Re:Zero: No Job, No Magic, Just a Stupid Romance System

Seeing this, Allen stopped paying attention to Rudy. He turned his head and looked at the group of "children" in front of him—those who used their young age and so-called "justice" to cover their inner malice and pleasure in bullying—and exhaled heavily.

Then, subconsciously, he reached out and brushed the obedient hair from his forehead. The splash of water from the blade breaking through the water just now had splashed onto his hair. Coupled with his stiff hair, it actually gave him a sense of déjà vu, like hairspray hands.

The sharp posture made Rudy look away instinctively.

Allen walked over to the tallest little fat boy, who was only half a head shorter than Allen.

Although he obeyed Allen's command, his eyes showed obvious dissatisfaction—especially after hearing that Allen was only nine years old.

"You don't look satisfied," Allen said.

"You use a knife to bully us!" the boy retorted.

Allen smiled, lowered his head, and gently patted the boy's face.

"You bully the weak because you are strong and numerous, and she can't do anything. Now I bully you because I have a sharp weapon. What will you do?"

Allen patted his face and laughed, leaning close to his ear, patiently teaching him like a big brother next door.

"I am strong and you are weak; shouldn't this be taken for granted?"

The little fat boy's face flushed.

"We are not bullying the weak! She is a demon!"

Allen sneered.

"She is a demon, and I am your father. Come on, call me dad."

The boy's expression froze. He had never heard such a debate before. His face twisted several times, then he burst into tears.

"Did I make you cry?"

The crying stopped abruptly.

"If I see you bullying her again, I will twist your heads off and feed them to the monsters. Now cry, and get out of here."

The little brats ran away crying and wetting themselves.

Allen pouted, turned his head, looked at Sylphy, and prepared to look at the beautiful girl's face.

But her face and head were covered in mud, obscuring her features completely. She sat on the ground, staring blankly at him.

Next to her was the groove left by Allen's fighting spirit—it was only half a body away from her.

Sylphy was not thrown mud by the children this time; instead, Allen had splashed her with muddy water.

Allen opened his mouth helplessly and turned to Rudy.

Rudy was also splashed but kept looking at the backs of those brats running away, looking a little dazed.

Allen stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Rudy, saying a little embarrassedly:

"Well, Rudy, why don't you use water magic to help her clean up? And wash yourself at the same time."

Rudy turned his head, blinked, and looked at Allen in a trance.

"...Okay."

At that moment, Sylphy seemed to come back to her senses. She suddenly jumped into the paddy field. In the dull eyes of Allen and Rudy, her small body struggled to drag Allen's knife back. After reaching the shore, she stretched out her small hands solemnly and handed the knife back to Allen, but didn't look at him—just lowered her head to stare at her wet shoes.

The hair on her forehead was still stained with muddy water, dripping onto the ground with a clacking sound.

It matched the rhythm of her trembling pointed ears.

Allen blinked and sheathed the knife. Looking at Sylphy, who was only up to his chest, he subconsciously reached out to touch her head.

Sylphy dodged, and Allen's hand fell into the air.

His expression froze for a moment. Then he realized that he had been acting entirely on the resentment left in his dream from the beginning, not paying attention to the system at all.

Oh no, the favorability prompt hasn't appeared yet. Could it be that the child was scared?

After Sylphy subconsciously dodged, she saw Allen was dazed and seemed a little flustered. She held her head with both hands, glanced quickly at Allen, then moved her feet timidly and hesitantly, swaying slightly in front of him.

She put her head close to Allen's hand hanging in the air.

[Free instant task — gain Sylphy's favor. Completed. Time: 4:23:17. Evaluation: Righteous partner. I would like to call you the king of children!]

[Boundary magic groove has been unlocked.]

The smoke and dust, like substance, climbed on the dragon saint fighting spirit embryo core in Allen's abdomen, making an embedded buzzing sound that could only be heard in the soul. After a while, a new groove appeared next to the dark brown groove.

It was a white background, like stalactites.

Allen blinked and came to his senses. His hand was still on Sylphy's head. After so long, Sylphy stood quietly in front of Allen, blinking and flickering, looking left and right at the ground, but never moving away.

Suddenly, a burning gaze was cast on his face, and Allen turned his head blankly.

Rudeus looked suspiciously from Allen's hand to Sylphy's face, then to Allen's face.

——Sylphy's facial features were very delicate. Even though Allen had been mentally prepared, he was still amazed.

First of all, her eyelashes were very long, her nose small but straight, her jawline smooth, and her long ears trembling.

Most importantly—

Her skin was so white that, under the sun, the slightly blue blood vessels beneath her skin could be seen.

To be honest, it was much better than the anime.

Especially her reddish-brown pupils, shining with highlights.

Such pupils shouldn't and couldn't be in a state of dullness or numbness.

The owner of those reddish-brown pupils blinked and looked down at the grass in front of her, her green hair flying in the air.

Tony, named Rudy, was blowing her hair.

When Rudy washed Sylphy's hair just now, he had discovered she didn't have the red magic eye on her forehead and confirmed that Allen was indeed playing the chivalrous man.

"Maybe when Allen came to the village, he saw someone bullying this little boy. But why did he have to drag me along? Could it be that he was afraid he'd lose wages if he acted alone? So it was easier to explain that he was accompanying me? But it was very scary. He actually used swordsmanship to attack a group of children. To this, I just want to say, 'Well done, Master Allen! It would be better if I weren't just a background character.'"

"But it doesn't matter. Now there's another little boy as a companion. In this way, my strategy of attracting girls in the future will be more effective, and I'll have more handsome guys. It's a pity this one is a little boy, not a little loli. Otherwise, wouldn't this timid and unconfident look just meet my training needs? Ah, sorry, I've been exposed. I was joking. Hey, wait, is he really a little boy?"

Rudy looked down and saw Sylphy was wearing boy-style coarse cloth trousers, unlike other girls her age in the village who wore skirts.

"Could it be that Allen was attracted by this! Damn, so cunning! No wonder Allen and Paul flirt with each other all day long. It turns out you, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, have this sexual orientation!" Rudy said to himself in the obscene tone unique to NEETs in his previous life, but his hands were steady as he blew Sylphy's hair.

Sylphy blinked and stood up.

The three of them stood on a small hillside near the farmland. There was only one tree on the hillside, towering and lush.

A gust of wind blew, and the silhouettes of leaves fluttered on the ground, with spots of light flickering in between.

Sylphy curled up on her toes and murmured softly, like a mosquito's buzz.

"Thank you."

She glanced at Rudy, then slightly to the side, looking behind her.

Allen leaned lazily against the big tree, looking up at the canopy of shade.

A spot of light sprinkled on the corner of his mouth, swaying with his smile.

Softer than the wind.