While talking, Shin by all means felt bothered. Though he didn’t mind it during the game, simply because she was an NPC, it was very awkward when she called him that in the current situation.
“Is there a problem when I’m calling Master, ‘Master’?”
“No, there’s no…problem, but isn’t Schnee famous now? If such a person calls me ‘Master’, it will absolutely turn into an uproar.”
“Mu, that’s certainly the case, but…”
Shin well understood the influence of Tsuki no Hokora. And, it was certainly Schnee who made it so. It was impossible that nothing would happen if a person such as Schnee appeared to have a master whom she looked up to.
“Don’t you think so? I would especially like to avoid becoming the center of the attention. Therefore, I request that you do not call me ‘Master’.”
“But, then what should I call you?”
“Eh? Wouldn’t using my name normally be enough?”
“Uh!? T-That…”
For some reason, the surprised Schnee looked downward with her mouth mumbling. After a short time, she raised her face to stare straight at Shin as if she had made up her mind.
“T-Then…Shin.”
“Ah, there we go.”
Schnee said it in a whisper. Her cheeks were dyed a faint, pink color and her ears were bright red.
As for Shin, he had quite the response of ‘Eh, what is that reaction!?’ and strangely enjoyed the embarrassed feeling.
Schnee’s reaction was certainly seen in a lot of mangas and games. Though Shin well knew of this situation, the problem was whether or not he could return the reaction directly.
Though he was not well-versed, it didn’t mean that he had never experienced love before.
To tell the truth, Schnee had never changed her expressions to be this shy in the game, so the very action of calling his own name with somewhat upturned eyes was terrific, and considerably very ―――― ‘Moe’.
“How should I say this…that has destructive power…”
“Eh!?”
“No, it’s nothing. Yeah, it’s really nothing. From now on, please call me Shin.”
“I understand. Then, after this I will call you S-Shin.”
Schnee tried to act calm, but the flushed cheeks and ears vividly expressed her state of mind. Shin, who knew her usual calm appearance, was worrying about the too extreme gap.
(Is this the true ‘Gap Moe’? Indeed…the destructive power is worthy of comparison with the gap of Celica-san, which I felt in the guild.)
After that, they walked without saying anything to each other for a while. After confirming that the ears of Schnee, who was fidgety, returned to their former color using side glances, Shin resumed the conversation.
“Ah, though we got off topic, should we continue with the questions?”
“Yes, I showed an unsightly side. But I’m alright now.”
Though he felt that her voice still sounded somewhat excited, he ignored it, because the conversation would not advance if he pointed it out.
“Let me see…Errr, I’ve already talked about my abilities. Then about the last question. First of all, I intend to go around collecting information around here and there after this.”
“Information?”
“Yes, first I will learn about this world. For the time being, I have investigated a little in the kingdom’s library, and I intend to go to the Sacred Land later. Has Schnee been there before?”
“Yes. But because it was only a simple internal investigation, I still don’t know what’s going on in the center of the city.”
“Is that so?”
Whether the key to returning to his former world lies there or not. The only way is to go there directly.
“Um…Shin.”
“Hmm?”
Schnee called out to Shin, who was thinking on whether he wanted to go the Sacred Land next. Her voice had completely changed from a while ago and was a little bit stiff.
“If you find the way…are you going to stop and return?”
“…Ah.”
He went silent for a while and replied. Though he hesitated on how to answer Schnee’s in this state, it wouldn’t change the conclusion even if he lied. He didn’t mean to give up if there was still a possibility.
And there was no meaning in vague answers, either.
He didn’t want to lie.
“That should be expected, huh?”
“…Sorry.”
“No, When I listened to your talk earlier, I already thought you wanted to do so.”
Schnee nodded while showing an innocent smile, seemingly understanding in some respect. At the expression that resembled a look of relief, Shin felt a faint sense of incongruity.
“Hey, Schnee. How much do you remember from the game?”
Shin asked, in an attempt to change the sense of incongruity.
“Everything.”
“Everything..?”
“Yes. From the time I descended down from that place to be together with you.”
Everything until this very moment now.
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