Chapter 128: Stalker

Haaah~... What happened to all that talk about elves being people of their word and pride?

Lys couldn’t help but think that as she sighed inwardly with resignation.

The reason? Olivia had broken her promise and was following her from a distance.

Anyway, Olivia might be smart and an excellent mage, but she wasn’t very good at following her.

Lys thought it was Olivia who was really acting foolishly, since she wasn’t even using a artifac to reduce her presence, or at least doing something like casting a spell of that kind on herself—.

Lys wondered what to do now. It seemed like Olivia wasn’t really going to let this matter go so easily.

They had already left the academy and were in the city’s central square.

There was a strange atmosphere, and many people were talking to one another, but Lys paid no attention to them.

She was rarely interested in what the people around her were saying; she was more focused on figuring out what to do.

She was considering going over to where Olivia was and complaining, or using the crowd to lose her.

But just then, even though Lys wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, something caught her eye and snapped her out of her thoughts.

It was Astan who had happened to come into her field of vision

Lys didn’t even realize it, but without much thought, she walked over to him.

After all, there was nothing wrong with that, right?

Yes, she was on her way to his place, so there was nothing wrong with approaching him.

She quickly thought that if he was there, it meant he might be shopping or something like that.

If she was lucky and he had some free time, there was a chance they could spend some time together and go shopping.

The massage? The massage could wait a little while.

There’s nothing wrong with that, right?

She figured there was nothing wrong with spending some time with an acquaintance. It wasn’t that unusual. She had no ulterior motives—she just wanted to hang out.

She could also use that time to explain why she hadn’t been able to come sooner and even buy him a few things to make it up to him.

The more Lys thought about the possible scenarios of this fortunate encounter, the happier she seemed to become, but just as she thought that, she noticed something that made her stop short again.

He wasn’t alone.

He was talking to someone else. She couldn’t see exactly who the girl was since she had her back to her, but it wasn’t Iris, his wife.

Lys reconsidered what to do, but quickly came to a conclusion.

She’s probably just an acquaintance. They’re probably just saying a quick hello.

Yes, Lys thought she’d wait a moment until they parted ways, and then approach him.

That seemed like the best and most logical thing to do, but...

Why does he look so happy?

Lys couldn’t help but wonder. She was a little far away, but she could see Astan’s expression and how happy he seemed while talking to that girl. That, for some reason, made her frown.

She thought that once their conversation was over and she approached him, she would try to find out who that girl was and what her relationship with him was.

Lys was so focused on that she didn’t realize that, if she looked a little closer, she might recognize the girl’s very distinctive features, even from behind.

But that wasn’t a priority for Lys at that moment.

However, what she never expected was that, instead of going their separate ways, the two of them would walk off together, very close to one another.

Because!?... what’s their relationship?!

And, without a moment’s hesitation, she began to follow them.

*****

Pov:Iris

******

Hmm... I didn’t see that coming. The pursuer was Lys.

Ha, ha! I had a really interesting morning today. I stopped shopping because Astan had said someone was stalking them.

I thought it was some suspicious person with designs on Shiro—a classic cliché—but, interestingly, I was wrong.

Shiro wasn’t the target; it was Astan.

And, to my surprise, the stalker was Lys.

That leaves me with a lot of questions, but the most important thing is that her doing this means she’s still driven more by emotion than by reason—which is curious, since I thought that, after all this time, reason would prevail.

I guess last time I didn’t quite understand what kind of girl she really is.

’Maybe she’s logical and rational, but also passionate—haha! That’s interesting.’

Yeah, Lys wasn’t a threat, and there was nothing I needed to do about it. In fact,

I was thinking about talking to her and having some fun with her, but the problem is that I, too, have been feeling for a while now that something is following me.

I can’t really be sure—it feels very faint, unlike when Astan felt it and was certain, even though it turned out to be Lys.

It’s vague, and I don’t sense any ill will, but for some reason, I have a bad feeling—as if that person has something unpleasant planned for me—which makes me suspect it’s someone who’s preparing a surprise test for me.

Hmm? Who’s that girl?

At that moment, as I was wondering what to do about that person who had sprung a surprise test on me, I noticed something even more curious: Lys, who was following Astan, was being followed by someone else.

This person was a complete stranger, and although she was a cute elf who really caught my attention, I had to figure out if it was just a coincidence or if she was actually following Lys.

And, if that was the case, I had to find out what her intentions toward Lys were.

..

.

Yeah, she’s definitely following her.

After following her for five minutes, I had already confirmed that she was definitely following Lys.

And not only that, but every now and then, she would clench her teeth in frustration and glare at Lys with a frown.

My instincts told me that her intentions toward my lovely Lys were questionable.

’Hmm, what should I do?’

She, despite looking young, seemed strong. If I wasn’t mistaken, she was at the fourth or fifth rank, but judging by the way she walked and moved, she didn’t seem to be in a physical profession.

’I’m new to this magic stuff, but I already understand a little about how a magical profession works, as well as self-defense artifacts.’

So I quickly came up with a plan, moved ahead, and looked for an inconspicuous spot to launch my surprise attack against that stalker.

...

.

"~Seriously, what are you doing, Lys? Why are you following them? Is that the massage therapist and his wife? How low have you sunk to stoop to being a stalker...? Huh?" (Olivia)

"Oh, how ironic that you should say that when you’re doing exactly the same thing."

"!"(Olivia)

At that moment, I appeared behind that girl who was hiding behind some small signs at the food stalls.

Who was the one talking about a surprise attack earlier?

Well, it certainly wasn’t me.

By the time I spoke to her, my hand was already on her neck. Before she could react, my fingers pressed on specific pressure points on her neck, which would interrupt her mana flow—in other words, seal her ability to cast magic.

The part of me that was Astan, even though I’d only learned the basics of magic and mana, knew that no matter how powerful a mage might be, if caught off guard, they were easy to kill.

On the other hand, a well-prepared mage was even harder to kill than warriors, given their full repertoire and the preparations they could make in advance.

That girl seemed completely focused on following Lys and didn’t appear to be prepared at all for a surprise attack.

That, combined with my massage techniques and my newly acquired knowledge of the processes of magic, allowed me to subdue her easily.

But magic was one thing, and her abilities were another.

I couldn’t stop her from using them, but before she had time to think about doing anything, I whispered in her pointed ears again.

"I wouldn’t recommend trying anything funny, or I might snap your neck. What do you think will be faster—your abilities or my reaction?"

"I-I, I-I understand. I won’t try anything."Olivia)

"Good girl. Come talk to this big sister for a moment. I have a few questions for you."

Without further ado, still holding her by the neck, I dragged her to a corner between some large food stalls.

I think I’m getting good at kidnapping people, though I’m not sure if it feels very ethical to drag this cute girl thing to a secluded, dark spot.

Well, I could already sense it with my detector, but she was a young adult, and that was confirmed when, before the surprise attack, I heard that she was Lys’s friend—and, if I’m not mistaken, she’s the girl Lys mentioned last time.

She also called Lys by her nickname, and I remember Lys saying that only her close friends called her that.

She also knew that Astan was a massage therapist, so they were close enough to talk about that topic with her.

Yeah, I’d already realized I’d made a mistake and it wasn’t necessary to question her anymore, but, anyway, I’d already gotten myself into this, so I’d see it through.

..

.

"You seem to be following that girl with white hair. Tell me, what’s your relationship with her?"

"M-me, huh? Do you know Lys?" (Olivia)

"?_?, I’m the one asking the questions here. Answer me."

"S-s..., she’s my f-friend. I was just..." (Olivia)

Maybe because I was still gripping her by the neck and pressing her against the wall, but she seemed easy to intimidate. Her legs were shaking, and her eyes were darting around frantically.

That nervousness was extraordinary. She seems easier to intimidate than Shiro.

"Speak clearly, or this big sister might do something really bad to you, heh~."

"hiiii"

Astan’s side is having fun with Shiro, so it’s not wrong for me to have a little fun with this cute elf, right?

Unlike Astan, I didn’t take off my hood; I simply removed it and returned to my original form when I spoke with him and Shiro.

So right now I might seem more intimidating than I should, but maybe I can get some important information out of her...

"A friend? What kind of friend stalks her own friend like that?"

"I-I... I’m sorry. I know it was wrong, but... she’s... and that massage therapist. I had to stop her." (Olivia)

"Huh? Why did you have to stop her? Why don’t you want her to meet up with that massage therapist?"

Suddenly, this took an interesting turn. This was important to me, since I couldn’t afford to lose a valuable client like Lys and had to stop anyone who wanted to interfere.

Luckily, this girl—who seemed so scared she didn’t even question why I was asking such personal questions—answered.

"I-I... It’s because s-she... I, I... I like her!" (Olivia)

"w(?Д?)w, huh?" (x2)

That caught me off guard. I didn’t expect to hear a reason like that, but I had to make sure.

"When you say you like her, do you mean you like her, you know, romantically?"

"Yeah, you have to clarify whether you like her as a friend or as a woman." (???)

"Exactly, let’s not drag this misunderstanding out any longer. I hate that kind of nonsense."

"Right? It’s better to be direct and to the point." (???)

"Yeah, dragging it out is a... ￣へ￣"

Wait, hold on... who the hell am I talking to?

The words of this girl in front of me had me so engrossed that it wasn’t until now that I snapped out of it and realized there was someone else here.

When I glanced to the side, there was a woman with green hair who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.