Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

As soon as I exited the dungeon, I whoosh quickly moved and hid behind my designated rock tomb.

Then I opened my inventory to check the decorated weapon.

That was tied with a string attached to the Onmyoji jewel.

[Red Ribbon]

[Decorative Item]

[Can be attached to the handle of a weapon]

“Heh.”

I smiled brightly.

Chris’s red hair would definitely look great with that pretty red ribbon.

The weapon this is attached to is entirely Chris’s.

Should I send her a message?

Hmm, is Sister Chris still busy with the dungeon raid? If so, she must be tied up.

Peek-a-boo.

As I raised my head and searched the dungeon entrance for Chris’s figure…

Tap, tap.

“Yikes!?”

Startled by the sensation of something tapping my shoulder, I squealed and fluttered away.

I was so focused on finding Chris that I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings.

Someone touched me!

I was suddenly scared.

I squeezed my eyes shut, wrapped my arms around my head, and huddled down.

A whimper escaped my lips without me knowing.

“Hee, hee.”

“Whoa, Ra-Rain!? Did I scare you? Sorry!”

A familiar voice reached my ears.

I slowly opened my squinted eyes and confirmed who had touched my shoulder.

“Ch-Chris.”

As her red hair and worried face came into view, I sighed in relief and relaxed my chest.

Oddly enough, Chris didn’t trigger my human radar. There was no way to catch her off guard.

I was so surprised that tears welled up in my eyes.

I glared at her timidly with watery eyes and a pouting expression.
She scratched her head and smiled awkwardly.

“I thought Rain would be here. Um, umm. I just woke up too.”

“Wow, you worked hard.”

I quickly relaxed my expression and gave Chris a wide smile.

Chris’s hand was twitching, fidgeting. It was moving in a jumbled manner.
I tilted my head. As Chris looked at my puzzled expression, she let out a sigh and spoke.

“Well, I know Rain doesn’t like receiving things without a trade, but um… What should I do… Ah! If I sell something, would you be interested? It might be something you need.”

“Something? Ah!”

Come to think of it, I also had something to sell to Chris.

Rather than selling, we’d been running on the bus together, and we planned to continue doing so in the future. In fact, just giving this away would benefit me in the long run.

It’s a sort of bribe. A bribe to ensure our good relationship moving forward.

“I have one too. Something for you, sister.”

I took an item out from my inventory and hid it behind my back, hesitating.

I found it suddenly amusing that Chris and I were both hesitating at the same time, and I chuckled.

“Then, shall we check our items at the same time?”

“Sure!”

Chris smiled brightly and revealed the item hidden behind her back.
I also presented my gift to her.

Upon seeing her present, my mouth dropped in surprise.

“Whoa…!”

[Demon Commander Aspero’s Sword]

[Elite Grade]

[Attack Power 270]

[Increases ‘Moonlight Slash’ Skill Damage by 40%]

[Socket 1: EMPTY]

[Socket 2: EMPTY]

(Equipping binds to owner)

This was a sword, the weapon for my class, a new dungeon weapon.

Moreover, the option increases the main skill’s damage, just what I wanted.
It’s worth far more than a 1-gold outfit back in the day.

Since this item isn’t on the market yet, selling it now would fetch at least 500 gold, possibly over 5 million in current cash price.

I couldn’t help but shake my head.

“Such an expensive gift…”

Then, the thought hit me that the item I had for her also held similar value.

However, exchanging like that felt bad for me. The gratitude and the meaning behind wanting to continue working together could be tarnished.

Still, for the time being.

I sighed and pulled out the gift I had been hiding behind my back.
Chris’s eyes widened.

At the same time, her gaze landed on the red ribbon tied to the Onmyoji jewel.

She covered her mouth and looked at the jewel with trembling eyes.

“Whoa…! Rain…!”

I timidly avoided her gaze and mumbled.

“Um, I thought it might be an item you’d need. Would you trade it for the sword?”

“Ughhh!”

Suddenly, Chris burst into tears. I was taken aback by her unexpected reaction and stared at her blankly.

“What do I do? I’m so grateful! What’s this ribbon? Eeeek…!”

Chris was squealing as she fidgeted with the red ribbon attached to the Onmyoji jewel.
Seeing her so happy made me feel good too.

It’s my first time exchanging gifts with someone. But it doesn’t feel bad.

As a warm, unfamiliar feeling swelled in my chest, I awkwardly watched her cheerful face, smiling.

Still, a sense of debt lingered.

I had only received favors and hadn’t given anything back, and here I was exchanging swords and jewels.

I didn’t know how to express my feelings.

How should I show my gratitude?
“Um, sister, that…”

While Chris was happily fiddling with the Onmyoji jewel, she looked at me with a curious expression.
I squeezed my eyes shut and said defensively.

“I, um, just wanted to say thank you for always taking care of me. I was planning to give this to you because I’m even more grateful now that we’ll keep running the bus together. But getting the sword—well, that makes me feel a bit strange.”

Rain, you fool. What on earth are you babbling about?
I don’t even know what I’m saying.

What if Sister Chris thinks I’m strange?

“Hm~?”

A playful glimmer appeared in Chris’s eyes.
“So, you wanted to express your gratitude and the hope we keep working well together, but the trading of the weapon made it feel awkward, right?”

Nodding vigorously, I energetically bobbed my head up and down.
Wow, I don’t even know what I said, but Sister Chris understood.

After a moment of chuckling while looking at me, Chris slapped her palm with her fist.

“Then, how about this? Since I’ve helped Rain until now, next time, you match me where I want to go!”

“Ah-ha.”

Would that be okay?
Of course, I have my own schedule, but knowing Chris, she wouldn’t force me to go somewhere I didn’t want to.

Chris observed my reaction and carefully spoke again.

“And, um, you can reject this if you dislike it.”

“…?”

Chris suddenly averted her gaze and fidgeted with her hands. What’s going on?

“Can I, um, pet your head? I mean, I did touch it briefly last time, but that was so quick, I’d like to properly pet it.”

“Whoa….”

I gulped.

My head? Why suddenly?

Is my head worth the trouble to ask to pet?

But I knew it’d definitely be a big deal for me.

It took a lot of courage even to hold hands with someone.

I clenched my fists and nodded with a stiff expression.
Then, I slightly moved closer to Chris and tilted my head.

“Hah! Hah!”

Chris’s face turned red, and it looked like she was exhaling softly.

I backed away, startled.

“S-Sister, your expression is strange.”

“I-I’m not making any weird faces!”

After taking a moment to breathe and calm down, Chris lifted her trembling hand and brought it over my head.

Finally, Chris’s hand touched my hair.

Swish, swish, her gentle touch brushed against me.
Flinch.

My body shrank at the strange unfamiliar sensation.
This was odd. My heart felt ticklish as she petted my head.

It felt similar to when I received warm gazes from my comrades in the past, but even more tickling in my heart.
Before I knew it, I was squinting my eyes, savoring the sensation.

Gah!

As I was becoming consumed by this weird feeling, I suddenly jolted back.

Feeling an unknown sensation overwhelmed me with fear.
Chris looked disappointed as her hand hovered, unsure of what to do.

“I’m so-sorry. I’d better stop here for today!”

Thump, thump. My heart raced wildly.
An awkward silence enveloped the two of us as we avoided each other’s gazes.
Summoning my courage, I spoke first.

“Uh, sister, you still have to keep farming, right? I need to get back to farming soon.”

“Oh, right? Hehe, I hope I didn’t take too much of your time?”

“It’s okay.”
Chris fanned her flushed face with her hand as if feeling hot and moved toward where her party members gathered.

Then, she turned back at the dungeon entrance, smiling brightly and waved at me.

“Rain! Farm hard!”

“You too, sister.”
Still peeking out from behind the rock tomb, I gave Chris a small wave.
Her smiling face soon vanished into the dungeon.

Boom!

“Chris! Adjust the damage, would you? The aggro’s all over the place!”

“Ah, sorry.”

Squawk—!

The Blood-Red Angler fell, and Deathly Death sighed.

“Phew, even with the Aspero weapon equipped, managing aggro is really tough.”

“Still, the usual Chris would have naturally handled the damage; today feels odd, doesn’t it?”

Bae Merong shot Chris a suspicious glance.
Chris was mumbling, looking dazed, as she fidgeted with the adorable ribbon on the Onmyoji jewel.

“Bae Merong, what should I do?”

“…Sister?”

“I don’t think I can live without Rain anymore. What should I do? Those no-name party members feel like business relationships only during farming, but what if I cleverly exclude Rain from that…? Deathly, will adding extra work suit you? Sure, let’s leave out busy Deathly and add Rain to our party…!”

“Wha-why am I suddenly concerned here!?”

“Ah! Oh no! The synchronization rate…! This sync rate is losing 80% of Rain’s head-sensation! Ughhh!”

“Whoa….”
Bae Merong, seeing Chris’s frantic behavior as she shook with trembling hands, broke into a cold sweat and edged away from her, grabbing Cherni’s sleeve to whisper to him.

“Hey, Jaewook. Is it really okay to leave the real Rain with Sister Chris?”

“…It might be riskier than I thought.”

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