The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me Chapter 215 - Side Story Chapter 5

“Hey, are you open?”

The ones who came in through the door were soldiers of Evantes.

My expression stiffened.

I suddenly felt uneasy and absentmindedly touched my pink hair.

It was a color that appeared sometimes, but it wasn’t common.

“We’re not open. There’s a sign on the door that says we open at five. Come back in an hour.”

“I see. We’ll come back.”

Fortunately, the soldiers agreed and left right away.

I quietly sighed in relief.

“Business has been good lately since there are more Evantes soldiers in the territory. But those guys are really unpleasant.”

“…Really?”

“You have no idea how arrogant they act just because they’re soldiers of Evantes. It’s so annoying.”

Even after the soldiers left, my heart was still pounding.

I’m not going to live hiding forever, so why do I get so startled?

Just then, the door suddenly opened again. I held my breath.

“Marta, we’re here!”

But the ones who entered were a group of six women.

They all looked happy to see us.

“Oh, Laurel. You came too?”

They were all familiar faces.

Not as close as Marta, but people I knew fairly well.

“Have you all been well—”

“Laurel, if you’re here, that means your husband came too, right?”

“Uh…?”

“Right! Let’s see your husband’s face for the first time in a while!”

I hesitated for a moment.

“You idiots! What are you going to do by looking at someone else’s husband?”

Marta shouted, and the women burst into laughter.

“It’s nice to look at a handsome face!”

“Exactly. He’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my life—no, even the word handsome isn’t enough. He’s beautiful.”

Marta’s friends were really… always bright.

“Men are all the same. Why are you making such a fuss?”

At that moment, someone in the group spoke sharply.

Her name was…

“Selly, that’s because you haven’t seen Laurel’s husband.”

“Hmph. You all exaggerate all the time. How amazing could he really be?”

The atmosphere instantly grew cold.

At the same time, the women glanced at me cautiously.

Selly’s words were a little rude… but Richard’s good looks wouldn’t change.

And I knew why she spoke like that.

Selly disliked me.

‘That’s understandable.’

…When I first met her, I had been prickly first.

Since I had caused the problem, I stayed quiet.

Just then, one of the women who had been watching the tense mood spoke up.

“Ah, Laurel. We were about to go do that together… do you want to come too?”

“Yeah! Laurel, come with us to do that!”

That?

“Physical fitness testing.”

Physical… fitness testing?

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

This was the physical testing site of Piet Territory.

I blinked in confusion.

‘When did something like this appear?’

“They say if you take the test, they give you bread!”

A territory as poor as Piet—where people died every year from poverty—is giving bread to its residents?

“And if your results are good, they even give you a whole sack of flour!”

They even give a sack of flour?

‘Piet Territory definitely doesn’t have that kind of money…’

I looked around.

Knights of the Evantes family could be seen everywhere.

I could easily guess where the funding came from.

‘Is this because of the war?’

Maybe they wanted to check the physical condition of the residents for that purpose.

“I’m not a resident of Piet Territory…”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Hm?

“As long as you’re a resident of a border territory, it counts.”

That made me feel even worse.

“I—I won’t do it…”

I stepped back hesitantly.

It seemed better to stay out of this.

That was when—

“…Laurel?”

A low voice called my alias.

When I turned my head, a man was standing there.

His beauty was so striking that even among the crowd, he stood out clearly.

Richard?

Why is he here?

Behind him was a shop.

It looked like he had just finished buying groceries.

What a coincidence.

‘But…’

Richard’s arms were filled with bags and items.

What did he buy so much of?

Don’t tell me he spent money on unnecessary things again to give to me…

“Whoa! That’s Laurel’s husband! Girls!”

As soon as the handsome man appeared, my friends’ eyes lit up.

Girls, please get a hold of yourselves.

“Hello, ladies. I’m Hark Priam.”

“Oh my! He called us ladies!”

“He said Hark Priam!”

“Even his name sounds handsome!”

Everyone, please calm down.

Why am I the one feeling embarrassed?

Even Selly, who had just been rude to me, stared at Richard blankly.

“We were about to do the physical fitness test. They say they give bread if you do it. Mr. Hark, do you want to join us?”

Then Marta suggested it.

I sent Richard a look telling him to refuse.

This didn’t seem like it had good intentions.

And the Evantes knights were there.

It would be better not to do anything that might attract attention.

But Richard was carefully looking at the testing field.

What are you doing? Why aren’t you refusing?

Normally he would have rejected it immediately.

“…A physical test.”

Richard murmured while looking at me.

Why are you looking at me?

“That’s good.”

Hm? What’s good?

Just as I thought something was strange—

“Let’s go, Laurel.”

Richard grabbed my arm and pulled me into the testing field.

Wait.

This doesn’t feel right.

Something is wrong!

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Whoosh—

A heavy stone sphere flew through the air and disappeared into the distance.

After a brief silence, the measuring device shook loudly.

“A new record!”

“It’s a new record!”

People around us gasped in amazement and murmured while staring at Richard.

‘I knew this would happen!’

Richard himself looked displeased.

It seemed he had tried to hold back his strength, but still ended up setting a new record.

“Laurel, your husband’s arm strength is no joke…”

My friends were staring at Richard with admiration.

Girls, close your mouths. You’re drooling…

“Wow! Your test results are incredible. You’re truly amazing!”

The examiner praised Richard.

‘Well, he’s a Transcendent.’

It looked like he had tried to restrain his strength… but he should have controlled it more.

“Next is Laurel Priam. Is that you?”

The examiner called my name.

I really didn’t want to do this.

Why me…

I looked desperately at Richard.

Are we really allowed to do this? I feel like we shouldn’t…

But instead of understanding my desperate gaze, Richard waved his hand as if cheering me on.

This man, seriously.

There was no choice.

I started running lightly.

I ran half a lap around the open field…

“Haa…!”

Then I collapsed from exhaustion.

My stomach churned.

“Oh dear…”

The examiner looked at me with pity.

I glanced at the others.

The women running beside me had already completed at least one and a half laps.

‘Ah… my terrible stamina…’

“Laurel.”

At that moment, a large shadow fell over me.

Blue eyes looked down at me with concern.

“…To think your stamina is this weak.”

…Is that a disappointed look?

“I—I know… haa… why did we even d-decide to do th-this…”

I was so out of breath I could barely speak.

I grabbed Richard’s hand and stood up.

My legs trembled uncontrollably.

Richard looked at me with a complicated expression.

“I just… haa… want to go home…”

“…After half a lap?”

“…Yes.”

“….”

Seeing my state, he seemed to have nothing to say.

“Come here first.”

But Richard grabbed my arm and pulled me somewhere.

My legs trembled like a newborn chick as I followed him.

“Here, hold this.”

It was the same sphere Richard had thrown earlier.

“You can do this much, right?”

Yes. This one shouldn’t be hard.

“Throw it with all your strength, Laurel.”

He whispered near my ear.

“And don’t step on that white line.”

Ah.

There was a line drawn at my feet.

I stepped back and prepared my stance.

Here I go…!

Whoosh—thud.

The sphere dropped right at my feet.

“….”

“….”

There was a moment of silence.

There were other tests too.

Even though I had been suspicious earlier and didn’t want to do them, I ended up trying harder than anyone else.

Even though every result was disastrous.

As the tests continued, I gradually became half a corpse.

Meanwhile, Richard’s expression slowly hardened.

Then, when all the results were finally finished—

“Miss Laurel?”

The examiner called my name.

“Congratulations.”

“….”

“You also set a new record.”