Episode 55
Geld the Strong Sword, the Kengou who cleaves any Monster in two.
In the previous Loop, I made a name for myself in the northern kingdom as such a skilled adventurer, but I used the money I earned to indulge in pleasure. As a result, I became known in my home Town as an idiot who indulged in debauchery at every tavern. It seems Millie, who was the last one to go to that Town alone, heard those rumors perfectly.
“Geld-kun, you were always with the Maid-san, weren’t you?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“Stare…”
Unable to resist the authority of Judge Millie, I ended up receiving a Punishment of three years. The content itself is like a reward for me, so I don’t mind, but the judge is still staring at me with a displeased, squinting look… a so-called “jitome.” Is she planning to give me further Punishment?
I can’t allow such tyranny, no matter what. I will resolutely resist injustice.
“While I was working hard for Geld-kun, Geld-kun was always with the Maid-san.”
“Alright, Millie, is there anywhere you want to go? Or anything you want to do? You can say anything, you know?”
This is what you call rewarding merit and punishing demerit. Millie, who worked hard for three years, has the right to behave freely for three years. And since I made her work hard, it’s only natural that I treat her as Punishment. That’s all there is to it.
“Stare…”
Damn, still no good…!?
“Geld-kun. What kind of person is that Maid-san?”
“What kind of person… well, first of all, she’s a Maid who inherited her memories, just like Millie.”
“Eh, there was someone else besides me?”
“I only found out about it in the previous Loop. She’s been looping the same number of times as me, so about six or seven times in total, I think.”
“With Geld-kun, together…”
“And also, she’s my attendant while I’m at the Waslein Estate, in other words, my exclusive Maid.”
“Exclusive…”
Even though I’m holding back on critical information like the fact that she’s an incredibly beautiful Maid or that we’ve been flirting for three years, Millie’s expression is getting darker and darker.
“And… right, no matter what we do, we have to go see her once.”
“Eh? That Maid-san?”
“Yeah. If Millie is going on a journey to save the world again, then this time again, somewhere together…”
“I don’t want to. I’m definitely not going.”
“O-oh. That’s right. I have to tell her that the plan has been canceled.”
Something’s strange…? It’s normal in a way, but Millie is cutely puffing out her cheeks and jealous that I’m going on a journey with Shino again. It’s hard to believe that she was once a member of a large Harem. If she’s like this with just one person, I feel like I might accidentally get stabbed to death if there were several others.
“In other words, the plan for the future is to kidnap Millie first… no, since they’ll fail if they go on a journey by themselves anyway, it’s not necessary, is it?”
If we’re not aiming to clear the game, there’s no need to play such a farce. I could try doing it just in case, and then hope that Millie’s Harem Party pulls off a miracle, but… I’ve already done that once and failed, and the possibility is so low that it seems like a waste of time.
“That’s right. I don’t think it’s possible no matter how many times you try.”
That’s the endorsement from Millie, who has been watching the journey to save the world for three years. It seems like it’s really a waste of time.
“So, does that mean I can quit school and go on a trip right now?”
“Eh? Ah, that’s right. B-but… is that okay?”
Millie, who is serious at heart, seems hesitant to drop out of school and go on a trip the day after she enrolled. But since we’re going to Loop anyway, there’s no need for such conflict.
“Since it will all be undone anyway, you can do whatever you want… Well, I, Millie, and Shino will remember, so there’s that.”
That’s why I became a criminal. Maybe it’s not true that you can do whatever you want.
“Shino? The Maid-san’s name is Shino?”
“Hmm? Ah, that’s right.”
She’s just confirming the name, but for some reason, it’s a little scary. I accidentally said Shino’s name, but was that careless?
“What does that Shino-san look like?”
“Looks? Gray hair, a bit of a cool type…”
And incredibly beautiful, I couldn’t bring myself to say. Still, what is she going to do by asking about her appearance?
“I see. Geld-kun, you’re going to see that Shino-san, right?”
“A-ah. That’s the plan, but if you don’t like it, I can just take care of things with a letter.”
“No, it’s not that… can I meet her too?”
“Hiee!”
W-what? What’s her purpose in meeting Shino? The only thing I can think of is… to cause her some kind of harm?
“What’s wrong?”
“N-no, let’s calm down for a second. Whatever we do, we’re going to Loop anyway… and Shino is pretty strong, so let’s not. Okay?”
I pat Millie’s back to calm her murderous intent. I don’t want to see Millie and Shino fighting.
“Eh? What? Strong? Geld-kun, do you think I’m going to do something to that Shino-san?”
“Y-you’re not?”
“Of course not! What do you think I am, Geld-kun! It’s not like that, it’s just that she might be an acquaintance.”
“Acquaintance? Shino and Millie?”
Such a convenient thing… well, I don’t know if this is convenient or not, but anyway, such a coincidence… but I can’t say for sure that it’s not possible. This is probably a world modeled after a game. It’s common for the relationship charts between characters to be intricately intertwined.
Besides, Shino is an incredibly beautiful girl. So far, I’ve only seen people with such looks among the members of the Harem Party.
If that’s the case, there’s a good chance that Shino is one of the main characters in the original story. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be strange if Shino and Millie already had a connection as acquaintances.
“Yeah. If the person named Shino has gray hair, she might be the Shino-oneechan I know.”
“Shino-oneechan?”
“Y-yes, Shino-oneechan. We used to be together a lot when we were little.”
“So, you’re childhood friends. …Maybe that, what was his name, Hayato? With him too?”
“Haruto-kun. Me, Shino-oneechan, and Haruto-kun and Melissa-chan. The four of us.”
This is definitely a heroine. Judging from her strength, I think she’ll join the party in the second half of the story, but somewhere she’ll reunite with her childhood friend Shino and join the Harem. I think there are probably eight party members in total… and the remaining one who didn’t join in the previous Loop is Shino.
I thought it would be scary to have Millie and Shino meet, but now I can’t say that. If Shino is really Shino-oneechan, then in the next Loop, I’ll somehow get her to join the party and clear the game… no, we don’t have enough levels.
In that case, it would be good to raise Millie and Shino’s levels in this Loop, and then have them lead the way in the next Loop.
“Hey, Millie. Did you inherit your strength too?”
“Yeah. It feels the same as before the rewind, so I think I did.”
“Alright, then for the next three years, let’s travel around to our favorite places and hunt Monsters along the way to get stronger.”
“Stronger… I see, that’s right. If I get stronger, we can do it faster.”
Millie seems to have understood everything without me having to say it. And since she doesn’t seem to have any objections, let’s go with this plan.
I thought there might be a reaction like, “I don’t want to do such troublesome things on a trip,” but now that I think about it, the only condition or Punishment that Millie gave was to spend time with me. It seems that how we spend it isn’t that important.
“…”
“What is it? Geld-kun.”
Millie is still clinging to me and doesn’t seem to want to let go. She notices my gaze as I silently look down at her and cutely tilts her head.
After all, Millie likes me too much, doesn’t she? This must be the game system acting up.
But I won’t say something naive like, “These are fake feelings…” and rebel against it. I don’t know where the upper limit of these feelings is, so I think I should refrain from behaving in a way that earns me any more Affection.
I would be in trouble if she said something like, “I want to preserve my beloved Geld-kun in formaldehyde forever.”
“Geerudo-kun. What’s wrong, you’re staring at my face.”
“Ah, no. Well, I just thought Millie is cute after all.”
“Eh, ah. U… s-suddenly like that…”
Millie heard my clumsy attempt to deceive her and buried her face in my chest with a bright red face. She seems to want to hide her face, but I saw her mouth relax perfectly.
“…”
I feel like her Affection is rapidly increasing right now. If it’s like this just from accidentally saying “cute,” then suppressing her Affection might be impossible. Millie should be used to being praised for her appearance… or rather, I said something similar to her in the past, but she didn’t react like this.
Anyway, let’s call it a day for now and regroup. At this rate, it seems like anything I say will raise her Affection.
“Millie, it’s almost curfew.”
“……I don’t want to.”
“You don’t want to, huh…”
This exchange has become a regular occurrence, but I’m incredibly weak against this kind of temptation. I need to do something before she says anything more, or I’ll be charmed by this oblivious Succubus.
“Come on, if you don’t get back before curfew, it’ll cause a commotion, right?”
“But still, you’re quitting anyway.”
“Exactly, since we’ll be together all the time once we leave on our journey, there’s no need to rush.”
That’s right, we’ll be together for the entire Three-Year Loop once we start our journey.
“…Okay. I’m sorry, I was being selfish even though we just met.”
“It’s fine. Well, see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Let’s quit the academy soon, okay?”
“O-okay.”
Suppressing her Affection is definitely impossible. It’s pointless anyway, so I should just give up.
If I accidentally get sealed in a giant crystal or something… someone in the future will surely break the seal. Probably.