The group briskly finished cleaning up, their movements practiced, and once again gathered around Allen.
Everyone’s face betrayed the same inner thought ‘I just wanna go home’, but no one dared to say it aloud.
That was because Allen, drinking heavily with a grim, almost apocalyptic expression, was absolutely terrifying.
"Uhh, for now..."
"Congratulations...?"
"Yeah. It's all thanks to your advice."
Allen replied bluntly to their hesitant congratulations.
He then began to talk about what had happened a week ago.
That day, he had tried to confess his feelings to Charlotte in the flower field.
Despite the twists and turns involving the Hell Capybara, he had managed to confess his feelings and safely become Charlotte's lover.
Allen spoke of what should have been a happy news, with a look on his face as if he had seen the end of the world.
“And so… Charlotte’s off right now to get permission for the Hell Capybara to live with us. That thing’s moving in too.”
“First it was Fenrir, now a Hell Capybara…?”
“The Demon Lord’s army just keeps getting more and more dangerous…”
Magus and the others looked at each other with pale faces.
In this world, every adventurer knew of the Hell Capybara’s infamous name. If you could get one on your side, it would be a powerful ally but they almost never submitted to anyone. Even top-tier monster tamers found it nearly impossible to form a bond with one.
After that incident was settled, the Hell Capybara――Gousetsu bowed his head politely and made a request.
『To atone for the trouble I caused, I would like to serve as Lady Charlotte’s personal guard. Please, allow me to stay by her side. 』
『No. Go back to the zoo, 』
Allen objected with a straight face, but Gousetsu wouldn't budge.
After much deliberation, he decided it would be better to keep her somewhere he could see and reluctantly allowed her to stay.
Now, she served as Charlotte’s second personal attendant and had made her nest in Charlotte’s room. Thankfully, she turned out to be female. If she’d been male, Allen would’ve thrown her out without a second thought. For now, he had Luu keep watch over her, but there hadn’t been any suspicious behavior yet.
By the way, when he inquired at the zoo, he got a cold reply saying, ‘We can't forcefully take Gousetsu back... please take him in at your place...’
Well, setting that aside.
“So back to the topic… What exactly am I supposed to do now that we’re dating?”
“I mean, just… flirt with her normally?”
“If I knew how to do that, I wouldn’t be struggling like this!”
Allen slammed the table with a bam.
It had been a week since the confession.
Normally, the first week of a new relationship should be sweet and blissful. Melt-your-heart levels of romantic.
But, nothing like that happened.
For example, when they meet first thing in the morning.
‘Ah, g-good morning.’
‘G-good morning… ‘
‘…………Wanna eat?’
‘Y-yes.’
Or, in the middle of the day, when their hands happened to brush each other.
‘Kyaa…!’
‘S-sorry! I didn’t mean to! It was an accident!’
‘I-it’s fine… really…’
Or, just before bed.
‘U-uh… good night.’
‘Y-yes. Good night…’
Everything was like that.
They weren’t even talking anymore, let alone flirting. They couldn’t even make proper eye contact.
The cause was obvious they were both way too self-conscious around each other. That was all it was.
Still, in a way, it was adorably awkward and not entirely unpleasant. Even without talking, just being in the same space made Allen feel content. Compared to before, he definitely felt happier.
But still… now that they were officially dating, he wanted to flirt properly. Really go all-in on the lovey-dovey stuff.
He wanted to be so disgustingly affectionate that bystanders would groan and look away in embarrassment.
Allen wasn’t very attuned to romance, but he had a normal amount of desire for affection. In fact, after such a long dry spell, he might have more than average.
But he's still a beginner when it comes to romance. He has no idea how to bring it up.
“Swallowing my pride here… but I need to ask you guys something.”
Looking around at the gathered men, Allen asked seriously.
"How do you guys usually interact with your lovers? Can you tell me for reference?"
The whole group suddenly went silent.
When Allen tilted his head in confusion, Magus and Groh averted their eyes and mumbled softly.
"Well... well, you know. That. Like, going on a date or something."
“Yeah. Dates. Definitely dates. Maybe give her flowers or accessories… I think?”
“If I went on a date, I’d want to, like… hold hands, probably…”
“Man, I just want someone to give me a lap pillow…”
The others all started muttering vague, dreamy things while avoiding Allen’s gaze.
Allen pondered this for a moment, then clapped his hands in realization.
"So none of you guys have a girlfriend, do you?"
“Yeah, so what?! Sorry we’re unpopular!!”
“If we had girlfriends, we wouldn’t be spending the afternoon hanging out at a damn tavern in a group like this!!”
“....Yeah, okay. That one’s on me. Sorry.”
Allen offered a sincere apology to the crying men, the only one among them with a girlfriend—which gave him just enough emotional wiggle room to do so.