Chapter 4: I tried to find out the secret of the date
The day after the no-plan date. Duke’s date was still plaguing my mind, so I dropped by the knight’s headquarter during lunch break.
“And that’s why, there’s something that I’d like to ask you.” [Youki]
“What the heck do you mean by ‘and that’s why’… Well, I do vaguely know what you’re going to ask though. First of all, come into my room.” [Duke]
Duke signalled to me with his head, urging me to come along with him, so I followed Duke. Once we arrived at the room, I was planning to talk about the date yesterday. Even though he told me that he had a date, in actual fact, they were possibly out for training only. And finally, though it was a no-plan date, I’d like to tell him that my date was a success.
“For the time being, I’ll listen to what Captain has to say. I do vaguely know what it’s about already, though.” [Duke]
Duke sat himself on the sofa in the room in a complacent manner. To date, even though my position was higher, I had lost to him considerably in terms of maturity… But, just you wait and see. I’ll knock you down a peg.
“We had cakes together yesterday, right?” [Youki]
“Yeah, we had.” [Duke]
“After that, I tried to seek your advice about my date, but you went back without giving me any pointers, right?” [Youki]
“Yeah, I did. I had a prior appointment as well… So, how did the date go?” [Duke]
He asked in a seemingly interested manner. Even though it was a series of overlapping coincidence, it still ended on a happy note, so I told him the result with confidence.
“I’d have to say that it was a huge success. Frankly speaking, I was worried, but I could see a smile on Cecilia’s face at each of our destination.” [Youki]
Cecilia appeared happy yesterday, even as I recalled it at this moment. I was personally having fun too, so it was a satisfying date for the both of us. That was why I could talk about it proudly like this. I could tell that there was a smug look on my face at the moment as I recounted yesterday’s date without even looking in the mirror.
“It was a success? Well, that’s a relief. It was worth the trouble here as well then.” [Duke]
Duke patted me on my shoulder as though he was congratulating me… but, I had a feeling that he just said something strange.
“Say, what do you mean by ‘it was worth the trouble’?” [Youki]
“Ah, you see, to be frank, I was the one who orchestrated the route of your date yesterday.” [Duke]
“…Hah?” [Youki]
I couldn’t comprehend Duke’s words, so I voiced out loud in a dumbfounded manner.
“Well, I mean, Captain, you went to a second-hand clothing store, flower shop, and orphanage with Cecilia-san, in that order, right?” [Duke]
“Hold it, hold it. How did you know all the places I went with Cecilia on our date? And what’s more, in that precise order?!” [Youki]
Since my mind had yet to calm down, I couldn’t keep up with what was happening. However, even though I was at a loss with the turn of events, Duke ignored me and continued talking.
“As I’ve mentioned before, I was the one who had led you there.” [Duke]
“How’d you do that?!” [Youki]
We only entered the second-hand clothing store, flower shop, and orphanage because those places were close by. The one who had proposed to go in those shops was Cecilia as well, and we ended up going to the orphanage only because we encountered the director of the orphanage and the kids. If that director had not left the orphanage, we wouldn’t have bumped into them… so I could only sum it up as a coincidence.
“I thought of that strategy after taking Captain and Cecilia-san’s characters into consideration.” [Duke]
“Like I said, could you explain that so-called strategy to me!” [Youki]
“You sure are impatient… seriously. I’ll explain it to you in order then. First of all, I guess I’ll start from when I parted from Captain.” [Duke]
“You went back without giving me any pointers. That’s all, isn’t it?” [Youki]
I could remember that clearly even without him recounting the event again. I was terribly anxious at that time, not knowing what to do.
“Good grief… That’s a terrible thing to say considering how I had to run around for Captain’s sake after we parted. Do you know hard it was?!” [Duke]
Duke raised his voice a little, possibly because my words had hurt him.
“…You don’t have to blow your top like this. I don’t know about it.” [Youki]
I shrank back when Duke snapped at me instead. I would usually try to argue back, but the words wound up getting stuck in my throat.
“Listen well, ah’ight?! First of all, after we parted, I looked into places that Cecilia-san would like. Then I carried out the plan based on the information acquired.” [Duke]
(
Potato note: just for the lols i’m tempted to keep the ‘ah’ight’ | ED note: we trolling you guys
)
“What kind of plan?” [Youki]
“The plan was to let Captain tail us on purpose, so I could lead you to those date spots.” [Duke]
“Wha-…” [Youki]
I was so shocked that I trembled violently. I thought that it was a coincidence, but could it be possible that Duke had me in the palm of his hand?
“But, Duke’s plan is full of holes, isn’t it?” [Youki]
There were just too many uncertain elements; if I had not decided to tail him, or if Cecilia had not proposed to enter those shops. Even though it did succeed in the end, I still couldn’t bring myself to be convinced of it.
“Certainly, part of it was a gamble. But, as I’ve mentioned just now, I had thought of this plan by taking account both of your personalities, so I don’t think that important part of strategy would fail. Considering Captain’s characteristic, when you’re drove into a corner, I could easily foresee you tailing me when you spotted me on a date so you could use it as a reference.” [Duke]
“So Duke thinks that I’m a simple-minded person whose only idea was to rely on others?” [Youki]
“You wound up tailing us in the end, didn’t you? There’s no way you can deny that.” [Duke]
What Duke said was well grounded, so I couldn’t refute his words. That was because I was quite anxious at that time. I wondered if Duke had foreseen that part as well. Even though he was my former subordinate, he was a frightening guy. Thinking about it, he had known me for a long time, so it shouldn’t that surprising that he could read me that well. I decided to shoot the question from another angle.
“What do you mean when you said you took Cecilia’s personality into account? You didn’t include this point when you explained earlier.” [Youki]
“Oh, that? Cecilia-san is someone who can read the mood better than Captain. So, if Captain had suggested to go on a double date, I think she would’ve stopped you. Also, I think she would’ve pulled you into a nearby store if she had encountered us as she didn’t want to intrude on us.” [Duke]
“What the heck are you?!” [Youki]
Certainly, we saw Duke and Irene-san yesterday, but Cecilia tried to be considerate and didn’t make contact with them. She looked around the place herself instead and found the flower shop.
As Duke became increasingly frightening to me in my mind, his story went on. The encounter with the director and kids from the orphanage when I was tailing him was not a coincidence either. Duke must have acquired the information about Cecilia’s volunteer work, so he looked into the orphanage’s schedule to find out when they would usually head out.
“What were you planning to do if the people from the orphanage had decided not to go out that day?” [Youki]
“At that time, I would’ve probably instigated them to leave the orphanage somehow.” [Duke]
“You, no matter what, that might be a little too much.” [Youki]
“I was just kidding.” [Duke]
I could hear laughter coming from the helmet.
Was there something funny? I couldn’t comprehend Duke’s sense of humour. Or was he trying to gloss over it by laughing? Considering Duke, it was possible. More importantly, what Duke had done was terrifying. I had never expected that he had our date in the palm of his hand.
“But, Duke. That was a terrible thing you’ve done to Irene-san, wasn’t it? You brought her to places like the drugstore and dojo just so you could lead us to our date spots, right?” [Youki]
Even though he was doing it for my sake, it wouldn’t do to take advantage of someone. Irene-san must have been looking forward to her date with Duke as well. She must have places that she’d like to go, too.
“…What are you talking about, Captain? Did you think I’ll take Irene to places that are not suitable for date for your sake? I wouldn’t do something like that!” [Duke]
“T-Then why did you bring her to places that aren’t ideal date spots? Didn’t you bring her to random shops just so you could accommodate Cecilia and me?” [Youki]
Duke was fired up today, unlike usual. Even when I refuted his words, he didn’t back down. Could it be after looking at my current state? Or was it because of the rebuttal?
He ended up heaving a sigh.
“Irene’s an elf, so she’s knowledgeable about medicine. She’s compounding medicine as her hobby. And, since I’ve acquired some knowledge about medicine from Sheik as well, I was seeking her advice about the efficiency of medicine and such.” [Duke]
“It’s similar to how I was asking Cecilia about flowers in the flower shop, I guess…” [Youki]
It should be the same in that aspect since we were both listening to our partner talking about their hobbies. Probably, the difference was that one was about medicine and the other was about flowers.
“There was a joint match with the other dojos at the Albert’s Swordsmanship Dojo, so we went there to watch the match.” [Duke]
“I see…” [Youki]
It should be similar to watching a sports game in my previous life. As a date spot, it wasn’t not wrong.
“Lastly, we went to the Horseback Archery Field to compete against each other.” [Duke]
“…It’s like a game.” [Youki]
If I were to put Duke’s itinerary together based on how a date would be in my past life, it would be like going to a shop that sells something relating to your partner’s hobby, watching a sports game with her, then stopping by a game center before returning home… That would normally be considered a date, right?
“I could tell from your face that you’re convinced.” [Duke]
“…Well, I guess.” [Youki]
It was frustrating that I couldn’t refute his words, but it couldn’t be helped since those were unmistakably date spots.
“Then it’s good. Well then, there’s something I’d like to tell you this time.” [Duke]
“Something that you’d like to tell me?” [Youki]
“Yes. I’d like to give you a piece of advice so you won’t encounter the same problem in your future dates.” [Duke]
“True. It would be bad to depend on Duke again.” [Youki]
I shouldn’t be completely reliant on Duke forever. More importantly, even if I were to achieve my ambition by adhering to everything Duke says, I wouldn’t be happy. I’d like to make Cecilia reciprocate my feelings with my own abilities as much as possible.
“So you understand my point. As expected of Captain. …What I’d like to tell you is that, you should try to get to know Cecilia-san more.” [Duke]
“About Cecilia? I AM trying to understand more about Cecilia, so you didn’t need to tell me that.” [Youki]
After falling in love with her at first sight and reuniting with her in Minerva, I had gone out on a date and took on a guild mission with her, and I had even gone to Cecilia’s house.
“You’re naive. Captain, you probably think that as long you bring a girl to places that girls normally like to go, you could figure out what to do from there. Isn’t that, right? That wouldn’t do.” [Duke]
“Ugh… W-Why’s that?” [Youki]
There was a tremble in my voice since he had hit the mark.
However, I couldn’t comprehend what Duke had said.
Just bring a girl to places that people normally go on dates first, then figure out what to do next from there. Isn’t that how it works?
“You should bring Cecilia-san to places that she would like, not places that girls would normally like.” [Duke]
“…Ahh!” [Youki]
“That was why I made you tail my date with Irene. I thought it would be better for you to see it with your own eyes rather than just explaining it with words. In your opinion, did Irene look bored?” [Duke]
“No, she looked like she was having fun…” [Youki]
Even when I tried to probe deep into my mind to recall yesterday’s event when I was tailing Duke, the impression that remained was the smile on Irene-san’s face each time Duke led her to a different place. It was a true smile, with no sign of falsehood at all.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that my date was perfect since what I said earlier was just my personal opinion. But, I don’t think that I’m wrong when I said that you should get to know more about Cecilia-san.” [Duke]
“About Cecilia…” [Youki]
I could probably try gathering as much information about her as possible, to a moderate degree, so I wouldn’t end up appearing as a stalker. That information might be useful for me the next time we go out on a date.
“Well then, that’s the end of our talk. You’ll have to do your best yourself from hereon, Captain. My break’s over so I’ll have to get back to work.” [Duke]
“Yeah, I understand. Thank you, Duke. You’ve helped me. I’ll see you again.” [Youki]
I bade Duke goodbye and went back to the inn. Upon reaching my room, I dived into my bed, ignoring Gai’s gaze.
“I need to pull myself together.” [Youki]
My date went well because of Duke. There will be no tailing someone or another no-plan date again the next time. I must plan my date. To achieve that, I’ll need to put in a lot more effort. It should be a good thing that I had learnt more about love, though, it would seem that I am still no match for Duke for the time being.
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