"Hey, Yu Siwoo."
"Hm?"
"Let’s go on a date."
"…What the hell? With that body of yours, where do you even think you’re going?"
I shot a reproachful glance at Amelia, who was lying in bed.
Sure, calling it a "date" instead of just "hanging out" was odd enough, but her body needed rest right now.
She hadn’t suffered any serious injuries, but she’d pushed herself to the absolute limit. She needed a few days of solid rest.
And here she was, talking about going out when even our senior was still hospitalized.
There was a time and place for jokes.
"No, not me. With Arte."
"…What?"
"We were supposed to go on a date there, but we couldn’t, right? Shouldn’t we make it happen now?"
"No, that doesn’t make— We were supposed to let that go, weren’t we? The whole idea of her liking me was ridiculous to begin with. Now that I think about it again, it’s definitely not—"
"No, I’m sure of it. Arte loves you! Let’s do it. Right now!"
Had she finally lost her mind?
Being forced to lie in bed, suppressing her true nature, must have driven her insane.
I never expected a friend I considered a comrade to go mad like this… What a tragedy.
"W-Why are you looking at me like that? I’m telling you, this is the perfect chance! Seriously!"
"Perfect chance for what? We don’t even have a way to meet Arte. And a *date*? The attack just happened a few days ago. If word gets out, people will think I’m some pussy-whipped idiot."
The country was still in chaos after the Weavermen’s assault.
The attack on the Academy students, followed by their mysterious annihilation.
Unlike Laila’s incident, this couldn’t be swept under the rug. It wasn’t long before their names spread everywhere.
"And weren’t those guys supposed to be in the hundreds? They’re all dead now, but still."
"Oh, you mean that? There’s a theory it was some kind of internal rebellion."
"…Was that in the news?"
"No, I heard it from my dad."
I often forgot, but Amelia *was* from a noble family. The gap between the occasional glimpses of her background and her usual demeanor was jarring.
"Apparently, it was a total bloodbath. The veterans who saw it said even they wanted to puke."
"Ugh, don’t remind me."
"And the hallway to the room was a sea of blood! On the walls, someone had written ‘Arachne was here.’ in playful handwriting, along with a spider symbol. Both were drawn in blood."
Spider.
Yeah, it *did* sound like an internal Weavermen conflict.
"Spiders are animals, right?"
"Yeah. People often mistake them for insects, though."
"…And they shoot threads?"
"Yep."
Everyone would assume it was an internal Weavermen feud.
But Amelia and I couldn’t help but think differently about that spider symbol.
"I think it was Arte. What do you think, Yu Siwoo?"
"Same. The threads, the spider, and that blood scent from back then… It’s got to be her."
She’d told me when we parted ways.
That she’d been delayed because she was attacked on her way back from the bathroom.
Bullshit. There was no way it took that long to take down all those villains. Not for her.
My suspicion deepened. No—it was practically confirmation.
She was at odds with the Weavermen.
"A Weavermen traitor?"
"But Arte didn’t have an animal body. All the other villains did."
"Hmm… We don’t have enough information."
Just what was her true identity?
A traitor to the Webermensch?
Or a villain organization locked in a power struggle with them?
As I pondered her identity, Amelia raised her voice again.
"No, now’s not the time to think about that! Focus on planning the date!"
Here we go again.
What was with this obsession over a date?
I sighed and opened my mouth to calm her down once more.
"I already told you. A date right now is—"
"Then it doesn’t have to be a date!"
"What?"
Another incomprehensible statement.
Whenever Amelia got like this, she had a way of making her arguments sound oddly convincing. And the results were never good. I knew I shouldn’t listen, but…
…I couldn’t resist the curiosity.
Curiosity killed the cat, they said. And sure enough, it was true.
"Operation Zero to Make You Love Me More Than Arte to Stop Her failed due to an unforeseen accident."
"It was *Operation Zero*?!"
"So now it’s time for Operation One… Code name: *Drizzle Soaks the Clothes*!"
I braced myself for another absurd plan.
Even so, I couldn’t help but listen.
"What do you think a date is?"
"Well, it’s when a man and a woman in love go out somewhere together."
"Tsk, that’s why you’re a virgin."
"?!"
W-what?
Did I say something wrong?
No, that’s not… I-I mean, that’s right, isn’t it?
More importantly, how did she know I was—
"You don’t have to be in a relationship to go out together!"
"Well, yeah, but…"
"And we can meet easily. Officially, we’re comrades who faced that incident together."
"I-I guess…?"
"Just say you want to talk about what happened, and while we’re at it, we can go to a café. That’s a date! And we don’t even have to tell Arte!"
I was confused.
What? Why did that sound… plausible? No, was it actually plausible?
But had listening to Amelia ever worked out for me before? I didn’t think so.
Yet this time, it almost made sense.
"The goal of Operation One, *Drizzle Soaks the Clothes*, is simple—raise her affection for you!"
"No, sorry. I think I’ll pass on this one."
I cut her off before she could say more. If I kept listening, I’d end up doing something ridiculous again—like that time I got tricked into hiding in a locker.
It *did* sound reasonable, but I had to stop here…
"Huh? …Too late. I already called her."
"What?"
"Miss Amelia… Oh, Yu Siwoo, you’re here too. Hello."
…So I never had a choice to begin with.
I stared blankly at Arte, who had suddenly appeared. She smiled and spoke up.
"Haha, did I startle you? Yu Siwoo’s surprise was supposed to be a secret. …Were you surprised?"
I shot Amelia a look that said, *What the hell did you do?* She just grinned back at me.
Damn bitch.
You really *don’t* play fair, do you?
I’d have to revise my earlier assessment of her.
Heroic qualities? More like villainous qualities were overflowing.
[D-Date! It’s a date!]
Date? What nonsense.
I wanted to yell at the author, but with Yu Siwoo right next to me, I had no choice but to hold back.
[The protagonist walking around the city with a woman—it’s a date! Kyaa! So good!]
"Should we go to a café?"
"Uh, yeah? S-Sure."
[A café’s great! Such a sweet, cozy date!]
Damn it.
I barely stopped a string of curses from bursting out.
Walking around the city? Date. Resting at a café? Also a date.
It felt like I’d run into some kind of demon that twisted everything into romance.
Date, my ass.
Amelia had said Yu Siwoo had something to tell me about that incident, right?
Senior was hospitalized. Amelia could barely stand.
Since talking in the hospital room would be awkward, she’d only asked us to tell her later and sent us out.
But what the hell? A date?
Was this a joke?
The protagonist was supposed to be consulting a comrade about the incident.
I wanted to start nagging the author, but I couldn’t do anything about it.
Yu Siwoo was still right in front of me.
"…So? What did you want to talk about?"
"Ah, right. …Hey, have you heard? About those villains."
"Of course. Aren’t they part of an organization called the Weaver Men?"
"…Not that."
Huh?
What? Wasn’t this about the Weaver Men?
I thought this development was supposed to show the protagonist adopting a heroic stance, then revealing the first executive of the villain organization to demonstrate their overwhelming power.
Was there more to uncover?
"Apparently, there were nearly 200 of those villains."
"Oh, ah. Really? But why only mention that…?"
"They’re all dead. Brutally."
Ah, that story.
Now that I thought about it, Amelia was set up as a rich girl.
Her father was a famous Hero—she was the textbook example of a wealthy heiress heroine.
She must’ve heard it from her father and told Siwoo. Pretty impressive info-gathering for a lady.
…Though her personality was nothing like it. Why did someone with that background end up like *that*?
"But here’s the thing—there was something a little strange about it."
"Something strange?"
"Yeah."
Something strange?
Hmm, I had no idea.
Did they turn the villains into cube steaks?
…Well, that *would* be strange, but hadn’t we just talked about how they died horribly? That couldn’t be it.
"There was a drawing on the wall. Made of blood."
"…What?"
[Oh no, this is bad.]
I could hear the author panicking.
But I was too busy spinning in my own head to care.
…A drawing? On the wall?
"It was drawn in dark red blood. A spider. And underneath it, it said… ‘Arachne has come and gone.’"
Author!!!
What the hell have you done!!!
I couldn’t voice my frustration, so I just hung my head.
My face must’ve been twisted in disgust.
"…What do you think about this?"
The protagonist asked me cautiously.