Chapter 14: What True Love Is
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 14: What True Love Is
“Allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Karen, the Branch Manager of the Dakuren Adventurer Guild. It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Alto Bertrand, a veteran and National Merit Recipient.”
“No, Bertrand is just a nickname. I’m just a commoner, so please, just call me Alto.”
“Understood, Lord Alto.”
I told her she could just call me Alto…
Karen, the Dakuren Branch Manager—a woman with a ponytail the color of the deep sea—was staring at me with sparkling eyes.
“While our dungeons aren’t quite at the level of those in Lukart, Dakuren does have its own. It might not be enough for you to continue your activities as an adventurer, Lord Alto, but our Dakuren branch will support you in every way possible, both materially and spiritually.”
“The fact that they aren’t high-level just means it’s that much more peaceful. Besides, dungeons are meant to be purified eventually.”
Dungeons are contaminated areas where the essences of high-ranking demons remained after they died or vanished following the Demon King’s destruction in the Final War. These essences cause monsters to proliferate in the surrounding area.
Because of the lingering fear that the demons might one day be resurrected if left alone, the Church and the Adventurer Guild work together to manage them.
If the day ever comes when they are all gone, I’m not sure if the Adventurer Guild itself will continue to exist.
Despite my comment implying her job should disappear, Karen agreed with me.
“Yes, I lost my father in the Final War, so I share your sentiment, Lord Alto.”
I see.
Karen’s father was a veteran too.
The only difference between him and me was whether we made it back alive.
“Now then, that is a task for all kingdoms and humanity to solve together. Let us begin discussing the immediate problems at hand.”
Old Man Dakuus tapped his teacup with a teaspoon.
I would have been fine with lukewarm water; I don’t know why he insisted on serving hot tea.
“To grasp the situation accurately, we need to know why a fellow like you left Lukart, Alto. But since you said you didn’t want to talk about it, we’ll have to set our future policy with that in mind.”
“What ‘policy’ is there to set? I told you, I just want to live quietly.”
“This meeting exists precisely to ensure you can live quietly, so just sit there and listen.”
The old man seemed excited to be engaged in deliberation for the first time in a while.
Unlike him, the Countess took an elegant sip of her tea before speaking.
“The most important part will be maintaining security so that Lord Alto’s identity isn’t exposed. Branch Manager, at this point, who else knows of Lord Alto’s identity?”
“Honey, that’s what I was going to sa—”
“Yes! First, based on Lord Alto’s movements in Lukart, there are at least two people who inevitably know. The Lukart Adventurer Guild Branch Manager, and the Lukart Carriage Station Manager, who surely would have received a report of Lord Alto’s departure.”
That made sense.
I had only been thinking about the Adventurer Guild headquarters and the Lukart Branch Manager; I hadn’t considered the Carriage Station at all.
It seemed the old man’s “deliberation” wasn’t entirely useless.
“Is there any concern that those two might spread rumors about Lord Alto’s whereabouts?”
“It’s highly unlikely. If the fact that they let the No. 1 National Merit Recipient, Alto Bertrand, slip through their fingers became public knowledge, not only their respective headquarters but also the royalty and high-ranking officials would personally see to their disposal. The Lukart Branch Manager is very good at self-preservation, so I don’t expect any issues there.”
“So we’ve avoided the worst-case scenario. Who else knows?”
“Honey, I should be the one ask—”
“Yes! Since the Lukart Branch Manager reported it to headquarters because she couldn’t handle it herself, the Adventurer Guild headquarters knows, as do I, the Dakuren Branch Manager. However, I’m not sure if the Lukart Station Manager reported it to their headquarters.”
“Please make sure to find out, perhaps through our own Carriage Station. We don’t know how they might act if things go south.”
“If I may be so bold—even if Lukart went rogue and revealed everything, it would only make it clearer that Lord Alto is here in Hus. Wouldn’t that actually be to our advantage?”
Karen’s point was valid, but it made me feel uneasy.
And the Countess pinpointed exactly why I felt that way.
“Ahem! From the Kingdom of Hus’s perspective…”
“From Hus’s perspective, yes,” the Countess interrupted. “But the subject of this discussion is how to help Lord Alto settle down quietly in Hus. If Lukart exposes Lord Alto’s identity and his departure, the capital and other regions will use every means at their disposal to recruit him. If that happens, Lord Alto might become dissatisfied with Hus and leave. In the end, that benefits Hus not at all.”
“I see… I didn’t think that far ahead.”
The old man was now pouting at the Countess.
Unfazed, she took another elegant sip of her tea.
The old man is totally henpecked.
This is actually pretty funny.
A man being whipped by his wife in this day and age? That’s a rare sight.
“You look quite amused, you brat. You try getting married; with your personality, you’ll definitely be henpecked too.”
“Sorry to disappoint, old man, but with this face, even dating is a struggle, let alone marriage. I’ll apologize in advance since I won’t be able to show you what you want to see.”
“Don’t give up so soon! You’ve still got your whole life ahead of you!”
“The only reason you’re telling me not to give up is because you want to see me henpecked! I’m telling you, it’s not going to happen.”
“Think of it as an old man’s dying wish and go date someone! Love someone so passionately that you get arrested for public indecency!”
Is this really something a man in his sixties should be saying?
Where in the world do you find an old man encouraging a youth to commit public indecency?
“A man without a sense of challenge…!”
“Honey, you’re being noisy.”
“But dear! This fellow is ignoring our wishes…”
“I said, you’re being noisy.”
“Didn’t my wife say you’re being noisy? Be quiet, Alto.”
He’s over sixty and yet so petty and pathetic.
I’m disappointed, old man.
The Countess, sipping her tea, frowned slightly.
She must have hit the dregs at the bottom of the cup; the bitterness was showing.
“Since the topic has come up, let me ask. Branch Manager? Would you be willing to accept if we arranged a marriage between you and Lord Alto?”
“Pardon?! Uh…”
Startled, Karen glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.
She seemed to be scanning my face—though that might just be my own self-consciousness talking.
I hope it is.
“I, I’m the type whose heart only moves once I get to know someone deeply… I-I’m sorry, Lord Alto!”
Don’t apologize.
That makes it feel even more miserable.
“What is your ideal type, Branch Manager?”
“Well… someone with a high bridge to his nose, and a smile that makes me smile without even realizing it… that kind of… man…”
For someone who claims her heart only moves after getting to know someone deeply, her ideal type is purely based on looks.
Coincidentally, I know two such handsome men.
Claude and Gerend.
I’m starting to feel bitter.
And I haven’t even taken a single sip of my tea.
“Even if it’s the great Alto Bertrand?”
“I-I’m so sorry…”
See?
This is the level of my appearance.
The only thing people find attractive is my status, and even then, only as a useful pawn.
Love is a different realm entirely.
“Branch Manager, dating isn’t about knowing everything before you meet; dating itself is the process of getting to know someone. If you keep acting like that, you’ll be single for much longer than the time you’ve already spent as an old maid.”
“What?!”
She looks young, but I guess she’s older than I thought.
Watching Karen despair gave me a small sense of satisfaction, but it was essentially the Countess giving me the disease and then the medicine.
“The same goes for you, Lord Alto.”
Why is the blade suddenly pointed at me?
“Love isn’t all about looks.”
“It might not be everything, but it seems to be a huge part of it.”
“Go outside and watch for half a day. See if those with outstanding looks also have outstanding character and conduct.”
I couldn’t argue with that…
“I don’t know about you and my husband, being war veterans, but during the ten years of the war against the demons, the balance between men and women shifted slowly from the home front. It’s been five years since the war ended. It’s been well over ten years since men began to be put on a pedestal.”
I know.
When I heard the rumors, I thought it was nonsense, but seeing multiple women clinging to one man in Lukart, and those women doing everything to be chosen by him, I couldn’t hide my shock.
Of course, the biggest shock was that after the war ended, the world became so beautiful, and I became one of the ugly things within it.
“A man needs gravitas. Do those pretty boys out there even know how to protect their families? If a robber appeared—never mind a war—they’d be the first to run away.”
“Well, that’s…”
The Countess wasn’t wrong.
Everything she said was true.
But it was so ideally true that I didn’t want to hear it.
Maybe that’s why.
“You sound just like the nobles.”
The blunt words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Alto! You—!”
“Yes, you’re right. It is no different from what a noble would say.”
Surprisingly, the Countess agreed with me.
“The nobles, who were put on pedestals to protect the villages, cities, and the country, mostly fled to the rear during the demon war. If you want to find the original version of today’s men, look no further than the nobility.”
Her steady gaze made me uncomfortable.
“However, just as not all nobles were like that, there are men who are different.”
The way she looked directly at my ugly face made things difficult for me.
“Just as my husband and you are standing before me right now.”
The old man poured tea into the Countess’s empty cup.
How sweet.
“Looks are a very dangerous weapon, you know? They cloud a person’s judgment. You must judge the woman or man who will truly make you happy not by their looks, but by the sincerity within them.”
The Countess placed her hand over the old man’s hand on the table.
Softened by the gesture, the old man tried to speak again.
“That’s right, Alto. So don’t give up—”
“But it seems Lord Alto isn’t quite ready to hear me out yet.”
He immediately pouted again.
He’s a surprisingly entertaining old man.
“If a woman ever appears who passionately desires even a passive man like you, Lord Alto, come find me then.”
The Countess lifted her teacup with confidence.
“Believe it or not, I was the one who begged my husband to marry me. I know a thing or two about unrequited love.”
Thanks to her last words, I felt my heart lighten a little.
A woman who passionately desires me…
Could such a precious person ever exist for me?
I wouldn’t even know how to handle such a passionate heart; it feels like far too much for me.
I won’t be able to date anyway, so I have no idea how I’d even begin to cool such a heart down.