Novel Bin
Chapter 18: A Day Off With the Girls… Turns Into a Date?! Wait, It’s a Competition Now?!
Scene: Headmistress’ Office – Early Morning
Zephyr stood awkwardly before the Headmistress, still wearing his janitor’s coat, mop slung casually over his shoulder. The old woman raised a brow.
Headmistress: “You’ve become quite the spectacle, Mr. Arclight. Dueling princes, defeating dungeon lords, refusing queens…”
Zephyr blinked.
“In my defense, I only wanted to mop the greenhouse.”
“Be that as it may, your fan club now rivals our student council.”
She pushed forward a parchment.
“You’ve been… granted a break. Mandatory. Take the day off.”
Zephyr:
“…Is this a trap?”
Scene: Academy Commons – A Little Later
Zephyr sat on a bench, sipping tea and genuinely enjoying the sunlight.
Then he felt it. A presence. No, three of them.
Arwen, her soft footsteps like whispers.
Seraphina, marching like a knight on a mission.
Drakynia, her shadow blocking the sun like a proud dragon’s wing.
Seraphina: “I heard you have a free day.”
Arwen: “So did I.”
Drakynia: “We are going out. With you. Now.”
Zephyr blinked.
“…This is a trap.”
Scene: Town Square – Late Morning
They ended up at the market in Lumina Town, where magical trinkets, food stalls, and enchanted artifacts filled the cobbled streets.
Zephyr walked calmly, unaware that the three girls on either side of him were locked in silent, passive-aggressive warfare.
•Arwen casually offered Zephyr a crystal flower.
•Seraphina responded by buying him a mana-infused scarf.
•Drakynia simply handed him a ruby fang from her hoard.
Zephyr:
“Are you guys cold or… aggressively gifting me?”
Drakynia (flat): “I’m courting you.”
Arwen (gently): “He should choose who he connects with most.”
Seraphina (blunt): “Let’s compete.”
Zephyr:
“Wait, what?”
Scene: The "Totally-Not-a-Date" Contest
A random shopkeeper overheard.
“Ohoho! A three-way affection duel?! Delightful! We’ll host it right here!”
Suddenly, a crowd formed.
A bell rang.
A scoreboard appeared.
Zephyr:
“This is escalating fast—”
Event 1: “Win Zephyr’s Smile”
Each girl had to do something to make Zephyr smile.
•Arwen performed a light elven dance under the falling petals. It was graceful, serene—and slightly shy. Her gaze never left Zephyr’s.
•Seraphina challenged the shop’s strongest knight dummy—and knocked its head off in one blow. Then turned to Zephyr, panting, and said:
“That was for you.”
•Drakynia casually roasted a marshmallow with dragon breath and fed it to him.
“Smile,” she ordered.
Zephyr:
soft chuckle “You’re all ridiculous.”
Crowd: Collective “Awwww!”
Event 2: “Team Up to Beat a Random Dungeon Trial”
A small pop-up dungeon—one of the academy’s magical recreational challenges—was summoned.
The task? Retrieve a sacred bunny statue… from a pit of bouncing mana slimes.
Team Arwen: Used elegant steps and illusions, but tripped on a slime.
Team Seraphina: Punched through half the floor before getting stuck in goop.
Team Drakynia: Threatened the slimes into submission. Effective.
Zephyr? He just walked in, cleaned the statue, and walked out.
“You were all… very passionate.”
Scene: Dusk, by the River
The contest ended in a three-way tie (somehow), and Zephyr finally got some peace.
The girls sat with him on a quiet hill above the town.
Fireflies blinked. The river sparkled.
Arwen (softly): “I’ve never had a day like this… even back home.”
Seraphina (murmuring): “I used to think I had to be strong alone. But… it’s not so bad, being with others.”
Drakynia: “Humans are exhausting. But you… you’re tolerable.”
Zephyr:
“…Thanks?”
The girls laughed quietly, the tension finally fading.
For once, it didn’t feel like a war.
Scene: Zephyr’s Room – Later That Night
Zephyr sat by the window, looking at the eternal rose from Queen Rosalind, the scarf, the crystal flower, and the ruby fang… all lined up on his shelf.
He sighed.
“I was just supposed to clean floors…”
But even he smiled a little.
End of Chapter 18
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