When Vanilla heard that Millefeuille had made a promise with Senior Wolfram—that if she got top grades again this time, she’d ask him for a date just the two of them—she dropped the meat she was eating with a *thump*, and Yogurt closed the romance novel she’d been reading.
“Really? …You asked Senior for a date?”
“Millefeuille…?”
“Uh, yeah… I did. I said it properly.”
“That slow, clumsy Millefeuille actually said that with her own mouth. Now we can graduate in peace. No, let us graduate. I’m sick of studying for exams…”
“That would be Zefflin’s first-ever early graduation. What a grand dream, Vanilla.”
“Va, Vanilla!? …Yeah. Thanks.”
Vanilla teared up and hugged Millefeuille, while Yogurt let out a deep sigh. Their exchange was far too strange to be called encouragement, but Millefeuille read the mood and expressed her gratitude for that encouragement.
“So. When are you doing it?”
“I made sure to set the schedule for before the closing ceremony.”
“Mmm, so you’re wondering what to prepare?”
“…Yeah.”
“You should do something that highlights Millefeuille’s strengths.”
“Yeah. Something that highlights Millefeuille’s strengths!”
“……R-Right! So… what are my strengths?”
At that, Vanilla and Yogurt averted their eyes.
They desperately looked away, hemmed and hawed, and couldn’t say a word.
“……Hey, guys? My strengths are……”
“U-Um. Well. Millefeuille is kind.”
“She’s a good person…”
“Uh, no, not that—something I can use on a date…”
Even with Millefeuille looking a bit desperate, the two only faltered and couldn’t give a proper answer.
No matter how close friends they were, there were things you could say and things you couldn’t.
How could they tell her that saying someone is “kind” is never really a compliment?
“Guys……”
“Millefeuille is kind. Yeah…”
“Kind… yes, kind…”
Millefeuille’s eyes welled up.
But in the end, she never got a proper answer.
“So… I really have no good points?”
“That’s a bit…”
“Hmm. No, you do have some, but…”
“Then tell me something! Come on!”
At Millefeuille’s desperate plea, Vanilla and Yogurt let out a deep sigh and spoke the cruel words for their friend’s sake.
“Millefeuille. You see, in love, it all starts with being seen as a romantic interest.”
“In other words, you have to make yourself look special to the other person.”
“But Millefeuille, your competition is too strong.”
“If you try to appeal as a junior or younger girl, there’s Senior Neferian.”
“And your fiancée is Senior Tri-Star from the continent’s greatest house.”
“Not only that, but for small and cute, there’s Senior Rudika Hassan Shadow.”
“Hmm… you don’t necessarily have to appeal as small, but if you want to show off volume, there’s also that fourth-year senior who’s been seen near Eve-senpai lately? That blue-haired one.”
“You don’t have the bloodline. You’re not enough as a junior.”
“Whether small or big, you’re outclassed…”
“……*Hic*”
Under her friends’ relentless assault, Millefeuille buried her face in her knees and couldn’t say a word.
The truth always hurt the most.
—
After that, Millefeuille von Sabre seriously pondered her own strengths.
But no answer came back.
She only realized just how much she fell short in terms of specs.
And before she found a solution, the day of the date arrived.
“Senior?”
“…Yeah.”
And on the day of the date.
When Millefeuille visited the convenience store, she could tell Wolfram’s condition.
He was clearly overexerted.
Wolfram was always frail, but in his current state, Millefeuille could subdue him with just her right hand, without even wearing her gauntlets.
Did he forget his promise with her? If so, that would be too sad.
“Did you perhaps forget?”
“…I forgot. Sorry.”
“……Ah.”
“I forgot that tomorrow is the closing ceremony. I thought I had a few more days…”
“Eh?”
At that, Millefeuille was instead taken aback.
He forgot not the date with her, but the closing ceremony?
…That was a bit different, but still, it wasn’t their date. Thinking that, she let out a relieved sigh.
“Let’s go out. I’ll keep the promise.”
“……”
Wolfram rose from his seat, staggering. He tried to look calm, but his body wasn’t holding up.
“No. I don’t want to go.”
“…But then, tomorrow is the closing ceremony. I won’t be able to keep the promise.”
“I didn’t give up on the promise either.”
“……?”
“If the convenience store is closed today, then it’s just you and me here, right?”
“That’s… true, but.”
“Then, please let me stay by your side here in the convenience store today.”
“……If that’s what you wish, it’s not difficult.”
“Yes.”
Millefeuille sighed inwardly.
The restaurant she’d researched was useless. The places she wanted to see together were all in vain.
But rather than something like that, she didn’t want to see this person push himself and suffer.
*I’m pretty far gone*, she thought, yet she accepted that part of herself with a sense of pride.
—
Wow.
I feel incredibly guilty. No joke.
I’m going to blow off my junior’s request to go out together as a gift?
Even I know this is an inexcusable piece of trash behavior.
I should go out and play. I can’t break this girl’s precious smile.
Isn’t it an adult’s duty to create a world where children can smile and play?
“Millefeuille, you should go out too—”
“Senior? Hehe. I’m fine, really?”
Millefeuille was smiling.
But why does that smile look so scary?
If I press any further, it feels like something truly terrible will happen.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yes!”
“Alright. But just watching me do things in the convenience store won’t be fun, will it?”
“No, it’s the best seat in the house.”
“I see.”
What a kind child.
Well, since I can’t just sit still, I’ll stay in the convenience store while being as considerate to Millefeuille as possible today.
Thinking that, I sat in my chair, and Millefeuille tilted her head.
“Are you not doing anything?”
“Hm?”
“You’re not running the store, but don’t you have some other work?”
“I don’t plan to do anything myself.”
“…Ah.”
“Today, tell me what you want to do. I’ll accommodate as much as I can.”
“……Ugh. That’s sneaky, Senior. Then, can I really ask?”
“Yeah.”
“I want to see Senior making something. Is that okay?”
“It’s not difficult. Alright. Then, I’ll show you something for the very first time, specially for you.”
【Activate Magic Tailor.】
【Activate Accessory Crafting.】
【Activate Handy Worker.】
【You have a partially made enchanted cloth accessory. Continue crafting?】
【Continue crafting!】
“Wow… That’s really gorgeous. Can you do that just with sewing?”
“It’s not ordinary sewing. It’s a completely different skill.”
What I’m making is an enchanted hair ornament.
Even though it’s made of cloth—or rather, precisely because it’s cloth—it’s a hairpin more beautiful than a real flower. Inlaid with a blue gem and adorned with crimson petals, it was my own design, but I could only say it was beautiful.
“Wow…”
When Talent 15 and the Thimble combine, this is the efficiency I get.
Even though I’m the one making it, it’s turning out really well.
Now, the hair ornament is nearly finished.
All that’s left is the final touch.
Normally, the crafting completion would just pop up here, but…
【Almost complete!】
【You have a usable skill. Activate it?】
If I use the Magic Thimble, I can ensure a success and add an even more positive effect.
【A faint magical power imbues the finished product!】
【Transcendent Great Success!】
“It’s done.”
“…Wow.”
【Beautiful Hairpin Imbued with Protective Magic】
【7T】
【Female Only】
【Binds on Equip】
【A beautiful flower-shaped hairpin imbued with protective magic. The cloth, gems, and the maker’s skill all receive a “Mid-Grade” rating.】
【1. Slightly increases the wearer’s HP recovery speed.
2. Once per day, can successfully block a spell of 5 bars or less, up to 1.3 times the wearer’s Magic Power.
3. Grants the special skill 【Blessing of Growth】.】
I looked at the hairpin I’d made and fell into thought for a moment.
What?
This came out? Really? Is this insane?
The accessory I gave Ayla before had a triple stat option: Magic Attack Up, Magic Recovery Up, Magic Speed Up.
But this is clearly one rank above that—a skill-fixed accessory.
And it even comes with Blessing of Growth.
It’s minor, truly minor, but it increases the user’s stat growth rate slightly. How minor? It’s a skill I didn’t even pick when I got an 8T selection.
Still, creating an accessory that has HP recovery, magic defense, and growth all in one—that alone is a great feat.
But there’s a wear restriction.
Hmm.
“…Is it a magical item? It’s sparkling…”
“Yes. It has HP recovery, magic resistance, and a small skill attached.”
“……Huh?”
Millefeuille widened her eyes and stared at me.
Her look said, *That can’t be real*.
Eve, Nefty—everyone in this world has too low a standard for magic items.
Still, this kind of item would be a jackpot if you got it around Act 2.
If only there were no wear restriction!
“S-So that’s it. …As expected of Senior, you can whip up things like that… So, Senior, will you wear that brooch?”
Millefeuille tilted her head, and I shrugged. It wouldn’t suit me, would it?
“The wearer is female-only. Also, it remembers the wearer’s magical pattern, so no one else can equip it.”
“Ah, I see. Then… considering the color combination, wouldn’t it suit Senior Nefty? Hehe.”
Would it?
I think earrings would fit her customization better than a hairpin.
Well, I’ll ask Nefty about that later.
Anyway. This is a really interesting accessory.
Even with a Great Success and all positive options, its tier is low.
That means I can later attach options like 【Explosive Growth】, 【Absolute Magic Defense】, 【Incarnation】, and so on.
This item, with its red flower and blue gem…
Hmm. There is someone it suits.
No, I can’t imagine anyone else.
“No. This has an owner.”
“Ah, I see. As expected, Senior Tri-Star…”
“No. Ayla already has a necklace.”
“Th-Then, Senior Rudika…”
“Would an assassin wear something flashy?”
“……Th-Then. Then, this is really an impossible thing to say, and an overstepping imagination, but perhaps—”
“It’s not impossible, nor imagination, and even less a daydream. That ‘perhaps’ is correct.”
“……Ah.”
“Millefeuille. This would suit you.”
Right. Doesn’t this accessory just declare my intent?
I wasn’t wrong.
Everything is middling, but still, I can keep growing in the right direction.
As I tried to hand over the brooch, Millefeuille took half a step back.
“Why are you stepping back?”
“I-I’m truly grateful for your words, Senior, but… can someone as unremarkable as me really accept something like this?”
“Unremarkable?”
“Y-Yes. I can’t be your shield like Senior Nefty, I can’t move covertly like Senior Rudika, and I can’t use magic like Senior Ayla… For someone like me to receive such a treasure—”
“Hah. I thought you were saying something else.”
This kid. Are you digging your own grave in front of an adult?
I took a step toward Millefeuille, who had stepped back.
“…Senior?”
“That day, I said I wanted to explore Zefflin’s hidden realms with all of you. Do you remember?”
“Yes. I remember.”
“And in that, Millefeuille von Sabre—you are definitely included.”
“……”
“Don’t forget that putting yourself down is the same as putting down my ability to judge people. Even if you don’t like it… I’ve decided to make you my comrade.”
“……Ugh. Ungh.”
“Take it. This is yours.”
I, Lee Yeong-jin,
during 20,000 hours of play, have never once abandoned a comrade.
Never left them to die.
I’m that much of a hard-liner, so you’d better take it obediently, kid.
“Th-Then, Senior! If, if I may be so rude, could I ask one more favor! It’s an impertinent request…”
“I’ll allow it. We’re comrades, aren’t we?”
“……Please, put it on for me yourself.”
Well.
That much is nothing.
