This Isn't a Date
Ugh, so bright...!
Ah...!
Violet Blackgarden couldn't help but feel the gulf between them. The female cadet with magenta hair, Elise Lorendia, was dazzling just to look at.
So this was... the aura of a top-tier insider. It was like sunlight driving away the darkness an outsider like herself had cast.
"I don't want to lose you, you know."
Huh?
Wait. What did she just say? Was she saying she didn't want Ron Hazley taken away?
From me...?
Violet had already been wary of Elise as it was. She'd been afraid Elise might steal Ron away from her—afraid that Ron, like anyone else, would rather be friends with someone like Elise than with a gloomy person like herself.
And she'd just come out and said it? Alarms blared through Violet's head.
Hahk!
In that moment, Elise's blue-green eyes flicked toward Violet, as if gauging her reaction. Like a kitten that had come face-to-face with a black panther, Violet pressed herself back against her chair, terrified.
No. Don't flinch!
She couldn't back down. She had to protect her precious friend!
With the spirit of a general marching onto the battlefield, Violet forced herself to glare at Elise again. Elise gave a meaningful little smirk.
Seeing Elise Lorendia all dressed up in casual clothes stirred something unexpected in me. Looking at her in person was a completely different feeling from seeing her in the game.
People are losing their minds.
Now that I looked, the atmosphere in the restaurant wasn't ordinary either. Strictly speaking, the commercial district was outside Griffin Knight Academy, so there were outside guests as well as cadets—and every last one of them was sneaking glances at Elise, murmuring in admiration.
So that was why it had gotten so quiet around us. Well, of course. This was Elise, the idol of the masses. Look at that radiance, as if a field of flowers had bloomed around her. That brilliant smile. How could anyone not stare?
That said...
She doesn't want to lose me?
I wasn't the male lead of some romantic comedy. What was she even saying?
Wait. Did she actually like me?
...That thought died on the spot. Over at another table, Lara Twisleop was staring our way with wide, startled eyes, her face flushed red.
So she was just messing around...
Elise had a mischievous streak, and she clearly enjoyed watching Lara freak out over whatever was going on between the two of us. I answered lightly.
"Wow. I had no idea you liked me that much."
"Pfft! Not even startled, Ron Hazley? Not bad."
Elise laughed, delighted, and sat back up from where she'd been leaning toward me.
"So? Are you two dating?"
"No."
"You're on a date, though, aren't you?"
"We're not. We just decided to hang out. Violet taught me magic, so this is partly to return the favor."
"I see~? I thought I saw you using elemental magic I'd never seen from you in our spars."
"Did you come with Lara?"
"Yep. And the second I spotted you, I was so happy I came straight over to say hi!"
We'd gotten closer, sure, but was it that much? No—Elise wasn't popular for nothing. She had a talent for picking exactly the words people wanted to hear. That answer just now was probably more of the same.
"By the way, it was Violet Blackgarden, right?"
Elise turned toward Violet without warning, smiling as she spoke. Violet swallowed a startled breath and dropped her gaze. For someone as shy as Violet, Elise was clearly a high hurdle.
"Is it just me? I feel like you've been looking my way a lot. Did you have something you wanted to say to me?"
"I'm sorry for staring..."
"Hehe, why are you apologizing? Do I look like I'm going to eat you?"
"Th-that's not what I meant..."
"Shall we talk for a bit?"
"Eek...!"
Elise casually pressed herself right up against me, as if asking me to make room. I held my ground. She blinked and turned toward me, puzzled.
"Hmm.... Ron, aren't you going to make room? I'm hurt."
"I never said you could join us."
Today was the day I'd promised to hang out with Violet, and for whatever reason, she was uncomfortable around Elise. Whatever the reason was, I didn't particularly want Elise inserting herself into it.
Violet sent me a look of pure gratitude, as if she were crying out Hazley-ssi! with her eyes. Elise narrowed her gaze into something alluring and mischievous.
"Hmm? Then how about we join your table? It's not a date anyway, right?"
"Join us?"
Elise looked at Violet.
"Violet."
"Y-yes...!?"
"You're Ron's friend, right?"
"Ah..."
Violet glanced at me for a cue.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Th-that's right. We're friends..."
I answered for her, reading the room, and Violet ducked her head, mumbling in an embarrassed tone.
"Then that makes you my friend too, doesn't it?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm Ron's friend as well."
"......!"
A glint of something like revelation flickered in Violet's eyes. This girl. Elise had seen straight through what Violet was thinking and said exactly the right thing.
"Friends can eat together, right?"
"Th-that's... Ahem. Y-you're right. It's fine if you join us... as long as Hazley-ssi doesn't mind."
Violet's voice trembled with embarrassment, but her wariness seemed to have eased considerably. Watching the corners of her mouth keep twitching, I got the sense that Elise's little speech just now hadn't been entirely unwelcome.
"Oh my, she says it's fine. Lara, you okay with that?"
Elise glanced back toward Lara. Lara was sucking on her drink through a straw, giving me a meaningful look as she nodded.
"Ron?"
"Oh, for crying out loud..."
"Hehe. The seat next to Ron~"
Violet had given permission, so I no longer had any reason to keep Elise out. I shifted aside, and Elise sat down next to me, looking pleased. Lara came over with her drink and sat beside Violet. She was in casual clothes as well.
"Hey, Lara."
"Hey."
"What's this? You dressed up pretty nice today."
"Y-you, what are you even...!? Are you hitting on me right now!? Don't get any weird ideas!"
"?"
The greeting had felt too stiff, so I'd tossed her a light compliment—and Lara's face went scarlet as she blew up at me.
What's with the sudden explosion.
Hey now. I wasn't even teasing her. I just paid her a compliment. That was too much to let slide. Time to take a detour through some teasing.
"Do you actually like me or something? Why'd you take it that way? Want me to hit on you for real?"
"What are you even talking about?! Why would I like you?!"
Lara planted her hands on the table and shot to her feet, shouting. She was still short. She stomped her adorable little feet against the floor over and over, putting everything she had into her outrage. Violet looked horrified. Elise giggled.
"They say a strong denial is an admission..."
"Don't talk nonsense, Ron Hazley! I'm warning you—I mean it!"
Lara jabbed a finger at me, fuming. The reaction was way more intense than I'd expected. It made me want to mess with her even more. I held back there, though. There were lines you weren't supposed to cross.
After that, we ordered food together, shared it around, and fell into idle chatter. Having a variety of things to eat was nice. The conversation had been a little stiff at first, but Elise loosened it up completely. Her social skills were downright terrifying. At some point Violet dropped her guard—then she'd go "Ah!" and snatch it back up again, over and over.
Once we'd finished eating, we each paid our own bills and left the restaurant together. Elise clasped her hands behind her back, leaned her upper body toward me, and beamed.
"Ron must've had fun, huh? Getting to go on a date with us and everything?"
"What kind of date is this..."
If any one of them actually had romantic feelings for me, maybe I could've called it that. They didn't, so it just felt like I'd spent time with some female friends. All I was really worried about was how my name would make the rounds among the cadets again.
"Oh my. Is it because you were chosen by the White Wing Commander? Ron's gotten so full of himself~"
Elise teased me in a tone of mock lament.
"Cocky Ron Hazley."
Lara piled on, grumbling along, and I made a show of looking around, delivering my reply in an obviously joking tone.
"Now where did I just hear my name? Anybody?"
"Ugh...!"
A resentful little noise of barely contained fury rose from somewhere below my line of sight. Beside me, Elise snickered.
"Well then. See you later, Ron."
Elise, grinning ear to ear, and Lara, huffing and puffing, started to leave together.
"You heading out?"
"Yep."
"Alright. Take care. You too, Lara. It was good seeing you."
Lara's mouth fell open a little. Then, for some reason, she flushed, pursed her lips, and turned her head away from me.
"You... go on and get going too..."
"Khh. Lara told me to take care.... I'm moved."
"Ugggh! There you go again! You're so full of yourself!"
The moment I teased her, Lara started huffing all over again.
"Ah~, right."
Elise suddenly closed the distance. Beside me, Violet went "Hahk!" in a panic. I had no idea how long this girl planned to keep getting startled.
Elise covered her mouth with one hand and whispered into my ear, her voice soft and unhurried.
"When I said I didn't want to lose you—I meant it."
"......?"
With that, Elise pulled away, a playful smile still on her lips. She waved and left with Lara. Whatever Lara had made of what Elise had just done, her face had gone bright red all over again.
"Hazley-ssi?"
"Ah..."
I put a hand to the ear Elise had whispered into. It felt distinctly warm. It definitely hadn't been a romantic advance. Elise had always been deeply interested in my swordsmanship, and she'd even managed to grasp high-level techniques from me, against all odds. Now that the White Wing Commander had taken notice of me, it made sense that her interest had only deepened. Possessiveness of that kind, maybe. Of course, the teasing had been a big part of it too.
Still.
That got my heart going for a second.
That much... well, I was a guy. Couldn't be helped. I'd enjoyed the nice feeling for a moment, and that was enough. I shook it off.
"H-Hazley-ssi.... What did Lorendia-ssi just say to you...?"
"Just that she meant it, about not wanting to lose me."
"......!"
Violet's face went pale. There she went again. At this point, it wasn't hard to figure out why she was like this. She was scared I'd get closer to Elise and start neglecting her.
"They're gone now, so shall we get back to what we had planned?"
"Ah, yes...!"
Violet and I spent the rest of the time going here and there. I made a point of not bringing up Elise or Lara. The whole while, Violet looked like she was enjoying herself.
Before long, the sky had turned the color of sunset. Violet and I headed back toward Griffin Knight Academy. She had a look of genuine wonder on her face.
"Hazley-ssi. Is someone like me even allowed this kind of luxury...?"
"Hey, what are you even talking about...? What's wrong with you?"
"I just... wondered if it was okay to be this happy."
Violet fidgeted with her fingers, gave an awkward little "hehe," and lowered her eyes.
"I just... thought that, that's all."
"This isn't even anything special.... Why think so hard about it? We can just hang out whenever we're bored."
"Whenever we're bored...?"
The words seemed new to her. She turned my answer over in her mind.
"Want to hang out again? How about next week? No, wait—let's just hang out every day off until we're completely sick of it."
"......"
"Why aren't you answering?"
"I don't know if I should say this, but.... Are you really okay spending time with me like this, Hazley-ssi?"
"Hmm? It's fun, though?"
Violet's eyes widened for a moment. Then—
"...Ehehe."
She looked at me and smiled, bright and unguarded.
"I love that...!"
A gentle breeze happened to pick up. Violet's bangs lifted and fluttered softly in the wind, and the sunset light washed over her face. My eyes widened before I could stop them. Normally her bangs threw her eyes into shadow and made her look gloomy, but right now she was...
Damn, she's beautiful...
The words nearly slipped out on their own. I barely swallowed them back down. I'd always known Violet was pretty, but I hadn't expected her bright smile to pack this much of a punch.
"Violet, you could stand to trim your bangs a little."
"What? Ah. Th-that's a problem...! I get too embarrassed when I make eye contact with people.... Showing even one eye was my last shred of pride..."
"That so?"
"Yes. But why the sudden comment about my bangs?"
"No reason. It just occurred to me."
We crossed through the sunset light, exchanging idle chatter.
Chapter 1, Act 7 of the third playthrough of For Elise was drawing near. I was planning, before long, to persuade Violet to become my companion. At some point, I'd realized I'd come to care for her.
......
The third playthrough of For Elise on Hard Difficulty had a peculiar design. The difficulty of the enemies from the first and second playthroughs stayed the same—but the newly added elements were vicious. Ordinarily, trials and hardships lead to the protagonist's growth. That, however, was a story that only held in the hopeful first and second playthroughs.
The third playthrough's story was just complete garbage.
Its entire focus was on inflicting helplessness and despair on the protagonist through those malicious elements. Far from fostering growth, it simply ate away at the mind. A complete genre derailment, in other words.
Violet was one of those vicious elements too.
In the first and second playthroughs of ElWi, Violet had been nothing more than a minor supporting character. In the third playthrough, she went missing at the start of Chapter 1, Act 7—then appeared in Chapter 3 as a dungeon boss, brainwashed. The False Demon King. Necrolord, Violet Blackgarden. Among the various plot threads that got paid off was the fact that she was the only cadet with a constitution that could sense demonic energy.
She was an unbeatable boss. The only way to clear the fight was to seal her using a special mechanic.
I have to stop that story.
It should have gone without saying, but I hadn't put myself through all this hell just to sit back and watch that garbage plot play out. Preventing that story in advance, persuading Violet, and joining forces with her—that was my next plan.
That didn't mean I could stop the incident beforehand. The Gate leading to the culprit only opened once Violet went missing. I didn't know the exact timing of her disappearance. One thing, however, was certain. If Violet suddenly left on a day off, that was the day. That was why I'd been making plans with her every holiday for the time being.
And then...
Tap, tap.
One day, on a day off, an owl flew up and rapped its beak against my dormitory window. It was one of Griffin Knight Academy's postal beasts. I opened the window, and the mail-owl drew an envelope from its little bag and held it out to me. I opened it and checked the contents.
I'm sorry, Hazley-ssi. Something urgent came up, so I think I'll have to cancel our plans for today.
A short message, written in a hurry, covering only the essentials.
This is it, then.
I got ready at once. Now I just needed to head to the location I'd investigated in advance. Of course, I had no confirmation that this letter was the precursor to Violet's disappearance. If it wasn't, it wasn't. I'd just come back thinking, Not yet, then.
But if it was...
I'll have to go collect the person who might become my first companion.
The lock clicked. The door creaked open. I left the dormitory.