She Had No Intention of Being a "Pervert"

Yet Gabrielina could no longer sleep.

Quietly, she eased herself out of Lumine's arms. She tossed and turned on the bed, the words Lumine had just spoken echoing in her head. She wondered whether, once Lumine woke up, she should find a chance to tell her a few things-at least enough to put her mind a little more at ease.

But if she did tell her, how would she even explain it...

As her thoughts wandered, she started thinking about Aether again. Where had His Highness the Prince been making his fortune lately? Could he be missing his sister so badly that he couldn't sleep either, sitting around with those Abyss Apostles and drowning his sorrows over a few drinks...

And so, the more she thought, the more awake she became, and the less she could sleep.

Her need for sleep had long since become far, far lower than that of a normal human. After spending so long comforting Lumine earlier, she didn't have the slightest trace of sleepiness left. Her mind only grew clearer.

This obviously wasn't right!

The dead of night, a lone... girl and another girl. She'd poured her heart out, shed all her little pearls... The only reason Gabrielina hadn't gone all the way was that she had standards and wouldn't take advantage of someone vulnerable! But surely she shouldn't have ended up lying awake, miserable and alone.

The next scene should clearly have been the two of them sleeping in each other's arms, sharing a warm night full of romantic tension.

When Lumine got up the next morning and remembered how she'd sobbed her heart out last night, snot flying everywhere (not really), she would surely lower her head in embarrassment, unable to look Gabrielina in the eye. And that would be Gabrielina's moment...

"Good... morn... ing... Lumi, darling..."

"Hehe... Good morning, baby~"

Hearing that reply, so completely different from what she'd imagined, delivered in the system's obnoxious voice, Gabrielina drew a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes.

You little shit. This same damn routine, every time...

About half an hour later, after making sure Lumine was sleeping soundly and wouldn't wake up, Gabrielina quietly got out of bed.

She tiptoed into her clothes, casually tidied her hair, and left.

Gently pulling the door shut, the girl looked around.

Out in the corridor, candles flickered in the dim light. She floated past the closed doors for a while without hearing any strange noises. The other guests had probably all gone to bed.

A rainbow flashed before her eyes, and Gabrielina returned to the Angel's Share.

The place had long since emptied out as well. The tables and counter had been cleaned, and only an oil lamp hanging beside the wind chime at the entrance burned on alone.

The unfinished barrel of Dandelion Wine sat in a corner lit by the lamp, with about half its contents left. Its lid hadn't been closed properly, and wisps of wine's fragrance slyly teased her nose.

But... one of Gabrielina's favorite things to do was say "no" to those who thought they knew it all!

But I refuse.jpg

And so, firmly resisting this wicked temptation, the girl landed lightly on the bar, turned around, and immediately started pawing through the cabinet full of unopened fine liquor.

"This counts as breaking and entering, and theft!" the system declared solemnly. "Under Article Whatever of the Knights of Favonius' Whatever Law... I'm bringing you to justice."

"Diluc will definitely think Venti took it." Gabrielina waved dismissively. "Besides, what's wrong with having a few drinks when I'm feeling down?"

"Drinking too much will make you fat..."

Gabrielina scratched irritably at her hair, grabbed a nicely packaged bottle from the top of the cabinet, then spun around and flopped onto the tavern roof.

She hadn't really decided where to go...

She'd simply wanted to have a little chat with Venti on instinct. After all, he looked like the sort who was good at listening to people. Though she didn't have much she could tell him, he did know a lot. Maybe they could find something to talk about?

But he wasn't in the tavern at all. He'd actually "broken out"...

You weren't even there!!

"That busker... that slacker... that jerk." Gabrielina muttered, flicking the cap off with her fingernail before tipping her head back and pouring the liquor into her mouth.

"Whew~ Hah!"

...So bitter.

The girl blinked and looked up.

The sky was beautiful tonight, stars scattered across black silk. Even the blizzard at the distant summit of Dragonspine was clearly visible.

The moonlight was dazzlingly white. Gabrielina narrowed her eyes slightly, and when she opened them again, her pupils had contracted into catlike slits.

"System, I don't understand..."

"Speak."

Gabrielina paused, then tilted her head away from the moonlight overhead. "She looked so sad... But why did she tell me all that?"

"Oh~ You looked pretty cool back there, didn't you?" The system cleared its throat twice, then suddenly pitched its voice to imitate her. "'You don't need to apologize'... 'I'm stronger than all of them'~ And... oh! 'Put your trust in me!' Tsk, tsk."

"Can I file a complaint against you?"

Gabrielina tightened her fingers until the bottle creaked.

"No!"

"This emotional advice show is already an extra service. Normally, I should've said, 'That'll cost you extra'... But what can I do when my host is such a complete idiot? Honestly~"

"Then... then what... brilliant insight do you have?"

"And that's why I call you an idiot. Baka!" The system chided her in a coy voice. "Didn't you say it yourself? Obviously, it's because you're 'strong enough'!"

"It's that simple?" Gabrielina asked in shock.

"It's... that simple!"

Gabrielina pondered for a moment, then silently picked up her bottle. "Venti's strong too, and she'll meet lots of other strong people later... glug, glug, glug... Ahem. I think you're just fobbing me off!"

"They're all different~ You're unique. You're... only you are [Gabrielina], right? You're someone 'different' to her."

"Oh, oh, oh, has the 'protagonist halo' kicked in!? Wow... How boring."

The system was starting to feel numb.

I should've picked someone even dumber. Now I have to coax her through every little thing. This is exhausting... I just wanted to see some girls snuggling. That's a good thing for both me and the readers, so why is it so hard?

Damn it, why is this author so awful!?

"Ahem... It's nothing that shallow!" The system rallied and resumed its work of coaxing (bamboozling) a child. "Of all the people in the world, why did I choose you? Of all the universes you could've traveled to, why did you end up here?" It paused, then continued.

"See? It was all meant to be... You successfully joined her and Paimon... You successfully got into the same bed as her... You successfully stayed beside her when she was at her most vulnerable. Hmm... Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"No."

Love at first sight... Wouldn't lust at first sight be more accurate?

"There are twenty thousand people in this world who could fall in love with you at first sight... Unfortunately, you might spend your whole life without ever meeting a single one of them. Love at first sight isn't magic. It's fate, and fate simply doesn't play fair!"

Gabrielina released the bottle's mouth from between her lips and nodded thoughtfully.

"Mhm... You're winning me over. Keep going!"

In truth, it still sounded like nonsense.

The corners of the girl's mouth curled up almost imperceptibly. She shifted position, idly swinging her legs over the eaves as she listened to the system with only half her attention.

"Host, did you know? I actually admire you quite a bit..."

"For what? My beauty and wisdom?" Gabrielina asked, puzzled.

"You do have some beauty... But the wisdom is debatable," the system retorted mercilessly. "I mean your self-control. Even if she hasn't fully grown into her looks yet... such a pretty girl was sobbing her heart out in your arms, and you really did nothing but earnestly comfort her? Are you going to play it safe and build up slowly, following Shido Itsuka's route?"

"Seems like some strange guy slipped into this conversation... I'll take that as a compliment."

"Yes, yes, dearest host, you're amazing!" the system said in a monotone. "If this were a dating sim, you'd already be at least a quarter of the way through winning over the heroine~"

"Only a quarter... Wait, that much already!?"

"Of course. Speaking of winning her over... Want to make a bet?"

"My luck is actually pretty bad."

Despite the girl's flat refusal, the system wasn't annoyed. It merely continued coaxing her with devilish whispers in her ear.

"Relax... This has nothing to do with luck, and I'm on your side!" it assured her confidently. "Gamblers can lose, but the house never does. As the house, would I ever shortchange you?"

...Hard to say.

"What are we betting on? Nothing over ten bucks."

"Let's bet... on whether she'll pull away the next time you kiss her!"

"...?"

The little angel immediately sat straight up, no longer interested in drinking.

Gabrielina: Oh, mommy, what's that supposed to mean!

"You have a fifty percent chance of finding sweet romance, and a fifty percent chance of being treated like a pervert..."

"Being treated like a pervert and getting beaten up?"

"Being treated like a pervert..." The system paused meaningfully. "And then finding a distinctive kind of romance made for a pervert."

"???"

What did romance "made for a pervert" look like...? Could that really be written in this book?

Gabrielina stood up on the roof and stretched luxuriously, letting her pure white wings flutter in the night breeze. "Whew~ I think... when it comes to winning over the heroine, I should take it slow."

A certain adviser had once said:

Drink one sip at a time, walk one step at a time. Take too big a stride... and you might strain your balls.

"Thanks for chatting with me, system buddy. I know what I need to do now!"

"Huh? You've reached enlightenment?"

"Yes, I've reached enlightenment." Gabrielina planted one hand on her hip and raised her other fist in front of her chest, declaring firmly,

"Lumine's sad because she can't find her brother, and her brother won't see her because he's busy with the Abyss Order... So all I have to do is beat the Abyss Order into submission, right?"

The girl bobbed her head and hummed happily.

Full marks for comprehension!

"You little shit, what exactly did you understand!?"

But she had already walked to the edge of the roof, showing no intention of answering.

As she considered whether to return to her room or wander around under cover of night, she caught a glimpse of a sudden flare of fire near the distant city wall, surging into the night sky.

Without the slightest hesitation, the pure white figure soared into the air, her wings whipping up a gust as she sped toward it.