Around the last day of summer vacation, one day before the start of the second semester of the academy.

In a single room in the dormitory of the Engineering Department, an exceptionally noisy day from morning continued throughout the morning.

“Uh, what should I do? Should I prepare myself or not?”

Lulu, the owner of the room, had already opened and closed the closet several times, putting on and off the few clothes she had on herself.

The hands of the clock, which flowed so meaninglessly, were pointing to one o’clock in the afternoon.

After barely completing all the preparations, it took an hour to agonize between the academy’s uniform and the outerwear with a skirt.

Now was the time to leave in a hurry, in order not to be late for the appointment.

“Oh, really! Conrad Why does he always confuse his words!”

Lulu threw two sets of clothes on the bed at the same time and expressed resentment toward her friend who called her.

It was because of the promise he had made the day before that the reason why she began to worry about trivial matters since this morning.

Recalling the promise, she again stirred up a whirlwind of confused emotions.

“Come to my dormitory around two o’clock tomorrow afternoon. Lulu, because I have something to say to you.”

To the girl at the time of confusion, Conrad’s words had ample room for interpretation.

As a result, the complex emotions that bubbled up in Lulu’s head made her overloaded for several hours in the morning.

“Hey, did you mean that? Wouldn’t it be better to decorate it a little but beautifully?

Ha, but what if we’re calling for a party, as usual? If I do that, I’ll be the only one who gets nervous and becomes a fool!”

In fact, the original Lulu did not attach much importance to this routine that Conrad called her to.

Even though she had a certain degree of affection for him, she was clearly aware of the feeling that it was her own unrequited love.

It was a feeling that gradually changed between friends in the first place, so it was because he was also accurately grasping how the other person felt about him.

No, strictly speaking, I thought I understood it that way.

Until a while ago, I became aware of a strange rumor that seemed to be circulating subtly throughout the engineering department.

“Hey, did you guys hear a rumor that seniors in 4th grade were half-baked a while ago?”

It is said that a certain aristocratic Confucius personally gave a half note to the students of the engineering department who insulted his commoner lover.

He threatened to kill him if he mentioned his lover’s name one more time.

He even ripped off dozens of gold coins, including alimony, for insulting his lover.

Rumors circulating among students were vaguely exaggerated, but once you figured out the truth, there were many times when a bit of truth was mixed in.

When he saw the fourth graders, such as Gauwell and Gibson, who had actually insulted him, wrapping their bodies in bandages and looking at him.

It was not difficult for Lulu to infer that the subject of the rumor meant herself and Conrad.

In fact, when I asked Conrad a while ago, he even got a definite answer that he was the one who made them that way.

Perhaps the story of taking gold coins as alimony is an exaggeration of the story of recovering the material value of the coil mouse.

Apart from that, the existence of another flesh attached to the rumors made Lulu’s feelings dizzy.

“lover… ? I’m Conrad’s lover… ?”

It was a story that she honestly hoped for, but it was a rumor that seemed a little lacking in her interests to understand in her head.

Perhaps, like the alimony rumor, there was a possibility that another story was distorted and spread that way.

However, if it was true that Conrad had called her his lover, even if it was true, he was confused about how he should treat him in the future.

Is it really true that he declared himself his lover with his mouth?

If so, is it simply a safety device to protect yourself from envious opponents?

Or did he really say that because he also has a crush on you?

By the time Lulu is confused about her relationship with Conrad. Of course, the situation where he called him to his room saying he had something to say was happening.

If you invited a party colleague or friend with the feeling of calling, it wouldn’t matter much, just like before.

If he really takes his relationship seriously and invites his lover to his room… .

“Uh, ah! You must be crazy, really! Aagh!”

Ruru’s tail wagged madly from side to side to get rid of the strange imagination that popped into her head.

Then, as if trying to hide her blush, she covered her face with both hands and rolled over on the bed to calm her emotions.

“Ha ha, ha, ha… .”

after a few minutes. Lulu took a slow, slow breath due to excitement.

Soon, as if to suppress his emotions, he changed into uniform and headed to the dormitory room where his old friend was waiting.

She brought her own mental preparations that she couldn’t tell anyone about.

* * *

With the help of Prince Antonio, the material was recovered, and a week passed.

It happened on the day when there was only one day left before the start of the second semester.

At first, when the time was delayed because Lulu was avoiding me, I thought that it might be a little later than planned.

With Prince Antonio’s help, somehow all the work was done before the start of the semester. Today was the day I made a separate seat with Lulu to hand over the work.

“What are you so nervous about?”

“Uh, huh? My, what am I nervous about?!”

“… … .”

From the moment she entered my room, Lulu spat out a completely unconvincing excuse toward me, as she had never let go of her tail.

Apparently Lulu was also a girl, so I thought it would be rude for me to enter her dormitory, so I deliberately invited her to my room.

Thinking about it, I also thought that it would have been better to talk in a cafe or a park.

My room, which is equipped with only the bare minimum of daily necessities, is not a very good environment for welcoming guests in the first place.

“This is what Conrad’s room looks like… . Clean and buy… .”

When I saw Lulu looking around the landscape of my room, what was so strange about it, a thought crossed my mind.

I would be surprised just by showing this anyway, but I still want to surprise you a little more.

“Luru, can you close your eyes for a moment?”

“yes… . Eh, what?!”

“Please close your eyes for a moment.”

“Now?! here?!”

I don’t think I made any strange requests.

Seeing her suddenly blushing and straightening her tail at the same time made me feel as if I had made a racially incorrect statement.

“If you don’t like it, don’t. It won’t be much fun.”

“Oh no! I’ll close my eyes! I’ll keep it completely closed!”

Sitting on a chair, her hands on her knees, her eyes slightly frowning as she waited, I felt quite cute.

I wondered if it would be that tense.

“I-I’m ready! Close your eyes completely! I’m really not watching anything!”

After confirming Lulu’s eyes were closed so clearly that she didn’t have to explain, she took out the present she had prepared and pushed it in front of her face.

“Enough now. You can open your eyes.”

“… okay, okay? Did it really happen?”

“Yeah, open your eyes now.”

“Gee, it really floats?! It will really open your eyes!”

Why did you make such a fuss about something that was not a big deal?

After that, Lulu said several times that she was opening her eyes as if to warn me, and then carefully checked the existence of the object in front of her.

“uh?”

The rapidly wagging tail stopped momentarily, and the wagging ears quietly killed its movement.

It was her own reaction when she went through an unexpected situation.

“It is a gift. Shoulder guards and knee guards.”

“A gift? suddenly? Is today a special day that I don’t know about?”

“It’s not just about exchanging gifts on special occasions.”

“Yeah, that’s true, but… .”

“It’s okay, so take a look at the car. I think it’s probably the right size.”

“Yes… .”

After hearing my words, Lulu, who carefully put on shoulder and knee protectors, jumped a couple of times in place and moved her body.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable somewhere?”

“No, perfectly fine. There’s nothing annoying about what fits your body. It’s so light that you don’t even feel like wearing it in the first place… .”

Lulu, who was talking about the lightness of the material, suddenly stopped talking with a hard expression.

Then she hurriedly removed the protection she was wearing and began to look around and observe meticulously.

“Nose, Conrad… . I hope this… .”

“yes.”

“Could this be the armor made from the skin of the coil mouse from last time?”

“As expected, you have good eyesight.”

Even though it was a rare material, it was because he had experience in handling it once, so even if it was processed and changed shape, he recognized it at once.

As expected, she has a sharp eye like Lulu.

“Light, solid. Is it the most suitable material for you, Lulu, who always moves around the entire formation quickly?”

Contrary to my expected reaction, which I expected to be delighted with, of course.

Lulu put on a rather bewildered expression and held the present I made in front of her eyes.

“Eh, what if I give you something this expensive as a gift?! At this amount, even if the material price is not good, it will be ten gold coins, and if processing costs are included, at least twenty… !”

“How important is the value? It is important that you are comfortable using it.”

“Th-But if you’re going to use this precious material on me, I’d rather use it for your armor, Conrad… .”

“I’m sorry, but the robe and boots I got from you are enough for my armor. If I put anything else on it, it just makes it uncomfortable to move.”

“Yeah, but it’s such a waste to present this to me!”

To stop her self-depreciation, which seemed to start again, I grabbed Lulu by the shoulders and calmed her down.

“It’s not a waste, it’s an efficient investment.”

“investment… ?”

“In every battle, if you, who face the threat from the front line with Stella, don’t use it, then someone in our party should use the armor.

I just got my hands on a good material for you to use, and I just invested it in you, the guerrilla of our party.”

“… … .”

“As I said before, Lulu you are indispensable to our party. So it’s not a waste of money at all to invest in you.

If you understand, Lulu, don’t try to get away from me again. Even if I did, I wouldn’t let you go.”

Her face, which seemed to have calmed down for a moment, turned a more crimson red than before.

“Until I get back the amount I invested in you, Lulu, I know you won’t be able to leave my party.”

Until the moment I defeat the Demon God Cardia, Lulu must remain in the same party as me.

“Yes. okay. I will continue to be at Conrad’s party… .”

After receiving an expression of agreement along with Lulu’s nodding head, I finally felt that the anxiety piled up in one corner of my heart was relieved.

It was the last day of a really long summer vacation.