Author: Suisei
Translator: Rinkage
Character page: Here
Chapter 98 – I looked back with the girl I like
“Hey, did something happen while I was gone?” [Mikana]
Mikana asked me in a whisper. We were, at the moment, on our way home in a carriage.
“Not really… nothing happened.” [Youki]
“That’s definitely a lie.” [Mikana]
“Nothing happened. That’s right…” [Youki]
“There’s clearly something wrong.” [Mikana]
Mikana, who was sitting next to me, was extremely noisy. Even the rattling sounds of the carriage were more pleasing to the ears.
“It’s just your imagination. Just your imagination.” [Youki]
“It’s not my imagination… Seriously, what happened to you guys?” [Mikana]
Mikana muttered as she glanced alternately at me and Cecilia, who was sitting diagonally across. Both Cecilia and I were looking out the window.
What a beautiful view – so much nature.
“…incident.” [Happiness]
“What are you talking about, Happiness? Nothing has happened. Look outside. It’s such a peaceful landscape.” [Youki]
“…severe.” [Happiness]
“I’m normal.” [Youki]
“…treatment!” [Happiness]
With the same momentum as she rose from the chair, she unleashed a straight punch aimed at my abdomen. The punch, with its weight behind it, sank into my stomach nicely.
“Guh-!?” [Youki]
While I writhed in agony, Happiness used that chance to return to her seat.
“…fully healed.” [Happiness]
“Are you sane?! You just drove your fist into my abdomen all of a sudden!” [Youki]
“Oh my, you’ve come back to your senses. Good work.” [Mikana]
Mikana was praising Happiness, but all I could feel was anger rising in me. Why was I hit for no reason?!
By the way, Cecilia was leaning against the window, lost in her own world, so she didn’t know that I was writhing in pain.
“…sound argument.” [Happiness]
“I can’t accept it! My ally is…” [Youki]
When I turned to Cecilia, she was still lost in her own world, so I was by myself, with no one to back me up. I was at an overwhelming disadvantage.
“…victory.” [Happiness]
“Shut it! It’s not about winning or losing. Besides, what’s the victory about?” [Youki]
“…personal virtue?” [Happiness]
“So I’m losing to you in personal virtue?” [Youki]
“That goes without saying.” [Mikana]
“Stop supporting her! I have personal virtues as well!” [Youki]
I am not exactly a human right now, but I still try to be useful to humans and help people.
“…!” [Happiness]
“Hey, Happiness. Stop with that expression.” [Youki]
Her eyes widened as though she had heard something unbelievable. What kind of person did I look like to her?
“…a joke.” [Happiness]
“There’s a limit to how far a joke can go. You-” [Youki]
“…trust, appreciate, right?” [Happiness]
“…” [Youki]
“Hey, what are you freezing up for? Pull yourself together! And, what’s the relationship between the two of you, anyway?” [Mikana]
I went silent at Happiness’s unexpected reply. Mikana was confused since she didn’t know the connection between the two of us.
“…Ah, what were you all talking about?” [Cecilia]
It seemed that Cecilia had returned from her own world.
“Cecilia, you’re back just in time. Please help settle these two people. I can’t deal with their stand-up comedy routine.” [Mikana]
“Eh? What just happened?” [Cecilia]
After understanding the situation, the skit between Happiness and I was cleverly mediated on our way back. It was just as expected of Cecilia.
…
“Is here really fine for you, Mikana?” [Cecilia]
We returned to our normal conversation thanks to Cecilia’s mediation, and time flew by in the blink of an eye.
I was supposed to be dropped off near the inn, but Mikana decided to get off with me.
“Yeah, I’ll just walk home since it’s the same path.” [Mikana]
“I don’t mind taking you all the way home, you know?” [Cecilia]
“I have some shopping to do as well, so it’s okay.” [Mikana]
“I see… Then please excuse us.” [Cecilia]
“…See you.” [Mikana]
The carriage then left towards the mansion.
“Now, you know why I decided to get off here, right?” [Mikana]
“It’s my result.” [Youki]
Before the mission, she said she would be grading me.
“So you remembered. Then let me grace you with your score. But, before that, I am curious. What you did during the mission, did you do that unconsciously? Or was it on purpose?” [Mikana]
“What did I do?” [Youki]
There was no way I could understand something that vague. She was probably referring to my actions today, but I had so much in mind that I was bewildered.
“…It seems that you’ve done it without realizing it. If you’ve done it on purpose, you would’ve realized what I was talking about.” [Mikana]
“Don’t leave me hanging!” [Youki]
“Hahaha, so let’s get to your score.” [Mikana]
“Hey, now. You’re changing the subject?” [Youki]
She brought the question up but ended it herself arbitrarily.
“Shut it. Don’t mind the trivial things! As for your grade, let’s just pretend that I haven’t graded anything.” [Mikana]
“…What?” [Youki]
“I’ve been looking after you guys for the whole day… I’m starting to feel weary.” [Mikana]
“Hey, you said you’ll be grading me, so you can’t do that.” [Youki]
Despite initially receiving demerit points, it couldn’t be that my final result was ungradable, could it?
“Sorry, but to be honest, I don’t want to say anything unnecessary. I have a feeling that you’ll succeed if you do as you usually do.” [Mikana]
“If I do as I normally do?” [Youki]
So I should remain as someone with no personality and just keep my mouth shut?
“Your mind must be veering in a strange direction just now. That’s why I didn’t want to say it…” [Mikana]
“What should I do?” [Youki]
So I should even think about it… perhaps I’ll suddenly be enlightened?
“For now, just relax yourself and do your best.” [Mikana]
“That sounds like an irresponsible advice.” [Youki]
Will things really work out like that? I can only see failure. In the end, I guess it’s just someone else’s problem to her.
“It’s not irresponsible. This is the best advice that I can give. Well then, time for me to go home.” [Mikana]
“Got it. Thanks for the hard work.” [Youki]
Mikana turned around as she waved her hand.
“Ah, I guess I should try my best too.” [Mikana]
I heard a sigh mixed with Mikana’s mumbles. From the looks of it, there was no progress with Yuuga either. Perhaps she wasn’t in the place to be giving relationship advice to others at the moment. Mikana’s departing figure somehow seemed lonely. I should probably try speaking to Yuuga the next time, although, that would likely come with its own set of troubles.
Lost in thoughts about what to do, I ended up falling asleep once I returned to the inn.
…
The next day, I was having an evaluation meeting in Cecilia’s room.
“I did not expect that we would be getting this much reward from the mission.” [Youki]
“We have accomplished the request without damaging the mansion after all.” [Cecilia]
Since the undead were purified without contaminating or destroying any parts of the mansion, no compensation was deducted for the repair costs.
“In fact, the reward has increased.” [Youki]
“There seems to be a lot of buyers lining up to buy the mansion that we purified.” [Cecilia]
The catchphrase for the mansion’s sale was ‘Completely purified by Lady Cecilia and Lady Mikana!’. So, even though it was once inhabited by undead, it naturally attracted a lot of interest.
“The people working in that line of business are amazing.” [Youki]
“I agree.” [Cecilia]
Cecilia was smiling happily. Wasn’t she angry that her name was being taken advantage of without her permission? By the way, my name and Happiness’s were left out. I was slightly annoyed that they decided to exclude us from the catchphrase.
“By the way, is Happiness okay?” [Youki]
She appeared fine during the quest, but I was unsure if that had changed. Her condition might have improved, but maybe not…
“She’s normal. I haven’t heard anything from Sophia-san either.” [Cecilia]
“I see. That leaves only Raven, huh?” [Youki]
I haven’t received any details from Duke, so it might be a good idea to check with him.
“Come to think of it, Youki-san… it seems that you’ve learned of my moniker, right?” [Cecilia]
Cecilia’s smile suddenly turned cold. It wasn’t the atmosphere for any lies or joking around. She was clearly emitting a dangerous aura.
This is… the biggest crisis I’ve faced in a long time.
“Yes. I heard it from Celia-san…” [Youki]
I decided to speak the truth. In any case, since Celia-san was the one who gave me that information, it should be fine to reveal her name.
“Since you’ve already found out, nothing can be done. But, just one thing… please do not call me by that name.” [Cecilia]
“Ah, yeah. I got it.” [Youki]
There was no reason for me to call her ‘Holy Mother’, so there was no need to worry.
“Then, it’s fine.” [Cecilia]
She took a sip of tea, returning to her usual self. I heaved a huge sigh while making a vow to myself to never speak of that name.
“Well, I won’t do anything that you dislike, so don’t worry about it.” [Youki]
“I understand.” [Cecilia]
“But when you spoke to the Undead King before purifying it, you looked divine and holy.” [Youki]
Her act of showing mercy to the Undead King, even at the cost of significantly depleting her magic power, was truly…
“Youki-san?” [Cecilia]
“No, that’s not what I meant! I mean to say that you look like a saint!” [Youki]
She guided the undead to the right world. I guess you could say that she looked like a saint.
“A… saint?” [Cecilia]
“I apologize if I have offended you. But I recalled the time when I was still in the Demon Lord’s castle. You have reached out to me at that time.” [Youki]
“That’s nostalgic.” [Cecilia]
“Somehow, I could resonate with what that Undead King had experienced.” [Youki]
She had asked me a similar question and saved me. That was how I could remain here.
“You were amazing back then. In various ways…” [Cecilia]
“Hahaha… So, I mean, well. From my perspective, Cecilia is like a goddess who rescued me from that withdrawn environment. You’re almost like a saint to me, to say the least…” [Youki]
“…”
“…”
Both of our faces turned bright red.
Yeah, I, uh, just said something really embarrassing, didn’t I? Calling her a goddess-like presence, that’s not something you say to someone’s face. It’s something you keep in your heart, you know! This atmosphere is seriously awkward.
I’ll drink some tea and think about it.
Take another sip and think about it.
Take another sip and think about it some more.
Before I knew it, the tea was gone. All of it from the pot was gone, too.
“S-Shall I make a new one?” [Cecilia]
“E-Erm…” [Youki]
Neither of us could find the right words, and our movements were awkward. At times like this, it would be perfect for the mood-maker, Sheik, to make his appearance. However, there was no sign of him even when I glanced at the window. Even having the troublemaker, Yuuga, would’ve been fine, but there was no sign of anyone coming in as well when I glanced at the door.
“Alright, let’s go out to the garden! I’ve promised to teach you taijutsu previously.” [Youki]
“Eh? Right now?” [Cecilia]
“I heard that you’ve been taking lessons from Sheik. Hehe, I’ll have you show me the results of your training!” [Youki]
I instantly struck a pose.
This is all I’ve got, after all. But, I can’t help but feel hesitant, internally. This chuunibyou form, which is done half-heartedly, wouldn’t be forgiven under normal circumstances.
After a few seconds of silence, Cecilia chuckled softly.
“Then, let’s go. I won’t lose so easily.” [Cecilia]
“I’m looking forward to that. Let’s go!” [Youki]
I leaped out of the window, while Cecilia exited the room through the door, taking the proper route to the garden. Together, we wore ourselves out with taijutsu training.
In the end, we overdid it and received a scolding from Sophia-san. Cecilia was also reprimanded, but even as we were being chided, both of us maintained a cheerful demeanor. Exasperated, Sophia-san concluded the scolding with the remark, “Exercise moderation.”
“Please teach me again.” [Cecilia]
“Leave it to me!” [Youki]
After leaving my final words behind, I headed back to the inn.
RinkageTranslation 
Thank you!
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