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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 278: First Love and Unrequited Feelings

While slowly walking through the imperial city, buying food for the big-eater Shuvina, we finally arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild after a long while.

“This place is as lively as ever.”

“Yeah, but I don’t dislike this kind of atmosphere. It’s not just loud; it’s lively. It makes you feel connected to others.”

“I can somewhat understand that feeling.”

I’m not trying to say something profound about human connections like Shuvina, but it’s definitely more enjoyable here, where I can talk freely without the nobles surrounding me, who only flatter me and gauge my mood.

“That’s surprising. I thought you’d say people don’t matter to you and that you’d dislike this kind of bustle.”

“Not at all. I actually don’t hate this. If I did, I would have turned down the welcome party when I joined Olga’s clan and the dinner gatherings with Rick.”

“That’s true. Hehe. I’m glad to learn more about you, Eir.”

“I see. By the way, what’s that…?”

Just as Shuvina said that with a cheerful laugh, we reached near the reception area, but there, an interesting sight caught my eye, making me stop.

“That’s Olga. And right now, he’s nervously chatting with someone he likes.”

“Huh? Ah, Rai! Long time no see.”

“Good to see you again, Eir and Shuvina.”

We turned towards the voice and saw Rai, one of the SS-rank Clan Black Lion’s executives, smiling warmly as he watched Olga with a fond expression.

“Rai, did you just say Olga has a crush on someone?”

“Yes. Olga is currently head over heels for that receptionist and is doing his best to engage her in conversation while feeling all nervous.”

“Seriously?”

“Hm. I can’t believe that Olga would fall in love. And the fact that the object of his affection is Sheela… That’s quite an unexpected twist.”

Indeed, I was surprised not only because Olga was in love, but even more so because that someone was Sheela, who was in charge of us.

“I wonder how he ended up falling for her?”

“It could take a while to explain, but a few months ago, there was a powerful monster sighting, and we went to hunt it.”

“A powerful monster?”

“It was a poison tiger, an S-rank monster with poison manipulation as its racial magic.”

“That’s troubling.”

The poison tiger Rai mentioned isn’t as fierce as a Hydra but uses various types of poison: fast-acting, delayed, and even those that paralyze or cause hallucinations—making it a tricky foe.

“Well, the hunt itself went smoothly, but it seems Olga got hit by a delayed poison attack during it, and we returned to the guild without realizing it.”

“But he looks fine now.”

“Yeah, actually, here’s where his first love story connects. About two days after we got back to the guild, Olga suddenly collapsed while walking through the city.”

“Could it be that the delayed poison affected him all at once?”

“Exactly. Olga has a visibly strong physique, so it likely took a while for the delayed poison to show its effects. When it did, he collapsed, and his skin turned purple. The townsfolk recognized it as poison and wouldn’t approach him.”

“They must’ve thought they’d get poisoned too if they touched him.”

“That’s right. Yet, in that situation, the first one to rush in and help was Sheela. After realizing that, Olga fell in love with her as if she were a princess from a story, and that’s how we got here.”

“I see.”

People unfamiliar with Olga’s story might think he’s simple for falling in love this way, but knowing his background, it made sense to me.

“Olga, who was always the one helping others, fell for someone after being saved. What a heartwarming tale.”

“Haha, true. We wanted to support him all this time, but in reality, it was us who often needed his help. Plus, it’s been that way since we were kids, so I guess for him, being helped by a good-hearted woman left quite an impression.”

“Well, Sheela is a good person, and I’ll support him.”

“Yes, if you say so, Eir, I appreciate it, but you might find yourself in a different kind of trouble.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, could it be you haven’t noticed?”

“Rai, he’s a bit slow on the uptake about these things. Plus, he doesn’t care, so it’s quite a terrible situation.”

“Ah, I see. It sounds like you’re all in for quite the struggle.”

Rai said this with a wry smile, while Shuvina looked at me with a mix of disbelief and pity, but they didn’t explain why.

“By the way, what brings you to the guild today?”

“Oh, right! I was thinking of going monster hunting with Shuvina, and thought we might as well take a quest and make some money.”

“I see. In that case, I recommend the lake and surrounding forest beyond the western gate of the imperial city. A month ago, it started having some decent rank monsters, so it should be somewhat enjoyable.”

“The monsters’ ranks have increased, huh?”

“Yeah. The guild’s been suspicious about it, and they even dispatched an investigation team recently. But there didn’t seem to be anything in particular; it just looks like the monsters are a bit stronger now.”

“That sounds interesting. We’ll definitely check it out.”

Saying that, I turned away from the reception to head toward the guild’s door to go back the way we came.

“Where are you going? Weren’t you going to take a quest?”

“That was the plan, but I’d feel bad interrupting Olga, so I think we’ll skip the quest this time. Besides, we’re not exactly broke.”

“Haha, fair enough. Thank you for thinking of Olga. Feel free to come visit our clan’s base anytime.”

“Sure! See you then.”

“Until we meet again, Rai.”

We took one last glance at Sheela, who looked happily lost in her own world, and the softened Olga.

“Hehe, they really look good together.”

“Yeah, we don’t know how it’ll turn out yet, but the vibe seems nice. If they start dating, they’d make quite the matching couple.”

Having said that, Shuvina echoed my thoughts with a smile.

“Seeing scenes like this isn’t too bad once in a while.”

After muttering that last thought, I exited the guild, heading together with Shuvina toward the west as directed by Rai.

 

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