Chapter 152
“You must have enjoyed it.”
The fact that the owner remembered me was strangely humiliating, but I nodded while trying my best not to show it.
“I’m curious about what happens next.”
“But what should we do? The next volume isn’t out yet.”
Crash. It felt as though lightning had struck directly above my head. I had walked this great distance with my expectations soaring, yet there was no continuation. Embarrassment and humiliation were immediately pushed aside.
“Then when will it come out?”
“…Probably soon?”
“What do you mean, probably? I need an exact date.”
“It’ll be out soon. Soon.”
“By soon, do you mean tomorrow?”
“What? It can’t come out that quickly.”
“Then about four days?”
When I asked desperately, the owner’s expression turned strange. He seemed amused and flustered at the same time. At that moment, a customer behind me cleared his throat.
I had no choice but to step aside despite my disappointment.
I didn’t want to leave empty-handed, so I looked around the small bookstore, but nothing else particularly caught my attention.
In the end, I had to return home with a hollow feeling.
* * *
“Has the next volume arrived?”
This was my fourth visit. The owner shook his head with a strained smile.
No, an entire week had passed, yet it still hadn’t arrived. Still.
During that time, I had read the first volume again and again. I had reached the point where I could recite the protagonists’ dialogue from memory.
Around the time I was wasting away from exhaustion caused by waiting, I had unconsciously asked Gerard while he was at my house.
“How long does it usually take for the next volume of a novel to be released?”
“A year at the shortest. More than ten years at the longest. Why?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Without even saying goodbye to Gerard, I locked myself in my bedroom and despaired alone.
I knew I merely had to abandon my lingering attachment, focus on my daily life, and wait for the book to come out. But my heart refused to cooperate.
Whenever I came to my senses, my feet were already carrying me toward the bookstore.
They said that when life became difficult, people turned their attention toward things disconnected from reality.
It hadn’t been intentional, but thanks to <Keeping an Appropriate Distance from the Superior Who Likes Me>, my worries about Gerard seemed to be gradually fading as well.
Perhaps it was because I had lived my entire life without a hobby, but the feeling of pouring affection and passion into something other than Gerard was a little exciting.
“Would you like me to place an advance order for you?”
Perhaps he felt sorry for me, because for the first time, the owner said something other than, ‘It hasn’t arrived yet.’
“Will I receive it sooner if I place an order?”
“…No. It will actually take a few days longer because of delivery. But if you place an order, you won’t need to come all the way here every time.”
That didn’t appeal to me at all.
The effort wasn’t the problem right now. I merely wanted to read the next volume even one day sooner.
With a gloomy expression, I said, “No, thank you.”
Feeling the gazes of the customers lined up behind me, I finally turned away again today.
That was when it happened.
“Excuse me, miss!”
The owner urgently called me back. When I turned around, he came around the counter and approached me.
“Would you be able to stop by the bookstore tomorrow?”
“Isn’t tomorrow your day off?”
Tomorrow was a public holiday when most academies and shops closed. The temple’s training was no exception.
“Yes. The store will be closed, but if you truly want to see the next volume, please stop by.”
My eyes lit up at the mention of the next volume.
I had more time than I knew what to do with whenever there was no training, so there was no reason not to visit.
“I absolutely will.”
