"..."
"..."
One of us — — sat in absolute silence. The other — her — sat just as silently, but with a cheerful smile, pressing my hand firmly into her chest. anwhile, my other hand was being subjected to the sa treatnt attempt... with significantly less success, given the total absence of said chest. And only Night, seated in the chair opposite, watched the entire scene unfold with a look of mildly curious indifference.
"I beg your pardon, Mister Pelgue, but could you please explain one more ti how this even happened?" I asked, keeping a perfectly straight face.
To make sense of it all, we need to rewind a little.
Night and I had successfully broken away from the rchant's group, after which I used teleportation to bring us straight to the Pelgue estate — with the tiger's carcass, naturally.
The staff quickly arranged for the body to be transported, and I was invited to discuss the details with Remus, who was already waiting for . But when I entered the hall, I found Remus chatting amiably with... Nadia. The tea, oddly enough, was being served by Wyndia — dressed in a maid outfit, for so reason.
"Oh..."
"Nott-sama! We were just waiting for you."
"Wel... welco back, Master," Wyndia greeted too, bowing slightly with the tray pressed to her chest.
"Uh..."
"Co now, Nott-chan, have a seat already!"
Before I could gather my thoughts, the girl had skipped over and guided into a chair. And then promptly claid one of my limbs.
"Okay, I an, I get it, but..."
I could understand Nadia. She really didn't care much about propriety or anything like that...
"But what are you doing?!" I said to the girl who had just sat down on my other side — and tried to imitate what the one on the opposite side was doing. Predictably, without success.
"I-I'm just greeting my m-master! What's so wrong with that?!" Then why does her face look more like a tomato right now?
And with that, we return to the start of this little scene.
"Well, you see, Nott-san, Lady Nadia and I actually t even before I t you. And it just so happened that today I ran into her, we got to talking about you, and... well." Remus helplessly spread his hands.
"Oh, well now everything makes perfect sense. Of course it does."
"And how do you explain this?" I nodded toward the very red-faced Wyndia.
"I'm afraid I had nothing to do with that one." — Then why do you look like you're actually apologizing for not thinking of it yourself?
"Oh, co on, Nott-chan, aren't you happy to see ?" The girl made the saddest little face, the kind that could probably lt any man on the spot.
"I've just returned from a battle with a terrifying monster. I need to rest."
"Ooooh... So you need soone to help you relax?" The smile on her face widened even more.
I raised a brow slightly and silently stared into her beaming face for five seconds. Then turned to Wyndia. Yep, still flushed. Although it looked like she'd cald down a bit and toned down the tomato effect.
"And what if I do need that?"
"Ooh... Then you and I..." She leaned closer, her face drawing near to mine. "...absolutely... must drink together!"
"Oh... well, that doesn't sound too bad." I freed myself from their clutches, got up, stretched, and turned to Remus. "My job is done — monster's dead and delivered. If you want to share the details, feel free. But I won't press you."
"Once we confirm our suspicions, I'll be sure to share the full picture with you, Nott-sama."
"Your call. Now then..." I turned to Nadia. "Are we going now, or later?"
"Obviously now! You can't put off such marvelous, grandiose plans!"
What could possibly be so grandiose in her head about a simple tavern trip, I had no idea.
"Oh, I just can't get enough of how utterly indifferent you look when you drink, Nott-chan." Nadia bead again as she watched down my glass in one go.
Beer in this world was one of the few things that had any sort of fizz to it. Fruit juices were nice, sure, but back in my previous world, I always preferred carbonated drinks. And here, beer was the closest thing I had to that. A bit of bitterness only made the taste more interesting and pleasant.
"I just can't figure out how you don't get drunk."
Seriously though, how? Even Heroes in their normal state, without any special skills, couldn't pull that off. And she? She barely seed tipsy! I'd had maybe four mugs — she was already on her tenth!
Not to ntion I was already ignoring the obvious question of what happens when you pour that much liquid into yourself — and beer, at that. Apparently, that part didn't concern our dear heroine at all.
"Girls need to have a few secrets, don't we?" Nadia gave a softer smile.
"Yeah, no kidding... Alright, different question. You're a demi-human, right?"
"Yep. Sharp eye on you."
"And what kind are you? Hard to tell just from the coloring."
"Ooooh... If you're that curious, I'm cetacean-type."
"Cetacean... type? That's..." The Scythe's built-in translator was whispering sothing vague into my mind... "An orca, maybe?"
"Not sure I understood that exactly, but I think... yeah. Also, you just sounded really weird just now."
"Translation issues." I chuckled and shrugged.
I never really understood how this "translator" worked. Did it rephrase everything into the simplest form, adapting it to the local language? Or to native speakers did I sound like, "I am Nott. My — Scythe Hero. Much greeting to all"? Then again, no one had ever complained, so I figured it was fine.
Still, not everything could be translated. Like that "cetacean-type" thing. It sounded like a mashup of several languages — like soone was trying to find a native equivalent for a foreign word while keeping its original sound. Weird stuff.
"Ooh. Nott-chan's out and about without his little girlfriend. Any special reason you left her behind?" Her smile turned a lot more mischievous than before.
"Cut the dirty hints. Night just doesn't really like places like this. Even with ."
"I see, I see."
But, as I ntioned, she didn't entirely stay sober.
"Ugh. The weather's been absolutely roasting lately..."
"Is that why you climbed into my lap?"
Yep. Right in the middle of her sentence, she'd casually and unbotheredly relocated herself onto my knees, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"You don't eat enough. And snacks are very important when you're drinking! Guess I'll have to help you out. Now say 'aah'..."
I gave her a properly disapproving look, just for form's sake, but still opened my mouth and accepted the offering — a small, juicy slice of at. Whatever else could be said, they really did know how to cook here.
It was already getting late. The whole waiting-for-the-monster ordeal had taken a good chunk of the day, and we'd been sitting here for at least a couple of hours. The tavern was filling up, and naturally, we were drawing more and more attention.
"Hey, isn't that our Champion over there?"
"That's her, alright. And she's drinking with soone. Poor guy..."
That kind of chatter occasionally drifted to my ears. Although soon it shifted into things like:
"Wait a sec, he's keeping up with her!"
"Good grief. Don't tell he's another booze monster? May the Four forbid drinking with one of those. Or worse — competing..."
Yeah. In Zeltoble, by the way, worship of the Four Heroes was common — unlike lromarc, where they only honored three of them.
It's worth noting that worshipping all Four Heroes was considered the standard faith in this world. Only a few countries diverged from that path, omitting one Hero or another from their doctrine. That's how you ended up with the Church of the Three Heroes, or the beliefs in places like Siltvelt and Siltfreeden, where they only worshipped the Shield Hero. I'm sure there were others too, devoted to one weapon or another, even if I hadn't heard of them personally.
"Quite the crowd tonight. Maybe we should go for a walk?" At so point, noticing my absent-minded expression, Nadia poked in the cheek to get my attention.
I looked up and saw her usual cheerful face.
"Our last walk didn't end so well."
"Oh, don't dwell on the past. Don't grumble — co on." The girl jumped off my lap and pulled up by the hand.
"Yeah, alright, let's go."
Once again, the moonlit evening reflected off Zeltoble's narrow canals. Once again, a walk. And once again, the sa girl leading along, trying her best to cling to as tightly as she could. Last ti it didn't end all that great, but surely we wouldn't get attacked this ti, right? ...Right?
"You know, Nott-chan, you're a very strange person."
"What makes you say that?"
I an, I could guess why. But what made her think that? Now I was curious.
"Well, a long ti ago, I made myself a promise, and because of that, I decided to take a closer look at you. I didn't learn all that much directly. I learned more from the few conversations we had."
"You can't really learn anything real about a person just from a conversation," I had to disagree.
I often act very differently from what I think or want. Sotis I have to hold back, sotis it's just not the right mont to show more, and sotis there's simply no other choice. It happens.
"Maybe so. That's why I didn't only look at you, but also at the people around you." Her smile softened a little. "Night-chan is a good one. She really values you. And she's ready to do anything for you. But nothing's ever happened between you, has it?" Now she smirked.
"No. There was one dangerous mont, but... no."
"Haha. Now I'm curious. You'll have to tell about it soti."
"I'll think about it."
"Wyndia-chan..." Nadia returned to her train of thought, for so reason describing the people around . "She's an interesting girl too. She doesn't yet know what she wants, but it's obvious she's grown attached to you."
"That much is obvious," I said, shaking my head slightly. "One of them I basically raised. The other I saved from slavery and, in a way, promised her a chance to avenge her father's death." I paused, withdrawing into my own thoughts for a mont, but eventually went on. "But everything in this world, Nadia, happens for a reason. So people's reasons are deep and selfish. Mine are simple and stupid — whim."
"..."
"Almost everything I do in this world is on a whim. I bought Night mostly for amusent, and second — because she's a convenient and loyal companion. As you can see, even you admit she fulfills that role quite well. As for Wyndia, I saved her entirely by accident, and brought her with — again, on a whim. Because I thought it might be interesting. And, well, she is a funny little thing."
"Oh, Nott-chan, you're so complicated," Nadia shook her head. "It's way easier for others to understand you than it is for you to understand yourself."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Ooh... Then I'll try to be more straightforward. Look — this is where I live."
Nadia pointed to the inn we happened to be passing by. She stopped, looking directly at , her ever-present smile still on her face.
"Tired already? Yeah, it is getting late."
Now it was her turn to stare at with a blank expression.
"Ooooooh... Alright, Nott-chan. In that case, big sis Nadia's going to be even more straightforward. Let's go." Flashing a wide, wide smile, she grabbed my hand and dragged inside.
"Oh! Sis... Nadia?" No sooner had we stepped through the door than a cute-looking girl called out to us from behind the counter. She looked about sixteen, with red hair, freckles, and a sweet face. "You're not alone tonight...?" The girl seed surprised.
"Hey there, Cindy-chan. Yeah... This is my lover — Nott-chan. I'll introduce you properly later."
With that casually tossed over her shoulder, Nadia pulled along and up the stairs. Just a few seconds more, and we were already at the farthest room down the hall.
"Isn't that a bit much? Just introducing as your lover like that."
"But aren't you?" ca her voice, followed by the quiet click of a key turning in the lock. "Nott-chan, you did say you wouldn't mind if I beca your lover."
"Touche," I had to admit.
While I was turned away, taking in the room — which, frankly, was way too nice for a place calling itself an inn — the girl had already co closer. And when I turned around...
plop
...she gently pushed down onto the bed. A mont later, she straddled , facing .
"Interesting," I said, still showing nothing more than a relaxed, easygoing smile.
"I told you I'd be more straightforward, didn't I? But you're so cruel, Nott-chan... Fine. Big sis will do everything herself."
With that, she reached behind her back, sothing clicked — and her already minimal top slid softly down, leaving with a truly exquisite view.
"Clear enough?"
"More than."
Nadia smiled, gently cupped my cheeks, and slowly leaned in, closing the distance between our faces — as if giving both of us ti to savor the final mont before the line was crossed. And then, finally, our lips t, sparking a long, sensual kiss.
Yeah. Now things were definitely clear.
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