I can hear the low sound of the clock tower’s bell far away. It sounds like the day has changed.
The square in the center that was full of activity during the day is now deserted. We’re the only ones here.
And since it’s the dead of night, all the stores except for a few are closed, and the magic light stones’ blue light placed along the street give it a mystical feeling.
“I wish I could stay, but it’s getting late. My attendant is waiting for me, so I have to go back.”
“Oh Iris. Leaving already? Don’t leave your prince by his lonesome.”
She sounds like Kaleid Mermaid, the girl who pretended to be a human to take part in a ball, so I stop her by acting like a prince.
“Prince Loyd. I, Princess Iris, must board a wagon first thing in the morning that will take me to the hell called a workplace. If I oversleep, my bad-tempered stepmother will scold me for an hour with a heavy breath.”
“But if she scolds you for so long, you’re not going to make it to that wagon early in the morning.”
“She’s the type of monster to follow me to the workplace, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Oh Iris, what unfortunate circumstances.”
“True, Prince Loyd. Please find it in your heart to forgive my selfishness.”
She says as she lifts her skirt a little with her fingers, and bows politely.
Then she puts out her tongue a little and laughs like an innocent kid. I could tell from talking to her, but she’s good at playing along. Once I started this bit, she went along with it perfectly.
But apparently she wasn’t always like this. It sounds like she was very serious when she was a saintess, and after being expelled, all that repression came back in the form of abundant emotions.
“The streets are dangerous at night, so I’ll take you home.”
“Thank you for your concern, Mister Loyd. I’m staying in an inn, so it would help a lot if you took me there.”
“What inn?”
“The one in the Flor Street.”
“Eh… I only got here today too, so I have no idea where that is.”
“…Am I lost?”
“I’m pretty sure you are.”
“Don’t say it like it’s so certain. The idea of getting lost at my age hurts a lot.”
“Why were you wandering around late at night in the first place? You weren’t really out to exterminate villains, were you?”
“I had a big fight with my attendant.”
That’s a pretty childish reason for a former saintess.
“The reason for the fight was, well, minimalism. And my attendant being the kind of unfortunate person who can’t abandon their need for approval. Every time I buy something I have to hear about decluttering. I said ‘if you want to live in a place with nothing so bad, live in a cell by yourself’, and stormed out.”
That kind of person that pushes their values on other people does sound annoying.
My former boss was the opposite of minimalist, and the room was always a mess. Just goes to show that we shouldn’t take things to extremes.
But still, even if I’m worried about Iris, I’m going to start working tomorrow, so I don’t have time. Please don’t make me look after someone who’s lost.
If it was a seven year old, I would work overtime to look after her, but she’s seventeen. Not that much younger than me.
That said, it’s a guy’s prerogative to protect a girl. I can’t abandon that right after she asked me to take her home.
“Let’s walk around town until you see buildings you recognize.”
“I’m very sorry for the trouble, Mister Loyd.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s fun walking around with you. Having you with me makes me feel really peaceful.”
She looks at me with a very surprised expression.
Her face is turning red, and her mouth is trembling and hanging open.
“Mister Loyd, w-what do you mean by that?”
Did I say something that upset her again? I always try to be careful, because I often say things that make people mad.
“Sorry if I upset you. Please forgive me. You’re just so beautiful, that I get entranced and don’t pay attention to what I’m doing and saying.”
“…!!?”
Her face turns even more red, and she crouches while hiding it with both hands.
“Ah, Iris?”
“That’s not fair Mister Loyd. You can’t say something like that all of a sudden… Or I will start getting conscious of you too, won’t I?”
She puffs one cheek, and faces up to stare at me.
Those eyes watering a little bit have a lot of destructive power. That’s a master rank angry face.
I was going for a thickheaded main character type, but it’s no good. My reasoning is about to crumble because this saintess in front of me is too cute.
What she’s saying and doing is making me feel embarrassed too.
Calm down, me. Even if a thickheaded type is no good, I can still be the honest type.
“Can you stand?”
I put out my hand, trying to hide the embarrassment.
“I don’t care anymore, Mister Loyd. You blockhead sham mage.”
She says, but she still takes my hand, and I help her get up.
But why isn’t she letting go?
“Hey Iris, you can let go already.”
“Hum, how about we walk like this, if that’s not a problem?”
W-what are you saying?
My sense of reasoning just took a hit from master rank magic.
Don’t complain if I end up misunderstanding something.
“Holding hands?”
“Yes, so we won’t get lost… No?”
She says that last part quietly, so I can see she’s a little nervous too.
What’s with this girl?
Saintesses are the best. Let’s just get married already.
No, calm down, me.
You’re not the kind of simple guy to get all excited like this.
Calm down. Cool your head, Loyd.
I get what Iris is saying. It’s the dead of night, and there’s no one else around, but it would still be trouble if we got separated. That’s why she’s proposing we hold hands.
Even when she’s mad, Iris doesn’t lose her presence of mind.
And as I feel impressed by how sensible she is, I gladly accept her proposal.
My sense of reasoning is laughing at me for accepting in the end. Just how honest am I to my instincts?
I’m acting calm, but my heart is beating really fast. What if she hears it?
We walk around town, looking for her inn, but we can’t find a single thing.
I should be able to see what the buildings look like, thanks to the magic light stones, but I can’t see a thing around me because my mind is focused on the fact that we’re holding hands.
We could be going around the same place over and over, and I wouldn’t notice.
Iris has been quiet too. And when I look at her face, she turns away.
Her ears are red, so I can tell she’s nervous too. That means both of us are too conscious of each other to look for the inn.
This is basically a late night date under the pretext of looking for the inn.
Cute.
Already mentioning marriage? Sounds like he is on the rebound from a bad break up… which may not be too far from the truth, now that I think about it.