Chapter 523: A Reminder of the First Time
Chapter 523: A Reminder of the First Time
“So, what should we do for fun?”
“What?”
The moment we stepped out of the mansion, I said that, and Sara looked at me as if I were spouting nonsense.
Hey. Shouldn’t you be happy first? I’ll admit, it might sound like nonsense when I suddenly say something like this.
“No, I mean, my date with Rachel is around lunchtime. We still have plenty of time.”
That’s right. I had told Rachel I would come to pick her up around the same time as before.
In other words, our date was set for the lunch hour.
Since we had left right after breakfast, there was still a lot of time to kill.
And unlike last time, I knew the way, so I wouldn't be wasting any time getting lost.
“What? Then why did we leave so early?”
Sara glared at me, her eyes seeming to say, ‘Were you that excited for your date with Rachel?!’
Even after I’d explained, it seemed Sara still hadn’t grasped my intention.
“To hang out with you.”
“……What?”
When I said it so directly, the corners of Sara’s eyes instantly drooped as she gave me a dazed look.
“I said, I wanted to hang out with you.”
“…Hmph. Since I’m doing all this for you, I suppose that’s the least you can do. Don’t think this will make my anger go away completely.”
When I answered again, Sara put on a coy expression and hugged my arm even tighter.
Despite her words, she seemed to be in a good mood.
If she had a tail like Leia, wouldn’t it be wagging furiously from side to side right now?
In any case, even if we were to hang out now, there wasn’t quite enough time for a proper date.
This was just a temporary measure to soothe Sara’s anger. I’d have to schedule a proper date with her later.
“Is there anything you want to do, Sara?”
“Huh? Well… Now that you ask so suddenly…”
“I see. You’re happy just being with me.”
“That’s right. Even if you’re a jerk who’s going on a date with someone else starting at lunchtime.”
“…My apologies.”
I was just trying to tease her, but she hit me with a solid counter.
I was wondering why Sara was agreeing so readily, but that was why.
“Come to think of it, I saw a noisy place yesterday when we were passing by in the carriage. It looked like something was going on. Want to go see what it is?”
But I couldn’t just stay dazed from that counter-damage forever.
I remembered the plaza I had seen on the way back from the temple yesterday and suggested it.
With Vanessa in the state she was in, the three of us had been quiet as mice so as not to get on her nerves.
Thanks to that, I’d gotten to do plenty of sightseeing and ended up spotting the place.
They even had a tent set up and looked like they were doing something. What could it be?
“Fine. It seems like you didn’t plan this date with me anyway and just came up with it on the spot.”
“…My apologies.”
The problem with Sara is that sometimes her damage is just too brutal.
I think I know exactly how Diana feels, losing almost every argument with her these days.
No, of course, it’s my fault, but still.
“A play?”
When I went to the plaza with Sara, arm in arm, there was a large tent set up that I hadn’t seen before.
And in front of it, people were actively hawking tickets.
From what I could hear, it seemed to be a traveling theater troupe.
“What do you think? Want to go see it?”
“A play… I’d rather just spend more time with you, Guwon. Ah! Wait!”
As if she’d blurted out her true feelings without thinking, Sara started getting flustered after she answered.
Cute. So that’s how it is.
“It’s not like we’ll be separated just because we’re watching a play, right? You can watch it right next to me. Where I’m from, this was actually considered a classic date activity.”
“Hmph? Really? Then I guess we can give it a try.”
Sara wasn’t very interested, but since I insisted, she muttered as if she had no choice but to go along with it, and we went to see the play together.
The play, unlike what I’d imagined, felt more like a musical than a movie.
Moreover, it was a tragedy—not exactly suitable for a date.
The plot even felt like a nerfed version of the masterpiece ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by the great Shakespeare, where a couple is forced apart by their circumstances.
Was it because I’d seen countless stories like this in my original world? To be honest, I wasn’t particularly moved.
Besides, it felt like a lot of the story was missing.
It was as if they hadn’t just trimmed the fat, but had boldly hacked away at the meat itself.
Well, from what I could tell, the runtime seemed much shorter than a movie’s, so I guess it couldn’t be helped.
However, next to me, as I was thinking this…
“Hic… sob… huuuk… Guwoooon…”
My dear Sara was calling my name, tears and snot running down her face, pointing at the stage as if to say, ‘Look at that!’
Of course, even while calling my name, her eyes were glued to the stage.
Whoa. She’s really crying her eyes out.
Sara. Weren’t you the one who always maintains a cool expression in front of everyone but me?
Well, not that it mattered. The other people were too busy crying to have time to look our way.
“Uh, yeah. It’s sad.”
“Hic… sniffle… hic.”
I took a suitably sized cloth from my inventory and handed it to her. Sara blew her nose loudly into it, wiped her tears, and kept watching the stage.
Isn’t blowing your nose like that a nuisance to others? Don’t worry. For some reason, audience etiquette in this world seems quite different from my original world.
People were crying out loud without a care, and there were even quite a few who were shouting words of encouragement toward the stage.
Come to think of it, I heard that in India, people dance together in the movie theaters. I wonder if it’s something like this?
Well, I didn’t think it was a bad thing.
In its own way, it felt like the synergy between the stage and the audience’s reactions was maximizing the emotional impact of the play.
Anyway, unlike the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ I knew, this play ended with a happy ending where the couple overcame all sorts of hardships and got together in the end.
Personally, I think that kind of story has more tragic beauty when it has a sad ending.
While I was thinking this so dispassionately, I of course couldn’t say any of it to the Sara next to me.
“Hic… You cold-blooded monster… I can’t believe it… How can you watch that and not cry…?”
Even after the play ended, Sara, seemingly unable to calm down, looked at me with an expression of disbelief as tears streamed down her face.
“No, it’s just that I’ve seen similar things so many times… More importantly, you’re the surprising one. Is this your first time seeing something like this?”
“Sob, w-what was I supposed to do! Troupes like this never came to the place I lived.”
It had been a while since Sara said something so befitting of a country girl.
Anyway, to calm her down, I took Sara to a nearby café.
And as I listened to Sara go on and on about how sad the play was, I quietly drank my tea.
An emotional Sara is also cute and pretty.
That’s what I thought to myself.
“Phew… I think I kind of get what you meant by a ‘classic date’.”
Sara muttered this after finally calming down and taking a bite of sweet cake.
“Right? Watching the play together is part of it, but the best part is having time like this to talk about our impressions of it.”
“Talk? I was the only one talking. You cold-blooded monster.”
“No, I’m telling you, it’s just because I’m used to it. Besides, if I’m cold-blooded, then I think most people in the world are cold-blooded…”
“Hmph. You never know. Your usual self could just be an act.”
Sara muttered, looking at me with suspicious eyes.
Hey. Just because you saw a play for the first time in your life today, isn’t your imagination running a little wild?
“If you put it that way, doesn’t that make you the girl who fell for the act of a cold-blooded man?”
“That’s because I’m naive.”
“…Is that so.”
This shameless girl. Saying something like that without batting an eye.
Well, I do admit she’s more naive than she looks.
As I sat in the café bantering with Sara like that, lunchtime was gradually approaching.
“…It’s almost time.”
The moment I muttered that, Sara, who had been chattering away, fell silent.
Then, with a look like she was about to cry, she glared at me before whipping her head away.
I’d tried pretty hard to cheer her up until now, but it seemed her mood soured again now that the moment was upon us.
No. Of course, I don’t think it was a waste of effort.
Because the time I spent with Sara was enjoyable in itself.
“Hmph! Then why don’t you hurry up and go?”
“Alright. See you later. Make sure you follow me from 100 meters away, okay?”
“I know that without you telling me! I really can’t believe you.”
“I’m off, then.”
“I hope you get dumped!”
As I got up from my seat, Sara stuck her tongue out at me and hurled a curse.
“Heheh. I’ve already heard that she likes m—Whoa! You were really trying to attack me just now, weren’t you?!”
Just as I was about to refute her curse, Sara suddenly attacked me.
That was a really close call. I was able to dodge it only because I was carefully watching her movements and hadn’t let my guard down.
“Tch. Just hurry up and go!”
“Yep.”
Tch? Did you just click your tongue because your attack failed?!
Of course, I couldn’t question her about every little thing, so I had no choice but to hurry toward the dormitory where Rachel lived.
The dormitory, where the female guild employees lived, was still protected by iron-clad security.
The only difference from last time, I suppose, was that I had become a little more famous.
“Kyaa! S-Saint-nim?”
There was still someone who looked like a manager on guard, but her reaction was completely different from last time.
I figured she’d let me through since she must know that Rachel and I are acquainted now, but isn’t this reaction a little too different?
Before, she’d told me to get lost with an attitude that said she couldn’t be more annoyed.
Is this it? Is this also the ripple effect of the video?
Or is the honey trap I used before still working… Nah, no matter how I think about it, that can’t be it.
“Ah, yes. I’m here to see Rachel.”
“I-In that case, I can guide you to her room…”
No. Aren’t you supposed to be guarding this place?
Guiding a man to a room in a women-only area is a bit… Could you just contact Rachel for me?
“There’s no need for that.”
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me.
“Rachel!”
It was, of course, Rachel.
How could she appear with such perfect timing?
Could she have been hiding somewhere, waiting for me to arrive?
Haha. No way Rachel would go that far.
Does this mean we’re connected by the red string of fate?
Is fate helping our date along?
“Hello, Guwon. Oh my, you’re dressed up so nicely today.”
When I called her name, Rachel gave me a slightly playful smile and said that.
“Haha. Yes, a little… You look amazing, too.”
At first glance, her one-piece dress didn’t seem very revealing, but unlike her usual attire, her long hair subtly revealed that the neckline and back were cut a little low.
Seeing Rachel, who usually gives off a very intellectual vibe, dressed like this somehow seemed to double her pussyiness.
“Fufu. Thank you.”
At my compliment, Rachel gave a bright smile and naturally linked her arm through mine, pressing close.
Her reaction is different from what I expected. She’s so composed.
No, of course, Rachel has always had this kind of personality.
She’d handle my jokes with ease and treat me a bit like a younger brother.
It’s just that she seemed incredibly flustered when I asked her out on a date before.
So I naturally assumed she’d be stiff with nervousness today, too, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
As expected of Rachel. Does this mean I underestimated her?
“Shall we get going, then?”
“Yes, fufu. Let’s.”
…You didn’t just flinch when I put my arm around your waist, did you, Rachel?