Chapter 34

Chapter 34 – Need For Polite Speech

I thought we would go ask for information about forests at the guild, but Phelia said, “Shouldn’t you go and apologize for hounding the receptionist first?”
Certainly I agree that’s something I should take care of sooner rather than later, so together with Phelia I head towards the knights’ station .

“Wouldn’t it be better to bring along some kind of apology gift?”
“Hm, true . Rather than showing up empty-handed . ”

Then, let’s go shopping .
An apology gift, huh…I’ve only ever heard the term . What sort of thing am I supposed to buy?
Is this a consequence of isolating myself away from civilization for so long?

“Shall I pick something out for you, Yuri?”

As I was scouring for an apology gift, Phelia offers her help . Today’s Phelia is even prettier than usual .
She must have taken more care with her appearance since we’re going to apologize .
She’s wearing a black dress, which she had bought some time ago for an occasion such as this, that sharply contrasts with her skin .
Practically oozing with elegance, she looks just like a noble .

By the way, I’m also wearing a suit .
The chest is tight . My pecs feel like they might burst out .

“I can’t let Phelia handle it . I’m the one at fault, so I should choose . ”
“That sounds reasonable enough, but…let me just say that a dumbbell isn’t suitable as an apology gift . ”

She says somewhat hesitantly .
Is that right? Even though it’s the perfect thing for muscle training .

As a result of our discussion, we decided that I would choose from several articles that Phelia selected .
There’s no telling how long it might have taken otherwise, so it couldn’t be helped .

With gift in hand, we arrive at the station .
The woman at the reception desk is not the one from before .
Explaining that we would like to arrange a meeting, we are led to one of the rooms . The receptionist from the other day is sitting there .

“I’m sorry . ”

I bow my head as soon as we’re face to face . Phelia bows her head alongside me . I feel guilty having Phelia bow her head when it’s my responsibility . This time I’ve caused trouble for a number of people . I’m quite conscious of that fact .

“Don’t mind it . I’ve heard the circumstances from Gauche…I’m glad you were safe . ”

When I raise my head, the receptionist is smiling .
So she’s forgiven me for blowing up at her? She’s a rather tolerant person .

“Thank you . Umm…”
“I am Mina . ”
“Mina, thank you very much, really . Come on Yuri, you should properly give your thanks, too . ”
“T, thank you very much . ”

With formal speech that I’m not used to, I thank her .
I’m bad at speaking formally, but I can at least tell when the situation calls for it .

“Like I said, don’t mind it . Moreover…You’ve been asked to apprehend those fugitives, haven’t you?”

The receptionist lowers her voice .
“Do you know something?”, Phelia asks back .

“It really is no simple task to try and apprehend one of them . First, just locating one can be a trial in and of itself with such a high difficulty . Gauche is a good person, but occasionally he’ll propose what amounts to an unreasonable demand . I think chances are pretty good that you won’t find any, but…are you okay with it?”
“Finding them won’t be an issue . We’ll just keep looking ’til we do . ”
“Yuri, more formally . ”
“…until we do . ”

With Phelia’s help, I finish making my apology to Mina as well as all of the other knights without incident .

“So Yuri can’t use formal language, huh . It’s so in line with what I would expect that I’m actually surprised . ”

After we get back to the inn, Phelia says to me .

“I just don’t like such needlessly complicated things . If I had the time to learn all that, I would have used it to train . ”

Right right muscle muscle, Phelia says dismissively .

“But, we’ll probably start running into more situations where it’ll be necessary, don’t you think? Like when we’re gathering information, it’ll be pretty much indispensable . ”

I groan .
I’d been thinking it would be a pain to learn formal language, but I guess it’d be even more troublesome if I get blamed for not knowing it .
Moreover—
I think back to Mina’s face .

“Mina sure is worthy of respect . It’s rare to find the sort who could keep from talking when I put the pressure on them . If I could speak formally when meeting someone like that, it might be useful for showing my respect . ”
“Considering that, Mina is quite an amazing person, huh . If it had been me and such an incarnation of muscle were to pester me like that, I think I would have shot them with magic on reflex . ”
“…Well, I get why you’d say that . ”

It’s not so bad if it’s the usual me, but it hasn’t been just once or twice when I’ve unleashed my muscles that I’d nearly get reported .
I find it quite sad that no one understands the beauty of these muscles .
…Now that I think about it, Phelia would often put it upon herself to come along with me .

“Please show your appreciation to me more, Yuri . ”

Phelia puffs out her chest . Looks like she read my mind again .

“Thanks, Phelia . ”

I convey my feelings to her .
Even without her, I probably could have continued living in that forest as I was, but there’s no doubt that I never would have had as much of a fulfilling life .
In that way, I am quite grateful to Phelia .

“…If you stare straight at me so much, I’ll start getting embarrassed, so please stop . ”

Phelia averts her eyes, and I can tell that her cheeks are becoming tinged red .
Even though she’s the one to say to show some appreciation, what’s up with her getting shy when I actually follow through?

“Anyway, I’ll handle teaching you formal language so no need to worry . ”
“Ohh, that’ll be great . If you would please . ”

From that day on for several nights, Phelia and I would take time out to study .
It’s not like I particularly dislike studying . As long as the knowledge will come in handy, a willingness to seriously learn is invaluable .
However, I felt that for some reason it was quite fun compared to any of the studying I did in the past . Unfortunately, we finished before I could determine why that was .