Author: Suisei
Translator: Rinkage
Character page: Here
Chapter 121 – I decided to do my best after my love consultation
“It’s been a while. I was surprised by your sudden visit.” [Cecilia]
“I’m sorry for showing up without any notice…” [Youki]
“No, I didn’t have any plans today, so don’t worry about it.” [Cecilia]
Ah, this feeling is so soothing. Cecilia-san really is an angel. I don’t usually feel that strongly, but the carriage ride with Yuuga must have really worn me out. Although, Cecilia has always been like an angel to me.
“I went on a trip. Here, I bought you souvenirs.” [Youki]
I handed her a package containing gifts from Breitling.
“Thank you. Tea and… a wooden angel carving?” [Cecilia]
“It seemed unique, and the locals recommended I buy it.” [Youki]
The people living in Breitling were pretty much familiar with the legend of the Cupid of love. So, they were selling the wooden cupid carvings as souvenirs. According to the shopkeeper, it was a highly recommended item, effective, and an absolute must-buy, so I ended up getting one.
“I’ve seen wooden bears before, but… this is the first time I’ve seen a wooden angel.” [Cecilia]
Cecilia took the wooden angel in her hands and examined it curiously.
Seeing her behaving in this manner made me feel that I had messed up with my choice of souvenir.
“D-Did you not want it?” [Youki]
“Youki-san, I would never be so rude as to say something like that after receiving a gift.” [Cecilia]
Hmm, she seems to be pouting a little, with her cheeks slightly puffed out. I wonder how she’d react if I pointed it out.
The thought of teasing her crossed my mind, and I couldn’t help but grin.
“What are you smiling about? Are you tired? No, you must be tired.” [Cecilia]
Cecilia’s suspicion turned into certainty as she observed my face and made her conclusion.
“Huh? Oh, no. It’s nothing like that. Just travel fatigue, that’s all.” [Youki]
“See, you are tired. How is that any different?” [Cecilia]
“Ah…” [Youki]
I didn’t reveal the truth, but even the lie didn’t work out. In the end, I still came off as tired regardless of what I said.
“I’ll make some herbal tea that helps with fatigue recovery.” [Cecilia]
“Yes, please.” [Youki]
In the end, this was probably the best outcome, I thought. I sat quietly in the chair, watching Cecilia as she prepared the tea. When I glanced out the window, I saw Happiness with a broom in hand, likely in the middle of her work, and Sheik running around energetically.
“Those two haven’t changed at all, have they?” [Youki]
“Are you talking about Happiness-chan and Sheik-kun?” [Cecilia]
It seemed that she heard my mutterings.
“Both of them have changed compared to when they first arrived, you know.” [Cecilia]
“Really?” [Youki]
They didn’t seem all that different from the time back in the Demon Lord’s castle in my opinion. It was surprising that Cecilia noticed the changes that I didn’t when I knew them far longer than her.
“Happiness-chan has become much more expressive. I might be saying this in a way that doesn’t do her justice, but I think she’s also started talking more. And sometimes during breaks, I see her looking out the window and humming to herself. I bet you can guess which direction she was looking at, right?” [Cecilia]
“No way… Well, I suppose Happiness has changed a bit if you put it that way. She’s been through a lot, after all. But the biggest change… yeah.” [Youki]
What was on her mind and what was she looking at as she hummed? Happiness might already be on the verge of finding out the answer I haven’t.
“…But setting Happiness aside, what about Sheik?” [Youki]
“Sheik-kun isn’t just playing around anymore. He’s been reading books to improve his knowledge and even training in combat on his own. I think he wants to catch up to you and Duke-san.” [Cecilia]
“Did Sheik really have that kind of drive? Hmm, wait a minute. If there’s something that might have changed his mindset…” [Youki]
That was back when Duke and the others had just arrived in Minerva. During our encounter with Gai and Tiel-chan, we came across the demon-slaying hero, Mirror. Sheik charged at Mirror, but couldn’t lay a finger on him. He was so downcast about being useless that Celia-san had to comfort him, bringing him back to his current state. I thought Sheik had returned to his usual self, but maybe he was still holding onto that frustration.
“Sheik-kun is doing his best in his own way because he wants to change and become stronger.” [Cecilia]
“Was it just me who didn’t notice? What about me? Do you think I’ve changed?” [Youki]
It wasn’t a common occurrence for me to ask something like this, but I was curious about what she thought.
“Youki-san… hasn’t changed much, I think.” [Cecilia]
“…I see.” [Youki]
She asserted clearly without hesitation that I didn’t know if I should be happy or not.
“You haven’t changed at all since we first met. You’re oddly kind, care a lot about your subordinates, and have a bit of a reckless side. That hasn’t changed.” [Cecilia]
“Haha… you might be right.” [Youki]
Maybe I should work on that reckless side of mine. Not changing since we first met, huh? There’s still something else that hasn’t changed… like my feelings.
“This is embarrassing.” [Youki]
“…What are you imagining?” [Cecilia]
“Don’t ask. It’s nothing weird, so don’t worry.” [Youki]
“Well, if you say so then I won’t pry any further… Here, some herbal tea.” [Cecilia]
“Thanks.” [Youki]
“There are some cookies as well.” [Cecilia]
Cecilia brought over a basket of cookies along with the herbal tea. The sweet aroma was so enticing that I couldn’t resist it. I was probably really tired.
“Thank you. Delicious. It feels like the fatigue from dealing with the hero is melting away. But still, I’m surprised you had these ready even though I just showed up.” [Youki]
“Well, last time, I did say ‘see you’ when we parted. I figured you might come, so I prepared them on days I thought you might. If you hadn’t shown up, they would have been a snack for Sheik-kun.” [Cecilia]
“The last time… Huh?!” [Youki]
When I went to pick up Tiel-chan, I ended up leaving without seeing Cecilia even though she had said, “See you tomorrow,” the day before.
“Argh, what have I done…” [Youki]
“You don’t have to take it so seriously.” [Cecilia]
“Breaking a promise with a woman is an unforgivable act.” [Youki]
Especially when it was a promise to the person you like.
If I remember correctly, Cecilia was the one who invited me. It was a huge waste. What was going through my head back then!?
“No, no, it’s not that big of a deal…” [Cecilia]
“It is a big deal to me! I look forward to it every time!” [Youki]
“…Uh.” [Cecilia]
“Ah…” [Youki]
I realized that it was too late only after I blurted it out. If I were to put what I said into more polite words, it would probably go like this:
Spending time with you is important to me. I look forward to it every time.
I wasn’t just a little out of control, I was way out of control. Cecilia seemed to be at a loss for words, frozen in place. As such, I decided to cover it up with my usual switch-flip trick.
“F-fuhaha! Those words just now… um, you see! I meant that it’s fun being with you, or rather, it’s comforting… I’ve been alone lately, so it’s even more so.” [Youki]
I just couldn’t bring myself to say, I missed you.
However, even after I tried to salvage the situation, what I said still came out half-baked. On top of that, I just dropped another bomb by saying that it was fun being with her.
“Umm, well… thank you.” [Cecilia]
“Oh, uhm… fuhahaha! I’m, uh… well, you know… what was it again?” [Youki]
I decided to break the tension for the time being and steer this in a direction that wouldn’t make things awkward for the two of us.
Let’s joke around like usual. If it comes to it, I could even jump out the window. But, is that really the right thing to do? I need to remember Caius’s words. If I keep this up, nothing will change. It’s fine not to change as there are things I don’t want to change. But, refusing to move on from the current situation is just stagnation. If I don’t take even a small step forward, I’ll regret it. Now’s the time to show the results of the love consultation.
I stopped my attempt to play it off and moved directly towards Cecilia. I didn’t know if it was due to the distance between our faces, or because of my actions, but my heart pounded like crazy.
“Youki-san?” [Cecilia]
“I-” [Youki]
Say it.
“I…” [Youki]
Say it!
“I swear, I’ll confess to you one more time!!!” [Youki]
I said it. I declared that I would confess to her again.
I know what you’re thinking. Why not just do it now, right?
I also understood that what I did was basically half a confession, but at the moment, it felt like a piece of the puzzle was still missing. There was another reason as well, though.
“…I.” [Cecilia]
“Please, don’t give me your answer now!” [Youki]
I just said I would confess, so it wasn’t an actual confession yet.
“…Hehe, Youki-san, you really haven’t changed, have you?” [Cecilia]
“Huh?” [Youki]
“I’ll be waiting. So, the answer is on hold… right?” [Cecilia]
“Y-Yeah. Let’s go with that, please.” [Youki]
I bowed my head towards her while she responded with a nod. What we did struck me as an odd formality, though.
“Captain~. I followed the sweet smell and came~.”
“…Break.”
Did they read the mood or not?
The door to the room opened, and Happiness and Sheik entered.
“Yo, it’s been a while. I went on a trip and brought back some souvenirs for you guys. Dried vegetables for Sheik, and a knitting set for Happiness.” [Youki]
“Huh~.” [Sheik]
“Knitting?” [Happiness]
Even though I went out of my way to buy these for them, the two of them reacted somewhat unenthusiastically. The dried vegetables I bought are nutritious and can also be used for medicinal purposes. They can either be cooked and eaten as a dish or be used as a medicine. As for the knitting set, I bought it because it was popular among the women in Breitling, the town where love blossoms. I figured she could knit something and give it to Raven.
“…Captain.” [Happiness]
“W-What is it?” [Youki]
Happiness asked while playing with the knitting set she just received.
“…Travel alone?” [Happiness]
“I thought it might be nice for a change.” [Youki]
Though, in the end, I didn’t end up being alone.
“…Lonely.” [Happiness]
“It’s not like I didn’t have anyone to invite, all right!? Besides, if I was lonely, I wouldn’t have brought back any souvenirs.” [Youki]
I wouldn’t have purchased all these souvenirs if I were really lonely.
While I was engaging in my usual bantering with Happiness, Sheik, having quickly lost interest in the dried vegetables, shifted his target to the cookies.
“I’m going to eat the cookies~.” [Sheik]
“Those are mine!” [Youki]
“…So childish.” [Happiness]
“Shut up. Got a problem with that?” [Youki]
Even I have things I want to protect. Wait, did I just use that line in the wrong context?
“Um, Youki-san. How about we all enjoy tea time together?” [Cecilia]
“Yes, sorry about that.” [Youki]
My low-key attitude towards Cecilia remained unchanged. In the end, half of her cookies ended up in Sheik’s stomach.
“Youki-san, by the way, I think I heard you mentioned something about ‘hero fatigue’ earlier.” [Cecilia]
“I ran into Yuuga on my trip, got caught up with him, and ended up dragged along…” [Youki]
“Are you okay? There wasn’t any trouble or harm caused to others, right?” [Cecilia]
“Just how low is his trustworthiness?” [Youki]
What did he do during the journey? Judging by her concern, it must’ve been something significant.
“Rest assured. I managed to keep everything under control. The real challenge was on the way back. A shared carriage with the hero…” [Youki]
He caused a commotion in the village whenever we stopped for a break. On top of that, while we camped out, there were problems as well. One thing led to another, resulting in my depletion. I was so exhausted that I didn’t even want to talk about it.
“…Would you like a refill of herbal tea?” [Cecilia]
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” [Youki]
I accepted the refill without hesitation and continued to bathe in calmness.
RinkageTranslation 
Thank you+
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