The Young Lady With the Most Powerful Specs Was Just Too Cute, so I Started Teasing Her—But Then She Tried to Trap Me With a Chain, so I Kept Running Away With All My Might - Chapter 2

Tag with the Young Lady

The second I bolted from the room, I kicked off against the floor with everything I had.

“Excuse meeeee!”

I shouted as I rounded the corner.

From behind, a cold, sliding sound followed me. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. A split second later, a pitch-black chain pierced through the exact spot where I’d been standing.

The chain slammed into the wall, and with a loud crack, the stone crumbled.

“Whoa, that was close!? Milady! You’re not supposed to break the walls in a game of tag!”

“If I catch you, it’s all the same.”

“It is not the same! The repair costs for the mansion are gonna be totally different!”

I was laughing even as I talked back.

The Black Chains were fast. But it looked like they had a limit on their range.

They could only reach a few meters from where the young lady was. Plus, she couldn’t catch me if she couldn’t see me.

When I turned the corner and she lost sight of me, the chains seemed to waver, looking confused.

What is this? This is so much fun.

I flew through the long hallways like the wind. I kicked off the polished floors, crossed through the evening sun streaming in from the windows, and burst from the back of the mansion toward the front in one go.

It’s huge! I always knew it was big, but running through it makes it feel even bigger.

I was currently sprinting with all my might through the very place where I usually get yelled at to “Stop running in the halls!”

And I was doing it while being chased by a Duke’s daughter.

There’s no way this wouldn’t be fun.

“Wait, Nil Metasura!”

“Please just call me Nil! If I wait, it’s game over! I’m not waiting!”

I glanced back to see the young lady running after me, her black dress fluttering while her face stayed expressionless.

Well, it was more like she was “stalking” me than just running.

That pale face. That unchanging expression. But those eyes never left me. Those eyes that weren’t looking at anything a moment ago were now fixed straight on me.

For some reason, that made me incredibly happy.

“Can you make it over here, Milady?”

I slowed down on purpose, keeping a distance that felt like she could almost reach me, but not quite.

Suddenly, the Black Chains crawled across the floor.

“Whoa!”

I jumped. The chains passed right under my feet and smashed a flower stand sitting in the hallway.

A loud crash echoed through the air.

“Eek!?”

A maid who had just stepped out from a corner screamed and pressed herself against the wall.

“Sorry! We’re kind of in the middle of a game of tag!”

“T-t-t-tag…!?”

“Yes! Probably!”

I wondered what I meant by “probably,” but I didn’t have time to think. More servants poked their heads out from further down and their eyes went wide.

“Milady!?”

“Wh-what is going on!?”

“Is Nil being chased…?”

“I am being chased! Also! Everything that broke was the young lady’s fault!”

It wasn’t a “probably” anymore; it was a fact. I was definitely being targeted.

But nobody could stop us. After all, the young lady who had been shut away in her room had finally come outside.

And that young lady was looking only at me.

I kicked off the corner of the hallway and dove into the corridor leading to the Great Hall.

I heard the sound of her dress rustling behind me.

“You’re fast, Milady!”

“That is because… you are running away!”

“That’s literally how tag works!”

“Then… I will catch you!”

“Oh! Give it your best shot!”

She was actually getting worked up. She was truly alive.

The person who had been frozen in time inside that room was now running on her own two feet.

Thinking about that made my legs feel even lighter.

I flew through the corridor and raced down the stairs. On the way, I ran right into a senior knight on patrol.

“Nil!? What are you—!”

Before he could finish, I slipped past him.

“I’ll explain later, Senior!”

“What do you mean ‘later’!? Whoa!?”

When he saw the young lady appear right behind me, the senior’s face cramped up in shock.

“M-Milady!?”

“Move.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

The senior reflexively pressed himself against the wall. Lady Oldie passed him without slowing down even a little bit.

At the sight of her, not just the senior but every servant nearby froze in place.

“The young lady… is running…?”

“She’s… chasing someone…?”

“Chasing Nil…?”

“H-how… why…?”

Well, of course they’d react like that.

This was the young lady who had been shut in her room for a year and a half. She barely ate, and she only ever said “Yes” to anyone who spoke to her. And now, that same person was racing through the mansion.

Plus, she was doing it with a blank face while whipping around pitch-black chains.

No matter how you looked at it, this was an emergency.

But to me, it didn’t look like a bad thing at all.

“Come on, Milady! Just a little more!”

“Nng… wait…!”

Oops! She looked totally cool at first, but now her breathing was getting a little rough.

I finished the stairs and slid into the long hallway in front of the dining hall. The evening sun painted the floor red, and my shadow stretched out long as I crossed it.

I could still feel her behind me. But little by little—only a tiny bit, really—her presence was getting heavier.

“Haa… huff…”

I heard it. Her breathing was ragged.

While running, I let a small smile slip.

Ah, I knew it.

She’d been cooped up for so long. No matter how much magical talent she has, her body doesn’t lie. Her legs move, but she can’t keep it up for long.

I, on the other hand, have done nothing but train my footwork.

Now was the time to show the results of being chased around by my seniors for a whole year.

“Can you still keep going, Milady!?”

“Haa… of course… I can…!”

“Really!? Your voice sounds a little shaky!?”

“Shut… up…!”

I twisted my body and dodged a chain that came flying at me.

But even that chain was a bit slower than before. It was still sharp in a straight line, and it still had power, but it didn’t have that extra reach on the follow-up anymore.

I pretended to speed up even more, but I actually stayed just a little bit ahead of her.

I didn’t pull too far away, but I didn’t let her catch me either. I stayed at that most annoying distance—the kind where it feels like you can almost reach if you just try harder, but you never quite do.

The young lady is probably the type who hates losing like that.

“Over here, Milady~”

“Ngh… you…!”

A sound finally came out of her. Behind that blank face, I could definitely see frustration.

Good. More. Get angrier. Get more frustrated. Get more caught up in the moment.

Until you can’t think about anything but catching me.

I passed the dining hall and came out into the hallway facing the courtyard. Outside the window, the old gardener was frozen with his mouth hanging wide open.

“Wh-wh-what in the world is happening!?”

“We’re playing tag with the young lady!”

“Does that look like a game of tag to you!?”

Maybe it didn’t. I kind of felt that way too.

But there was no turning back now. Behind me, I heard the pitter-patter of light footsteps, and then they suddenly faltered.

“Haa… haa… huff…”

I looked back. The young lady had stopped.

She was standing in the middle of the hallway, her shoulders heaving up and down.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and her pale throat moved as she gulped for air. The black hair stuck to her forehead wasn’t perfectly neat like a doll’s anymore; it was messy in the way it should be after someone’s been running.

Looking at her like that, she finally seemed like a normal girl her age.

I stopped too and looked back from a little distance away.

“…Milady?”

Lady Oldie gave me what was definitely a glare.

Well, she was probably trying her hardest to glare. But since she was so out of breath, it didn’t have much punch to it.

“Haa… haa…”

“That’s enough tag for today. I win.”

“Guh…!”

Lady Oldie looked up at me with total frustration.

The look on her face wasn’t “nothing” anymore.

Anger. Frustration. Stubbornness. The feeling of not wanting to lose.

See, I knew she was still in there.

She probably has the pride of a magic prodigy.

She looked like she was absolutely miserable having to admit defeat.

“Next time… I will catch you.”

“Oh, is that a declaration of war?”

“Definitely.”

“Sure, sure. I’ll take you on.”

She was barely breathing, but she still managed to talk big.

When I laughed, the young lady knitted her brows even more unhappily.

Right then, the maids and servants who had finally caught up stood frozen a short distance away.

Nobody could find their voice right away.

It made sense.

After all, the young lady who had barely left her room for a year was standing right there. She was out of breath and glaring at a trainee knight with a look of pure frustration.

They probably still didn’t understand what had happened.

But they had to be able to tell one thing. The young lady was truly here.

She wasn’t some frozen doll.

“Well then, Milady.”

“…What?”

Her reply had a bit of a sting to it. I liked that.

I grinned and puffed out my chest on purpose.

“Let’s get you back to your room.”

I picked the girl up in my arms, carrying her like a princess.

“What!?”

“It’s gotta be hard to even walk right now, right?”

Since we’re close in age, I guess she’s ten? I was nine when I was taken in by the Duke’s house as a trainee knight to serve them.

And at fifteen, I’ll be officially recognized as a knight.

“I’m going to be in this mansion’s care until I become a knight at fifteen. So, I’ll make sure to get away next time, too.”

“…You said it.”

“I did.”

“In that case, I really won’t go easy on you next time.”

“You mean you were going easy on me until now!?”

“I was.”

“That’s totally a lie!”

When I accidentally shouted that out, someone nearby burst out laughing.

Like it was catching, someone else let out a little chuckle, too.

It was only a tiny bit, but the atmosphere of the place finally relaxed.

Lady Oldie was still struggling to catch her breath, but she wouldn’t look away from me. Her eyes, which hadn’t reflected anything until recently, now held a clear heat.

Looking at that, I felt certain.

I’m probably going to be chased around by this young lady for a long time.

But that’s not so bad.

Actually, I’m looking forward to it.

Because until she catches me, this beautiful girl will keep chasing after me, over and over again.