“…Mr. Zich, have you ever been on a date?”
“Why, of course…!” Zich was about to answer with confidence but trailed off.
Before his regression, he had only focused on training to gain his father’s approval—he didn’t have time for girls. After he left his family, he was busy surviving, and when he gained strength, he was fighting against the whole world. In short, he had never gone on a romantic walk with a lover while laughing.
“…Now that I think about it, I have never gone on the type of date that people normally think of.” He had only gone on plenty of dates that involved scattering blood and flesh, singing songs of terror, and snatching lives. “Is there that much to a date? Isn’t it all about having fun with your lover?”
“You are right, Mr. Zich. But as someone who knows this so well, why did you spend all your time gambling inside a casino the whole day?”
“Isn’t gambling the most entertaining activity to do in this city? Doing something enjoyable with your lover—yeah~! Is there a more fun date than that?”
Zich was shameless, and common logic didn’t work on him. Evelyn began to see the crazy side of Zich that many people had experienced.
“…It doesn’t seem appropriate to leave the date to Mr. Zich.”
“…Yes, it seems so.” Joachim also agreed with Evelyn.
Although both of them felt affection for Zich as their personal saviors, they knew when things weren’t going to work out. They turned away from Zich, who complained about the assessment he couldn’t understand. Evelyn stared at Lyla.
“It seems like you have to take the lead, Ms. Lyla.” Evelyn hadn’t given up on the idea of Zich and Lyla acting as a couple yet.
“Ah, but I have also never been on a date.”
“Yes, I know.” After all, Lyla didn’t even know an emotion like love, much less a date. Evelyn continued, “So, I will tell you what date course to take. Ms. Lyla, you just have to follow it.”
“…I understand. I will try.”
“Mr. Zich. Please follow and cooperate with Ms. Lyla too.”
Even though Zich was dissatisfied that his date course wasn’t accepted, he nodded his head in the end.
“We will provide the expenses of the date on our side. Since this mission is for the city, it’s on us to handle the costs. However, it will be difficult for us to also cover Sir Zich’s gambling expenses,” Joachim said, and Lyla agreed with him.
“Of course. If you say that you will cover the money he lost at the casino, he will definitely waste tons of money at the gambling table.”
“You are talking too harshly.” However, Zich, who had lost an immense sum of money also today, couldn’t refute Lyla’s words. “Still, you don’t have to cover our expenses. I’m sure your situation isn’t that great either, Count.”
“That’s painful to hear, but we can at least provide expenses for a matter like this. More importantly, didn’t you lose a good sum of money today? Wouldn’t it be difficult for you?”
“We have quite a bit of money. Moreover…” Zich stared at Lyla. “Lyla earned more than the money I lost.”
Everyone’s eyes shot towards Lyla. She shrugged her shoulders and spat while looking at Zich, “Why do you keep going to the casino when you suck at gambling?”
“Damn it.”
Zich couldn’t even respond properly.
* *. *
Two days after the meeting, it was the day they had to act like they were on a date with Evelyn’s plan. Lyla had the paper that Evelyn gave her in her hands. The paper was long, and it didn’t seem simple. Lyla peered at the paper intently and said, “Let’s eat first.”
“That’s good.”
It was already time to eat lunch, and they were both hungry. Zich looked around their surroundings to see if there was a place to dine in and found one. It was a restaurant with no special characteristics.
“Should we go there?”
“No,” Lyla refused.
“What? Is there something else that you want to eat?”
At Zich’s question, Lyla unfolded the paper that Evelyn gave to her again. Then, she looked back and forth between the surrounding stores and the piece of paper.
“There.” Lyla pointed at one of the stores. It was a quite fancy looking place; even the sign looked like it had been made with a lot of effort. The interior they saw behind the open door also looked high-quality.
“Let’s go there.”
“Does the paper tell us to go there?”
“That building looks closest to what it asks for.”
“Hm.”
A date was different according to a person’s preference.
‘This must be Evelyn’s taste.’
It was a store filled with Evelyn’s preferences that dreamed of a romantic love. Since it didn’t seem like Evelyn who was also new to this city specifically recommended this restaurant, Zich was sure that Lyla had found the store according to the conditions written on the paper.
“Okay, let’s go in.”
Today, he had to follow everything Lyla, who was also following Evelyn’s advice, suggested. Besides, a quite tasty aroma was flowing outside of the restaurant. As soon as they entered through the door, the atmosphere inside the place welcomed them in; lit up the area. Anyone could tell that the place existed for couples who came to the city to play. All the customers sitting at the tables looked like couples.
For now, it seemed like they had picked the right restaurant. They sat at a table and ordered food. Although the food was quite expensive, it was understandable considering that they were in a touristy area. The food came while Zich and Lyla made small talk. The warm steam that rose from their meal and the smell that came off from it stirred their taste buds. Zich lifted his utensils and tried to eat his meal.
“Wait,” Lyla stopped him. She looked at the paper that Evelyn had given her. Then, she picked up her utensil, got a spoonful of stew, and lifted it towards Zich.
“Say, ‘Ah.’”
Zich blinked. It had really been a long time since he was startled for real. However, Zich was able to grasp the situation after seeing Lyla’s expressionless face.
“Is this also a part of Evelyn’s orders?”
“Yep.”
It was as expected. Zich smirked and ate the stew from Lyla’s spoon. The stew was quite delicious; it seemed as if the restaurant used good quality ingredients.
Then Lyla pointed at Zich’s utensils. “You also have to do it.”
Zich also took a big spoonful of his stew and brought it up to Lyla’s mouth, and Lyla ate from his spoon. Even though quite a lot of time had passed since they started traveling together, this was a completely new experience. Zich stared at Lyla’s face.
Even if Lyla was just following orders, they were acting way over the top; Zich wondered if Lyla would blush in embarrassment or humiliation. He thought it would be worthwhile to see Lyla make such an expression. However, Zich’s hopeful expectation was easily shattered.
‘There’s no change at all.’
Rather than a shy or embarrassed face, Lyla looked like a general standing in front of an enormous battlefield. She fiercely ate her stew and intensely stared at the piece of paper that Evelyn had given her. Zich watched her and made a cheerful smile.
‘Evelyn, I don’t think the scene you envisioned will come out this time either.’
The situation went according to Zich’s prediction. Lyla continued to do ridiculous and sickly sweet actions. Most of the actions they did were too embarrassing for even normal couples to do in public. However, while Lyla performed these actions, there was not even a trace of sweetness in her expression. Instead, she looked like a monk quitely performing her duties—or a machine completing its functions.
Zich and Lyla received the attention of everyone around them. At first, they looked at Zich and Lyla as if they were a cheesy, lovey-dovey couple, but now their gazes were completely different. If Zich was exaggerating a bit, everyone looked at them as if they were watching a strange monster that they had never seen before. The people around them were definitely not looking at Zich and Lyla as if they were lovers.
In his own way, Zich was enjoying the attention of everyone around them. But this was not true for Lyla. It was obvious that Lyla was so focused on completing her mission that she was unaware of how everyone was looking at her.
Like this, they finished their meals.
“Let’s go!” Lyla got up from her chair.
Lyla tightly held the piece of paper that Evelyn gave her with both hands as if it was a decree from god. Zich followed Lyla and got up from his seat. He got out of the restaurant and glanced at the people behind them. People continued to stare at them; they were still looking at Zich and Lyla with horrified expressions.
* * *
“So, it seems like we’ve failed our mission.”
Evelyn clutched her head at Zich’s reply. Lyla glanced nervously at Evelyn. Even though Lyla had worked hard to follow all of Evelyn’s instructions, she also realized that she probably did something wrong.
“…Are you telling me that you two failed to act like lovers?”
“If someone thought we were lovers, I would actually be amazed by them.” Of course, Zich would be amazed by their strange mind. Zich’s words were enough for everyone to understand what happened.
Joachim said, “…It seems like Mr. Zich and Ms. Lyla aren’t suitable for this mission.”
Evelyn also agreed with Joachim’s opinion.
Joachim continued, “Fortunately, the mayor also thought favorably of Lady Rouge’s plan. He told us that they’ve been selecting a pair of professionals to act as couples. We should put our trust in them.”
“I guess that’s the only way.” Even though Evelyn sounded disappointed, she nodded in response.
Then Zich said, “Why don’t we also send Snoc and Elena?”
“Those two?” Lyla asked in surprise, “They’re close, but they’re not lovers.”
To be precise, it hadn’t been long since they met each other.
Zich shrugged, “But it’s not like we can just wait for the city’s support.”
“Yeah, that’s also true. But would the two of them be okay?”
“They don’t have to pretend to be lovers. It will be extremely awkward for them as well. They can just go around sightseeing as friends. If a man and woman look very close and are alone together, people might mistake them as lovers. Wouldn’t this be an easy task for them?”
Then Evelyn said, “And I wonder why the two of you weren’t able to do such an easy task?”
“Yes, that’s exactly right, Lady Rouge. I thought that my date was good enough. It seems like the culprit is very choosy and particular. I mean, a casino date is so romantic.”
Lyla added, “Lady Rouge, I also followed everything you told me to do.”
“…”
Joachim said, “Lady Rouge, I think it’ll be better if we just think about our future plans from now on.”
Joachim was right. Evelyn clearly realized that she wouldn’t be able to argue against Lyla and Zich.
“…Then let’s leave it up to Mr. Snoc and Ms. Dwayne tomorrow.”
Just like this, their meeting ended.
* * *
The next day, Snoc and Elena stood still in the middle of the street. They recalled the mission that they were assigned this morning: play in Janmalpi energetically, have fun, and act as affectionately as possible.
Snoc and Elena were very nervous after being told that they would soon receive an important mission; however, they were puzzled to receive such a strange mission. Then, Zich and Lyla kicked them outside after giving them a huge amount of money as allowance.
“…What kind of situation is this, Nowem?”
Koo? Nowem seemed to have no idea what type of situation they were in. Then, there was only one more person left to ask. Snoc stared at Elena.
“You know how Teacher and Mr. Zich failed in acting like a couple, right? It seems like that job has been passed onto us.”
As expected of a magician, Elena was able to correctly answer Snoc’s question.
“Then do we have to pretend to be lovers?”
“Probably.”
“…But I don’t think I’ll be able to do something like that.”
“Same here.”
It was doubtful that Snoc, who spent all of his life mining, and Elena, who spent all her time on learning magic, could skillfully pretend to be on a date.
“But I’m sure there’s a reason why Teacher left the job up to us.” Since Elena greatly respected Lyla, she didn’t want to disappoint her teacher. She wondered how they could pretend to be lovers in a believable way.
However, Snoc cut off her thoughts. “Well, what can we do if we just keep thinking like this? We just have to do what they told us to do.”
“Wait a moment. But we have to at least think a bit more and start moving…!”
“If that was the case, I’m sure they would have told us a little bit more information. Since they didn’t, I think it’s fine for us to just follow exactly what they told us to do.”
“…”
Snoc reached out his hand towards Elena, and she blinked her eyes a few times. “Let’s start moving. Since the situation is like this, let’s play with all we’ve got.”
Elena quietly nodded, and then the two began to enjoy their time in the city.