Author: Suisei
Translator: Rinkage

Character page: Here

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Chapter 176 – I asked the guardian deity and the lady mage about their past

I quickly explained the purpose of our visit today to Gai.

“Intense love? That topic doesn’t suit me. You should be asking humans about that. I’m a demon. I don’t know anything about human love.”  [Gai]

“No, no, we need your help precisely because you’re the best one to ask. There’s no one more fitting than you. I can say that for sure.”  [Youki]

Out of all the couples I knew, these two were the ones who cared for each other to an extraordinary extent.

“Hmm… well, it’s true that I owe you. If it’s something I can do, I won’t hold back on helping. Although I don’t think I’ll be of much use.”  [Gai]

“…Sorry for the trouble. I appreciate it.”  [Raven]

“Don’t worry about it.”  [Gai]

“Since Gai is willing to help, let’s drop the formalities and just relax.”  [Youki]

I wasn’t taking this lightly, but I just wanted to dispel the gloomy atmosphere. Conversations about love should be cheerful, after all.

“So, kiddo, what exactly should I talk about? I should warn you that most of my life was spent in the dark ruins and the shrine in the village. I only started interacting with people recently.”  [Gai]

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. You just need to talk about your time spent with Tiel-chan.”  [Youki]

“I see. Very well.”  [Gai]

It was a rather ordinary… well, maybe not so ordinary story of a gargoyle working alongside a maid. The gargoyle, Gai, had started working at the guild, earning an income, and successfully freed himself from being a kept man. However, the maid, Tiel-chan, continued using her wages to buy magic ores for Gai, evoking guilt in the latter.

“Tiel, I’m fine now. I’ll buy the magic ores with the money I’ve earned. You should use your wages for yourself.”  [Gai]

Gai felt relieved after expressing his thoughts, but…

“Eh?”  [Tiel]

The look on Tiel-chan’s face made it seem like the world had ended. Her reaction confused Gai, but he continued to explain.

“Listen, Tiel. The reason you’ve had to take care of me because I couldn’t… no, because I didn’t act. I’m sorry. From now on…”  [Gai]

He couldn’t bring himself to continue when he saw the look in Tiel-chan’s eyes. He realized he had stepped on a landmine, so he altered his words with care.

“W-Well, yes. You’ve been helping me all this time, and suddenly becoming independent might not be ideal. When I’m in a tight spot, I’ll rely on your assistance, Tiel.”  [Gai]

The issue was resolved after that. A few days later, after completing his tasks at the guild, Gai stopped by a merchant store on his way back to the inn to stock up on magic ores. Despite his striking appearance, he was a regular customer, so no one gave him any trouble. In the world of merchants, customers, money, and goods are always highly valued. However, things didn’t unfold as he wanted.

“Guardian Deity-sama, what a coincidence.”  [Tiel]

“Hmm, Tiel? Yes, I suppose it is.”  [Gai]

“Shopping, right? I’ve already paid for them.”  [Tiel]

“What!?”  [Gai]

It seemed that she had already paid for the magic ores Gai was about to purchase. She must have spotted him earlier and gotten ahead of him. But that was just the start of Gai’s headaches. From that day onward, every time Gai visited that merchant store, he would run into Tiel-chan. Even when he switched to a different merchant or adjusted his shopping schedule, Tiel-chan still appeared, each time greeting him with, “What a coincidence, Guardian Deity-sama.”

“Hey, isn’t this starting to feel like a horror story?”  [Youki]

This is definitely a true story about Tiel-chan.

“You’re the one who told me to share, you little brat!”  [Gai]

“I’m just as confused, because this is exactly how I imagined it!”  [Youki]

Tiel-chan clearly had some incredible detection abilities, possibly even sharper than mine. It was as if she were specifically tuned to track Gai. There was no way I could chalk it up to mere coincidence.

“…Youki, thinking back, it feels like I’ve had a lot of ‘coincidental’ encounters with Happiness too. Could it be that I’m unconsciously…”  [Raven]

“You’re overthinking it!”  [Youki]

Tiel-chan aside, there was no way that was the case with Raven. He wasn’t doing it on purpose, and he didn’t have any mysterious detection ability. Even so, I could see that his anxiety was still there.

It looks like we’ll have to head to our next collaborator. We can’t just keep hanging around in Gai and Tiel-chan’s love nest.

“Alright, Raven, let’s move on to the next place. This time, we’ll definitely put your mind at ease. Well then, Gai, thanks for your help. Be happy with Tiel-chan, and try not to get caught.”  [Youki]

“That last comment was unnecessary!”  [Gai]

“Only the last part, huh?”  [Youki]

As I left the room with a sly grin on my face, it was evident that he was flustered.

“…So, did you get anything out of that, Raven?”  [Youki]

“Ah, yeah. I guess everyone has their own way of handling relationships.”  [Raven]

That applies to you, too.

I wanted to point that out, but seeing Raven nodding to himself, it was hard to bring myself to disagree. Was he really just exhausted and losing his way? There was a possibility that the same was happening to me.

“Alright, let’s head to the next one.”  [Youki]

“Next!?”  [Raven]

“Don’t worry. The next person we’re going to see is someone you know. They’re practically radiating happiness. Just having a casual conversation with them will let you know how much they’re loved. So, observe closely.”  [Youki]

“…Easier said than done.”  [Raven]

“Come on, let’s go!”  [Youki]

I dragged Raven along as we headed to meet the person I had in mind.

♦♦♦

“You just popped in without warning. What do you want?”

“Hey, Youki. So the person you meant was Mikana?”  [Raven]

“Yeah, she’s perfect for this, right?”  [Youki]

Even though we didn’t schedule an appointment, by some miracle, she was home. Lucky for us. However, contrary to my expectations, Mikana wasn’t exactly in that cheerful, happy mood I had imagined. She was wearing wrinkled loungewear, with dark circles under her eyes, and a tired expression. It made me wonder if work had been running her ragged.

“…Well, it’s fine. Come in. You have something to talk about, right?”  [Mikana]

“Oh, thanks. Come on, Raven.”  [Youki]

“Ah, yeah…”  [Raven]

Once inside, she gestured for us to sit on the sofa, so Raven and I sat next to each other.

Despite her wrinkled loungewear, the house looked quite tidy. In fact, it looked as if a post-move cleaning had been done – furniture neatly arranged and everything spotless. Wait, what?

“H-Hey, what’s with this? It looks like you’re in the middle of a move-out cleaning.”  [Youki]

“…I am moving out.”  [Mikana]

“R-Really? That’s pretty sudden. You’re not being harassed by Yuuga’s fans or anything, right?”  [Youki]

Yuuga had said he would handle the issues with the women around him, but he was still the hero who had defeated the Demon Lord. Despite his attitude, his popularity with the ladies was undeniable. It wouldn’t be surprising if some jealous fans were giving Mikana trouble.

“No, that’s not it. I’m going to live with Yuuga.”  [Mikana]

“Wait, you mean… you’re moving in together?”  [Youki]

“…Is that true, Mikana?”  [Raven]

Raven was leaning in more than I was. He seemed really sensitive to these kinds of topics. Meanwhile, Mikana looked even more fatigued upon mentioning this.

“Yeah, we decided yesterday.”  [Mikana]

“Wait, yesterday?”  [Youki]

“Yeah, Yuuga came over to my house. I had just gotten back from work and was relaxing. The moment I opened the door, the first thing he said was…”  [Mikana]

The first thing out of his mouth was apparently, “Mikana, let’s live together.” What an out-of-the-blue statement. Both Raven and I were left speechless, our mouths hanging open.

“I was thrilled, too. I couldn’t help but blush and nod shyly. And then…”  [Mikana]

It seemed that right after that, they went to sign the lease for a house Yuuga had been eyeing for a while. Wait, so he had been planning this all along!

“I thought it was something that was still far off. And that’s why I ended up staying up late last night, packing everything up. Yuuga took all the furniture that we could move.”  [Mikana]

“That guy’s decisiveness is something else.”  [Youki]

“Well, yeah… I’m happy about living together, too. It’ll be just like before; sleeping together, eating meals together…”  [Mikana]

I was highly doubtful if it would feel exactly like the old days. Come to think of it, Mikana once said she wasn’t confident in her cooking skills. I decided not to bring that up, though, since it wasn’t important at the moment. More than that, I was concerned about Raven. He seemed to be in a trance, muttering, “Living together… living together…” over and over next to me.

“…Hey, Youki. Can we leave already?”  [Raven]

“Way too soon, man.”  [Youki]

He wanted to leave already, even though we had just arrived.

“Oh, by the way, Swordsman. I’ve heard rumours that you’ve been working hard lately. Word is that you’ve earned the trust of the other knights… And here we are, just casually chatting like this.”  [Mikana]

“W-Well, yeah. Sort of?”  [Raven]

“Then there’s another rumour I’ve heard. On your days off, you’ve been meeting with the same girl regularly.”  [Mikana]

Hey, Raven, don’t look away… Wait, he’s not looking away.

“It’s true. I wasn’t hiding it, but I didn’t want to stir up any unnecessary drama, so I kept quiet.”  [Raven]

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