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Is he…getting enlightenment, or like, becoming more defiant? Feeling some odd pressure from Luke, I just nodded at him, not exactly understanding what was happening. “Is that so?”

“Yes. So, Jill —would you mind closing your eyes for a moment?”
“?”
“Please. I want to create a memorable moment suitable for today, the day of the entrance ceremony!”
“Huh? I’m not quite sure I understand, but you want me to close my eyes?”
“Yes, if possible, face this way, tilt your head slightly upward, and close your mouth.”

That’s quite specific. I thought, closing my eyes as instructed.

…gulp!

Maybe because my eyes were closed, my ears grew more sensitive. I swear I could hear Luke audibly swallowing his breath.

Well, now I’m curious what he’s going to give me. That was when I felt Luke’s hands on my shoulders, followed by his warmth getting closer. Huh? What is this sense of deja vu?

That was when the coach suddenly halted.

“Kyaah?!”
“Waah?!”

We were both thrown out of our seats, but Luke threw himself in front of me. Thanks to him, I got away with just a startle, whilst Luke had hit various parts of his body and ended up under the seat. “Ouch,” he yelped in pain.

“A-, are you okay Luke?! I’m sorry you had to shield me like this. —I’ll fix you up right away!”

Immediately, I performed the most powerful healing spell I could.

“「The Great Healing Hand shall kindle your flame of life.」”

This spell, which previously had a fifty-fifty success rate and could only be used once a day, has now reached a success rate of ninety percent.

“ 「Regenerate.」”

Consuming most of my physical and mental strength, a light enveloped Luke’s body, instantly healing all injuries and pains, even those on the brink of death, in a moment.

“—phew. I’m feeling much better now. You’re amazing as always, Jill.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for saving me as well. That being said, did you tell me to close my eyes knowing that it would end up like this…?”

Could it be that Luke has awakened some kind of precognitive ability?

“…No, it was just a coincidence. Or rather… it was such bad timing to be interrupted…” Luke averted his gaze from me, expression hard to make out. He lightly opened the door and called out to the coachman. “ —What happened? You could have injured Jill!”

“M-, my deepest apologies. Something unknown suddenly crawled up from the sewers and blocked the way, startling the horses. Our security personnel are checking it out right now.”

At the apologetic voice of the coachman, we exchanged glances.

“It crawled up from the sewers…? Could it be a monster? But it couldn’t be, since we’re right in the heart of the city.”

Generally, there are barriers around the city walls to prevent monsters from entering, but it’s said that they can occasionally appear in the lower districts or slums, as the barriers cannot completely block them from the sky, underground, or deep water. However, it’s unimaginable for one to appear near the center of a city protected by double or triple barriers.

“I’m not so sure either. I cannot sense any monster presence—wait! This mana signature, don’t tell me…?”

In the city, where the presence of humans, demi-humans, and magical items can induce symptoms akin to mana intoxication, I usually keep my Search range restrained. However, I widened it this time and sensed a distinct mana wave emitted by an acquaintance I recently met. Before Luke could stop me, I was already out of the coach.

There was bulky garbage lying on the roadside —upon closer look, it was a girl wrapped up and tied in a bamboo wrap, surrounded by confused guards.

Passing through them — ignoring their warnings such as “Milady, you mustn’t look at such a vulgar thing!” “We’ll handle this!” “Please step back!” — and crouching down, I looked at the distinctive white hair (although it’s now completely dirty) and the cat ears stuck flat against the head, and I realized it was just as I suspected.

“Chaton! I know it’s you, Chaton! What happened to you, why are you here like this?”
“……hnng? Oh…ooh, if it isn’t the young noble lady! What heaven sent, it’s like meeting Buddha’s salvation in hell!”

Chaton opened her eyes slightly, then suddenly widened them all at once. Uncharacteristically for her usual expressionless self, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh man~~~ You gotta hear me out, young lady! So there I was, carrying the off-the-shelf ultra good stuff for Prince Charming, but his meanie guards kicked me out before I could explain it to them, so I turned around and sneaked in from the backdoor, but they found me out, and guess what, they wrapped me, this beautiful me, in a bamboo mat and ganged on me. …In the end, I had to use the peerless skill I inherited from the Boss, the ‘Playing Dead,’ before I could get away.”

“Huh…” I’m not sure I understand, but being a merchant sounds tough.

“Well, that aside —Sorry about this, but could you cut this rope for me?”
“…Aah, right.”

After a brief moment of consideration, I deemed it impossible to untie the wet rough rope by hand. Therefore, I retrieved the dragonfang dagger from my Close space art and used it to cut through the rope.

The security guards, who had readied their weapons, exchanged uncertain glances. Despite her suspicious appearance maxing out the meter, they now understood that she seemed to be an acquaintance of mine.

Just then—

“Do you know her, Jill?”

Luke, known for his impartiality towards appearances or attire — some might call it magnanimity, while others might label it as thickheadedness — arrived a bit late and cautiously inserted himself into the scene, peering in.

“Ah…” With widened eyes, Chaton —without giving me or Luke a chance to react— quickly stood up and clung to Luke.

“MY DEAR PRINCE———!!!” Adding a hearty heart mark to her words, she planted a passionate kiss on Luke’s left cheek, leaving him dumbfounded.

Right then, “AAAHH———?!!” A girly scream echoed. It took me some time to realize that the scream emanated from my own mouth, as I was pointing at the two of them.

“H-, hey…can you let me go already?!”
“Nn~~ mwah!! How cruel of you. Our meeting is destiny. No matter what happens, I will never ever let you go—mwaah!!”

As Luke and Chaton remained locked in a persistent kiss and embrace, in an instant, the dragonfang dagger sliced through the air, separating them abruptly.

“WHOA?!”
“NYAAHH!!”

The dagger impaled itself into the coach all the way to its hilt right between the two.

It happened in 0.1 second. My reflexes betrayed my own will.

“You spook me, you SPOOKED me! What the hell, young lady?!”
“That’s MY line! What a disgrace in the middle of the street, in broad daylight!!”

Breathing heavily and agitated, both Chaton and I square off against each other.

“This is merely a greeting. Besides, the freedom of love should be protected, even in the laws of Superempire—” Chaton was about to say something in protest, but she held her tongue and looked at me as if noticing something. “Young lady… is that…?”

She fixed her eyes on mine, looking for something.

Also, for some reason, Luke seemed like he was getting his hopes up for something… Incidentally, the security guards are also looking at me from a distance, as if they’re watching some kind of fun spectacle. …Go back to work, you lot.

“Is that jealousy I see?”
“It’s not! —I was just concerned because touching or coming into contact with such dirty attire or bodily fluids could potentially lead to illness!”

“Heeh, hooh,” Chaton answered my rebuttal with half-hearted hums. For some reason, Luke’s shoulders dropped.

“Don’t mind it, sir.”
“Rest assured, young master. She still has a pulse.”
“It’s been popular lately, you know, the tondere¹ archetype.”

The warm support the escorts gave him afterward was quite a sight.

Also, I did my best not to retort with “That’s tsundere for you!” —I-, I mean, I am not, okay?!

1. Mab: the joke is that Ton often used for pig/pork. For example, tonkatsu (japanese pork cutlet).
   Lio: If I were to localize the joke, I’d make a different pun and call it tune-dere