Adonis had asked to borrow me for a day in exchange for helping Luna.
Luna immediately jumped onto my back.
“How dare you target my friend? You’re way more devious than you look!”
Then, she bit my ear. Hard. As if she would never let go.
“No way! Absolutely not! This one’s mine!”
I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but one thing was clear—
My right ear now belonged to Luna forever.
That’s how fiercely she was biting down on it.
“As expected of Lady Luna!”
“To protect rather than to lose—such is the greatness of love!”Yuridia and Victoria peeked out from the bushes.
…At this point, it wasn’t even surprising anymore.
But seriously, girls, let’s be clear.
This isn’t love. It’s obsession!
“No? You won’t even let me borrow him for just one day? It’s really important!”
“I have my own matters to attend to. Just as important as yours.”
“…This is a life-or-death situation.”
“The same goes for me.”
It wasn’t hard to understand why Adonis refused Luna’s request.
Sure, the developers had likely set up restrictions to maintain game balance, but more importantly—
With Caron absent, Adonis was the only one capable of handling emergencies.
‘Right now, Adonis is essentially protecting everyone in Trash Village.’
He couldn’t forsake their safety just to save one person—Dolores.
It was only natural for him to refuse Luna’s plea.
And there was another reason why he couldn’t help.
“Lady Luna’s love remains as turbulent as ever.”
…Many seemed to forget this, but despite appearances, Victoria was the Empire’s thirteenth princess.
And Adonis was the Emperor’s sword.
Ensuring the safety of Princess Victoria took priority.
Luna, unaware of these circumstances, grew frustrated.
“Argh! Can’t you tell how serious this is by the fact that I’m practically begging you?!”
“Hmm… Then tell me what it is about. I shall listen and decide.”
“Right now… that’s a bit difficult.”
Luna shot a quick glance at the instructors.
Ron and the other group instructors stood nearby.
They all appeared occupied with other tasks, but their ears and eyes were far from idle.
Some of them were undoubtedly eavesdropping on Luna and Adonis’s conversation.
There was no way she could explain anything about Dolores under these circumstances.
“Then that’s unfortunate. This negotiation is over.”
“Ugh! This is driving me insane!”
“Of course, if you’re willing to hand over Zero, I might be able to think of something…”
Adonis’s gaze shifted toward me.
Luna, still clinging to my back, tightened her grip even more.
With an unreadable smile, Adonis continued.
“But I suppose that would be impossible.”
“Ugh… It’s seriously important.”
Luna pouted, her lips jutted out in frustration.
Amused by her expression, Adonis smiled.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but trust Zero and follow his lead. He has the strength to handle it.”
“I know that already! Whatever! We’ll solve this on our own, so just go away! And stop eyeing what’s mine!”
Like a hissing cat, Luna bared her teeth.
I rubbed her chin to calm her down.
Perhaps it worked, as I felt the tension gradually leave her body.
“Well then, I must be going.”
Victoria’s group gathered around Adonis.
For a brief moment, Adonis and I locked eyes through the air.
Then, he winked.
—I am currently protecting the children. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll safeguard them, so you focus on helping Luna.
That’s what he meant.
I responded with a shrug.
At the same time, I let out a small complaint internally.
‘What kind of hidden piece is this? There’s absolutely no useful information.’
I had at least expected some kind of hint about rescuing Dolores.
But there was nothing—only the reason why Adonis couldn’t help.
‘Of course, there must be something I’m missing…’
So far, it had just been a conflict between the instructors and Pjol—
And me getting caught up in Adonis’s antics, which led to Luna biting my ear for no reason.
As I rubbed my aching ear, Adonis whispered while passing by.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. My desire for you is sincere.”
“Kyaaahhhh!”
Luna, who had finally calmed down, suddenly convulsed again.
“Hahaha!”
Adonis quickly left, flashing a dazzling smile.
Maybe it was because her target of rage had fled, but Luna, still trembling in anger, grumbled.
“From now on, you’re banned from talking to men.”
“Huh?”
“They’re all after you! Why are you so popular with guys?!”
…Me? Popular with guys?
Now that I thought about it, she wasn’t exactly wrong.
Alex, Raymon, Teron, Daike, Adonis—
Even the Killing Machine, Caron.
Every single one of them seemed desperate to get their hands on me.
‘No way… Could that be the secret to clearing this game…?’
A chill ran down my spine.
Without realizing it, I wrapped my arms around myself and warily scanned my surroundings.
Just imagining such a horrifying clear condition made my entire body tremble.
Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack—!
The next morning.
Luna’s anxiety had worsened compared to yesterday.
Just like before, every time she tried to sneak out at dawn, the instructors blocked her.
“W-What do we do? Today is practically our last chance!”
Time was running out. Caron was nowhere to be seen. There wasn’t a single decent ally in sight.
Flustered, Luna shouted.
“There’s no choice! We have to ask an instructor for help! Oh, but not Ron!”
I grabbed Luna’s arm just as she was about to dash outside.
There was no way the game would allow such a convenient solution.
“Stop. Too many eyes are watching. If we act suspiciously, they might take immediate action.”
“But we can’t just sit around and do nothing! We have to try something!”
“Seeking the instructors’ help should be our last resort. Even if we ask at dawn, it won’t be too late.”
The instructors were veterans—capable of handling emergencies.
But taking the easy way out wouldn’t guarantee Dolores’s survival.
After all, this game didn’t allow success to happen by chance.
‘Even if we ask the instructors for help, they won’t take us with them.’
Instead, they would enter the underground cave on their own.
The culprits would escape after the battle.
Dolores would die.
I wasn’t entirely sure since this was my first time facing this event, but that was the most likely outcome.
‘Unless we uncover a new clue today.’
That’s why gathering information was still our top priority.
Especially since today, there was an event that would provide a major hint about the masterminds.
I didn’t want to introduce unnecessary complications.
“So let’s move for now. Trust me, your friend.”
“…Okay.”
After patting Luna’s head, I dragged Rezé—who was pretending to be sick—out of the dormitory.
Ron, suspicious about what might have happened last night, kept giving me strange looks.
Luna responded by biting him.
Meanwhile, Yuridia and Victoria watched from behind the bushes, gossiping as usual.
Leaving those now-routine incidents behind, I resumed my investigation.
“So, the chances of this being the work of demonic beasts are…”
“Baron Kelven’s movements are…”
“This is a secret, but the location of the glowing branches is…”
Before I knew it, our morning information gathering was wrapping up.
Just a quick stop by the plaza in the afternoon, and today’s work would be complete…
“Are you out of your mind?!”
…Or so I thought. But of course, trouble had found us again.
“That sounds like Lady Lowell’s voice.”
“I-I can also feel Senior Rodelin’s presence.”
With Lowell’s arrival in Trash Village, there were bound to be many events related to her.
Since I knew exactly where she would appear, I had been careful to avoid crossing paths with her.
‘But… does she have a higher affection for me than I thought?’
This was a special event that only triggered when a character had high affection for the player.
In other words, Lowell liked me.
Even though I had been actively avoiding her.
‘Is it because of Rodelin’s high affection for me? Or is it because of the main quest to earn the Proof Token?’
I wasn’t sure.
But what I did know was that I did not want to get involved with Lowell.
The problem was…
“We have to help Senior!”
“S-Senior Rodelin is being bullied agaaaiiinnn!”
Luna and Rezé both had high affection for Rodelin.
If I ignored this, they would call me a heartless bastard.
“Keke, looks like something’s happening. We can’t just sit this one out, can we?”
Muttering an excuse that barely even sounded like one, I headed toward the source of the voices.
In a quiet clearing in the village, Rodelin stood with her head lowered.
And in front of her—
“You are driving me crazy, seriously!”
—Lowell was hopping up and down on a large rock.
It seemed she believed that standing taller was key to maintaining her dignity as an older sister.
From the outside, Lowell scolding Rodelin looked almost comical.
Like a tiny lion cub growling, roar! roaaar!
“The only possible hiding place is the mountain. The magic circle has to be on a wall or the ground, so it’s a strategy to secure a clear line of sight.”
“You really… Ha…”
Lowell pressed a hand to her forehead.
She looked like she was about to explode with anger.
‘Huh? This isn’t the event I remember.’
I had memorized dozens of Lowell’s scolding scenarios.
As a veteran player, of course I had.
But this? This was new.
“This is unacceptable. I can’t overlook this. I’m reporting it to the principal and your family—”
The moment she mentioned Rodelin’s family, Rodelin flinched.
I couldn’t just stand by and watch anymore.
Not only was this an unfamiliar event—
‘My toy… No, my adorable Rodelin is being bullied!’
At the very least, shouldn’t I be part of the bullying too?!
“Keke, what’s with all the noise in the village?”
Now that I was involved, I had no intention of backing down.
I stepped forward boldly in front of Lowell.
Since she was standing on a rock, I didn’t even have to bend my knees to match her eye level.
Lowell raised an eyebrow at me.
“Got a problem?”
“Keke, of course not. I was merely concerned about Lady Lowell’s reputation.”
“I don’t have a choice. My little sister caused a major incident.”
“Are you referring to the scouting operation? I don’t see any flaw in Senior’s plan or strategy.”
“…Do you see that mountain over there?”
Lowell pointed toward a small mountain. The strange thing was—
It was completely barren.
Considering that the surrounding mountains were all lush and green, this was highly unusual.
“They cut down every single blade of grass on that mountain. The kids were so exhausted they all collapsed.”
“…We’ll be going back now.”
Did they seriously turn a whole mountain bald just to find a hideout?
There was a limit to being passionate—this was way overboard.
As I slowly stepped backward, Luna, Rezé, and even Ron followed suit, mirroring my movements.
Now that it was clear Lowell wasn’t scolding Rodelin unfairly, we had no reason to stay here.
We were just about to make a smooth exit, as if we had never even shown up.
“Get back here. You have three seconds. 3… 2…”
Before she even finished counting, we all took off running.
Damn it.
I knew getting involved with Lowell was a mistake.
–TL Notes–
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