Chapter 271

Chapter 271: Chapter 271

"I’m willing!"

The firm declaration, delivered with all the conviction of an oath, stunned both people who were still embracing on the ground.

"Syr..."

Ryuu stared at her familiar friend, the beautiful gray-haired girl standing before them, and an unprecedented panic rose in her heart.

It felt exactly like being caught red-handed after stealing a friend’s most precious possession.

She immediately tried to push Kiriya away and get to her feet.

"Um... this isn’t what you think."

Ryuu tried to explain, only for Kiriya to end the discussion with a single sentence.

"No, it’s exactly what you think. I like Ryuu. I like her very much."

There was no chance Kiriya was letting her escape now.

His arms displayed the very real strength of a Level 5 adventurer, and even Ryuu, who was also Level 5, found it difficult to break free.

"Um... did I come at a bad time?"

Syr watched the two of them, feeling sour and envious inside, yet beneath those emotions was also a faint trace of anticipation.

Perhaps that embrace was not quite as far beyond her reach as she had imagined.

"No."

Kiriya held Ryuu with his right arm and beckoned toward Syr with his left.

"You came at exactly the right time."

The invitation could not have been clearer.

Syr had no reason to refuse.

She had waited far too long for this moment.

Ignoring Ryuu’s face, which had already turned red with mortification, Syr rushed toward Kiriya like a gust of wind and threw herself straight into his arms.

"Ryuu, Kiriya... now the three of us can always stay together."

"Syr... you really don’t mind?"

Ryuu was being squeezed between Kiriya and Syr so tightly that the little bit of functionality her brain had only just recovered immediately began shutting down again.

"I don’t mind. I really don’t."

Syr shook her head.

"This way, I can stay together with both you and him."

She silently added another thought to herself.

’This is already the best outcome I could hope for.’

Kiriya had made his position very clear earlier.

He did not like women with excessive possessiveness.

And with his current strength, there was no realistic way for anyone to force him into becoming theirs alone.

A Goddess of Beauty’s Charm did not work.

Orario’s "strongest weapon" had been defeated.

Even the strongest Familia had suffered defeat at Kiriya’s hands.

Rather than stubbornly clinging to her original fantasy until Kiriya gradually distanced himself from her, it was better to seize this opportunity and secure a place beside him first.

If she kept hesitating, forget being the fourth woman—she might not even make seventh, eighth, or ninth.

Kiriya was simply too desirable.

There were already countless beautiful girls and goddesses waiting for their opportunity, and Syr could not afford to let another chance slip away.

Compared with sharing him, however, there was another question she cared about much more.

"Kiriya... do you like me?"

Syr stared intensely into his eyes, her heart filled with anxiety.

She wanted Kiriya to accept her because he liked Syr, not simply because she happened to be Ryuu’s closest friend.

"How could I not like such a beautiful and adorable little waitress?"

Kiriya lowered his gaze toward her, his glasslike eyes seeming especially bright beneath the moonlight.

"That’s good."

Syr leaned against his chest and listened to the strong, steady beat of his heart, finally allowing herself to relax.

Feeling the softness of the girls in his arms, Kiriya was so delighted that he could barely keep from grinning from ear to ear.

He already knew that Syr’s true identity was Freya.

There was no point pretending he felt nothing about being loved and pursued so intensely by the Goddess of Beauty herself.

Kiriya was still an ordinary man in that respect, and naturally possessed his own share of vanity.

But he also understood priorities.

Trying to accept an excessively possessive woman while lacking the strength to deal with the consequences could become extremely dangerous.

Freya’s Charm was no joke.

Kiriya did possess Mirror Calm, a mental-immunity Skill powerful enough to make him temporarily immune, but its duration was only a few seconds, and worse still, there was a limit to how many times he could invoke it.

If he openly accepted Freya only for her to turn around and see him being affectionate with other women, there was no guarantee jealousy would not drive her into repeatedly using Charm on him.

Once his Skill was exhausted and he could no longer resist, things would become extremely troublesome.

The moment the invincible defense of his mind was broken once, Freya would only become more aggressive, and Kiriya could forget about having a peaceful life afterward.

So for the sake of his future peace and quiet, Kiriya had deliberately avoided confronting her directly, instead using circumstances around him to gradually wear down the goddess’s possessiveness.

That was why he had always maintained a somewhat distant attitude toward Freya and kept Syr at arm’s length as well.

At the same time, however, he had never concealed how much he doted on Hestia, nor his affection and closeness toward Ryuu.

Most recently, he had even brought Jeanne back with him.

All of it conveyed the same message to the Goddess of Beauty:

You came later.

Stop thinking you can have everything to yourself.

Kiriya had gradually weakened Freya’s psychological advantage, and now he had used the situation with Ryuu to finally make the matter explicit.

Either accept the arrangement or give up.

The result had been unexpectedly effective.

The Goddess of Love and Beauty had finally recognized reality.

Kiriya had achieved a significant victory.

How could he not be pleased?

Ryuu looked at the excited, happy tears in Syr’s eyes.

Then their gazes met, and when Syr blinked playfully and silently mouthed, Please take care of me from now on, an indescribable sensation spread across Ryuu’s entire body.

It felt as though countless ants were crawling across her skin.

The sheer embarrassment became too much for the hopeless elf.

In the end, she chose violence.

Bang!

Kiriya’s face turned green as he looked down at Ryuu’s fist buried in his stomach.

"Wh... why...?"

His voice trembled.

Nobody answered him.

Ryuu had already transformed into a gust of wind and fled back toward the tavern.

"My, my. It seems enjoying the affection of multiple women isn’t so easy, great hero."

Syr blinked mischievously and teased him.

"Oho? You only just surrendered and you’re already thinking about rebelling? Let me suppress you properly."

Kiriya let out an exaggerated shout and immediately leaned in with puckered lips.

Chuu—

Syr’s smooth, delicate cheek felt extremely pleasant beneath his lips, so Kiriya could not resist giving her several more kisses.

Syr went completely blank.

Her face quickly turned as red as Ryuu’s had been.

"I-I should go back. I’ve been gone too long, and Mama Mia is going to scold me."

Covering her face with both hands, Syr also fled toward the tavern at full speed.

"How strange."

Kiriya chuckled.

"Is being a hopeless elf contagious or something?"

Then he walked back toward the Hostess of Fertility with the confident stride of a victorious man.

The moment he entered the main hall, he heard Anya chasing after Ryuu with relentless curiosity.

"Nya, what happened? Why is your face so red, nya?"

Bang!

Ryuu finally lost her patience and brought a serving tray down on the catgirl’s head.

"Get back to work! Can’t you see how many customers are still waiting for their food?"

"You definitely did something naughty, nya! You’re just lashing out because you’re embarrassed!"

Anya protested indignantly.

Then she met Ryuu’s murderous gaze.

Her expression instantly transformed into one of completely innocent stupidity.

"Yes! Customer, I’ll be right there!"

With that, she escaped yet again.

"Honestly..."

Ryuu lowered the tray she had been threateningly holding up and pressed a hand against her chest, trying to steady her breathing.

’It’s all that man’s fault...’

"Whose fault?"

Kiriya suddenly leaned in beside her and spoke without warning.

"Eek!"

Ryuu nearly punched him again on pure reflex.

Fortunately, she stopped herself in time, although her face immediately became even hotter.

"Y-You... what do you want?"

"Nothing much."

Kiriya smiled.

"I was just thinking about spending some time training properly in the Dungeon starting tomorrow. Would Miss Ryuu like to come with me? You’ve returned to being an adventurer now, haven’t you?"

"I-I’ll... think about it."

Ryuu could not bring herself to meet his burning gaze. She hurriedly gave him an answer before retreating again.

"Seriously."

Kiriya shook his head.

"You can’t keep being this hopeless forever."

Then he returned to his seat.