Chapter 98 - Reunion, Recollection
With an AK47 in my left hand, A PKM in my right, armed to the teeth with frags and concussion grenades, 2 panzerfausts on my back, 2 belts of 7.62x54R ammo crossed over my shoulders clanked against the grenades.
My face was smeared with war paint.
The headband on my forehead fluttered, as I stormed into the waiting room that I knew all too well.
“Who’s that guy?! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is trying to make a pa.s.s at our Eru-sensei? I’ll shove my hand so far up his a.s.s that I’ll break his molars!”
“Uoo!? Wha, what is it, who are you!?”
“Sooo iiiit’s yoooou, huuuh!!!!”
Sitting in the waiting room was a man.
He was a big man that towered at 190 cm and had short hair and beard, both grizzled. One of his eyes was covered by an eyepatch.
If we were in my previous world, he would give people the impression that he was a colonel.
He looked old -- somewhere between being middle-aged and about 1-2 steps before becoming a member of the elderly.
This b.a.s.t.a.r.d doesn’t even think of his age and dares to put his hand on Eru-sensei, huh?!
He’s probably a scoundrel that was dazed by Eru-sensei’s beauty, charm, and her overall existence so he used his money and influence, or the excuse of the continuation of the orphanage to get close to her. No, that must be the case!
In other words, there’s no problem even if I destroy him.
“Don’t think that I’ll leave even a piece of you left!”
“Hah?! Wait! I-I’ve never even seen you before……”
“I won’t hear any excuses! Ｈｏｗ ａｂｏｕｔ ａ ｎｉｃｅ ｃｕｐ ｏｆ ｓｈｕｔ ｔｈｅ ｆ○ｃｋ ｕｐ (go eat a bag of s.h.i.t)!”
I pointed the AK47 and PKM’s barrels at the man.
“Lute-kun! What are you planning to do to my friend!?”
“Ow ow ow ow ow! It hurts! It hurts, Eru-sensei!!!!!”
Eru-sensei, who had just came in, later pulled my ears without restraint.
The last time she pulled on my ears was when the revolver exploded and made her really mad.
I put the equipment away and, by Eru-sensei’s order, I sat on the floor.
It was like seiza from the previous world.
Eru-sensei puffed her cheeks angrily.
“Really, Lute-kun, to be so rude towards our guest. Even if he’s my friend, there’s a limit to what you can joke about, you know.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
I apologized while continuing to glare at the man.
My kind-hearted sensei didn’t notice that and introduced the man before me.
“He is sensei’s old friend, Garuma-san of the human race. He is a level 5 adventurer of remarkable ability, you know.”
“Eru-san, I’m just a ‘former’ adventurer now.”
The man called Garuma smiled wryly at Eru-sensei’s introduction.
I see… His name is Garuma, huh…… Now, I’ve committed his name and face to memory.
I absolutely will not forget.
The Snow group members who were sitting in the waiting room asked,
“Eru-sensei…… Are you marrying Garuma-san?”
Garuma burst out laughing at Snow’s question.
“Ahaha! No, certainly not. I already have a wife, daughter, and even a grandchild. I don’t even have the slightest intention of putting my hands on Eru-san. So that’s why his face went red and attacked me huh. You sure are loved as always, Eru-san.”
“Geez, Garuma-san, please don’t tease me.”
They laughed together and gave off a peaceful atmosphere of close friends. It was a misunderstanding then…!? Who?! Who was the scoundrel that put his hand on Eru-sensei?!
“So, who is Eru-san marrying?”
Continuing after Snow, Lyss asked.
That’s right. That’s what I wanted to ask! Nice question, Lyss!!
“No, I’m not getting married. Garuma-san only brought it up by saying, ‘I will introduce you to someone, so would you care to give it a try?’ I was planning to refuse from the start, though.”
He brought up the marriage talk?!
As I thought: Isn’t this guy the enemy?!
And you have to annihilate enemies, right!?
I let out a growl from my throat as I stared at Garuma.
Snow’s group sent me shocked looks, but I paid them no mind.
“......Then, what is it that you wanted to consult with us?”
Snow looked away from me and asked again.
Eru-sensei told us the summarized explanation she received before we arrived.
Garuma is currently the advisor of a legion called the “Order of the Pure Maiden Knights” on the Beast continent.
The Order of the Pure Maiden Knights is a famous legion.
It’s a legion that only girls could join as long as you pa.s.s the trial, even if you’re a talentless magician, poor farmer, n.o.ble fell to poverty, etc… a legion that doesn’t discriminate between the rich and poor.
But, as time pa.s.sed, their competency declined.
The retired level-5 adventurer, Garuma, had to take the advisor position quickly, and they only had the bare minimum equipment.
If this continues, they will be ordered to disband the legion by the adventurer guild.
Even after borrowing the names of the retired legion members and Garuma, the level-5 ex-adventurer, they were barely able to keep up.
It seems that Garuma will also be retiring soon due to his old age...
Then, the one that was chosen was Eru-sensei.
Garuma was planning to get Eru-sensei to join the Order of the Pure Maiden Knights as the legion’s commander.
Eru-sensei didn’t have experience as an adventurer, but she once worked for a medical treatment inst.i.tution because of her skill in healing magic. Thanks to that, she was unexpectedly well-known.
If Eru-sensei were to become the legion commander, the big guns that idolized her may join the legion… That was his crafty scheme.
The marriage discussion, too; he said that, if she were to move to the Beast continent, he would introduce her to men with good prospects through his connections.
What? This guy… Isn’t he the enemy as I thought?
Of course, Eru-sensei intended to decline both the legion and the marriage offer.
But, since her old friend took the trouble to come visit her, she couldn’t flat-out tell him to go home. Just as we came to see her, she wanted to consult with us about joining the legion.
“Lute-kun is aiming to form a legion too, right? Since you can create amazing magical tools, I think you should take the advisor position in Garuma’s place…...”
“I’m sorry, Eru-sensei. Actually, I’ve already created my own legion.”
“Hoh! You’re only at that age and you have already created your own legion?!”
Garuma showed a reaction.
This time I told them about the sequence of events up until the creation of my legion, while hiding the details about Lyss’ big sis and the syringe.
After she learned about it, Eru-sensei...
“PEACEMAKER… One who creates peace? That’s a good legion name. Still, I’m really surprised that you made a legion. From now on, you have to do your best to achieve your dreams, okay?”
“Thank you very much, Eru-sensei!”
I honestly answered while still kneeling on the floor.
Being praised by Eru-sensei made me completely forget about my numbed legs.
“Fumu, the more I hear about Lute-kun, the more I want you to become the advisor for the Order of the Pure Maiden Knights……. but I can’t force you to do it.”
Garuma let out a sigh and smiled bitterly.
“Even though I kind of predicted it,-san refused me, so I’m trying my luck here.”
“Garuma-san, sorry I couldn’t be of help.”
“Don’t be. I’ve said that I already predicted you would refuse, so please don’t mind it. But ……. we’ve some years on us already, I have to hurry up about that one―”
“Garuma-san!”
Eru-sensei raised her voice, which was rare.
“.......We’re in front of the kids.”
“Pardon me… But, as your friend, I wish for your happiness. If you forget anything, please don’t forget ‘that’.”
“.......Thank you. I am surrounded by the children, and there are the kids that come back to see me like Lute-kun’s bunch, as well. That’s why I am very happy right now, you know.”
There wasn’t a shred of falsehood in that smile.
“I see……. It looks like I’ve done something unnecessary.”
Garuma-san showed another bitter smile for the n-th time.
He immediately left the orphanage after that.
Eru-sensei suggested we stay the night, but I refused using the excuse we came up with after a lot of discussion and left the orphanage.
‘We’--that’s why we can’t stay the night at the orphanage.
There are no guest rooms, so we would have had to huddle together and sleep in the boys’ room.
It’s not bad to do once in awhile, but I would have felt bad for the other kids.
So we decided to sleep in the airship.
That solved the sleeping problem.
With the food provided by the High Elf kingdom, Enol, we ate at the same table as Eru-sensei for the first time in a really long time.
Eating while sitting around the table, I told her all the things I’ve experienced up until now and that I got awarded with Honorary Knighthood.
It wasn’t just Eru-sensei, the kids in the orphanage also listened to the stories with wide-eyes.
We continued having fun talking after the meal ended, too.
The orphanage was shrouded by laughter late into the night.