“I’m sorry, Chrono-kun. I actually like you. I really, really love you.”
A confession. It’s something that isn’t a dream or an illusion this time; it’s a reality. A genuine feeling from one woman.
“From now on, stay by my side forever. Let me be with you.”
Elina, with her sky-blue eyes glistening, is incredibly beautiful. Her chestnut hair tied in a bun, skin as white as snow, and the characteristic long ears of an elf. Her beauty is shining more than ever.
“I don’t want it to be just a relationship between a receptionist and an adventurer anymore; I want more, I want more of you, Chrono-kun! So please, let me—”
“I’m sorry, Elina.”
Not hearing her words to the end is my weakness.
For the first time in my life, I’m faced with such a heartfelt declaration of love from a woman. There’s no way I wouldn’t feel joy; there’s no way I wouldn’t be happy.
I want to say yes immediately. Such a beautiful woman has feelings for me, for someone like me to this extent. I want to accept her feelings and love her back. Let’s be together forever, I swear I’ll make her happy. I want to respond like that.
“I can’t… answer your feelings…”
“…Huh? N-No… why?”
Elina’s face, filled with shock and disbelief, is too painful to look at directly. However, I can’t look away right now. I must not run away.
“I can’t make you happy. I will definitely make you sad.”
“That’s… that’s not true! Don’t decide that on your own!”
If I put it into words, it would sound like a convenient excuse.
Perhaps that’s natural. I haven’t told her anything about myself. There’s no way she would understand just from that alone.
“I am going to fight the Crusaders from now on.”
“Everyone goes to the battlefield—knights, mercenaries, adventurers, all of them. I’ll be waiting for you to come back, Chrono-kun!”
“Even if I win this battle, I will continue to fight the Crusaders.”
If I go to the battlefield leaving a loved one behind, that would be fine. If I fight, win, and return alive, then I can build a happy home with my beloved girl.
But I can’t do that.
“What do you mean?”
“I have a personal grudge against the Crusaders.”
Spada fights because its territory is being invaded. Whether I will proceed to defeat the Crusaders occupying Daedalus after winning the defense battle remains uncertain. Considering the ambitions of the neighboring countries, as I heard from Wil, an invasion into Daedalus territory would likely not be permitted.
“Even if I protect Spada, my fight will not end. Next, I will liberate Daedalus.”
Even though I am Rank 5, I am just an individual adventurer. Even if I decide to liberate Daedalus, it probably won’t change much.
Still, I must continue fighting. True peace will not come unless the Crusaders are completely driven out from the Pandora Continent.
No, to be honest, I also think this way: unless I destroy the Sinclair Republic in the Ark Continent, I won’t be able to cut off the root cause.
That’s just an extreme argument and merely a pipe dream. I don’t even have a concrete plan yet.
After all, I don’t even know if I can win this battle. Even without Sariel appearing, there’s a good chance I might fall on the battlefield.
“Isn’t there… anything I can do? Can’t we live in peace in Spada together? Is fighting more important to you?”
Ah, that sounds just like a berserker’s way of living.
From the beginning, I intended to continue fighting the Crusaders. The enemy is just too powerful; I don’t even know if I can win, and I never even thought about when it would end. They are always just a stone’s throw away, constantly stirring up my sense of crisis.
I was focused on gaining the strength to meet the approaching tide of the Crusaders and the strongest, most terrible Apostle of the god.
That was all I could do, and I thought that was all right. There was no other way to protect everyone.
But, indeed… my choice wasn’t an intellectual one that could be rationalized as that of a mage; rather, it was the fate of a berserker, one who continues to willingly fight.
“Ah, I choose the path of continuing to fight. I thought ‘Black Nightmare Berserker’ was a joke of a title, but it turns out it’s quite true.”
“But, really, Chrono-kun, you’re not just a battle maniac, right!?”
Elina seems to understand that I am just an ordinary man inside. Her insight and ability to see through a person is impressive.
I feel no discomfort from being seen through. Rather, I feel pleased that she understands me to such an extent.
That’s why I—
“I don’t want to drag Elina into my fight.”
She is just an ordinary person. But if I were to reach out for her, her life would no longer be ordinary. I could never bring her into this mire of blood-soaked battles.
It’s different from Lily and Fiona. No, in fact, even they… even if I understand that, I have no choice but to rely on them.
“I will definitely protect Spada. So, Elina, please find happiness in a peaceful Spada.”
With a strong man who can always stay by your side.
“I… I can’t be happy without Chrono-kun…”
Tears started flowing down Elina’s cheeks as she finally began to cry.
She clung to me as if she were trying to prevent me from rejecting her.
“…I’m sorry, Elina.”
All I can do is apologize. I can’t say anything clever; I can’t even comfort her as she sobs.
Yet I can’t push her away as she clings to me… I’m really such a pathetic man.
If I understand this, I need to make up my mind. I can’t stay like this forever.
“It’s time to say goodbye, Elina.”
“N-No, no!”
I gently place my hand on her trembling shoulder and pull away. Even with her face all messed up from tears, she’s still beautiful. I feel an overwhelming urge to hug her again right now.
“Please, Chrono-kun! Just for now, just for this moment, let me—”
“Please stop. Don’t leave me with any more… regrets.”
Elina is the receptionist of the Adventurer Guild, and we’ve gotten along as friends.
Please, I beg you, don’t let it become any more than that. If even a slight regret remains… I might start to fear death.
“Goodbye, Elina.”
And then, leaving her to cry out loud, I left that place.
This might be the last time I see her in this life. Even knowing that, I didn’t stop, wouldn’t look back, and I left.
If I were to turn back just once, I might very well have returned to hug her…
“So, this was… for the best.”
I whispered this, realizing for the first time that a single tear was rolling down my cheek.
—
“Ah, I see… So this is what it was, Lily-san.”
I spontaneously smiled, aware that I must be wearing a twisted and ugly grin.
“Fufu, fufufu… I believed in it. Yes, I believed in you, Chrono-san.”
Chrono-san has rejected that receptionist—Elina.
After a whole day of dating, being as sweet as I could, holding feelings for her, and flattering her, he flatly rejected her without any hesitation.
She was not chosen. She was rejected.
“If it were me, I would have killed myself by now.”
A voice, cold enough to send shivers down my spine, leaked out.
The ugly expression of looking down on others, a malicious feeling. I can’t help but feel this—an irrepressible joy bubbling up from the depths of my heart.
“Surely, the one who is worthy of Chrono-san is—”
I wonder why Elina was rejected. Perhaps she doesn’t understand. She cannot comprehend Chrono-san’s true intentions.
I do not think that is foolish. It is inevitable. Growing up peacefully in Spada, she can hardly imagine the life-or-death struggles Chrono-san has gone through. Even an ordinary adventurer with some combat experience against monsters cannot be expected to understand.
Only those who have experienced the same suffering truly comprehend his pain.
“—the one who is worthy is me. I am the one who will be chosen. I am the one who will be loved by Chrono-san.”
Ah, how foolish I have been today. A mere receptionist has no chance of becoming a rival in love.
Indeed, my greatest threat standing before me is… no, let’s put that aside for now.
Right now, I should simply enjoy the fact that I am in a position to be chosen by Chrono-san, and bask in the superiority it brings.
“I suppose I should head home now… fufu, I want to go home with Chrono-san.”
Am I drunk with joy? I stepped out from behind the withered tree to see Elina still sobbing quietly in the lined path.
I can see her trembling back. And, further along, I can faintly see Chrono-san walking away.
Like a moth drawn to a flame, I started to follow him unsteadily. My steps lightly pressed against the snow piled on the cobblestone.
Oh, right, I’m still in disguise. If I call out to him like this, he might not recognize me. For now, I’ll take off my glasses and headband, tossing them into my pouch.
When I returned to my original hair and eye color, I just happened to pass by the pitiful loser in love.
“—Wait, you!”
A shrill woman’s voice pierced the air.
“Hold on! You’re Fiona, the witch, aren’t you?”
“…Yes, that’s right, but what is it?”
When I turned to look back, I saw Elina’s face clouded with hatred, her sky-blue eyes dulling with anger.
Come to think of it, this woman knows my name and face, being a receptionist after all. And of course, she knows that I am a member of the “Element Master.”
“Why are you here…? You heard everything…”
What is she so angry about?
Whether or not I’m here is irrelevant, and my presence or absence has no bearing on the outcome of her confession.
After all, I was watching her confession like a saintly figure, believing in Chrono-san with the same benevolence as the holy mother Aria depicted in the scriptures. I have no reason to be criticized; I should be thanked.
“Please, answer me… You were deceiving me, weren’t you?”
“Deceiving? What do you mean?”
“You knew how I felt! You were laughing at me after I was rejected, weren’t you!? Both you and Chrono-kun!”
In an instant, I reached for my “Spitfire”—but then, reason returned to me. Her words were enough to infuriate me, yet remembering the heart which uttered them made my anger cool.
“So you think I was just playing with you, knowing your feelings, and enjoyed it from the sidelines together with him, is that it?”
As if it were just a student’s silly play.
“W-What’s the difference…? Of all times, why would YOU show up here by coincidence?!”
“Yes, that’s correct. I was tailing Chrono-san and you on your date all day. My presence here is neither a coincidence nor anything else.”
“I knew it! You were there! You… I was really… serious…”
With tears streaming down her face, Elina distorted her features, grinding her teeth in resentment. She looked so ugly. Any male student adventurer looking up to her would surely lose interest upon seeing this.
But more ugly than her face is the ugliness in her heart; does she realize that?
“So, do you also doubt Chrono-san?”
This woman, she mentioned “Chrono-kun” in a way that implies he would engage in such actions.
“I-I doubt him? What? I just can’t think otherwise!”
“With that kind of mindset, how could you ever say you love Chrono-san?”
Elina doubted Chrono-san. She has no credit or trust in him.
“In the end, you just want to be loved. You don’t truly love Chrono-san.”
“Don’t mess with me!? You don’t know how I feel, so stop making assumptions!”
“You want Chrono-san to protect you, to always be by your side, you want everything. So what can you give him in return?”
“W-Well, of course… I was ready to give him everything!”
Everything? Just everything she possesses right now. Could she actually believe that’s enough for Chrono-san to love her?
“Do you want me to tell you why you were rejected?”
“What? Are you going to say it was because I lacked charm? Don’t mock me with your sarcasm!”
“He rejected you because you are useless.”
“…U-Usless? What do you mean by that?”
“Chrono-san said he would continue to fight the Crusaders—”
His honesty in revealing that to Elina showed his sincerity. He could have easily concocted a convenient excuse to refuse her, such as claiming he was already in a relationship with someone, even married. He could have said anything.
In any case, she now understands Chrono-san’s will.
His ultimate goal is to defeat the Crusaders and the Apostles. All he needs is power—power that surpasses even the greatest blessings of the White God.
Therefore, he doesn’t seek female emotions. They are unnecessary.
“What role can you play in Chrono-san’s fight? Are you going to help him kill enemies? Can you even provide him with any magical power?”
“That’s, of course… it’s impossible, I can’t… because I’m…”
Just a receptionist, huh?
“Even if you were an adventurer, it would still be impossible. A regular adventurer or knight can’t possibly fight by Chrono-san’s side.”
At least to be part of the “Element Master,” a certain level of strength is expected. It’s common sense that only those who match the abilities required to be a member are accepted.
“If direct combat is impossible, can you support him in another way?”
For instance, with money. If you were a royal noble or a wealthy merchant, you could support him with substantial financial aid in his battles.
The next would be skills.
Can you develop weapons like Simon? Can you handle cursed weapons like Regin?
In either case, such things would be impossible for you, just a receptionist.
“You are useless. You can only wait for Chrono-san to return from battle safely—an ordinary, powerless person. People like you are not only unnecessary for him; they are actually a burden.”
On the battlefield, he fights desperately against enemies. If he survives and returns, he then has to cater to the whims of a woman. What kind of ordeal is that?
“T-That’s… no way… no way…”
Finally, to explain it to this extent, she seems to have understood at least a little. Elina’s anger has completely subsided, and confusion and agitation are now clear on her expression.
“Even so, saying he’ll stop fighting to build a happy home is out of the question. If you try to sway him from his determination to keep fighting… I won’t allow it.”
I won’t spare those who get in his way. I will eliminate them, presupposing their death. It doesn’t matter if they are guild receptionists or noble princesses.
“Chrono-san doesn’t need just any girl. If you can’t support him physically and mentally in his fight, you have no right to be by his side.”
And you have no right to it. I do have that right.
Without needing to say more, she must have understood by now. Just by looking into her eyes, it’s clear. Those pitiful, watery sky-blue eyes are the eyes of a defeated dog.
“I will support Chrono-san, so please feel free to find another man. What you can do is simply not to burden him with unnecessary worries—that’s all.”
Now, I suppose I have spoken too long. When I turned my gaze back, Chrono-san’s back was no longer visible. If I don’t hurry, I won’t be able to go home with him.
“I don’t… I love Chrono-kun…”
This woman, who has started crying again, I suppose it’s fine to leave her be. After all, she is just a needy girl who wants to be loved. She’s not a threat.
With her pretty face and her unusually large chest for an elf, she could easily attract any man. A man who falls for someone like her is precisely the kind that suits her.
However, that isn’t to say I take her lightly. To maintain love requires an extraordinary will and determination. It’s not something just anyone can do. She’s just an ordinary person, an ordinary woman.
“Well then, I will take my leave. I pray that you can find new happiness without being discouraged by a single heartbreak.”
After offering her those words of pity and a contemptuous glance, I forgot about such a woman and started chasing after Chrono-san.
It’s cold today, so it might be nice to hold hands with him… ufufu.