Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 267

The morning commute to school is always a downer.

If I weren’t going to school, I’d be playing Deron right now…

I’ve thought about that more than a few times.

“Hey!”

“Hmm?”

A strange voice came from behind me.

It belonged to a male student, his voice tinged with a weak tremor and eager anticipation.

I had never seen his face before.

He’s a total stranger.

“You’re the Blood Demon King… right?”

What started as informal speech quickly shifted to polite language.

Someone recognizes me.

Could he be a Deron player?

I crossed my arms and nodded.

As the leader of the Deron community, managing my fans was part of the job.

“Yeah, that’s me. What’s your business?”

I stepped back a bit to ask.

In the game, I’m a powerful warrior, but here I’m just a frail girl.

So, when I saw someone taller than me, it made me naturally shrink back.

Of course, I didn’t let that show.

“Uh, it’s just… I think it’s cool…”

“Is that so?”

“Um, yeah. Just thought it was cool, sorry.”

The boy mumbled and turned to walk away.

Honestly, I expected him to ask for an autograph or something; I felt a bit disappointed.

“Hayun.”

“Ah.”

This time, it was a familiar voice.

Sohee’s voice was unusually sharp, and she didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

When I turned my head, I saw Sohee, arms crossed, looking like she was showing off her sizable chest.

She had messaged me saying we would soon reach class, but it seemed she couldn’t wait and came out to meet me.

“Who was that guy?”

“Who?”

“The one who talked to you.”

“Oh, he’s a fan.”

“A fan…?”

“I’m the leader of the Deron community, after all.”

Sohee tilted her head, seeming not to understand.

She wouldn’t know how popular her only friend was.

“So, you don’t know him?”

“Nope. Don’t even know his name.”

Now I had forgotten his face too.

The only thing that stuck in my mind was his oddly excited voice.

Sohee continued to gaze down the corridor, clearly hoping to spot that boy again. But even if she looked hard, he wouldn’t be anywhere to be seen…

“Sohee.”

“Yeah?”

“I wanted to talk about the gold you borrowed yesterday.”

Perfect timing.

I cautiously opened my mouth.

After last night’s raid, Sohee had handed me a lot more gold than I’d asked to borrow.

“Gold?”

“Uh-huh. I think you borrowed too much…”

“Spend it as you like.”

It seemed this wasn’t a mistake on Sohee’s part.

I sighed and spoke up.

“It’s too much. I only asked for 1,000 gold, you know.”

“It’s fine. You can use as much as you want.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“Don’t want it back.”

I squinted up at Sohee.

Standing closely, her ample chest blocked my view of her face, so I leaned back a step.

What in the world was Sohee aiming for?

Why was she so eager to give me this much gold?

The current gold price in Deron had dropped slightly, but 10,000 gold still held significant value.

“Are you really not going to take it back?”

“Nope.”

I stroked my chin thoughtfully at Sohee’s words.

There was indeed a method to send gold to the mailbox, but that would incur a transfer fee.

The only way to pass gold without fees was via direct exchange.

“Hayun.”

“Hmm?”

While I was pondering how to return the gold to Sohee, she came closer and wrapped her arms around mine.

“You spend time farming for gold, right?”

“Uh, well, yeah.”

“Then, what if I buy your time with gold?”

My time for gold?

I stared at Sohee, my mouth agape in shock.

Her wanting to buy my time with gold made it clear how much she wanted to hang out with me, and how much I had neglected her.

A precious friend was trying to get me to spend time with her by offering gold.

I might be a decent guild leader, but I felt like a failing friend.

“Um…”

“What?”

Sohee pressed her smile onto me, her face full of cheer.

Seeing that made it hard for me to respond easily.

“I could give you my time without needing gold…”

“But if that’s the case, you’d just go farming all day, right?”

“W-Well, could we go farming together instead? Getting gold and trading that for time feels a bit off…”

“A bit off…?”

I averted my gaze, feeling conflicted.

“It’s kinda…?”

Sohee’s suggestion sounded great at first.

But we were such close friends.

Buying and selling time among friends just didn’t sit right with me.

Sohee looked as if she pondered my response for a moment before nodding and reaching for my hand.

Her hand slid down my arm like a snake, grasping mine firmly.

“Hand-holding. 200 gold.”

“Uh…?”

“Now 200 gold has been settled.”

“Ah… no, I—”

Sohee didn’t let me finish.

She just led me along, hands still entwined, toward the classroom.

Like a calf to the slaughterhouse, I found myself seated on Sohee’s lap.

The smooth fabric of her black stockings brushed against my white ones.

“U-Um. Everyone’s watching…”

“Sitting on my lap is 500 gold.”

“Ah…”

I shut my mouth at her words.

Just by holding hands and sitting on her lap, I had racked up a debt of 700 gold.

“How’s it going?”

Sohee asked with a bright smile.

I couldn’t muster any words in response.

I just sat there silently, praying this bizarre situation would pass quickly.

Sohee’s antics didn’t let up after that.

Class was relatively calm, but once it ended, she didn’t release me from her embrace.

“Squeezing like this costs 700 gold.”

Currently, Sohee and I were facing each other and holding each other close.

Feeling her soft thighs under me and the peculiar friction of our stockings.

The gazes from behind me felt like daggers.

There was no way I could lift my head in that situation.

I found myself burying my face into Sohee’s chest, trying to let the break pass.

“Uh, Sohee.”

As lunch break started after the morning classes ended, the others seemed accustomed to this weird dynamic of mine and Sohee.

I carefully opened my mouth while sitting on her lap.

“What is it?”

“It’s time to eat…”

“I know.”

“Then we should probably get up…”

“You’ll wait for Ellie, right?”

“Uh, well…”

I fidgeted a bit, shifting on Sohee’s lap.

The smooth sensation of her stockings against my thighs was quite distracting.

That’s when it happened.

I heard light footfalls from across the hallway, and suddenly the closed door swung open to reveal a fair-haired girl peeking in.

“Hayun! Sohee!”

It was Ellie, the only foreign student at school.

She busted through the classroom door and rushed over, squatting near my desk, panting heavily.

“Phew… phew…”

“Ellie…”

“Phew… It’s lunchtime… phew…”

I glanced at Sohee to judge her reaction.

Shouldn’t we be getting up soon?

But Sohee tightened her grip around my waist.

In fact, the more I tried to squirm around, the tighter she held me.

“Ugh… huh?”

Ellie, recovering her breath, lifted her head and looked at me and Sohee, tilting her head in confusion.

“What are you two doing?”

“This is…”

Just as I was about to explain, Sohee jumped in before me.

“Just showing love.”

“Is that so…? Is that how friends express affection?”

Nodding along with Sohee’s reply, Ellie looked back and forth between us, before turning and presenting her bottom to me.

It seemed like she wanted to sit on my lap, but she was too small to do so.

“Uh…!”

In a fit of desperation, she even attempted to jump.

But Sohee quickly stood up, blocking Ellie’s attempt before she could settle in my lap.

“We’re going to eat. Let’s go.”

“Ah, wait! I want to go too!”

Sohee suddenly stood, making Ellie stumble backward, while she grabbed my hand and led me away.

Ellie hurriedly chased after us, sticking by my side.

Even once we reached the cafeteria, Sohee’s antics didn’t end.

“Here. Open up.”

Sohee brought a piece of meat from her tray to my mouth.

She used her own chopsticks to do so, directly feeding me.

This just felt wrong, so I glanced around, feeling the weight of other students’ stares.

Of course, their eyes were glued to us.

Only Ellie seemed focused on her own food.

“Delicious!”

Ellie munched away, her small mouth busy devouring her lunch.

“Sohee…”

“If you want a bite, it’ll be 100 gold.”

“Wait, what?”

My body moved on instinct.

I looked at Sohee with a piece of meat in my mouth, chewing as she simply smiled, finding my eating funny.

I’m pretty sure that’s my saliva on those chopsticks.

But Sohee didn’t seem to mind, diving right back into her own meal.

The weird behavior continued after that.

While we were deep into our meal, Ellie, sitting next to us, piped up with a question.

“Sohee, Hayun, is this how friends feed each other?”

She looked up expectantly, genuinely curious.

Just as I prepared to answer, Sohee cut me off.

“Only close friends do this.”

“Is that so…? It seems a bit unsanitary.”

“True, but since we’re friends, it’s okay.”

“Hmm…”

Ellie pondered for a moment, then decided to plop a meatball onto my tray.

It seemed she couldn’t bring herself to feed me directly.

“Here, Hayun. Accept my sincerity.”

I had no option but to eat it.

With an awkward smile, I popped the meatball into my mouth.

“Oh… This is a strange feeling… So, Sohee, you eat one too.”

Ellie handed her meatball to Sohee.

Sohee hesitated at first, but then like me, she ate the meatball.

Ellie cheered and swung her short legs in delight.