Episode 127. Living Together (2)

The A Dormitory, where only the noble families of the Empire, high-ranking clergy of the Holy Kingdom, and the children of the Republic’s wealthy gather.

I had visited a few times to meet Iris, but no matter when I saw it, the dormitory boasted overwhelming splendor and grandeur.

‘At this point, isn’t this more of a hotel than a dormitory?’

I clicked my tongue as I looked around the large fountain installed within the A Dormitory grounds.

“Phew.”

After hesitating for a while, I slowly moved my steps towards the A Dormitory.

“Ah, Dale!”

As I arrived at the dormitory entrance, Yuren, who had been waiting for me, waved his hand with a bright smile.

“You managed to get away with just a suspension this time, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks for writing the petition for me.”

“Geez. Do you know how surprised I was when I first heard about it?”

Yuren crossed his arms and scolded me.

“By the way, are you really okay?”

“Huh? With what?”

“Well…”

I glanced at the pendant hanging from Yuren’s neck and continued.

“We have to live together until summer vacation.”

“Ah, right, right.”

Yuren blushed slightly (please don’t do that in your male form) and scratched his cheek.

“But it’s just a week! And there’s an extra room, so it should be fine!”

“Well… if you’re okay with it.”

Swallowing a chuckle, I followed Yuren into his room.

Click.

The inside of Yuren’s room, which I was seeing for the first time, was quite neat.

The sofa and table neatly placed in the living room (there was actually a living room), and the faint ivory-colored lighting in the room gave off a subtle fragrance.

“How… how is it?”

“It’s nice? Very clean.”

“Hehe. That’s a relief.”

Yuren smiled brightly, looking somewhat excited.

I decided to pretend I didn’t hear him muttering, ‘I’m glad I cleaned up.’

“Did you have lunch?”

“No, not yet.”

“Then wait a bit. I’ll make something quickly.”

Saying that, Yuren headed to the kitchen.

He was even wearing an apron, neatly tied.

“Did you cook before?”

I tilted my head and looked at Yuren.

Even in my past life, I had never seen Yuren cook.

“Uh… yeah. A little?”

Yuren smiled awkwardly and avoided eye contact.

“…A little?”

“Anyway! Dale, just sit on the sofa and wait!”

Yuren pushed me out of the kitchen.

I sat on the sofa, pushed by Yuren, and waited for the food to be ready.

Sizzle!

Soon, the sound of something frying came from the kitchen.

“Uh, uh? Is the heat too high?”

“Ahhh! I spilled oil!”

“Should I just put the shrimp in with the shells on?”

“Huh, which one is the salt?”

Very concerning muttering could be heard.

About 10 minutes passed.

“…What is this?”

I looked down at the blackened something on the table and asked.

“Well… it’s supposed to be gambas…”

“……”

“Ugh…! Sorry! I heard it was an easy dish for beginners, so I tried it!”

Yuren hung his head with a pained expression.

Well.

Even though his family had fallen on hard times, Yuren was from one of the Empire’s top noble families. It was unlikely he had ever cooked before.

“Just ask me to cook next time.”

“Well… Iris often makes lunchboxes for you, right?”

Yuren pouted and continued.

“So… I wanted to make something for you too.”

“……”

That was close.

If Yuren had been in his Yurina form just now, my heart would have been shaken.

“If that’s the case, I’ll teach you next time, and we can cook together.”

“Huh? R-really?”

“Yeah. We’ll be together for a week anyway.”

“Ah… right, right.”

As if suddenly remembering that we would be living together, Yuren coughed and turned his head.

In the end, Yuren and I finished our meal with the baguette bread he had bought to go with the gambas and sat side by side on the sofa, talking about our future living arrangements.

“There are two rooms, but only one bathroom… I’ll shower after you, Dale.”

“Thanks.”

“…Hey, Dale.”

“Yeah?”

Yuren asked with a cautious expression.

“Well… you said that the magical tool you brought from outside caused an explosion and set the dormitory on fire, right?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

Yuren’s eyes stared straight at me.

“I heard from a candidate who was near the dormitory at the time. They said gray flames flared up and then suddenly disappeared.”

“……”

“That’s… the flame that appears when you use magic power, right?”

To be precise, it wasn’t when using magic power, but when using the ‘Primordial Flame.’

I nodded slightly and opened my mouth.

“Yeah.”

“…I see. So you were training with that ‘flame’ in your room, and it caused the fire.”

“It’s my fault.”

I had been careless because the Primordial Flame had never gone out of control before.

“Why were you pushing yourself so hard with the training?”

“Well…”

“Is it because of the Grand Archbishop of Madness we met before?”

“……”

At Yuren’s pointed question, I firmly closed my mouth.

The reason I had been pushing myself so hard to train with the ‘Primordial Flame.’

Of course, there were other reasons besides the Grand Archbishop of Madness.

But if I said that meeting the Grand Archbishop of Madness wasn’t part of the reason, that would be a lie.

“I see, that’s how it was.”

Seeing my expression, Yuren seemed to guess the answer and stiffened his face.

“When we met the Grand Archbishop of Madness, I… couldn’t do anything.”

Yuren slightly raised his head, recalling the memory of that day.

The space covered in red slime.

The figure of the boy approaching, shrouded in a blood-red aura.

The dense aura of magic was so overwhelming that Yuren couldn’t even draw his sword and froze in place.

“That’s unavoidable. You’re still a candidate who hasn’t even graduated yet. There’s no way you could face an Archbishop.”

“Hmm. By that logic, Dale is still a candidate too, right?”

“Well…”

Unable to find a rebuttal, Yuren smiled faintly and took off the pendant around his neck.

Whoosh.

With a blue glow, his brilliant golden hair turned into a subtle silver.

Returning to her Yurina form, she gently took my hand and spoke.

“I’ll get stronger.”

Her voice was filled with determination.

“I’ll definitely get stronger… and this time, I’ll protect you, Dale.”

So you don’t have to push yourself alone anymore.

“……”

Her words left me momentarily speechless.

Her unwavering gaze directed at me.

The look in her eyes that I had always seen in my past life.

Unyielding to any fear.

Unshaken by any terror.

Unfaded by any despair.

Eyes filled with ‘courage.’

‘Ah.’

Right.

That’s how it was.

You were always like that.

In the past, and now.

“Haha.”

A soft laugh escaped my lips.

‘Maybe I was too hasty.’

Ever since I encountered the Grand Archbishop of Madness recently.

I felt pressured to get stronger as quickly as possible.

The result was the Primordial Flame going out of control.

‘Even though the future keeps changing, and the days ahead are unpredictable.’

Still.

There are things that don’t change.

“Thank you.”

I squeezed her hand and sincerely spoke to her.

“Ugh…”

Yurina’s face turned bright red.

Then.

Whoosh!

A silver glow burst from her left chest.

“Huh? What’s this?”

The radiant silver glow flowing from her body.

This was a characteristic of when she used ‘Moonlight’s Blessing.’

“Huh? No, no! It’s just…”

Yurina, who hadn’t intentionally activated the blessing, looked flustered and shook her head.

“W-wait a second!”

Yurina jumped up from her seat and quickly ran into her room.

About 5 minutes later.

The door opened, and Yurina walked out with a tired expression.

“Phew. It’s done now.”

“Why did the blessing activate suddenly?”

“Huh? That’s… ahem. You don’t need to worry about it, Dale.”

Yurina coughed and avoided eye contact.

“Well… anyway. Let’s take care of each other for the next week.”

I decided not to press further and reached out my hand to Yurina.

Yurina glanced at my hand and carefully pulled it to rest on her head.

“……”

Does she want me to pat her head again?

I chuckled and stroked her head, causing a bright smile to spread across Yurina’s face.

“Take care of me, Dale.”

* * *

“Phew.”

After training with Yurina at the training grounds and finishing dinner (this time I cooked), I lay down on the futon spread out in the room she used as a closet.

‘It wasn’t as bad as I worried.’

Even though it was just a week, I was secretly worried that living together as two grown adults might cause some trouble.

But thankfully, we managed to get through the day without any major issues.

‘Having two rooms is a big help.’

If it had been a small studio like the C Dormitory, we would have inevitably run into each other no matter how much we tried to keep our distance.

But Yurina’s A Dormitory had two rooms and a living room, so it was relatively spacious, and we didn’t have to see each other much.

‘With these conditions, living together for a week shouldn’t be a problem.’

Anyway, after a week, it would be summer vacation, so we could stay outside the school.

“Summer vacation…”

In my past life, I had stayed at school during the entire vacation to earn living expenses, but this time, I didn’t need to do that.

‘I should ask Iris and Berald what they plan to do during the vacation.’

I thought this would be a good opportunity to help Iris, Yurina, and Berald grow.

“Maybe I should sleep now.”

As I was planning my summer vacation alone, I turned off the Hero Watch and lay down on the mat.

Even though it was just a mat spread on the floor, Yurina had gotten a good one from somewhere, so it was actually more comfortable than my old bed.

Just as I was about to close my eyes.

Creak.

The door opened cautiously.

Turning my head, I saw Yurina in her pajamas.

“Hey… Dale.”

“What?”

“C-can I sleep with you just for tonight?”

“…What?”

At her thunderous words, I quickly sat up from the mat.

“That’s a bit…”

“I-it’s fine! I won’t do anything!”

It’s not about doing or not doing anything.

“Really, just holding hands! I’ll just hold your hand and sleep!!!”

“No.”

What am I supposed to do when you say that line?