a swordsman's natural enemy.
I lowered my gaze and swept my eyes over the standard-issue iron sword hanging at Lewis's waist, the kind used by Knight Department students at the Academy.
It was decent quality, as expected of Kalon Academy, but calling it a good weapon would have been debatable. He didn't appear to be carrying any powerful early-game weapon from a special dungeon. Had he won through sheer ability?
"I’ll overlook that part. What I want to know is why you fought... Lady Laperinne."
"Uh, well..."
Lewis explained that Shuri had accidentally bumped into Laperinne and dirtied her clothes. The lofty noblewoman had then lost her temper and hurled abuse at Shuri. Lewis had gotten angry in return, and the proud Laperinne had challenged him to a duel.
He had then somehow defeated Laperinne and was celebrating with Shuri in an embrace.
Considering that the original Laperinne had a shitty personality before her rehabilitation and was a heroine who sharply divided likability—no, that was putting it nicely, frankly speaking she was an insufferable heroine—it didn't deviate much from the fragmentary knowledge I remembered.
Though I didn't think there was an event like this where she got thrashed.
In the first place, in the game, the stat gap was so huge that thrashing her early on was nearly impossible.
"I understand the circumstances. But dueling in the market is not a good choice. I'll let it slide this time, but make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Yes! It won't happen again!"
His shoulders were far too tense. After Lewis shouted the model answer, I patted his shoulder twice and said,
"You can go now."
I wanted to talk more, but I didn't have any real excuse to hold him.
I wasn't a guard in charge of public order, just Karina's escort knight. I couldn't exactly invent a flimsy excuse to detain him and end up clashing with the actual guards.
Even so, just knowing the original protagonist existed was a big gain, so it made sense to be satisfied with this much for now. Trying to dig deeper by force might only sour our relationship.
At least for the time being.
...Anyway, whether it was the upcoming final exams or the second semester, an opportunity to make contact with that bastard was bound to arise.
Because if he was a transmigrator, he'd obviously try to approach Karina no matter what.
If he wasn't... mhm. I could figure that out when the time came.
Right now, I was busy enough just preparing for the plans I'd already laid out.
Laperinne had disappeared while I spoke with Lewis, so I couldn't talk to her either. Not that I particularly wanted to become friendly with her.
I stared blankly at the new worry disappearing into the distance.
Until Millia pinched the back of my hand with all her strength.
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"Yohan! I want to try that too!"
Millia, having apparently spotted a new stall, tugged at my hand. I let myself be dragged along as if I had no choice and swept my eyes over the snacks the stall was selling.
Hmm, waffles. Well-made ones were tasty.
"I'll have the apple cinnamon flavor, please!"
"U-uh, um... m-me too..."
Elisa had more of an appetite than I expected. I bought a waffle for her as well. Before long, both girls held warm waffles in their hands.
"Let's go sit on the bench by the fountain and eat."
"Yeah!"
We sat on a bench by the fountain and began eating. Millia stuffed a huge bite of waffle into her mouth like a squirrel, then skillfully chewed and swallowed it. Our hearty Dullahan ate with infectious gusto.
...She should have been born in the twenty-first century instead of here. With an appetite like that, I would have made her a mukbang streamer.
She was affectionate, ate well, and was pretty. Becoming popular wouldn't have been difficult.
...Not that it could happen in this game world.
"Yohan! Say ah~"
Along with Millia's voice, my vision was filled with a golden-brown waffle. She wanted me to take a bite. I bit off a reasonable chunk of Millia's waffle.
Sweet. It was absurdly sweet. The taste was as though someone had packed a week’s worth of sugar into it, enough to make my head spin. As I savored the sugary waffle, my thoughts naturally drifted to Korea.
I used to buy one-thousand-won waffles often as a child, if I remembered right.
Had the waffles I ate in Korea been this sweet? I honestly couldn't remember. Apart from game knowledge, which remained strangely clear, most of my memories survived only as fragments.
"It's good."
"Right?"
Perhaps she liked the waffle. I looked away from Millia, returned to thinking mode, and tried to sink into my thoughts again.
If it hadn't been for the slight tug on my sleeve.
"Elisa. Do you have something to say?"
Instead of answering, she held out a waffle with about a third missing. Did she want me to take a bite?
Elisa looked shy yet quietly expectant. If I refused, she'd probably retreat into gloomy mode again, so I'd little choice but to indulge her. I immediately bit off a corner of the waffle.
"It's good."
Once I ate it, Kalon Academy’s resident gloomy loner witch smiled with darkness practically dripping from her face and let out a bizarre laugh.
"Hehehehehe..."
It was the kind of sound you'd only hear in a haunted house at an amusement park.
Still, if she was happy, that was enough.
Having spent our snack time like that, we left the fountain and re-entered the market.
There was still plenty to see, and it'd take a long time to exhaust Millia, who had more energy than a beagle.
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Our exploration of the market ended only when the sun began to set. With people leaving and stalls packing up one by one behind us, we headed back to Dawn Hall.
"Can't eat any more..."
Was she even dreaming about eating in her sleep?
Feeling the back of my shirt grow damp with Millia’s drool, I adjusted the sleeping Millia on my back. It really was like looking after a kid.
"U-uh, um, Yohan..."
"What is it?"
"Well, it's..."
With a bashful face, Elisa hesitated, sneaking glances at me and then looking away repeatedly.
She seemed to have something to say. I waited quietly until Elisa steeled her resolve and spoke to me. Millia was fast asleep on my back and off in dreamland anyway, so there was no worry of Elisa's words being interrupted.
It wasn't until we passed through the Academy's main gate and Dawn Hall came into view that I finally heard what Elisa had to say.
"U-um... th-thank you..."
"You’re thanking me?"
"Y-yes..."
"For what?"
"F-for taking me to the market... I-it was fun."
Her voice was shy. For once, it wasn't gloomy but beautiful enough to make any man turn his head, and it tickled my ear.
"I'll take you again next time."
"...I-I hope you’ll take me again next time..."
Those were the last words we exchanged just before we entered Dawn Hall.