Vol 1 Chapter 11 (2/2)

”Ah, that girl wasn't always like that in the past. She'd clean or take offerings from time to time, and that was all. But you see, one day that girl was attacked by a Red Fang.”

The Red Fang was a wolf-like monster. It got its name from the blood that would drip from its mouth when it caught prey. The name’s origin made it sound scary, but it was still only a piddly little rank E monster.

”Tiel-chan was 7 at the time, and she has that weak little body, ya know? But when all hope seemed lost, the Guardian Deity saved her...or so she said.”

That lying piece of...he had already been saving Tiel-chan for a while!

”Ehheh~. Then, no one else ever claimed being saved by the Guardian Deity?”

”Does a bear take a s.h.i.+t in the woods? It's just an old wives’ tale. No one really believes in that thing. And everyone thinks the statue looks creepy, so we never go near it.”

”I see.”

After that, I asked many of the other elders, but it was all more of the same. The healing was done much faster compared to yesterday, and afterwards the three of us met up once again to go over the information we gathered.

”I'm sorry. I tried to ask most everyone about the Guardian Deity, however they ended up asking me a lot questions instead.”

”Me too~...”

They both felt guilty, but it couldn't be helped. Their lines were full of the younger generation villagers. Even if they'd managed to ask, most of them wouldn't have known anything about it. Rather, I wanted to beat the s.h.i.+t out of the guys. .h.i.tting on Cecilia.

”...Youki-san? What strange thoughts are rattling around in that head of yours?”

”That I want to beat the h.e.l.l out of all those guys fawning all over you.”

”Please don't, it'll take that much longer to heal everyone...so did Youki-san manage to gather any information?”

Cecilia firmly warned me. I'd just have to do it in a way so she wouldn't find out...er, now wasn't the time for that! I imparted to them all the intel I'd gathered from the older villagers.

”I see.”

”Heeh~”

Cecilia was listening intently, taking stock of all my info, but s.h.i.+ek's interest was waning. I had no more faith in this kid except where medicine was concerned.

”There are some major discrepancies compared to the info we got from the gargoyle yesterday. It also seemed like no one remembered that it had been the result of a previous bandit attack. He doesn't sound very reliable.”

”Be that as it may, I would still like to speak with Gargoyle-san for myself.”

Maybe I was doubting him a little too much, but I felt justified considering the circ.u.mstances. We also still had our planned visit with him yet to come.

”Weren't we going to visit Tiel-chan before that~?”

”Ah.”

”Ah!”

Totally forgot about that part. And I couldn't believe it was s.h.i.+ek of all people who reminded us.

”Then s.h.i.+ek, why don't you go visit Tiel-chan? It'd be bad if she b.u.mped into the gargoyle while we were talking.”

”'Ka~y.”

We left Tiel-chan to s.h.i.+ek, then Cecilia and I went to see the gargoyle.

”You scoundrel, you have broken our agreement. I told you not to reveal my existence to anyone!”

After we got to the shrine, the minute I told Cecilia about him, the gargoyle stopped his statue-act and raised h.e.l.l.

”So you are Gargoyle-san? My name is Cecilia. After the bandits attacked the village, leaving a great number of wounded behind, the Mayor requested my aid. So I came to this village to treat the injured villagers.”

”Hooh...So you were the little missy this demon brat was speaking of yesterday. Well then, did you have business with me?”

Brat? Well, I suppose in the eyes of a several hundred year old guy I'm still just a kid.

”I came to speak with you about the village. You really have no intention to attack it?”

”That's what I told that brat yesterday. I have no interest in attacking the village, nor do I wish to help it. I merely live here.”

The same answer as yesterday. As I thought, it'd be fine to just leave this guy be.

Perhaps because it was just like I told her yesterday, she seemed to be satisfied. Ah, but there was one more thing we needed to ask about.

”Hey, I wanted to ask, when Tiel-chan was about 7-years old, did you save her from a Red Fang?”

”Perhaps...and if I did?”

”Are you...a ‘Lolicon’?”

”L-lolli-kon?”

”Ah, you don't know the term ‘Lolicon’ ?”

Not surprising that word doesn't exist in this world.

”I don't.”

”I am also unfamiliar with the term.”

They asked casually, but they'd probably be surprised by the true meaning. Well, the gargoyle was probably just returning a favor, so there wasn't really any profound meaning behind it.

”Nah, nevermind, it's fine.”

”Come now. You have piqued my curiosity. Out with it, boy!”

”You leave me with no choice. So this is a word that comes from the world of my previous life...”

As I was telling them the meaning behind the word Lolicon, the gargoyle grew irate, just as I predicted, and started a fight with me. As we brawled he screamed things like 'I have no such hobbies!'.

Cecilia let out a deep sigh as she sat in the shrine watching over our brawl. She didn't even say not to overdo it...

”Remember this well, brat! I would absolutely never harbor feelings for young girls!”

The result went without saying. The underdog did not come out on top; the losing gargoyle was left howling in defeat. Having lost to s.h.i.+ek before, there was no way he could have beat me.

When Cecilia figured the fight was over, she stood up from the shrine, and dusted off her robe. I surmised from her expression that she was less than thrilled at the outcome.

”It appears to be over. ...Youki-san, please don't provoke meaningless conflict. Truthfully, if there was any meaning to this fight, it was beyond my understanding.”

”It was just a slip of the tongue.”

”Even so, normally one would come to the conclusion that he was simply returning the favor for Tiel-chan cleaning every day. I do not believe he falls under your definition of ‘Lolicon’, does he Youki-san?”

I winced under Cecilia's sound reasoning. At this rate, I would look like the bad guy. That was the last thing I wanted her to think about me. All righty, sorry gargoyle, but I'm gonna make you into a real Lolicon.

”But, according to the information we got from the villagers, there was no corpse where Tiel-chan got attacked by the Red Fang, all that was left were black burn marks. This guy probably used the senior level Dark magic 《Dark Blaze》 to defeat the Red Fang.”

Dark blaze produced a flame that destroyed all it touched, leaving nothing behind; Truly a senior level magic spell. It was not a spell that a rank E monster like the Red Fang could handle . It was clearly overkill.

”Just to save Tiel-chan, this guy used a ridiculously powerful spell. Therefore, I could only think that he couldn't forgive the Red Fang's attack on his beloved Tiel-chan.”

Yep. A wonderful distortion of the truth, if I do say so myself. Upon grasping the meaning of my words, Cecilia's eyes changed when she looked back at the gargoyle.

”Brat, quit with your hogwash. Hey, human girly, don't give me that look!”

No matter what the gargoyle said, the look in Cecilia's eyes did not change. Heh heh, Operation 'Gargoyle is a Lolicon' was a success. Sorry 'bout that gargoyle. I give thanks for your n.o.ble sacrifice in keeping Cecilia from hating me.

”Grr...If this conversation is over, I'm going back to sleep. ...I'll say it once more, don't reveal my existence to anyone else. Especially that little girl!”

He went back into the shrine and reverted to his statue form . He had run away with his tail between his legs. I tapped on the stone skin, but he didn't react at all.

”Well, at the very least we can be sure this guy means no harm now, right Cecilia?”

”...Yes, more or less.”

I got the feeling she meant that in a more dangerous way than it seemed. I wondered if I really should clear up this grievous misunderstanding. Then again, there was a good chance he really was a Lolicon...yeah, I had no idea what to do.

”Youki-san isn't...that Lolicon thing right?”

”No worries, my only type is Cecilia.”

”Wha-?! You can’t just say something like that without any warning...”

Nothing happened between us yesterday, so I tried to work up a little more courage today. It had been a normal conversation up to that point, yet she suddenly turned her head away. My response seemed to have had the desired effect. I’m glad she didn't think it was creepy.

Then, during our little chat, I felt a sudden murderous intent.

The murderous intent was coming from the shrine. The demonic statue's face looked harsh. He was probably giving us a warning, 'quit with your flirting in my presence'. Well, guess that meant it was time for us to move on.

”Okay, let's go meet up with s.h.i.+ek at Tiel-chan's place.”

He was just dropping off more medicine, so he should have been done by now. Or rather, he could have gotten tired of waiting for us to get back and took off to play with the village kids. I took the still-bashful Cecilia's hand, and headed to Tiel-chan's home.

”...is why the Guardian Deity is so great. s.h.i.+ek-kun, are you listening?”

”Ah ye~ah, I am~”

When we got into the house, Tiel-chan was speaking pa.s.sionately about the gargoyle, and s.h.i.+ek looked like he was about to go out of his mind. They were both relaxing on top of the bed.

”Captain~”

”Please wait, s.h.i.+ek-kun! I have so much more to tell you about Guardian Deity-sama!”

”Save me~”

s.h.i.+ek came running for me, but Tiel-chan had a tight hold on him. s.h.i.+ek was on the verge of tears. I bet Tiel-chan talked to him about the gargoyle the entire time he was here. For s.h.i.+ek, who loved nothing more than to frolic and play outside, this was h.e.l.l.

”Youki-san, Cecilia-san, what perfect timing. I can also regale you with the fabulous tales of Guardian Deity-sama...”

s.h.i.+t, if we stuck around to listen, who knew what time we'd be able to leave.

”Oh, sorry. We're very busy today so we need to be going. Let's go, Cecilia.”

”Wai-, Youki-san?! Tiel-chan just wanted to talk to...”

”s.h.i.+ek, I'm counting on you to gather some good information. Make sure to come back by dinnertime.”

I felt bad for s.h.i.+ek, but it was a necessary sacrifice. It would have been difficult to get out of that situation otherwise. Plus, he was always talking about being bored, so this was a perfect way for him to pa.s.s the time...was the excuse I made up just now.

”Captain!~”

”That's a pity, but it cannot be helped. Now then s.h.i.+ek-kun, to continue where I left off...”

I ignored s.h.i.+ek pleading for help, and slammed the door shut. Once again, taking Cecilia by the hand, we returned to the mayor's house. For some reason, this time I was able to take hold her hand naturally.

”...I really can't help but feel sorry for s.h.i.+ek-kun.”

”He got to play around a lot yesterday, so this much is fine.”

”I wonder if he'll be all right, s.h.i.+ek-kun...”

”Judging by his reaction, it wasn't a very interesting conversation. ...Still, we got a lot of information from the gargoyle, so we shouldn't have any problems.”

“......”

Cecilia didn't say anything after that; Tiel-chan's zealotry was just that intense. I wondered if s.h.i.+ek would actually make it back before dinner?

In the end, he did not..

Apparently Tiel-chan had slept so much the previous day that she wasn't tired at all today, and s.h.i.+ek kept her company through all her rambling.

When s.h.i.+ek finally did make it back, he ate the dinner that was left for him and quickly went to bed.

I spent the night reflecting on my actions after doing some pretty mean things to the gargoyle and s.h.i.+ek today.

Like this, we continued healing the villagers and bothering the Gargoyle for the next few days.

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