PMZ 033 – Change

Since we exchanged IDs, our relationship has changed a bit.

“Hey, Hayato…”

“……?”

It’s really, really subtle, but sometimes when I call out to him like this, there’s a strange pause before he responds, and he like, ‘what?’ When I looked at him, he stared back at me with a gentle look.

I’m uncomfortable.

And

“Alice, do you want to give me a hug?”

Sometimes, words like that come out of the blue.

At first, I was surprised and froze, but recently I’ve gotten used to it a bit, and it’s become so frequent that I put my arm on his on reflex.

This playful hug brings me nothing but a blissful time.

Haaah…… I love it.

I’m aware that Hayato is fond of me. I’m also aware of this sweet atmosphere.

But I can’t go further than this.

Think about it.

If suddenly the one who is renowned as the impregnable castle is falling for you, it’s only natural that you would question what the hell is going on.

Perhaps we need to have a heart to heart conversation. But, should such time come, I don’t think I know what to say.

As a result, the “usual awkward-normal” time is passing by, which is frustrated me a lot.

On a different subject, my sword training is going well, and I surprised myself with how well it suits me, better than I would ever expect.

It seems in this magical world, your strength and body movements are also quite affected by your magical power, and I move in a way that was unthinkable in my previous life’s world. I can move like a character in an action game. This is fun.

I was honestly impressed by my physical prowess, which I would never notice should I become a queen.

Well, there’s something similar in my Queen-to-be education menu, but at that time, I never been too serious about it, and I had no real-world experience to try it.

Also, I was taught the importance of tampering with my magic recently. As a result, I can make my body lighter, or I can make my sword heavier just a moment before an impact. It’s only useful for overhead slash attack, but it’s a really powerful move.

When I was fighting against Hayato in the training room, I could see that I was getting better and better. Moves that were too fast to see at first gradually become visible. My body ability is catching up with him. The current me can properly see the flow of the battle.

Naturally, I can’t beat Hayato, but I’m starting to be able to defeat the monsters around the Capital city using my sword only.

At this point, I can take an attack without a protective barrier, and it feels strangely painless; I did not get injured at all. Hayato said that it was normal for him.

The words “experience and level up” somehow flashed through my mind, but there’s no way to confirm it, so I’ll ignore it.

On a matter related to a monster, this ID tag is an excellent way to record the number and types of monsters you defeat. Maybe It’s not surprising if the human body also reacts to something that comes out of the monster.

Time has flown by, and today is the last day of the N-rank assessment period.

Three months have already passed; it feels strangely fast.

Thanks to my car, I can go pretty far, so I’ve been going out more often than the outskirts of Capital City lately, and today I’m in a grass field where there’s nothing but roads as far as the eye can see.

Just a few minutes ago, a Dullahan, said to be the strongest monster found in this area, came out, and I was finally able to defeat it on my own.

“I knew Alice had talent. my judgment was correct.”

Hayato said with a proud look on his face.

“Really? I feel that the more I defeat them, the more I feel that my abilities will increase as I defeat them. …… Isn’t this the same for everyone?”

“No, it’s not true. The growth rate varies from person to person, and there comes the point in time when you can’t get any stronger as your abilities increase to a certain extent.

Usually, you won’t be as strong as Alice; it seems the faster your growth is, the higher your upper limit appears. Alice is amazing!”

“Hehe, not as amazing as Hayato.”

I was pleased with his praise and applause.

Wait, does this mean there is a level cap?

I learn about battle only from Hayato, so I don’t have any common sense about this.

“And Alice can use magic while moving, right? That’s not usually possible. Many people are not good at magic or have little magical power in the first place.

We can do it ourselves, but physical strengthening is usually the job of a support specialist.”

“Oh, strengthening is useful, isn’t it? It’s tiring, though.”

Yes, strengthening is tiring. But I’m thankful that I can fight with small muscles, so I use it often. Because although I want to be strong, I don’t want to have a macho body.

This is also the reason why there are not many female swordsmen in the world.

We can’t waste the precious mana of a healer in regular monster fights, and the case was the same with a stronger monster.

Hayato and I don’t hesitate to use it, though, because we use our own magic power.

We climbed onto the roof of the car and sat side by side to rest. This is where the wind feels best.

From here, we can enjoy the Grasslands view as far as the eye can see.

The sun is setting, and soon the sky in the west is beginning to turn dusk.

The night is coming.

“…… It’s getting dark, and it’s time to go home.”

“I under… oh, it’s a new moon today? your hair is getting darker faster than usual.”

“ohhh, you’re right.”

Before the sun went down, Hayato’s hair began to turn black.

This discoloration is different from time to time in terms of how quickly it dyes. If it’s the magic power of the moon, it’s faster outside than inside, or to put it simply, the stronger magic power flows, it’s become faster, or something like that.

Today it’s fast.

Maybe something will come out.

I got a little nervous, but Hayato is completely easygoing, and from the shadows of his left palm, he used his fingertips to pull out an autumn cherry blossom while making a gesture like a magic trick.

“I want to give you this one when I found it earlier, Alice. I’m going to put it in your hair. You can take it off when we got home.”

Then he put a flower in my ear, smiled, and said, “Cute,” which made me turn over in embarrassment.

I look up to thank him.

“That ……?”

His eyes it’s red.

They should be black ……, right?

But when I blinked, they were still black, so I wondered if it was my imagination.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I went home with a bit of uneasiness, but we didn’t find any strong monsters in the end.