Multiverse: Library

It turned out that after the duel outside the girls' dormitory, Julis had been attacked again.

And once again, Ayato had been present.

And once again… he had helped her.

Having been saved yet again, Julis had no choice but to acknowledge the debt, unable to treat Ayato coldly like before.

So, she declared that she would return the favor.

But, of course—

Ayato didn't particularly care about being repaid.

Seeing how stubborn Julis was about it, however, he eventually came up with an idea.

Since she insisted on repaying him, why not have her show him around Asterisk?

After all, as a newcomer, he was still unfamiliar with the city.

If he didn't get a proper tour, he might end up in the wrong place again—and that would be troublesome, wouldn't it?

So, naturally, he needed a guide to help him explore the city…

It made sense, right?

It was perfectly reasonable, right?

…

Yeah, like hell it was! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Kaiser barely restrained himself from facepalming.

This was peak harem protagonist behavior.

She just wanted to repay a favor, and he turned it into a day out in the city together?

If this were the real world, this would absolutely be a textbook excuse for asking a girl out.

And yet—

Since this was a fantasy world…

Ayato wasn't doing it on purpose.

No, of course not.

He was just being clueless.

Which, naturally, was the most dangerous kind of romance.

Unintentional flirting was the deadliest weapon—wasn't that how these stories always went?

Kaiser could only mentally scream in frustration.

Unfortunately, that scream had to remain in his head.

Still—at least one thing was certain.

"So, we really were just an afterthought."

If Julis had to repay a favor, she might as well repay everyone's favor at once.

That was probably why she had invited both Kaiser and Kirin.

A complete accident, really.

Had it been a more scheming man, he might have pretended to be happy while secretly lamenting the missed opportunity.

But of course—only a completely oblivious protagonist like Ayato could stand there, grinning like an idiot.

"Where's Kirin?" Kaiser asked, dropping the pointless train of thought. "Did she refuse the invitation?"

He vaguely remembered that Kirin's uncle had warned her to keep her distance from the Page One, lest her true strength be exposed.

So, if Kirin had declined, Kaiser wouldn't have been surprised.

However—

"At first, she did turn it down," Julis admitted. "She seemed conflicted about it."

Taking a deep breath, Julis composed herself.

"I wasn't going to force her, but I heard that after she saved me, she hasn't been doing well… so I insisted."

Julis didn't know the full truth—that Kirin's uncle was a controlling, power-hungry manipulator.

But she could tell that Kirin had been troubled since that night.

It wasn't hard to figure out.

So, naturally—Julis couldn't just pretend not to see it.

Kaiser processed this for a moment.

Then, realization dawned.

"Maybe this whole outing was really about Kirin."

News about Kirin's struggles had even surfaced online.

If Kaiser had noticed it, Julis had definitely noticed it, too.

Perhaps that was why she had gone out of her way to plan this outing.

For someone as proud and independent as Julis, taking the initiative like this was rare.

But with Ayato pushing things along, it had ended up turning into a group outing.

So, while Julis claimed this was about repaying favors—

It was obviously not that simple.

At the very least, Julis wouldn't consider a single meal as enough to truly repay a debt.

Thus—

This whole event revolved around Kirin.

Which meant—

Kaiser and Ayato were just the extras tagging along.

"Looks like she's here," Julis suddenly said, shifting her gaze toward the academy's main gate.

"S-Sorry! I'm late!"

A crisp, clear voice rang out, perfectly timed.

Everyone turned toward the entrance.

The next second—

They saw a flustered Kirin, practically sprinting toward them.

"S-Sorry to keep you waiting! I really apologize!"

The moment she reached them, Kirin immediately bowed, over and over, frantically apologizing.

But—

At that moment, none of them—not Kaiser, not Ayato, not even Julis—paid attention to her words.

Their focus was on something else entirely.

Her outfit.

For once, Kirin wasn't wearing her Seidoukan Academy uniform.

Instead, she had dressed in casual clothing.

She wore a white long-sleeved blouse with delicate lace trim, the kind with buttons running down the front.

The hem was tucked neatly into a high-waisted, pleated blue skirt—which was even shorter than Julis'.

Her thighs were bare, her legs smooth and slender, leading down to a pair of mid-calf boots.

It wasn't flashy—

But it was youthful and undeniably cute.

It suited Kirin's age perfectly.

Except…

"…"

Everyone's eyes naturally drifted downward—

To a certain part of her blouse where the buttons looked like they were barely holding on for dear life.

"W-What's wrong?"

Noticing the subtle yet strange reactions around her, Kirin grew even more anxious.

Was there something wrong with her outfit?

Had she messed up?

But… but this was the only thing that still fit!

It had only been two months since she had enrolled at Seidoukan Academy.

And yet, her old clothes no longer fit properly…

Nothing else would even button up!

o(╥﹏╥)o

"I-I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

In a panic, Kirin bowed even deeper, her voice trembling—

Entirely unaware that her apologetic movements were only making things worse.

Even Ayato, a staunch protector of pure romance, had turned red and averted his gaze.

"I-It's fine! You didn't do anything wrong!"

Julis finally recovered, trying her best to calm Kirin down—

Though her voice sounded unnaturally stiff, and her smile looked just a bit forced.

There were even tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

What kind of unfairness was this…?

"Yeah, you're not late at all."

Kaiser coughed, internally chanting a silent prayer for self-control before speaking as normally as possible.

"There's still a few minutes before the agreed time. No need to apologize."

"R-Really?" Kirin hesitantly looked around.

Seeing that no one objected, she let out a deep sigh of relief and patted her chest—

Which only made things worse.

Kaiser immediately turned away.

"Alright," he quickly said, shifting focus to Julis.

"Where are we eating, Your Highness?"

Surely, the isolated princess of Seidoukan Academy knew a good restaurant, right?

…Right?

Kaiser had serious doubts.

"What's with that look?!"

Julis frowned, clearly reading his mind.

"Of course I know a place!"

(…It was just one she had found online, based on Claudia's recommendations.)

(…But still! Claudia had good taste, right? Right?!)

"Let's go."

Spinning on her heel, Julis led the way.

Ayato and Kirin hurried to follow.

Only Kaiser—expression blank—muttered:

"According to the map, the commercial district is that way."

He pointed in the opposite direction.

A long silence fell.

A group of clueless students, none of whom had ever properly explored Asterisk, stood frozen in place.

"Sigh…"

With the tired sigh of an exasperated parent, Kaiser opened his holographic map.

"Forget it. I'll lead the way."

Sometimes, technology was far more reliable than people.

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Author's Note: Reminder guys!! extra chapter at 50 p.s