Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (4)
Chapter 7. Favor and Calculation (4)
Normally, I was the one doing the staring.
Ria had been looking my way for a while now.
To be precise, ever since she found out that clergy in this world also enjoy dancing.
No, wait. In the first place, the clergy here don't even wear nun's habits like we do. The clothes they're wearing are just dresses, and the dancing was somewhat different from the social dancing we know.
But Ria had strangely gotten fixated on that remark.
"......Ria, do you want to dance?"
I'd filled my stomach to a reasonable degree, and since I had no intention of eating until I was completely stuffed, I was sitting at the table taking a short rest. Naturally, since I was sitting and resting, Ria was sitting beside me resting too.
"Is that a request for a dance?"
"No, it isn't."
I answered in disbelief and looked over at Ria.
Come to think of it, how was Ria in the original?
.......
I think she asked Lee Si-yoon for a dance. Right. There was a scene like that. Though it wasn't in the Gnome kingdom.
Anyway, the Saintess was always trying to stay by Lee Si-yoon's side, and Ria, who escorted the Saintess, was naturally near Lee Si-yoon too. In that gap, Ria asked Lee Si-yoon for a dance, and the Saintess saw it and flew into a horrified frenzy—a fairly typical scene.
Among the Hunters who followed us, Lee Si-yoon's party was naturally included. Probably because, more than their skill, they were people I could talk to relatively comfortably, so the Church had requested them.
Though they weren't actually sitting here.
Glaria was sitting somewhere apart from us, but she wasn't near Lee Si-yoon either. The place where we were sitting was where the high-ranking people sat, and although the Hunters were said to be acquainted with me, they had no official titles, so they were sitting somewhat farther away—near the Knight Order.
For now, that put me at ease. If Lee Si-yoon and Han Yu-ri were together, it would surely help their relationship progress.
Right, that's how it was in the original too.
I felt a little happy for no real reason. Whatever else you could say, it was a novel I'd enjoyed reading to the end. The Ria in front of me wasn't a character I'd supported as a pairing, but she wasn't a character I disliked either. What reader in the world could dislike a character who's pretty, has a good figure, and is capable?
I laughed to myself, then felt awkward for no reason and looked over at Ria.
"Ria, do you like dancing?"
"Huh? Oh, well, I do like it."
I see.
So in the original, when she'd approached Lee Si-yoon, it hadn't just been a pickup line.
"Ria. You graduated middle school and high school, right?"
"Well, obviously?"
When I brought that up, Ria blinked, looking a little flustered.
I spoke leisurely, keeping my gaze on the people dancing.
"Did you happen to do any club activities?"
"Yeah."
"Dance club?"
"Do I look like it?"
"You said you like dancing."
She would have learned swordsmanship naturally from her father. When she was very young, she might have learned a little from her mother too.
But, thinking about it, South Korea's basic education hadn't changed all that much from before the Gate Crisis. Related classes had been added, and content had been added to existing classes—that was about the extent of it.
Maybe, since this was a web novel, the school was a bit more idealized—that is, a school well-suited to enjoying youth.
"Ah, just in case you're wondering, my school was an all-girls school. Both middle school and high school."
"......Is that so?"
Why bring that up when I didn't even ask?
"Just, I thought you might ask about something like a first love."
I let out a small laugh at that.
In the original, Ria's first love is Lee Si-yoon. It's stated outright that before him, she'd obviously never been in a relationship.
So she was a heroine who seemed aggressive, but actually got shy at the crucial moments and couldn't make progress. The Saintess, meanwhile, pretended to be demure while persistently throwing herself at him, nearly usurping the main heroine's position.
In this world, well.
It seems like neither of them. If Ria had fallen in love with Lee Si-yoon, she would have talked about him until the Saintess got sick of it, like in the original. The Saintess had said she nearly developed a neurosis over it.
Conversely, the Saintess would have done the same.
"......."
Asking someone you like to dance. Lee Si-yoon was such a kind yet oblivious guy that he'd naturally accepted the dance request.
Here, though.
If I don't dance with her, she won't be able to dance either. If I just keep sitting here, Ria will just keep sitting too.
That...... bothers me a little.
"......I'll ask one more time. Do you want to dance?"
At my question, Ria stared at me blankly, then her eyes widened a beat later.
"Oh, you're actually going to dance?"
"I don't want to dance, but,"
I deliberately rolled my eyes wide. So my answer would look a little playful. Because I didn't want to say I genuinely didn't want to dance.
"Well, if someone asks me to dance, I might end up dancing against my will. They do say when in Rome, do as the Romans do."
"Huh."
Ria laughed like she couldn't believe me.
But soon she rose from her seat and came over in front of me.
And held out her hand.
"Want to dance with me?"
"Fair warning, I'm really bad at this kind of thing."
I said, lightly placing my hand on top of hers. It was a soft hand, yet somehow slightly firm. The hand of someone who fights.
"You don't need to worry about that."
Ria lightly gripped my hand and pulled as she spoke.
"I trained you, didn't I? You're not without talent."
"......."
E-even if you suddenly compliment me like that, you're not getting anything out of it.
I pouted for no reason and stood up, following that hand.
*
Was the nice scent because of the Holy Power visible on Anna's body?
Chae-eun thought as she gently led, one hand resting on Anna's waist.
There was a faint floral scent. She wondered if it was shampoo, but Chae-eun used the same shampoo and body wash as Anna in the first place. It wasn't anything particularly expensive, so there was no reason for it to feel special.
Anna was looking up at Chae-eun with a slightly flushed face.
She was still wearing the veil on her head, but of course it was still just carelessly draped on.
Her shining blonde hair and the streaks dyed in as accents were clearly visible.
Those streaks looked a little out of place. Anna seemed to want to look like someone who partied, but she had completely failed to maintain that image.
The body touching hers was soft. She'd always worn her nun's habit tailored to cling slightly, so Chae-eun had guessed at her figure, but now that she'd placed her hand there, her waist was thinner than she'd imagined.
Where did all that food she shoveled down even go?
.......
Chae-eun narrowed her eyes.
A faint light was playing across Anna's face. It didn't seem like light reflecting from the chandelier.
A faint glow of Holy Power.
Right. It's probably because of this. Could it be straining her body?
Anna seemed to notice the light falling on her own face a beat late, and instinctively tried to wave her hand—then, realizing that hand was firmly held by Chae-eun, she blushed.
She was so flustered that she apparently didn't even think to pull away the other hand resting on Chae-eun's waist.
Finding that a little amusing, Chae-eun moved the thumb of the hand on Anna's waist. Anna's body flinched, following the movement.
Tingle.
Anna glared at Chae-eun.
Seriously, she was sensitive everywhere.
Smiling, Chae-eun tilted her head slightly toward Anna and brought her face closer.
"......!?"
Anna's eyes went wide.
Seeing her panic, it looked like she'd imagined something strange.
"You dance well."
Chae-eun said that and smiled.
Whatever she'd been thinking, Anna's face slowly reddened from the neck up. Then she dropped her head deeply, then raised it again.
Because if she kept her head down like that, Anna's chest would be visible.
Well, it was completely covered by the somewhat loose nun's habit, but—hmm, was she conscious of the contact against her body?
Seeing one of the women who ought to be the most chaste in the world thinking all sorts of strange thoughts in her head was, as expected, a little enjoyable.
Lately Anna had been the one teasing her first, so this felt like getting a bit of payback.
"......."
Anna's expression shifted through all sorts of faces, as if she didn't know what look to settle on, and in the end she chose to glare up at Chae-eun with narrowed eyes.
Chae-eun snorted at that expression.
Of course, the one who'd suggested dancing first was Chae-eun, but still—wasn't the one who'd accepted Anna herself?
The atmosphere was a little awkward for starting a conversation, and for some reason she wanted to enjoy this mood a bit longer, so Chae-eun slowly led, holding Anna's hand.
As Chae-eun expected, Anna was somewhat awkward at first, but in the end she followed Chae-eun's movements well.
With practice, she'd probably be able to move her body much more elegantly.
She has plenty of talent, after all.
Watching Anna, who'd said she had no talent for either, Chae-eun thought to herself.
"......."
Anna kept her face red to the very tips of her ears the whole time.
Seeing that, Chae-eun felt relieved.
Because Chae-eun's own face probably hadn't gotten that red.
Even if others had seen, it probably would have looked like Anna alone had turned red.