Chapter 56: Mars (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 56: Mars (2)
“I had a feeling this might happen.”
On the hill.
Mars spoke in a gloomy voice, his eyes fixed on the ground.
“Isabelle’s been acting strangely cold to me lately.”
“Cold?”
“Not completely freezing me out, but… how should I put it? It’s like she’s just stopped caring. Before, if I was too busy to make time for her, she’d come find me herself. She even did that after you started sending me money and I began focusing on my sword practice.”
A bitter expression crossed Mars’s face.
“But she started visiting less and less, and then at some point, she stopped coming altogether.”
“She stopped coming… Let me ask you one thing. Was she always the one coming to find you? Did you ever go looking for her?”
“…”
Mars clamped his mouth shut.
“You shameless bastard. You never went to see her, but you expected her to keep coming to you?”
“I know! I know I was being stupid! But I was just so caught up back then. Thanks to you, I was learning proper swordsmanship for the first time, and I felt myself improving with every training session. I couldn't put my sword down!”
Swinging a sword on his own was nothing more than half-assed swordsmanship. Mars knew that well. That was why, when he first met Cloud, he had gotten worked up by his provocation and fallen for it so easily.
But that all changed after meeting Cloud.
After Cloud’s instruction, Mars’s clumsy swordsmanship became structured.
With the money Cloud sent, he learned techniques at a swordsmanship guild. He would return home and immediately practice what he had learned.
Since he no longer had to do odd jobs to earn a living, he could pour all his energy into his training.
The deeper he delved into swordsmanship, the more mystical it seemed.
Captivated by its mystique, Mars lost himself in his practice. It was common for him to pick up his sword and not notice the sun had set.
“Every time my skills improved, I was happy because I felt like I was becoming a man worthy of Isabelle. The confidence that I could one day become a great knight and make her happy drove me to work even harder.”
“…”
“I was so obsessed with training that I only realized later how much I’d been neglecting her. I went to her right away and apologized for being so distant. But Isabelle didn’t accept my apology easily.”
When Isabelle heard Mars’s sincere apology, she just scoffed, “You’re only realizing that now?” and walked away.
“At the time, I just thought she was really angry. I mean, I was in the wrong. So I tried even harder to apologize. I went to see her every day, bought things from the city I thought she’d like as gifts. But when she still wouldn't forgive me after all that, I started to think something was strange…”
Mars finally broke down and burst into tears.
A sob filled with sorrow.
It was like the cry of a child who had lost their parents, and his situation was much the same.
To him, Isabelle was his everything.
Cloud gently patted the back of Mars, who was messily wiping away tears and snot with the back of his hand.
As he did, he thought to himself.
The Pink-haired Slut’s love isn’t so shallow that it would cool just because he neglected her a little.
In the finale of ‘The Knight’s Affair,’ she does eventually turn away, but up until the latter half of the story, she consistently shows her love for Mars through her actions.
In the beginning, they were so sweet together that even I mistook it for a pure love story.
There was no way the Pink-haired Slut’s feelings would fade just because Mars was absorbed in his training and neglected her…
She’s playing hard to get.
It was obvious. While Isabelle was worrying about her problems with Mars, some self-proclaimed relationship expert must have appeared and given her advice.
The Pink-haired Slut was probably skeptical, but with no other options, she decided to give it a try.
Then, seeing Mars flustered and desperate, she must have thought, ‘This is it!’ and continued playing her games.
All to put a leash on a man… on Mars, just as the so-called expert advised.
What would happen if the original story unfolds with Mars on a leash?
Cloud imagined it for a moment, then furrowed his brow and shook his head.
Fucking horrible.
That could never be allowed to happen.
Cloud resolved to sever Mars’s feelings for her, right here and now.
“What should I do to win Isabelle’s heart back?”
Having stopped crying, Mars asked Cloud. A faint glimmer of hope in his voice suggested he thought Cloud might have a solution.
Cloud moved the hand that was patting Mars’s back to his shoulder.
“Mars, let’s face reality. The Pink-haired Slut… that guy with Isabelle. You saw him, right? Tall and handsome.”
“…Yeah.”
“You heard who he is, too, right?”
“…He’s a baron’s son.”
“Right. Now let’s lay out the facts. Isabelle has been secretly meeting a man at night behind your back. That man is tall, handsome, and even a noble. He’s basically an idol to every commoner girl. Is there any way you think you’re better than a guy like that?”
Mars couldn’t answer right away.
Mars wasn’t ugly. In fact, he was on the handsome side. But he wasn’t what you’d call strikingly handsome.
Mars wasn’t wealthy. Before meeting Cloud, he was an orphan who could barely make ends meet by doing odd jobs around the village. The baron’s son, on the other hand, was rich. Maybe not as much as other nobles, but at least enough to take care of one person.
Family background?
Comparing an orphan to a noble was a joke in itself.
After a long moment of hesitation, Mars finally answered in a small voice.
“Swordsmanship…”
“Swordsmanship? What about it? Don’t tell me you’re going to say something like you can get strong and keep her safe.”
Mars hung his head, looking pathetic. Cloud sighed.
“So that’s it. Give me a break. Even if it’s a baron’s family from a small kingdom, they have everything they need. They’ll have trained soldiers, and though they might not have many, they’ll have knights too. Are you confident you can beat a knight?”
“…Can’t you beat a knight?”
“…Huh? Me? Uh… yeah… I can beat most knights, I guess…?”
“Then I can too. It might be impossible right now, but if I keep trying…”
“If you keep trying? When? When will you be able to protect Isabelle better than a baron’s family can? Can you give me a definite answer?”
“…”
“See? You can’t answer. Do you really think Isabelle can trust and wait for something even you don’t know when will happen? Forsaking the idol-like man right in front of her?”
Mars bit his lip hard.
He was furious with himself for being unable to refute Cloud’s words.
“Then what? What do you want me to do! Are you telling me to just give up on Isabelle?!”
“Yeah. Give up.”
Cloud’s calm voice only made Mars angrier.
“How can you say that so easily? You don’t know how much I love her. You don’t know what she means to me! How can you…”
“Do you really think I don’t know how you feel?”
At Cloud’s cold, firm voice, Mars flinched and froze.
He slowly shook his head.
“No…”
Cloud had once told Mars about his own childhood friend. And that story was far more tragic than Mars’s experience.
If anything, he understood Mars’s feelings all too well.
Whoosh.
A cold wind blew, rustling the grass and their hair.
“Then… then what am I supposed to do now? I picked up the sword with the thought of making Isabelle happy… If I give up on her, what am I supposed to wield my sword for?” Mars muttered in a hollow voice.
Cloud replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“You.”
“What…?”
Mars, who had been staring at the ground, lifted his head. Cloud was looking straight at him with a look of disbelief.
“Wield the sword for yourself, you idiot. Why are you making such a dazed face?”
“B-But the knights I’ve seen said a sword should be wielded for others…”
“That’s for guys who can at least take care of themselves. You can’t even get your own head straight right now, so how are you going to handle anyone else? You’d be lucky not to stab them instead of protecting them.”
Cloud smirked, then his expression turned uncharacteristically serious.
“Go on a journey, Mars. The continent is a lot fucking bigger than you think. Honestly, with your current skills, you’ll have a hard time just looking after yourself while traveling. But just tough it out and do it anyway. Meet all sorts of people, experience all sorts of things, and just live.”
You’ll meet every kind of person imaginable.
From a clueless guy wandering around with just a single sword, claiming to be on a knight’s pilgrimage, to a mage with an ego the size of a mountain.
You’ll also face many dangers and strange situations.
“As you experience all those different people, emotions, and situations, at some point, you’ll find yourself surrounded by precious people.”
Truly, people who are precious beyond compare.
“That’s when you should be having these worries. Of course, your worries will have changed by then. Not trivial worries like ‘Who should I wield my sword for?’, but serious concerns like ‘How can I protect these people?’”
So until that time comes, wield your sword for yourself.
Mars’s eyes wavered at Cloud’s earnest advice.
“…Can I do it? I’m not amazing like you. What if I fall down along the way…?”
“Agh, you frustrating bastard.”
Cloud grabbed Mars’s head and ruffled his hair messily.
“If you fall, you get back up. If it’s hard to get up, grab the hand your companion offers you. And if your companion falls, you extend your hand and pull them up. You might get battered and bruised, but you won’t collapse midway.”
“…Is that how it is?”
“That’s how it is.”
“I see…”
Mars let out a small laugh, his expression a little brighter than before.
He lay down on the ground and looked up at the sky.
The galaxy of brightly shining stars was incredibly beautiful.
“Listening to you makes me feel hopeful, but my heart is still a mess. It’s pounding, but it also hurts.”
“Of course it is, you just got your heart broken. It’d be weirder if you got over it right away. That would make you a natural-born player.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. Besides, childhood friends rarely end up together. It’s an immutable law I learned while traveling the continent.”
“I wish a law like that didn’t exist.”
After a moment of hollow laughter, Mars looked at Cloud with eyes full of respect.
“You’re really amazing. I’m having such a hard time just from seeing them talk… but you…”
Mars couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. Cloud clicked his tongue.
“Why stop halfway? Just say it. That I’m amazing for being able to live normally after seeing my childhood friend sucking another guy’s dick.”
“No… ugh… forget it. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand you.”
“Of course you won’t. Do I look like some pushover you can just understand? Stop thinking about useless things and go plan your trip.”
“Ah, about that. It would still be best to say goodbye to Isabelle before I leave, right?”
“…What? What the hell are you talking about?”
Cloud was slightly taken aback by Mars’s words.
If Mars told Isabelle he was leaving, she would surely try to stop him.
Then they’d bicker back and forth, the misunderstanding would be cleared up, Isabelle would apologize for playing games, Mars would fall for her again…
And in the end, it would be back to the Pink-haired Slut route…
Fuck, that can’t happen!
After all I did to twist this bastard’s fate!
He had to prevent a return to the Pink-haired Slut route at all costs.
“Hey, why would you tell her? She probably doesn’t even care about you anyway.”
“Still, we were friends for a long time. She’d be surprised if I suddenly disappeared, and the villagers would think I’ve gone missing…”
“I’m telling you, no one cares about you. You think if you disappear, the villagers will worry and come looking for you? That’s all in your head.”
“Hey, why do you have to say it like that? I know a ton of people in this village!”
“They actually hate you.”
“Oh, come on!”
Cloud and Mars argued for a while, neither willing to back down. It took a long time before they could compromise on the idea of leaving a letter.
*
While Cloud and Mars were arguing, Neria sat blankly behind a tree a short distance away.
It had all started when the innkeeper brought out some good liquor.
Neria, wanting to mend her relationship with Cloud, had wanted to share the drink with him.
So she had come up the hill to find him…
And somehow, she had ended up hearing their entire conversation.
—Besides, childhood friends rarely end up together. It’s an immutable law I learned while traveling the continent.
—Just say it. That I’m amazing for being able to live normally after seeing my childhood friend sucking another guy’s dick.
Everything.