Lazing About in a Dating Sim

After dawdling for a couple more minutes in the courtyard, I decided to start walking towards my dorm room, at a leisurely pace.

Mostly because I presumed that the library was still getting renovated by baking club members and wasn’t really in the mood to talk to any of them. 

Also, since I still had a ton of unread books stocked in my room from the last time I went book hunting, there was no real need for me to go there.

Well, I guess that isn’t entirely true. 

I did have a ton of overdue books I needed to return.

But, considering that this particular library is about as important to the school as an abandoned warehouse, I think I’ll be fine.

I’m not even sure if the place even has a librarian who’s in charge of keeping inventory. 

Eventually, I arrived at my dorm room and opened the door after fiddling with my pockets for a few seconds to find my keys.

The moment I was able to get into my dorm room, I immediately went to the stack of books in the left corner of my room and started sifting through it.

Even though it was now either the 3rd or 5th time that I’ve gone through this mess of papers, there were still a ton of titles that I didn’t recognize.

“It always feels like I’m digging through a puddle of mud.”

I mumbled quietly, after taking a novel out of the pile.

The novel was titled as “The Frost Walker” and had a cover decorated with what looked to be a bunch of pine needles and discolored maple leaves.

“Hopefully they spent the same amount of time on the stuff that’s inside.”

I said to myself while admiring how well-decorated the front cover was.

Then I just cracked the novel open and started reading through the first few pages.

Which ended up just being a decent rundown of what the story as a whole would be about.

And unlike a lot of synopses I’ve read, it didn’t give away too much about the novel, despite the fact that it was about 2-3 pages long.

“Looks like this thing’s gonna be a story about some kid going on a trip to some magical winter wonderland called Icsno. Can’t say I’ve read that many stories with that type of setting recently.”

I said listlessly, after turning to the next page.

However, before I could read anything on the page, I heard a knock on my door.

In response, I walked over to the door and partially opened it to try and see who was on the other side.

The moment I realized who was there, I opened the door completely.

“Lucia, what are you doing here?”

I asked with confusion evident in my tone.

“Class got canceled since Marie accidentally caught the test papers on fire with their fire charm. Which is supposed to fuckin protect people from fire, by the way.”

Lucia responded nonchalantly before sitting down on my bed and gesturing for me to take a seat next to her.

In response, I did exactly that before setting down my book.

“Does that mean you’re free for the rest of the day?”

“Yup, since it’s gonna take Loren somewhere from 4-5 hours to get a new batch of exam papers, she dismissed the whole class early.”

Huh, I guess modern printers haven’t been invented yet.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve known that already, considering how most of the books here look.

“Right then, do you have anything that you’d like to do in the meantime, Lucia?”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind just spending the rest of the afternoon lying down next to you and talking about the first thing that I can think of.”

Lucia said after laying down on my bed and tugging on the left sleeve of my jacket.

“Sounds like a plan.” 

I replied before following suit and lying down next to Lucia.

“So, what have you got on your mind, Lucia?”

“Hmm… Oh I know, we can talk about the annual Forx Fuzzy Frog Race that’s happening in a month or two.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“It’s exactly as it sounds. A weird frog race with cryptic rules that the city holds every year at the old pier.”

“What's the point of the race exactly?” 

“I dunno, it probably has to do with some sort of dumb tradition. From what I know, the thing’s been happening before I was even born.”

Lucia remarked while wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her head in my shoulder.

“I do know that people get really fuckin competitive over the whole thing, though. In fact, I’m pretty sure the race had to be called off one year because some people started fighting in the pier before it even began.”

“...How often does this happen?”

“I’d say about once every five or so years, give or take.”

“And all of this is over a bunch of frogs that have a bit of wool on them?”

“What can I say, there’s a lot of weirdos in this town.”

“Can’t say that I’m too surprised. I mean, I am lying down next to one of them right now.”

“You’re one to talk. I’m pretty sure I can fill a whole journal with all the weird things I’ve seen you do.”

Lucia said nonchalantly while increasing her grip on my waist.

“Anyway, you wanna go see the frog race this year, Otto?”

“First, tell me the odds of a fight breaking out during the race this year.”

“Well, since the people in charge of running the race got a bunch of guardian spirits to guard the whole thing this year, I’d say there’s little to no chance of a big fight breaking out.”

“In that case, I’m fine with watching the race with you this year. Just so long as you help me get there in the first place.”

“That’s a given, I know how you can get when it comes to things like that, Otto.”

Lucia replied in an expectant tone before pulling me closer to her. 

“You’re the best.” 

“Considering that you’re my boyfriend, I kinda have to be.”

Lucia replied, with a content smile on her face.