Chapter 270

Chapter 270: Chapter 270

"Aren’t you going to check on her?"

Watching the blond elf retreat in such obvious disarray, Jeanne asked with genuine concern.

"Could there have been some kind of misunderstanding?"

"Hm?"

Kiriya looked at Jeanne suspiciously, wondering for a moment whether the Saint was being sarcastic.

But Jeanne’s gaze was far too clear and sincere, without even the slightest trace of hidden meaning.

Only then did Kiriya realize she genuinely meant it.

"In that case, Hestia, I’ll go take a look?"

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Hestia waved him off, not particularly bothered.

At this point, her relationship with Kiriya was unquestionably far ahead of everyone else’s, and her position as the most important person in his heart was equally secure.

Because of that, Hestia could look at the other girls surrounding him with considerably more composure than before.

Kiriya nodded, rose from his seat, and headed toward the back of the tavern.

In another corner, Syr had been quietly keeping an eye on them the entire time.

The moment she saw Kiriya leave, she found an opportunity to slip away as well and secretly followed behind him.

...

In the dimly lit street behind the Hostess of Fertility, Ryuu stood beside a wooden barrel, repeatedly tipping it over to empty the garbage inside.

The problem was that the barrel had already been completely empty for quite some time.

Even so, the elf continued repeating the same mechanical movement over and over, her body stiff and distracted.

There was nothing she could do about it.

Her thoughts were still entirely occupied by the young man she had just seen, leaving almost no room for her to pay attention to the world around her.

’It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t do anything wrong. My clothes being damaged couldn’t be helped, and him seeing me... couldn’t be helped either...’

’The way I treated him just now was far too cold.’

’Did I hurt his feelings?’

Ryuu pressed a hand against her chest, her face burning as she remembered how awkward and unnatural she had behaved.

But a moment later, she shook her head sharply.

’No. It is his fault.’

’Who told him to keep looking at me like that? And then he said those... those kinds of things. He’s the reason I’ve started acting so strangely.’

’Kiriya... is a terrible person!’

Ever since she and Kiriya had fought together against the Freya Familia, Ryuu had felt increasingly unlike herself.

Her thoughts would frequently drift back to that brief period in the Dungeon—to the despair and guilt she had felt there, and the overwhelming shock when Kiriya descended before her at the moment she had believed everything was over.

She remembered the embarrassment and vulnerability she had shown in front of him, along with Kiriya’s openly appreciative gaze and his painfully direct compliments.

Whenever she remembered the way he had looked at her—openly, admiringly, without even trying to hide it—she would feel as though an invisible hand were lightly brushing across her skin, sending shivers through her body.

"My, my. What terrible thing did I do to make Miss Ryuu this angry with me?"

That familiar voice suddenly sounded behind her.

Ryuu’s entire body immediately went rigid.

The calm, decisive Gale Wind, a first-class Level 5 adventurer who had survived countless deadly battles, suddenly looked more like a rookie who had stepped into the Dungeon for the first time and immediately encountered a Minotaur.

Her mind nearly stopped functioning altogether.

’H-He-He-He... why is he here?!’

’Am I... alone with him now?’

The moment Ryuu processed her current situation, her entire body began trembling.

Her eyes instinctively darted left and right as she searched for an escape route.

"Huh? You’re not even answering me. You really must be angry."

Kiriya’s voice drew steadily closer, and Ryuu’s heartbeat became faster with every step.

"Can you at least tell me what I did wrong?"

As he spoke, Kiriya reached toward her shoulder, intending to turn her around.

His hand moved closer.

Ryuu could already feel the unsettling warmth radiating from it.

There was an old saying that in silence, one either perished or exploded.

Ryuu chose the latter.

"WHO GOES THERE?!"

She suddenly shouted, spun around, and threw a punch behind her.

Bang!

Kiriya raised a hand and blocked the strike.

"Whoa! It’s me!"

He tried to explain, but Ryuu’s overloaded brain was in no condition to listen.

She immediately changed techniques, seized both of Kiriya’s hands, pressed her hip against his abdomen, and explosively shifted her weight.

It was a textbook shoulder throw.

At the crucial moment, Kiriya did not resist with brute force. Instead, he followed Ryuu’s momentum, kicked off the ground, and deliberately "flew" in the direction she was throwing him.

Unfortunately, Kiriya’s cooperation caused Ryuu to use too much force, throwing her own center of gravity off balance.

"W-Wah!"

Worse still, as Kiriya passed over her shoulder, his arm happened to hook around Ryuu’s neck.

The momentum of his rotation dragged the elf along with him.

Thump! Thump!

The two tumbled across the ground together.

Fortunately, Kiriya ended up underneath and absorbed most of the impact, so Ryuu was not injured.

Unfortunately, the final result went far beyond a simple failed shoulder throw.

Chuu—

The elf’s soft lips pressed directly against Kiriya’s.

Their eyes met at point-blank range.

The entire atmosphere froze.

"This one really isn’t my fault."

Kiriya blinked innocently.

"That was an accident. Completely beyond my control."

Ryuu’s already flushed face turned so red that it looked as though someone had poured scarlet dye over her skin. Too embarrassed and furious to think properly, she opened her mouth and bit him.

"Ow!"

Kiriya recoiled in surprise and stared at the elf in front of him.

"Why did you bite me?"

"Bad person!"

There was still a faint trace of blood on Ryuu’s lips as she glared at him indignantly.

Her damp eyes, combined with the shy, conflicted expression she could not quite conceal, only made Kiriya want her more.

So he bit back.

Once.

Then several more times.

"Mmm..."

Ryuu’s ability to think disappeared completely, leaving her to respond almost entirely on instinct.

Not far away, hidden in the shadow of a street corner, Syr watched the entire scene with tears in her eyes, gripping her handkerchief so tightly that she nearly tore it apart.

How could this happen?

She had been here first.

Whether it was meeting him or openly expressing her interest, she had been first.

Hestia was one thing.

But why?

Why was Ryuu the one who had somehow gotten ahead of her?

Bitterness, jealousy, sadness, anger—countless emotions surged through Syr’s heart at once, leaving her with the overwhelming urge to abandon her current identity, return to her true form, rush over there, and monopolize every bit of Kiriya’s affection for herself.

She had always been the one taking what she wanted from others.

Since when had anyone ever taken something from her?

She absolutely had to win this back.

But Syr also knew perfectly well that Kiriya was completely unaffected by her Charm.

If she acted recklessly, the only result would be making him dislike her more.

So that thought could remain nothing more than a thought.

Even so...

She was so unwilling to accept it.

...

While Syr stood grieving in the shadows, the exchange between Kiriya and Ryuu finally came to an end.

"I... shouldn’t have done that."

Ryuu’s voice had become slightly hoarse.

"This is wrong."

"Hm? Why?"

Kiriya was still savoring the softness of her lips and looked genuinely confused.

"Syr is my best friend."

Ryuu seemed to make some kind of painful decision.

"She likes you. I can’t... I can’t keep making this mistake."

She reached out and tried to push Kiriya away.

He did not move at all.

The sensation beneath her hands was so solid that it felt less like pushing against a person and more like trying to move a mountain.

"I don’t care about anyone else right now."

Kiriya stared directly into her eyes, his gaze forceful and straightforward.

"I’m only asking you, Ryuu Lion—what exactly do you feel about me?"

"I..."

Ryuu turned her face away.

"When Syr first talked to me about you, I was curious."

"I watched you defeat one powerful enemy after another and achieve victory after victory that should have been impossible. I admired you."

"When I was facing the Juggernaut in the Dungeon and thought I was going to die, you came to save me. I was... very happy."

"And then so many other things happened afterward, and they made me feel... embarrassed."

Her pointed ears turned bright red.

"Especially because you always say such strange things. Such awful things."

Ryuu lowered her eyes.

"Whenever I see you now, I feel like running away."

"Hehehe..."

Kiriya gave a mischievous laugh and wrapped one arm firmly around her slender waist, preventing her from moving away.

"That’s called liking someone."

"That’s... liking someone?"

Ryuu stared at him blankly.

"Of course it is."

Kiriya leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"If you like me and I like you, then there’s no way I’m letting go."

His gaze became direct and unwavering.

"Ryuu Lion, you’re mine for the rest of your life."

"I’m not letting you go."

"Absolutely not."

Those domineering words struck the walls Ryuu had desperately tried to build around her heart like a heavy hammer, smashing them wide open in one blow.

The hopelessly shy elf who had always responded to her feelings by retreating had been completely overwhelmed by such a straightforward declaration.

Ryuu stared at the confident young man before her, unable to think of anything to say for a long moment.

"But... what about Syr?"

She still could not stop thinking about the friend who mattered so much to her. The guilt made her feel like a thief who had stolen something precious from her best friend.

"What are you going to do about her?"

"If she’s willing, I can make her happy too."

Kiriya said it without the slightest trace of embarrassment.

"It’s just..."

"Just what?"

Ryuu immediately asked.

"Syr might not agree."

Kiriya shrugged.

"She seems pretty possessive. I don’t think she’d be very willing to share with anyone else."

"I’M WILLING!"

Syr immediately jumped out from her hiding place and shouted at the top of her lungs.