"Yeah about that—"

I was hoping for an opportunity to explain, but the grins on both of their faces were clearly saying that no explanations would work at this point. I looked towards Yoru, but she was just looking back at me curiously. So, in the end, I just prepared myself for whatever they were about to say.

"Nina, don't you think we also deserve to punish him?" Sistina asked. Even though she was asking this to Nina, her eyes were fixed on me.

"Oh yes, we deserve to punish him as much as they did," Nina replied. Like Sistina, her eyes were fixed on me too.

"But when Arica told you guys everything yesterday, you didn't mention anything at all. What's with this punishment all of the sudden?"

I used my trump card, or you could say the only card that I had to escape this predicament without being rude or unfair to them.

"We thought you were tired back then. But now that you had a good night's rest, you are ready for this," Sistina replied.

"Wait, was this why nobody came to wake me up till late today?"

"No, do you really think we would do something like that? We are just doing this because we are sad. You didn't think we were close enough to share something so important," Nina said.

Even though it felt like Arica's exaggerations were the cause of all this talk about the punishment, I did indeed try keeping those things secret from them. And I think it was somewhat unfair of me to do that. I was just grateful that despite everything that happened, they still see me the same. Because in a close relationship, once the trust is shattered, it will take a long time for the things to be the same.

"Okay, just make this simple please."

As long as it was not like Arica's or Princess Anna's request, I could pretty much take it. But considering Sistina and Nina's nature, the punishment shouldn't be that hard. Or at least that was what I was hoping.

"Okay, mine is simple. I just want you to go to a theatre and watch a play with me," Nina said with a slight smile.

Plays of this world would be a new experience for me, so that may not really turn out that bad. I would have even gone if she had just asked me without making it a punishment.

"And... I-I want you to go on a d-date with me too," Sistina said. Unlike a moment ago, she looked a little shy as she was saying that.

'Well I am going on a date with Marina soon, so adding one more date on the list shouldn't be a big deal.'

The only problem was my lack of experience in these matters. Considering Marina and Sistina's nature, I was sure things would be pretty awkward. They would probably be disappointed when they find their expectation and reality completely different from another.

"Okay. Though you should know that it might not be as interesting as you think," I replied, but despite my casual words, a wide smile appeared on her face.

Compared to what Arica and Princess Anna forced me to do, this was practically nothing big. And with this, all my upcoming day-offs are completely occupied.

There was a moment of silence after we finished talking about their wis— I mean my punishment. In the end, it just looked like I was distracting their training, so I decided to leave them alone and go out on a walk outside with Yoru.

"I will go on a walk now; you guys can continue your training."

"Okay," Sistina said with a nod.

"See you guys in the evening," I said as I walked out of the training hall.

Walking on the academy grounds wasn't a bad idea for spending time during a day off. When Yoru and I got out, the sun was right above us, so it was probably high noon. Despite it being the hottest time of the day, the cold wind was keeping the temperature in balance.

As we were walking on the street, the leaves from the trees were falling because of the wind. During all the time I spent in this world, I have noticed that the weather in this world and my previous world were almost the same.

"Hey Nara, was your previous world similar to this one?" Yoru, who was walking next to me, asked.

I wasn't sure how to answer that, both worlds had their good and bad aspects. Though personally, I somewhat preferred this world. It could be because this world was new to me and I was still unaware of a lot of things.

"No Yoru, my previous world was a lot different. People worked hard for independence, but at the end of the day, most of them were stuck on a system. A system that everyone had to follow. Most of the people only cared about themselves. It felt cramped. But maybe... I was just lonely. Compared to that one, this one feels closer even though I have only been here for a while."

"Was that world bad?"

"Not necessarily, the technologies were developed. Life was made comfortable taking every small detail into consideration. It's just that, I feel like I couldn't fit in there. In this world, life isn't as comfortable, especially if you are trying to rise up socially. I think there will be a lot of people who will try to pull my legs if I try to rise up, especially nobles. And the way things are going now, I think I will have to deal with them eventually... But I do have people who care about me."

"Why though? Don't you think things are good the way they are?"

"Yeah, but the storm will probably come in our lives soon. The king is trying to make us an elite knight squad. I think he is doing that here because the Duke here is strict with nobles. He knows how to entertain them while still doing his job. But still, when the time to make this thing public comes, we will get a lot of envy and hate from them. For now at least, with Duke and Miss Lilith here, things are normal."

"You know, you sound like a child scared to grow up. Why not use the knowledge from your previous world and beat them all? You are way stronger than they are."

"I will do that when the right time and situation comes. But if I start walking in that route, I need to be fully prepared to take the responsibility for what's about to come... For now, everything is finally back to normal, and I wanted things to stay normal for as long as it can."

"And now you sound like an old man. You should stop thinking that you are responsible for everyone. You are not their parents, you know."

"Yeah, you are probably right... You know, even in this world and the world before, they are the only people who have been this close to me. And because of that, I might just be overthinking things."

"You know what I think? I think you should just be yourself and do things. I think facing things by being yourself is better than being too careful. You don't have to do what some king or noble wants you to do. You can do things your way."

"Yeah... you are right."