What Really Matters Isn't Money (2)

The truth Kagami had just told him must have come as quite a shock. David stared at him in utter disbelief, sweat beading on his forehead. The dramatic change in his expression left Kagami a little taken aback.

"Why... are you so shocked?"

Though Takako being a woman had surprised plenty of people before, David looked less surprised than terrified.

"While working with Takako-sama, she’s put an arm around my shoulders, wrapped an arm around my waist, and given me a hearty smack on the rear to motivate me... She even said, 'You're such a fine man. I've been waiting so long for a capable, dependable man like you to come along. It makes me feel so reassured.'"

"Ah, that's courtship behavior."

"Pardon me, but... you're saying that as a joke.................. right?"

At David's question, Kagami very obviously looked away. David's face grew paler by the second. Before David could ask him to do something about it, Kagami hurried over to Alice, who was cheering Rex on as he fought.

"What's wrong, Kagami-san? You look really sorry for him..."

"I was just thinking maybe I should find a wife soon. Seeing David made me realize that if I stay single without thinking about it, someone terrifying might set their sights on me."

Looking at David, who was still in a daze, Kagami genuinely thought so. He didn't want to end up like that. Honestly, if Takako-chan set her sights on him, he couldn't imagine escaping.

He could only imagine her chasing him to the ends of the earth. For just a moment, Kagami seriously wondered if he ought to settle down before someone like that started pursuing him.

"Don't worry, Kagami-san. You've got me."

Then Alice smiled naturally and thumped a hand against her chest, as if to say it was obvious. Seeing her act as though it were already settled, Kagami couldn't help but smile wryly and murmur, "Well, if I'm still single ten years from now."

Alice looked dissatisfied for a moment, but then she decided optimistically that at least he hadn't rejected her, and gave him a shy smile.

"M-Marry Alice-chan if you're still single ten years from now...? W-what are you thinking?!"

Kururu suddenly started flailing in a panic, apparently having overheard them. Beside her, Rex began taking hits again.

"Kururu-san, Rex is going to die if this keeps up. Are you okay with that?"

"Ah—w-wait! I'm sorry!"

At Kagami's call, Kururu blushed and immediately cast healing magic on Rex. But as soon as she finished, she leaned close to Kagami and demanded again, "What do you mean by that?!"

"I mean ten years from now, and only if neither of us has anyone else. I get how you feel, but David's right here—even if he's in a daze—and you shouldn't say such negative things about Alice just because she's, well... Alice."

"You're twenty-three now, Kagami-san, right? Ten years from now, you'll be a man in your thirties! Alice-chan is only fourteen! And saying you'll marry her if she ends up left on the shelf is so selfish! Alice-chan would be the one to suffer from that kind of age-gap marriage! I won't allow it!"

"Oh, that's what you mean?"

Kagami had assumed Kururu meant she wouldn't allow a demon and a human to get together, since Alice was a demon, so he looked slightly taken aback.

Alice, who didn't seem to understand what Kururu meant, said, "I don't mind at all!" Kururu replied, "No! There's an old saying, 'Life is short, so love while you're young!'" She launched into an explanation about not wasting one's youth and settling things sooner rather than later. Though she could have gotten ahead of Alice, she felt that, out of consideration for Alice's position, they had to compete fair and square—a slightly awkward sense of honor peeking through. All the while, of course, Rex was being pummeled by the Blue Devil.

"I... finally beat it. I never expected so many things to go completely off the rails... You're amazing, Master. I almost gave up several times."

"Well, most of the times you nearly gave up were because of Kururu, though?"

It was more than ten minutes later that Rex finally turned the Blue Devil into money and let out a victory cry. He really did seem close to breaking; his eyes were a little vacant, and Kururu looked crestfallen.

"By the way, David-dono, what's wrong? You haven't moved in a while."

"David-san is about to face a new trial. Don't interrupt him."

Rex looked at David in confusion, but when Kagami immediately told him that Takako-chan had set her sights on David, his expression quickly changed to one of sympathy.

"So, how did it go? How much experience did you get?"

At Kagami's question, Rex immediately opened his status window in front of himself. His level increased when the experience gauge in his status window filled up.

The experience gauge Rex had checked just before fighting the Blue Devil hadn't even reached ten percent, but after the battle it had risen to around twenty percent. Rex stared, eyes wide, unable to speak.

If he wanted to level up using only experience earned from level differences, the number of opponents he'd have to defeat would depend on the gap between his level and theirs. Given the gap between Rex and the Blue Devil, he'd have to defeat thirty of them to fill the gauge. Yet even though he had shared the experience with Kururu, defeating just one had earned him enough to fill twenty percent of the gauge. He could only be astonished.

"I got... this much experience?"

"Oh, that's a decent amount. Though every time, you have to go through an absurd amount of pain to earn it."

"And it's fast. I see... So that's how Master reached that level at such a young age."

"I had a Skill that automatically healed me, after all. Having Kururu here is fine for now, but eventually we'll have to fight opponents too strong to bring her along. I won't be able to keep progressing at this pace. And if you die, it's all over."

Rex looked troubled at Kagami's words. Potions and other medicines had a limited number of uses, so they weren't much help in fights where he was prepared to risk death. If he kept facing opponents that were overwhelmingly strong, he would need a way to recover a certain amount continuously, like Kagami did.

As his level rose, the opponents he fought would inevitably grow stronger, too. That meant his partner would have to be strong enough to survive, or he'd have to learn a way to heal himself.

"Master... at what point did you get that automatic healing Skill?"

"It was the first Skill I learned, at Level 100."

"Level 100... I wish I could learn a healing Skill, too."

"Probably not. That demon guy, the old man named Estellara, said it was an incredibly rare case. Besides, it seems Villagers only learn weird Skills that are different from everyone else's."

At Kagami's words, Rex sighed with a troubled expression. But then he suddenly turned serious, as if something had occurred to him, and looked at Kagami. Then—

"Master's Skills are that automatic healing one, and the two Skills that let you surpass your limits that you showed us before... What else do you have? There should be seven more, right?"

Rex asked Kagami a question that had just occurred to him.