Chapter 154: Priorities

“One of the advantages of being in charge is that I don’t have to participate in certain activities,” Kira added, ignoring the argument. “That gives me room to handle other responsibilities.”

The bell rang again.

“We have to go,” Isabela said.

That was the fourth ring. Enough for any student to know it was time to report to their assigned location.

But… Haru had no idea where he was supposed to go.

He looked away.

Isabela stared at him.

“You don’t know.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“With a hangover you brought upon yourself!”

“Come on!” Kira said, calling Yukihime, who immediately stood up. Nobody wanted to find out what punishment the Academy had in store for him next.

The three girls began preparing to leave. Yukihime gave her father a quick hug before following Kira, while Isabela adjusted her clothes.

Haru, however, stood up.

Just as Isabela was about to leave, he grabbed her hand.

“Huh?”

She turned around, surprised.

“You two go ahead. I need to talk to Isabela.”

Kira looked at the two of them, then at the students running ahead.

“Don’t take too long. I don’t want to get punished because of you.”

Isabela remained where she was, looking at Haru suspiciously.

“What is it now?”

Haru didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he began pulling her toward the stable.

“Haru! Where are you taking me?!”

“I just need two minutes.”

“Can’t you explain what’s going on without dragging me around?!”

“I could, but this is faster.”

“That makes absolutely no sense!”

He kept walking.

Isabela cast one last glance in the direction Kira and Yukihime had disappeared before turning her attention back to the boy pulling her by the hand.

When they reached the stable, Haru opened the door and led her inside. The familiar smell of straw, wood, and manure immediately greeted them.

Isabela looked around.

“If you’ve brought me here to show off your progress with the cleaning, I sincerely hope you have a good explanation for…”

Haru released her hand. In one swift movement, he stepped in front of her and guided her toward the wooden wall.

Isabela took a small step backward in surprise, only to feel her back press against the planks.

“What the?!”

Haru moved closer.

The distance between them shrank, and Isabela raised her face to look at him. Her eyes searched his expression, trying to figure out what was going on inside that unpredictable head of his.

“Haru, what are you…”

He raised a finger and gently placed it against her lips, interrupting her mid-sentence.

Isabela froze.

Her eyes widened slightly, and the words she had been about to say died in her throat.

Haru looked directly into her eyes.

For the first time since she’d found him that afternoon, there was no mischievous smile on his face, no joke prepared to help him escape the situation.

“Isabela,” he murmured.

Her heart skipped a beat.

“…What?”

Haru tilted his head slightly.

“I need to ask you something.”

Isabela felt strangely comfortable.

‘What does he want to ask me now?’

They were close enough that, for a few seconds, she forgot about the Academy bell and the activities they should already have been heading to.

‘Does he want to kiss me?’

The thought came so quickly that her face grew even redder.

‘You pervert! But… wait.’

The last time they’d been alone like this had been in her bedroom at the Valtherion mansion. Back then, things had also started with Haru acting unpredictably. And the two of them had almost…

Isabela looked away.

‘No. I’m not thinking about that.’

Haru, meanwhile, noticed the change in her expression.

He was beginning to recognize that look. Throughout their journey, he’d learned to recognize subtle changes in the faces of his waifus, his future wives, according to his rather questionable logic. After all, increasing their trust in him to a hundred percent was part of his mission. To do that, he needed to understand how they felt, even when they didn’t say it.

That particular look seemed to ask three questions at once.

‘Why? What do you want? What are you going to do?’

Haru removed his finger from her lips.

“Tell me something. What would it take to convince your father to accept a marriage proposal from someone who wanted to marry you?”

Isabela froze.

“What?!”

“You heard me.”

“Out of nowhere?!”

“Just answer.”

She looked at him, trying to figure out whether this was some kind of strategy. Haru was a Gamer, after all. Sometimes, he seemed to treat life as a series of quests, hidden objectives, and unexpected rewards.

‘Could this be some kind of quest?’

The thought did nothing to calm her down.

“Well…” she began, pressing her fingers against the fabric of her dress. “My father would have to trust that person. He would need to know their family, their social standing, their intentions… And he’d probably have to believe they could protect me and take on the responsibilities of marriage.”

She paused.

“But why are you asking?”

Haru didn’t answer immediately.

Isabela raised her eyes to him. Her face was still red, but there was something else in her expression now: a cautious hope she didn’t want to acknowledge.

“Haru… Don’t tell me you’re…”

He looked at the blue dress she was wearing.

Then, as if he’d just reached an extraordinary conclusion, he carefully grabbed the hem and began lifting it.

The fabric rose a few inches up her thighs.

Isabela’s eyes widened.

“H-Haru?!”

He continued, focused, like a scientist about to conduct a decisive experiment.

“All right. Now, give me your panties.”

SMACK!

Isabela’s hand struck his face.

Haru’s head turned to the side.

Silence.

“What the hell, Haru?!” she exploded, pulling her dress back down. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Your panties…”

“I heard you perfectly well!”

“No, wait! It’s not what you think!”

“And what am I supposed to think?!”

Haru pressed a hand against his cheek, still processing the slap.

“I can’t use mana without touching you. And your underwear increases my firepower. I need to recover mana, and I thought…”

He stopped.

Isabela stared at him as if she were seriously considering whether to slap him again.

“Firepower?” she repeated slowly.

“It’s a figure of speech.”

“A FIGURE OF SPEECH?!”

“Technically, it’s pretty literal.”

“HARU!”

“No! I mean… that’s not what I meant! Wait, yes… No! You’re radiant!”

The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

Isabela fell silent.

So did Haru.

‘Why did I say that?’

She lowered her eyes, her face so red that she no longer knew whether she was angry, embarrassed, or simply tired of trying to keep up with him.

One moment, Haru was asking questions about marriage that sounded like a serious confession. The next, he was trying to lift her dress to recover mana.

He was impossible to keep up with.

And the worst part was that, sometimes, his absurd behavior gave way to a seriousness that made her forget every reason she had to keep her distance.

Haru Mizuki was a problem.

A problem that, unfortunately, was beginning to take up far too much space in her thoughts.

The bell rang again, this time more faintly.

Isabela jumped.

“I have to go!”

She took advantage of the distraction to escape, straightening her dress before stepping away.

“And don’t ever do that again!”

She shot him one last glance, still blushing, and hurried out of the stable.

Haru was left alone.

He pressed a hand against his cheek.

“At least I didn’t get slapped a second time.”

The pain in his face was bearable. The loss of mana, however, was a more serious problem. His reserves were still practically empty, and contact with Isabela had restored only a small amount.

He looked at his hand.

‘Well… I guess it worked.’

He brought it closer to his nose, sniffed it, and let out a satisfied smile.

“Heh.”

Then his smile turned mischievous.

“I’m gonna jerk off.”

Haru began unfastening his pants. That was when a familiar sound hissed at the edge of his vision.

[Connecting Gamer to an update.]

[Would you like to connect now?]

Haru froze.

“Huh?”

‘The System.’

The System was back!

For days, it had been incomplete, locked, or simply inaccessible. Now, there it was, offering him a prompt to connect to the new update.

Haru looked at the message.

Then at the pants he’d already begun lowering.

Then back at the message.

An opportunity to better understand the world, regain access to its functions, and discover what lay behind his situation.

Or…

Haru thought about it for two seconds.

“Jerking off.”

[…]

[Awaiting Gamer’s decision.]

Haru stared at the notification.

Then he glanced at the stable door to make sure nobody was coming.

‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.’

He had spent days wondering when the System would become accessible again. Now that it had finally returned, he was seriously considering ignoring it for something that could wait.

He nodded to himself.

‘And one of those responsibilities is taking care of my mental health.’