I Was Not Popular With Girls in My Previous Life, but I Was Reincarnated Into a World Where Harems Are the Norm, and a Mentally Unstable Elf Beauty Follows Me Around

Do You Like Me Like This?

Elves. They were pure, delicate, and refined. There had been a time when I thought that way too.

“What do you mean by saying I talk too much? Lack of communication can lead to discord, you know? I want to get closer to Kaito. After all, we’ll eventually live together. In fact, we could start right now if you want.”

“You sure can say that without missing a beat.”

When I thought about it, there were elves with strong personalities in some stories, and chatty ones in others.

So, in the end, I had forgotten the obvious fact that personalities vary from person to person, no matter the race.

“Do you know, Kaito? In reality, marriages between adventurers are quite common. And data shows that many of those are within the same party. We’re in exactly that situation right now. So, hurry up—”

At that moment, I saw a wolf-like monster approaching from behind Airi as she continued her fervent speech. To deal with it, I prepared my magic and shouted at Airi.

“Airi! A monster’s coming from behind! I’ll cast my spell, so dodge!”

“—I think you should just decide on me already.

… ‘Wind of Ruin’!”

Airi turned around and unleashed a ferocious wind from her hand toward the monster, with such tremendous force and roar that it seemed capable of knocking down all the trees. When the wind finally died down, the monster lay there covered in wounds, motionless.

Then, Airi turned back as if nothing had happened, faced me again, and gently tucked her shimmering golden hair behind her ear with her left hand. It felt profoundly mystical and beautiful.

“Do you like me like this?”

“Is now really the time to ask that?”

I had just thought she was beautiful.

She was incredibly reliable, but I could not imagine living peacefully with a girl who casually used a spell with such a menacing name and power.

“I’m glad you say that, but we’ve only known each other for a month.”

“You’re really hopeless. Time has nothing to do with it. There’s a word for it: love at first sight. For example, if the person you meet for the first time is your ideal type and you have fairly frequent chances to talk, would you think, ‘We’ve just met, so I should hold off on approaching’?”

“If we have decent opportunities to talk, I’d probably take it slow, building up a relationship where we can casually chat.”

But whether I could actually do that was another matter. Even as I said it, I knew I had not been able to. That was one of the reasons I had stayed single.

“You might lose your chance to someone else in the meantime.”

“That’s true enough.”

That was right; in my previous life, I had wasted time that way. I understood what Airi was saying, and I thought my own view was not wrong either.

So, what had I been doing for that month? Just adventuring with Airi. I had decided to solidify the basics as an adventurer first.

I knew adventuring was not a stable job, but even for marriage, without a foundation for life, I would only make my partner unhappy.

Besides, when I tried to recruit more party members to strengthen our forces, Airi opposed it fiercely.

“Airi, are you really nineteen? Not like five hundred or something?”

In Japan, asking that might cause issues, but apparently, elves did not mind being asked their age.

“Elves are indeed long-lived, but I am genuinely nineteen.”

“I see. You somehow seem more mature than me.”

“Is that so? I think it’s just a difference in our views on romance.”

“Is it? Anyway, let’s finish this request quickly and head back to the guild.”

The request was to gather medicinal herbs in this forest. Even though it was daytime, the forest was dim and somehow eerie. Apparently, no non-adventurers approached because of the monsters.

As we advanced toward the center of the forest, we came to a slightly open area, and when I looked around, I saw many herbs growing.

“It looks like some non-medicinal ones are mixed in, so let’s appraise them as we gather.”

This was the moment for my cheat ability “Item Appraisal.” In this world, appraisers were a viable profession due to the high demand for the skill, but few people could use it.

“As an elf, I can perfectly distinguish plants.”

So, I used my skill, and Airi used her knowledge to gather the herbs.

As I moved closer to start, I noticed someone crouching down.

(Is that… a girl?)

A girl with pink hair in a loose, fluffy medium perm was pulling up herbs by herself.

She was probably a mage. Her outfit was mainly white, a fluffy dress with cute decorations. The skirt length reached about mid-thigh. And with her fair bare legs in brown boots, it was quite a bold look.

There was no one around her. Had she come here all alone?

“Hey, Airi. That girl seems to be here by herself. Do you think she’s okay?”

“There are indeed some questionable points.”

“If she’s lost or something, that would be bad, so I was thinking of calling out to her.”

“Yes. I thought you would say that, Kaito.”

With Airi’s permission, I approached the girl to talk to her.

(Huh? Why did I even ask for Airi’s permission?)

Well, I decided not to think about that now and approached to call out to the girl.

Then, I heard her muttering something.

“Ah, I want a boyfriend, I want a boyfriend, I want a boyfriend…”

(Oh, this is one I should steer clear of.)

But no sooner had I thought that than the girl seemed to notice me, stood up smoothly, and said one thing as soon as she saw me.