Blacksmith Volume 3 Chapter 3

Ever since Lotson-san left, Iris has been kind of… empty.

Whenever we tried to speak with her she only answers with “Oh?” or “That’s right.” no matter what we said.

My appetite seems to have dwindled recently as well, I just can’t eat in this atmosphere.

When we first arrived I ate every meal with gusto, but now I even forget the meal times.

I’ve been thinking so much I might even be able to write a poem out of my feelings, though my heart pounds at the thought.

“Hey Vaine, what are we supposed to do about this?”

“Like I said before, I don’t know.”

I’m not accustomed to situations like this, I’ve had absolutely no ideas on how to get through to her.

Moreover, the party in question isn’t any ordinary maiden.

It’s a maiden in love. Charging recklessly at a girl like that would be equivalent to attacking a wild boar.

And one does not simply approach a wild boar.

Those things are dangerous, and some even have fangs! I’d think twice before attacking something like that!

If I ever see one, I’d rather report the sighting to the local lords rather than take it on myself! They’re that dangerous!!

No, focus. We’re not actually talking about a wild boar here.

If it was just a wild boar then everything could’ve been solved easily, because all you need to do is hunt it with the proper preparations and feast afterwards.

But we’re talking about the love life of the girl who is supposed to become the future queen here! This problem is way bigger than a stupid pig!

Are you really in love?! Wake up Iris!

Thinking about it, every time Vaine and I see Iris all depressed we can’t help but sigh for some reason.

I want to cheer her up, but I don’t know what to do.

“Iris, do you want to go to the nearby town with me? I think Lotson-san will be there.”

“Eh?! W-w-w-what’s with that?! I-I don’t have any reason to go there now, do I?!”
Eh?! That’s my line!

Even if nobody else will find out? I tried to help you while Vaine and his insensitiveness aren’t here.

Wait! I know!!

“Actually, there’s a reason why but I wanted to see Lotson-san you know? Though I’d rather not go alone, you see…”

“Oh, so it’s like that. Yeah, that is a problem now, isn’t it?”

Yet I received nothing but a crisp reply in response.

Hey, this isn’t how a person who fell in love during the summer should act. You need more spirit!

I can’t go back to school if you’re still like this!

I’ll have to go prostrate to Prince Arc so he doesn’t kill me!

“Kururi!”

Vaine called out to me in a rare panicked face. I wonder what it is, though please let it not be a wild boar.

Looking out towards the place Vaine was pointing at from the window, I could see Lotson-san standing there.

Apparently, he seems to have come to our front door…

The human vortex has come!!!

While I was panicking, Iris came over to see what the commotion was about, and then she saw him.

Suddenly breaking into a panic, Iris started making a huge fuss about her hair, wondering if it looked weird or not.

“Hey Kururi, do you think my hair looks weird?!”

“I-it’s fine! Though, you have unusually dark circles around your eyes you know?!”

Iris’ heart pounding concerns shifted my way, the pressure she emitted felt like she was trying to snap me in half.

“Eh?! What should I do?!”

She started running around the room, yelling “Ah~!” in panic.

Calm down me, don’t fidget.

As I told myself that, the fated chime of our doorbell rang out.

This is the first time my started pounding from a doorbell ring.

Wait, am I also in love?

With a throbbing heart, I walked to the front door, opening it.

“Hi there, Lotson-san.”

Standing there was none other than one of the most dignified people I knew, Lotson-san.

Huh? His face looks a little… fuller than before, it’s not as sharp as it was.

No, I’m just imagining it, he’s the same cool Lotson-san he always was. He’s only in his early twenties, right? Yet he gives off the feeling of an adult.

Needless to say, Iris had come to greet him too.

To have the two of us rush to greet him, he sure is popular now, isn’t he?

“You haven’t changed at all, Kururi-sama.”

“Oh, you as well Lotson-san.”

“It’s about time for the periodic reports to come in. Kururi-sama, this time,’s reports are about the villages that you’ve renovated recently, please continue to work hard from now on.”

“Of course, thanks for the help.” in more ways than one.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve needed to collect reports since the renovations, isn’t it? Most of them should be documents on accounting and management, but because you were regulating everything Lotson-san, I don’t think we have to worry too much. The movement of all this money will be good for us in the end.”

“Thank you for the praise, I’ll be sure to put in, even more, effort in my work to live up to your expectations from now on.”

“Well, you can relax until we collect the reports, though.”

Lotson-san entered the house, and I confirmed the documents that he had brought today.

Meanwhile, one person had moved into the shadows behind us.

It was our housekeeper Iris!!

No wait, she’s not a housekeeper.

Vaine wasn’t able to handle the atmosphere of the room and fled.

Opening the report revealed a variety of documents, and by the way, Iris was peeking in from around the.

“Kururi-sama, are you listening to me?”

“Oh, sorry about that. Please continue.”

“Yes, the current situation of the management is in top form overall…”

Lotson-san’s explanations were clear and easy to understand.

However, I wasn’t able to remember anything he said at all.

Mostly because of Iris who kept trying to find the timing to say something, but got nervous before pulling back multiple times.

Should I really allow this to continue?

“Please wait one moment,” I stopped Lotson’s report and sent my gaze behind him.

“Iris, Lotson-san is currently giving me a management report, this could help you develop your accounting skills, do you want to listen to it together with me?”

“Eh?!”

After being acknowledged, Iris started to panic, not knowing what to do.

“Come on,” but after I urged her over she finally came to her senses, and walked over with a light gait.

Lotson-san was sitting across from me, while Iris had sat down beside me.

Out of the two of us, she chose to sit beside me for some reason, maybe she’s shy?

Eventually, Iris started to join in on the discussion, what she said didn’t enter my head, but for some reason, she was only talking to me.

“That’s the end of today’s report.”

“Thanks for all your hard work, I wouldn’t be able to do this without you, Lotson-san.”

“I’m only here because I have someone like you to work for, Kururi-sama.”

“No, you’re amazing Lotson-san!”

Iris was finally able to squeeze out some words towards Lotson-san.

It’s too bad that she put too much force into that statement, only making Lotson-san nod while going, “Yeah…”

Maidens in love are clumsy. Though, I guess it can’t be helped.

“I will return again.”

To this, Iris tried to say something in a voice I couldn’t hear.

…I guess it’s no good.

“Lotson-san, it’s fine if you want to stay a little while.”

“Thank you, but I’ll have to refuse, I still have a lot of work to finish.”

“Hey~ Don’t be so reserved~” I gripped his shoulder and sat him back down on the chair.

“I’ll get someone to bring food to eat, and you two can talk for a bit while I’m out.”

“…I’ll humbly accept your offer then.”

Getting up, I left the modest Lotson-san and Iris.

Doing this for the two of them, didn’t I do good? As I thought that, I left the room.

“So you ran away too, Kururi?”

As I went out to get a breath of fresh air, Vaine spotted me while he was practising his swordsmanship.

“Kinda, I left so that they’d have some time alone together, I didn’t want to be a nuisance.”

“You sure are a good guy.”

“I don’t feel like one, though.” in truth I just wanted to run away.

“I wonder if things will work out between those two,” Vaine expressed to me anxiously.

“I’m sure it will.”

Moving over to a nearby window, the two of us pressed our faces against the glass to see how it was going.

We couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they seemed to be having fun conversing with each other.

Iris’ smile was dazzling. That was the smile that Prince Arc dreamed of seeing. Sorry, prince.

“Looks like fun.”

“Yup.”

“Looks like our worries were for nought.”

“Yeah, but isn’t it bad that we’re spying on them?”

“It’s probably not the most ethical hobby.”

“Then, do you want to train with me for a bit?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

The two of us then proceeded to spar for what seemed to be a long time.

Saying that thinking was unnecessary, Vaine then continued to charge at me.

He was right, so I stopped my useless thoughts and focused on truly enjoying the spar.

“You have a tremendous sword-arm, Kururi.”

“Thanks, your not so bad yourself, Vaine.”

With all our might put into our swords, we fought holding nothing back.

Forgetting everything else, we fought for as long as we could until our physical strength was exhausted.

Yeah, this is just how men do things.

Don’t think about anything, just do whatever you want at full force. That is true happiness.

Our spar end with the two of us a considerable distance from each other, each of us breathing heavy breaths, exhausted.

“That was a good spar.”

“Yeah.”

We were out of breath, we couldn’t even hold a decent conversation, but it was somehow fun.

It feels great moving the body like this.

After we finished praising each other on the good fight, there was a sudden applause from the side.

Looking to the side, Iris and Lotson-san were standing there.

“Lotson-san, sorry for keeping you here, you can go home now. Did you two have a good time?”

“Yes, I did stay quite a long time today, so I’ll be excusing myself now.”

“Are you sure? You’re free to come here anytime you want, you know? My doors are always open to you.”

Just by looking at them you could see how happy Iris looked. I wonder what they talked about?

After finally sending off Lotson-san, the three of us went back inside.

Although it’s probably not good to pry, I still wanted to know a little bit about what happened.

“Looks like you got to speak with Lotson-san a lot.”

“Yes, but I have a lot to say to you Kururi. Since a long time ago you’ve always had this certain way with words. You’re really devious, you know that?”

I pushed my finger into her cheek that had inflated itself in dissatisfaction, her face turning somewhat annoyed.

What? It’s not like I was doing it all for fun.

“Hey now, I’m actually pretty hungry because of all that training, so can we do this over dinner, after I take a shower?”

“Sure.”

Iris nodded vigorously.

She seemed much more cheerful now than she was this morning. Her expressions are considerably clear now.

I can feel that we’ll still be able to remember what happened today for a long time.