Chapter 244: The Distance Between a Promise and a Prayer

After sending Ymir off, several girls sat around a table at the Adventurer Guild’s bar.

As usual, they gossiped about matters both big and small.

One thing had to be admitted — now that Liz had come to terms with reality, the tense atmosphere that once hung over Dawnblade had completely vanished.

The gossip they shared was lighthearted and relaxed.

However, as they chatted, the conversation quickly turned toward Letia.

“B… Beth?”

Facing their collective gaze, Letia felt a sudden prickle of unease.

Soon, Jessica adjusted her glasses and asked Letia with an incredibly serious expression.

“Letia… how far have things progressed between you and Red?”

Compared to men who discussed national affairs, girls preferred to gossip about domestic matters.

This was especially true when the topic involved someone they all cared about deeply; it was easy for that person to become the center of attention.

Letia had drunk quite a bit of alcohol, and her face was slightly flushed.

She waved her hand dismissively and spoke nonchalantly.

“Well… it’s at the stage of entering each other’s lives, but not yet entering each other’s bodies, I suppose?”

“No way!”

Jessica also expressed her doubts.

“You aren’t trying to fool us, are you? Logically speaking, with your intelligence and methods, taking Red down shouldn’t be a difficult task, right?”

“It really isn’t that difficult…”

Letia took another gulp from her beer mug and said leisurely, “But in his current state, if I really forced myself on him, it would only make the relationship harder to handle afterward.”

“But with the way things are developing, it’s basically set in stone that you two will become a couple later on.”

As Liz said this, she felt a strange, inexplicable pang of bitterness.

‘I was the one who was there first…’

Despite her heartache, she understood that a romantic relationship between her and Red was no longer possible.

She knew Red’s personality; he was never the type to let things linger or remain indecisive.

Fine, she would just drink.

“If you ask me,” Bethany began, her own tongue loosened by the alcohol as she was not a strong drinker, “you should at least make Red be the one to confess first. How can you let the girl be the one to speak up?”

Bethany’s views were more traditional and reserved, but Jessica immediately countered her.

“I think it doesn’t matter who confesses. Getting your hands on the person is what’s most important. Otherwise…”

As she spoke, she shifted her gaze toward Liz, who was currently chugging beer.

The latter immediately snapped back.

“If you have a problem with me, just say it!”

Seeing Jessica withdraw her gaze, Liz let out a triumphant, cold snort.

She looked a bit like a tsundere, reminiscent of how she acted when they were children.

“But seriously, you guys… don’t underestimate Red. Although he seems like he lacks initiative…”

“I have my doubts about that,” Letia countered quietly.

A slightly tipsy Liz ignored Letia’s comment, putting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest.

“If Red truly likes someone, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if he did something like propose out of the blue!”

“Why are you so sure about that?”

Hearing Jessica’s question, Liz immediately slumped to the floor, her hands hitting the wood.

“Because he proposed to me when we were kids, and I didn’t agree…”

“Then you deserve it.”

Jessica’s tongue was sharp, showing no concern for Liz’s current feelings.

Fortunately, Liz had already made peace with it — or perhaps, being drunk, she simply couldn’t process that much information.

She stood back up, her somewhat bleary eyes fixed on Letia.

“But… I’m saying, if Red proposed to you, Letia, how would you answer?”

“Eh?”

Letia clearly hadn’t expected Liz to ask that.

Between the amount she had drunk and the sudden topic, her face flushed even deeper.

She raised her empty glass and spoke unclearly.

“Then I’d have to… see his sincerity first… If he shows enough sincerity, I’ll consider it seriously.”

Liz wasn’t satisfied with that answer and pressed further.

“In other words, if he really proposes, it isn’t impossible for you to say yes, right?”

“I said I would consider it seriously!”

Letia pouted in protest.

At this point, Liz couldn’t suppress her curiosity any longer.

“Speaking of which, Letia, what do you actually see in Red? His face? Or something else?”

The other girls were equally curious about this question.

In their eyes, Letia had always been the type who could talk to anyone but never got close to anyone.

Additionally, she always emphasized that she liked girls.

So, in the beginning, who would have thought this unremarkable, flat-chested girl would become the person closest to Red?

Perhaps it was the alcohol bringing out the truth, or perhaps Letia simply didn’t want to hide her thoughts anymore.

After reflecting for a moment, she spoke.

“It’s a bit of everything… but mostly my own perspective? It’s more because as I got to know him a little, I gradually felt that his hardworking and industrious spirit was very much worth affirming.”

Especially when she thought about her own miserable life in her previous world, Letia felt a great deal of empathy for Red’s plight.

Initially, she just wanted to watch the drama, but… she hadn’t expected his earnestness and endurance to exceed her imagination.

In the end, rather than watching for entertainment, she wanted to understand the most authentic version of him.

If Liz hadn’t acted so inhumanely back on Floor 23, Red might never have left Dawnblade so resolutely.

“But if you ask me, there’s no way something like that would happen,” Letia said, sprawling across the table with her arms spread wide.

“Even though my feelings for Red went from appreciation, to sympathy, and then to affirmation and love… who knows what Red thinks of me?”

“What if it actually happens?”

Jessica pressed.

“Hahaha!”

Letia burst out laughing at Jessica’s persistence.

“Impossible, impossible… but if it really happened, I guess I would probably say yes.”

“Heh.”

Jessica adjusted her non-existent glasses.

“Make sure you don’t go back on your word then.”

“Fine, fine. The premise is that he actually proposes… but I think it’s highly unlikely.”

Letia certainly didn’t think Red would confess or propose to her.

She had always been clear about her position.

She and Red were just best friends of the opposite sex who could talk about anything.

Red wasn’t going to suddenly say, “Brother, oh Brother, you smell so good,” right?

In Letia’s eyes, it was very possible for them to end up as friends with benefits, but becoming lovers or getting married was basically unrealistic.

With that thought, Letia closed her eyes and began mumbling incoherently.

It seemed she really was quite drunk.