Vermillion

“Oh hey, I knew you’d come back.”

Holland greeted the fidgety Kei with a bright smile in a small room for business negotiations located in a corner of the branch.

“Then, you should know why I’m here, right?”

“Of course. This, right?”

With a smug smile, Holland opened the small box he had brought with him into the room.

The box, stuffed out with silk padding, contained a hand-sized rectangular mirror.

“Ohh… So this is the one?”

“Yeah. Originally, I planned to deliver this one here, but the client said they want a round one. That’s why I was transporting the round mirror you guys have also seen.”

“I see. So, how much do you want for it?”

Kei asked, implying that he did not care about the particulars, and thus beaming a wry smile in light amusement on Holland’s lips.

“Twenty silver…or so I’d usually say, but I’ll drop the price to fifteen silver as a friendship discount. Let me tell you just in case, this price is already close to my prime cost, so I can’t go any lower on it.”

“No, that’s plenty. So…how do you want me to pay?”

“Hmm, well you can pay now, or I can deduct it from the payment for the fur.”

“…Let’s go with the deduction then.”

Holland readily agreed with Kei’s desire to not use the money on hand as much as possible.

“Now, do you need it wrapped up?”

“You offer such a service as well? Please do so.”

Kei answered while scratching his cheeks bashfully as Holland directed a meaningful smile at him. Holland surprisingly fetched a ribbon and wrapping paper from a nearby shelf and started to personally wrap up the wooden box.

“…By the way, Sir Holland, is there a good restaurant near the HangedBug you could recommend to me? I’d like to arrange a nice dinner for this occasion. Money plays no role.”

Kei asked timidly as he observed Holland’s hands moving in an unexpectedly skillful and nimble manner.

“Hmm, a restaurant, huh…? If we ignore the costs… No wait, you two don’t have any dresses, do you?”

“Ugh… Unfortunately, no.”

“Renting them… might come with the issue of the size not matching, and it’d take too long. Then, hmm… a place you can visit without having to dress too formally…”

Holland’s hands stopped and he started to seriously ponder about it, perhaps a display of his true ability as Chef.

“…I have one in mind, but the question is…Tu sais parler le francais?”

Kei’s brow twitched at Holland’s sudden words, then he hesitantly looked away for a moment.

“…Oui, un petit peu.”

“Oh, color me surprised. In that case, it should be fine.”

Kei confirmed Holland’s question whether he could speak French with “a little”. Holland seemed quite surprised, repeatedly nodding.

“R-Right… Why did you bring that up so suddenly?”

“There’s a restaurant called 『Le Donjon』on the opposite street of HangedBug, but both the owner and the staff are Highland people. It isn’t all that pricey and they offer an excellent menu, but they turn away everyone who doesn’t speak their language. I think you’ll also be turned down at first, so just tell them that I referred you.”

Holland pulled out a memo from his chest pocket and quickly wrote something on it with a quill. Accepting it, Kei saw Holland had signed it after writing, “please treat them hospitably.”

“Still, you sure are versatile. Well, I did suspect it since you seemed to somewhat understand my conversations with Dagmar.”

“I’m not that good at it. I can only speak a little.” Kei answered humbly with a shrug.

Kei, who had been learning English since childhood, also started to learn a few other European languages in order to talk with other patients all over the world as soon as the VR device had been implemented. He knew a bit of French, Spanish, Italian, and very few words such as greetings in Portuguese. Russian was a bit out of his reach so he did not learn any of it in the end, but deep inside, he was now regretting that he had not learned it.

“Okay, done.”

“Thanks. It looks perfect.”

Kei was overjoyed, grinning cheerfully, as he picked up the box, now wrapped up prettily. Holland, revealing a smile of a different kind altogether, pushed Kei’s back as encouragement.

“Now, do your best. Bonne chance! (I wish you luck!)”

“Haha, merci bien! (Thank you!)”

With a wry smile, Kei put the box under his arm and left the company.

On the way back, Kei realized that it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to show up like this, so after much thought about how to hide his gift, he finally succeeded in cramming it inside the bow case on his waist.

Sorry about this, Dragon Stinger

He felt apologetic towards his partner inside the case because of the temporary tightness in there.

“I’m back.”

As soon as Kei called out and knocked on the door of their room in the inn, Aileen unlocked the door while greeting back.

“Oh.”

Kei was momentarily stunned by Aileen.

“…You changed?”

“Yeah.”

Aileen smiled shily while illuminated by the gentle lamp light. Her powder blue dress swayed gently in front of Kei.

“…You had a dress like that?”

“Umm, I actually found it in Satyna.”

Her upturned gaze as she smoothened down the hem with a faint blush on her cheeks pierced through Kei.

“…It looks great on you.”

“…Thanks.”

As she responded with an embarrassed laugh, Kei could no longer look into her eyes.

Afterwards, Kei had Aileen leave the room first, somehow managed to hide the mirror, and then he left as well, heading to the restaurant with her.

They found Le Donjon easier than he expected. It had a characteristic castle-shaped signboard, and on top of that,『Le Donjon』was written on the storefront in big letters. As Holland had feared, they were almost turned away at the door as first-time customers, but that immediately changed with Kei showing Holland’s note. While receiving many curious looks by customers who seemed to be regulars, they were guided to a neat private room.

“Kei, so you can speak French too!?”

“…A bit.”

Key looked fairly triumphant despite his humble reply, but he was immediately at his wits’ end when he was given a menu full of words unknown to him.

For starters, he chose the orthodox approach of ordering pasta and grilled lamb while enjoying the white wine-based aperitif. It took quite a bit of time for the main menu to be served. Hence Kei and Aileen ended up quite drunk, but the quality of the dishes was amazing in proportion to the long wait.

Fresh cream and ground beef served as hors d’oeuvre, accompanied by mousse made out of various herbs. The fragrant and rich sauce excited their tongues, stimulating their appetites. While Kei devoured his portion in no time, Aileen ate hers in small portions, as if to prolong the opportunity to eat it for as long as possible.

The next item on the menu was pasta. The noodles were quite resilient, reminding Kei of the handmade noodles he had eaten in his previous life. Kei had ordered bolognese, Aileen carbonara. They shared with each other, confirming that both dishes were perfect. The carbonara, in particular, had been amply sprinkled with something of a peculiar moist fragrance, which, according to Aileen, might have been an ingredient similar to truffle.

The main dish was grilled lamb. Very likely this was the dish with the biggest impact. With just one bite, both completely froze, before silently wolfing it down. The meat barely had any smell, despite coming from a sheep. It was tender while still maintaining its texture, and juices gushed out each time they bit into the meat. It had a heavy flavor, and yet it had just enough fat to not be excessive. They kept eating, one bite, then another bite, as if swallowing the meat whole, and without them even realizing, nothing was left on their plates.

“They probably tenderized the meat very carefully in advance.” Aileen gracefully wiped her mouth with a napkin and added, “Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so soft.”

Kei’s portion had broken bones in it, so it was probably just as she had said.

They got apple tart for dessert. Its sweet taste that caused their expressions to melt away was naturally considered a luxury in this world. And Aileen, who had only drunk weak alcohol such as beer and wine as of late, decided to let loose and ordered spirits, enjoying them to her heart’s content.

“Man, that was delicious.”

“We should come here again!”

The two returned to their inn in a good mood while being slightly drunk. They had spent a whole silver coin on today’s dinner, but they didn’t mind it since the food and drinks had fully satisfied them. It was practically set in stone that they would dine there again — Kei was even starting to consider whether he should switch his goal in life to earn enough money to eat at Le Donjon every day.

After getting back, they took baths in turn. Although public, the inn had a small bathroom on the ground floor. This was also the main reason why Holland had recommended “HangedBug” to them. Aileen went to take a bath first, then Kei switched with her, using the opportunity to completely get rid of the journey’s exhaustion.

“Man that was great, I’m super satisfied.”

When Kei returned, Aileen was rolling around on her bed. Her damp golden hair looked quite sexy to Kei. She had chosen to go with the dress as clothing again, so her white thighs, as they peeked out from underneath her clothes, looked quite dazzling to Kei. But he managed to keep his calm, with the alcohol playing a bigger part in this.

“I feel refreshed! Thank god for the existence of baths.”

“No kidding. I don’t remember how many years it’s been since I’ve had the last one.” Kei muttered while wiping his hair with a towel.

Hearing a small yelp from Aileen, he immediately realized that he had made a verbal gaffe.

“Ah, right. I actually have a present for you, Aileen.”

Kei switched the topic, acting as if he had just now remembered it. Then he went to the corner of the room and slowly pulled the wrapped box out of his luggage.

“Ohh! What is it! What is it!” Aileen lifted her body on the bed, and started to frolic around in high spirits like a little kid.

“Here you go,” Kei sat down next to her, handing over the box.

“…Can I open it?”

“Of course,” Kei smiled in response. “Do you even need to ask?”

With that, Aileen started to remove the wrapping very carefully, as if she was defusing a bomb.

And then, as soon as she opened the box, she found a mirror bedded in silk.

“…! It’s a mirror!”

Aileen looked back and forth between Kei and the mirror. After the second time, she speechlessly stared at her own reflection in the mirror with her eyes wide open for a while.

“…It’s a mirror!”

“You wanted one, right?”

“Are you for real…? Yaay! Thanks! Thanks a bunch, Kei!”

She started to thank Kei over and over again, as if feeling that she couldn’t thank him enough, while happily bouncing up and down on the bed. She then carefully put the mirror back into the box, faced Kei with a big smile, and got ready to pounce on him.

As soon as Kei spread his arms to catch her, she hurled herself into his embrace. Kei’s visual field was momentarily filled with her golden hair, along with a pleasant fragrance tickling his sense of smell.

“Thanks! I’m really happy!”

“You’re welcome. It makes me glad that you like it that much.”

Kei smiled broadly while gently hugging her delicate, small body. Aileen rubbed her forehead against his chest while squealing in delight.

They kept hugging each other like that for some time, but…

“……”

…before long, they fell completely silent.

Kei looked down on Aileen with gentle eyes as she looked up to him with eyes full of affection.

“…Aileen.”

It was Kei who showed a bit of courage first. He tenderly kissed her forehead, as if giving her his blessing.

Aileen trembled, apparently feeling ticklish, straightened up, and returned the kiss on Kei’s forehead to not fall behind.

They silently looked into each other’s eyes with their faces being at the same height. Black and blue looks overlapped and entwined.

“……”

Drawn towards each other like flowing water, they exchanged a kiss. Like little birds pecking at each other. A moment in time where they confirmed each other’s feelings. Even as they felt each other’s ticklish, pleasant laughs, they didn’t stop kissing.

However, at some point, one of them started to play-bite the other’s lip, breaking the silent balance.

As if melting away…their hesitation lasted but a moment.

There was no longer anything that could possibly separate these two.

They felt like their heads were growing numb, as if stars were showering down behind their eyelids.

Desiring each other, they kissed. It was a sensation causing goosebumps on their skins. They wished for this moment to last an eternity, but as with all good things, this wish came to an end as they ran out of breath.

Their lips separated, both gasping for air like people about to drown in the ocean. Their breathing was so much of a mess that it was actually shameful. Their hearts pounded inside their chest as if they had finished sprinting at full speed moment’s ago.

“…Aileen.”

Kei tightly held her frail body. The thumping of her heart, beating as fast as his own, sounded like music to his ears.

He would not stop, could not stop, any longer. The burning desire welling up in him made him tremble.

“Kei…”

Pulling her body away a bit, Aileen peered into his eyes.

Her clear blue eyes said everything that needed to be said with her mouth staying silent. She too was trembling.

She gazed uneasily at the flickering lamp at the ceiling.

And then, the air outside the room stirred. A small breeze blew inside the room through the gaps of the window, gently extinguishing the lamp’s flame.

Darkness descended upon them. It was dark — yet Kei’s eyes captured everything.

The figure of a girl, an unbelievably lovely girl, distinctly standing out with her white body.

“Aileen.”

He whispered in her ear, gently pulling her hand.

“Ahn…”

Reason played no longer a part in this. Both fell onto the bed, their bodies entwined.

Their night — had only just begun.