“Ken…! Huek, Ke-een…! Are you, alive? This isn’t a dream, right?”
“See? You can touch me. Plus, I’m right here, in your arms.”
Huek, “Ugh, Huek, I’m so glad… Ken, you’re alive… Huek, I’m really, really glad…”
Emily still couldn’t believe that she was wrapped in his warm embrace.
Where could there be such a convenient story for her?
She had seen, touched, and felt his cold corpse; death had been certain.
Yet he had come back to life.
Maybe everything was an illusion, and she was the one who had gone crazy.
“Um… Emily, it’s good that you’re relieved, but… if you hold on for too long…”
“…No way! You idiot! If you’re going to die without notice, then take responsibility!”
“…Hmm.”
Letting go of him now felt like he might just vanish. That scared her.
Ken, feeling her trembling body, held her tight for a while.
And then, as Emily calmed down for a moment, Ken gently reached for her eyes.
As he wiped away her tears, Emily looked up at him with an anxious expression.
Ken smiled while making eye contact with her.
“Hey, Emily.”
“…What, what is it?”
He placed a hand on her shoulder, as if to say a final goodbye, and softly distanced her from him.
“About that shop we talked about going together.”
“…Huh?”
“I think I’ll have some free time now. It’s late, but could you go with me?”
With a shy scratch of his head, Ken averted his gaze.
As he brought up their previous date plans instead of the goodbye she anticipated,
Emily managed to hold back her tears, but a smile crept out nonetheless.
“What’s this…?”
And as if to hide her tears or her smile, she buried her face back into his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“You took too long to answer…”
“Ah, haha. …Sorry.”
Emily, listening closely to the sound of his heart beating loudly, smiled through her tears.
。 。 。
A few days had passed since Ken returned.
That morning was just like any other, with Siegfried and Ken’s training.
Recently, Siegfried had been spending more time lost in thought.
“…Senpai?”
It was about the battle he had fought with Mary before.
Thanks to the sword Ken had forged, he had been able to land a strong final blow, but…
If it weren’t for the black sword, he would’ve definitely lost.
“Senpai? Hey, senpai?”
That’s where his worries stemmed from.
–Is it okay for me to remain as I am?
Surely, the sword Ken made was a grateful tool that filled Siegfried’s shortcomings.
But if he didn’t have the sword,
What would be left for Siegfried would solely be his battle-honed physical abilities.
“Siegfried-senpai!”
“Uh, uh? Ah, …what is it?”
“Not ‘what is it,’ we’ve finished today’s swing practice. Is something wrong?”
With sweat dripping and a wooden sword in hand, Ken looked at him.
Just a while ago, he had come back to life suddenly after being a cold corpse; he was an odd disciple.
Siegfried recalled Ken, who had taken his full power head-on that day.
“…Ken, don’t you want to learn some proper swordsmanship?”
Ken clearly had talent.
Whatever the skill, the strength he demonstrated that night had surely surpassed Siegfried.
If he were to add proper swordsmanship to that…
“What? You were worrying about that?”
“…That sort of thing?”
“Of course, you’re thinking, ‘I have no techniques to teach,’ aren’t you?”
“…Hmm.”
Sometimes, it felt strange how Ken was able to see through Siegfried’s thoughts.
Even his childhood friend, Elise, constantly complained that she had no idea what Siegfried was thinking.
Yet this disciple surprisingly understood him well.
This brought him a mix of joy and a strange feeling.
“You’re right. …It’s a shame for you to only learn this simple swordsmanship.”
“If that’s the case, then you have nothing to worry about. You’re clearly impressive, senpai.”
“No, but I want you to learn more proper techniques…”
“Then can’t you just create some?”
“…Create?”
Ken chuckled, somewhat baffled, and continued speaking.
“When we duel, your sharp strikes seem to follow a set style.”
“Me…?”
“Ah, wouldn’t it be cool if it were a Siegfried-style swordsmanship? I’d even help if you need it!”
Upon hearing his words, Siegfried fell deep into thought again.
Creating his swordsmanship.
He had only been training his body and combat skills, never thought about making techniques himself.
Having such a talent was something he believed he didn’t possess.
“Well then, senpai. I’ll be heading now if today’s training is done. I have plans.”
“Aah, right. Good work.”
“Yes! See you tomorrow!”
And the boy, bright and cheerful, waved goodbye and dashed down the path.
“…He’s really an interesting kid.”
Ken always seemed to help him in some way.
Be it creating the black sword or offering advice like today, it all greatly benefited him.
Feeling gratitude watching Ken’s back, Siegfried smiled.
“Should I try it?”
And so, Siegfried picked up the wooden sword and resumed his training until Elise arrived.
。 。 。
One afternoon, shortly after noon.
After finishing his training with Siegfried, taking a shower, and changing clothes, he left the dormitory.
He had already informed Raphne that he would be having today’s lunch outside.
It took some persuading, but nevertheless.
The place he arrived at was a clock tower square in the city.
This was a different location from where he had waited for Mary before.
That time, the clock tower had been small, but this clock tower was grand enough to rightly be called a tower.
Surrounding mansions lined the streets of this wealthy neighborhood.
The atmosphere felt a little awkward.
Of course, Ken Feinstein from the game might be familiar with such places, being the rich kid he was.
After waiting for a bit while admiring the magnificent buildings around him,
“Ke-een~!”
Emily was approaching from afar.
In a white, flowy dress paired with a beige cardigan,
Her smile seemed brighter than usual, shining even more under the sunlight.
‘…She looks really pretty today.’
Emily, even in her school uniform, was undoubtedly beautiful, yet for some reason, her beauty stood out even more today.
Was it her casual attire?
Or the blush on her face paired with her delightful smile?
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I took too long getting ready.”
While still smiling, she panted a little, her shoulders rising and falling.
“You could have come more slowly. I just got here too.”
“Uh, huh? I wasn’t late, was I?”
“Nope! You arrived just in time!”
Emily glanced at the clock tower’s clock, which pointed exactly at 1 PM.
“…Hehe. I was looking forward to today and must have confused the time. Honestly, I ran for no reason.”
Seeing this, Emily shyly chuckled.
“More importantly, let’s go! This way!”
She grabbed my arm and urged me forward.
It seemed like she was really excited about this famous restaurant.
As she pulled me along, Emily naturally linked her arm with mine.
…Wait a minute?
‘…Isn’t this a bit too close today?’
With her arm around mine and her face pink, she babbled excitedly,
The atmosphere felt a bit different than usual.
For that reason, I found myself feeling a little nervous, my heart racing.
“It’s delicious, right?”
“Munch munch, yeah, especially the sauce! What is this?”
After that, we had a wonderful time in the restaurant where we arrived.
The food surpassed what we had expected.
The meat was tender, bursting with flavor and juices, while the soup delivered a richness that hit hard.
…How could something taste like this?
As someone who loved eating, this was a truly happy moment for Ken.
“You really eat deliciously!”
“Well, it’s super tasty! Munch munch, don’t you think so, Emily?”
“Hehe, how cute.”
Emily gave him a smile that looked like she was gazing at a special treasure.
With her gently narrowed eyes, rosy cheeks, and soft, curved lips,
“You’ve got some on your mouth. Just a second.”
She then grabbed a tissue from the table.
“W-wait, I can do it…”
“Wait. You won’t see it otherwise.”
Her soft hand and the gentle tissue wiped across my lips.
After looking at my cleaned mouth, Emily smiled.
“…All done.”
Truly, something felt a bit different about Emily today.
“Hey, look over there! …Isn’t that Emily?”
“Ah, it is! But who’s she with…?”
At that moment, I heard voices discussing us from nearby.
With that, I finally noticed couples filling the other tables.
Among them, there were quite a few couples that seemed to be academy students.
‘…Well, it is a dating spot after all.’
As one of the city’s top restaurants, it was filled with couples.
Actually, it was all couples.
I didn’t see any family or tables occupied by just guys or girls.
And in such a space, here were Emily and I,
While some students occasionally whispered about us.
“U-um, Emily.”
“Hmm? What?”
Worried, I gently whispered to Emily.
“There are other students here… so… it would be better to be careful.”
“Careful? About what?”
“That… um.”
It was an embarrassing thing to outright say myself.
Plus, I worried that if Emily acted without a care, I might ruin our good time with my various comments.
“…Do you think Emily and Ken are… like that?”
“Is that what it looks like…?”
Once more, I heard the couple discussing us.
…It’s embarrassing, but better than having Emily troubled by misunderstandings.
“…So I wanted to say that it seems only couples are coming here… therefore, other students…”
I subtly gestured towards a nearby couple casting glances our way.
When Emily looked at that table, the couple who met her gaze jolted and returned to their conversation.
Emily watched this without much of a reaction, slicing through her steak with a knife.
“Ah, it’s okay.”
“…Huh? What do you mean it’s okay?”
“Well…”
And then she presented me with the steak, cut into bite-sized pieces.
“I did come here on a date with Ken, after all.”
Emily’s cheeks turned even redder as she offered the fork, her cautious gaze locking onto me.
“What are you waiting for? Here, say ‘ah’.”
“Ah, ah…”
“Good. Hehe.”
As I accepted the steak, she smiled broadly, laughing with the innocence of a child.
‘…D-date.’
Even though it was a place surrounded by couples,
It turned out that Emily had come here to date me.
Her bold declaration made my mind race while chewing the steak, causing my heart to race and distracting me from enjoying the flavor.
“Did you know? Something shocking happened a while ago.”
Then suddenly, Emily brought up the incident of my previous death.
“When that happened… I was really sad. And I regretted it immensely.”
I could picture her standing before my lifeless body with a blank look.
I could hardly imagine what kind of pain she had endured from a death so close to her.
“So now, I’ve decided… I won’t have any regrets anymore. After Ken came back to life, that’s what I resolved.”
Yet looking at me with that cheerful smile,
She seemed truly happy right now.
。 。 。
“Wow~! This is so pretty! Right?”
After eating a delicious meal at the restaurant, we exited and walked while browsing various shops.
And now, we stood in front of a stall selling accessories.
“Ken, you can make something like this, right?”
Emily held a cute pair of earrings up to her ear, looking at me.
With a shy smile as she looked up at me,
“I could make it, but… discussing it here might be a bit much?”
“Ah, you’re right. Hehe, sorry about that.”
She hurriedly placed the earrings back and chuckled awkwardly, apologizing to the vendor.
The shop owner, however, smiled warmly and waved his hand.
“Nah~! Having a pretty lady in front of my shop is good for business. Haha, looks like your boyfriend is quite handy.”
At the shop owner’s compliment, Emily pulled me closer to her arm.
“Yes, he’s really good with his hands.”
She seemed genuinely pleased and smiled brightly.
“He’s a really nice person.”
“Right? I didn’t expect him to laugh so easily. I was worried he might get mad.”
“Besides, he called Ken my boyfriend, right?”
“…Hmm.”
“Do we really look like a couple?”
With her arms crossed and a playful smile, Emily looked up at me.
‘…Well, if we’re this close, that might be the impression we give.’
I felt the softness from her arms and turned my head away to calm my racing heart.
As I did, I noticed passersby.
Among them, I spotted what seemed to be academy students.
Some of them looked over and reacted with surprise at our appearance.
Even if it was a date, was it alright to be this visible to others?
Yet, I didn’t want to spoil Emily’s excitement at seeing me alive.
Though… I didn’t mind it either.
So while walking, filled with excitement and pondering what to do,
“Excuse me, can you help me out…?”
A voice called us from behind.
Turning toward the voice, an old man dressed in a neat suit leaned on a cane, pointing at a certain direction.
“If you help me, I’ll give you… this mansion of mine.”
He gestured to a large mansion that exuded a sinister atmosphere.
‘…This is.’
It was the beginning of a mini-event I remembered.
