“…Do you want me to be your friend?”
“Dammit…dammit…!”
What a crushing sense of defeat!
“Forget about the friend thing. Hey, stop looking at me with such pity. [You’re obviously trying to change the subject. Sigh, might as well just go along with it.]”
Ignoring Nenel’s pitiful gaze,
“Anyway! We have to deal with that pig-headed guy before this gets in the way of my duties. If there’s interference during the purification, it could put Charl in danger too.”
“So you just want to impress the girl, huh?”
“That’s not it at all. …Well, I guess a child wouldn’t understand the consideration of a capable man.”
“You don’t even have any friends.”
“Don’t hesitate to play the forbidden card.”
If she can speak to me so bluntly, then I suppose she’ve made some progress in sorting out her feelings.
I can’t believe I’m doing this…
looking after a child is so out of character for me. Before, as the villain, I would have just redirected the hatred towards [the Land God] instead of myself. That would have been more efficient.
But I’ve given up that way of doing things – using and hurting myself.
It may be less efficient, but…I think, no, I’m sure this is better for Nenel’s heart. With my old methods, I might have hurt not just myself, but Nenel and various other people as well.
In that sense, I’m grateful to Charl. And speaking of which…)
I suddenly thought of Makina’s face. She’s been by my side since we were kids, always supporting me.
I was able to keep up the villain act because Makina had my back as my right-hand. Not just her skills, but her usual silly antics have often helped me as well. If she hadn’t been there, I might have lost my resolve at some point.
When I think about it, I’ve been relying on her a lot lately. Especially recently, I’ve been asking Makina to help out with stuff related to Leo and investigating Garland territory. So I thought I should give her a little something as a gesture of appreciation.
I look around, but most of what I see are just the typical tourist souvenirs.
Giving her one of those as a regular thank-you seems kind of lame. The real question is, what should I get? Makina is surprisingly not that into material things, and she often politely decline when I try to give her stuff, especially anything that will stick around.
Food that gets eaten up might work better. she seem more willing to accept edible gifts. I don’t want to just force something on Makina that she doesn’t really want – that would kind of defeat the purpose of showing my appreciation.
Maybe I’ll treat her to something really delicious that’s a bit out of your normal price range. And I can invite Charl to join us so we can all enjoy it together.
“Hey, Nenel, how about we check out—-“
“ ……………… “
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing!”
“The one who says ‘nothing’ when it’s clearly something, is the one who’s lying.”
As I call out her feeble excuse, a cute rumble comes from Nenel’s stomach.
Conveniently, there’s a delicious-smelling food stall nearby, selling skewers made with Garland region meat. The fragrant, caramelized sauce is tantalizing.
“It’s about lunchtime, and you sound hungry.”
“…!!”
Nenel turns away, embarrassed at her stomach’s betrayal.
“There’s no need to be so shy about it. Everyone’s stomach makes noise sometimes.”
“Shut up! My mom said having no manners will make me unpopular!”
“Tch…! You precisely pinpointed my self-conscious insecurity…!”
I often get called dull-witted by Makina, so I must be pretty obvious about these things. But I don’t care that much, really!
“Alright, alright, I’m sorry for my lack of manners. Anyway, let’s grab some food. You must be hungry too, right?”
“If you want to eat, then do it alone. I don’t need charity from the royalty trying to purify [the Land God].”
“There you go again with the complicated talk…fine. I’ll just have it to myself then. Hey mister, three skewers please.”
“Coming right up!”
The friendly stall owner quickly prepares the skewers. I pay the amount and take the sticks. Nenel is pretending not to care, but her glances in the direction of the food are transparent.
“Do you really not need it?”
“N-no, I don’t need it…”
“I see. Then I’ll just eat it all.”
I take a bite of the first skewer. Wow, the rich meat juices are oozing out as soon as I bite into it. The sauce is also exquisite – it enhances the flavor of the meat without overpowering it. The grilling is just right, not too tough or too soft.
“……………………”
“Ah, it’s delicious. It would be a waste not to eat this.”
Nenel is staring at me intently, but I pretend not to notice and take a bite of the second skewer.
“Mmm, this thick sauce is amazing.”
“…………………………………………”
Stubborn, huh. Oh well, I’ll give in then.
“Ah… it’s tasty, but I’m already full. It would be a waste to throw it away, if only someone else could eat it…”
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“…………………………………………!”
Aha, they reacted clearly to that. Their body moved a bit.
“Is there anyone who can eat this for me…?”
“………………………………Ah, I can eat it if you want?”
“Okay then, here you go.”
“…………! Yes!”
Nenel takes the third skewer with a bright smile
and starts eagerly devouring the meat.
Relieved, I start nibbling on the remaining meat on my own skewer.
Nenel looks at me curiously.
“What? If you want, I can give you this one too.”
“That’s not it…it’s just, something seems weird.”
“What is it?”
“Because the Lewd guy is a noble, right?”
“I really wish you’d stop calling me that, but yes, that’s right.”
“Don’t nobles in the royal palace eat fancy desserts and have grand feasts at beautiful tables?”
“Normally, yeah that’s how it is. But in my case, I’m a bit different from the norm. I often go out to the capital city and just buy street food, and I actually end up having meals on the street more often than not.”
“…………That’s weird. The Ecchi Lord is different from the noble I imagined.”
“So what kind of image did you have of nobles?”
“I thought they’d be all high and mighty, like that pig lord, just bossing people around…and ordering their fathers around arrogantly.”
“Your father was…”
“A metalsmith.”
Nenel stops eating the skewer and starts speaking softly, looking down.
“He was the best metalsmith in this domain, and he made the rings to be offered to the [Land God]. He even made the ring for me.”
“…I know about the metalsmith of Garland domain, he was a skilled craftsman.”
“Yeah. Mom and I both loved the rings my dad made. …Even the rings offered at the festivals, he worked hard on them, putting in our gratitude towards the [Land God] who protects this land. He put so much effort into them, but…”
His hard work, his dedication. It all amounted to nothing.
Death was the only result he was left with.
“That’s why I hate the [Land God].”
“…I see.”
I can’t deny Nenel’s expressed emotions.
If I were in the same position, I’d likely hate the [Land God] as well. So I don’t refute it. Whatever path she choose, I’ll leave it up to them.
Seeing and knowing various things. If she choose revenge after all that, I won’t stop that choice.
“…And I hate that pig lord too. He always orders my dad around so arrogantly. They were always arguing…”
“Arguing?”
“Yeah. I don’t really understand, but it seems they were arguing about the ring making. And about the offering duties too.”
“The offering duties, is there usually a set person who does that?”
“Yeah. It’s always been my dad who offers the rings to the [Land God]. But this time, the pig lord forcibly made his soldiers tag along. In the end, they didn’t do anything useful.”
From the outside, it could be interpreted as “the soldiers were ordered to accompany as guards, since it’s dangerous due to the miasma.”
But according to Makina’s investigation…
“The only casualties were the metalsmith who was the offering priest, and the villagers who accompanied him. There’s no record of any of the lord’s soldiers being harmed.”
“Yeah. All the people who were regularly involved in the offering, like my dad and mom, they all died…and only those soldiers survived.”
“That does sound quite fishy.”
In other words, the one Simeon was arguing with just happened to conveniently die.
“…Just perfect.”
After finishing the skewers, I quickly take Nenel and leave the area.
I want to meet up with Makina, but I don’t know where she is. I can’t leave Nenel alone either.
“Leaving you in an unsupervised place would be dangerous…Nenel, sorry but you’ll have to stick with me for a bit.”
“Huh? What for?”
I lead Nenel into a back alley, heading towards a deserted area.
I spot a small open space and stop there.
“Why did we come here? There’s nothing around…”
“I thought this would be a better place to talk.”
I address the unseen presences around us.
“Come out. I’ll play with you.”
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