Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (LN) - Volume 17 - Chapter 1

Chapter One: Talk of Love 

Once Melty’s coronation was completed, we returned to the village. 
I still had quite a lot going on. Quite aside from anything else, we were preparing to set out on an expedition to another world. The familiar surroundings of the village really helped calm me down. 
Then I saw Ren leading Eclair along. I thought it had been decided that Eclair would be transferred to the castle, where she would continue to guard Melty. 
“How’s it going with you?” I asked them. 
“Not bad,” Ren replied. “I hope this makes raising levels go a bit more smoothly.” 
Then I looked at Eclair. 
“You said all that stuff about beating your knowledge into Ren, but you’re the one getting schooled now. You should be grateful for this class-up over 100,” I told her. 
“Why are you acting all high and mighty, Hero Iwatani?” she retorted. 
“I’m an archduke now. So I actually am high and mighty. That’s what I wanted to tell you,” I said. 
“What! Archduke?!” Eclair exclaimed. 
“You’ve gone up in the world? You don’t seem very happy about it,” Ren said. 

“I’m not. It wasn’t exactly my idea,” I replied. Seriously, how did things end up like this? “Eclair, you just worry about protecting Melty.” 

“Of course I will. I will take my notes from Queen Melty’s own capacity for rule and learn the ways of politics for myself!” Eclair stated enthusiastically. She could fight but wasn’t all that skilled when it came to regional management. If she didn’t get on top of her game, even village-newcomer Ruft would start to show her up. 
“Eclair has such a positive attitude. I could learn a lot from her,” Ren said, heaping more praise on her. Ren had respect for Eclair, that was for sure, and also paid careful attention to Wyndia. None of that was going to change. 
Wyndia didn’t seem very happy about it, however. 
I signaled to Ren and moved close to his face. 
“You ever going to confess your love for her?” I whispered in his ear. 
“That’s not what this is!” Ren protested. 
“Oh? You prefer them young, do you?” I asked. 
“Hey, that’s more—” Ren started to say something and then stopped. He’d been about to say, “That’s more your style.” Sorry, buddy. That’s not the case. 
Or was it? 
I was now basically engaged to Melty. That might look like a Lolita complex from the outside. There were lots of women around me with adult bodies but who were actually quite young too—Raphtalia, Filo, Shildina, Keel, even Atla. From that perspective, it did start to make me feel a bit strange. 
 
“Of course, Naofumi, you’re . . . Ah, it’s nothing,” Ren started, then stopped himself again. 
“Sounds like you’ve got something to say. Go ahead, finish that sentence,” I prompted him. 
“I just mean . . . you know.” Now Ren was looking over at where Fohl was lecturing the slaves training in the village. Why Fohl? 
“What the hell kind of misunderstanding is this?” I inquired with an edge to my voice. 
“What? I mean, Naofumi, don’t you play for both—” Ren started. 
“That’s enough. Say no more!” I cut him off. I really needed to nip this in the bud. It was true I tried to sleep with Fohl—just once—but there were all sorts of context to that encounter. Still, he had an ugly mug, but his skin had felt pretty smooth. He had kinda smelled like Atla too. 
“W-what do you want?!” As soon as I had that thought, Fohl turned and looked around, perhaps sensing something from my direction. 
He was so sensitive to this kind of thing, seriously! 
“Love is free, man. Don’t you know that? I learned it recently,” I said. It wasn’t just what Atla had told me. I’d learned that love was required in order to keep you from having regrets. 
I’d never dreamed that I’d come to regret doing nothing. 
“Ren,” I said. 
“What?” he replied. 
“Once the world is at peace, what do you want to do?” I asked. 

“Yeah . . . good question,” he replied. Perhaps reading what I was trying to say, he looked around the village. As it turned out, the spirits of the holy weapons would let us choose to either remain in this world or return home. I was planning on going back, but for Ren, remaining here might be a good choice. 
 
“You’re staying here?” I asked him. 
“I don’t know,” Ren said. “Eclair, what do you want me to do?” 
“Me? I’m not sure why you’re asking for my opinion, but don’t you have somewhere to go back to?” she replied. 
“Yes. The world I originally came from. I haven’t thought about it much since I came here, to what I thought was my ideal world,” he explained. 
“The choice is for you to make, so I’m not going to comment on that,” I told him. “But if you have unfinished business, going back is definitely one choice. I can’t say whether saving the world will allow for your sins to be forgiven, but—” 
“Acting for the sake of others is one form of atonement, right? I get it,” Ren interjected. The two of us had been through a lot together by now. We were comrades, even, with a solid understanding of one another. 
From Eclair’s reaction, though, it also looked like Ren’s love life wasn’t going anywhere soon. 
“Ren. Might be time to give it some thought,” I said. 
“What?” he asked. 
“Why don’t you just settle for Wyndia?” I suggested. At my words, Gaelion made a surprised noise and glared in my direction. Yeah, he didn’t like that. He wasn’t willing to give his daughter away to Ren. 
 
“About Wyndia . . . I am planning to take responsibility for that,” he said. He wasn’t making much progress on either front, then. Ren clearly had his own troubles to deal with. 
“Little Naofumi!” Sadeena, in the distance, was waving eagerly in my direction. 
“This is the difference between Naofumi and I, then . . .” Ren commented despondently. Hold on. He was including her too? For my part, I considered it impossible to tell if Sadeena really liked me or not. 
“Look, Ren. You might not all be on the same page with everyone, but you do have quite a few people who like you, right?” I told him. Eclair and Wyndia were just bad picks, neither one of them having much interest in romance. But Ren was close to Keel, the weapon shop old guy, and that crowd. 
“You’re concerned with how people see you?” Eclair asked. 
“No, that’s not it. I’m talking about having your priorities in order, if and when the time comes,” I replied. 
“I see. The mental side of things is also important in battle. I’ve heard that fighting with someone you want to protect helps you bring out your full strength.” Even Eclair seemed to have cottoned on to what we were talking about. Perhaps it was my role to cast the first stone. 
“Eclair, if someone said they cared for you, what would you do?” I asked. 
“I would be happy to have anyone feel that way about me. But unfortunately, I also don’t have the time to think about love. I would politely turn them down,” she explained. 
 
“Even if, just for argument’s sake, it was Ren who liked you?” I prodded. 
“Even then,” she confirmed. Oh boy. Ren immediately looked super depressed. He’d had his balls crushed before even getting to his confession. He might have sounded undecided, but it was pretty clear he liked her. 
This didn’t feel like an end to it either. I also didn’t want his performance in battle to suffer due to a broken heart. 
“Ren,” I said. 
“What?” he eventually replied. 
“She’s not the sharpest when it comes to matters of the heart. If such a situation actually came about, she might change her mind. If you get lucky, the one you confess to may then start to take notice of you. It’s too soon to give up,” I told him. 
“Okay, okay. I get it,” he said. 
“But you also need to read the room a little. If you confess to her right now, I don’t think she’ll give you the nod. You need to get closer to her first and then let her know how you feel. Maybe even get the elation right after we save the world to give things a push,” I advised. 
“Yes. Yes, okay!” Ren gave an enthusiastic nod at my suggestion. That was easier than expected. My only experience with this kind of thing was dating simulators, of course, so I couldn’t provide a detailed plan of action. This was perhaps something to ask Motoyasu about. In the past, at least, he might have provided some actionable intel, but as he was right now . . . 
 
The reason I had kept my advice a little vague, using words like “maybe” and “I think,” was so I wouldn’t need to take any responsibility if he failed. 
“Well then, Hero Iwatani. I will repay your kindness for everything I have been taught here. Now I take my leave.” With that, Eclair used Ren’s portal to return to the castle.