After we finished breakfast, Alice and I set off on our date.
Technically, the main goal was to treat her to the gourmet meal I’d promised, but since we still had plenty of time before lunch, I decided we should use the opportunity to explore the city together.
“Kaito-san, the street food stalls are down that way!”
“...We literally just finished eating.”
“I can eat an infinite amount as long as someone else is footing the bill!”
“...”
Dressed in her usual outfit and mask, Alice puffed out her modest chest with a look of pure, unadulterated triumph. Yeah, she was definitely back in top form. This was the Alice I knew.
“Well, jokes aside... what should we do? Want to catch a puppet show?”
“A puppet show? Is there a theater nearby?”
“Ah, not exactly. There’s a square a short walk from here where troubadours usually gather. There are always two or three shows running. They just work off tips.”
“Heh. I thought I’d seen most of the capital by now, but I haven’t heard of that place.”
An Art Square, or something similar? I’d lived in the Kingdom of Sinfonia’s capital for nearly six months and felt like I’d explored quite a bit, but the city was massive. My usual haunts were probably more limited than I realized.
“It’s tucked away from the main shops and stalls. From Duchess Lilia’s estate, you have to cross all the way through the residential district, so it’s not exactly a place you’d just stumble upon.”
“I see... Wait, hold on. Through the residential district? If my memory serves, isn’t that on the complete opposite side of the city from here?”
“Yep, that’s the one!”
So, Alice’s destination was positioned exactly opposite Lilia-san’s mansion with the Royal Castle in the middle. Wait... Alice just said it was a "short walk." She definitely said that.
No matter how I looked at it, that was not a "short" distance. Was she measuring distance based on her own speed? The capital was a sprawling metropolis. For a regular human like me, covering that distance on foot sounded grueling.
“Hey, Alice... how exactly are we getting there?”
“Oh, just leave it to me!”
She sounded incredibly confident. Then again, it made sense. Even if I hadn’t been there, she knew the location, which meant she could just use Teleportation Magic. Unlike Magic Tools, the teleportation used by the Six Kings allowed them to designate coordinates on the fly. It would be a breeze.
“...Right, teleport—wait, what?”
“Up we go!”
“...Eh?”
My expectations were shattered along with my sense of gravity.
Acting as if I weighed nothing at all, Alice scooped me up effortlessly in her arms. It was a textbook princess carry. Everything about this felt wrong. Before I could even process the embarrassment, a massive wave of dread washed over me.
“And we’re off~!”
“Wait! Hey—?!”
With a cheerful shout, Alice kicked off the ground and leapt onto a nearby rooftop. We were high—dangerously high. Then, as gravity began to pull us back down, she manifested glowing platforms of mana in mid-air, using them as stepping stones to launch us even higher.
What was this? What was happening?! This was how we were traveling? We were just going to boing-boing our way across the city? We just flew over the Royal Castle!
“Wait a minute! Why are we moving like this?! There has to be a better way!”
“But this is the most fun—ah, I mean, I’m doing this so Kaito-san can fully enjoy the scenery of the capital.”
“...You brat.”
“Oops! I miscalculated the power—looks like we’re jumping above the clouds~!”
“Hey! You haven’t even jumped yet—whoa?!”
Despite claiming she’d "miscalculated" before she even launched, Alice followed through on her threat, leaping so high we literally punched through the cloud layer. I knew she was one of the Six Kings and had insane physical strength, but this was ridiculous. What was this idiot thinking?!
Besides, moving this fast and high should have caused issues with air pressure...
“Oh, I’m using a barrier to protect us, so we’re fine!”
“That’s not the kind of ‘consideration’ I’m looking for! You’re going to get it once we land!”
“Uh-oh~ I’ve lost my balance! We’re spinning~!”
“Uwaaaaaaaa?!”
Like a runaway roller coaster, Alice jumped and spun through the air, carrying me across the city in a series of terrifying bounds.
“I-I mean... you know... I just got a little too excited... teehee—ow?!”
“You...”
“Ginyaaaah! My cheeks! You’re gonna pull my cheeks off! Wait, now the ears?! Higyaaaaa?!”
Once we finally arrived at our destination, I immediately made Alice sit in a formal seiza position and proceeded to stretch her cheeks and ears as hard as I could.
“...Ow-w-w... Come on, I was just adding a little spice to a fun date...”
“I didn't ask for that kind of spice!”
Good grief. She wasn’t just back to normal; she was being even more of a nuisance than usual. Still, there was no point in wasting the whole day scolding her. I decided to let it go so we could actually see the puppet show, but I didn’t want to let her keep setting the pace. I needed a way to fight back.
As Alice stood up and prepared to lead the way, an idea struck me.
“All right, let’s get back on track... huh?”
“Now, now, don’t be in such a rush. Let’s take it slow.”
“Eh? Um... Kaito-san? Why are you holding my hand?”
As my counterattack, I reached out and caught her hand before she could walk away, firmly interlacing my fingers with hers.
“Hm? What’s the matter? We’re a couple now, so this is pretty standard, right?”
“Guh! S-So that’s your game, is it? Well played! But don’t underestimate me! I’ve lived thousands of times longer than you, Kaito-san. It’ll take more than this to make me blush!”
“...You’re marching with your right arm and right leg at the same time, though.”
“...I’m just in a rhythmic mood today.”
Alice had clearly realized this was my revenge, and though she tried to feign indifference, her body gave her away immediately. She was walking with the stiff, synchronized gait of a rusted tin soldier. No matter how much she blustered, she was clearly a nervous wreck.
“...Heh, heh heh. What’s wrong? Already out of tricks?”
“Hey, Alice...”
“W-What?!”
“You can act cool all you want, but your face is bright red.”
“Nyaph?!”
She might have thought she was playing it off, but her face—all the way to the tips of her ears—was dyed crimson. When I pointed it out, she let out a weird, cat-like squeak and frantically turned her head away.
“Wh-Wh-What are you talking about?! It’s... it’s just the sunset reflecting off my skin!”
“...Could you at least try to blame the sunrise? Though it’s ten o’clock, so neither really works...”
“Ah! Oh no! Alice-chan has suddenly gone deaf! I can’t hear a thing!”
“You’re really cute, Alice.”
“Au... auuu...”
I’d already figured out that Alice was incredibly weak to direct praise. The moment I called her cute, her face turned a shade of red so intense I half-expected steam to come out of her ears. Her eyes darted around in a frantic search for an escape.
Seeing her like that made me want to tease her even more. By the time we actually reached the square, I’d showered her with so many compliments that she was stumbling along with her head spinning, looking like she was suffering from a heatstroke.
Dear Mother, Father—Alice is back to her old self, acting even sillier than usual. But I think I know why. It’s almost certainly because she’s so intensely aware that this is a date—and she’s just trying to hide her embarrassment.
The Alice-powered Sugar Dempsey Roll pummels Serious-senpai. Makunouchi! Makunouchi! Serious-senpai: “Noooooo—!”