Somehow, we managed to catch him, and we all headed to Olivia’s inn together.
Ted and Betty walked in front of us, Hayato and I in the middle, and George in the back.
As I watched Betty and Ted chatting happily, I hesitantly put my hand on Hayato’s elbow.
I will withdraw if he showed any signs of discomfort, but he didn’t, so I twined my arms around him and leaned in close.
Then I heard a giggle from George, who was walking behind me, and I turned around.
“What?”
“Nothing~ The flowery feeling emanating from the guy’s back is too intense… I was wondering where that guy who looks like dejected Pete who’s been thrown out by his wife go?”
Hayato also turned and tilted his head a little.
“I looked like Pete, who’s been kicked out by his wife? Me?”
“Yeah, you from before looked like him.”
“Eh…”
Hayato didn’t say anything. He seemed to be shocked.
It’s not like Pete is a bad guy or something, but considering their age differences, of course, you will be shocked to hear someone say that you look like him.
“Don’t worry, Hayato. I’ve also been called a madam at the academy.”
As I said this, I slipped my hand into his palm and placed my fingers between them.
When I was satisfied that I had succeeded in casually bringing the two of us together in lover’s bind, George interrupted me.
“What kind of consolation is that? I’m not happy if my wife is being treated like a madam(old lady)… “
“Exactly!”
Hayato secretly tightens his grip on my hand, but as George said, it seems my head is also filled with flowers now, and we talked through the street of the night town.
I was happy that we didn’t have to say goodbye earlier.
I don’t know what he’s going through right now, but no matter how powerful the magic is in this town, with him and me, we’ll be fine.
I don’t feel like any enemy will defeat me because I can help Hayato.
I don’t need to worry about anything.
That confidence was sprouted firm and strong within me.
When we arrived at the inn, I held Olivia in my arms; she reacted strongly to the matatabi that still left on Hayato’s body, then I told Rigel that Hayato would join us.
He immediately processed my request, and we divided the rooms between boys and girls and headed to our respective rooms. After we cleaned up, we agreed to meet again at the cafeteria an hour later to have dinner together.
“Don’t run.”
“…worry not, we’ll keep an eye on him.”
Ted answered for Hayato, who was keeping his silence.
I went into the room with Betty, feeling a little uneasy, and took off the various things I had on my body and undressed.
“Alisha, why don’t you go take a shower?”
“Okay. What about you, Betty?”
“I’ve just had one earlier, so I’ll wait until after dinner. It’s only an hour until our appointment, anyway… unlike boys who may only take ten minutes, we need at least a half an hour to get ready.”
“True.”
Laughing, I took off my shoes and my blouse while Betty took off her robe.
Oh, I forgot to borrow some indoor clothes. I’ll go to the reception and get some.
“Indoor clothes? They rent it?”
“Oh, I see. Alisha doesn’t know? A lot of commoner lodgings have indoor clothes. It might be a bit pricey, but these inn clothes had a good quality, so it’s worth it.
Before, people always need to pack so many clothes for a journey, and it a hassle, so this service is born to facilitate it.
It’s also benefited the inn from a sanitary perspective because the bed won’t get dirty that easily, and if you make it to be a cute outfit, it will boost your inn’s popularity.”
“Ooh… I never know such custom!”
“Fufufufu… it’s my pleasure to teach a thing or two to a genuine noble lady. I think I understand Hayato’s feeling now. Do you want to borrow one too, Alisha?”
“Yes, please!”
“Okay! Leave it to me!”
Betty winked as she walked out of the room, and I headed for the shower room to quickly wash up.
As I was cleaning my body, I suddenly remembered that this is the world of otome games. I nodded and strangely convinced myself that this kind of custom was possible, a culture that caters to a girl’s happiness.
As I finished washing up and wrapped a bath towel around me, Betty came back and showed me the indoor clothes she had borrowed.
“Look! Cat ears!”
It was a fuzzy hoodie with cat ears. And shorts!
“Isn’t it cute? I borrowed a black and white one. I’ll take the black one! Alisha is wearing white. We are matching pair.”
“Aaa…. so cute..!”
Somehow this feels nostalgic; I’ve missed this feeling so much!
I immediately put on my matching indoor clothes, dried my hair, and braided it loosely.
My previous life knowledge stated: if you keep your hair down, this kind of clothes will entangled in your back.
“Cute! braid me too!”
“Matching?”
“Matching!”
As we laughed at each other, Betty suddenly turned serious and said sincerely.
“Alisha, I’m really glad you found him… But I hope you are not angry with me for spraying him with water.”
“I don’t think he’s mad about the water at all… If there’s anything he should angry about, it would be at me for involving you all in this chase.”
“No way. You’re just worried. Hayato’s will is different from common men, they always said that the adventurer job is the worst one from 3B, and usually I would agree… but I think it’s fair to make an exception for Hayato.”
“3B? What’s that?” {TLN, this going to be a bit long, and there’s no way to localize it}
Is it possibly…
“It that the occupation of men who shouldn’t have lovers. Hairdresser, bartender, adventurer. that 3B?”
that’s not exactly the 3Bs I know, and musician are not included in it.
“Oh, and musicians, too. Altogether, they’re called 3B+O.”
Musicians! I guess there’s not much change then, even from a different world perspective.
“Well, there’s also the fact that they’re not stable, but in the end, they’re all just professions that are popular. It’s easy to get carried away with its temptation.”
“I agree…”
But when I think about it, I think Hayato is covering two of those four things. He is not a musician, but he still very good at it.
Once again, I realized that I was dealing with an extraordinary person.
“Betty, what should we do if Hayato turns out to be a playboy?
“It will be fine. Hayato didn’t select those as his main profession. People with healthy bodies won’t be sloppy with his woman… Oops, let’s get going. It’s almost been an hour.
“Oh, yes.”
The time seemed to have passed while we were chatting.
I put the hood to cover my head. Betty also does the same.
I was unusually excited to see us as a black cat and white cat, and we headed for the cafeteria, giggling.
This kind of thing is fun, isn’t it?
The boys were already in the cafeteria, and George gave us a very nice reaction when he saw us.
“Haha! What the hell is that? You’ve got ears! It’s really funny.”
Then a woman who looked like the proprietress shouted happily.
“Oh my! It’s so cute! I made that myself. It suits you. At this rate, you will take over Olivia’s popularity. I’m glad to see all the lovely ladies wearing them.”
“It’s true. It’s cute.”
Betty and I were both pleased to hear Hayato say so.
“But I think you’re showing a little too much leg.”
“There it is, his mom mode. It’s okay. Alice is fine like that. Hey, Ted, move over a little. You’ll be sitting next to Hayato, right?”
“Oh, I see. Here you go, Alice.”
“Are you sure? Thank you very much.”
“Why don’t you come to sit next to me, Betty?”
“I’ll be right next to you, Ted.”
“Oh, okay…”
George, who had been easily rejected, tipped the mug in his hand without seeming too depressed. I think it’s beer. It seems that he can hold his liquor.
Suddenly I noticed a red-coloured drink in Hayato’s hand.
“……, Hayato, is that alcohol?”
“Yes, it is. I don’t like beer, but I think I can handle this. “
“Really? What’s this?”
“It’s a mixture of red wine and ginger beer. It’s easy to drink.”
…I wonder if it’s really okay.
I just had an experience the other day where I thought it was easy to drink and got carried away, only to lose consciousness suddenly.
As I stared at him, George interrupted me.
“I asked the landlady to make me a drink that was easy to drink,” he said. “I don’t know what happened to you, but it’s better to be drunk than depressed.”
“It still depends on how much…. Oh, your face is already getting red! And you still have scratches on your face. The healing is not enough to scratch even a shallow wound once, after all.”
As I said that, I cast the recovery spell again.
It’s strange that no matter how much magic I put into the recovery spell, the injury will not heal in one go.
While physical strength recovers in proportion to the amount of magic power used, healing of external wounds requires several applications over time.
Of course, if the wound is fatal, it’s possible to not be able to heal it in time, resulting in your death.
That’s why we all train so hard and try to avoid injury as much as possible.
Ah, so that’s why. Is that the reason why the goddess didn’t give people absolute power?
Ambition and a sense of accomplishment are both important things that give us vitality in life.
These are feelings that surely cannot come from a perfect being.
If the feeling of inadequacy is our source of energy to push forward, then perhaps the imperfection of this restorative magic is also necessary for us.
As I was trying to convince myself of this theory, I felt a sharp pain in my fingertips and withdrew my hand.
–eh?
The recovery spell …… was rejected?
It’s not something that could be rejected, and if it is, it shouldn’t causing you to feel pain.
What was that ……?
While I was confused, Hayato laid down his glass and turned his face to us. He slowly squinted his red eyes and laughed a little.
“I’m sorry, I made a mistake. Can I ask you to heal me again?”
At that moment, for some reason, a strong feeling of discomfort ran down my spine.
His face and voice were the same as usual, but there was something different about him, like a different person. –It was scary.
But the feeling of discomfort was only for a moment, and he soon returned to his normal self. I nodded and did as I was asked, casting recovery magic once again.
I took a sneak peek at everyone, Ted and Betty are laughing and chatting, and George is stoking his beer. No one seems to have noticed this odd situation.
Was it just me imagining things?
I regained my composure and started to ate the dinner that had been brought over. But perhaps because I was upset, I couldn’t really taste the food, even though it was supposed to be very good.
“…Alice. It seems that he has reached his limit. Take him to his room.”
When we finished eating and were all chatting, George saw that Hayato, who had been dozing off for a while, had finally plopped down on the table.
Thinking about it, I think he was suspicious from around the time when he had half of his drink left.
“Huh? Hayato? a single glass of Kitty, will do that to you? That’s too unexpected.”
Betty was in a good mood with a beer in her hand. Kitty is apparently the red wine and ginger beer cocktail that Hayato was drinking.
George, whose complexion had not changed, said with a puzzled look on his face as he sipped on a salted olive.
“I thought he would notify me when he was about to get drunk, but he didn’t. You’re going under faster than a …tsk… pathetic man.”
“But in this state, it seems unlikely that he would sneak out in the middle of the night and go somewhere alone. I planned to continue drinking for a while, so can Alice take him to his room?”
“It’s fine, but I don’t know if I can carry him.”
“You shouldn’t! and You don’t have to do that, just woke him! Hey Hayato! Get up! Walk back to your room!”
George tried to wake him up by smacking him on the head. But he didn’t budge. George sighed and leaned over and whispered.
“…… Alice is going to lend you a shoulder.”
His eyes fluttered open, and he jerked his head up.
“OOOH”, my party cheered him with applause.
But still, though his eyes were clear, his consciousness was not, and he stood up shakily.
I put his arm on my shoulder and supported him.
“Thanks. And don’t worry, you can stay in our room until we got back. I’ll knock when I come in.”
“Okay.”
I left the cafeteria while dragging him up the stairs.
He was able to keep up with me despite his unsteady gait, and I was able to get him to his room without too much trouble, despite our considerable size difference.
“Are you okay? Here, we’re in your room. Please lie down.”
“Yes, …….”
he fell onto the bed on his back, and I watched his eyes closed quickly.
… In the end, I couldn’t hear anything. But in the end, I managed to catch him; I think that will suffice for now.
(fuh) I let my breath out and sat on the chair beside him.
It’s a great way to get a good night’s sleep.
Even though he had fallen asleep, if I left him here alone, he might go away again.
Thinking of this, I couldn’t leave the room without him.
I lit a small lamp, opened the curtains a little, and looked up at the starry sky.
The sky in the direction of the royal capital was pitch black, and I wondered if the black clouds were more widespread than in the daytime.
Suddenly, I felt his gaze on me, and I looked back toward the bed. Hayato’s eyes were open, and he was staring at me. He spoke to me in a slightly muffled voice.
“… Where is everyone?”
“They’re still downstairs drinking. How are you feeling?”
“I feel sluggish ……. And sleepy.”
“You can go back to sleep. You really have a weakness for alcohol, don’t you?”
“I thought …… this time it would be fine, but apparently neither of us can drink, can we?”
“We just haven’t gotten used to it yet. Let’s take out time to get used to it together.”
“From now on… together?”
“Yes, from now on. Don’t worry; we’ll have plenty of time.”
“… Alice.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“…No, I don’t think I could do this.”
“Oh, come on. You can’t just say something and then stop.”
“It’s not that big deal. Come over here for a minute. I want to see your face.”
I sat down on the bed where he was lazily lying and stared at him as he stared at me. Behind me, the small flame of a lamp was burning, flickering, and glowing in his red eyes.
A hand reached out and placed itself on top of my head. The hand stroked my hair, my ear, my cheek, and touched my chin. A big, beautiful hand. It seems to be tracing my outline.
A fingertip strokes my neck as if tickling it.
“fufu, that’s ticklish.”
“… even though you’re dressed like a cat?”
“Ahaha, you are right… to think of it, you just got caught in a swarm of cats. Did that make you uncomfortable?”
“I like them. I love them. I love it. It’s the best thing in the world.”
“That much?”
“Yes, I love it. I love you.”
“… we’re still talking about the cat, right?”
He laughed a little and held out his hands.
“Come on, Alisha, I won’t run away again today. Just let me hold you.”
I don’t know why he calls me by my real name every now and then.
It’s okay, though, because it makes me happy.
I climbed up on the bed and hugged him, overlapping our upper bodies. My arms came around his back, and I was filled with so much relief that I wanted to cry. But–
“… today, you said, so… tomorrow you’ll run away again?”
“I don’t know if it will be tomorrow, but soon…”
“No, you can’t… There’s something going on, isn’t there? Why don’t you tell me?”
I asked, but after waiting for a while, there was no answer.
Instead, he stroked my thigh, startling me into sitting up.
“Hey, …….”
I tried to tell him that I wouldn’t be fooled by that, but he closed his eyes and was breathing heavily in his sleep. But his hands were still moving, so he didn’t seem to be trying to hide the fact that he was not asleep.
He squeezes my fleshy parts, and I can’t help but make an impatient noise.
“Hey, you’re awake, aren’t you?”
Then he pretended to be asleep and shivered because he couldn’t hold back his laughter.
“I told you before that you show your legs too much.”
He then stroked the base of the cat’s tail with his other hand, he stroked the base of the cat’s tail with his hand and put it on my hip.
TL notes:
Well I think I found a way to localize that, but it would requires a bit of work so… here’s the joke in their raw form.
3B profession (in this game world) : 美容師、バーテンダー、冒険者 ; Biyoshi, Bartenda, Boukensha. (Hairdresser, Bartender, Adventurer)
音楽家 = Ongaguka / Musician, Betty replaced band-man word with Ongakuka, making it 3B+O.
3B profession (in our Japan): 美容師、バーテンダー、バンドマン : Biyoshi, Bartenda, Bando-man. (Hairdresser, Bartender, Band-man)
Typically, a profession without a stable income, though I can argue that bartender and hairdresser is solid profession in my country with our amount of traditional wedding and modern wedding, sometimes hybrid wedding (rofl). Though Bartender might have a bit different reason why he is not suited to have a lover. But let’s save that talk for another day.
And yes, I google this, this is the main reason why this week update it so late.
