Interlude 14: The Whereabouts of the Heart (Part 2)
“Alright, there we go.”
“Gwaaah…”
Without even looking at the orc that collapsed with a heavy thud, I turned my attention to the party that had called for help. That makes three now. There must be an orc nest around here, and when they come in groups, some people seem to struggle.
“Oh, u-uh, thank you so much, senpai!”
“You’re welcome. It looks like there are still a lot of orcs around here, so be careful, okay?”
“Yes, you really saved us!”
After waving goodbye to the mixed party of male and female students bowing politely, I saw Arena returning after rescuing another group in need.
“Good work, Idle♪”
“You too, Arena. Were the juniors okay?”
“Yeah, one of them just twisted their ankle a little, so I healed it while I was at it.”
“Nice, good call.”
“Hehe~♪”
Cute. This version of Arena is great, too… I love little Arena, but I also love grown-up Arena. If someone told me to choose between them, I wouldn’t even hesitate—I’d pick both.
“Here!”
“Oof—”
But when grown-up Arena hugs me, I almost always end up buried in her chest. Well, it’s not like I mind—it’s a blissful moment, after all. But lately, I’ve been feeling nervous, like the boundaries of our friendship are starting to blur.
I mean, she’s a fairy. It’s not the same as human love that comes with instincts—it’s just pure emotion. There’s no room for anything else to interfere.
Besides, I think like a human, so I don’t see Arena that way… probably.
“Arena, look, the sun is right above us. Let’s eat lunch.”
“Oh, it’s finally time to serve my homemade bento!”
“Yup, I’ve been looking forward to it.”
“Hehehe♪”
Some things never change between us.
When I opened the lunchbox Arena handed me, I found a beautifully arranged meal inside. There was a mysterious, unidentified meat wrapped around vegetables, egg sandwiches, and petite boltorcos.
Petite boltorcos look like tomatoes, but they have a thick, juicy flesh with a nice bite to them. She even remembered my favorite food—impressive, Arena.
Our lunchboxes matched, with mine being blue and hers pink. Huh? Shouldn’t the colors be reversed?
“Idle.”
“Hm?”
“Ah… aahh~n.”
“…!?”
Arena had picked up a petite boltorco with her fork and was trying to feed it to me. My brain completely froze from the shock.
“Idle, you do it too?”
“U-uh… okay. Aahh~n.”
We fed each other bites from our lunchboxes. So that’s why the colors were swapped… I don’t know whose idea this was, but what an absolutely brilliant event they set up.
After taking her first bite, Arena blushed but gave me the brightest, happiest smile.
“Hehe… you fed me~♪”
“……”
Arena murmured something softly, and I secretly wiped away the overflowing love from my heart. Phew, that was close. I can’t let this blissful moment end so easily. I need this kind of healing.
Next, we both picked up the egg sandwiches. Since we couldn’t use forks for these, we tore them into pieces with our hands and fed each other.
“Aahm♪ Mmm… chupl…”
“W-wait, Ar—mmgh!? …Nn… chupi…”
Not only did Arena end up biting my fingers along with the sandwich, but I also found myself eating the piece she offered—fingers and all. As we chewed, even after the food was gone, we continued licking each other’s fingers.
When we finally pulled back, a thin strand of saliva stretched between us before breaking.
“……”
“……”
How did it come to this…? If Mika or La Veil saw this, they’d probably collapse into a pool of blood. I’m barely holding on myself.
Arena, still blushing intensely, stared at me with a dazed expression. This… this feels dangerous. Specifically, her face is getting way too close, and I need to do something about it.
“Here.”
“Auh!”
So, I gave her a little chop on the head. Oh, good, she’s back to her usual soft and dreamy expression. I much prefer this Arena to the overly seductive one. It suits her better.
“A-ah, umm… uwaa～～～”
Realizing what she had just done, she covered her face, blushing furiously like a human girl. She was squirming, all flustered—so innocent and pure. Either way, that was a finishing blow to my heart.
“Arena, you’re acting even more like a girl today. Is this also Paradox-sensei’s teaching?”
“Y-yeah… How was it?”
“It was super cute and made my heart race. But… were you trying to tell me something?”
“…No. That’s something the real me has to do.”
“Ah… I see. Got it.”
Was she asking for something? Well, if it’s Arena, I’d probably grant her wish unconditionally. But man, her destructive power is unreal. My mental storage is about to overflow just from today alone.
After that, we finished our meal normally, then leaned against a thick tree and took a 30-minute nap together, nestled against each other.
I only found out later—after the exam—when Paradox-sensei told me that all the students around had witnessed the entire scene.
Ahhh… this is so embarrassing I could just die…
“Idle, they gave you a new nickname.”
“O-oh… What is it?”
“‘White Lily of Elegance’♪”
“Oh… great…”
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