'Hello, Emil.'
Even now, his smile from back then remains unforgettable.
'Damn it, ugh…! Stop messing around—!! Edric—!!'
'It's your last moment, so don't get so angry. You're dying anyway. Wouldn't it be better to go peacefully?'
That was after the main event with Chris had ended.
It happened a few weeks after Chris and I had officially become a couple.
It was a dungeon near the Academy, one that had supposedly been conquered, which I visited at Chris's summons.
But instead of Chris, Edric was there.
Her fiancé, who Chris had promised to break off the engagement with soon.
'Damn it…! Ugh, goddammit—!! This is…!'
'That's what you get for touching someone else's fiancée as you please.'
What awaited me in the dungeon wasn't Chris, but a trap.
The dungeon, which should have been conquered and devoid of monsters, inside it.
The pit was filled with a large quantity of slimes and venomous bugs.
Edric sneered as he watched me fall into the pit.
*Thwack—!*
'Gah…!'
As my body was entangled in slime, struggling, a venomous bug's stinger pierced my back.
'Oh dear, that must hurt.'
'Aargh—!!'
'Don't worry though, not all the monsters in there are highly venomous. It'll just hurt a lot, and you'll be paralyzed and numb.'
'Edric—! Chris, haa, what about Chris—!!'
'Chris…?'
Even in that situation, my concern for Chris came first.
Chris.
I didn't believe for a moment that she, who valued honor and loyalty more than anyone, would betray me.
I firmly believed that Edric, consumed by revenge, must have done something to her.
But.
'Haha, don't worry about Chris. She's sleeping soundly in my bed right now.'
'...What?'
Was that a lie?
A lie meant to plunge me into despair at the very end?
At that moment, I suspected as much.
Of course, now I know.
That his words were not a lie, but the truth.
'I'll tell you something nice on your way out, Emil.'
'....'
'Chris, you know, for someone so brave, she's incredibly girlish when she's having sex.'
'Bullshit, …don't give me that bullshit—!!'
'And her body, too, it's much softer than I thought, which was nice. I'm completely hooked now.'
Edric sneered at me and then got up from his spot.
'Well then, I'll be going. Cheer for me from the other world. …For my love with Chris.'
After that, Edric vanished from my sight.
He probably thought I would simply die, buried in slime.
But unfortunately, I survived.
The knife I had always carried since the 1st round.
I took it out to deal with the venomous bugs, and then narrowly defeated the monsters drawn by the scent of blood.
Although I lost an arm.
That's how I survived.
.
.
.
"I'm Edric. And you?"
The first time I faced Edric Balfour in the 6th round.
As I met his gaze, the resentment I had long forgotten began to surge within me again.
If it were up to me, I'd hit his head with a wooden sword right now.
*Ding!*
['Mental Healing' is activated!]
Fortunately, thanks to the Easy Mode perk, the surging anger cleanly subsided.
"Emil."
I smiled faintly, took Edric's outstretched hand, and shook it.
And as soon as Edric let go of my hand, he put his arm around my shoulder and spoke to me familiarly.
"Haha, but Emil. I just watched you, and your tenacity is amazing, isn't it?"
"…What about it?"
"The sparring just now, I don't know what it was, but that burning passion made a man's heart pound. Honestly, I was a little moved."
*Tap,* he lightly patted my chest, then turned his head back to look at Chris.
"So? Why were you fighting so hard?"
"…It was nothing."
"We just made a bet."
Chris answered gruffly, and then I added an additional explanation.
Edric, who had been observing me intently, then murmured with curiosity in his eyes.
"A bet…?"
"I asked Chris to teach me some swordsmanship."
"Ahaha, so you got rejected."
"That's what happened."
"Chris has always been stubborn."
"It's not stubbornness, I just don't like wasting time."
"Right, of course."
Edric, who had generally grasped what Chris and I were doing, took his arm off my shoulder.
And as the conversation ended, I maintained my smile and looked at the two of them.
"Anyway, I'm done with what I needed to do, so I'll be going. See you tomorrow, Chris."
"Okay."
It felt a bit like I was rushing to leave.
But I couldn't help it.
Even if Mental Healing restores my mind, the memories I hold don't disappear.
Even if Edric in this round hadn't done anything to me.
I didn't want to be with someone who held such memories, not for a moment longer.
. . .
"That's unusual, for you to accept a bet like that."
After Emil left.
Edric looked at Chris, who was cleaning her wooden sword, and asked.
Having often seen her, who had been active in his territory since childhood, he was surprised that she had so easily accepted such a bet.
"Well, …it was a matter of my mother's honor."
And to Edric's question, Chris replied in an indifferent voice.
Her mother's honor.
Hearing that, Edric chuckled as if he understood.
"Ahaha, so that's it. That makes sense. I thought there was another reason."
"…Another reason?"
"Hmm… For example, maybe you took a liking to that kid?"
"Ha, as if."
Chris snorted at Edric's assumption.
And as she moved the cleaned wooden sword back to its display stand, she said to Edric.
"Even if it's an engagement in name only, keep your promises. There won't be anything like that until we graduate from the Academy."
That was a promise known only to the two of them.
It was about a promise they had made, unknown to Chris's adoptive mother and Edric's family.
"So don't worry needlessly."
But still, an engagement was an engagement.
No matter what promises they had made, Chris was thorough about it because they were fiancés.
Thus, she spoke confidently to Edric.
"Huh…?"
Edric looked flustered at Chris's words.
"What's with that reaction?"
And Chris, puzzled by Edric's unexpected expression, tilted her head.
"…No, I'm just saying, in case you were wondering. …Are we forbidden from dating until we graduate from the Academy?"
"What? That's obvious! Don't you know we'd be the ones to suffer if our families found out about us secretly dating?!"
At Edric's words, Chris, unlike her usual self, became agitated and raised her voice.
Edric flinched and gave an awkward, apologetic smile.
"Surely you wouldn't…"
"Ah, no…! It's not like that! I, I just have someone I'm interested in! That much is okay, right?!"
"...."
At Edric's excuse, Chris stared at him with cold eyes for a moment.
"Haa…"
She let out a small sigh and averted her gaze.
And somehow, sensing Chris's yielding reaction, Edric seized the opportunity and spoke.
"Why, we're in our prime, aren't we? Hmm? It's fine as long as we don't get caught, right? Who else is here besides us?"
"...."
"I've really found someone I like! I might even marry her after graduation!"
"...Even though you're not even dating yet?"
"A man has to dream big!"
His shameless yet confident shout.
Accustomed to Edric's behavior since childhood, Chris didn't get fiercely angry, but simply shook her head silently.
And then quietly replied to Edric.
"Don't get caught. If you do, take responsibility. Just promise those two things. Then I won't care what you do."
"Really?"
At Chris's words of permission, Edric grinned broadly, then clenched his fist, expressing his sense of accomplishment.
"Ah~, that's such a relief. Actually, the reason I came here was to see if you were meeting a good person."
"What?"
"No, if you had gotten a lover first… then I wouldn't have anything to say."
"You really are something—!"
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry."
Edric familiar chuckled and blocked Chris, who finally couldn't hold back and raised her fist.
After a brief squabble ended.
'...A lover, huh.'
Chris mulled over Edric's words from a moment ago and looked down the path Emil had taken.
"...."
And today.
Recalling him, who had shown stronger perseverance than anyone she had seen until now.
'Well, he's a decent guy, but… that won't happen.'
She gently smiled and turned her head.
. . .
"Haa…"
On my way back to the dormitory from the Academy.
I looked at the orange sky and let out a small sigh.
I felt oddly choked up.
Why did I feel this way?
After walking down the path like a stroll and thinking it over, the cause was Chris and Edric.
'Is it because I saw them together?'
My affection for Chris had long since faded.
The tender affection I held in the 4th round, I had abandoned it the moment I stabbed my neck with a knife and regressed.
Therefore, this feeling couldn't be lingering attachment to Chris.
It was simply.
Perhaps just unpleasantness.
'As expected… it's right to achieve my goals according to the plan.'
After winning Mari over, a sense of uneasiness remained.
I felt pity for her too.
But still, I felt it was right to win them over according to my objectives.
Only then would the lingering bitterness in my chest be resolved.
Even just a moment ago, it was like that.
Just one greeting and a few words of conversation.
In that brief moment, I recalled those despairing memories from the 4th round.
'My body moved a lot, but I don't feel refreshed at all.'
This uneasy and unpleasant feeling.
It would surely only be resolved by winning Chris over.
I thought so as I looked up at the high sky.
Then.
"Ah! You'll fall if you do that!"
An familiar voice came from in front of me, who had been blankly staring at the sky.
"...Sierra."
"See, I knew it."
Before I knew it, I had arrived at the main gate of the dormitory building.
Sierra was sitting there, squatting, pointing at me with a bright smile.
"You knew, what?"
"Why you were hurt. I figured if it wasn't bullying, there must be something else."
"What…?"
She suddenly appeared and blurted that out.
And then she stood up, chuckling "Hehehe," and made a gesture of pushing up non-existent glasses.
"All the secrets have been revealed…"
"There's no secret."
"According to the deduction of this great detective Sierra… Emil! You tripped while looking at the sky!"
"...."
"How is it? Am I right?"
Sierra spoke confidently, then put her hands on her hips triumphantly.
I was silent for a moment.
"Haha…"
"Ah, you laughed."
I couldn't help but burst into laughter from the absurdity.
"So? Is it right? Even just now, you were about to fall just from looking at the sky."
"Well, let's go with that."
"Don't just 'go with that,' answer properly if it's right! My deductive abilities' pride is on the line here!"
"Yes, you were right, Sierra. …I fell while looking at the sky."
"Hehehe, I knew it!"
Sierra probably knew that wasn't the real reason.
But she smiled brightly and stood beside me.
'She's really strange.'
I've been spending an unusually frequent amount of time with Sierra in this round.
That makes me uneasy.
My goal is, after all, to win over those five people and receive their confessions.
But.
Still, it's not bad.
'Ah… The stifling feeling is gone.'
At that moment, I suddenly felt that the unpleasant feeling that had bothered me on the way here had disappeared.
Why?
Had Mental Healing activated again?
Or was it…
"Hey, Emil. You have new injuries again. …Did you really fall on the way here?"
Was it the fault of this peculiar protagonist, who kept poking my injured arm?
Anyway.
'It's not bad at all.'
It wasn't bad.