That thing was deliberately getting injured.

And right in front of her, in a place where she would be watching.

He thought he might gain Olivia’s sympathy by acting weak using the injury as an excuse.

Also, thanks to the injury, he could get closer to her. With guiding as a good pretext.

Benjamin doesn’t dodge a monster’s sloppy attack and gets his arm badly cut.

The first wound of his life wasn’t painful.

Rather, he was satisfied seeing his own arm bleeding profusely.

Benjamin thrusts his mangled arm toward Olivia.

‘Now, pity me. And don’t leave my side.’

Olivia, looking at Benjamin smiling while wounded in the chaotic battlefield, thinks:

‘Crazy bastard…’

Olivia, that’s exactly right.

I acknowledge that Benjamin is somewhat insane.

Anyway, tomorrow’s event becomes the catalyst for the two main characters of the original story to grow closer.

Although Olivia considers Benjamin crazy, their first guiding was established like that regardless.

Benjamin receives a huge shock from it.

It was perfect guiding by a guide with a 99 percent matching rate.

According to Duncan, falling in love at first sight feels like being struck by lightning, and that perfect guiding must feel similar to being struck by lightning multiple times.

According to the original story’s description, Benjamin felt like he was floating in the sky.

Then, wanting to feel more of that sensation, he even kisses Olivia…

Kiss. Come to think of it, I, too, had shared a brief but intense kiss with Benjamin before.

Remembering that inexplicable skinship suddenly made my lips burn.

Unlike the kiss he shared with me, he would probably kiss Olivia more passionately, right?

Since I quite enjoyed reading that part, I somewhat wished to witness it firsthand.

Of course, I won’t risk my life to see it, so I’ll just quietly hide.

“How do you know about future events?”

The Guildmaster, not knowing about my transmigration circumstances, could only express doubt.

“If you combine recent events well, even Honey could figure it out.”

“Recent events. Now that you mention it, those three men at the Center lately…”

“Three men?”

“No. It’s not something to speak of hastily yet.”

He wrinkled his eyes as if recalling something he didn’t want to think about.

“I’ll tell you when it doesn’t seem premature to judge.”

“I see…”

“Anyway, I’ll keep your words in mind for now. Though we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out.”

“Watch all you want! It’ll happen just as I said.”

“Yes.”

The Guildmaster, who answered lightly, made another suggestion.

“More importantly, let’s have a celebratory drink for our first settlement. Just enough not to get drunk.”

The Guildmaster opened his potato space and took out wine and two wine glasses.

He filled the glasses skillfully, as if he had poured wine for many women before, and handed one to me.

“Cheers.”

“What’s the toast?”

Hmm… what would be good for a toast?

Celebrating the first settlement day?

Hoping for business prosperity?

But the Guildmaster’s toast exceeded my expectations.

“To Sir Duncan, who’s so cute you want to bite him!”

“……”

Was the truly crazy one not Benjamin but the Guildmaster?

I reluctantly clinked glasses with him.

***

The next day, in the early dawn, while everyone was asleep. I left the office early to wait for the carriage Duncan promised to send.

The street, still dark before sunrise, was only cold.

But the thought of seeing Duncan soon made the darkness not scary. Rather, my excitement only grew.

After waiting briefly, a carriage quietly stopped in front of me.

“This is the carriage sent by the person who pledged to help you.”

The coachman’s words were a code that only Duncan and I could understand.

I quietly got into the carriage. Remembering Duncan’s kind words seemed to add to my excitement even more than before.

The carriage stopped behind the inn where we agreed to meet.

When I got out of the carriage, a man wearing an elegant fedora was waiting. It was Duncan, whose beauty couldn’t be hidden even in darkness.

I gestured toward him.

“Honey!”

After about 2 seconds? Only then did I realize the strange form of address.

Oh no. I must have gotten used to that title after being with the Guildmaster late last night.

I hoped Duncan’s hearing wasn’t good enough to catch what I said, but…

“Honey? Did you just call me that?”

He seemed to have heard it clearly.

“Hmm…! That’s, well, I was wondering what it would feel like to call Sir Duncan ‘Honey,’ and I accidentally called you that for real.”

“How does it feel?”

“Want to keep calling you that? Haha! Of course, I’m not confessing and asking you to date me!”

“……”

“Instead of that, please tell me where we’re going today!”

“Yes, darling.”

“……What?”

“What?”

And 2 seconds of silence followed.

Maybe my hearing was bad and I misheard.

I’m pretty sure Duncan just called me ‘darling.’ Just like how the Guildmaster calls me.

“Sir Duncan. Did you just call me ‘darling’?”

Only then did Duncan seem to realize his mistake.

His eyes, which hadn’t wavered even during the sudden confrontation with Benjamin, grew wide. If someone pushed from behind, it seemed his eyeballs might roll right out.

“D-Did I?”

“Yes. Did I mishear?”

Duncan pulled down the brim of his fedora to hide his flustered face.

Staying quiet in the silence felt somewhat strange.

Because in Duncan’s ‘darling,’ the Guildmaster’s intonation was strangely present.

Even while convinced there was no possibility of them being the same person, my senses were directing me to doubt him.

“…I must have said something crazy from lack of proper sleep due to recent work. Moreover, since you called me ‘honey’ first…. Anyway, I apologize.”

“Are you saying calling me ‘darling’ was crazy talk?”

“One shouldn’t carelessly address an unmarried lady that way. It’s ungentlemanly behavior. I apologize for my impropriety.”

What a proper response. Something the Guildmaster would never say.

I shook my head slightly, dismissing the suspicion that the two men might be the same person.

It was an absurd assumption. The Guildmaster was someone who threw around ‘darling’ even to near-strangers.

“Ah, no! It’s fine. You can accidentally call me that again next time.”

“No. I won’t make such a mistake again.”

But that kind of mistake would be fine to continue!

I could only silently wish for his mistake, unable to shout my true feelings.

“Would you come this way? We should move elsewhere before people wake up.”

“Yes! You said we’re going to a different area, right? Where are we going? Will we take a carriage?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Though where we stood was already secluded, Duncan led me to an even darker place.

Scared of the unlit path, I stuck close to Duncan’s side. Smelling his pleasant fragrance made me feel a bit better about surviving.

Finally, at our stopping point, there was something that instantly dispelled my fears.

Even in the surrounding darkness, it was displaying its beautiful form.

“This is…!”

What greeted us was, surprisingly, a saddled Ptero.

It was impressive that it was waiting here quietly without my direct command.

I naturally approached the Ptero and gently stroked its long neck.

While doing so, I immediately noticed that it was the leader Ptero.

Although I couldn’t see its face because of the hood, the Ptero seemed to recognize my identity as well.

―Kyaaak.

‘So you were the dawn customer.’

I couldn’t help but express my question to Duncan.

“This is the talk of the capital, the amazing and cool, soon-to-be-even-bigger ‘Jinjijo Transportation’ Ptero, right?”

Was that too exaggerated?

Duncan answered plainly without any particular reaction.

“Yes, you know well.”

“How did you call it here?”

“I didn’t communicate directly, but someone who collaborates with Jinjijo Transportation helped with gestures and signals.”

“Is that collaborator the Honey Butter Guild’s Guildmaster?”

“That’s right. Though I’m not sure of the circumstances, aren’t you also receiving help from that person?”

Duncan must have guessed the relationship between the Guildmaster and me since the Guildmaster had helped arrange our meetings several times.

I readily admitted it.

“Yes. I’m receiving a lot of help from that person too.”