“Crazy bastard. Crazy bastard. Crazy bastard······.”
Grrruuuuuk.
The doll in my arms is gradually getting crumpled.
My body is getting hotter by the moment.
I’m seriously annoyed to death.
“Hey, you damn human······! Dammit, dammit!”
I thought I could give him a break.
His fighting skill was decent, and I thought he was somewhat cool.
But I never expected him to suddenly pounce on me and steal my rosary.
That rosary is not an ordinary one.
It’s a libido suppressor for rabbit demihumans, who are in heat 365 days a year.
If you carry it around, it suppresses your desires.
It’s specially made to fit my body.
That means there’s no alternative.
Plus, the longer I use it, the stronger my desires become due to the side effects.
“Ughhhh! Seriouslyyy!”
That’s exactly the side effect I’m experiencing right now.
My face is turning red.
My whole body is heating up, and I can’t properly muster any strength.
My fingers and toes are wiggling incessantly.
My mind is filled with those kinds of thoughts, making it impossible to think normally.
Just getting back to the inn in this state would be a big problem.
I wonder how everyone would look at a woman who flinches and shivers every time she steps forward······.
“I need the rosary······.”
I wanted to break the stereotype that rabbit demihumans are crazy about sex.
So I secretly started carrying around the rosary.
Thanks to it, I could remain composed and not blush in any situation.
But now, I can’t live without it.
I can’t let others see me like this.
No matter what, I have to get it back.
-If you want it back, come to the plaza tomorrow morning. Don’t tell anyone about today.
“Damned bastard······.”
That guy’s words come to mind, and swear automatically slips out.
I have no choice but to go to the plaza.
I have to do as he says.
Putting off reporting to Yerina for a bit······.
Huh? But what was I going to report?
“Aaah, I don’t know. Ahh, ugh. Huh······.”
I can’t remember.
Right now, the ticklish sensation makes it impossible to recall anything.
First, I need to get the rosary back, then I’ll think.
There’s no other way······.
*
“······Twinkle twinkle.”
“Pretty, right?”
“······Yeah.”
Mi Jeong’s eyes sparkle as she picks up the rosary.
Looks like she really likes it.
I feel an impulse to just hand it over to her.
“Ha. What am I going to do with this?”
Alicia’s nickname is Snowflake Blade.
Beautiful like snowflakes, but cold and sharp with no emotions, hence the nickname.
Among rabbit demihumans, individuals who can control their emotions and desires to that extent are extremely rare.
That’s why Alicia is treated as the pride of rabbit demihumans.
Of course, that image is all created through libido suppressors.
Even though rabbit demihumans are mocked for being obsessed with sex, that too is an exaggeration.
They’re just more proactive about relationships and often have flushed faces.
Nothing more, nothing less.
However, it must be different for Alicia, who carries the libido suppressor all the time.
She’s already developed a tolerance, making it impossible to live normally without the suppressor.
If she doesn’t want to see everything she’s built up come crashing down, she must somehow get the rosary back from me.
‘Giving it back is a big issue. Not giving it back is a big issue.’
But the moment I return the rosary, I’ll be in trouble.
Alicia will immediately tell Yerina about me.
If I confront Yerina, who came to catch the guy who dared to touch her cute sister, it’s game over.
So, what if I never give back the rosary?
I’ll act like I’ll return it if she obeys me while dragging my feet.
It might work at the start.
But the moment Alicia realizes she won’t be getting the rosary back, she’ll explode and tell Yerina.
So, I’m indirectly making my relationship with Alicia as bad as it can be to delay the time now.
To prevent that from happening, I have to think of a way before tomorrow morning.
“······Twinkle twinkle.”
“It’s distracting.”
Mi Jeong keeps looking at the mana stone next to me, exclaiming in wonder.
I wanted to push it away to concentrate, but…
“Hey!! Let’s do a high five!”
“······Huh?”
“Hand out!”
“······Like this?”
Thanks to that, I finally got an idea.
A brilliant plan.
“Here we are······. I came to the plaza like you asked······.”
The next morning.
After leisurely finishing my preparations, I stepped into the plaza with Mi Jeong, only to feel a bit startled.
Alicia’s condition is much worse than I thought.
Her body, covered in a white dress and a wide-brimmed hat, shakes uncontrollably.
She flinches when someone passes by.
Even a weak wind makes her shiver like she’s been electrocuted.
“So hurry up, hurry up and give me back my rosary······.”
This isn’t just an inability to live normally; she can’t even move!
Only then did I begin to feel a bit sorry.
If I don’t give it back soon, I feel like I might see something terrible.
As I lifted the brim of her hat to look her in the eyes, I said,
“Wow, ahh! Huh, haah······.”
“Yah?!”
Sssshhh.
With a refreshing sound, a clear stream flows down beneath the chair.
“······Water!”
Mi Jeong, startled by the flowing water, hides behind me.
Good grief.
This is maddening.
Now I understand why she wore a white outfit.
It’s so that any stains from urine or bodily fluids wouldn’t show up much.
This has become problematic.
I left the rosary at the inn.
For now, I quickly grabbed Alicia’s trembling hand and hurried to the inn.
All the way, I felt the vibrations of her shivering through my hand.
I can’t even count how many times it happened.
Once back at the inn, I immediately pushed Alicia into the bathroom.
I threw her the clothes she had in her bag.
As it seems warm water is quite a big stimulation, I could hear her moaning delightfully from inside the bathroom.
“Here.”
“Uh······?”
Then, when Alicia came out of the bathroom,
I tossed the rosary to her.
No need to check if it’s genuine or fake.
The moment she holds it, its effects will be revealed immediately.
“Sit down. We have things to talk about.”
“You······.”
“What? Want to steal it again?”
“That’s not it······ Yo.”
Thud thud.
Pouting discontentedly, Alicia sits on the chair in front of me.
Perhaps because she showed me everything she didn’t want to, her attitude seems quite docile.
Now her willingness to negotiate seems sufficient.
“What is it······?”
“The person your sister is looking for.”
“I knew Sister Yerina was looking for someone! Who the hell are you? Those shoes you have on are special shoes only used in Frost-style Swordsmanship—how do you have those······.”
“That’s me. I’m Yoo Jin.”
“······.”
In this situation, the way to solve it is head-on.
Alicia’s expression goes blank, perhaps in shock.
“No way. You can’t be the man Sister is looking for. That person was supposed to be righteous, kind, and nice······.”
“Too bad. Seems your sister misunderstood.”
Am I righteous, kind, and nice?
Not a chance.
If push comes to shove, I’ll use any means necessary.
I would have shown at least some of that side to Yerina in the first round, so it’s unlikely she remembers the first round.
Then, did she recall the twelfth round?
That’s a headache in itself.
“Stop saying nonsense.”
“Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean it’s false. It’ll be proven the moment you meet Yerina.”
“Then, you should come to Palana immediately! I need to interrogate how you know about Frost-style Swordsmanship!”
“Are you really okay with that?”
“What?”
“Are you really fine with letting Yerina and me meet?”
As I racked my brain last night to come up with an elaborate backstory for Alicia, I realized something.
She’s not a major supporting character, so I haven’t met her many times in the twelfth round.
But her character traits are so pronounced, and many details spring to mind.
“Answer me. In your opinion, how do you think Yerina thinks of me?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Come on, don’t drag this out, just be honest. If you find it frustrating, I’ll take the rosary back.”
“I think she had a special connection with you. Even though it seems you’re a complete stranger, she talks about you as if she’s been longing for you······.”
“That’s how it is. Yerina and I were lovers in the past.”
“What?!”
One of Alicia’s many backstories is a sitcom.
Though not her biological sister, she really likes Yerina.
In other words, she’s extremely wary of her getting a boyfriend.
“Stop lying! There’s no way my sister would date a scummy, rude guy like you!”
“Hard to believe, but that’s the reality. I’ll bet, when Yerina meets me, she’ll act like she can’t live without me.”
“No way. Sister wouldn’t do that.”
“It doesn’t matter if you deny it. Deep down, you know I’m right.”
“······.”
In the twelfth round, Yerina’s completion rate was 93 percent.
The highest completion rate ever.
If Yerina really did retain the memories of the twelfth round, she must be dying to find me.
Alicia is so close to Yerina that she would even ask her to find me.
So, she must have realized how desperate Yerina is.
“You look like you don’t like that.”
“Of course. Sister and you completely do not match······.”
“I think so too. We broke up on not-so-good terms. That’s why I don’t want to see Yerina again, and you don’t want to see Yerina falling back in love with me. Seems we both understand each other well.”
Grrruuuuuk.
As I pulled Mi Jeong closer to me, Alicia’s brow furrowed.
Given Alicia’s keen observation skills, she must’ve figured out by now that Mi Jeong is a blood ghoul.
There’s no way she would want her beloved sister to date a guy who travels with a monster.
“Alright. I won’t say a word to my sister about you. I can just report to her that our search in Basel was futile, right?”
“Yeah. Good thinking.”
The negotiation is settled.
With this, Alicia can never tell Yerina about me.
“And you, carry out a little errand for me. I haven’t been able to visit the North because I was worried about running into Yerina. I need something.”
“What? Why me?”
“Don’t like it? I could just take this chance to reunite with Yerina and become the King of Palana.”
“Wh-Whatever you want me to do······.”
With that, I’ve gained one errand runner who can’t move a muscle in response to my words.
