Chapter 44 – Planting the Unconscious Flag

“Whoah…!”

Dump.

Throwing herself on the bed, Ashita fumbled for his pillow.
Ashita pulled the pillow he had barely picked up and buried his face in it, and stayed there for a while before flapping his legs.

‘Uh… Did you enjoy today?’

The questionable type was because he was nervous enough to surprise himself.
Today was a contradictory day in which tension and joy coexisted.

Stranger Dre.
The first meeting couldn’t be said to be very good with empty words.
Ashita was well aware of the power of her physical appearance.

Many men had approached her throughout her life.
That’s why she didn’t know the depths of her heart when it came to men, but when she looked at herself, she could roughly know what kind of inside she had.
Being her, Dre could see that she wasn’t such a bad person.

Ashita recalled an incident from a while ago.
She went with the people she had always wanted to party with, and in the forest she ran into a red rat.
The party members were all annihilated and the mana they had was running out, and the fear of death approached every moment.

She was hiding and trembling when a person appeared in front of Red Rat, and she rushed at him.

She wanted to warn her to run away, but she feared that if she broke the invisibility magic, she would die too. And Red Rat was too quick to act for two reasons, psychological and practical.

And Dre beat Red Rat.

After she had won, she was about to retrieve her corpse and leave, as silent as her machine, without any rejoicing.
As she ran out of mana, she told Ashita that she had no idea how to get out of the forest, so she had to ask him for help.

And her first meeting.
An emotionless look and expression. And wicked eyes.
He never looked like a good person.

‘I thought it was because I was wearing glasses…’

Again, Ashita was well aware of the power of her own appearance.
She may have been called fierce in other parts, but she couldn’t be ignorant of that weapon.
Since she was a child, she has been almost kidnapped several times and her relatives who have followed her have changed.

Fortunately, Ashita was able to self-defense to some extent, and her father, Apiz, was a man always mentioned when the country’s strongest was mentioned, so there was nothing unsavory about it.

Still, I couldn’t help but feel hurt every time something like that happened.
Ashita began to enjoy wearing old-fashioned glasses and clothes that did not reveal her body.

It was like that that day too.
A man has no mercy for an ugly woman.
Ashita was well aware of that, and thought Dre was the case as well.
She was about to take off her glasses.

However, fearing that the man with criminal eyes would suddenly change, he couldn’t put it into action, and in the meantime, Dre left.

I rushed after him. His stride was wide and his steps quick.
As Ashita, who was lagging behind in physical ability, it was obvious that she would fall behind in the end.
He thought that he would die if he fell behind, so he chased after him, but his physical strength had to reach the limit, and Ashita’s pace slowed down.

Should I give up everything and reveal my face or go back alone… When you think about it Realized.
For some reason, the distance with Dre remained the same.

Whether walking fast out of nervousness or walking slowly due to stamina, the distance was always the same.
I thought it shouldn’t be like this, but Ashita deliberately walked slower as a test… Still, Dre was neither getting closer nor farther.

More time passed and Ashita was convinced.

Ah, this man. You’re protecting me.

It could have been condescending by showing consideration, but it was a fresh attitude for Ashita to be reticent, rather not to show good deeds.

Eventually, she reached the village.
Ashita wanted to repay him.

But something was strange.
The guild’s adventurers looked at him with cold eyes, and he seemed to take it for granted.
He didn’t care about it at the time and promised to see you later.

It was only later that I found out that he was a foreigner and what kind of false accusation he had.
The contents of the false accusation were terrible, but Ashita believed her eyes.
Dre wasn’t a bad person, he was fundamentally a good person.
Even in this situation, he was a selfless person to the extent of helping others.

She was right.

According to what Apiz and Blan had insinuated, he said he had framed Ulis.
Julis was someone Ashita knew well.
He was Gold’s squire attending the same academy, so there was no way he didn’t know.
He was a noble and upright knight, and I still wonder why he did such a thing.

Even the easy-going Ashita was scared when Ulith and Dre met face-to-face and the duel took place.
He was Dre, who seemed to keep his cool under any circumstances, but when he vented his anger, he couldn’t be more afraid.

However, it was justified anger, and Ashita gathered up the courage to meet him again.
He was the same as usual.
Besides, he was surprisingly sociable.
He quickly made friends with Ulysse’s colleagues, the Knights under the direct command of the Hart family, and was especially kind to Mr. Blan.

Ashita thought.
If it is this person, even if you show his face, you might be able to establish a friendship between men and women.
Maybe this guy As a reward, he showed his bare face.
Dre’s expressionless face went blank for a moment.

But it was really a moment, and he treated himself as usual.
That was a reaction that exceeded expectations from Ashita.
As her friend, this is the most appropriate response.
But for some reason, he was a little dissatisfied with himself.

Until then, Dre had been calculating with men, but she didn’t like that anymore.
He really wanted to be friends.

I was surprised when he, who had always been quiet, subdued Sor, who was arrogant.
At the time of Ulysse, he had already realized this, but he thought he was a competent person.

And Ashita was betrayed by Sor and the girls from Mirf Village whom she believed to be her old friends.
I never thought that Sor would be looking at me with jealous eyes.

In Ashita’s eyes, Sor was a person who had leadership that led everyone and had something he didn’t have. Little did she know that she had committed such a terrible crime or hated herself, and when she described herself as a good-looking woman, she was deeply hurt.

But.
When Dre told her how amazing Ashita was, her wounds melted away.
And when I held her hand… Her body was electrified.

After that, Sor’s betrayal took a back seat, and only Dre and the sensation of electricity rising and burning hands lingered.

…Could this be the sense of love? Even if it’s not to the point of hating men, I’m distrustful?
Me who dumped countless men?

That’s why I deliberately contacted him.
I wondered if I would feel the same sensation as then.

When I first held her hand, it was just normal. She felt relieved.
But when we held hands again… Really, really unbelievably…

…Is gone.

“…Aaaaa!!”

It is an embarrassing memory to the point of writhing on the bed.

It was possible that Dre had a sly mind and used a trick, but it didn’t seem like it.
Ashita is a man’s feelings, even if he doesn’t know a woman. It was also remarkably aware of low feelings.
In her view, Dre had a crush on her, but she wasn’t a rational crush.
At first I thought it was good, but now it’s kind of annoying.

‘Come to think of it, Dren. Today I went out wearing plain clothes, not thick clothes, but he didn’t say anything.’

It was too much.
She might wonder what it would be like to change into normal clothes, but if Ashita dressed up even a little, the reactions around her would change.

Even if she pretended not to, she stared at Ashita’s clothes, and it was clear to her that she noticed that her outfit had changed, which made her even more upset.

If you give me a compliment, it will be added.

“…Let’s hold hands again next time.”

I don’t think so.
Ashita has a boyfriend.

He is also a handsome and well-mannered boyfriend of a powerful aristocrat with enormous wealth.
Externally, she showed a bold personality, but she couldn’t tolerate holding hands with other men.

If she were in his shoes, it would be irritating for a lover to hold hands with someone of the opposite sex.

That is, if it is a man who is much older than him.

…But just looking at his looks, isn’t Dre pretty handsome too?
It was a face that even Ashita, who had a hard time with eyes, would think was handsome when her eyes were closed.

‘I’m thinking of something.’

Originally, during this personal break, I would just relax, think about the success of my father Apiz, or think of the good times with my precious friends.

Her pride wouldn’t allow her to keep thinking of the man she’d been dating for a week instead of them.
She tried to erase Dre’s puffy face, but in the end she thought about him.

“Is it okay to meet up?”

Ashita thought that her feelings were not her love.
She just wants to feel more of the unknown.
But what can I say?

‘Why don’t we have a regular meeting for a while?’

His proposal would not be a rational meeting, but just to be friendly.

In fact, even after that, I only asked about strangers and Ashita’s magic, but didn’t ask what Ashita liked.
…I’d like you to ask me next time.

Thinking so involuntarily, Ashita imagined the next day, the day she would work with him at Prunar Academy.

***

“It was a good time.”

I mumbled to myself and lay down on the luxurious bed.
This is neither Nilla’s inn nor the guild’s room.
It is a top-notch hotel prepared by the Hart family and the Blizzard family.
At first, I hansako declined. But bitch Clarir told me.

“Tomorrow, people with enormous influence will come here. I would appreciate it if you could build their prestige.”

What the fuck is Nilla’s inn like?
I tried to shoot it as a very great sense of privilege, but Clarir added.

“I know that sounds offensive, of course, but Dre. There are definitely times in the world when you need to be formal. There are times when they don’t sit still around them, even though they genuinely think it’s okay to be humble around them.”

He heard it and understood it.

For example, let’s say Gold comes to see me at Nilla’s inn.
Gold and Nana don’t care about the place, but they have to keep an eye on them… For example, a high-ranking official who manages Mirf Village or nearby merchants, etc. There is.

It’s kind of funny to say that I didn’t go to the army, and I don’t have to do it in the future. It might feel similar to, or worse, the coming of the division commander.
Even if it wasn’t, I didn’t want to make it harder for Nilla, who had been suffering from Ramnut for over a year.

Unexpectedly deep in thought. Clarir.
Anyway, she is a woman who cannot be hated to the end.
Because the facilities of the hotel he was persuaded into were so great, the few remaining complaints went into it.

Her inn where Gold stayed is the best place in Mirf Village, but now this hotel is said to have been decorated even more luxuriously by the people of her family using her magic.
Luxurious, of course.

…But the bed is so soft.
Nilla’s inn wasn’t bad, but the bed was so-so.
She liked the softness that made her fall asleep just by lying down.

As I lay down, I remembered the explanation Ashita had given me earlier.
Her knowledge of the stranger was considerable, as Ashita herself confidently stated that her own research was about her stranger.

First of all, the language of the Gentiles.
As a fact that she found out after a long study, she said that even if each person speaks a different language, they are automatically translated into the same language as the other person.
However, it does not apply to monsters.

Then, I asked what would happen if a large number of people were talking, and even in that case, the listeners would be converted according to the language they had learned.
Moreover, it seems that there is no time required for translation.

There is translation magic, but this is quite advanced magic, and there is a research result that the translation of a stranger’s language is superior to that, so it is an element that makes the stranger’s special feel even deeper.

However, what makes them special is what is called ‘perks’, such as skills, arms, and abilities.

When I asked what the difference between skills and abilities was, he said that skills basically consume mana and belong to a category that anyone can learn. Of course, the skills of the strangers are so high-level skills that not everyone can learn them.

A perk is an ability that does not consume any energy.
It is said that there are three types.

Skill. Most said this was the case.

Armor. This is the sword that Ulith had.

Or the type called talent is an innate power.
People who say that they have a strong body or can easily hear the voices of spirits take it for granted that they move their arms are called talent-type perks.

Having heard enough of the perk, I asked where the strangers came from, and Ashita wondered why you were asking, but was told that the strangers were thought to come from beyond the World Tree.

I questioned that statement.

“Has no one said that they are from another world?”

Even if they don’t, they get cheated and will be arrogant and selfish, but what kind of compulsion is it that they don’t say that they came from another world?
There are people everywhere who want to stand out, and the fact that they came from another world, not from another country, is something special that deserves to be said.
However, Ashita’s reaction was unexpected.

“A different… World?”
“…?”

The moment I try to say it again out of a sense of doubt about the strange reaction.

Tring!

[Urgent quest occurs!

The temple of ? Is an authority granted only to you. Even if you let me know, I’ll think it’s your will and follow it, but if possible, please keep quiet.

Quest Reward: A collection of character settings. (Disappears when mentioning another world.)]

I don’t know what ? Is, and I don’t know what the temple means.

I learned two things from that quest.
One. Other strangers cannot reveal that they are from another world.
Two. Judging by the word yet, the information that the stranger is a human from another world will be revealed someday.

I don’t know why they kept it a secret, but I kept my mouth shut because it was clear that the information that only I knew would become a weapon later.

And it was a happy coincidence that I got a set of characters.
It was a setting book with only the characters written on it, but the names and faces of the characters were disappearing, but it was a good thing.

As a result of testing the performance, the character set comes out immediately in the form of a system window when I think I want to see it.

Lying on the bed, I remembered the setting book, and soon the contents of the setting book appeared along with the system window.

Dozens of characters written in the setting book were all handsome and beautiful.

However, Ashita was not among them.
Why?

…Perhaps it’s because the body will soon reconcile with mana and die?
I’ll try not to do that, but…

Then, what does the character in this set-up mean?
This world is not a game. It is a world that exists. But the main characters…?

Is this actually a world like a well-made game?
Or would it be a repeating world?
Are the people in this setting book active in a repetitive world?

Is it too far-fetched to think?
Whatever it is, they’re probably going to have a huge impact in some way later on.
This time, it was the moment I tried to open my eyes wide so that I could memorize everything.

Smart smart

“…?”

I thought of Neela for a moment, but there was no way she had come this far. Even if I had come, the people at the security office would have come to ask me.
And unlike Nilla, a voice came through the door.

“Is there?”
“…?”

Why are you here?
When I opened the door with a bit of trepidation, there was a short, beautiful girl standing and wiggling.

“El.”

A breathtakingly beautiful blonde girl.
El came to my room.

***

“Dangerous.”

Clary Le felt great gratitude to Dre, but at the same time, she was acutely aware of her danger.
A human who can defeat Frostia with personal force.

Of course, it is 30% Frostia.
It is a legendary dragon of destruction that is said to become a different monster every 1%.
A figure of 30% would have been equivalent to a level where the dragon could not exert any power.

‘Even so, it’s clear that Dre is an unmatched being.’

Even at 30%, the perishing dragon is a disaster.
It is not known whether he will be able to catch it even if he uses all the artifacts hidden by the teenage family, but he managed to handle it alone.

“You have to be vigilant.”

Obviously, he had no intention of doing anything.
But he felt he should be vigilant and kept around…