CH 17

The sky stretched across the window, and today was another stunningly clear day. Little bright orange birds chirped cheerfully, celebrating the start of a new day. It was a beautiful morning. A morning that was too good for me.

“Takumi, how are you feeling?”

“I’m sorry, both Felix and I got carried away after all. I pushed you too hard didn’t I, my bad.”

“No, it’s fine. Thanks for worrying about me.” 

The two who were peering into my face right now were none other than Felix and Gazelle. After being continuously ravaged by both of them, I eventually passed out. Upon awakening, I found myself lying on a bed in Gazelle’s quarters. Rather, all three of us were present right now in Gazelle’s room.

When I asked why we had moved from Felix’s bed to Gazelle’s room, Gazelle simply stated that the bed in Felix’s room was soiled with sweat and semen. To be sleeping in that environment was a bit… So, in the end, we all moved to Gazelle’s room instead.

I-I see…

As I awoke, the sky had only begun to lighten but Felix and Gazelle were already up and about. It seemed that getting up at first light was something of a routine for both of them. Although Felix and Gazelle urged me to stay in bed since they were taking a leave today, I had something important I wanted to talk to them about—which was why I was currently sitting in front of them, having borrowed a reception table and a couch from Gazelle’s room.

“Right, Takumi. What’s with the formality?”

“Is it because you’re choosing between Felix and me?”

“Hmm, is that so…”

I cleared my throat slightly. The two people in front of me straightened their backs, possibly sensing my nervousness, and continued to stare at me squarely with serious expressions. 

“…Erm, it’s about the confessions I received from Gazelle and Felix.”

“Oh, y-yes!”

“…Un.”

“Gazelle and Felix, by any chance, do you really like me?” 

“….”

“….”

The air in the room instantly chilled after I asked this question.

“Erm…. Everyone?” 

“Wait, hold up! Takumi, you, what is going on? I and Felix already confessed to you, right?!?

Felix, who was beyond bewildered with his mind dazed was unable to understand what I was saying, while Gazelle, on the other hand, was confused, looking aghast, and muttered, “What are you talking about?”

The current scene before me was completely bizarre. I had never seen the two looking so distraught before.

“No, I mean…The two of you did confess to me last night. But, I personally thought that maybe you’ve said that out of a sense of responsibility towards me—” 

Gazelle’s eyes instantly widened upon hearing my words. In general, Gazelle and Felix were both upright human beings and attractive, physically and in soul.

When these two men confessed their feelings for me, I assumed that because they had a strong sense of responsibility, they must had mistakenly thought that they liked me, similar to a suspension bridge effect.

“And, I thought that with time, those feelings would eventually fade away. But after yesterday’s confession, it makes me think that…somehow, both of you really like me; not out of your sense of responsibility and sympathy. Am I wrong?”

“…” 

Oh? Gazelle’s hanging his head down. How unusual. I haven’t seen Gazelle like this for some time.

“…I thought Takumi’s always being indifferent to himself or have low self-esteem… But I didn’t expect it to be this bad,” Gazelle grunted while holding his head down as if having a headache. Felix, who sat next to him, remained bewildered.

“Somehow… I have a feeling that Takumi was avoiding giving his answer. However, I believed it was because he was concerned about his position in the Black-winged knights, so I steeled myself not to rush him, but…”

“Ah… No, it wasn’t because I’m concerned about my own position or yours’.” 

Well, it’s certainly not hard to imagine that rejecting the confessions of either the leader or the vice leader of the knight order you belong to would definitely leave an unpleasant aftertaste, right?

However, I’m sure that these two handsome men, not only in appearance but also in personality, will take a proper and mature approach to the situation, no matter what the outcome.

So, the problem is whether it’s okay for me to accept a confession of love from these two fine gentlemen!

“…I, don’t have the right to receive your confessions of love. That’s why I thought it must have been a delusion after hearing both of your confessions. And also why I didn’t give you an answer immediately.” 

I mean, even though I’m a member of the Black-winged knights now, which is a respectable job—in reality, I was actually an indoor otaku, or an almost hikikomori in my previous world… Even now, I’m not really good at communicating with everyone…

Everyone in the Black-winged knights is very kind to me and takes care of me a lot which helps me to get by. In contrast, if I had gotten a job in some company in my previous world, I didn’t think that I’ll do well as compared to now.

“I did a lot of unreasonable things and got hurt in front of you two, didn’t I? So I thought you guys might have misunderstood your feelings out of concern for me. Just like a fever, I figured if I kept delaying my answer, you two would eventually lose interest in me.”

“…That is indeed very disconcerting.” 

Erm, Felix, you look really mad!

His amethyst eyes, which lost their expression, appeared to be emitting cold air. Nonetheless, I controlled my trembling body and continued to speak quickly.

“Y-yesterday, the two of you seriously told me that I can rely on you both, didn’t you? Even I can tell that the sincerity behind those words was more than just a passing sentiment. That’s why I’ve finally realized you both are serious about your feelings for me.”

“…Is that so. I’m not sure if I should be happy or angry…” 

“Yesterday, Takumi lost consciousness, and I ended it right then, but… If I had listened to this yesterday, I would have kept pounding you and make you cry whether you’ve lost consciousness or not,” Gazelle said jokingly, with a false smile in his golden eyes. In contrast, his pair of eyes were intently staring at me with a predatory glint.

…Waaaah… I’m glad I didn’t tell him this yesterday. I’m really, really glad.

Yesterday, although it felt good, I could never do anything beyond that! After getting on all fours, having Gazelle’s pen*s penetrating me while…giving Felix a blowj*b… And after Gazelle was done, Felix returned to f*ck me once again…

Ah, nope! No more! If I remember any more than this, it’ll cause me too much mental damage! 

In truth, I had already made up my mind to accept both of them… Well, but… after yesterday’s incident, I was glad they were feeling the same way…

“…I guess that doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t take you both seriously. I’m sorry, Gazelle, and you too, Felix.”

In response to my words, Gazelle laughed, shrugging his shoulders, while Felix replied, ‘no’ by shaking his head.

“You understand us now, don’t you? Then, that’s enough.” 

“Ahh~ it seems we didn’t express ourselves enough. From now on, we should express our affection to the point Takumi begging us to stop.”

“…Thank you, Gazelle, Felix. I’m really happy to hear your feelings about me. Therefore, from now on, I want to seriously consider my own feelings for both of you.

…It might take me some time, but could you please wait for me?”

Gazelle and Felix nodded with gentle smiles at my words. 

“Of course. I was originally going to wait for you forever.” Felix squinted his amethyst eyes and smiled at me like a prince on a white horse.

“Me too. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be okay if you just like both of us?” Gazelle flashed his smile while saying this.

“Un?… Stop teasing me, Gazelle.”

Hey, hey, you’re joking right? No… It’s true that “Change the World” also have a harem ending, but… this, is a joke, isn’t it? 

I then shifted my attention to Felix cautiously. However, he, too, seemed unperturbed and showed no signs of being upset by Gazelle’s words.

“…That’s right. If that happens, I wish I could be Takumi’s only special person, but… If it’s with Commander Gazelle as my rival, I don’t really have a choice. Or rather, I don’t mind if it’s Commander Gazelle.”

“I don’t mind Felix being my rival, either. If it’s someone else, then I’ll never give up… This guy, he’s a reliable Vice Commander after all.”

“W-Well, let’s talk about this another time. This is just the beginning.” Sensing that the conversation was going in a different direction, I hurriedly interrupted their conversation. 

That’s right—this is just the beginning.

The only part of the scenario that I could only change was the prequel before the protagonist was summoned. In the end, I was unable to avoid the Black-winged knights’ destruction event.

It all starts from now.

…Speaking of that, shouldn’t it be about time? –The protagonist’s summoning event. 

I don’t know whether a male or female protagonist will be summoned… Either way, “Change the World” will only commence when he or she has been summoned. If the protagonist comes, and that child falls in love with Gazelle or Felix… Wouldn’t it be possible for them to develop feelings for that child?

…Wait, just now, after thinking about this makes me feel a little nauseous. What’s this? Eh, could it be jealousy? Eh~~, seriously? Me? Feeling jealous?

“—Come to think of it, I’ve heard rumors, isn’t there a summoning ritual in this country to summon a savior from another world?” With the intention of putting a lid on my feelings inside my heart and lightening the mood, I asked this question to Gazelle and Felix.

If I could recall correctly, the existence of the summoning ritual was not hidden in “Change the World.” In fact, it ought to be widely known as a custom that had been passed down for generations in this country. 

While the summoning ritual was known to the civilians, the fact that the summoned protagonist was from another world was kept hidden under the civilians’ eyes. However, it did seem like the members of the knight order and the higher-ups were already aware of this secret. Then bringing up this subject with Gazelle and Felix should not be a problem.

“Summoning rituals? Such things, you seem to know it well. Did you hear it from Iris?”

“N-no… It’s just that, the priests and the king’s entourage were talking about the rumors of the demon king’s return and the recent increase in monsters. So, I thought that maybe Gazelle and Felix have some knowledge about the summoning ritual.”

Right then, Felix continued, “But, as long as we have Takumi’s potions, we don’t really need to rely on obscure things such as summoning rituals.” 

“Uh-huh. And now that we’ve succeeded in subjugating the wyverns pack, I wonder if the summoning ritual will ever be mentioned again.”

“…Eh??”

Cold sweat ran down my back. I was speechless, frozen in thought, as Gazelle and Felix continued, “If anything, the increase in monsters will be a boon to adventurers once the development of potions takes off. The number of requests to gather materials will also increase.”

“Actually, I’m kind of expecting an overhunting of low-grade monsters as a result…” 

“Ah~~ Right~ We better take care of that too while we’re at it.”

“W-wait a minute, Gazelle, Felix!”

Once again, I rushed to interject into their conversation. I knew it was impolite of me, but this wasn’t the time to dwell back any longer.

“Did you two just say… there’ll be no summoning ritual?” 

“Hmm? Yes, but is there a problem?”

Problem??? It’s a very big deal, Gazelle-san!!!

After all, if the summoning ritual is not performed, that means the protagonist will not come to this world, right?!

Why? Why does this happen? Why isn’t the protagonist coming to this world? Are you going to be the protagonist instead? 

“An ancient ritual to summon a savior… Well, this country is not in a situation where it needs to rely on such tradition. To begin with, we don’t even know if another world really exists.”

“I agree.”

If one or two of the knight orders were purged because they couldn’t keep up with the increase in monsters—the Kingdom of Ritzheim would be on the verge of a national defense crisis!

If this happens, they might decide to proceed with the summoning ritual then. 

Felix and Gazelle looked at me with curious looks on their faces as they carefully explained the situation to me. However, I was so shocked by what the two of them said that I felt like I was about to fall over.

W-wait, what’s this then? To summarize: I made a number of changes to the game scenario for the Black-winged knights. Does this mean that the ceremony to summon the protagonist was canceled as a result? In other words, because of me, the protagonist will never step foot in this world in the future.

“Takumi, what’s wrong?”

“Your complexion doesn’t look too good… Did I push you too hard?” 

Felix, who rushed next to me, gently held me by my shoulders as my blood drained from my veins. Gazelle, seated in front of me, peeked at me with concern.

“Takumi, is your body still hurting somewhere?”

“I’ll take him to the infirmary. I’m wondering about the magic formula, and I might as well have it looked at just in case.”

Their kind words and concern almost brought tears to my eyes almost instantly. 

“…Both of you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“That’s right. I mean, the responsibility is ours. You usually have too many things on your mind, so for today, don’t think about anything and just be a rational grown-up in your room.”

“We… will absolutely help Takumi, no matter what. So please don’t apologize just for this.” 

“Gazelle… Felix…”

Of course, although they didn’t know the true reason why I turned pale, nonetheless, they still spoke to me with such heartfelt words.

I’m so blessed. For having these two showering me with such sincere kindness. Even though I can only give vague answers in return, they still love me.

…Therefore, I, should also do everything I can for them. 

That’s right! Even if the protagonist doesn’t come to this world after I had broken all kinds of flags, so what! No matter how you look at it, it seems too precarious…  But even I’ve made a lot of terrible mistakes in the past. However, with the help of people around me, I’ve managed to overcome them, haven’t I?

So from now on, I will just continue to do the same thing. With the help from Gazelle and Felix, I’ll just keep pushing forward.

…Un, thinking this way makes me feel a little better.

“…Then, Gazelle and Felix. From now on, please take care of me.” 

“What’s wrong, you’ve changed all of a sudden… Well, this is once in a while. Take care of me, will you, Takumi.”

“Hmm. I’m in your care, Takumi.”

Gazelle patted me on the head and Felix took me by the hand. I got up from the sofa and went to the door.

…Yes, that’s right. I’m sure that my real start in this world will commence once I step out of this door. 

The protagonist’s summoning ritual, which was supposed to be a way to avoid the Black-winged knights’ destruction event, had already been foiled.

Along with the kindness that Gazelle and Felix are currently bestowing me. Ah, but, I still think it’s a big problem that the protagonist is not coming to this world, though!

Together with Gazelle and Felix, I was about to take a step out of the room. The moment I raised my gaze to meet theirs, I saw a pair of crystal eyes and a pair of predator-like golden eyes—gazing down at me.

…Yes, fortunately, I have a lot of reliable companions. Even if I can’t do it alone, with the help of those around me, I’ll be able to make it work. 

Later, I returned their gazes with a smile. And behind us, after taking our first step toward a new beginning—the sound of the door closing silently resounded.