The festival street was loud, colorful, and packed with cheering crowds.
Amyra led Rias directly to the largest stall in the center. It was a shooting gallery. The back wall of the stall was lined with small, rapidly moving crystal targets. A rack of heavy, wooden magical rifles sat on the front counter.
"Here are the rules," the stall owner yelled over the noise of the crowd.
"You get ten shots! Hit the red crystals for ten points, the blue ones for twenty, and the fast golden one for fifty! Highest score wins the grand prize!"
Amyra stepped up to the counter and picked up one of the wooden rifles. She checked the weight, her eyes locked on the moving targets.
She turned to Rias with a sharp, challenging smirk.
"Let's make this interesting, Leonhart," Amyra proposed.
"We play one round. Whoever gets the highest score wins."
"And what does the winner get?" Rias asked, crossing his arms.
"The loser has to grant the winner one wish," Amyra stated confidently. "Anything they ask for, no questions asked. Right here, right now."
Rias's heart gave a massive thump.
'A wish?' Rias thought, his mind instantly flashing to the absurd System Quests sitting in his log.
'If I win, I can force her to let me squeeze her cheeks for five minutes! This is the perfect excuse! I won't have to risk my life attacking her out of nowhere!'
"I accept," Rias said instantly. He stepped up to the counter and picked up a wooden rifle.
Amyra sneered. "Prepare to lose."
She raised her rifle first. She didn't even aim. She just pulled the trigger.
Small bullets of condensed mana shot out of the wooden barrel.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Amyra's accuracy was terrifying. She hit three blue crystals in a row. Then she tracked the fast golden crystal zooming across the top of the wall and blasted it perfectly. She finished her ten shots in less than five seconds.
"Three hundred and twenty points!" the stall owner cheered. "Amazing!"
Amyra set the rifle down and looked at Rias.
"Your turn. Try not to shoot your own foot."
Rias stepped up. He raised the heavy wooden rifle to his shoulder.
He didn't know how to shoot a gun. He had never held one in his past life. But he didn't need to know.
His physical stats were completely supercharged. His perception slowed the moving targets down until they looked like they were crawling. He could see the exact trajectory he needed to take.
Rias pulled the trigger.
His hands moved in a blur. He didn't just aim; he calculated the exact timing of every single moving crystal.
*Bang-bang-bang-bang!*
He hit the golden crystal. Then he hit the second golden crystal as soon as it spawned. He hit eight blue crystals in a row.
"Four hundred and sixty points!" the stall owner yelled, his jaw dropping.
"We have a new winner!"
Amyra froze. Her confident smirk shattered into a million pieces. She stared at the scoreboard, completely speechless.
"How..." she muttered. "You just got lucky."
"A win is a win," Rias smiled, setting the rifle down. He turned to face her.
"I believe you owe me a wish, Princess."
Amyra glared at him. She crossed her arms defensively.
"Fine. What do you want? Do you want me to buy you a sword? Do you want gold? Speak quickly before I change my mind."
Rias took a deep breath. His heart was hammering against his ribs. He was a complete loner in his past life. He had never asked a girl for anything like this. His face felt incredibly hot, but he forced himself to maintain eye contact.
"I want to squeeze your cheeks," Rias said. "For five minutes."
Amyra blinked. She stared at him for a solid ten seconds, waiting for the punchline.
"You want to... what?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"I want to squeeze your cheeks," Rias repeated, his face turning a slight shade of red.
"That is my wish. You promised no questions asked."
Amyra's face exploded into a brilliant shade of tomato red. The terrifying, ruthless Blood Princess suddenly looked like a completely flustered, embarrassed normal girl.
"You are insane!" she hissed, looking around nervously to make sure no one was watching them under their cloaks.
"I am the Princess! You cannot touch my face!"
"A bet is a bet," Rias insisted.
Amyra ground her teeth together. Her pride wouldn't let her back down from a challenge she issued herself.
"Fine!" she whispered angrily, stepping closer to him and squeezing her eyes shut.
"Do it! And if you tell anyone about this, I will cut your tongue out!"
Rias swallowed hard. He reached out with both hands.
He gently placed his hands on the sides of her face. Her skin was incredibly soft, and surprisingly warm. He pinched her cheeks lightly, pulling them just a little bit.
Amyra let out a muffled, embarrassed groan. Her face was so red it practically glowed in the shadows of her hood. Rias stood there, gently squeezing her cheeks while counting the seconds in his head. His own face was burning with embarrassment.
'This is the most awkward thing I have ever done in my entire life,' Rias thought, refusing to look away.
'But she looks so cute when she isn't threatening to murder me.'
Finally, the five minutes passed. Rias pulled his hands back.
[Ding!]
[Daily Quest Objective 1 Completed!]
[Rewards Distributed: 2,000 EXP, +10 Stats to all attributes, 1x Random Footwork Skill (Phantom Step).]
[Ding! Experience Threshold Reached!]
[Initiating Breakthrough to Gold Tier...]
Rias's eyes widened. He instantly clenched his fists, forcing the raw energy deep down into his core.
'Not here!' Rias yelled in his mind.
'Pause the breakthrough! If I explode with Gold-tier mana right in front of her, she will instantly know I am hiding my strength!'
The System obeyed, locking the massive pool of EXP inside his core, waiting for his command to release it later.
Amyra quickly turned around, pulling her hood down lower to hide her red face.
"We are leaving," she snapped, walking away incredibly fast.
"And we are going shopping. You are carrying my bags."
For the next four hours, Rias suffered through the true nightmare of a date.
Amyra dragged him into the most expensive, exclusive clothing boutiques in Erzel. She was determined to regain her pride by making him act like a pack mule.
She walked into dressing rooms and came out wearing stunning dresses. Silk gowns, battle outfits, casual skirts. Every time she stepped out, she would look at the mirror and ask the clerk, "How does this look?"
She was indirectly asking Rias.
And from Rias's perspective, it was torture. Not because he was bored, but because she looked like a literal goddess in every single outfit. The dresses hugged her figure perfectly, complimenting her fiery red hair and golden eyes.
"It looks perfect," Rias said honestly from his seat on the couch.
Amyra blushed slightly, cleared her throat, and pointed at the pile.
"I will buy them all."
Rias sighed, picking up a dozen heavy bags. The date was far from over.