"Even so, Raki, you were already more than impressive," Conis said, clasping her hands together. "Honestly… if I'd been braver earlier, would I have been able to get a little closer to Captain Arton too?"
"Conis… do you really want to do that?" Raki asked. "Arton already promised he'd grant you power. You don't necessarily have to… offer yourself to him."
"I know," Conis shook her head. "But if I don't, how am I supposed to repay him? Other than myself, I can't think of anything I could give him."
Raki let out a small sigh. "Alright. If you say it like that, I won't push it. And honestly… if you beco my sister, I wouldn't mind that at all."
"Mm-hm!" Conis nodded quickly, eyes bright. "I never imagined I'd end up with a Shandian warrior sister. Please—teach how to fight later. I'm scared that even if I get the template, I still won't know how to use it."
"You don't have to worry about that," Raki said with an easy smile. "With Arton around, he'll definitely be willing to teach you himself."
Raki would help if needed—but compared to Arton, her skills were basically a candle next to a bonfire. With a monster like him guiding Conis, Raki's instruction probably wouldn't even be necessary.
"But," Raki added gently, "if you ever do need , I'll still help you."
"Thank you…" Conis pressed her lips together, cheeks flushing, then forced herself to ask anyway. "Then… can you teach the skills for… maintaining a weapon… and testing it?"
"Maintaining—uh… that?" Raki's expression turned awkward in a heartbeat. She understood exactly what Conis ant. "Conis, you know this was my first ti doing anything like that. I can't really teach you."
"But you looked so practiced…" Conis muttered, genuinely confused.
"That's just how it looked from the outside," Raki said, shaking her head. "In Uta's eyes, I was probably still a complete beginner. And honestly… the only reason I managed as well as I did was because of Arton's comics."
Raki cleared her throat, trying to sound casual despite the heat in her face. "If you really want to learn that kind of thing… you should read your own comics more, and try to turn what you see into sothing you actually understand."
"O-okay…" Conis nodded, embarrassed but accepting it.
Then she hesitated—just long enough that Raki could tell she wasn't done.
"But… can you tell about the taste?" Conis asked, voice small.
"The taste?" Raki blinked. "What taste?"
Conis didn't say it outright. She just looked at Raki's flushed lips, her aning written all over her face.
Raki froze for a second—then her cheeks ward even more.
"Oh… that," Raki said quietly. "Too bad. If I'd known you were that curious, I should've saved a little."
Conis' eyes went wide. "W-Wait—!"
Raki leaned in close, lips brushing the edge of Conis' ear, and whispered with a breathy little laugh:
"The taste isn't bad. If you get the chance… you should try it."
"T-try it, try it, try it…!"
Raki's rare little joke made Conis blush, just like always. But since she'd already decided she wanted Arton to be her future husband, the idea of "trying it" didn't really feel like sothing she needed to refuse anymore.
The only thing stopping her now was plain old shyness.
With Conis' gentle personality, even after she and Arton actually got married, she'd probably still get flustered over things like this.
Raki patted Conis on the shoulder and said with a grin, "Looks like you're got the resolve for it after all. Honestly, I thought I'd feel awkward doing that… but once I actually did it, I realized it was kind of… nice."
She cleared her throat, face warming as she continued anyway. "Arton's really clean—like, obsessively. He wasn't gross at all. And maybe it's because he's so strong, or because of the templates and the system… but he even slls good. As for the little bit I swallowed… the taste was kind of unique, but… it really wasn't bad."
Raki lifted her chin, sothing like anticipation flickering in her eyes. "Heh. After experiencing what those comics describe firsthand… I'm actually curious what the 'main event' is like."
Conis blinked, shocked—and yet, it also made perfect sense.
After all, even just being an onlooker earlier had made her heart race. So for Raki—who'd actually done it—it was only natural she'd feel even more stirred up.
Arton still doesn't have a template that fits Raki… Conis thought. And Ain is still there—Arton promised he'd give her a template too. So if Raki really wants one, she might have to wait a long ti.
Even so… Raki's willing to give this much for Arton. Conis' gaze hardened with determination.
"Co on, Raki. We should move," Conis said, tipping a bucket of water over herself to rinse off the sweat. "It's about ti."
"Yeah." Raki stood as well, though she sounded a little reluctant. "I'd love to soak a bit longer… but since Arton has already started logging in his diary again, we should get over there as fast as we can."
"Huh? Arton started recording again?" Conis gasped.
She opened her Diary Copy imdiately—and sure enough, Arton had posted a new entry.
And it was about her.
Conis stared, stunned. "It's real…!"
Raki nodded, cheeks still pink. "Yeah. Looks like he really is planning to give you Serval's template. He even said it in the diary."
Then her expression tightened with sudden embarrassnt. "He's not going to write about … maintaining his 'weapon,' is he?"
She was proud she'd helped Arton, but she wasn't Uta-level bold. If too many people found out what she'd done, even a Shandian warrior like her would absolutely short-circuit from the sha.
"Let's go, Raki," Conis said, pulling on her clothes in a hurry. "We need to act fast."
"Right." Raki took a steadying breath and nodded hard. "Sitting here guessing won't change anything. We should hurry back to Arton."
Reviews
All reviews (0)