CHAPTER 7 (PART 4):
I TRIED HELPING MY FRIEND
Apparently he first met Hapyneth on the day I was out with the rest of the Hero Party when we caused that huge commotion in town.
Raven worked as the Captain of the Knights, but he couldn’t communicate with words, so he usually patrolled the imperial city by himself.
Since so many problems were occurring that day, he was patrolling around all the back alleys.
“…Hm. Nothing amiss here.”
And as he was about to patrol elsewhere, he heard some hoodlums nearby.
He immediately headed for the voices, and saw Hapyneth cornered by a small gang of thugs.
He easily wiped the floor with them, and was about to leave when,
“…”
Hapyneth had grabbed onto his sleeve, causing him to stop.
“…Thank you.”
She thanked him very quietly.
“…Just doing my job.”
Usually, when Raven was thanked he would just nod his head in acknowledgement, but he mistakenly replied instead.
Just when he thought his life was over, Hapyneth opened her eyes in surprise.
Raven thought he would be ridiculed, however,
“…Wonderful voice.”
Is what she said.
Raven had been made fun of, but never complimented.
So, feeling a little funny, he spoke further and asked a question.
“…You’re not gonna make fun of my voice? My voice is really…”
He suddenly asked.
I mean, I didn’t make fun of his voice, but I didn’t compliment it either.
“…Jealous.”
“…Eh?”
Raven wasn’t finished talking to her, but she took off in a flash.
Raven still had other places to patrol, so he couldn’t afford to chase after her.
And so, unable to forget about maid uniform-clad Hapyneth, he began to investigate which household she might work for based on her uniform and finally found it.
Then, he asked me for advice, and after giving him my support, he confessed, which brings us to today.
“…Are we done now?”
After finishing his story, Raven looked really tired.
Raven was, no, Hapyneth was the first to show interest in the other party, I’m sure of it.
…Couldn’t they at least be friends?
But for the time being, I’ve got to get Raven out of here before he starts sprouting mushrooms.
I’ll go to Duke’s place and tell him the information I got about Hapyneth.
“Raven, let’s get you out of here. I know a guy who’s acquainted with your maid girl, let’s go see him.”
I’m ‘acquainted’ with her as well, but…
Raven didn’t want to go at first, but after half-dragging him along, we went looking for Duke.
Duke was at Cecilia’s home when our little meeting adjourned, so I thought he’d either head to the inn or the guild. On a hunch, I took us to the guild, and there was Duke.
“Huh? Well if it isn’t the Captain…is that the bloke that confessed to Hapyneth?”
Noticing Raven, Duke gave him a look over.
Duke views Hapyneth as a precious comrade after all, so he was just making sure Raven wasn’t a bad guy.
Duke had always had a strong sense of duty where his comrades were concerned.
“…Youki, is this the guy that knows her? …And what was that ‘Captain’ thing all about?”
Raven asked me with a whisper.
“It’s kind of a nickname. But that’s not important right now…”
The Guild noticed Raven and started in on the hysterics. I don’t want all hell breaking loose on me now.
“You two, let’s get out of here.”
I grab them both by the wrist, and head for my room at the inn as fast as my legs could carry me.
“Captain, you’re way too fast~”
“…I agree.”
We finally arrived at the inn after jetting it out of the guild before a commotion could break out, but running at full speed left the other two exhausted.
I accidently ran too fast, but these two should be trained for that kind of thing, they shouldn’t be running on empty already.
But more importantly…
“Raven, your voice…”
After Raven realized what he’d done, he clamped his mouth shut.
And with Duke nearby of all things.
Duke actually didn’t seem to care about Raven’s voice, but asked why we reacted that way.
And so we let him in on Raven’s story.
“I don’t really mind at all…So, is it you? The guy that likes Hapyneth?”
“…Yeah.”
Raven paused before he answered.
Wh-what’s with the tense atmosphere?
These guys, there’s no need for pretense here!
“Hapyneth was my former colleague. She has a certain trauma when it comes to dealing with men. You, would you be able to cure Hapyneth of that?”
Making it just men in general instead of humans, I suppose that’s the way it’s gotta be.
It makes sense, since she isn’t afraid of Cecilia or Sophia-san at all.
“…I don’t know.”
There was another pause after he answered.
I suppose it was understandable since they’d barely met.
But that’s still not good enough.
“What?! That’s where you’re supposed say something cool like ‘I will heal her fragile heart’! You are a worthless piece of shit. That’s why your confession was rejected by Hapyneth!”
“…What’s that supposed to mean?”
Duke’s words were like a slap in the face, and Raven immediately put his hand to his sheathed sword, ready to draw it.
“Oh, you wanna go at it? I don’t know much about that Hero Party nonsense, but I’m not gonna lose.”
Duke drew his sheathed sword, and stood at the ready.
…Are these guys idiots?
We’re in my rented room at the Inn, a room that can barely squeeze six people into it!
It wouldn’t be funny if they started a sword-fight here.
I’ll get chased out of the inn if I don’t stop these two!
“Chill out guys! If you’re gonna fight, do it somewhere else! This is not what we got together for.”
I brought Duke along to help Raven, and now they’re at each other’s throats.
After begging them to stop, they finally put their swords away, but they were still glaring daggers at each other.
“…Hmph, This is ridiculous. I’ll comply with Captain, but next time we’ll settle this.”
“…Indeed.”
They both seemed satisfied with that.
Now I don’t have to worry about getting kicked out of the inn.
“Now then, back to the subject of Hapyneth. You said you didn’t know if you could cure Hapyneth of her trauma. That’s not good enough.”
“…I know.”
Raven agreed with Duke.
After calming down, Raven himself realized he lacked the resolve he needed.
“Why don’t you start as friends first? I think it’d be a good idea for you to get to know Hapyneth a little more.”
That’s my Duke!
He gave Raven some solid advice.
Raven seemed satisfied with that too, and nodded his head in agreement.
However, I felt like I’d turned completely invisible to them.
They’d laugh together, they’d arguing together; all in an unending loop.
They were off in their own little world.
I was completely left out, relegated to being a mere spectator.
After a while, their conversation finally came to an end.
“Go show me you’re a man! Good luck getting your feelings across to Hapyneth.”
“…I will, I feel like I can do it now.”
They gave each other a firm handshake.
Honestly, I have no idea how things turned out like this.
Were those two always like this?
I guess love can change both humans and demons.
…What am I even thinking about?
They left for the Aquarain mansion all jazzed up after their conversation.
I was also curious how this would all play out and tagged along.
When we got to the mansion, we were in luck as Hapyneth was cleaning out in front of the gate.
Heartened by Duke, Raven approached Hapyneth.
Noticing us, Hapyneth stopped cleaning for the moment.
“…Please be my friend.”
His face was red from embarrassment, and his nerves were so bad he was shaking. Even though his voice was weak, it took all he had just to get that much out.
And Hapyneth’s answer,
“…Just friends.”
After that, silence lingered between them.
And then, with their faces flushed, they both sprinted off at full speed, Hapyneth to the mansion, and Raven to the main road.
All that remained was a satisfied Duke, and me completely dumbfounded.
Well, I’m sure Raven was also satisfied, now that Hapyneth could gradually become used to human men.
Afterwards I head that Cecilia indirectly urged Hapyneth in that direction.
I had thought Hapyneth agreed a little too easily, but it made sense after hearing Cecilia was giving her encouragement.
And so it seems Hapyneth herself wasn’t completely against the idea, since she wasn’t forced.
As I thought, I was right that Hapyneth was charmed by his voice.
I’m looking forward to seeing how things develop between them.
By the way, after this, Duke became quite attached to Raven.
TL Note: (º﹃º) heh heh heh -Solistia (The BL Addict)
After the whole incident, they really did duke it out.
Although Duke is a great swordsman, even he couldn’t win against Raven, but it was quite a good battle I heard. Because of that, Raven used his authority as Captain of the Knights to recruit Duke.
However, this meant Sheik and I were the only ones left at the inn.
“Captain~ Let’s play~”
Sheik was clinging to my body.
“‘Eey, leggo! I’ve got a quest to do. Hapyneth, Duke, come back!”
This is the worst thing that could possibly happen. With them gone, I was the only one left to babysit Sheik!
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login