I was walking with Satsuki on the outskirts of the village, in a quiet forest where the hooting of owls could be heard.
Satsuki and I were walking on the outskirts of the village.

In the darkness, the tip of my sorcerer's staff was illuminated by a pale light from the effect of a light spell.
Satsuki stopped and leaned her back against one of the tree trunks, which was illuminated by the light.

'What's the story at ......?'

Satsuki's voice sounded daringly casual.
Her eyes did not look straight at me, her gaze was averted to the side.
Her face was illuminated by the light, and her cheeks seemed to be slightly reddish.

'Satsuki, are you drunk?

'...... Well, yeah. But I'm not unconscious or anything. How's Will?'

'I'm in moderation. At least I'm not in a state where I can't take responsibility for what I say.'

'I see.'

Once there, the conversation stops.
But since I'm the one who called them here to talk, I have to lead the conversation.

I stand in a position where Satsuki and I can't reach each other even if we reach out to each other, and I make my main point to her.

'I've been letting it go because I thought it was possible that I was conceited or mistaken, but after one incident, I thought it was insincere and decided to talk about it seriously. Satsuki, I'll get straight to the point. Do you like me in a romantic sense?

I thought I spoke in my normal tone.
But inwardly, I could not remain calm.

I'm asking the definitive question.
Part of me was embarrassed if I was wrong, but more than that, I was afraid that the relationship between us might not go on as before.

Satsuki replied in the affirmative to my question.

'Yeah. ...... What's with that question? I don't know. I don't know why you wouldn't, after approaching him so much.

I'm sorry. But I've also heard that girls always make a moderate number of approaches as insurance even if it's not the one they want. I didn't want to proceed with the misunderstanding, so I wanted to confirm it beforehand.

'Oh ...... well, it seems there are guys like that. But do I look like I'm that handy? ...... No, that's okay, that's okay. It's not a very s*xy conversation, even if you're talking about .......

Satsuki chuckles.
It was an expression that I had never seen on Satsuki's face before.

'So... So what? I like you, Will. I love you. I love you so much that even just talking to you now makes me feel like my heart is going to burst. So... so what?

Then Satsuki finally looked straight up at me with dull eyes.

Satsuki's cheeks had turned so red that I could recognize them even by the light.

When I saw Satsuki's eyes, I felt something in my heart.
I had thought of Satsuki as an attractive woman many times, but I had never seen her like this before.

I took a breath to calm myself down.
I take a breath to calm my mind, then calmly speak to Satsuki.

'I want to tell you my thoughts, Satsuki.

'......Not "feelings", but "thoughts". ....... All right, I'll listen...'

And just as I was about to say that, Satsuki held out her palm toward me.

'No... wait. Before that, can I tell you something about me?

'............'

The reply came unexpectedly.

In my head, I think about how to change the course of the conversation.
However, I couldn't predict how the conversation would turn out, and I couldn't predict how it would develop in the future.

However, I don't think it's good for me to talk only to myself.
If there is something that Satsuki wants to tell me, I should ask her about it.

'...... Oh, okay.'

'Good. ......Well, where shall we start? ......'

Satsuki looked down with a gloomy expression.
Then, after a short pause, Satsuki began to speak.

'To be honest, it's almost like love at first sight. I don't know what it was even for me. But it all started back then, when we killed the goblins. When I said I couldn't kill an unarmed enemy, you still accepted me, right? I was so happy about that. And I thought Will was really cool. From then on, it was like falling down a hill, I was falling down so fast.

'............'

'And the more time I spent with Will, the more I fell in love with him. ...... See, I'm an idiot, right? You know, I say a lot of stupid things. But Will accepted me like that, accepted me as me, and the more we talked, the happier I became. ...... Oh man, I don't know what I'm talking about anymore. I don't know what I'm talking about.

Then Satsuki looked me in the eye again as if she had made up her mind.
And then...

'I love you, Will! So... please go out with me!

Then Satsuki made the most respectful posture and held out her right hand toward me.