“What’s wrong president!? Something is strange!”
“T-that’s not true~! Nothing’s strange~!”
The next morning, Precia finished a meeting with everyone present, and Hao went after her.
She figured he was concerned about her, but thought he was exaggerating and wanted to try to convince him somehow. But Hao responded with a loud question.
“Why aren’t we looking for ingredients in the forest today!? What was the point of coming here!?”
“I-I told you, didn’t I? We came across a monster armor beast in the forest yesterday. There might be other remnants, so we should stay in the village until we know it’s safe out there~!”
Precia had an answer ready for his question.
That was one reason why they were not going to the forest, but more importantly, she wanted to investigate this atmosphere of danger hanging over the village.
If they did nothing about it, the danger lurking in this village could end up attacking them.
She thought they had to investigate this anomaly before that happened, so she suspended looking for ingredients for the day, because she figured if they were all in the village, there would be a lot more for the villagers to watch.
…But Hao had suspicion in his eyes.
There was a proper reason, avoiding the threat of monster armor beasts, but Hao doubted even that.
“It’s not like I don’t believe you… But did you really come across a monster armor beast yesterday?
The owner of the inn said the guards got them all.”
“I-it’s true~! I’m not lying!”
Hao had no idea the villagers were acting strangely, so he had a hard time believing there was a monster armor beast near the village, after being told they were eliminated by guards.
It was not as though he doubted Precia, but since he could not trust who was with her, Yuugo, he grabbed her shoulders and spoke with a serious expression.
“President… Does Yuugo have something on you or something? Are you doing what he tells you…!?”
“O-of course not! And don’t be rude to Yuugo!”
“But it’s weird! You’ve been acting strangely ever since you came back with him yesterday… And you went to his room last night, didn’t you!? Why!?”
“H-hum, that’s…”
Precia could not say they were hiding a lost child in his room and she wanted to give him warm soup, so she did not know what to say, and her eyes wandered.
This just deepened Hao’s suspicions, and he pressed her further.
“And what happened to the bag you borrowed!? Why did you ask for it at that time!? It’s clearly strange! You really are hiding something, aren’t you!? Tell me! Am I that untrustworthy!?”
“N-no…”
It was not as though she did not trust him, but she hesitated to tell him because all the preconceptions he had made her wonder if he would accept it.
However, at this point, she figured it might be good to get him to help… But just as she was about to tell him about Shiroi…
“You’re getting pretty loud there Hao.”
“What are you talking about that got you so worked up?”
“Ah…! Shian and Egos…!! Good timing. Actually…”
“Ah! H-Hao!?”
Shian and Egos showed up all of a sudden, and were curious about what got Hao so worked up.
Precia’s face turned pale, as he told them what happened before she could stop him, and Shian and Egos looked at Precia with affection… Which were actually completely empty smiles.
“President, what happened? Don’t keep secrets, tell us too.”
“It might be hard to say, but be brave! We can keep a secret!”
“Ah, hm…”
It was three against one, and the gentle Precia was unable to keep the secret.
She dropped her shoulders, feeling resigned, and despite feeling guilty towards Yuugo and the others, spoke.
“Actually…”
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