kscans

Chapter 517 - Continuation

The first night's banquet came to a surprisingly swift end.

Perhaps out of consideration for the journey here, Ashe declared the party over after only about two hours so that no one would be dragging their fatigue into the following days. A few people, starting with the good girl Nia-chan, were looking sleepy, so it was probably good timing.

I was feeling pretty tired myself, all things considered.

I have some confidence in my stamina, but that's only by normal standards, real-world standards. The toughness of the avatar I've developed in the virtual world doesn't carry over to reality.

Well, a decent amount of fatigue was to be expected. I had been present for the meeting of the three girls, then the long car ride. I'd gotten excited about the secret base-like villa, studied, explored, cooked, and made four new acquaintances in the real world—

On top of all that, my heart had been thrown into its usual turmoil… so today had, in its own moderate way, been another day full of events.

"…Hah."

The fact that today only qualified as moderately eventful made me let out a weary laugh as I collapsed onto the bed. Just how turbulent has my life been lately?

After the order to dismiss was given, the eight of us, led mainly by Sora, Uni, and myself, had a lively clean-up session that finished a short while ago.

It seemed that the only ones who were somewhat used to the kitchen were those who had done some cooking today, but this was a group of rankers, nearly all of whom exuded an aura of being ‘good at getting things done.’

With improvised teamwork that could rival a battle in the virtual world, they made short work of the tedious post-party cleanup—man, a group of such capable people feels so overwhelmingly invincible in every aspect, it's almost funny.

Of course, Goldow, who had happily been drinking and was now completely wasted, was excluded, so it was really seven of us. But that was totally fine. I wanted him to rest and recover from his daily hardships as much as he liked. You've earned it, our great General Commander.

And so, the current time was just before nine at night. I returned to my room, washed off the sweat in the guest room's shower, and collapsed onto the bed in some casual clothes. Naturally, a wave of sleepiness washed over me.

Honestly, I was tempted to just say goodbye to the day right then and there…

—We can continue tonight.

"Ughn…………"

That one task, the one I had been most worried about, what would happen, was still remaining.

At night, just the two of us, studying. It was a set of words that was, how should I put it, quite something, but given who my partner was, I couldn't just laugh off the need for caution.

Iris, who was already forty percent more aggressive than usual on this trip, what kind of lightning-fast assault would she launch next—

"…………………………Ughn."

I have so much to think about, I just want to surrender myself to sleep.

Would a short nap be okay? Would I wake up if she knocked? The fact that I wasn't even considering the option of bailing and saying “let’s cancel tonight’s session” meant I…

—You're doing just fine.

Am I someone who deserves to be praised by others?

◇◆◇◆◇

"—!"

Without any preamble, my consciousness surfaced all at once.

The moment you jolt awake from an unexpected sleep is often filled with confusion. And since you can usually guess roughly how much time has passed from the state of your body, if you remember you have later plans, a massive wave of panic comes crashing down as well.

I had probably been asleep for about an hour. Judging by the darkness filling the room, I had avoided the blunder of sleeping until morning… but if Ashe had already come by, that meant I had missed her knock.

If so, I felt bad. As the one asking for lessons, I should probably go and check on her, just to be sure—and then, a sense of wrongness.

I hadn't intended to actually fall asleep, so I didn't remember turning off the lights in my room.

And so…

"………………"

Still in a half-sitting position, I turned my head—ah, right, I see.

Intruder, discovered.

"I'm torn between apologizing for sleeping through our promise, or scolding you for invading my personal space."

"Let's just say they cancel each other out."

If I hadn't been half-asleep, I would have noticed that one side of the mattress was slightly depressed with a weight other than my own. The intruder, Ashe, who had been sitting by my pillow, replied with a mischievous smile.

"Sorry, I let my guard down."

"Don't worry about it. I figured you would be tired."

Still, I apologized for likely having missed her knock. I didn't know when she had arrived, but I was grateful that she had turned off the light and let me sleep instead of waking me up… though, that was probably canceled out by the crime of watching me sleep.

I shouldn't think about it too much. It's super embarrassing.

Anyway—

"Um… what should we do? Can I still ask you to do it now?"

After my unintentional nap, my stamina gauge had thankfully increased slightly. I wouldn't say my fatigue was completely gone, but my condition was relatively good.

So, I asked… but Ashe shook her head.

"I'm done being a tutor for today. As I said, I thought you'd be tired, so that was my intention when I came to call on you."

"Ah… I, see."

"You don't need to worry. As I also said, I will teach you properly during the rest of the trip, so there's no need to rush. Leave it to me."

Man, she was so reliable it brought tears to my eyes. Even when she was tutoring me, Ashe had said she would be “strict but gentle,” but in the end, she was just gentle.

She was the ideal kind of tutor, one who could guide her student at lightning speed without having to be strict.

"Well, in that case, I'll take you up on that without rushing… so… for now, would you care to confess how long you've been sneaking in here and committing the grave sin of watching my sleeping face?"

"Hm… About an hour ago?"

"Hey, that's exactly when I think I fell asleep. I was probably still in a light sleep, you should have woken me up too."

I tapped the smartphone that had been lying by my pillow, and the time displayed on the lit screen was almost exactly what my internal clock had told me.

Staring at my face for around three thousand six hundred seconds, weren't you bored?

"You have a cute sleeping face."

"Wait, I didn't ask for your opinion."

"I think the range of your expressions is unfair. When you're calm, you look more mature than your age, but when you're having fun or letting your guard down, you look much younger… and very cute."

"Alright, you're trying to kill me right here and now, aren't you…!"

That's the kind of thing you're not supposed to say directly to someone's face. Please, calm down.

"If we're talking about gaps, you're quite something yourself, princess. To be honest, I still have nightmares about our fight in the Four Pillar War, like a 'horror experience'! And yet here, in the real world, you've become this honest-to-a-fault bomb that's super effective against me in a completely different way, leaving me defenseless—"

"The Four Pillar War… You were smiling so much then, too."

"Guys' personalities change, more or less, during a sword fight! Looking back, I can only question myself. How in the world did I fight the [Sword Queen] head-on? There's no way I could reproduce that, seriously…"

"Fufu… Right now, you're on the cute side."

"Ngaah…! Calling a guy cute over and over…!"

Sure, I'm younger than her, and I wouldn't be surprised if the difference in our life experience was like that between an adult and a child—but on a level separate from whether I'm happy about it or not, being called ‘cute’ by a girl just makes a guy feel… weird.

At least, it makes me feel incredibly awkward!