Chapter 26 – Losers (3)

“Vienna!! Vienna!!”

Casey exclaimed as she burst into the dorm room, scanning the space until she spotted a person curled up in the far corner bed, alone.

It was Vienna, lost in her own thoughts and emotions, seeking solitude and refuge from the world.

Casey knew Vienna was there and was eager to share something with her, but as she approached, she noticed Vienna covering her ears with a blanket, indicating her reluctance to engage.

“…!…!”

Despite this, Casey persisted and continued to talk, trying to convince Vienna to listen. 

But Vienna remained unresponsive, and Casey eventually resorted to shaking her and turning on a nearby magic lamp to illuminate the dark room.

Vienna clung to the blanket, trying to block out the world, but Casey was undeterred, prying the blanket away from her.

The blanket was ripped from Vienna.

“Ugh..! Give it to me, Casey!!”

Vienna protested as she reached out to grab the blanket back, but Casey had already tossed it aside.

Although Vienna was clearly annoyed by Casey's persistence, her friend remained upbeat and optimistic, trying to persuade Vienna that what she had to say was worth hearing.

“Vienna!! You really would love to hear this!”

But Vienna was in no mood for such positivity, and no matter what Casey said, it seemed unlikely to change her mood.

Despite seeing Vienna's displeased expression, Casey continued to smile, determined to cheer up her friend.

“Can’t you believe it? Shall I bet? It will definitely make you feel better!”

“… Nooo…”

Vienna, however, was not interested in hearing whatever Casey had to say and responded with a simple no.

Undeterred, Casey leaned in closer to Vienna and whispered with a mischievous grin.

“There's that man...Starchis! He came!”

Vienna's heart skipped a beat at the unexpected news, and her expression shifted from indifference to confusion.

“… Uh… Uh?”

At this incredulous information, Vienna's expression straightened.

She was still asleep, but her mind became clear, just as if she had woken up.

Seeing Vienna's expression straightened, Casey laughed even louder.

“Really..! He came to the medical center. He wasn’t even hurt! He even looked around as if he was looking for you!”

Vienna couldn't believe what she was hearing.

She couldn’t believe it at all, but there was no reason for Casey to lie about it.

“.. Me, me? Why…?”

This time Vienna held onto Casey's arm tight and started asking questions.

“d-do you know why?”

Vienna rolled her head.

‘Why did he come? Why did he come here…?’

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t come up with an answer.

Casey shook her head too.

“I don’t know either. Of course, I couldn’t speak to him.”

“Oh, is he still there? Starchis...”

“Uh..?”

“Starchis! Is he still waiting for me?”

It was only then that Casey’s expression changed strangely.

She turned her head slightly and scratched her cheek with her finger.

“That… So Vienna, it was yesterday that Starchis came.”

“…What?”

Vienna looked out the window and realized that the day had already passed, her chance to see Starchis now was gone.

The time was soon approaching evening.

‘It was late today, but it was yesterday that he came?’

Vienna's expression followed Casey’s and became strange, but soon her face lost its strength and again became expressionless.

“…Then why are you saying that now..?”

Casey sighed and poked Vienna on the forehead.

“Vienna! I know you liked the news, but look at me!”

Casey spread her arms.

Vienna looked up at her. Casey was wearing clothes that were stained and soiled with the blood but Vienna's expression was blank.

“I’ve been taking care of patients since yesterday, and now I’m here right away! Of course, I wanted to tell you, but I was busy!”

“…”

It was sad, but it was understandable to Vienna. She knew how busy Casey was there. 

Understanding that she also felt sorry...

“…Sorry-“

Before Vienna could even properly apologize to her, Casey lifted Vienna’s arm and pulled her up.

“Uh… Casey?”

“Now, it’s late, but that man must have had a reason for coming. You can go and ask him what it was.”

“Can I… Go now?”

“Yes! Go visit him now! If not, wait!”

Casey continued to drag Vienna, who had been hardened with unexpected information.

And the direction she drag her fit right in with what Vienna wanted to do.

She thought it was already too late, but it seemed it wasn’t.

Determination returned to Vienna, who immediately corrected her thoughts.

“That… Yes! I have to go find him..!”

She moved her numb body and headed toward the door.

But again, Casey caught Vienna as she tried to run away.

“Casey…?”

“Vienna. If you’re going to go, you’ll have to dress up. What is this appearance?”

Then, she tousled Vienna's hair.

‘Ah, my hair.’

As she looked herself now, she looked snarky and messy because she was still lying on her bed till now.

Vienna was embarrassed realizing that fact, but she also felt grateful to Casey this time.

****

I unfolded the note I had received a few days ago.

– Starchis, let’s go night fishing the day after tomorrow.

On the back of the note, the details of the meeting time and place were written. 

Today was finally the day of my appointment with my older brother, and I woke up in a good mood, feeling excited about our plans for the night.

It was because I didn't drink alcohol with Marshall yesterday, but I treated him to lunch and we talk about the mission.

After that, when he heard that I was going to challenge for the B class, we also met with the manager of the requested station and a retired hunter to learn more about the challenges of moving up to a new rank.

We discussed strategies, precautions, job skills, and set goals.

He continued to try to provide at least a little help so that we wouldn't die like most parties who wanted to move rank like this.

And as a result of putting everything together, I decided which mission to challenge and to bring back to complete the mission.

Before I knew it, the day had flown by, and it was already late evening. 

I rushed back home to change into warmer clothes for our night fishing trip.

“Hmmmm~”

While humming I opened my closet, I couldn't help but notice the musty smell emanating from it.

“Uh… The smell of dust.”

I muttered to myself, waving my hand to clear it away. 

Despite the unpleasant odor, I quickly found the outfit I had in mind. Though it had been a while since I’d been wearing it, so the closet smell emanating from it was a bit strong.

– Kik.

After closing the closet door and changing my clothes, a box stepped into my vision while examining myself.

“Ah.”

It was a box of clothes Lily Noona had given me.

It was a really pretty outfit, but I hadn't had a chance to try it on yet.

-‘If the clothes are still in the box, take them out. It can wrinkle...’

I thought I could hear Lily noona's voice.

At that, I slowly approached and opened the lid of the box.

I had opened the box once before when I came home, but looking back, it was really pretty clothes.

Having received such expensive clothes as a gift, I felt a bit burdened.

'Let’s get it out.'

Carefully, I took each item out and placed them on the chair at the dining table. The clothes looked so beautiful that they seemed to glow in my shabby room. 

‘Where do I put this?’

However, I became worried about where to put them.

The closet still had a strong odor of dust and wood, and I didn't want the smell to ruin these expensive clothes.

But if I put it somewhere else... there was nowhere else to put it.

I licked my lips and decided to just leave it on the table for now.

My brother might be waiting for me now, so I had to go out.

It was not like the clothes were running anywhere. As noona requested, I took it out of the box so it wouldn’t wrinkle.

I just wanted to quickly meet Hyung, have a meal, and go fishing.

After all, it was an appointment I had been waiting for all day.

****

Luss was walking outside alone on the brightly-lit street, feeling the chilly night breeze.

The scent of food sold by vendors wafted through the air, and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.

However, despite the vibrant atmosphere, Luss felt a sense of detachment and loneliness, struggling with her thoughts.

Her own mood was very different from the mood of the surrounding.

She couldn't help but think about this and that, and struggling. 

She was also chilly. The reason was… She didn't make a prediction.

She was wandering down the street without thinking.

Her eyes were watching people walking down the street.

‘Pink hair.’

And when she saw a certain hair color, she walked toward that person.

Carefully, but without being noticed, she even checked the color of their eyes.

'Blue.'

It wasn’t Elza.

With a small nod of her head, Luss continued on her way.

The wind blew again.

At times like this, she kept thinking about something.

When she was working with Starchis as a kingdom guard, she often went on patrol with him in the heavy winds.

Every corner, here and there... there was no road she hadn’t walked with him.

Everywhere she looked, she seemed to see herself walking with Starchis.

‘I never thought it had been that long.’

“…Haha..”

The sun hadn’t even gone down, but she felt the weather getting colder.

‘Shall I go home after eating?’

As she was thinking that, her eyes caught someone.

It was the back of the head that she could never be mistaken.

“Uh?”

Suddenly she started running.

Her suspicions became a certainty as she got closer.

Her heart thumped and beat with faint anticipation.

“Sorry, excuse me. It's...”

She ran towards him, asking for forgiveness from the other people.

She then stretched out her hand- 

“Hey Chis!!”

-and grabbed Starchis by his shoulder.

At that Starchis spun around and was surprised to see Luss standing before him.

“Uh? Luss?”

'I knew it. It was Chis.'

Luss was excited to meet him by chance. Then, with a thought, she looked around him.

That woman was nowhere to be seen.

To be precise, the girl with pink hair and pink eyes was nowhere to be seen.

“Luss, what are you doing here?” Starchis asked.

Starchis didn’t expect to meet Luss here either.

‘Uh? What should I do?’

He said he was busy meeting his girlfriend, but of course, Elza was not next to him.

He was just on his way to see his brother.

But he had resolutely rejected their request to meet for just one day.

So, he was stuck right now.

Starchis’s head ran furiously to come up with an excuse.

'How should I lie to her?'

Both of them had their hearts pounding for different reasons.

Starchis’ conscience stung as he looked at Luss’ face, which looked happy.

‘Should I agree to meet her for a day?’

Thinking so, he changed his mind again.

‘No. If I did that, I would have to meet all the other party members. I have to face a B-class mission soon.’

Starchis thought he would have to lie a little longer.

“I was just walking around when I saw Chis and ran! Hehe.”

Luss said with a wry smile. She couldn’t even remember how long it had been that she had laughed like this.

“Is that so?”

“But, Chis. You said you would meet your girlfriend every day and don’t have time to meet… So… Where’s your girlfriend?”

Luss was filled with anticipation.

'If he had already broken up with his girlfriend and was on his way home, wouldn’t it be nice to go on a little date?'

“So…”

Starchis, on the other hand, broke out in a cold sweat.

He rolled his head thinking about what should he say?

Starchis, who had been examining for a long time whether this was correct, whether there was anything to catch on to, or if there was anything awkward, spoke with difficulty.

“So… I'm going to see my girlfriend now.”

Even with this simple lie, Starchis didn't think Luss would be satisfied.

So in the end, he decided to talk about all the promises he made with his older brother as if he had made them with Elza.

Luss’ expression crumpled.

“… What?”

Then she thought.

‘Then… Can’t I go on a date?’

She turned her head to the sky.

Orange...

“…Now? This late?”

At Luss’ words, Starchis was dumbfounded even in the tense situation.

‘It’s late, what’s late? It was still early than when I meet you.’

But instead of saying those words out of his mouth, he said something that could move the situation a little more smoothly.

“… I made an appointment for a late dinner.”

Saying that he was also worried that Luss would ask him to take her or follow him, but to his surprised, Luss nodded her head slightly, seemingly invisible.

“… Okay..?”

Fortunately, Luss seemed unwilling to follow.

That was natural for him. Because there were many times when dealing with these three, common sense didn’t work for him.

Starchis and Luss stopped in the middle of the street to talk, and the people around them noticed.

-‘Ah, that’s true. We are in the middle of the road.’

“Luss, let's get out of here first.”

He dragged Luss by the arm and moved her to the side.

“Oh..!”

Luss felt a slight excitement when Starchis touched her first.

She was lost in thought and wished she could always be like this.

“Luss…?”

“Ah... No.”

Luss huffed and covered her mouth, ashamed of the strange sound she had just made.

When they got to the side of the road, the two didn’t say anything.

Luss didn’t know what to say, Starchis mouth was shut because he didn't want to make up more lies unless he needed them.

People glanced past the two who had stopped.

Since then, they just hesitated, and neither of them said anything.

In the end, Starchis asked first.

“L… Luss. If you have nothing to say, shell I go now?”

“Hey, wait a minute Chis.”

“Uh?”

Luss instinctively grabbed Starchis’ arm as he tried to leave.

When he said he was leaving, Luss suddenly found what she wanted to say.

“Uh… When would the dinner date end?”

“Why?”

Starchis sensed it right away; She was about to ask him to meet after the date was over.

“I think It will end late.”

He told her subtly that it was difficult to meet her.

“It’s okay if it ends late! At night… Can we meet for a bit..?”

But Luss didn’t listen.

For Luss, it was an opportunity to meet him in two weeks.

Luss wanted their relationship to end as quickly as possible, but she couldn’t say that. Because she knew she was in no position to force him.

“… I think it will be difficult.”

Starches said.

Actually, it was not difficult, it shouldn’t be.

He promised to stay up all night with his brother, so it wasn't difficult, but it simply couldn’t be done.

“It’ll take a while…”

Even so, when Luss did not give up, Starchis realized...

It seemed that she would not give up.

In the dungeon, as well as here, Luss was more stubborn than he thought.

“Yes? Chis... Let’s meet for some time after that. How about going on a picnic? Oh, I’ll prepare snacks for you until you come back!”

Luss alone started making plans aloud... In order to appeal to his stomach that could be a little greedy.

But Stachis had other thoughts.

He thought he might have to be a bit more specific to make her give up and said.

“Luss, yes. When I said it would end late, I actually meant that I wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.”

“…What…?”

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