Chapter 17: The Old Man Remembers

I couldn’t react to the sudden turn of events and just stood there, dumbfounded.

What in the world is happening…?

A storm of question marks was flying around in my head.

As for the Saint herself…

“Mmm… it’s been so long… this scent… As I thought, it’s so… so… calming…”

She was muttering something, as if in a trance.

Then, the Saint buried her small, beautiful face into the crook of my neck.

I still couldn’t make sense of the situation, my mind a complete mess.

But… my instincts, on the other hand…

They had it all figured out.

Yes… my body was, in fact, reacting to this situation with brutal honesty.

After all, I was currently enveloped by the Saint’s beautiful body.

In other words, two very soft, substantial mounds hidden beneath her sister habit were being pressed firmly against me—.

Yes… to think that such magnificent things were hidden on such a slender frame.

…This is incredibly dangerous… but it’s a pleasure that’s incredibly hard to resist…

For a brief moment, I was lost in paradise.

I’m sure I had a stupid grin plastered all over my face.

But suddenly, I snapped back to my senses.

It was because I felt an intense killing intent wash over my entire body.

Wha—is there a magical beast here or something…? No, this is from a person… or rather—

When I casually looked up, my eyes met with Mira-san’s at the reception desk.

And wasn’t that Mira-san’s adorable face, completely twisted in rage.

I had never seen her look like that before.

And at the same time, I remembered something.

That Mira-san was the daughter of an A-rank adventurer mother…

That she had been receiving combat training from that mother since she was a little girl…

And the story about how she’d broken the arm of a C-rank adventurer who tried to hit on her the other day…

And, looking very closely, wasn’t that Mira-san pulling out something that glinted from under the reception desk…?

In that instant, my reason triumphed over my instinct.

No… another instinct—my survival instinct—was triggered.

I managed to peel the Saint off of me.

“Uh, umm… maybe we should separate a little…”

I said.

“Oh… m-my deepest… apologies… I was just so happy that I completely forgot myself. To suddenly throw myself into the arms of a gentleman, how improper of me…”

The Saint said, her cheeks flushing as she looked down at the floor.

“N-no… that’s fine, but… did you have some business with… er, with me? It’s just, I’m afraid I don’t believe we’ve ever met—”

As I said that, the Saint shot her head up.

“H-how could you… Are you saying you’ve forgotten me?! Forgotten Alicia!”

She cried out sorrowfully.

But… I had absolutely no memory of her.

There’s no way I would forget knowing a beauty like this… let alone a Saint.

If she weren’t the Saint, I’d be suspecting some new kind of honey trap, but…

No, wait a minute… Alicia… I’ve heard that name somewhere… could it be—

“Ugh… Mikami-sensei… that’s so cruel…”

Huh… that way of addressing me… don’t tell me… she’s—

“Umm… Alicia-san… from the Moon Maidens?”

“Yes! Mikami-sensei! Oh… I’m so glad… you remembered… It’s truly, truly… been a long time, hasn’t it!”

The Saint… no, Alicia-san, said with delight, her face absolutely beaming.

And then, Alicia-san tried to hug me again…

But I desperately held both my hands out to stop her.

“Uh, umm… it’s… it’s okay, really…”

Of course… I’m not that much of a gentleman.

I would welcome a hug from a beauty like her with open arms.

An old man like me will probably never get a chance like this again.

However… Mira-san was now standing right behind Alicia-san.

Sometime during our exchange, she had shot out from behind the reception desk and was now right in front of me.

Thankfully, there was nothing in her hands.

However… the look in her eyes was still incredibly sharp.

I couldn’t help but feel something deeply unsettling from her.

But… if I think about it, it’s not like I did anything wrong.

If I had hugged her, it would be a huge problem…

But what actually happened was the complete opposite.

Maybe Mira-san has the facts backward?

Even I, the person it happened to, still can’t quite believe it.

“U-umm… Mira-san, is something…”

“…Mikami-san… what exactly is your relationship with that woman… I mean, with Saint-sama…”

Mira-san put both hands on her hips, closing in on me as if to interrogate me.