The day I graduated from the academy, when I thought about what I would do next, the most realistic option that came to mind was becoming a mercenary.
Joining a regular army would mean more restrictions on my actions and a smaller range of movement.
But I never expected an opportunity to come in this way—not even as an official mercenary, but merely as part of an investigative team.
The day before we left for the Presia Mountain Range, I, Ravi, and Elfin gathered separately to discuss the upcoming investigation.
First, Ravi, who was well-versed in information about this mountain range and had received direct reports from her father, Duke Lieb, gave a briefing.
“The Presia Mountain Range is mostly a rugged rocky mountain from the middle slopes upward.
The monsters that appear here are common ones like goblins and orcs in the lower areas, but as you move higher up into the rocky terrain, you’ll find creatures like griffons and gargoyles.
Griffons are mainly active during the day, while gargoyles dominate the night.
However, the ones that have increased in number this time are the gargoyles.
There have even been daytime sightings of gargoyles, which means the balance is completely broken.”
At Ravi’s words, Elfin rested her chin on her hand, frowning.
“Gargoyles… Those are dark creatures.
A sudden increase in their numbers is definitely a bad sign.
Has the goddess really abandoned this world? Is that why the holy sword has lost its light and strange phenomena are happening?”
“No way. The Holy Knight is none other than Bryden.
There’s no way the goddess would forsake this world.
You know as well as I do how diligent and noble Bryden is.”
“Well, yeah… I guess I’ve just been hearing too many strange reports lately, making me think unnecessarily negative thoughts.”
After that, we discussed countermeasures for the abnormalities in the Presia Mountain Range for quite some time.
Once our conversation was nearly over, Elfin organized the key points in her notebook and then snapped it shut.
“Anyway, that aside…”
She folded her arms, narrowed her eyes, and turned her gaze toward me.
Pointing a finger straight at me, she spoke with clear disapproval.
“Do we really have to bring this guy along?”
“Anyone hearing you would think I’m just dead weight. That hurts, you know.”
“That’s right, Elfin.
When the anomaly happened at the Goblin Camp, whatever the case was, Alvis managed to—”
“I’m not talking about his skills! I’m talking about his conduct!
Ravi, how did you manage to be alone in a dungeon with this guy without something happening?”
“Ahaha… Well, the situation was quite urgent…”
“That was an exception!
If nothing weird happened to you in a low-level dungeon like Goblin Camp, how do you know this perverted creep wouldn’t have tried something?!
You should’ve kicked him in the crotch the moment you met him!”
“Hey! There are some things you just don’t do to a guy.”
Just imagining it sent chills down my spine, and I felt relieved that the one I encountered in that dungeon was Ravi, the kindest and most reasonable of the three unfortunate heroines.
Of course, Elfin had a good reason for despising me so much.
“Hey, Elfin.
You’re not still holding a grudge over what happened last year, are you?”
Though I had no real memory of it, I knew exactly what had happened thanks to the original “Loveholic” story.
It was one of the most intense service scenes in the second year.
Hearing that, Elfin’s temple throbbed with visible veins, and her beautiful face twisted into something monstrous.
“W-WHAT…? ‘STILL’? ‘HOLDING A GRUDGE’???”
“I told you, that was an accident.
I didn’t mean for it to happen—”
“An accident?! ACCIDENT?!
You did that, and you call it an accident?! Do you want to die?!
Do you have any idea how utterly humiliated I was back then?!
And in front of B-Bryden, of all people… My… my…”
Seeing her stumbling over her words in embarrassment, I decided to finish the sentence for her.
“You mean when I took off your panties?”
“AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
Elfin jumped up, screamed, and drew a dagger from within her sleeves, gripping it tightly.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!”
“E-Elfin! Please calm down!”
“CALM DOWN?! Ravi, did you see that bastard’s attitude just now?!
He talked like it was someone else’s problem!
Do you know how humiliating that was for me?!
And in front of B-B-Bryden…!
Just thinking about it still makes me—”
It was one of the many fab-service scenes from the original Loveholic story.
In a romantic comedy, panty-shot events are common occurrences.
And in reality, Alvis had made several attempts—both big and small—to catch glimpses of the four heroines’ undergarments.
The problem was that, during his second year, he tried to harass Elfin and ended up tripping, accidentally pulling down both her skirt and panties in one swift motion.
Fortunately (or unfortunately?), the original novel only described the backside, but the sheer exposure of Elfin’s bare buttocks skyrocketed the collector’s value of that volume.
In the story, right after Elfin’s lower half was fully exposed, Celine knocked out Alvis with a single kick, making Bryden the only man who had witnessed that “paradise.”
Elfin had never liked Alvis to begin with, but after that event, she truly started hating him, looking at him as if he were less than garbage.
And that hatred had lasted to this day.
But what am I supposed to do?
I may have done it, but I’m not the one who did it.
If I had actually seen it myself, maybe I’d at least feel less wronged.
With tears welling in her eyes from sheer humiliation and shame, Elfin struggled against Ravi’s desperate attempts to restrain her, screaming at me.
“You son of a bitch!
What?! After doing that to me, you ask if I’m STILL holding a grudge?!
I swear, I won’t let this go!”
“E-Elfin!
We still have to work together as part of the investigation team, so for now, please consider the situation between Arbones and our country!
Just this once, let it go!
If Alvis tries anything like last time, I won’t stop you. Deal?”
“Alvis! You should just apologize already!
I remember what happened too, and trust me, you have no right to be acting so confident!”
In the end, thanks to Ravi’s mediation, Elfin and I “made up.”
Of course, even then, she kept growling at me, looking like she’d skin me alive if given the chance.
And when Ravi told us to shake hands, she slapped my palm instead and stormed off.
After Elfin left, saying she needed to rest, Ravi gave me a scolding look.
“Alvis…
Why did you bring that up yourself?”
“She was the one who mentioned it first.”
“Still, you shouldn’t have said it.
You might not remember because Celine kicked you unconscious,
but do you have any idea how much Elfin cried from shame?”
Of course, I knew exactly how much.
Bringing up that trauma trigger in front of Elfin wasn’t just a random decision.
In Loveholic, Elfin wasn’t fond of humans.
The only ones she truly opened up to were Bryden, Celine, Renice, and the bunny-girl, Ravi.
Other than those four, she barely interacted with anyone.
Yet, the only human she even had arguments with was Alvis.
Most of their interactions involved Elfin exploding in rage over Alvis’s flirting or sexual harassment.
But even that was better than nothing, at least giving them some connection.
Now that we had graduated, if I wanted to maintain any connection with Elfin,
I had no choice but to intentionally draw her attention like this.
If left alone, she wouldn’t just ignore me—she’d treat me like filth and refuse to interact altogether.
Okay, maybe I was also messing with her a little because she was so easy to provoke,
but that wasn’t the main reason.
After this investigation, Elfin would definitely try to cut ties and get away from me.
But unfortunately for her, I had no intention of letting that happen.
I had to keep pushing her buttons to maintain our connection,
and the fact that I hadn’t suffered any “backlash damage” in this entire conversation
proved that I was right.
While I was thinking of ways to keep our connection going after this investigation,
Ravi, sitting across from me, fidgeted with her fingers while staring at me.
I stopped my train of thought and asked,
“What are you looking at?
Do you have something to say?”
“Ah…”
Her bunny ears twitched, which was… kinda cute.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke.
“I just… wanted to say thank you.”
“That’s random.”
“You might not think much of it, but even a few supplies mean a lot to us.
For us, every small thing is precious.
So, really… thank you for giving them to us.
Honestly, I was worried that, knowing your personality,
you’d demand something weird in return.”
“You always have one extra thing to say, don’t you?”
“Ehem, hm… A-Anyway!
I know I can’t say much about your behavior back at the academy,
but today, when you talked to my father,
when you interacted with our castle’s retainers,
and when you treated my bunny people with genuine acceptance and even helped us…
Thank you.”
“So, have you fallen for my charm and sensitivity?”
“F-F-FALLEN FOR YOU?!?!”
Ravi’s rabbit ears stood straight up in shock,
and she jumped to her feet.
“W-We have to leave early tomorrow!
I’m going to bed first!
You should sleep too instead of saying stupid things!”
Without waiting for my response, she hurriedly left the meeting room.
When she finally slammed the door of her room shut,
Ravi found herself confused by her own reaction.
Alvis’s line about being charming and sensitive was something he had always said before.
It was just one of his many nonsense remarks from our academy days.
Back then, Ravi had always ignored those lines,
never reacting or even bothering to acknowledge them.
It didn’t matter whether Bryden was there or not.
Those ridiculous comments weren’t worth responding to.
And yet, today…
“Why did that catch me off guard?”
A few weeks ago, she would have let it fly over her head like always.
But this time, it stuck in her mind.
“Maybe I’ve gotten too comfortable from traveling together these past few days?
No, I need to get a hold of myself.
We have an important investigation tomorrow!”
Slapping her own cheeks to refocus,
Ravi tried to shake off her thoughts—but in the end, she still couldn’t figure out why she had reacted so sensitively.
To be continued…