Author: Suisei
Translator: Rinkage

Character page: Here

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Chapter 94 – I asked about the origin of the moniker of the girl I like

“Cecilia could handle cooking, items procurement, and money management. When hero-sama saw how she handled most of the tasks swiftly, he said one thing to her.” [Celia]

“One thing?” [Youki]

“He said she’s like a mother.” [Celia]

“A mother…” [Youki]

What the heck was he thinking? Cecilia is indeed attentive, capable of handling all household chores, and also has a personality that heals people. All those are certainly motherly qualities, but, it’s a little different from how a mother is. Does Yuuga see her as one because he doesn’t have a mother?

“Does Yuuga have a mother?” [Youki]

I ended up asking a foolish question. It was like asking how Yuuga was born.

“I’m certain his mother is still alive. I’ve met her at a party before.” [Celia]

“Ah, I see.” [Youki]

It would seem that he wasn’t treating her as his mother. Was it because I wasn’t a main character, so I couldn’t understand his thoughts?

“It seems that he had said that to her while she was distributing the meal when they camped out. Apparently, Cecilia froze for about ten seconds before she could hand out the food.” [Celia]

Celia-san laughed as she told me the story. However, from whom did she hear it? It should be impossible for Cecilia to recount it in detail herself considering how she treated this topic as a taboo.

“Umm, did you hear that from Cecilia?” [Youki]

“There’s no way Cecilia would talk about that herself. I heard it from Mikana-chan. At that time, we were actually recounting the stories about hero-sama, not Cecilia.” [Celia]

“About Yuuga, huh? So I guess she was informing you how rude Yuuga was to Cecilia then.” [Youki]

“That’s correct, Youki-kun.” [Celia]

She clapped. It would seem that I was correct.

“So how did Yuuga’s comment about her being motherly resulted in her moniker?” [Youki]

“Probably because Cecilia didn’t refute or say anything back at that time, hero-sama ended up saying how motherly she was regularly. The people in the towns and villages who witnessed it wound up calling Cecilia ‘Holy Mother’, and that name stuck to her ever since.” [Celia]

“Yuuga’s completely at fault.” [Youki]

Cecilia might have let it pass if she was called ‘Saint’ instead, and not ‘Holy Mother’. I wasn’t sure why she hated the ‘Holy Mother’ moniker so much. Was she the type who is concerned about her age?

“Youki-kun, you must keep today’s conversation a secret from Cecilia, okay?” [Celia]

“Ah, yes. I’ll definitely keep it a secret.” [Youki]

“Also, don’t ask Cecilia about her age, okay?” [Celia]

“No, I know that.” [Youki]

Any question related to age is a taboo for women. Not only for her.

“It’s good that you understand that. Then I’ll let you in on Cecilia’s secrets other than her age.” [Celia]

A wide grin crept onto Celia-san’s face. From her expression, I was certain that she would reveal things that I shouldn’t know.

“Celia-san, I don’t think it’s a good idea to disclose Cecilia’s secrets just because she’s not around.” [Youki]

“Oh, is that so? I was just thinking of telling you how Cecilia maintains her figure.” [Celia]

“That’s one piece of information that you should never disclose!” [Youki]

“Madame, this concerns young mistress’s honour as well. It would be advisable to refrain from revealing them.” [Sophia]

The efforts women put in behind the scenes should remain hidden. If Cecilia were to hear this, what would she say?

Probably because she was stopped by Sophia-san, or perhaps because she never intended to reveal it, she smiled and dismissed what she said as a joke. It made me wonder if she was truly serious.

“Come to think of it, Cecilia has started practicing taijutsu. Do you know anything about it?” [Celia]

“No, I’ve not heard anything about it.” [Youki]

Now that I think about it, I did recall her asking me to teach her taijutsu previously. This is bad. I promised her that I’d do it, but it completely slipped my mind.

“She often practiced with Sheik-kun in the garden. She wasn’t only learning taijutsu, but they were using wooden sticks in mock fights as well.” [Celia]

“Cecilia is a cleric, right? Is she planning to take up sword and be a swordsman?” [Youki]

“Even clerics need to protect themselves at times. So, I think young mistress might be practicing taijutsu for self-protection.” [Sophia]

“I see. Will Sophia-san be teaching Cecilia martial arts?” [Youki]

When we went to the mine together for the guild mission previously, she had demonstrated amazing movements. I wasn’t sure about staff techniques, but martial arts should be Sophia-san’s forte. Although, if Cecilia could move like Sophia-san, I would be surprised.

“I don’t mind it, but my husband might force me to stop.” [Sophia]

“Sophia’s husband is an interesting person, isn’t he? When you’re dressed as a maid, be like one, was what he said. When I was away for my job, Sophia defeated a demon that emerged before the guards on duty could do so.” [Celia]

She should be working as a maid, but she ended up being the one defeating the demons instead, stealing the roles of the guards.

“That’s Sophia-san for you.” [Youki]

“In the end, I had to step in or she’ll be stealing the guards’ jobs.” [Celia]

“Yes. Once I sense any hostility, I’ll immediately neutralize it. The instinct I had back when I was still in the guild kicked in. After madame warned me, I’d focus on only defending the carriage.” [Sophia]

“So you’re still protect the carriage, huh?” [Youki]

I think the servants are tasked to protect their employer as well. In Sophia-san’s case, it is probably a last resort. I don’t think there are weak maids. Sophia-san, Happiness, and Tiel-chan – all the maids I know are strong in various ways.

“Youki-sama, maids like us only have sufficient strength for self-protection.” [Sophia]

“No, no, no, no. You are clearly more skillful than an average maid.” [Youki]

She could supposedly shatter rocks with a heel drop if she wanted to. Also, kicking a lizardman aside with a flying kick wasn’t something that a maid should be doing, right?

“It’s for self-defence.” [Sophia]

“Youki-kun. Women need strength to protect themselves at times. It’s not necessarily limited to maids. Besides, Sophia used to be a member of the guild.” [Celia]

“…If you put it that way, I can understand that.” [Youki]

It wasn’t like I was aiming to be a maid anyway, so it was actually none of my business.

“I’ll talk to Cecilia about taijutsu the next time. Since I’m also quite good at it.” [Youki]

“Thank you. Cecilia would be happy too. It seems that she has a hard time working on areas that she’s bad at, so she’ll be able to improve with the help of you two.” [Celia]

“Please leave it to me.” [Youki]

“By the way, the reason Cecilia started practicing taijutsu wasn’t because she needed exercise, or to maintain her figure.” [Celia]

“Madame, please refrain from saying things that could make Youki-sama misunderstand.” [Sophia]

When I heard that, my mind began to wander, thinking if Cecilia was practicing taijutsu to lose weight.

“Umm, I think it’s time for me to go back soon.” [Youki]

I didn’t want to be toyed with by Celia-san anymore. I might have been able to get more information about Cecilia from her, but I was more frightened by the thought of her dropping a bomb at any moment.

“Let’s talk again soon~” [Celia]

“Madame, your tone is starting to sound like Sheik-sama.” [Sophia]

“Yes, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me today. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you as well, Sophia-san.” [Youki]

I conveyed my gratitude to Sophia-san in a whisper at the end before leaving the mansion.

…

“I wonder what I should do…” [Youki]

I didn’t have much to do even after returning to the inn. My initial plan was to gather information about Cecilia, but…

“Thanks to Raven, Mikana, Celia-san, and Sophia-san, I managed to acquire the ‘forbidden’ details about Cecilia.” [Youki]

However, I should tread with caution if I didn’t want her to hate me.

“In the end, what should I do?” [Youki]

Was it okay to maintain the status quo? Going to the mansion, partaking of the snacks, and drinking the tea that Cecilia made as I chatted with her – only praying that our affinity would naturally improve from that…

“I’m so pathetic.” [Youki]

Suddenly, an unknown old man in my mind snapped at me, “Don’t think, just do. If you were to go on like this, you might lose someone important to you. You should act before you regret it. Don’t be afraid of changes.”

“Argh, shut up! Damn it! I have my own concerns. I don’t need any old fart appearing out of nowhere telling me what to do.” [Youki]

Once I had gotten rid of that unknown old fogey from my mind, I began ruminating again.

“Okay, I shall refrain from mentioning ‘Holy Mother’ in front of Cecilia.” [Youki]

However, this ultimately still changes nothing.

“What have you been mumbling to yourself since earlier? Are you worried about something?” [Gai]

“Did I wake you up? Sorry, my bad.” [Youki]

Gai, who was wallowing in dejection after finding out that he has become Tiel-chan’s pimp, was awoken by my verbal rumination.

“Don’t worry about it. I know I shouldn’t continue sleeping like this. I’m just thinking if there is anything that I can do, but I can’t come up with anything.” [Gai]

Since he couldn’t leave the room freely, he couldn’t register at the guild either. He could potentially sneak out at night to explore and defeat demons, passing his drops to me to sell after that, but if he were found out, the knights and Yuuga would go after him. There should be a more viable method for Gai.

“I’m completely occupied with my own affairs right now.” [Youki]

“…Romance, huh? I’m clueless about that. I think the push and pull of courtship is interesting, though.” [Gai]

“It’s not that simple, and I don’t want to hear that from someone who’s currently struggling with worries as well.” [Youki]

If only I knew the exact timing – when to pull back once and push forward to accurately achieve success in romance. But, isn’t romance all about tactics in the first place?

“Hmm, it still sounds difficult for me.” [Gai]

“Isn’t it? Hmm…” [Youki]

I don’t want to go overboard and end up in a preaching scenario. Let’s imagine something simple, like a typical hero story. The heroine falls into a pinch, and the protagonist comes to her rescue heroically. In a classic storyline like that, romance often blossoms.

“Okay, let’s go with this method.” [Youki]

“You’ve made your decision?” [Gai]

“Yep. I dub it ‘I’m going to be a protagonist as well’ tactic.” [Youki]

“How have you been evaluating yourself so far, kiddo…” [Gai]

“With this, I can be an actual protagonist as well.” [Youki]

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