The Knight of Clingy Young Ladies

090.

When was it…

I feel like I’ve been through a similar situation before.

And it wasn’t even that long ago.

-Kalen sat silently in a room far too luxurious to be called an inn.

Moreover, since it was his own room, there was nothing strange about him lying down comfortably.

Nevertheless, Kalen remained still, sitting on the bed with a sense of tension.

The reason was quite clear.

Kalen raised his head and met the intense gazes of five pairs of eyes fixed on him.

All but one of the four young ladies seemed to be staring with a particularly piercing look.

As this uncomfortable silence stretched on, Kalen began to recall a similar situation.

The tearoom of Ecclesia.

Specifically, the private tearoom within.

It happened not long after they began the selection process.

He had been dragged into the men-forbidden zone and bombarded with difficult questions.

The current situation was unmistakably similar.

Even the looks they were giving him now resembled the ones he received when they discovered he had spent time with Laris.

When he reflected on his memories, the internal tearoom of Ecclesia had once broken its men-forbidden rule.

And the culprit was none other than Kalen himself, who unknowingly brought Eliana there.

Yes, that was back when he knew nothing.

And Kalen realized that the present was not like that time.

An atmosphere where a single wrong word could lead to trouble.

It was after he had informed them that he would briefly visit the Plache family with Laris.

Of course, though it was an unspoken fact, Kalen and the young ladies who stared at him intently were far from having a normal relationship.

Regardless of Daphnis and Licheisa, at least Eliana, Serasie, and Sina were bound by matters of life and death.

Kalen was aware that they had shown considerable anxiety and almost obsessive behavior.

Especially given the comments made by Sina, it was clear that the feelings these women harbored for Kalen were not insignificant.

Nevertheless.

Even so…

Was it really necessary for them to look at him so coldly just because he had said he would visit the Plache family with Laris?

Kalen felt a bit wronged.

This is like…

Like how a married wife manages her husband.

Kalen had never dated anyone, and the idea of marriage was absurdly far-fetched, so the analogy might not be precise.

However, Kalen felt that the feeling, which he had not experienced, was oddly appropriate.

Kalen was lost in these thoughts when he was brought back to reality by the quiet murmur of Eliana’s voice.

When he turned his gaze to her, Eliana’s eyes bore a cold intensity.

It might have been Kalen’s imagination.

Eliana, after all, has always been a composed girl, showing little change in expression since the first time they met.

However, Kalen knew this was different.

Clearly, her demeanor now was far from her usual composure.

“…So.”

Deciding that the matter had been settled, Kalen responded with a simple “Yeah,” only to perceive that Eliana’s gaze had grown even colder.

Turning his head away, he found Serasie staring back with an equally stern expression.

“Kalen.”

“…Sister.”

“Is it… really necessary to go?”

Serasie may appear as someone who laughs easily, but Kalen knows that isn’t the case.

Behind the facade she maintains in front of him, the girl isn’t as bright as she seems.

Still, unlike Eliana, she isn’t naturally cold either, making it easier for Kalen to look her in the face.

“This is different. We overcame our circumstances out of sheer necessity. What the Plache family seeks to do is to forcibly create peril.”

It was a valid argument.

If the formation of mindscapes followed a specific pattern, it was vastly different from what Serasie suggested.

Their situations might not even be comparable.

After all, the idea that one could intentionally awaken a mindscape had long been debunked in magical circles.

Still, there were three young ladies who had awoken their mindscapes alongside Kalen.

Kalen nodded toward Serasie, one of them.

“Sister, it’s not just you.”

“Huh?”

When questioned by Serasie about his apparent non sequitur, Kalen directed his gaze toward Eliana, then back to Serasie, and ultimately to Sina.

“Eliana, you, and Sina were all desperate, weren’t you?”

Though Kalen didn’t say much, the implications were clear to the three young women.

Who would deny it?

For different reasons, the young ladies had each suffered deeply from their own wounds.

What had healed them was the boy standing before them.

A mindscape serves as the testament to their unbreakable bond.

Thus, it couldn’t be refuted.

And it wasn’t impossible to consider that Laris, too, might bear a similar wound she experienced before meeting Kalen.

The girls had been redeemed by him, making it impossible to stand in his way.

As Serasie lost her words, Kalen continued.

“By saying this, I don’t mean to criticize. I’m just saying that the Plache young lady has her own circumstances and that I happen to be in a position to help. Besides…”

Kalen now turned his attention toward Daphnis and Licheisa.

The young ladies he did not share a mindscape with.

Their relationship started in Ecclesia.

“I’ve found something I want to achieve and this matter might be related. It doesn’t seem entirely unrelated, and since I haven’t yet grasped any leads, I feel I should explore any possibility.”

Finally, Kalen turned his gaze toward Sina.

Initially, Sina also bore a cold expression when she burst into the room, but as she listened to Kalen’s words, her features began to soften.

“On the contrary, this is a risk we can control, so there’s no reason to avoid it. Unexpected things have happened three times already, yet I’ve successfully navigated through them all.”

In his tone of confidence, there was an inadvertent air of arrogance.

However, in Kalen’s eyes lay an unbending conviction.

It was the strength of achievements that seemed miraculous.

They were not mere strokes of luck.

Even Daphnis and Licheisa, who had only recently met him, could marvel at the depth of Kalen’s conviction, though only in its surface form.

But the three women who held vivid memories of their shared experiences couldn’t help but acknowledge him.

Kalen.

The boy who had saved them and performed what seemed impossible.

The girls felt too far along this path to deny his steps.

Perhaps it’s true that the side one loves more always wins.

Now, instead of trying to stop him, the three young women only felt an increasing concern reflected in their expressions.

Perhaps they had subconsciously anticipated this stance from him.

A trustworthiness far exceeding that of any boy of his age or even the lords of the social circle—Kalen’s was a steady presence.

While his strides may have remained hidden, his actions were consistently reliable.

“Trust me, I’ll return safely.”

It wasn’t a request for permission.

Kalen was merely informing them.

Though Kalen’s quick resolution following his assessment of their expressions was the driving force, the young women were unaware of this detail.

One by one, they nodded silently.

*

Thus, the storm-like moment passed.

Exhausted, Kalen lay down on the bed.

It had been nerve-wracking in moments, causing him to break out in cold sweat.

Though it seemed he had successfully navigated through unscathed, confronting these young women was still daunting.

A while after Kalen lay down and closed his eyes, a voice spoke up.

“You speak better than I expected. It seems you always accommodate their wishes.”

“…Then you should’ve helped rather than just watching.”

“Me? I wouldn’t have lasted a moment. You’ve grown accustomed to them, so you don’t notice it, but…”

“Notice what?”

“Hmm… Nothing, really. No matter how much I explain, you, being a man, wouldn’t understand.”

As before, Laris’ words carried many unclear implications.

Pondering over them briefly, Kalen dismissed them and turned his head slightly.

“I want to leave as soon as preparations are made.”

“Alright. I have no intention of prolonging this either. In fact, I wish we could move faster.”

“Are you leaving tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

Upon receiving the answer he wanted, Kalen stared back at the ceiling.

Laris, who had been sitting in one corner of the room, finally rose to her feet.

“Kalen-sama.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

With those words unreciprocated, Laris exited the room.

Lying there, Kalen quietly absorbed her gratitude.

*

Elsewhere, the five young ladies who had exited Kalen’s room had gathered:

Eliana, Serasie, Sina, Daphnis, and Licheisa were in one room.

Though they frequently gathered for selection work since their return to the inn, today wasn’t their usual gathering at Serasie’s.

Now wasn’t the time to focus on the selection process.

The realization had struck them upon leaving Kalen’s room—while they were reminiscing about their shared memories with him.

Recalling those moments triggered memories of happy times with Kalen.

For the three girls who had mindscapes with him, the truth was unmistakable:

Everything shared with Kalen amounted to treasured memories.

Battling alongside him created unforgettable vistas.

Looking at the boy, hearts naturally began to race—a feeling none of the three could avoid.

And now…

Kalen aimed to create a mindscape with Laris.

Though the idea itself seemed absurd, the problem was that Kalen might actually succeed.

If Kalen and Laris were to create a mindscape like the three of them had…

Placing their lives on the line for each other.

Sharing the most breathtaking mindscapes.

As mentioned, the feelings inevitably born at the end of such an experience cannot be so easily managed by oneself.

Laris would be no exception.

—

Eliana, Serasie, and Sina unintentionally exchanged glances in that same moment.

Daphnis too sensed an unsettling atmosphere.

Licheisa merely looked tenderly at Daphnis, but…

The thoughts they each harbored at that moment were likely not too different from one another.

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