༺ The Cabinet ༻
“Frey! Where do you think you’re going?”
“…Sigh.”
Since yesterday’s declaration, Ferloche had been following me around all day.
If I were in her shoes, I would have been exhausted by now, but Ferloche persisted with a ravenous expression on her face, resembling a dog chasing a chicken. At this rate, it seemed like I would tire out first.
“Aha! What are you taking out of your bag?”
“A notebook.”
“Why are you taking out your notebook?”
“To study.”
“Don’t lie!”
We had been going back and forth like this all day long.
“Ferloche, shouldn’t you be praying right now?”
“I can pray when I’m next to you!”
“…Hah.”
Regardless of what I tried to do, she never took her eyes off me. Thanks to her, I was really going crazy.
‘…I’m going to have to sneak into the slave market soon.’
My plan was to infiltrate the market today to gather information about the biggest event of the second semester, the ‘Liberation of the Slave Market.’
I had prepared rigorously for this main quest since the previous regression, and I was confident in my abilities. However, I couldn’t let my guard down.
There had always been an unexpected situation or variable in everything that I had planned for.
Therefore, I needed perfect preparation so there would be no problems even if an unexpected situation occurred. A preliminary investigation was essential for this purpose.
But…
“Frey!”
“What is it this time?”
“What are you thinking so hard about? Are you planning to commit more evil deeds?”
Thanks to Ferloche, my plan to infiltrate the slave market was in jeopardy.
I had made it to the cafe near the entrance, but Ferloche’s constant interruptions made it impossible for me to find the right moment to enter.
‘What should I do about her?’
“What should I do to satisfy you?”
“Hmmm… then, please die! Then I’ll be content!”
Seeing Ferloche’s clenched fists, I realized there was probably no way to satisfy her.
I couldn’t exactly kick her out, either.
Maintaining a good relationship with my partner was essential for receiving various bonuses through the system.
[Stats] Name: Frey Raon Starlight
Strength: ??
Mana: ??
Intelligence: ??
Mental Strength: 9.5 (+0.2)
Passive Status: Blessing of the Stars/Time Limit/Partner’s Blessing
Disposition: Hero
Goodness Stat: 100
The Partner’s Blessing was a fraudulent buff that raised my stats by 0.2 each.
Therefore, I had to maintain a good relationship with Ferloche for the course of the second semester.
“Oh! Frey! Look over there! Something is flying in!”
Despite my previous worries, Ferloche suddenly became excited as she pointed outside the window with anticipation.
“…Is that?”
As I looked outside, a surprising sight unfolded before my eyes.
“Hoooot!”
“Gugugu!!!”
Serena’s white owl and an unfamiliar white pigeon were engaged in a heated fight mid-air as they flew toward the window.
It wasn’t even a one-sided assault, but rather a ‘fight’ with that owl. This was a big event that I had never seen, even in the previous timeline.
“Ah! Don’t fight! Don’t fight!”
“…Do you know that pigeon?”
“Yes! His name is Gugu!””
When I urgently opened the window and questioned Ferloche about the pigeon that was now in her hands, an unnatural name popped up.
“Why is his name Gugu?”
“Well, I asked him what name he wanted to have… And he said, ‘Gu-gu!’ That’s why I named him that!”
Ferloche stroked the pigeon as she answered me and smiled widely upon reading what she had received.
“Wow! I got a letter from the Church!”
“I see.”
Soon after, I peeled my eyes away from t Ferloche, who was tearing up her letter, and naturally began reading the letter Serene’s owl had spat out.
I failed to enter the Western Continent. Returning to the Academy.
“…Ugh.”
However, as soon as I read the first sentence, I noticed bad news.
Serena, who was about to head to the Western continent, seemed to have failed for some reason.
I didn’t know what exactly was going on, but I hoped everything was alright.
Please take good care of the owl until I arrive.
“Hoot!”
When I finished reading Serena’s letter, the owl that had been glaring resentfully at the pigeon in Ferloche’s arms began acting cute in front of me.
“Ferloche.”
“What?”
As I stroked the owl’s chin, I spoke to Ferloche in a low voice.
“I’ll be back. I’ll need to use the restroom.”
“I’ll go with you!”
“…What?”
I tried to separate myself from Ferloche before it was too late, but my plan was stopped effortlessly.
“You want to go to the bathroom with me?”
“…Yes! I have something to do in the bathroom as well!”
I had an incredulous look on my face, but Ferloche just responded to my question while clenching her fists.
“Let’s go! Come on!”
“…Alright, let’s go.”
I had to get rid of her eventually, so I got up with a victorious smirk.
‘…No way she’ll actually follow me inside.’
No matter how determined she was to keep an eye on every move I made, would she really follow me into the bathroom?
If she saw anything indecent, Ferloche was more likely to foam at the mouth or resort to violence using the power of the Sun God. There was no way she would enter the bathroom with me.
“Wa-wait a minute! Why are you leaving the store after saying you were going to the bathroom?”
“There is no toilet in this store. I have to use the public restroom outside.”
“Th-that’s not fair!”
“What else did you expect from a store in the corner of the back alley?”
“Ugh…”
Additionally, now that I was going to a public restroom, her chances of following me were zero.
Even if we ignored her ignorance, she, who was a saint among saints, would never follow me into a men’s public restroom.
– Squeak…
With that in mind, I carefully opened the door and headed to the public restroom.
– Rustle…
When I arrived at the public restroom, I carefully began to take a robe I had hidden away.
If I put it on, I could escape without Ferloche noticing…
“What are you doing?”
“…..!”
Still in the middle of my scheming, I was startled by the sudden sound behind me and quickly concealed the robe.
“Why are you here?”
“Well, I told you… I’m going to go to the bathroom with you.”
After a brief spell, I asked Ferloche a question, but I was dumbfounded by her response.
“This is… a men’s restroom.”
“Don’t make any excuses! After you say that, you will kick me out, and then you will do something evil again!”
“Wh-What evil can I do in a bathroom?”
“…Never mind! Just hurry up and do your business!”
Ferloche blushed and pushed me towards a stall.
“Sigh…”
My plan to escape was on the verge of failure, and I quickly began to think of alternatives.
‘Should I pretend to attack her?’
It was the only plan that came to mind.
Since I had learned about her past and secret a few months ago, I had been reluctant to touch Ferloche, so I hadn’t done anything to her physically.
Still, I realized this was probably the best way to take care of Ferloche, since words never really worked on her anyways.
“Hey, Ferloche…”
After thinking for a bit, I started to approach Ferloche with an insidious look on my face.
– Clack, clack.
“”…….!!!””
But just as I was about to put my plan into action, we heard footsteps approaching the bathroom, and I froze.
“Yo-You have to hide!”
“Wa-Wait a minute.
Ferloche, who was looking around panicked, grabbed my hand and pulled me towards an old cabinet in the corner.
“I’d rather hide inside a stall…”
“It’s filthy there!”
Then Ferloche pushed open the old cabinet doors and tried to force me inside.
“Wa-Wait!”
– Skid
Confused by her behavior, I struggled, but Ferloche was relentless, even using her blessing of the Sun God to push me inside.
“You’re the only one who needs to go in! Only you!”
“…Ah.”
As I found myself trapped inside the cabinet, I couldn’t help but feel a sudden twinge of empathy for those I had bullied in the past. And Ferloche, who had finally succeeded in pushing me into the cabinet, glared at me victoriously.
– Squeak…
At that moment, the bathroom door creaked open…
“…Hiiik!“
Ferloche, who screamed unconsciously, quickly squeezed herself into the cabinet and slammed the door shut.
Then, there was a moment of silence.
.
.
.
.
.
“…Senior, did you hear a woman’s voice just now?”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
Moments after Frey and Ferloche hid in the cabinet, the two men entered the bathroom and began to talk amongst themselves.
“Do you think a slave hid here?”
“What nonsense is that? If a slave really had escaped, he’d have run away through the back alley. Why would they crawl into a men’s bathroom?”
“But… I really heard a woman scream.”
Hearing the words of his junior, the man who had been called ‘senior’ before, sighed and replied,
“You’ve been hearing a lot of slaves screaming lately, so you’ve probably started hearing things. I was like that too in the beginning.”
The man continued to do his business with an unconcerned look, but the other man still frowned, headed towards the stalls, and started to kick open the stall doors one by one.
“What are you going to do if you use all of your strength here? I’m already exhausted dealing with the new batch.”
“Still, if I catch a runaway slave, wouldn’t the reward be huge? Since I’m still a newbie, my salary sucks.”
The man soon spotted something on the floor and began to smile with satisfaction.
“Senior… look at this.”
“What is it?”
“I think I found something.”
The floor he pointed to was littered with footsteps leading to the old cabinet.
“No way… for real?”
“What did I say? I told you I definitely heard a woman’s voice!”
With an excited expression, he took a rope out of his pocket and slowly began to head towards the cabinet.
“If you come out now, I won’t hit you.”
Soon after, he arrived in front of the cabinet and began knocking on the door with a slightly nervous look on his face.
“Come on out. I already know you’re in there.”
“Hey, move.”
“Huh?”
The senior, who had been looking at him disapprovingly, pushed him away and grabbed the handle of the cabinet.
“You rats.”
Having said that, he pulled the cabinet open forcefully.
“…What?”
However, the sight in front of them only caused embarrassment to the two men.
“Hey, I thought you said they were in here”.
“Bu-but! They were here for sure!”
The old cabinet was empty.
.
.
.
.
.
While the men were puzzled by the empty cabinet…
“Remember, remember, remember, remember, remember.”
Frey was looking around the dark underground with a perplexed expression, and Ferloche was standing behind him, biting her nails while muttering to herself.
“…That I have to protect him no matter what.”
She continued murmuring until Frey’s eyes turned towards her again.
