Novice Reincarnator

I had thought I would spend the weekend before the exam nervously preparing, but Byleth had other plans in mind.

“A date?”

I parroted the outlandish words Byleth had just spoken.

“That is right. Since you plan to knock some sense into the hero after you become an intermediate explorer, why don’t you go on a date with Cecilia and I this weekend?”

Byleth said it like it was a simple thing. I was so lost that I could barely think straight.

“Why did you bring up my plan to talk to Leah when talking about a date?”

“It is nothing big. I just want to take the chance to steal your first date from her.”

Byleth was assuming I had never been on a date before. If you counted the times when girls asked to meet with me to talk about Leah, then I was already a veteran of dating.

“I don’t plan on dating Leah so there is no need to go that far.”

“That doesn’t matter. I want to go on a date with Cecilia and I thought it would be fun to bring you along too. Stealing something from that hero is only an added bonus.”

I expected Cecilia to continue to quietly read her book and simply listen like usual, but she surprised me by speaking up.

“Do you not want to go?”

I stumbled in getting my words out.

“Go. Of course I’ll go.”

With those hasty words in mind, I was now standing by a fountain in a small park on campus. It was a quiet and peaceful location that was completely at odds with my pounding heart. I couldn’t help it after all.

This was a date.

Byleth didn’t think of me that way at all and Cecilia saw me as a friend, but this was a date!

It was so important that I said it twice. I couldn’t calm down after all. I wished I had something better to wear than the school uniform, but it had never seemed necessary to shop for more clothes.

“I made you wait.”

Byleth showed up in a beautiful armored dress with a sword on her hip. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her strong and bewitching appearance. It was like I was seeing the elegant demon princess for the first time.

“Charmed?”

“Ah, sorry. Your dress is a little different than what I expected. I was amazed at how much your armor and weapons bring out your charm.”

I blushed and looked away. Byleth smiled at my words. Somehow, she looked different than I was expecting. I didn’t think that girls in the Upper Realm brought weapons and armor to a date.

“Thanks for waiting.”

I turned to Cecilia and my mouth dropped open. She was wearing an open back white dress with bits of armor scattered around it to protect her vitals. A snow white sword hung at her hips and a tiara was placed on her head.

She wore the same equipment that she usually wore when she dove into the dungeon. I glanced between my two fully equipped companions and realized that something was wrong.

“Um, girls? Where are we going on our date?”

“I didn’t tell you? We are diving into the dungeon together.”

Cecilia nodded to Byleth’s words like it was common sense that a date meant going into the dungeon.

“No, no, no. This isn’t what a date is. A date is going to see a movie together or eating a good meal together.”

“We can do that anytime at home.”

I looked at the bewitching, no, disappointing beauty in dismay. It was true that Cecilia’s mansion had a movie theater and its own personal Master Chef, but a date was all about the atmosphere.

A picnic box was shoved into my hands and the two girls took me to a nearby, insanely high level dungeon. The last person who could potentially save me from this disaster, the receptionist, cowered under the combined might of Cecilia and Byleth and let me into a dungeon I had no right being in.

“What a beautiful day for a walk.”

I muttered to myself to distract myself from my fear. The sky was gray. The land was cracked and burnt. Death cries spilled from all directions as white light and sharp swords tore into the horde of monsters.

I had long since turned off the comments on our dungeon broadcast, too afraid of what I might see.

Despite this date not being what I expected, Cecilia and Byleth seemed to be enjoying themselves. Not a single monster ever got the chance to get close to me. My two friends had a friendly competition going to see who could kill the most monsters. Whenever a monster popped up, it was instantly killed.

Cecilia’s [Light Magic] skill gave her an edge. Her twelve snow white wings were out and she displayed her full abilities as an archangel. Light magic spells were some of the fastest spells in the world. Byleth made up for her disadvantage in speed with numbers. A large number of her contracted monsters appeared out of thin air and ran in all directions to secure kills.

The two explorers were so much stronger than the dungeon that they stopped swinging their weapons personally and instead let their spells or contracted monsters deal with the monsters. Eventually, their competition came to an end.

“I killed more monsters than you, Cecilia. That means you must give me a lap pillow after we finish lunch.”

“If that is your wish.”

A smile bloomed on Byleth’s face. My heart grew happier too. Finally, the atmosphere was starting to feel more like a date. Byleth’s words didn’t end there.

“Fang, you got the least number of kills so you have to listen to one thing from Cecilia and I.”

“Wait, I was included in your competition?”

Nobody had told me. Well, I wouldn’t be able to kill a single monster in this dungeon even if they did.

“Of course you were. This is a date between all three of us. As such, I’ll have you hold my hand for the rest of the date.”

Byleth took my hand before I could respond. I thought I had mentally prepared myself for today’s date, but her actions took me by surprise and I blushed. Cecilia also didn’t hold back in voicing her request.

“Then, let's take a bath together after this.”

“O-Okay.”

“Of course, I’m joining too!”

Byleth quickly hopped in and suddenly today became more like a date than I had bargained for. There was no backing out now that I had already agreed to it.

We walked through the gray, desolate dungeon until we spotted a large tree in the middle of the wasteland. That appeared to be as suitable a spot as we would find, so we had our picnic underneath the tree.

Our picnic was made complicated by the fact that Byleth wouldn’t let go of my hand. I saw the scheming nature of a girl in love from the front row.

“Cecilia, it is too tough to use one hand to eat. Feed me.”

Violet eyes fell on our connected hands in consideration for a moment. To my surprise, Cecilia didn’t hesitate to feed Byleth. I grew embarrassed just from them. Unfortunately, my embarrassment didn’t end the moment Byleth finished eating. Cecilia picked up some food on my plate and tried to feed me too.

“I can eat my food myself.”

Despite my words, Cecilia had no intention of letting me eat with my own hand. I ended up relenting and opening my mouth.

“Delicious.”

A happy feeling welled up from the bottom of my heart. My sense of embarrassment faded as I savored the taste of the dishes cooked by Cecilia’s Master Chef, Ralph. My face was practically glowing with happiness by the end of the meal.

After that, Cecilia fulfilled her promise and gave Byleth a lap pillow. The demon princess took a small nap while holding my hand and resting her head on Cecilia’s lap. It was a peaceful afternoon that was perfect for a date as long as one ignored the dying monsters in the distance.

Cecilia’s expression hadn’t really changed throughout our date, but Byleth had a soft smile as she napped. Despite the sudden twist this day took, I found myself enjoying it. Rather than trying to act lovey dovey or fulfill what I typically imagined a date to be, we were just spending time together and having fun.

Huh? Did that mean everyday I spent with Cecilia and Byleth was a date?

When Byleth woke up from her nap, the three of us decided it was time to call it a day and head back home. Byleth held my hand all the way up until we made it back to Cecilia’s mansion. A hint of loneliness filled my heart when the lingering warmth on my hand faded.

“Thank you for today. I had a lot of fun seeing your cool sides.”

“Fang, why are you acting like it is all over. You still need to fulfill your promise of having a bath with Cecilia and I.”

In the end, I was stripped and dragged into the bath. As I had suspected, Byleth was as fearsome of an opponent as Cecilia was and I was on the verge of fainting the whole time.