It was the last evening of the weekend.
Most weekends, I usually spent my ti at Raphne’s Tower. Since it was a weekend and I didn’t have to attend the Academy, Raphne had insisted that I spend the ti at the Tower. So, my weekends were often spent crafting items or chatting with Raphne.
Today’s accomplishnt was crafting a new bone sword to replace the one I had lost during the ti loop event. I used the last remaining dragon bones to forge the new sword. There’s a sub-event coming up soon, so I needed to prepare in advance.
After finishing the crafting and having dinner, I was left with so free ti in the evening.
‘…How am I going to explain this?’
I sat on the floor, lost in thought.
“Hehe, hehe…”
At that mont, Raphne was lying on my lap, reading a novel and enjoying her leisure ti. She was giggling softly, either because the novel was amusing or because she was in a relaxed, llow mood. Her laughter was light and unrestrained.
Raphne claid that this was the perfect position to read a book while staying close to . But to be honest, from my perspective as a man, having her lie on my lap like this was a bit too stimulating. Especially when certain soft things pressed against my thigh...
No, now wasn’t the ti to think about that.
“Ken~ Keep going~,” Raphne mumbled, pushing her head against my stomach when I paused in my movents. She was asking for more attention.
I sighed and resud stroking her head gently.
“Hehe, ehehe.”
Her relaxed giggles continued as I ran my hand through her hair. It seed that lying on my lap while reading and receiving head pats was Raphne’s idea of the ultimate healing ti. She had beco more affectionate lately.
Compared to the days when she was desperate and clinging to my pants in despair, this was much better. But still, it made what I had to say all the more difficult.
“Um, Raphne…” I began cautiously.
“Mm? What is it?” she replied, still absorbed in her book and shifting comfortably on my lap. She didn’t even look up when I called her na.
Maybe now was the right ti to tell her. She was in a good mood, and this might be the best mont.
“Well, I need to tell you sothing,” I said hesitantly.
“Hm? Do you want sothing?” Raphne finally lifted her head and looked up at . Her eyes, which had once been lifeless, now sparkled with life. It seed like her heart had healed after spending ti with , especially after helping her recover from her illness recently.
‘Yeah, she’s recovered enough…’ I thought, reassured by her lively gaze. With that, I took a deep breath and continued.
“In a few days, I’ll have to leave the Tower for a bit,” I said.
“Oh… okay. How long? Will you be back for dinner?” she asked, smiling despite a brief mont of sadness.
It seed like she was handling it well. Just a week ago, she would have cried and clung to at the re ntion of leaving. Feeling more confident now, I smiled and replied, “It’ll be about five days.”
And then, her expression shattered.
“…What?”
Recently, I had obtained the Necklace of the Full Moon as a reward for repairing Asfettra. With that, I was only one step away from creating the Goddess’s Pendant. The final ingredient I needed was the Pure Magic Crystal.
While this item would be relatively easy to find later in the ga, at this point in ti, there was only one way to obtain it. In a few days, the Academy would be hosting a sub-event called the Survival Battle, and the crystal was one of the prizes.
The problem was, the event lasted five days.
Which ant… I’d have to leave the Tower for five days.
“No! No! Nooo!” Raphne suddenly cried, climbing up from my lap and latching onto .
“I’m sorry! I’ve been acting up too much, haven’t I? Or is it that the food isn’t good anymore?! I’m sorry! I won’t be so needy! I’ll make the food better! Please, don’t leave !” she pleaded, tears streaming down her face as she clung to .
As expected, she was falling apart. But this ti, I didn’t panic. I patted her head soothingly, trying to calm her down.
“It’s not that, Raphne. You’re fine, and the food is great, but…”
“You’re lying! You’ve even lost weight recently! It must be because the food’s gotten bad, right? You’re tired of it, aren’t you? I’m sorry! I’ll do better! Please don’t leave !” she sobbed.
“It’s okay, Raphne. I’m not leaving you. Just listen to ,” I said, hugging her tightly as she buried herself into my chest, clutching my shirt in her hands. I could hear her sobbing quietly.
In monts like these, Raphne couldn’t hear anything I said. It was better to calm her down first and explain afterward.
‘It feels like I’m training a wild animal,’ I thought with a sigh.
No, that wasn’t the right way to look at it. I had just beco more familiar with how to handle Raphne’s behavior patterns. The problem this ti was the scale of the situation. To Raphne, five days away was a huge deal, so I had to explain it carefully.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Ken. I’ll clean more and stop being so needy. Please don’t get annoyed with … Don’t leave … I promise I’ll be better,” she whimpered, looking up at with tear-filled eyes. She seed a bit calr now, so I began explaining the situation to her in full.
By the ti I finished, Raphne still had tears in her eyes, but it looked like she understood. However, her once bright eyes had returned to their gloomy, lifeless state.
“So… you’ll co back in five days?” she asked.
“Of course. I’ll be back for sure,” I reassured her.
“Really? You promise? You’ll really co back?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“And it’s not starting tomorrow or anything. It’ll be a few more days before I leave, so don’t worry too much,” I added.
“But still…”
I could understand her reluctance. Whether it was tomorrow or in a few days, I’d still be gone for five days, and that was hard for her to accept. At least she seed to grasp the situation now.
“If it were up to , I wouldn’t care about this stupid curse anymore. I just want to be with you, Ken…” she muttered quietly as I prepared to head back to the dormitory.
Hearing that made feel guilty. I decided that I’d stay longer at the Tower the day before the event started to ease her worries.
The Next Day at the Academy
The next day, I headed straight to the registration area for the Survival Event.
Here, I filled out and submitted the registration form. I had planned to register earlier, but after explaining everything to Raphne, I decided to delay it slightly.
“Good morning, Ken,” a familiar voice greeted .
I looked up to see Mary standing beside .
“Are you signing up for the Survival Event too, Ken?” she asked, holding the sa registration form in her hand.
“Yes, I’ve got my eye on one of the prizes,” I replied.
“What a coincidence. So do I,” Mary responded with a slight smile as she began filling out her form next to .
‘Of course, she’s entering,’ I thought.
It was no surprise. In the ga, whenever Emily participated in the Survival Event, Mary would always appear as one of her opponents.
The reason for Mary’s participation was one of the event’s prizes: a dinner voucher for a high-end restaurant. She wasn’t entering just because she enjoyed food. No, her real goal was to win a date with Adrian.
In the ga, this event sets up a rivalry between Emily and Mary as they compete for the chance to take Adrian out for dinner. Emily, depending on the player's choice, could either win the dinner voucher or another reward. But clearly, Mary’s motive this ti was the sa as it was in the ga.
“Hey, Ken…”
Mary suddenly spoke up while still working on her form.
“Yes?” I replied.
“What prize are you aiming for in this competition?” she asked, glancing at from the corner of her eye.
“I’m after the Pure Magic Crystal,” I answered.
“I see…” she murmured, fidgeting with her pen. Mary seed hesitant, like she had sothing else she wanted to say but was struggling to get the words out.
Just then, another familiar voice interrupted from behind.
“Hey, Ken.”
I turned around to see Emily approaching with a cheerful smile.
“Hey, Emily.”
“Are you signing up for this too?” she asked.
Emily had been much kinder to recently, especially after bringing drinks during our morning training sessions. Her deanor toward had changed significantly compared to the past. But the mont she noticed Mary standing beside , her smile faltered.
“…M-Mary.”
“Emily, are you here to bother Ken again?” Mary’s eyes narrowed as she glared at Emily, a cold, frosty aura emanating from her.
The temperature seed to drop, as if Mary’s magic could freeze the very air around us. Emily quickly waved her hands defensively, trying to calm her down.
“No, no! It’s not like that! I just ca to talk to Ken!” Emily protested.
“Talk? Then go ahead. What do you need to say?” Mary retorted, still eyeing Emily suspiciously.
“Well… uh… if it’s possible, I’d like to speak with Ken alone,” Emily stamred, clearly nervous under Mary’s intense scrutiny.
“If it’s nothing shady, you can say it in front of ,” Mary shot back, clearly not letting her guard down.
It seed Mary was being extra cautious, likely because of Emily’s past behavior. I made a ntal note to explain to Mary that things had improved between Emily and .
Flustered, Emily hesitated before finally taking a deep breath and looking at .
“Fine, I’ll just say it here then,” she sighed and handed sothing.
“Ken, rember how you said you’d accept a al as an apology?”
“Uh, yeah…?” I replied, recalling our earlier conversation.
What Emily handed was sothing both Mary and I instantly recognized— a registration form for the Survival Event.
“The dinner voucher prize... if I win it… would you go with ?” Emily asked, her face flushed with embarrassnt as she avoided my gaze.
“W-Wait a second!”
The response didn’t co from but from Mary, who suddenly looked flustered.
“Huh? What?” Emily blinked in confusion.
“I, um… I was going to ask Ken the sa thing!” Mary blurted out, her earlier confidence shaken. She now looked nervously between and Emily, holding up her own registration form.
“…What?”
Emily’s eyes widened as she stared at Mary. The two of them stood there in stunned silence, glaring at each other. It felt like the tension in the air could spark a lightning bolt at any mont.
“I asked him first,” Emily declared.
“No, if you think about it, I was going to ask before you interrupted,” Mary countered.
They continued to stare each other down, their eyes practically shooting sparks. This scene felt oddly familiar, as if I had seen it play out in the ga before.
“Ah, so it’s a competition for a date with Ken Feinstein, is it?”
A new voice chid in, and we all turned to see Adrian approaching from behind Emily.
“This is quite the amusing situation,” he said with a playful smile, waving at .
“I can’t pass up on such an interesting event,” he added, picking up one of the registration forms.
“W-Wait a minute…” I muttered, taken aback by Adrian’s sudden appearance.
I had never seen him participate in this event in the ga! What was he doing here?
But before I could voice my confusion, my words were drowned out by the sharp exchange between the two girls.
“There’s only one way to settle this,” Emily said.
“Indeed. Since only one person can win the prize, we’ll let the results decide,” Mary agreed.
Without another word, they both turned in their registration forms with determined expressions.
“The one who wins the dinner voucher gets to invite Ken,” Mary declared.
“Fine. I was planning on winning anyway,” Emily shot back.
And with that, both of them stord off in opposite directions, leaving standing there in stunned silence.
Wait... What about my opinion?
“Haha, you really are a man burdened with too much attention,” Adrian chuckled, patting on the shoulder as he stayed behind, clearly enjoying the chaos.
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