Chapter 55

Chapter 55. Interlude – Boys’ Talk.

Yuren Helios’s private training grounds.

Originally, I planned to borrow money from my dear friend Juliet to apply for my own private training grounds.

But due to a minor misunderstanding (?) with Iris, the whole private training grounds thing ended up being brushed aside.

However, continuing my personal training in the public training grounds, where you end up looking like a zoo monkey just by entering, was also difficult.

While pondering this, I came up with the idea of borrowing and sharing the private training grounds of my other friend, Yuren Helios.

Yuren readily agreed to my proposal to share his private training grounds and immediately registered my name on the access list.

Since then, besides the twice-weekly sword training sessions I teach Yuren, I’ve been spending a lot more time training together with him in his private training grounds.

“Kyah! Yeah, this is the stuff!”

After finishing a round of sword training in the top-notch facilities, I gulped down a chilled ion drink.

“Did something good happen?”

Yuren approached, wiping his sweat with a towel.

“No, not really. Nothing special.”

“Hmm. For someone saying that, you’ve been in a great mood all day. No, not just today, but for the past few days, you’ve been grinning non-stop.”

“Haha. Really?”

Ah, this is tough.

Even though I tried not to show it, it’s not easy.

“Well, something good did happen.”

I recalled the outing with Iris a few days ago.

We watched a movie, ate together, and took a walk.

Of course, it was enjoyable to nap on her lap on a park bench, but…

‘What really stands out is…’

The memory of Iris, who misunderstood my relationship with Juliet, kissing me and declaring she’d never give up on me.

The sweet peach scent and the soft touch of her lips brought an indescribable happiness.

‘Well, it wasn’t exactly a romantic kiss, but still.’

So what?

The important thing is that we kissed.

And with the lover I’ve longed for over hundreds, thousands of years.

‘Well, I did have to slightly distort (?) Juliet’s preferences to clear up the misunderstanding.’

But I believe my soul friend Juliet would understand my situation.

“Hmm. What good thing?”

Yuren, who had approached, took an ion drink from the fridge and asked.

“No, it’s nothing major.”

“Nothing major? You seemed distracted during training earlier.”

“Ahem.”

Hearing it from someone else made it feel oddly more embarrassing.

“So, what happened?”

“Well… I guess you could say things progressed a bit with someone I like? Something like that happened.”

“…What, what did you say?”

Yuren’s eyes widened in shock.

“Y-you have someone you like?! Dale, you?!”

“Is that really so surprising?”

I tilted my head, watching him tremble in shock.

‘What’s up with this guy?’

It’s pretty common for love to blossom among candidates at Reynaldo Hero School, where young men and women gather (though my actual age isn’t exactly youthful).

Some candidates even used the rather extreme expression, “If you haven’t dated at least once in four years at Hero School, you’re either a loser or impotent.”

Ah, of course, there’s also the heartwarming tale of that candidate who suddenly went missing one day and was never heard from again.

Anyway.

It’s not something to be so shocked about, just hearing that a friend has a girl he likes.

“Tell me more about what just happened.”

Yuren’s eyes sharpened as he strode closer.

Dilated pupils, rough breathing, and a faint golden magic power emanating from him.

It wasn’t hard to notice that Yuren was extremely excited.

“Since when did you, a brat, care about other people’s love lives?”

I chuckled, looking at Yuren who had come close.

“But you could date anyone if you wanted, right? You’re popular.”

“Shut up and tell me. Who’s the person you like?”

Oh my, scary.

Well.

It’s always the ones who say they’ll never date who are the first to get curious when a friend gets a lover.

“Iris.”

“Iris… You mean the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“……”

Yuren gulped down his drink as if his throat was dry, then grabbed a new can from the fridge.

“H-heh. I knew you were in the same ‘Combat Training’ class as the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, but I never imagined you’d have that kind of relationship.”

“Well, how many people could imagine that?”

“So… are you dating the Saintess now?”

Yuren asked with a voice tinged with anxiety.

“No, we’re not dating yet.”

“R-really?”

Yuren’s face suddenly brightened.

He continued with a more relaxed expression.

“By the way, the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom… As a ‘friend,’ I’d advise you not to get your hopes up too much.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Well, think about it. She’s the Saintess, blessed by the seven gods! It’s not easy to get close to someone like that.”

Yuren spoke in a calm, persuasive tone.

Of course, to me, who had been her lover in a past life, this persuasion meant nothing.

“Being a Saintess doesn’t mean she can’t have a lover. Most priests of the Seven Stars Church have lovers or spouses.”

“But the Saintess is different!”

“How is she different? Isn’t the Saintess human too?”

“That’s…”

Yuren bit his lip, unable to find a rebuttal.

“…Fine. If that’s what you think, then so be it.”

Yuren clenched his fists, grinding his teeth.

“So, what exactly happened with the Saintess?”

“Well… we ended up kissing.”

“W-what?! K-k-k-kissing?!”

Yuren jumped up, showing an even more intense reaction than before.

‘What’s with this guy? It’s not like he’s a teenage boy to be so shocked about a kiss.’

I stifled a laugh, watching Yuren tremble, and suddenly remembered his past life.

‘Come to think of it, Yuren never even held hands with a woman in his past life.’

Despite countless advances from beauties like the Empire’s princess, the Republic’s famous actress, and the Holy Kingdom’s nuns, he never even glanced their way.

‘No wonder there were rumors that Yuren liked men.’

There was even a funny anecdote.

The Grand Archbishop of Desire, Laktasia, tried to seduce Yuren but ended up being brutally slaughtered.

At the time, Laktasia’s beauty had led many heroes to betray humanity and side with the Devil God, so this incident shook the continent.

‘Even as a candidate, he was just as clueless.’

I chuckled, watching Yuren’s trembling fists.

“Well, it was kind of an accident.”

“Haha. Really? So, it was just a brief touch of lips, right?”

“No, we used tongues.”

“T-tongues?! You used tongues?!”

Crunch. Squeak!

The can in Yuren’s hand was crushed.

“Haha. So… tongues, huh?”

For some reason.

Golden magic power surged violently around Yuren, as if it might explode any moment.

“Sigh, hoo. These days, kissing is just a casual greeting, right? Even at noble parties in the Empire, people kiss as a greeting.”

“Ah… yeah. That’s right.”

Though I doubt anyone greets by sticking their tongue in someone’s mouth.

“So, nothing else happened besides kissing, right?”

“Well, if you insist, there’s one more thing…”

“…What else?”

“Um… never mind. It’s a bit hard to say.”

After a moment of hesitation, I shook my head.

“Dale.”

Then, Yuren strode up to me with a bright smile (somehow scary) and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“We’re ‘friends,’ right? Friends shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.”

“Even so, for Iris’s sake, it’s hard to answer…”

“Tell me. Now.”

A strong grip tightened on my shoulder.

I stifled a laugh, looking at Yuren’s fiery gaze.

‘He was like this in his past life too.’

If I so much as talked to another woman, he’d magically find out and grill me about what we talked about, whether she was interested in me.

‘This guy, pretending to be all proper but secretly so interested in women.’

Well.

It’s said that when men gather, nine out of ten conversations are about women.

Yuren, at his age full of vigor, couldn’t help but be sensitive to such topics.

‘Well then, shall I indulge his curiosity a bit?’

Recalling what happened with Iris in the park, I began to speak.

“Last weekend, I went to the park with Iris.”

“Y-yeah.”

“We sat on a bench to rest, and Iris offered me a lap pillow.”

“…A lap pillow?”

A sigh of relief escaped Yuren’s lips.

“Ah, I thought it was something else. Just a lap pillow…”

“But then she suddenly asked if I wanted to touch her chest.”

“……”

Yuren’s face stiffened.

“S-so… did you?”

“At first, I refused, but Iris grabbed my hand and placed it on her chest.”

“I see… So you touched it…”

“I knew they were big, but actually touching them was…”

“Stop.”

“Huh?”

Yuren hung his head and walked over to the wall, pulling out a sword.

Not a training sword, but a real one with a sharp blade.

“Dale, you’ve rested enough. How about a duel?”

“No, not today. I used up all my magic earlier…”

Whoosh!

Golden aura fiercely erupted from the blade in Yuren’s hand.

“Draw your sword, Dale.”

If you don’t.

“You might die by my hand today.”

Yuren swung his sword without hesitation, smiling brightly.