CHAPTER 3:
I ENCOUNTERED THE HERO (PART 1)
“Fufufu… Finally! Half a month will have passed tomorrow!!” [Youki]
My tension was near the maximum when I woke up in the morning. If anyone were to be near me at the moment, they would definitely be annoyed. That was how high my tension was. After listening to Mikana’s problem and getting into a ‘binge eating contest’ with Raven, a half month passed in the blink of an eye. Without realizing it, tomorrow is finally the decisive day fixed by Celia-san.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time!” [Youki]
I finally came to understand the huge difference between ‘not seeing someone’ and ‘couldn’t see someone’. I don’t want to go through this feeling again. That was seriously what I thought. However, it would all end today.
“Kukuku… I will be a God tomorrow!!” [Youki]
I ended up blurting out a chuuni-like line while I was changing in front of the mirror due to my high excitement level. I do understand that I should be restraining myself, but this is a room which I am renting. It’s my own private room. Since I’m not in a public place, it shouldn’t really matter. I could release all the increasing tension inside my body as much as I wanted to.
After getting dressed, I flashed my signature pose and spouted all the incomprehensible lines floating through my head that a normal person just wouldn’t understand.
“I deny an existence like you!”
“Die by my magic!”
“I will definitely save the world!”
“It’s regrettable… but you can’t win against me.”
Far from relieving the built-up tension, it had increased at an even faster rate, becoming uncontrollable. This is bad. I couldn’t stop myself.
“It would be the worst day for you today…”
“… What have you been babbling about since a while ago, brat?” [???]
While I was engaged in a one-sided exchange with myself, I suddenly heard a voice calling out. When I turned around, I found Gai looking at me with sympathetic eyes. … Yeah. Due to my escalating tension, I had totally forgotten about this stone statue that has been sleeping here all this while.
“Aaaaaaa!” [Youki]
That was embarrassing. It was super embarrassing. My excitement subsided abruptly, giving me a strong urge to punch my earlier self. Regardless of how exciting it would be, to be able to see Cecilia again tomorrow, I was still being too over enthusiastic. A strange atmosphere ended up enveloping the room because of me. I might die if I were to remain in this room in this state. Thus, I tried escaping the room immediately from Gai who was still looking astonished.
“… Uooo!?” [Youki]
Upon opening the door, the sight of a girl standing there made me draw back in surprise.
“Hello. It’s been a long time.” [???]
The girl who was standing outside was Tiel-chan. She greeted me normally, looking unfazed even though I had bolted out of the room all of the sudden. Seeing that she was dressed in her everyday clothes instead of her maid uniform, it was probably her day off today.
“Aa, it has been a long time. I was just about to leave, but… do you need anything?” [Youki]
“I’m here to deliver the message from madam. Come to the mansion tomorrow in the afternoon.” [Tiel]
Though Celia-san said that the duration would be half a month, I was still a little worried and was wondering if it would really be alright for me to go there. However, with this, my concern was alleviated and I could visit Cecilia tomorrow without any hesitation.
“Thank you for coming all the way here to deliver the message even though it is your day off… By the way, what’s that baggage you’re carrying on your back?” [Youki]
What concerned me the most since a while ago was the baggage resembling a huge furoshiki on her back.[1] How did she manage to carry such a huge thing despite having a frail body?
“They’re books.” [Tiel]
“Books?” [Youki]
“Yes.” [Tiel]
“The entire load?” [Youki]
“That’s right.” [Tiel]
“……” [Youki]
“……” [Tiel]
I wonder… I had a feeling that Tiel-chan was trying to appeal for something from me through her eyes. It was likely that she was supposed to have come here to deliver the message from Celia-san, but her main purpose must be to meet that lazy ass lolicon gargoyle.
“Erm, I’ll be leaving now but… do you want to come in?” [Youki]
“Yes, thank you very much!!” [Tiel]
Tiel-chan expressed her gratitude with the splendid bow she learned from Sophia-san. “Aren’t you a completely different character from a while ago!?” …was what I wanted to say, but I wanted to get away from Gai as soon as I could. As if we were swapping places, Tiel-chan entered the room while I dashed outside, aimlessly.
“Sigh… I won’t be able to go back to the inn for a while. No, I don’t want to go back there.” [Youki]
That was embarrassing. It was super embarrassing. Ah, I wish I could crawl inside a hole and never, ever come out. My tension was at the maximum when I woke up in the morning, but it has hit rock bottom now. Besides, even though I had bolted out of my room by impulse, I don’t have any plans with anyone today. Not to mention, I had left my guild card in my room so I couldn’t accept any request. I couldn’t return there to take it back as well. Or, I could, on the other hand, find Clayman and pass my time by listening to his nonsense rant… but I don’t want him to use it as an excuse to slack off.
“It can’t be helped. It is fortunate that I brought my money with me so I can just wander around here.” [Youki]
A full-fledged man wasting his time. There would be such a day off at times too. That was what I thought at that time. However, the outcome after loitering around by myself in the early hours… was dreadful.
While I was walking, my shoulders accidentally bumped against a strong looking beastman, causing him to shoot a fierce glare at me. It was scary.
When I entered a random shop, I was greeted by a gloomy scene of a couple flirting with each other. They then pointed their fingers at me, ridiculing a single man like me. It wasn’t as if I like being single, dammit!
When I went to my favourite cake shop (so I could eat something sweet, to compose myself due to the pent-up irritation), I noticed that the shop assistant was replaced by a nice guy with a muscular body. The sight of him in a frilly white apron had an immense ‘destructive power’. It seemed that the usual shop assistant was bedridden after catching a cold, so her brother was supposedly looking after the shop in her absence. Although, I wished he could stop posing while he was carrying the cake! The contents had slightly become a mess after. I wanted to complain about it, but it would be troublesome if that muscle man were to start posing again, so I endured it and ate it as is.
And then I was at the stall, compensating a child back for accidentally bumping into him, and causing him to drop his kushiyaki in the process.
“Why am I so unlucky today…” [Youki]
“Here you go! Two kushiyaki for nii-chan!” [kushiyaki seller]
“T-Thank you… Here.” [Youki]
I passed two kushiyaki to the child who was still crying as a service.
“Uuu, sniff… Thank you onii-chan.” [child]
“Be more careful and look ahead before you walk the next time, alright? If you can’t, then don’t eat when you walk. You should do so only after you reach home.” [Youki]
“U-Un.” [child]
“See ya.” [Youki]
The child then ran off as is, with the kushiyaki still remaining untouched in the bag. I guess he was planning to eat them only after he reached home. Although, it made me anxious, wondering if he would drop them once more. If he were to fall and drop them again, even I wouldn’t be able to help him anymore.
“Even so, I am certainly unlucky today. I wonder why… … the hec- ouch!” [Youki]
While I was having such thoughts in my mind, I ended up being negligent and collided with someone again. The person whom I had crashed into got away from me hastily without saying anything.
“What’s up with that guy? He left without saying anything…… something’s fishy.” [Youki]
A bad feeling came over me, prompting me to search my pockets. Upon doing so, I realized that my wallet was gone. My wallet was certainly still with me when I paid for the kushiyaki a while ago.
“That asshole!” [Youki]
It is a pickpocket this time!?
I sure have had a serious case of bad luck today. He could not have run off too far yet. I began running towards the direction that the guy headed to and surveyed my surroundings. I guess he had not expected me to notice it missing so soon. He ran off again when he realized that I was chasing after him. The pickpocket ran into a dark alley. It was naive of him to think he could get away from me by entering such a complex place.
“《Lightning Flash》” [Youki]
Using reinforcement magic to strengthen my legs, I leaped up and launched at him with a flying kick.
“Ora-!” [Youki]
“Guhe-!?” [pickpocket]
The pickpocket was blown off while uttering a strange cry.
However, for some reason, another human came flying here as well, smashing directly into the pickpocket I kicked, causing both to fall to the ground with a thud.
“What the–!? Why did a person fly here all of a sudden? Well, whatever. What’s more important is my wallet…… ” [Youki]
I retrieved my wallet from the thief’s pocket and examined the contents inside. After confirming them, I stowed it away in my pocket. Since I had recovered my stolen wallet, there was no reason for me remain here any longer, so I turned around quickly to leave the place. However, at that instant, a sudden sense of bloodlust that was directed at me, made me jump back. When I entered my battle stance and turned around, what greeted my sight was……
“Hey, you there! Return his wallet back to him at once!”
Yuuga the hero standing there, with his sword pointed at me. There was an unknown girl accompanying him.
I ended up encountering the one person whom I did not want to meet the most. Not to mention, a strange misunderstanding had occurred. For the time being, I guess I should persuade him to solve this misunderstanding.
“But that person’s a pickpocket and this is my stolen wallet.” [Youki]
“I see. So you’re not returning it back, right? Then I’ll make you return it by force!” [Yuuga]
“No, could you listen when someone’s talking to you?!” [Youki]
Since my effort at persuasion failed, I wound up engaging in a fight against Yuuga as it was. There was no way I could just receive his attacks in silence, so my resistance gradually became showy as it prolonged. As a result, the townspeople reported to the knights about the commotion, and both Yuuga and I ended up being taken into the knight’s custody.
I have not done anything wrong at all, though. While I was being taken away by the knights, a certain unfinished line that I had uttered this morning suddenly flowed through my head.
“It would be the worst day for you today…”
That very line that I had directed to myself in the mirror had magnificently become a reality. I should seriously restrain my chuuni self for the time being.
“I’ll listen to the details at the headquarter.” [knight]
“It will be the same as what I’ve told you earlier……” [Youki]
I replied wearily to the knight who seemed enthusiastic about the interrogation. After all, considering that Yuuga is a hero, it was likely that they would just listen to his testimony and pin the blame on me. When I snuck a look at Yuuga, I noticed that the girl accompanying him had the look of a maiden in love. I could hear the knight thanking them for their cooperation as he lowered his head. It seemed that I had totally played the role of a ‘bad guy’ here. Well, whatever. It was something that couldn’t be helped as well that I became negligent.
I gave up and went along with the knights to the knight’s headquarter.
“Here, we’ll begin our questioning inside. It seems like your first offense so we might release you as soon as you come clean.” [knight]
“Like I said before, I was just retrieving my stolen wallet.” [Youki]
“Rest assured, we’ll get the testimonies from the two unconscious individuals.” [knight]
How could I rest assured in this kind of situation?!
“I’m seriously jinxed.” That was what I thought when I was taken to the knight’s headquarter.
The moment I entered, the sight that greeted me was Raven running towards us in a hurry.
“C-Commander Raven!? For Commander to be in such a hurry, did something happen?” [knight]
Raven showed the knight a memo at his query; 『What happened?』
Even though the knight was the one who asked him, he raised another question as a response to the knight’s question. Since the notes were written beforehand, I guess this was something that might happen. The knight must have been used to something like this already. He answered Raven, looking unperturbed.
“Actually, there was a commotion in the plaza. This person seems to be an important suspect who had caused the uproar at the site.” [knight]
As the victim in this, I have no recollection whatsoever of having done anything that would instead make me the perpetrator.
『Please tell me the details』
After showing us the memo, Raven guided me and the knight to the room.
Thereon, the process Raven took to handle this was a quick one.
Once he got the full story from us, we went straight to the site. He gathered testimonies from the people around and woke up the unconscious pickpocket who then confessed to his crime.
In addition, Raven also carried out an impartial investigation concerning Yuuga being the culprit of this problem, and helped clarify that I was actually the victim of theft.
I, who had fallen into despair was finally cleared of my name.
Although, I have actually not done anything wrong from the start.
Following that, I was guided to Raven’s office and took it easy after sitting myself on a chair.
“You sure had a terrible experience.” [Raven]
“Seriously. But, I’m saved thanks to Raven.” [Youki]
I wonder what would happen if Raven had not come. Even if I had not done anything wrong, it would still not be resolved that soon too.
“……Yuuga had really done something’s that inexcusable. I’m sorry.” [Raven]
“You don’t need to apologize. I was able to clear my name because of Raven.” [Youki]
When I was taken into custody by the knight, I was actually cursing myself for having such terrible luck today.
In the end, it still didn’t change the fact that I was indeed involved in the uproar as well by engaging in a scuffle, so I was given a strict warning.
I wasn’t really the one who started it, though…That specific information was disregarded, since it would be much more troublesome if Raven had not turn up.
“Seriously, thank you very much. You have rushed over here to help me even though you were in the middle of your work.” [Youki]
“… I saw the group of knights taking Youki into custody from the window. I thought that something might have happened.” [Raven]
There were mountains of documents piling up on Raven’s work desk. It seemed that he had halted his work just to help me. I seriously couldn’t thank him enough for that.
“… So, what’s going to happen to Hero?” [Youki]
“He’s going to be given a stern warning, the same as Youki.” [Raven]
“Who is going to be placed in charge of that?” [Youki]
“… I was told by my subordinates that I should be the one to do it as the commander here.” [Raven]
Though he is hopeless, he is still a hero. The thought of reprimanding a hero could be too daunting so none of them wanted to do it… probably. Besides, they wouldn’t want to make it look like the Hero was the one in the wrong, and they would like to carry it out impartially. If they were to think of it that way, the only one who could do it was Raven.
“They have discreetly pushed the job to you, huh?” [Youki]
“… Sigh.” [Raven]
Raven let out a deep sigh. Is he alright? Could it be due to his accumulated fatigue…no that shouldn’t be it.
“… Raven, can you even converse with Hero?” [Youki]
“… Not possible. It’s not that I was made fun of. It’s just that, he told me that it was unnecessary to be concerned about something like that. That’s all.” [Raven]
“I see.” [Youki]
The person himself was concerned about it, so that was not the right way to conduct yourself towards him. The only reason he was concerned about it was because he was troubled by his own voice. Yuuga probably did not mean any harm, though.
“Then, what are you going to do now? Are you planning to release him just like that?” [Youki]
“… I’ll manage it somehow through written memo.” [Raven]
“I guess so. Though, I don’t think that it would be convincing to do it through writing.” [Youki]
“It’ll be alright. I’ve done it before several times when we were still travelling as a party last time.” [Raven]
“Then it’s fine.” [Youki]
“Raven! I’ve heard that the knights have arrested Captain. Where is he!?”
The door suddenly flung itself open and Duke came barging into the room as he shouted. It seemed that he had rushed here after receiving the information.
“Oioi. Calm down, Duke. Rather, you’re supposed to refer him as commander, not just Raven. He’s your superior.” [Youki]
“Have you done something to be detained like this? Could it be that, you have resorted to crimes after receiving too many rejections from Cecilia-san…” [Duke]
“I’ve not resorted to any crime! Anyway just listen to me!” [Youki]
“Is that true? Well it’s fine. Also, my only superior is Captain. Well, I’ll refer to him as Commander Raven when we’re in public… so why were you arrested?” [Duke]
“I’ll say this first, but I’ve not done anything wrong.” [Youki]
“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” [Duke]
It took some time to explain it all over again to Duke who still didn’t seem to believe in what I had said. In the meantime, Raven left the room after telling us that he would try to persuade Yuuga. Wait, persuade? Aren’t you supposed to give him a stern warning instead?
I managed to catch a glimpse of his expression before he left the room, but it didn’t appear too well. Hence, all I could tell him was, ‘Do your best.’
“Based on the story, I don’t think that Captain was in the wrong. Hero was the one who had attacked Captain without first listening to what Captain has to say.” [Duke]
“Isn’t it? I’m not wrong right?” [Youki]
“Well, it WAS a disgraceful blunder that a normal human managed to steal Captain’s wallet, though. This wouldn’t have happened if Captain didn’t get your wallet stolen.” [Duke]
Duke seemed to believe that I was innocent too, but what he just said somehow made me feel miserable. Duke was right. It was pathetic that I got my own wallet stolen.
“It was just a joke, okay?… Why such a long face?” [Duke]
“No, well… I had nothing but bad luck today.” [Youki]
At the thought of all the incidents that happened since this morning, I couldn’t even heave a sigh. Even though tomorrow is the long awaited reunion with Cecilia, why was I dogged by all the misfortune today? Could it be a trial that needed to be overcome in order to meet Cecilia? …No, that shouldn’t be it.
“Captain, um… sorry.” [Duke]
I felt even more depressed at my own misfortune.
While Duke was consoling me, Raven returned to the room. It has only been several minutes since he left though.
“That’s surprisingly fast.” [Youki]
“The person himself seemed to have deeply regretted it. I’ve written everything beforehand so all I did was show him the memos, asking him to reflect on himself. All the words of caution have also been written in advance.” [Raven]
“Oioi. Is that alright? He could have not taken a look at them at all and might appear as such just for the sake of it.” [Youki]
“… That won’t be possible. If he does that, he’ll get a preaching from both Cecilia and Mikana.” [Raven]
Did something similar happen during their journey? In any case, I felt that it was slightly too lenient.
“Captain, I’ll go. I don’t give a damn if he’s a hero or not. I’ll whip him into shape.” [Duke]
“… Duke, you’re already infamous among the group of knights. Any more than this is indeed…” [Raven]
“Hold it right there! I just heard something that I couldn’t ignore. What do you mean by infamous? I have heard nothing about that.” [Youki]
Leaving aside the matter about Yuuga, I need to hear this out carefully. If my former subordinate were to make any blunder, I should admonish him as his captain.
“No, I wasn’t… infamous.” [Duke]
It was plain as day that he was averting his gaze. It was obviously suspicious. He must be hiding something.
When I tried to press on for answer, the sound of someone knocking on the door could be heard.
Raven sounded the bell on his desk. Thereupon, the door opened and a girl in armour entered the room. … Was that bell a substitute for his reply?
“C-Commander, please excuse me.” [???]
Is she Raven’s subordinate? As soon as she entered the room, she glanced around restlessly. She narrowed her eyes momentarily when she looked at me and looked disgruntled when she saw Duke. However, a look of relief washed across her face right after.
The girl then grabbed Duke’s arm and dragged him out of the room by tugging him along by his arm. That action of hers was kind of cute.
“Commander, please excuse me!” [???]
She gave a bow and exited from the room. Duke left without saying anything. Did Duke become a lolicon too?
“Raven, who’s that girl earlier?” [Youki]
Disregarding the cause, Duke was originally my subordinate. Hence, it is a captain’s duty to correct his subordinate’s mistakes.
“Girl… Ah, do you mean Irene? Duke and Irene usually work together. She was probably searching for Duke who had slipped away during training. Also, she’s an elf. She might look young but her actual age is… Since it’s a personal information, I can’t divulge it. But, at the least she’s not as young as what Youki thinks.” [Raven]
“She’s an elf?” [Youki]
Could she really be an elf? The elf race that is said to exist among the different races in another world. That elf!? I had thought that I was dogged by misfortune today, but not only was I able to see an elf, I was also saved by Raven. Was my luck improving?
“But aren’t elves specialized in magic or archery?” [Youki]
“… There are circumstances there too.” [Raven]
He couldn’t say it. As a man, I shouldn’t be prying into a woman’s circumstances since we just met and have not spoken to each other yet. If that’s the case, then I would like to know how Duke is doing as a knight. My eyes abruptly landed on the pile of papers on the desk. Come to think of it, Raven’s work was interrupted, too, due to Yuuga and me. Since I was already released from detention, there was no reason for me to stay here any longer.
“Well, from that girl’s point of view, I am just a stranger. Besides, if I were to poke around a girl’s situation out of curiosity, I would receive another preaching from Cecilia again. Raven, it’s time for me to leave. You’ve been of great help to me today.” [Youki]
“… Yuuga was the one at fault. So what I did is natural. See you then.” [Raven]
“Ou, help me relay it to Duke too.” [Youki]
Having said so, I parted with Raven and left the knight’s headquarter… but;
“Ah, you finally came out!” [???]
“Ge-!” [Youki]
For some reason, I was ‘ambushed’ and caught by Yuuga.
“You finally came out. Eh, weren’t you the one who was with Cecilia previously? We seemed to have met each other several times now.” [Yuuga]
“I have met you many times.” [Youki]
“We have, haven’t we? I didn’t notice it since the alley was dark.” [Yuuga]
Even though I could discern that it was Yuuga at the time, it didn’t appear to be the same for him, though, even if he did recognize me, I don’t think I would have greeted him too.
“I’ll take my leave then if there’s nothing else.” [Youki]
I had a feeling that it would wind up being troublesome so I should leave this place as soon as I could. However, Yuuga didn’t permit me to do so.
“Ah, wait a minute. I actually wanted to apologize for the misunderstanding. Is it, not okay with you?” [Yuuga]
Yuuga flashed me a killer smile that would instantly make women fall head over heels for him. Naturally it wouldn’t work on me since I do not swing that way.
However, if I were to decline Yuuga’s request, he might persist in pestering me about it. If we were to make a racket in front of the knight’s headquarter, we would end up troubling Raven again. There was no other way than to endure it and accept his invitation.
“I understand. Sure.” [Youki]
“Seriously!? Then shall we change our location? I know of a good restaurant.” [Yuuga]
“Yeah, yeah.” [Youki]
I reluctantly followed Yuuga who walked ahead of me. It seemed that Raven had handed Yuuga the disguise set I lent him. Probably because he was being considerate towards Raven, he put them on as he walked around the town. It was a huge relief since it had prevented more commotion from occurring. Even though he was in disguise when we were on the ‘double date’ the other time, I couldn’t comprehend why he came out without one today. It was actually bewildering that he has not caused any uproar before he got into the fight with me.
On our way there, a profound silence enveloped us the entire time. Yuuga appeared to have wanted to say something, but I guess I was emitting an aura that was figuratively screaming, “Don’t talk to me!”, so he held back and kept quiet.
After walking for several minutes, we finally arrived at the place. It was the same place recommended by Mikana the other day.
“We’re here! Not only does it have an amicable and stylish atmosphere, the employees are kind too, and the food’s totally tasty!” [Yuuga]
I thought the introduction sounded familiar, but wasn’t it similar to what Mikana said?
It seemed that Yuuga had been to this place before with Mikana. He must have remembered the words she said at that time.
“Oh! Is that so? I’m looking forward to it.” [Youki]
Despite the fact that I had been here before, I told what seemed like a barefaced lie. Nevertheless, since I couldn’t tell him the truth, I just kept quiet about it.
“What’s so fun about coming to such a fashionable shop with another guy?”. That was what I was thinking of at that moment, but seeing that we were already there, I figured I might as well just go in.
“Welcome. It’ll be for two people, right? Please take your seat here.” [employee]
We were guided by the same employee as the other time to our seats.
Yuuga appeared to be troubled as he looked at the menu, probably contemplating on what to order, but since I didn’t feel like having a prolonged conversation with him, I didn’t plan to eat anything. All I requested for was a cup of drink.
“I’ll get this shop’s recommended drink.” [Youki]
“… Anything else?” [employee]
“Yes, could you please wait for a moment? My friend hasn’t make his selections yet.” [Youki]
Yuuga was still looking through the menu. Could you make your decision soon?!
“No… I mean, does this customer has anything else to order?” [employee]
“Me? I’m fine with just a drink.” [Youki]
“I see.” [employee]
There was a strange look on the employee’s face as she tilted her head.[2]
After that, Yuuga eventually ordered the same thing as me before the employee left.
It was something that I found out later on, but when Raven and I were ‘binge eating’ in this shop the other day, our behaviour made us stick out like a sore thumb, leaving quite an impression on the employees here. As a result, it seemed that I was unexpectedly labelled as a ‘compulsive eater customer’, so her suspicion was aroused when I ordered only a drink this time. It was a really trivial story, though.
NOTES
1. Furoshiki [↑]
2. I don’t know if it’s a ‘he’ or ‘she’ so I left it as ‘she’ for the time being. [↑]
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