“What do you mean by ‘mutual affection’…”
Red looked at the shifty-eyed Tos with a bit of speechlessness.
“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s not what you think.”
“Oh, sure, sure…”
Tos picked at his ear impatiently.
“I’ve heard this so many times it’s like grass is growing in my ears. It was the same with Litt, and now it’s the same with Letia… When are you going to take a little initiative? The girl has been chasing you this whole time.”
“I’ve always been proactive,” Red shrugged.
“Who says proactively asking her for white silk photos doesn’t count as initiative?”
“Forget it… Thinking back, you’ve always been this way. Unless Letia pins you to the ground and grinds you into the dirt, I don’t think you’ll ever take that step forward.”
‘Who said the gap between a girl chasing a boy is as thin as a veil?’
Wasn’t Red right in front of him a classic example?
In truth, Tos understood and felt sympathy for Red’s current mental state, but he pitied Letia even more.
His friend’s psychological state was indeed complicated.
Strictly speaking, he had two relationships develop in the past.
One was with Liz…
He wanted to find a home, but ended up finding a capitalist.
The other should be Litt.
That one was a heavyweight.
Her departure dealt a massive blow to Red’s recently healed heart.
These two traumatic events resulted in the current Red being extremely cautious about relationships, like a fatally wounded beast.
He had built high walls to shut out anyone who tried to get close.
To put it bluntly, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it cowardice.
He was afraid of hurting others, and afraid of getting hurt himself.
“But… Red,” Tos’s voice suddenly became low and serious.
He dropped his playful grin and stared at his friend with burning eyes.
“Speak from your heart. Letia has done so much for you. Do you really have no feelings for her at all?”
A young girl had chosen to cancel her adventurer status just to look after Red’s mental health.
She came to his side and did everything she could to help him escape his nightmares.
It was as if she had personally cut off her own future to choose him.
Such a massive sacrifice would make anyone hesitate for a long time, but Tos had heard from Liz that Letia hadn’t hesitated at all.
It was as if she had been mentally prepared for it, resolutely leaving the Dawnblade and even canceling her own Adventurer’s License.
Faced with Tos’s words, Red remained silent for a long time.
Finally… he nodded.
To say he had no feelings at all would be a lie.
Setting aside everything else, if he didn’t have those kinds of thoughts about Letia, let alone the Big Head, the Little Head would certainly be the first to object.
But that girl, Letia… her character was simply too hard to read.
She was the type of person who could casually throw around “I love you” all the time, making it impossible to judge her true feelings.
And more importantly… perhaps because they were too familiar, it felt like they had become family, giving Red a headache about how to even start.
However, Tos couldn’t hear those inner murmurs.
He just saw Red nod and breathed a sigh of relief.
“I knew it. How could a white silk loli-con like you ever give up on Letia? At least in terms of appearance, she’s basically the perfect partner in your heart.”
“…Let me clarify once again. I admit to the first two words, but the middle two are pure slander.”
Red knew his own XP quite well.
He really just liked white silk.
It just so happened that the characters who suited white silk were all lolies…
How could that make him a loli-con?
Besides, with Letia’s personality, could she even be called a loli?
She was more like an “expired loli.”
“Besides, Red, when you’re with Letia, your expressions become much richer. It’s completely different from when you’re with us. That’s why we guessed you must have feelings for her.”
Red retorted irritably, “That’s just because I’m purely annoyed. Is it so strange to have more expressions then?”
“Is that so?”
Tos didn’t reply directly, but recalled what Mason had said.
When Litt died, the change in Red had been incredibly dramatic.
That look in his eyes… even Mason had felt terrified.
Mason had also said that if he had faced Red in that state… even he couldn’t guarantee a win.
Perhaps what Red said to Liz wasn’t wrong.
He never felt hatred or hostility toward her, nor did he harbor any anger or resentment.
If he did… how could he have such an indifferent attitude toward her?
So, had Red ever truly been angry at Letia?
On this question, Tos’s answer was a definite no.
“But Red, I truly believe Letia’s attitude toward you is very special. As long as you take some initiative, there won’t be any problem. You’re a man, shouldn’t you be a bit more assertive sometimes? Why don’t you just push Letia down? Despite her tough talk, she wouldn’t be able to handle it if you actually did it.”
Red’s mind couldn’t help but recall when Letia had visited his unopened Weapon Shop a long time ago.
Because this idiot Tos had accidentally left a banana peel on the floor, the two of them had ended up falling together.
Remembering her blushing face and how flustered she was back then, a smile unconsciously tugged at the corner of Red’s mouth.
“Oh? Starting to imagine it already? I didn’t realize you were such a pervert, Red.”
“Get lost.”
Red rolled his eyes at Tos.
“But it seems you really are naturally lacking in self-confidence.”
“Do you think everyone is born like you, a rich second-generation heir with a massive fortune?”
“Confidence has nothing to do with family background. You should work on it, Red. Besides… you’re not bad-looking. It’s not like you’re some monster.”
“Forget it… I’ll try.”
Red didn’t intend to keep arguing with Tos.
He turned his gaze back to the Adventurer Guild President, who was still talking non-stop on the stage.
His current mental state was indeed a bit complicated.
As Tos had said before, Litt… though for unknown reasons, might have faked her death.
If he could find her one day, he would definitely demand to know why she did it.
But now, he had a “little tail” named Letia by his side.
He felt like his resolve to go and question the other woman wasn’t quite as strong anymore…