Chapter 232
There was a quiet lawn where only the singing of insects could be heard.
Yuna, who was sitting on top of Franz, looked down at him with quite a serious expression.
Gulp.
Swallowing his saliva, Franz slowly turned his gaze elsewhere. Because of the posture, he couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes.
“Franz, look at me.”
“Huh? Ah, yeah…”
Franz looked at Yuna once again.
Was it because they had been sitting in front of the campfire for a long time? A faint blush rested on her face.
“Do you remember what I said before?”
“When did you say it…?”
“That was when you died and came back to life.”
If it was then, surely…
There was no need to retrace his memories; they immediately came to mind. He had occasionally thought back to that time and fallen into deep thought, after all.
“You said you had something you wanted to say.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m going to say it now.”
Chirp, the singing of the insects that had been ringing out stopped. The cool blowing wind stopped.
It was as if the world was focusing on her.
Like that, for a moment.
Yuna’s mouth opened and her voice flowed out.
“I like you. I like you as a companion I traveled with, and as a friend, but more than that, I like you as a man.”
Yuna was nervous. Her trembling voice and fidgeting fingers were the proof.
Even so, the fact that she wasn’t avoiding his eyes meant she was so sincere.
“So it finally came to this…”
Honestly, he had expected it to some extent. He would be a fool not to know when she had been expressing it so much.
He had merely been averting his eyes for a while.
Because he wasn’t used to this kind of situation, fear had simply taken precedence.
“Yuna, I…”
“Franz, please don’t answer.”
The moment Franz tried to answer, Yuna’s index finger blocked his lips.
Flustered, Franz just blinked and looked at her.
“I know it’s weird. But I don’t think I’d feel at ease if I heard your answer right now, regardless of whether you accept it or not. You know what I’m talking about, right?”
Franz nodded.
He couldn’t bring himself to lie to her when she had shown her true feelings.
“Three times left, is it…”
He didn’t know how long it would take. It would depend on when they mustered up the courage.
But he could say this one thing for sure.
“When that time comes, I’ll tell you honestly.”
“Yeah, that’s enough. Thank you.”
Yuna smiled brightly. It was the smile she had always shown him.
The insects started singing again, and the cool wind blew in and tickled his cheeks.
This situation, which felt as if the audience had left, was so funny that a pfft of laughter burst out.
“Did you just laugh at me?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Right? I knew you would. More than that, I was really nervous…”
Yuna let out a long sigh and collapsed onto Franz’s body. It was a truly peculiar posture, with their chests touching.
'Didn’t she just confess…?'
Even so, wasn’t this distance a bit too close?
“I’m really cowardly, aren’t I?”
“Not really?”
“Then I’ll stay like this a little longer.”
Suit yourself.
Answering in his mind, Franz carefully patted her back.
It was a truly eventful day.
* * *
Having returned to the Magic Tower after spending a pleasant time with Yuna, Franz sat on the sofa with a narrowed brow.
A translucent hologram window was floating in front of his eyes…
[Save the world from the villainesses who will lead it to ruin!
Hero Yuna (100%)
Saintess Yusti-ah (99.00%)
Elf archer Hera (99.00%)
If you fail, the world will be ruined!]
Hadn’t the thing that seemed like it would stay at 99 percent forever gone up to 100 percent?
Franz was bewildered even as he looked at it with his own eyes.
“What exactly are the criteria…?”
The only special thing that happened today was receiving a confession from Yuna.
Given that causal relationship, the last remaining 1 percent was their confession…
What on earth did a confession have to do with stopping the world’s ruin?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand.
Well, this was a good thing, so he let it be.
The truly important thing was this.
[The will to ruin the world has completely disappeared from Hero Yuna’s heart!
The world has taken one step closer to peace!
There is a special reward. Would you like to receive it? Y/N]
Among the lined-up sentences, the most eye-catching was, of course, the word “special reward”.
Based on his experience so far, there was nothing bad about following what this hologram told him to do.
So it would surely give him something helpful this time too.
Franz carefully raised his hand and lightly touched Y. Then, the hologram window disappeared, and something fell from the air with a thud.
“Is it a key…?”
To be more precise, it was a fragment of a key, specifically the head part.
That meant there was a possibility that the rewards for getting the remaining two, Yusti-ah and Hera, to 100 percent would also be key fragments.
Surely, gathering those fragments to obtain a complete key was the ultimate goal of this quest.
He didn’t know where that key would be used, but…
'It shouldn’t be anything bad.'
Thinking so, Franz carefully stored the key fragment in his bag.
* * *
It was a few days after completing Yuna’s route.
Because there was a summons from the emperor, Franz headed to the Imperial Palace.
“Franz, in Raham…”
Even without hearing the end of the story, he felt like he knew what the emperor was going to say.
After gates started appearing all over the continent, the empire emerged as the problem solver.
As much as they enjoyed the trickle-down effect, they had become even busier.
“Don’t make such an annoyed expression. I know enough to feel sorry.”
“How could I possibly think it’s annoying?”
He said that, but honestly, it was annoying. They said it was only until each country established countermeasures for the gates, but he was essentially taking on all the gates.
Even so, the reason he always proceeded without complaint was that the returns were so great.
The empire was able to gain the upper hand in relations between countries, and it could also take most of the byproducts coming out of the gates.
Was that all? They were even receiving rewards in exchange for resolving the gates, so the empire and Franz were truly spending their best days.
“I’m always thankful to you. If you’re okay with it, I could even have you engaged to Elizabeth…”
“Your Majesty, I am fine.”
He was thankful for the sentiment, but he couldn’t bring himself to accept it.
An engagement to a girl nearly twenty years younger - he’d have no right to complain even if he got shot instead of just having stones thrown at him while walking down the street.
“Instead, I would like to ask for one favor. This time, I’d like to bring some acquaintances along for a trip…”
“Is the hero among them by any chance?”
“Yes, well… That is correct.”
“Understood. I will speak to the king of Raham in advance.”
Why on earth was he asking about Yuna…
Franz wanted to ignore it even though he knew the reason.
The emperor intervening in his relationship with Yuna wasn’t exactly a welcome thing.
“Ah, and there is something else I’d like to add…”
“Hmm, speak.”
Franz spoke to the emperor very carefully.
Hearing that, the emperor’s eyes widened.
“Is that true?!”
“Yes, it’s still a test run, but I’m thinking of giving it a try.”
“Good! I’ll mention all of that as well!”
And so, the trip to Raham was arranged.
Actually, he hadn’t exactly asked for their permission, but…
“I’ll go-!”
“Raham…? Hmm-, it’s a bit far… But I’ll still go.”
“I’d be grateful just for the invitation. I shall go with you.”
Yuna, Yusti-ah, and Hera all readily accepted.
And the last one remaining, Arian,
“Can I go…? Then only Seri-ah and Zeni-ah will be left at the Magic Tower again.”
She seemed unable to answer easily, worried that problems might arise at the Magic Tower.
They had done well on their own so far, so he figured there wouldn’t be any particular problems, but he could understand her concern to some extent.
It was then.
“Fufu, am I not here?”
Levi crossed her arms and spoke triumphantly. Her expression was overflowing with confidence.
Still, well, she has been doing a good job lately.
“Then Levi, I’ll leave it to you. Next time, let’s go on a trip with just you, Seri-ah, and Zeni-ah.”
Saying so, Franz patted Levi’s head.
“I-I’ll work hard!”
Levi’s tail was wagging crazily from side to side.
Time passed since then, and it was already the next day.
Even though it was dawn when everyone would still be asleep, a commotion was happening in the backyard of the Magic Tower.
“Over there! Check the operation!”
“It’s working well here!”
“How is the inside of the airship?!”
“Internal check is also complete!”
The researchers of the Magic Tool Development Department went in and out of the giant lump of iron, inspecting the facilities.
That giant lump of iron was the Magic Airship jointly developed by Franz and the Magic Tool Development Department.
“Magic Tower lord, the checks are complete. It seems you only need to do the test flight now.”
“Understood.”
Franz said so and looked at the airship in front of him.
A moment no man could ever resist had arrived.