Chapter 24 – Outing

“Uh..?”

I looked down at the pancake pushed in front of my eyes and put on a surprised expression.

At some point, Rumia was holding out a cake with a fork to me.

“Oh, are you not going to eat? At most, he’s reaching out to give it to you.”

I looked down at Rumia, who was sticking a fork in my face, with a blank expression.

Is this okay?

Come to think of it, that fork that was being held out to me right now was the fork that had been in Rumia’s mouth before. If I put that fork she gave me to eat into her mouth, isn’t it the same as putting the fork that went into Rumia’s mouth into mine?

Is this.. Am I overreacting..?

I hesitantly looked at Rumia.

Perhaps she didn’t even recognize that Rumia was the fork she was eating, she just tilted her head without thinking. No, if she’s Rumia, there’s no way she wouldn’t notice, so maybe she wasn’t even paying attention.

“Uh..”

Of course, she wanted to put the fork that Rumia was holding out into her mouth right away, but she couldn’t bear it because she thought that Rumia might be offended by noticing it too late. She couldn’t decide even though she could see her Rumia’s arms starting to tremble little by little.

“Oh wow, that’s really frustrating.”

“?!”

Three, Cecilia?!

Cecilia approached and grabbed my hair and pushed it toward her fork.

If I didn’t open her mouth, she would be stabbed with a fork, so I opened her mouth without realizing it, and she put the fork in my mouth and threw it away.

“I’m sorry..”

So sweet.

“Now it is your turn.”

Cecilia said with a mischievous smile.

Does this culture really exist?

Of course, being able to feed each other with Rumia is a joy, but there was no need to help by fabricating the culture of my country…

“Let’s go to sleep quickly.”

“…”

…

Okay.

Anyway, it is clear that this is the opportunity Cecilia gave me.

If this kind of place hadn’t been created, it would have been impossible for me and Rumia to feed each other.

After I cut up her pie, I forked it and carefully handed it to Rumia.

Then, all of a sudden, I was stunned.

It’s the fork I put in my mouth earlier. I, too, blamed myself for forgetting and tried to pull it back to hand it over with Lumia’s fork.

If it wasn’t for Rumia.

“Lu, Lumia?!”

Perhaps she thought she was playing a joke, Rumia persistently moved her body along her fork, and she finally put my fork in her mouth and threw it away.

Why are you trying to eat this much?

“..!”

Rumia was lying on my leg at some point, probably because I was obsessively following her fork. She was constantly trying to get strange thoughts about Rumia’s soft skin and her smelling hair.

…

Shit.

I had a gut feeling that I was screwed.

“…”

Rumia lowered her head, perhaps feeling something about her.

I must have taken it off last time.

Of course, it’s true that I couldn’t take it out coolly because the place is a place, but I thought it would be okay since I took it off at least once. However, I didn’t know that the fact that Rumia was lying on my leg would turn it into something like this.

There was nothing to say even if he was cornered as a pervert and cursed.

I closed my eyes in anticipation of the pain that would soon follow.

However,

“What..?”

Rumia didn’t do anything.

She just went back to her place and bowed her head, with a rather embarrassed expression on her face.

“Ohh..”

Cecilia, who was next to her, gave a subtle smile.

I’m going crazy damn…

.
.
.

The outing was fun.

Cecilia, too, had a lot of fun today, with a smile on her face.

Perhaps because of what had happened at the restaurant earlier, Rumia and I couldn’t get any closer than that, and we were just walking side by side.

Are you angry

I was angry enough.

From Rumia’s point of view, she probably only experienced the culture of feeding each other following Cecilia’s suggestion that she would experience their own culture. At the same time, she naturally did it with the thought that she would be able to eat my pie too.

It was almost certain that he had such a happy expression on his face as he ate the pie.

I turned to Rumia.

I don’t know what Rumia is thinking.

Rumia wondered what she thought of me. Last time she heard, she recognized me as a party member. She thought that she would have become close enough with her, and even though the same thing happened this time, Rumia didn’t say anything.

It wouldn’t be strange at all if she despised people of the opposite sex, even if they were usually members of the same party, but Rumia didn’t. However, I felt anxious that she might not be angry even if she was angry because of the fact that I was a warrior.

“Ummm.. We should break up soon..”

Cecilia said as soon as she arrived in front of the cathedral.

“I guess so..”

According to her words, the sun has already set, and it will be dangerous if she doesn’t return soon.

In fact, there was a high possibility that people inside the cathedral had already noticed that Cecilia had disappeared and were secretly looking for her.

“Thank you so much for today. If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the festival properly and would have had to go on a trip.”

I nodded at Cecilia’s words with a smile.

Of course, it’s a pity to see that she enjoyed it properly even now, but since Cecilia was a saint, originally, it would have been impossible to even walk around the city before the festival. Perhaps she would be happy enough for her, even if it wasn’t necessarily the day of her festival.

She just wanted to see the people doing the festival, but she didn’t want to enjoy the festival.

“I have to go back now… Tomorrow I will greet you as a saint.”

“There is no need for that.”

..!

What is this voice?!

“?!”

“Ha, grandpa?!”

Kyo, the Pope…?

Why is the person who should be normal in his office, not here, so why is he here?

As I was looking at the pope with a shocked expression, the pope looked around in amazement, and he made a hissing gesture to ask him to lower his voice as he had sneaked out too. Cecilia and I kept our mouths shut.

“I’m sorry it’s hard to talk outside of a place like this.”

His grandfather said that with an awkward smile.

The fact that this person is here must mean that we were caught out as well.

“That… Also…”

“I know even if you don’t tell me. At least the fact that he secretly went out and went on an outing to a village preparing for a festival.”

“I’m sorry..”

“Isn’t it strange that I usually go out like that and don’t notice it? Whoop..”

“You knew everything..”

Cecilia lowered her head with a devastated expression.

Probably get mad

I’m worried because it’s going quite differently from the past I knew, but judging from the atmosphere, I didn’t think I’d scold it. The Pope in my memory was a benevolent person who exuded a very cozy feeling around him.

Sure enough, Grandpa just smiled.

“There is nothing to be too ashamed of. I didn’t come here to scold you.”

“Yes..?”

“Looking at you today… I wonder if I’ve held on to you too much.. I thought that.”

“…”

Cecilia made a sad face at the Pope’s words.

It may not have been intentional, but the position of a saint was not a child’s play, so she was one of the first faces of the nation to step forward when something happened. Of course, it was said that going somewhere to play was a very difficult task.

As her saint, she would attract people’s attention just by going out on the street.

“Sorry..”

“Uh huh, didn’t I say I had nothing to be sorry for? I didn’t come here to scold you.”

“Yes..?”

Then what…

“Ruler. Take this with you.”

Saying that, the pope handed the bag he had been carrying to Cecilia.

“It is a subspace bag. Everything you need for an adventure is included.”

“Is this… Grandpa?”

“You go first.”

Saying that, he raised her hand and stroked Cecilia’s hair.

“Don’t die. Make sure to subdue the Demon King and come back.”

“Grandfather..”

“What will I do tomorrow?”

Should I call you Pope, or Grandpa?

After seeing something like that, how can you firmly call him the Pope?

“You must come back alive..”

“Yes.. Grandpa..!”

I smiled at Cecilia and the Pope, who were crying while hugging each other as if they had forgotten we were even there.