“Hee, is that so? Hee.”
“No, that’s why. I only recently started suspecting that Claire might have inherited the memories too. So, you see, it’s not like I ever intended to cheat on you.”
“And here I was, working hard while only thinking about you, Senpai. Oh, well.”
“Ugh.”
“That’s right, Geld-kun is terrible, you know. If you take your eyes off him for even a moment, he’s already making moves on other women.”
“I know, right? He was always surrounded by younger girls, grinning like an idiot. So he really was that kind of guy after all.”
I tried my best to explain, using all the words I could muster, so as not to give the false impression that I was a womanizer, but it seems I failed miserably, and Claire is completely sulking.
Millie is only saying things that make my impression worse, and I can’t strongly refute anything, so I’m just floundering.
But, just like with Millie and Shell, why do they suddenly team up and attack me when they’re supposed to be enemies?
“So, Millie-san? Are you going to dump this awful Senpai? You could find someone new right away, you know?”
“Hmm? Well, Geld-kun needs me… Oh, I know, why doesn’t Claire-chan dump him? You could easily…”
“No way. We finally got to meet.”
“……”
“……”
Oh. I thought we were getting along a little, but the atmosphere quickly turned sour. Women’s relationships are so complex and bizarre.
“Come to think of it, Claire-chan couldn’t meet Geld-kun for a long time, right? You were able to meet again thanks to me stopping the Loop from rewinding.”
“Eh? S-Senpai?”
Claire turned to me as if to confirm the truth, so I nodded solemnly in affirmation. Millie and Shino’s efforts were largely responsible for stopping the Loop.
“I rewound countless times and wanted to spend all that time with Geld-kun, but Geld-kun begged me to stop, so I reluctantly did. But thanks to that, Claire-chan was saved too.”
“Guh.”
Claire is getting overwhelmed. Millie didn’t say anything to me, but she seems intent on taking the high ground by making Claire feel indebted to her.
“Wow, that was tough. I was separated from Geld-kun for three whole years, and I had to do that twice.”
“…I was first.”
“Ugh. T-That’s…”
Claire’s muttered words, driven into a corner, seemed to hit Millie’s weak spot, and the situation quickly returned to a stalemate. They’re glaring at each other, each holding the other’s weaknesses firmly in their grasp. This isn’t good.
If only Shino were here at a time like this… No, all I can imagine is her trying to take the high ground by saying she was the first to meet me, or that my current personality is thanks to her punching me.
Anyway, I don’t want to see them at each other’s throats any longer. I’d rather be the one they’re attacking. I steeled myself and bravely stepped between them.
“Now, now, now, now, now, now, you two, let’s just calm down… okay? Look, everyone around us is watching, so let’s just settle down for now.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Then Geld-kun, shall we go home soon?”
“Hmm? Well… I guess we’ve finished what we needed to do…”
“Senpai, you know what? I bought a house in the Royal Capital with the prize money from the tournament. Want to come over? Please?”
“Eh? Houses in the Royal Capital are pretty expensive, aren’t they? You really must have been entering a lot of tournaments.”
Millie and Claire each grabbed my hand, trying to pull me.
Umm, should I go back to Waslein, or go to Claire’s house…? This is troubling. It’s impossible to do both, isn’t it?
“Going back to Waslein!”
“Coming to my house!”
“Whoa, that hurts. Ouch, ouch… Oww, oww, oww!”
T-These guys are using brute force…! This is like the famous Ooka… How cliché…! It’s good that the focus is on me, but to suddenly resort to force instead of words… At this rate, I’ll be torn to shreds in no time and left abandoned on the side of the road, and the two of them will start fighting again. If that’s the case, I have no choice but to seize the initiative before I get done in, even if I have to be forceful.
Alright, I’m going to steel myself and do it this time. Who do they think I am? I’m a true man with the superior quality of being able to brazenly act important, no matter how much I’m in the wrong.
“Hmph!”
“Ah.”
First, I use force to counter force and shake off their hands. I’m a true strongman who won’t hesitate to resort to violence even against women and children if necessary. Besides, these two are too strong to feel like women and children.
“Listen, you two, don’t get the wrong idea. You’re not my women, I’m your man. Got it? Now, let’s go.”
I said something pretty awful in an overbearing tone, and then I put my arms around their shoulders and started walking towards a nearby inn to hole up. My supremely manly move was a perfect success.
“Senpai, were you ever that kind of character…? Oh, come to think of it, there were times when you were like this.”
“There’s no way. I was always a caring, reliable, and kind Senpai in the Swordsmanship Club.”
“But Senpai would sometimes use training as an excuse to… Huh?”
Claire has a dumbfounded expression on her face, but she doesn’t seem to resist at all even though I’m forcefully putting my arm around her shoulder. What’s going on?
But Claire was about to say something unsettling, but then she stretched her neck to peek at Millie, who was being embraced on the other side, as if she was worried about her. Come to think of it, Millie leaned slightly against me as I put my arm around her shoulder, and she’s strangely quiet. Could it be that my Gesumuvu earlier struck a chord with her…?
“Um, Millie-san? Are you okay with this? If we keep going like this, the three of us will…”
“But I’m Geld-kun’s w-woman, so I have to listen to him.”
“Eeeh…?”
Eeeh…?
My plan was to say something awful, get yelled at, and then gloss over the issue and postpone it, but my plan was easily crushed and completely backfired.
This might be due to that hideous, resentful connection between me and Millie that the God of Creation mentioned. It’s like there’s something that makes her obedient when Geld does something Gesu like in a doujinshi.
Could it be that Shell’s incident will be resolved with this too? If that’s the case, then I’ll be spamming Kuzumuvu from now on, and I’ll start walking the path of a true Gesu man. No, maybe I’ve already covered about half the distance.
“Millie, calm down. Get a grip.”
In order to walk the right path, I turned to face Millie, grabbed her shoulders, and spoke to her strongly while looking her in the eyes at close range. I don’t want any hideous doujinshi power to interfere between me and Millie.
But Millie misunderstood something, closed her eyes shyly, and raised her chin just a little. She’s openly waiting for a kiss in the middle of the street.
“Mmm.”
“No… Not ‘mmm’…”
This is hopeless. I don’t know the details, but Millie’s head is completely dyed pink, and if I try to gloss over this and run away, I’ll probably get yelled at instead. Even if I’m careful not to say anything Gesu in the future, I have no choice but to brace myself for today.
“Guh, I can’t afford to lose… Ah, this will create a fait accompli, so let’s just go with that for now…”
“Not that again.”
Before I knew it, Claire had gotten on board too. Once it’s come to this, there’s no stopping it. Whatever will be, will be.
I’ll try not to think about how I’m going to explain this to Shino. The me of the future will somehow manage.
From now on, I’ll just entrust myself to the momentum and live like this.
If there’s a problem, I’ll just gloss over it, and if it gets really bad, I’ll just punch the God of Creation and have him take care of it.
This violent and hedonistic way of life that relies on brute force is the right path in the world of RPGs…!
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This is really the end. Thank you for sticking with me until the end.
Thank you so much for all the reviews, comments, stars, follows, gifts, etc. They were all very encouraging.