Chapter 298: Chapter 262: Date (2)

Anyone who could mention that they spent a laid-back afternoon on a boring holiday was definitely someone who had a leisurely life. Because most grown adults often couldn’t spend their holidays languorously even if they wanted to.

Especially those with a job that required hard labor. In that sense, from their title alone, one could tell that Grand Assassins were the people who had considerably distanced themselves from such languorous breaks.

That was why…

Strutting down the street on a ‘weekday’ wasn’t a familiar activity for Victoria Evatrice.

Considering that the purpose of this walk was something called a ‘date’—something she was even more unfamiliar with—she was completely lost on what to do.

“…D-Does it look strange on me?”

She didn’t even know what kind of voice she just let out as she said that. The poor girl was too occupied with her spinning vision after a full night of agonizing over ‘What clothes should I wear?’.

While she had tried out all kinds of clothes due to the nature of her job, this was the first time she ever tried to dress up to make herself ‘look beautiful’.

On the other hand, the person she’d be going on a date with was dressed up neatly. He looked calm, and he seemed to be confident that he wasn’t wearing anything strange.

As if he was ‘used’ to being with a member of the opposite sex like this.

“No, it looks good on you.”

In fact, he even took the lead in such a natural way like this.

Victoria couldn’t help but feel upset.

“…I don’t need your empty praises.”

She said curtly while fiddling with the end of her one-piece dress that was filled with flowy frills.

The girl was pouting, but it seemed that she hadn’t realized it just yet.

“You can’t move around easily in this kind of clothes, you can’t hide any hidden weapons while wearing it, and I know for a fact that there’s no way this dress would look good on—”

“But it does.”

Dowd cut off her words.

His voice sounded so firm that Victoria found it hard to refute him.

“I’m not sure what you think of yourself, but you look really beautiful in it. At least for me.”

“…”

Hearing that answer, Victoria could only clench her fists and gritted her teeth tightly. Her body shook greatly, while her face turned red.

…Humiliating me like that… So annoying…

She badmouthed him inwardly, but of course that didn’t stop him from continuing calmly. Who knows if he knew how she felt or not.

“Alright, shall we go then?”

“…Do whatever.”

Dowd let out a chuckle before grabbing the still pouting Victoria’s hand tightly.

The way he did it was like a raptor snatching its prey.

“W-What, what are you—!”

“C’mon, let’s go.”

While saying such a word, Dowd immediately dragged Victoria, as if she was a snatched mouse.

“Wait, at least tell me where we’re going—!”

“Don’t know where yet. Honestly, I don’t care whatever it is that we’re going to do.”

Hearing that, Victoria’s eyes sparkled.

Good!

Finally, an opening I can use to ‘attack’ him!

“Don’t you know any manners? Someone who invites the other should prepare everything before—!”

“We shouldn’t bury ourselves under the thought that we ‘have to do’ something on a date.”

“…Pardon?”

“As long as we can spend time together, it doesn’t matter what it is that we’re doing, no?”

This was one of the mistakes that inexperienced couples often made.

Experienced couples who had been together for a certain amount of time would have realized that whatever it was they were doing didn’t matter at all, because the important thing on a date was spending time together with the other person.

“…”

This guy pisses me off!

So annoying!

Dowd had a lot of experience with women, and he didn’t even bother to hide that fact from her. Instead, he openly showed it to her with such confidence, as if he was sure that Victoria wouldn’t hate him for it.

And he showed such ‘confidence’ in his every movement and attitude.

“Ah, why don’t we go there first?”

Being completely defeated by him, Victoria could only shake in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Dowd suggested they go downtown.

Even when she was being dragged by him, Victoria kept trying to come up with ways to express her dissatisfaction.

Too bad for her, the sky was very clear.

It would be one thing if there was a natural disaster going on, but the sun was shining warmly without any clouds covering it right now.

The weather was so nice that she could feel her whole body being hit by a sudden strike of calmness.

“What are you thinking about?”

Seeing this, Dowd asked such a question. He was still holding her hand, with his other hand inside his pocket. Victoria tilted her head slightly before telling him what she was thinking about.

“Relaxing things.”

And she revealed that she actually felt relaxed. Realizing what just happened, she burst out laughing.

“It feels nice, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“All this time, you’ve always lived your life busily. I don’t think you’ve ever tried to think of such thoughts.”

“…”

Victoria narrowed her eyes.

“…Of course. No time to dawdle when my goal is to cut off Seras’ throat.”

She said such words curtly before continuing in a cynical tone.

“Anyway, that was definitely something someone like you, who entered the enemy’s base and thought of flirting first, would say.”

“Well, seeing their current condition, I doubt they’d do anything to me before they’re ‘ready’. How can I miss such a great opportunity?”

“What?”

“Like, they gave me a perfect opportunity to flirt with you. Who cares if this is the enemy’s base, you’re more important to me.”

“…”

“I don’t know what you thought about it, but when I said that I wanted to get close to you, I meant it.”

It was a short sentence, but its connotation was quite heavy.

…Every time he opens his mouth—!

It was as if he only spouted out words that could tickle someone’s heart, and he was doing that without a change in his expression.

Among those words, there were even those who did not just tickle her heart, but outright stab it.

“…Shut it.”

Thanks to that, Victoria could only weakly complain at him, unable to snap anymore.

From then on, they continued walking, barely any words were exchanged between them. After they went through the main street, they turned to an alley and passed through it while watching people passing by. They’d peek around the windows of the various stores they passed by without buying anything. Though they did buy some snacks at a street vendor they found.

—Actually, they bought too many snacks. It was only after they saw both their hands full with the snacks’ wrappers did they come to their senses, letting out a few series of chuckles after that.

After that, they agreed to sit on a nearby bench to finish eating enough of these snacks before continuing.

“…Hm.”

At one point, Victoria eyed the sandwich with meat and a lot of red sauce in her hand suspiciously.

It was something that Dowd bought for her, as it was apparently the local specialty. The problem here was that she could tell that the food didn’t look healthy at all.

However, she’d feel a little guilty if she didn’t eat what he had bought for her.

In the end, she didn’t contradict Dowd’s opinion of her that she was ‘earnest in the weirdest things’, as she took a bite of the sandwich after hesitating a little more.

It’s tasty…!

Ever since she became a Grand Assassin, she had never run short of money, and she had eaten all kinds of high-class food. Even in Elfante, she had eaten all sorts of wonderful food.

But this was her first time having ‘this kind’ of food.

Quoting Dowd, someone who had always eaten healthy food and formal dinner would not be able to resist the typical spicy, salty street foods with lots of MSG.

And this girl was no exception; she ended up finishing up the whole sandwich in no time at all.

She barely noticed the odd gaze from across her only after she finished all of it.

“…Hey.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

The moment she saw him smiling while casting a fatherly gaze at her while watching her cramming the food into her mouth, she curtly said those words.

“I’m just thinking that I did good by taking you here.”

“…”

“Seeing you looking so happy is making me feel happy too.”

“…Shut it.”

Victoria’s face turned red as she took out another sandwich and bit it.

As she did that, the man across from her continued.

“I believe…that everyone has the right to enjoy such a moment.”

Although, his tone was slightly lower than before.

Delicious food and peaceful boredom…

Both were things that Dowd didn’t have much in his life.

“That’s why I can’t forgive those who try to take that away from others.”

Victoria quietly raised her head to look at him.

She couldn’t sense any trace of emotion in his expressionless face. Which meant that he knew exactly what he was talking about.

At that moment, he casted his gaze into the sky slowly. She could see the light that reflected in his eyes flickered a little.

At that moment, he looked as if he was daydreaming.

“Going out with someone you like on a holiday, eating delicious food, walking while holding each other’s hands under the warm weather… With my heart and soul, I wish for a world where everyone could do all that…”

For that, from now on, he…

Swore that he’d bleed and make other people bleed.

To deceive others and be deceived by others.

“In order to make people keep such rights…someone has to step up. I can’t bear to see such things being taken away in this world where ‘you guys’ and ‘I’ exist.”

He declared as such in a calm voice…

That he would walk a thorny and hellish path made of sulfur.

Victoria managed to read what was between the lines and stared at him.

He still wore the same expressionless face, thinking that perhaps, if she were to peel off a layer of skin on his face, she could see what it was that he had ‘given up’ for the sake of the thing he had just talked about. Although, it was possible that only rotten bloody pus might drip down if she were to do that.

She had clearly seen what this man did back at the School Festival.

That was definitely…

Something that could only be achieved after sacrificing a lot of things that made up a ‘human being’.

Human nature, mortality, emotions that made up the mind, the core foundations that made himself him… Everything…

“…”

Victoria knew that irrational violence only occurred because the world went on in an irrational way. An obvious example of this was those idiots who tried to start a war solely for the sake of their interests.

And in order to fix such irrationality, this man willingly ruined his ‘dignity’ to the very end.

“…What?”

Before Dowd realized it, Victoria held out the sandwich in her hand to him, prompting a chuckle out from him.

Because until just now, she had been eating heartily, he didn’t expect that she’d offer him the same sandwich she had been eating, albeit hesitantly.

“…Nothing.”

Victoria puckered his lips before continuing a few moments after.

“I’m just full.”

She resolved to herself, even if her mouth were to be ripped apart, she wouldn’t say it out loud…

That even though she admitted that this man’s intentions were very praiseworthy, she found him pitiful.

So pitiful that she had the urge to ‘hug him tight’.

●

“So, how was it?”

As the day was coming to an end, Dowd asked Victoria that question.

“…”

She hesitated for a moment before eventually replied with a sigh.

“…It wasn’t bad.”

She hated to admit it, but it wasn’t like she could deny it.

The time she spent with this man was significantly better than  she expected.

To the point where she thought that maybe this man was not as trashy as she first expected.

As she thought so…

“Then, why don’t we go there next?”

Dowd said while pointing at a certain place.

When she turned her gaze all the way over there…

“…”

She decided to throw away all of the thoughts she just had into the trash bin.

What the hell was I on about? He? Not trashy as I thought?

Bullshit…!

“…You perverted bastard…!”

She said such words while growling, her face blushing crazily.

That was because the place Dowd was pointing at was…

An accommodation that was painted in glowing ‘pink’.