“...Is he still following us?”

“...Yeah. He’s keeping a constant distance. It seems he’s alone after all.”

If he’s alone, then it doesn’t seem like he’s targeting the outdoor shop. That makes it all the more likely that he’s Angel’s stalker, but why is he following me and Lilia instead of Angel?

“...We’re almost at the shop now. There’s no one around. How about we ambush him when we turn that corner?”

“...That sounds good. But like I said earlier, if it gets dangerous, we run immediately.”

“...Yeah, of course. Don’t worry, I won’t let a single scratch get on you, Tetsuya!”

So cool!

As a man, I wonder how I should feel about being protected by a woman like Lilia, but I can’t help seeing her as incredibly reliable. Is this how heroines feel when the protagonist protects them?

“...!?”

“Hey, why are you following us!?”

With brown hair, a well-groomed face, and a distinctive mole—just as I suspected, the one tailing us was Angel’s stalker. When Lilia and I turned the corner and lay in wait, he looked absolutely shocked.

“………………”

He doesn’t appear to have a weapon, but for some reason, he’s glaring at me.

Why? Even facing him directly like this, I don’t recognize him. As far as I know, the first time I saw him was when he came to the outdoor shop…

“Hey, are you Angel’s man!?”

“………………Huh?”

All of a sudden, the stalker spouted nonsense. How did he come to that conclusion?

“………………Tetsuya?”

“No, I’m not!”

For some reason, even Lilia was taking his words seriously. Lilia, you’re with me almost all the time!

“Don’t play dumb! Out of all the men around Angel, you’re the only one who could be her man!”

“I have no idea how you arrived at that conclusion…”

“Excluding Angel’s brother who works at the shop, I confirmed that the womanizing elf is always with some other girl. Besides, Angel would never fall for a shallow guy like him! That leaves only you as her man!”

“………………”

…No, don’t point at me like you just solved some great mystery. Your reasoning is completely off. Sure, we told people that Angel had a boyfriend to keep other men away, but I didn’t expect someone to actually investigate it.

Not to mention, such a boyfriend doesn’t even exist. Also, Lange being labeled as a shallow womanizer… Honestly, from my perspective, this stalker looks way more frivolous than him.

“Your face isn’t much, but at least you’ve got money.”

“That’s none of your business!”

I know I’m the only one in the shop with an average appearance! Leave me alone!

“Did you flash your money at her, just like you did to hire that bodyguard girl? Or did you blackmail her with some dirt on her? There’s no way Angel would be with a pathetic guy like you otherwise!”

“………………”

I can punch him, right? I’d be justified, right?

“Angel quit her job, and while I was searching for her, she got deceived by a man like you… I’ll protect her! Stay away from her forever!”

“………………”

My head is seriously starting to hurt. For the record, Angel quit her job because of you…

We’re not getting through to him at all. There’s no way I can convince this guy. Angel really has the worst luck getting tangled up with a guy like this.

That being said, he hasn’t actually done anything violent yet, so we can’t have him arrested. In that case…

“Hah, like Angel would ever fall for a sneaky stalker like you. Angel is already mine. You’re the one who needs to stay away from her!”

“W-What!?”

“Didn’t you hear me? Angel is mine. And don’t pretend you actually care about protecting her. You’re just a creepy coward who skulks around watching from the shadows. Stop acting tough!”

“...Y-You bastard! Who are you calling a coward!?”

After provoking him as much as possible, the stalker finally snapped and pulled out a small knife. Now that he’s drawn a weapon, we can claim self-defense, and he could be charged with attempted murder.

I do feel a little bad about using his feelings for Angel against him, but his obsession is nothing but a nuisance to her. He even forced her to quit her job.

“I’m the only one worthy of Angel!”

Enraged, the stalker lunged at me, completely ignoring the fact that a former B-rank adventurer, Lilia, was standing beside me as my bodyguard. Is he blinded by love, or is he just that short-sighted? He should’ve known Lilia was my guard.

But I’m not just standing here, relying on Lilia!

I pulled out an item I had for self-defense and flipped the switch.

“Uwaahhh! My eyes! My eyes aaaaahhhhhh!”

The stalker dropped his weapon and writhed around like some famous colonel from an old story. Now, Lilia should have no problem restraining him.

What I used was a handheld light—a powerful outdoor flashlight.

Since there’s a risk of causing blindness, good kids should never try this at home!