Chapter 427 - The Screening
"—I see. I understand."
I had some errands to run at my family's home, so this was the first time we'd seen each other in two days. During dinner, the young man finished his 'talk' with a somewhat solemn expression. When I gave him a simple acknowledgment, I could feel his bewilderment.
It was so easy to tell what he was thinking that a smile escaped my lips.
"You thought… I would be jealous?"
"Ah… I thought you might complain a little, maybe."
In our time together, she has shown hints of pouting on rare occasions, so it wasn't particularly strange for him to think that.
It was the first official event in Arcadia, spanning several days. To be honest, it wasn't that I didn't feel a twinge of envy for the person who would be joining him—
"If it's Nia, that's fine. Make sure you escort her properly."
There was no falsehood in those words.
She met the surprised look he gave her for accepting it so readily, and having finished her meal a step ahead as usual, Iris did her best to smile.
It wasn't because she was forcing it, but simply because she was aware that her conscious smiles were still a bit stiff.
"She's an 'artisan.' If it weren't for an opportunity like this, she wouldn't get to spend much time with you in the virtual world. You should prioritize her."
"That's… well, I suppose you're right."
"You said you wanted to 'take it easy for a while,' so I thought one of them would be a good fit. I saw that Sora was invited by Lux, and I figured if she accepted, there was a high chance it would be Nia."
She knew that [The Traveler] had taken a liking to both Haru and Sora, and his unpredictable actions were nothing new.
In a way, the whole situation had played out as it was meant to.
Again, she felt envious. But it wasn't something she should direct her jealousy towards. If she started doing that, then she, who had made all sorts of advances first, would be the one who deserved a storm of jealousy from Nia.
So this time, it was Nia's turn. And that was fine—but,
"If you feel any guilt about it,"
"Ah, yes… then?"
Just as she had repeatedly told Nia not to hold back with her. By extension, that meant that Iris herself…
"You can make it up to me as much as you like."
"…………U-Understood."
As long as it was within the bounds of 'fair play,' she had no intention of holding back either.
◇◆◇◆◇
After having dinner with Ashe for the first time in two days. The 'report' went surprisingly smoothly, which gave me some peace of mind.
However, that didn't mean I had nothing left to think about. If anything, the various inconsistencies that had surfaced over the past few days were the very issues that, for my own state of mind, urgently needed to be resolved.
After dealing with my other concerns through the report and the promise to 'make it up to her'… I decided to drive on once more to sort through my thoughts again.
—And then, several hours later.
"…………………………Uh, what are you doing?"
Sunk into the large sofa that had recently been added to the clan room's common area, I was greeted with that question from a newly logged-in Tetra.
Seeing an acquaintance lying on their back, staring motionlessly at the ceiling—well, that's a pretty normal reaction for anyone.
As for me—
"Nngh…"
I had been remembering, remembering, and remembering, for what felt like hours.
I was so drowned in the footage of my own 'memories,' which were far too clear to be called memories, that a faint response was the most I could muster from the indescribable swamp of sensation.
It felt exactly like being caught between a dream and reality.
"What's wrong with you? Are you sick or something?"
I thought he'd just give me a 'what's with this guy' look and leave, but at times like these, my junior-slash-senior shows his caring side.
Though his face screamed annoyance, Tetra peeked over the back of the sofa to look at me. I tried to convey 'I'm fine' with just my eyes—
"…………What? Staring at me with those vacant eyes is just creepy."
Apparently, we hadn't yet formed the kind of telepathic bond where that would get through.
"Ah… I'm okay, really. I'm just being hit by the kind of fatigue and loss of reality you'd get from watching movies on fast-forward for two or three days straight…"
"You can't just say 'just' about that. What have you really been doing?"
He sounded exasperated, but I couldn't help it. It was necessary.
—Yes, it was necessary.
Thanks to it, I think I've realized a lot of things.
As I exchanged words with someone, my consciousness slowly began to surface, and I sat up. My room was still completely empty, so I had just been here, but it turned out to be convenient that Tetra served as my alarm clock.
Otherwise, who knows how long I would have remained drowned in my 'memories.'
"…Wait, you're going somewhere in that state?"
As I stood up and began summoning and equipping my rabbit daggers and boots, the boy shot me a perfectly reasonable question.
Well, you see—
"…………I'm just going to go cool my head. I'm heading far north, so if you need anything else collected, I'll take requests."
Thanking him for the wake-up call would probably just earn me a confused look. So, I framed it as if it were on the way, asking if he needed anything. Tetra, never one to hold back in these situations, didn't hesitate.
Though he looked suspicious, he tapped away at his system keyboard, and as always, a message filled with a long, merciless list of materials came through.
…I'll try to get about half of them.
"Alright, I'm heading out for a bit."
I gave a half-smile as I glanced at the list, then turned on my heel with a casual wave—
"—Senpai."
I was called back and turned to meet a pair of black eyes.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
It was a question of 'confirmation,' not quite 'concern.'
From an outsider's perspective, I'm aware that I must seem suddenly and strangely off. So, with that awareness, I smiled.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
I said it as if a great weight had been lifted.
I simply stated my true feelings and left the clan room.