31 Even Though I"m Inexperienced, Please Take Care of Me
unedited
It was noon when I got up. The sun has already long pa.s.sed zenith and because I was too exhausted to walk even now, they decided to stay one more night for me.
While I was courteously being taken care of by Aleph, I organize the situation.
In other words, it"s fine to a.s.sume that these guys are courting me and because of that everybody is getting along by approaching me?
Putting Aleph and Ragna aside, it was unexpected that Ciel also felt like that towards me.
Dy is…. That guy"s just going to plan various ways to eat magic power(a treat).
Being liked might sound nice but, love hasn"t been mumbled yet, yup.
When I remember yesterday"s foolishness, I feel like wanting to dig a hole and die so, I put my thoughts in order to forget the details.
Meanwhile, Aleph was attached to my side as if it"s a matter of course and he looked after me as if it was nothing.
[Rei, I was so happy that you accepted my yesterday… Does your waist hurt?]
With a smile that"s three times brighter than usual, Aleph who invigoratingly worried about the state of my waist, certainly looked happy as he said.
Are you humming a song? He has such a pointlessly good voice. And he"s good at it.
Ragna went out saying he was going hunting and Ciel bought some sweet confections. But it was too sweet.
You definitely bought this with your preference, you sweet tooth. Even though he gave it to me while saying, "It"s my feelings", it"s too sweet.
I"ll eat it when I feel well again.
[If you have something else you want, I will buy for you especially today. You say whatever you want, Rei.]
Ciel who stopped calling me "Kiddo" also stopped treating me like a kid and started treating me like his lover, like kissing my cheeks when he returns to his room, scooping some of my hair and kisses it between conversation intervals, and sending me words of love on top of that, it"s too sweet.
It"s amazing how you can act like that with that sober expression, my heart throbs violently every single time so I hope you"d stop.
When it was about to get dark, Ragna came back in high spirits. As he came back, he was pulled off by Aleph for trying to force a bear hug on me.
Ragna"s love is too violent, in a physical way.
[I caught an outstanding akas.h.i.+na deer. Since I ask the inn"s chef to cook it, you should eat that and recover.]
"HAHAHA", Ragna laughed heartily and grumbled, "If I stay here, I will end up wanting to continue from yesterday so", as he left the room while
I see, I fainted after that so it was probably unsatisfying for him. As for me though, I feel like I"ve been saved since there"s no way that huge thing will be able to enter.
Oh, but I received Kami-sama"s blessing(curse), I feel like I definitely won"t tear.
No, even if it"s true, scary things are still scary.
I have nothing I need to do and I tried thinking about it one day but as I thought, even if that comes to be, I won"t be able to hate these guys. Rather, I…. probably like it.
I feel safe when Aleph is on my side, Ciel indulges me, Ragna is a good guy somewhat. I think they"re refres.h.i.+ng to look at and likeable.
Dy, that guy is… u~m, as I thought, I can"t dislike him, I wonder why?
I feel like he"s done pretty terrible things to me, but the result is that it didn"t become a minus for me and I somehow ended up forgiving him. Or is it just that my thinking is overly optimistic?
On that day, venison was served just like I was told. The akas.h.i.+na deer is a deer with reddish brown horizontal stripes, and it seems to be bigger than the deers on Earth. Said it"s taller than me.
The meat"s taste has the unique smell of the deer but it was being boiled mildly and it"s delicious. There"s also the situation of my stomach being empty so I ate engrossingly.
Since we got a new single room, Ciel moved there and I"ll stay alone in this room tonight to rest well. It"s a roll-all-I-can bed*.(TN: Since he"s all alone now and he has all the bed to himself.)
Ah, I was not alone, there was Dy.
When it was getting late at night and I was about to sleep, Dy showed himself.
[Hey~ Rei, how"s your body?]
He merilly asked and told me that my magic power circulation has stagnated so he healed it for me. My body has become light and I feel good, with this it looks like we"ll be able to depart tomorrow.
[Huh, you still plan to go to the Holy City? And here I thought you don"t care about the curse anymore.]
That"s right, I have already accepted Dy"s existence.
I"ve gotten used to his presence to the point that I can"t tell him, "Now the curse has been resolved, goodbye".
[Hmm~, but since we"ve already come this far, I"m going. I also want to meet with Yulias-s.h.i.+n].
Since it"s called the Sacred City, it probably has a giant church.
The last time we talked I complained and got mad enough to want to hit him but, since that ridiculous blessing(curse) has been useful albeit reluctantly,I should at least say a word of thanks as the saying goes, the wind has changed.
I consult Dy about one thing that concerns me.
[Hey, don"t you think they"re convinced they like me because of my magic power?]
[That shouldn"t be the case. Even if it was like that at the beginning, everyone has come to know the real Rei and has come to like you.]
[You"re right…. Dy, thank you.]
[Instead of words, I wish you express your appreciation with your body.]
[Shut up, perverted demon.]
In the end, I was given a deep kiss. Darn, it"s always like this!
The next day, I, who is feeling better, explain to the three that I will continue on my journey. Aleph was the very first to agree.
[ If the curse can be resolved, it changes nothing if you want to fix it.]
[That"s what the purpose was from the very beginning and I don"t mind it.]
[The Sacred City huh, there have been a suspicious rumor about it. I can"t have wife get entangled with it so I"ll be going as well.]
The elf and the dragonkin accepted it without any objections. Aleph pick out the words "suspicious rumor".
[Ragndono*, what kind rumor might it be?] (TN: It"s just like -san (Mr.).)
[Isn"t it going to be Refluo1 soon? I heard that the monsters have become more and more active, and a rumour has been spreading quickly that they might fall prey to the herd.]
Refluo is a breeding season that happens once a year and apparently it"s the month when the monsters who are facing it move largely to look for food and territory.
In order to prevent the worst case scenario where villages and towns that are in the path (of the monster mob) from becoming devoured down to the last bone, the guild are forced to send out subjugation forces in advance to make sure the rampaging mob doesn’t become too big and get out of control.
*But it seems this year a more powerful group have been formed, and during this time it"s dangerous to leave the city.
Aleph who heard the story makes a difficult expression and ponders.
[What do we do, is it better if we wait? If we wait then thinking about our safety then we will be staying here for two months, though.]
[As expected we can"t wait two months.]
[What, in the end they"re just rumors. Besides with our strength, we can cope as long as nothing unexpected happens.]
As a result of exchanging opinions, we"ve decided to leave.
With Aleph with his gallant(imposing/chivalrous/manly?) almond-shaped eyes, Ciel with his golden hair with a halo s.h.i.+ning beautifully on it, the reliable Ragna with his firm back, and Dy who always looks after me(us?) even if his appearance can"t be seen now.
[Please take care of me from now on, that… hu, as everyone"s partner even though I"m inexperienced.]
I drew my courage and said.
[Rei… Same here, please take care of me, too.]
[Well, yeah, I"ll also do my best.]
[Yeah, leave it to me.]
Aleph looked touched, Ciel was being shy, and Ragna replied confidently.
[Don"t forget about me, best regards, Rei.]
Dy appear behind me and hugged at me. As I thought this guy"s only pretending to be asleep and is observing(peeping?) us.
[Demon King, stay away from Rei.]
[It"s fine, Rei doesn"t hate it, does he? Oh, what, Swordsman-kun also wanted to hug him? Are you jealous?]
Towards Dy who intentionally put his arms around me and meaningfully caressed my cheek, Aleph"s creases between his eyebrows increased.
Ciel who has already gotten used to their interaction shook his head.
[Should I say that you"re exposing the demon"s true nature, you sure have a good character. Just please don"t tease Aleph too much, because he"s going to be moody after this.]
[That"s because it"s really fun to tease him. I"m sorry for making you mad, but it"s funny so I don"t plan on stopping.] (TN: Hmm, as expected of the Demon King.)
[I"m not mad.]
Aleph blandly speaks in a low voice.
[You are, your voice is lower than usual and the angle of your eyebrows is getting steep.
[Ciel is looking at even the minor details, I didn"t even notice his eyebrows" angle.]
[He"s trying to act cool in front of you, he"s only wearing a composed face.]
[Oi, Ciel.]
[Hahahah! It"s so lively!]
With Ragna in addition, we depart towards the Holy City.
TN:
1- “Refluo” (reflux in Latin). I guess it can give readers of the novel a hint that “the month when monsters usually living in unpopulated areas such as deep forests flow back to where people make a living, in other words, “the month beasts overflow and go back to towns and agricultural lands. (Thanks to sparantan from for this and to everyone who helped me in my question.)