Author: Suisei
Translator: Rinkage

Character page: Here

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Chapter 170 – I climbed the mountain with my girlfriend

It was quite a bizarre sight at the moment: several people and a golem climbing the mountain with kids in tow, one carried on shoulder and the other held in the golem’s hand.

“Is it impossible for us to go out like normal? We look like a group of oddballs! Was there some scheme behind this?”  [Youki]

“Youki-san, life is full of things you can’t imagine. Come on, let’s enjoy the mountain scenery and the fresh air. Today isn’t about any mission. It’s a normal outing, so let’s relax.”  [Cecilia]

“If I relax my shoulders now, this Sleeping Beauty will fall straight to the ground…”  [Youki]

Sheik was sound asleep on my shoulder, and he showed no sign of waking up. If I found out that he was just pretending to sleep, I would make sure he didn’t get any of the lunch. However, even though I looked clearly irritated, Cecilia looked at me and Sheik with a warm smile.

“Youki-san, Sheik-kun, Duke-san, and Happiness-chan… you all get along so well.”  [Cecilia]

“Well, yeah, I guess you could say we’re tied by fate. No, it feels more like a family.”  [Youki]

“Eh? Youki-san, you and Happiness-san are family? And that means Sheik-kun is… your brother?!”  [Quinn]

“No, no, no! We’ve just known each other for a long time.”  [Youki]

I vehemently denied Quinn-kun’s strange misunderstanding. Sheik treated Duke like an older brother and Happiness like an older sister, but he only ever called me ‘Captain’. I wasn’t opposed to telling them our past, but it wasn’t exactly an interesting story. Duke used to be cold and ruthless, but he loosened up over time and eventually became a dependable big brother figure. Happiness, on the other hand, used to be a recluse, but she gradually started talking more. Many things happened, and she eventually became a fine maid and even became an item with an understanding boyfriend, Raven.

I didn’t have to worry about the two of them anymore. It probably sounded condescending, but I was their former superior. In Sheik’s case, he had his own complicated circumstances, but I was glad that Celia-san was taking care of him at the moment.

Even so, it seemed that Quinn-kun was interested in Happiness. It was often said that women became prettier when they were in love, so could Happiness have grown more attractive? Happiness and Raven were usually seen being affectionate with each other, after all. Raven seemed to have changed, too, so he was probably taking the lead while on their dates. Somehow, remembering the past made me miss the way he used to be.

As for Quinn-kun, his feeling for Happiness was probably akin to admiration.

Hmm… should I be honest with him?

“Long-time acquaintances… If you don’t mind, could you tell me more about your relationship?”  [Quinn]

“O-Oh… well, just a little bit, then.”  [Youki]

As we walked, I started recounting my stories to Quinn-kun, mixing truths and lies: Originally, we formed a party as a group of mismatched adventurers. We reached Minerva and made new acquaintances, which was how we got to where we were. Cecilia, who was listening next to us, was chuckling quietly so as not to be noticed. She seemed to be making sure that I didn’t slip up in my story.

The two who were still sound asleep continued to snore away, which annoyed me. I couldn’t help but wonder why they even bothered joining us in the first place. The air was fresh, and the scenery was beautiful, but they weren’t enjoying any of it. In the end, they stayed asleep the entire way to our destination.

I laid Sheik down on a lush, natural grass bed and spread out the sheet we brought.

“Phew, we finally made it.”  [Youki]

I stretched a little and took a deep breath while Cecilia prepared for the picnic, pulling out the teapot and lunch boxes she had packed.

“Fwaaah…”

“Oh, finally awake, sleepyhead?”  [Youki]

Sheik groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“Ahh, I slept well. The sleeping conditions weren’t great, though. Huh, where are we? A forest? Ah, it’s Captain~”  [Sheik]

“You… we talked about this outing beforehand. You were sleeping the whole time, so I carried you all the way here! So, of course, it was uncomfortable!”  [Youki]

I carried him on my shoulder like a kidnapper as I walked up the mountain trail. There was no way it could’ve felt comfortable for him.

“Mu… Daaash!”  [Sheik]

“Hey, hey, hey! Seriously, he’s full of energy even though he just woke up.”  [Youki]

Sheik ran into the forest, probably because he didn’t want to listen to my persistent nagging. He leapt around using trees as footholds like a feral child – his cheerful voice grew fainter as he went deeper into the forest.

“What on earth does Sheik-kun usually do? I mean, that kind of movement isn’t something you’d pick up in a normal environment… It’s almost as if he used to live in a forest. A tribe that lives in the forest seems like a likely explanation…”  [Quinn]

Quinn-kun muttered under his breath. Unless Sheik revealed it himself, his secret would probably remain safe. Still, it was nerve-wracking, especially since Quinn-kun seemed to have inherited Sophia-san’s sharp intuition.

After Sheik disappeared into the forest, Quinn-kun diligently assisted Cecilia with the preparations. Fiora-chan, on the other hand, was running around playing. More accurately, her cat-eared golem was running around while carrying her. The loud stomping sounds echoed through the otherwise serene mountain scenery. Still, since they seemed to be having fun, I let them be.

“Captain, I found a lot!”  [Sheik]

“Oh, good for you.”  [Youki]

Waving his arms, Sheik ran back to us, gripping what appeared to be herbs he’d harvested. He had just gone into the forest, yet he was back so quickly.

“What kind of herbs did you find?”  [Youki]

“I found lots of different kinds. This one’s for you, Captain.”  [Sheik]

I inspected the herb he had given me. It looked like an ordinary piece of grass—nothing strange about its colour and nothing particularly distinctive about its leaves or stems.

Why did he choose this for me? Does it have some sort of calming effect?

“It has a calming effect on the mind.”  [Sheik]

“Hey, what do you think I need that for!?”  [Youki]

“Now, now, Youki-san. It’s similar to the herbal tea I usually make. You boil it into a tea, right? Isn’t that right, Sheik-kun?”  [Cecilia]

“Nope, this herb is used as an ingredient in a strong medicine to calm down rampaging livestock.”  [Sheik]

“Is… is that so? If it has such a strong effect, it might be difficult to brew it into tea…”  [Cecilia]

Her expression looked strained. There was no way to cover for that. So, am I allowed to be angry now?

“This one’s for Happiness-ane~”  [Sheik]

“For Happiness?”  [Youki]

Sheik would mess with me, but he never did that to Happiness. While the two of them would occasionally team up to tease me, I hadn’t seen them messing around with each other like that.

“What kind of herb is it?”  [Youki]

“It’s for reducing fever. Whenever Happiness-ane goes out on her day off and comes back, for some reason, her face would be all red. I thought maybe she’s pushing herself even though she has a fever~”  [Sheik]

“W-What?!”  [Youki]

I couldn’t help but spit out my drink. Come to think of it, Sheik didn’t know that Happiness had started dating Raven. When we sent her off the other time, I didn’t explain it to Sheik. So, the reason her face turned red would probably be because of… I decided to ask Raven about it next time.

“She doesn’t have a fever, so she doesn’t need a herb to reduce her temperature.”  [Youki]

“Eh, why not?”  [Sheik]

“You’ll understand someday, Sheik…”  [Youki]

I tried to act all grown-up and played the part of a mature man. Love was still too early for Sheik, and I couldn’t imagine him taking an interest in it, too. Though, I supposed he wouldn’t remain in the role of a little brother figure forever.

“Um, Youki-san…”  [Cecilia]

“What is it, Cecilia?”  [Youki]

“Quinn-kun…”  [Cecilia]

“Ah…”  [Youki]

Quinn-kun, being more mature than Sheik, seemed to understand what it meant. A complicated expression crossed his face as he listened to our conversation.

“Munya… smells good. Go, let’s go.”

Fiora-chan, seemingly enticed by the scent of the food from the lunch boxes and tea, charged forward without noticing the mood. This caused Quinn-kun, who was standing there in a daze, to nearly be run over by the golem. Fortunately, he snapped back to reality just in time and dodged, while the golem managed to stop right before colliding with him.

“…Are you trying to kill me, Fiora?”  [Quinn]

His anger was understandable. If he had not reacted in time, he would have been injured. The three of us, Cecilia, Sheik, and I, would then have to patch him up.

“Normally, Quinn would have dodged. Are you mad?”  [Fiora]

“No, not really…”  [Quinn]

“That’s a lie. You’re irritated. It’s rare.”  [Fiora]

“…Sigh, I’m more unsettled more than usual today. It’s really quite embarrassing.”  [Quinn]

Was it because of Happiness? I felt terrible for Quinn-kun, but there wasn’t much I could do. Sheik, looking confused, watched the situation, glancing back and forth between them. I wished he would calm down for a moment.

“Then, let’s blow off some steam.”  [Fiora]

“Indeed. It’s rare for Fiora to suggest this… Mother would be delighted to hear it.”  [Quinn]

“It’s rare for the both of us. Something feels off.”  [Fiora]

The two of them began to spar after that. It seemed like Fiora-chan was just trying to humour Quinn-kun. Watching her use shikigami with martial arts, it was highly likely that her master was Sophia-san.

“Captain, I’m gonna join in too~”  [Sheik]

“Hey, Sheik!”  [Youki]

Sheik jumped in before I could stop him, turning it into a three-way battle. They could probably use some medicine and treat themselves if they got hurt, so I decided to let them be.

“No need to stop them, right?” [Youki]

“Yes, they all seem to be having fun. As long as they don’t get seriously injured.”  [Cecilia]

“If it gets dangerous, I’ll step in. Though, I doubt that’ll be necessary.”  [Youki]

Cecilia was beside me, while the three kids were a little ways off. I looked up at the cloudless sky and felt at peace.

“…Next time, how about we come, just the two of us?”  [Youki]

“We’ll keep it a secret from the kids.”  [Cecilia]

We held hands in a way that they wouldn’t notice and decided to wait until the three of them got tired and came back.

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