There was still one day left before the official start of the Hundred Academy Exchange.
Most of the students took this opportunity to explore the imperial capital and experience the local customs of the Empire's hub.
With nothing else to do for the time being, Greg naturally joined them. After all, relaxing before a major battle was highly necessary.
At this moment, he was wandering aimlessly down the street with his two roommates.
The streets of the imperial capital were bustling with activity.
Various stalls lined both sides of the road, selling snacks, magical accessories, and bizarre alchemy products. The sounds of shouting vendors and bargaining customers rose and fell in waves.
The aroma of baked bread, the fresh scent of flowers and plants, and the clamor of the crowd blended together in the air, forming a vibrant and lively picture of city life.
“Whoa, look at this!”
Rom suddenly stopped in front of a stall and picked up a peculiar-looking gadget. It was a palm-sized mechanical bird. Once wound up, it would flap its wings and emit realistic bird chirps whenever anyone got close.
He grinned and said:
“If we bring this back to the academy, we can definitely fool those professors and use it as a sentry on the windowsill! It'll sound an alarm if anyone approaches at night, which is way cheaper than those expensive magic alarms.”
Greg bought one. His purpose was not to use it as an alarm, but to use it to tease Hajimi later and see if she would be interested.
After all, she had been forced to stay in his shadow all this time, so she was bound to feel a bit bored occasionally.
Corwin, on the other hand, was drawn to an old bookstall.
He squatted down, flipping through a yellowed travelogue, and said in a gentle tone:
“This book records some ancient legends of the Elven Seas... mentioning stories of deep-sea behemoths and lost islands. I've only ever seen the title in the academy's library catalog before, but I never expected to find a physical copy here.”
Greg had seen this book too, though not in this world, but on the player community.
This was because the contents of the book actually had some connection to the Undersea Dungeon.
The three of them chatted as they walked, stopping to look whenever they saw something interesting, and buying delicious snacks to share and taste.
Since they were all guys, they didn't need to filter themselves. The topics ranged from random gossip to magic theory, and then from magic theory to the bizarre professors and classmates at their respective academies, with constant laughter along the way.
Rom talked about a professor at his academy who brought a desert lizard to every class, and in moments of excitement, would raise the lizard over his head to use as a pointer, making Corwin laugh so hard he couldn't stand straight.
This time gave Greg a long-lost sense of comfort.
Although he also enjoyed spending time with beautiful girls—after all, who wouldn't want to be around pretty girls day and night?—
but as expected, hanging out with guy friends was truly the most relaxing.
There was no need to worry about his image, no need to overthink the subtext behind every word, and no need to constantly remain vigilant and calculating. He could just say whatever came to mind. It was a simple and comfortable feeling.
He even realized with a bit of daze that since transmigrating into this world, he rarely seemed to have this kind of pure, casual social time.
Just as Greg thought today would be a guys' day out, Rom took a bite of the meat pie in his hand and suddenly asked in a casual tone:
“By the way, do you guys have any girls you like?”
Greg, who was drinking water, almost spat it out.
He never expected this seemingly boorish big guy to actively bring up such a topic.
He coughed twice, wiped the water from the corner of his mouth, and looked at Rom with disbelief.
Corwin's face instantly turned red. He lowered his head and stammered, “I-Is it really appropriate to talk about this right now...?”
“What's inappropriate about it?”
Rom waved his hand dismissively and said with complete nonchalance:
“I think if you like someone, you should show it openly and honestly. What's the point of hiding it? Take me, for example—the one I like is Kayla, the team leader of our academy.”
Kayla...?
The name sounded a bit familiar to Greg. She seemed to be a supporting character who would appear in this act's storyline.
After Rom spilled his own secret, he naturally turned his gaze to the other two. “So, what about you guys?”
Corwin's face grew even redder. He lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the hem of his shirt. After a long silence, he spoke in a voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz:
“Well... I have a girl I like too.”
Greg saw this and knew he couldn't escape.
He shrugged and said in a frank tone, “Alright, to be honest, I have a girl I like too.”
He silently added in his heart: It's just that unlike you guys, I don't have only one.
If it was purely based on looks, there were indeed several women around him who were exactly his type—after all, they all possessed heroine-level beauty, which almost no man could dislike.
But of course, he wouldn't say that out loud. Otherwise, his reputation would change from an outstanding student who was bullied to a total playboy.
Hearing this, Rom's eyes lit up instantly. He slapped Greg's shoulder with so much force that Greg almost stumbled.
“Awesome! In that case, since the end of the exchange coincides with the Empire's festival, why don't we take the opportunity to go on a triple date? That'll definitely be fun!”
Greg couldn't help but complain in his heart: As expected of a Galgame world. Even background characters without character sprites have nothing but romance on their minds.
But before he could refuse, Corwin, who had been incredibly shy about the romance topic just moments ago, actually raised his head and said with a blushing face:
“Well... if it's six of us together... I think that works.”
Greg looked at Rom's expectant gaze, and then at Corwin's shy but determined expression. Swept up by the atmosphere, he had no choice but to agree for now.
However, to give himself a reasonable excuse to bail when the time came, he immediately added:
“But I'm not sure if she'll agree to hang out with me in the end. She actually dislikes me quite a bit.”
This wasn't really a lie.
The “she” he referred to could represent several people, and indeed, many of them had very complicated attitudes toward him.
This way, if he didn't want to go when the time came, he would have a perfectly valid excuse to back out.
“No worries!”
Rom patted his back dismissively. “We'll help back you up when the time comes! You're so handsome, it'll definitely work out!”
Greg: “Haha, well, thank you so much then.”
The three continued walking down the street, and as they turned a corner—
“Ow!”
A gray figure suddenly crashed into him from the side. Unable to dodge in time, Greg collided solidly with them.
Because his body was far too sturdy, the other person was sent sprawling flat on her butt.
Just as Greg was about to reach out and pull her up, he noticed that the person who had bumped into him was Victoria. Standing beside her were two girls from other academies.
Greg's gaze swept over the two faces, and he suddenly remembered.
Kayla seemed to be one of Victoria's roommates during the exchange.
And the girl in blue standing on the right was Adele, a student from Frost Ring Magic Academy, just like Corwin.
Since Rom liked Kayla, could the one Corwin liked be Adele?
Greg turned his head to look, only to find that Corwin had already lowered his head in embarrassment.
This indirectly confirmed Greg's suspicion.
Just as he was thinking about how coincidental this world could be sometimes, Victoria, who had been knocked to the ground, looked up. Her gray eyes were already burning with fury:
“Greg, you bastard! Did you bump into me on purpose?!”
Rate on N.U.
