Chapter 666: Daily Life
Chapter 666: Daily Life
I’m bored. There’s nothing to do. Absolutely nothing to do.
Now that I was back at the mansion and Vanessa had gone off to work, I was left all alone. I returned to my room and just sat there, staring blankly into space.
This was strange. I was sure I had so much to do that I’d even postponed going to the dungeon for a day, so why was I just sitting here like this?
I need to find something, anything, to do.
But Sara was still embarrassed about last night, and when I passed by Diana a little while ago, she looked incredibly busy developing some new magic with the ladies from the Mage Association.
Leia had gone to the temple, and Matilda… well, I could work on lifting her curse with her right now, but we were already planning to go to the temple together tomorrow anyway. I figured it would be better to work on the curse with her then and spend today with someone else.
We were only staying here for four days before heading back to the dungeon. If I spent two of those days with Matilda, the other girls might get jealous. It could make things awkward for Matilda, too.
But even Silvia was nowhere to be seen.
I was making a point of leaving my door wide open, a clear signal to the entire world that I had nothing to do. Normally, she would have somehow sensed it and subtly appeared to start peeking into my room.
Something felt off, so I even called Vanessa to check. Apparently, Silvia wasn't in the mansion at all right now.
I decided to ignore the question of how Vanessa, who had returned with me, would know that. The important thing was that there was no one here to hang out with me.
If it’s come to this, maybe I should go see Rachel… but it was already too late for that.
The only time Rachel could get away during the day was her lunch break.
If I had gone straight to the Guild after my café date with Vanessa instead of coming back to the mansion, I might have made it in time for lunch, but now it was far too late.
So, going to see Rachel was also impossible.
Of course, I could probably go to the Guild and chat with her for a bit, but I’d feel bad for interrupting her while she was working.
Especially since it seemed the rumors about us had already caused her a lot of trouble.
So what in the world am I supposed to do now… Ah, wait a minute. Speaking of Rachel….
As I paced restlessly around my room, desperately trying to think of something to do, I finally found a task.
It was something I’d been meaning to do for a while, something I kept telling myself I had to do, but kept forgetting and putting off.
The only problem was that to resolve it, I’d have to interrupt Diana… but, well, it should be fine. What’s the worst that could happen?
Unable to contain my crushing boredom any longer, I decided to go find Diana, who was enjoying her time with the ladies of the Mage Association.
I went down to the large room in the mansion’s basement that Diana used as her magic workshop. Just as I’d seen earlier, she was bustling about, working on something with the other mages.
She was so focused that she didn’t even seem to notice I’d arrived.
What on earth were they doing? Were they making something?
“Diana.”
“Hm? Wh-?! Y-You?! Whaaaah!”
I called her name from the doorway. Diana looked up, saw me, and her pupils started to tremble violently. With a strange cry, she charged at me and tackled me.
Of course, a tackle from Diana wasn't going to have much of an impact on me.
“What are you doing all of a sudden?”
“N-No, what are you doing here?! What is it so suddenly?!”
I easily caught Diana as she slammed into my stomach with all her might. When I asked her what was wrong, she shouted back, her face a mask of unconcealed panic as she tried to push me out the door.
“I came because I have something to talk to you about… Are you busy?”
“Not at all! Not in the slightest! I’m not busy at all! Come, let’s not stay in a place like this. Let’s go upstairs and have a proper conversation!”
Her voice cracked as she yelled urgently, pressing herself against my stomach once more and trying to shove me outside.
She was desperate to get out of there with me.
However, it was obvious to anyone watching that she was trying to kick me out of the room, not escape from the Mage Association ladies.
Besides, Diana didn't seem to mind being with them so much these days.
Living together in the same mansion, they had grown accustomed to one another.
Diana had gotten somewhat used to the mages clinging to her, and as the mages got to spend more time with her, their old, die-hard fangirl behavior was gradually fading away.
That was why I’d been able to work up the nerve to pull Diana away from them in the first place.
“Well then, ladies. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to borrow Diana… just for a little bit!”
Whoa… they’re glaring daggers at me.
Even though they’d stopped acting like obsessive fangirls on the outside, it seemed their desire to be with Diana every second hadn’t changed one bit.
I did my best to ignore their sharp gazes, scooped Diana up into my arms, and made a run for it.
“I shall be back shortly! You all carry on with your work!”
And Diana, whether she noticed their glares or not, simply called out to them cheerfully from my arms.
“We’re far enough away, you can put me down now! How long do you intend to carry me like this?!”
The moment we were back upstairs in the main part of the mansion, Diana started squirming and struggling.
There she goes again. In the past, she would have been perfectly fine with this—no, she would have loved it.
She’s been acting a little strange lately.
I wanted to find out why, but for now, I’d let it go.
After all, tonight was Diana’s turn.
If we spent the whole night together, I was sure I could naturally coax the reason for her strange behavior out of her.
So for now, I decided to focus on why I’d brought her here in the first place: to ask about Rachel.
“Here.”
“Mm.”
Back in my room, I pulled out a chair at the table for her. Diana smiled with satisfaction and sat down.
So she doesn’t like being carried, but she likes this. What a strange girl.
“So, what is it so suddenly? Did you miss my embrace already in the short time we were apart?”
Once seated, Diana’s earlier panic was completely gone. She exuded an air of leisure, a pleasant ‘fufufu’ smile playing on her lips.
To change her attitude the moment we left the workshop… Don’t tell me she was plotting something related to me down there?
That would explain her earlier behavior.
Well, fine. I’ll let this slide for now, too.
“As if. I just have something I’m a little curious about.”
“Oh? Curious about what?”
“Yeah. It’s about Rachel. Diana, have you ever heard anything about Rachel losing someone important to her in the dungeon? No, wait. If it’s something you’re not supposed to talk about, you don’t have to tell me! If that’s the case, just ignore me!”
That was it. The thing I needed to talk to Diana about was the question I’d been steeling myself to ask for a while now.
Honestly, my suspicion that Rachel had lost someone precious in the dungeon had all but turned into certainty, but it wasn't confirmed yet.
And Diana, who had known Rachel for a long time—and was even friends with her mother—would surely know about it.
That’s why I asked her, but halfway through, I realized the implication of my actions and quickly added a disclaimer.
When I thought about it, what I was doing was digging into a woman’s past.
The fact that Rachel hadn’t told me herself could be interpreted as her not wanting me to know.
And yet here I was, trying to pry that information out of someone else who knew.
Was I being incredibly rude right now?
“Hm? Rachel lost someone important in the dungeon? To my knowledge, nothing of the sort has ever happened.”
But to my surprise, Diana just gave me a puzzled look and stated it plainly.
“Huh? Nothing?!”
I was so sure that Rachel had lost someone important in the dungeon.
I had no physical proof, but my gut feeling was solid, so Diana’s answer couldn't help but shock me.
No, wait. Thinking back, it made sense.
That one time, when my party members walked in on my date with Rachel at the restaurant, Rachel had said something specific.
‘I am seeing him with marriage in mind, and this is the first time in my life I have ever felt this way.’
Her words could be interpreted in many ways, but they made one thing crystal clear.
Diana believed that, up until that point, Rachel had never had feelings of romantic love for anyone. Whether that was actually true or not was another matter.
So, if Diana didn't even know about the existence of a person Rachel had loved, it was only natural that she wouldn't know that Rachel had lost that person in the dungeon.
I guess it’s impossible to make progress with Rachel by digging into her past like this.
I let out a deep sigh, feeling a mix of relief and disappointment.
Alright. Even if I don’t dig into her past, I’ll win her heart fair and square…
“She did lose a dog, though.”
As I was steeling my resolve once more, Diana’s voice reached my ears.
“H-Huh? What did you just say?”
“I said, she lost a dog.”
Seeing my bewildered expression, Diana repeated what she had just said.
No, even if you say it again, I have no idea what you’re talking about.
“I mean the precious thing she lost in the dungeon. Rachel lost her precious pet dog in the dungeon.”
Realizing from my expression that I still didn’t get it, Diana spelled it out for me again.
A dog. I mean, I knew that some adventurers took their pets along as companions.
It wasn’t like pets couldn’t level up, and with the right training, they could become as reliable as any human companion.
So, it wouldn’t be strange at all if Rachel had explored the dungeon with her pet dog, or even if she had lost her dog during an expedition.
It wasn’t strange at all, but…
Come to think of it, a while back, when I was hunting wolfdogs and said I disliked dogs, she had a pretty awkward reaction.
Wait a minute. And back when we were doing that rescue quest on the 3rd floor, wasn’t there a Canine Beastkin among the rescued members?
And not a human-like Beastkin with just a tail and ears like Leia, but one that was fluffy with fur all over, more like an animal.
“Diana. You don’t mean a Canine Beastkin, do you…?”
“Mm. It was a dog. He was usually so dignified, but when you hugged him tight, his fur was so fluffy and felt wonderful. And oh, how lovely it was when he’d greet me by wagging his tail every time I visited…”
Whether she knew what was going through my mind or not, Diana became lost in her memories of Rachel’s pet dog, her eyes growing slightly misty.
You liked him too, huh?
No, more importantly. For real? The thing Rachel lost in the dungeon wasn’t a lover or anything, but a pet dog?
I mean, considering Rachel’s reactions, which were like someone experiencing romance for the first time, having a past where she lost a lover would have been the stranger story.
Thinking she lost a pet dog is much more natural, but still!
No, I’m not devaluing pets.
Even I, who has never had a pet, know that dog lovers cherish their pets as much as people.
And since she lost such a precious dog in the dungeon, it’s completely understandable that she wouldn’t want to lose another important someone in the dungeon again.
From that perspective, my theory up until now wasn’t completely wrong.
The core of it was the same: she lost a precious being in the dungeon, and the trauma of that made her hesitate to advance our relationship for fear of losing me.
But, even so, after all the effort I put in, to think that the reason there’s been no progress between us was because she lost her pet dog in the dungeon…
It was a strange feeling, as if my head understood, but my heart refused to accept it. My mind was an absolute mess.
“Aaaargh! I still can’t accept it!”
Unable to contain my frustration any longer, I grabbed my hair and roared. Startled, Diana, who had been lost in her sweet memories of the puppy, leaped out of her chair.
“Whoa! W-Why are you suddenly shouting?!”
With tears still glistening in her eyes, she couldn’t hide her sheepish expression as she started patting my head.
Ah, sorry. Did I startle you that much?