Vol 1 Chapter 17 (1/2)

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Chapter 17

Yuusha Party no Kawaii Ko ga ita no de, Kokuhaku s.h.i.+te Mita – Chapter 17

I tried to pay a call.

The next day I got to know even more about Clayman and Sophia-san’s lovey-doveyness.

I was so jealous of the two of them that I became love sick. I didn’t want to do anything other than go see Cecilia. I pa.s.sed on going to the guild in favor of writhing in agony on my bed.

“Hey, brat. I thought so yesterday, but honestly, you’re being very annoying!”

“…It’s whatever~. Just leave me alone~.”

“Yeargh, I’m getting irritated just looking at you! I’m sure you’re just longing to see that cleric girl, aren’t you? So just get out of here and go see her!”

Guy’s right. If I go see Cecilia, my love sickness will be instantly cured. But I hadn’t made any plans to see her today. And the likelihood of her already being engaged in some clerical work was so high there was almost zero chance of her even being home. Plus, Guy’s just running his mouth off like it’s easy to meet up with Cecilia.

“…Even if I want to see her, I can’t. Dammit!”

“Ugh, hey brat, what are you…”

I was extremely p.i.s.sed off, so I changed Guy’s appearance again. Instead of the Sphinx, he was now the beautiful Venus de Milo. I might have been irritated, but I didn’t do a half-a.s.sed job.

“Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.”

“Hogwas.h.!.+ The last one was better! Change me back!”

I ignored Guy’s p.i.s.sing and moaning and lied back down on the bed. I went to all the trouble of making a new statue, no way I was gonna change him back. I didn’t pay any mind to Guy’s furious complaints and went to sleep.

—

I awoke to the sound of someone knocking on the door. I got up off the bed, still half-asleep. I only slept for about an hour, and with such an insufficient amount of rest, my sleepy brain didn’t want to work.

I scratched my head, wondering who could possibly be at the door.

“Youki-saaan, are you there?”

Wasn’t that Cecilia’s voice behind the door?

“I’m here, I’m here! Gimme just a minute!”

To think Cecilia would come and visit me! I quickly changed out of my sleepwear into my everyday clothes, making myself presentable. After quickly picking up the room, I opened the door in the highest of spirits.

“Pardon my intrusion.”

“…Pardon.”

There was Cecilia in everyday clothes, with a hat and gla.s.ses to hide her ident.i.ty. Also disguised in plain clothes, and not her normal maid attire, was Hapyneth.

What was the story behind Hapyneth being here too? I was stoked that Cecilia came to see me, but I had hoped it would be just the two of us… I guess that was just wishful thinking. Anyway, Guy was already in the room, and just her coming here was enough to put me on cloud nine.

“I apologize, coming to call without notice. I hope I’m not disturbing you?”

Cecilia looked very apologetic. Of course she wasn’t disturbing me! Rather, she was more than welcome. I wantedher to come. To treat the love sickness of wanting to see her, this was just what the doctor ordered. Hapyneth had a strange look on her face as if she could see what I was thinking.

“…Pervert.”

She said as she looked down on me with disdain. Why did she feel the need to go so far as to say that? What’s wrong with thinking about the girl I like?! As Hapyneth and I glared at each other, Cecilia humbly asked,

“Excuse me…Youki-san?”

“What is it, Cecilia?&r

dquo;

“May we please enter the room?”

“…Oh, right.”

Even if we were having a throwdown, it’s not like we couldn’t continue inside the room. I put our staring contest on pause and let them into the room.

“…Captain?”

Immediately after entering, Hapyneth asked after me in a confused manner.

“What’s up?”

“…Where’s Guy?”

“Isn’t he over there?”

I pointed to the Venus de Milo. He didn’t say anything, making me wonder if he was asleep. After staring at Guy for five seconds, Hapyneth only said one word.

“…No.”

“Why not?!”

It can’t be that she found fault with this statue too? First the Sphinx, now the Venus de Milo?! I made it while I was in a foul mood, but I don’t remember cutting any corners.

“What do you think, Cecilia?”

“M-me?! Um…”

Suddenly being asked to comment on the topic, she faltered at first. I couldn’t help thinking she was adorable while I waited for her answer.

“I think, it’s a bit unappealing…”

“Eeehhh?!”

I struck out with Cecilia too. That’s three losses in a row. I could only feel that the world of fine arts was too profound for me at present.

“…So, what brings the two of you here today?”

I’d have to think a lot harder about what to change Guy into next time, but for now I asked why those two were here.

“…Laugh at Captain.”

“And just what do you mean by that, Hapyneth-san?”

Going out of her way to bother Cecilia into accompanying her on her day off, Hapyneth came here just to make fun of me?

I can think of a million more productive ways to spend a day off. Once again, Hapyneth and I were staring each other down until Cecilia came in to mediate.

“Hapyneth-chan, please don’t joke around. And Youki-san, please control yourself…”

Under Cecilia’s instruction, we both backed off. Back in the Demon Lord’s Castle this was a normal occurrence, but this time I suppose it was fine not to deliver the finis.h.i.+ng blow.

“Have you both finally calmed down? Then let’s get down to business…except that we really did come by just to visit.”

I thought they were here for something important, but I guess not.

In order to lessen Hapyneth’s burden and get Teal-chan hired as a maid at the mansion, Cecilia had quickly finished up her work in Dagaz village. And now she had the day off.

I was glad for Hapyneth getting an extra helping hand.

“Which reminds me, how has s.h.i.+ek-kun been lately…?”

Cecilia recalled what had happened to s.h.i.+ek at Dagaz village. Because of Mirror, the hero of the Gallis Empire, s.h.i.+ek had been wounded both body and soul.

“Well, he still seems to be depressed about it.”

“I see…that’s quite worrying.”

It wasn’t just Cecilia; Duke, Hapyneth, and I were all worried about him.

Still, it was a steep hurdle for him to get over. He didn’t come back to the Inn last night either, so I had no idea where he was.

“…Okay now.”

“Eh?”

“Eh?”

Hapyneth made both of us exclaim in surprise. Just yesterday, Hapyneth was over here agonizing about it, what changed in only a day?

“Has s.h.i.+ek finally snapped out of it?”

“…Not yet. But Celia-san has a plan.”

“My mother does?!”

When we interrogated Hapyneth further, we found out s.h.i.+ek was staying at the Aquarain mansion.

“You didn’t know, Cecilia?”

“No. Yesterday I spent all day reporting about the happenings we encountered in Dagaz village…”

So she didn’t know because she’d been too busy lately.

“…Story.”

Yesterday, Celia-san had some business in town. When she was done and getting back in her carriage, she found s.h.i.+ek trudging along by himself. Noticing something was amiss, Celia-san took s.h.i.+ek into the carriage and headed back to the mansion.

“…Did Mother essentially kidnap him then?”

“Something like that, but since he’s under my care, I’ll forgive her.”

“…Continuation.”

After they returned, Celia-san got the whole story from s.h.i.+ek.

She silently listened to him as he recounted how Mirror completely crushed and humiliated him, and he was so vexed he began to cry. She held onto him and gently stroked his head until he ran out of tears.

And once he had exhausted himself from crying, he fell asleep and stayed overnight at the mansion. It should also be mentioned it took about 30 minutes to get the whole story out of Hapyneth.

“I didn’t realize something like that occurred at the mansion yesterday. I could expect no less of my mother.”

Maybe it was because she was in the business of healing others, but Cecilia was touched by her mother’s ability to soothe s.h.i.+ek’s pain. Cecilia herself had tried to cheer him up, but it looks like no one but Celia-san could pull it off.

Considering s.h.i.+ek’s circ.u.mstances, it looked like I hit the mark thinking that, of any of us, Celia-san could break him out of his stupor.

“…Message.”

“For me?”

“…Relinquish custody of s.h.i.+ek.”

“Wait wait, why didn’t you mention that earlier?”

That really did sound like something a kidnapper would request. But, even hearing it said like that, I honestly didn’t have a problem with it.

“Tell her I said it’s fine.”

“…Understood.”

“I had planned to ask her anyway. This just eliminates the need for me to ask her in person, I guess.”

“Is that so?”

Cecilia was the only one who looked confused. Hapyneth and I knew s.h.i.+ek well, so for us, it was just a matter of course.

“Well, yeah. For s.h.i.+ek, Celia-san is more like a mother to him than his own mother was. As for why, it’s a long story, so I’ll tell you some other time.”

It was a very important story about s.h.i.+ek, and I didn’t feel comfortable talking about it unless he himself were here. I would tell Cecilia later when the chance arose.

“Okay, I understand.”

“So, now that the matter of s.h.i.+ek and Celia-san has been settled…I have something else to discuss.”

I quickly changed the subject to what I’d witnessed of Sophia-san and Clayman’s lovey-dovey married shenanigans yesterday.

I’d heard Clayman’s side of the story, but hadn’t had a chance to hear Sophia-san’s.

If anyone, Cecilia should be able to shed some light on Sophia-san’s adventurer days.

“Yesterday I heard a friend of mine was hospitalized, so I went to pay him a visit. When I got there, I found out he was Sophia-san’s husband.”

I was thinking about how nice they had it when they were regaling me with their story, and told Cecilia about it. Starting from how Clayman got hospitalized, to the vomit-inducing lovey-dovey atmosphere that eventually made me go home. But, halfway through my tale, I found myself getting frustrated with how good Clayman had it, and was downright irritated by the end.

Even that Clayman had tied the knot. He lived every day in wedded bliss with Sophia-san. I hadn’t even gotten a girlfriend yet!