Captured? Doesn't that mean she'd been taken alive?
Sure enough, Tristan stood beneath the wall, staring up at her like a predator that had just spotted its prey.
Instinctive fear seized her body.
She froze where she was, and the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
[System]
Mission Triggered!
Congratulations: A Reunion After Five Years!
Spend some quality time catching up with your strategy target.
Failure will result in:
Forced entry into the 'Tristan Loch' Route Ending.
[!] Warning! 'Tristan Loch' is currently in an Anger (High) state.
Good luck.
I got caught climbing over the wall.
How exactly am I supposed to "catch up" with him?
Forced entry into a route ending...
Her heart sank.
In this game, an ending was simply another word for death.
"So."
"Were you running away?"
To make matters worse, Tristan looked to be in an exceptionally foul mood.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
It was exactly like a bomb whose fuse had already been lit.
One wrong move, and everything would explode.
The situation couldn't have been more hopeless.
The System had sealed off her escape.
Below her waited a living hell.
Even though she held the higher ground, looking down from above, Tristan's sheer physical presence made Elysia feel like a helpless herbivore cornered by its natural predator.
The incessant barrage of System messages turned her mind completely blank.
"I asked you."
"Where were you going?"
But his patience seemed to have run completely dry.
Like a starving beast.
It's not like I can escape anyway.
I have to come up with something—anything—to get out of this.
"...I wasn't going anywhere."
"Really?"
A humorless chuckle escaped Tristan.
"Then explain this."
"It's the middle of the night. You've packed up all your belongings."
"What exactly are you doing here?"
What do I do...?
There was no way she could tell him the truth.
He'd chased the runaway Elysia all the way to the convent.
Confessing that she'd been trying to run away again...
No matter how she looked at it, that sounded like suicide.
[System]
'Tristan Loch' has very little patience.
Trait Keywords: Hot-Blooded / Decisive / Instinctive
[!] Warning!
Failure to answer before the time limit expires will escalate his anger to the Explosion stage.
3...
2...
1...
"Uh... I-I was..."
"...Moon-gazing."
There wasn't enough time to think.
The words simply tumbled out of Elysia's mouth.
"The moon looked so beautiful, so I thought I'd come admire it."
She quickly pulled the loaf of bread from her bag and held it up.
"And this is... a midnight snack."
"...There's no moon."
He shot the words back without missing a beat.
The merciless observation made Elysia instinctively glance up at the sky.
...
He was right.
Whether hidden behind clouds or not, there wasn't a moon anywhere in sight.
"And why are you speaking so politely?"
[System]
'Tristan Loch' senses something unusual about your behavior.
Current Character Collapse Index: 85%
Keep the Character Collapse Index below 70%.
Failure: Death
I'm screwed.
Right.
This game had a Character Collapse Index.
She'd spent so long hiding in the convent, living the same routine day after day, that she'd completely forgotten about it.
"Answer me."
"Elysia Gray."
If she wanted to survive, then at least in front of the male leads...
She had to become the perfect Elysia Gray.
So...
What would Elysia Gray do...?
"...I-I don't know."
The words slipped out before she realized it.
Perhaps because she'd panicked.
"It's been such a long time..."
"And you were acting so scary..."
"I just... did it without thinking."
Her voice trembled uncontrollably.
For the first time, Tristan's eyes widened ever so slightly.
...Huh?
Don't tell me...
Did that actually work?
[System]
Character Collapse Index decreasing.
Current Character Collapse Index: 60%
Even after succeeding, she could hardly believe it.
It was like stumbling backward and somehow catching a mouse by accident.
Because...
[System]
Name: Elysia Gray
Age: 24
Status: (Former) Heroine of the Game / (Current) Nun