Chapter 55 (1/2)
Goodbyes are Just a Part of Life
(What happened…)
Serge wondered. Something happened. There was no mistaking it. However, he didn’t understand exactly what happened.
Right now, their group was heading to Maal’s hometown.
Thinking that they would be separating soon, Serge was a bit lonely.
But, as though compensating for the loneliness, s.h.i.+zuna was being friendly.
Nestling between Maal and Ria, she was being looked at with eyes similar to a mother’s.
To be exact, her stinging att.i.tude toward Ria had disappeared.
Her forced rudeness was gone, she even looked feminine.
What happened in this short time?
It seemed like she was seriously contemplating the words said in the ogre village. It was like she’d turned into another person.
“I think it’s a good trend though?”
Lulu said that, and he agreed with her.
s.h.i.+zuna seemed to have grown as a human.
He consulted other people too, but Carlos wasn’t interested in human women. Gig was an innocent child when it came to subtleties like that. Even asking Irina would have been useless.
So, he had to brood on it alone.
On a day like that, they were on the evening before the day they would arrive at Maal’s hometown.
“Let’s have a talk.”
Since he called that out to Ria, they separated a bit from the rest of the group into the woods.
[You’re a man yeah?]
Naturally, he asked in j.a.panese.
[Do I look like a woman? I’m the same man I was in my previous life.]
Ria nodded with a hmph.
[If you’re a man, why the secrecy?]
[I wouldn’t be talkative about it, but I will absolutely keep the promise if I’m told to not saying anything.
Again, Ria nodded with a hmph.
[We’re comrades that have trusted our lives to each other. Can’t best friends talk with each other?]
[Persistent.]
Since they were speaking in j.a.panese from the start, you might think they were talking about an extraordinary secret.
[This is an absolute secret. In truth, I slept with s.h.i.+zuna in the ogre village.]
Huh?
[But I though Valis said—]
[H-hold up. Hold up a second. I said sleep, umm, that’s—]
She swallowed back her saliva.
[H-how did you do it?]
[Ah~, that’s…]
It was hard to explain. Even though Serge had also heard everything Valis said.
[Though I thought that I might be able to turn back into a man if I really tried…]
Since she wasn’t able to turn back, she made good use of her previous life’s knowledge, turning s.h.i.+zuna into a woman while still being a woman herself.
Ria told him.
[You’re the worst.]
For the first time, Serge despised Ria. It was the fastidiousness particular to a virgin.
[No, but, I didn’t think she’d be so cute…]
It could also be called the shame of a man being unable to resist the feast in front of him.
Hearing the whole story, Serge consented. There was no helping it.
Honestly, to be frank, it was because he really felt envious.
[So, you went with the s.h.i.+zuna route?]
Since this wasn’t a game, it didn’t mean they would pair up in the end.
Actually, you’d have s.e.x with them! You would spend time in happiness together from then on! Stuff like that didn’t happen in reality.
[But I don’t know how to turn back into a man anymore…]
Ria was telling him that she didn’t know what to do, but since even the G.o.d Dragon-sama couldn’t answer, neither could Serge.
To the end, all of Serge’s knowledge was just as an otaku virgin.
[Well, now I understand why s.h.i.+zuna’s seemed incredibly happy recently.]
[Even though that’s good…]
She folded her arms.
Ria was a person of common sense. She just happened to calmly exceed common sense. She properly knew what common sense was.
If you were to think about the world’s common sense in general, it was natural for a man and woman to be together. There were the eyes of other people, and they couldn’t make children.
As far about the eyes of others, she didn’t care about being seen if it was just a problem for herself. But it was a different story if it was for her partner.
She wanted to make s.h.i.+zuna happy. That’s what she felt.
If she were to choose another man for her…
He would have to match up to Vargas, or he’d probably have to surrender himself to her father’s fury.
[Well, s.h.i.+zuna’s calmed down, so that’s good. Maal will be leaving soon though.]
Ria was obviously depressed by those words.
Their group would arrive at Maal’s hometown the following day.
They would separate from Maal there. They wanted her to live quietly in happiness.
Although she felt lonely, Ria wished for that strongly.
The beastkin village was supported primarily by hunting.
When Ria’s group arrived at midday, a number of people were in the village.
The village went into an uproar when they saw a group that had a h.e.l.lhound, but calmed down when they saw Maal’s figure.
While calling out her acquaintances’ names, Maal ran into the group of people.
Before long, beastkin of the same breed as Maal ran out of the inner part of the village.