Chapter 851: The 5.5th Floor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 851: The 5.5th Floor
“You…”
And so, I was now facing Alicia.
Seeing my healthy face, Alicia seemed overwhelmed by something, uttering only that much, her voice thick with emotion, before pressing her lips into a tight ‘ㅅ’ shape, a look of intense restraint on her face.
Yeah. I feel like dying from guilt.
“Don’t go acting all high and mighty when you’re so weak, you little chick. Do you think I would’ve been in danger there just because a runt like you didn’t help? You just got in the way and floundered.”
But it seemed Alicia didn’t want to show any weakness in front of me, trying to act as she usually did, despite what she was feeling.
However, the rough voice she used, just like always, was slightly hoarse and cracked, only further fueling my guilt.
Ugh! Stop it! I seriously feel like dying from embarrassment just looking at your face!
Miriel, you source of all evil! Don’t just stand there, step in and change the mood!
Or at least demand the monster penis right now!
Why are you just standing there with your arms crossed, silently watching?!
Damn it. If only my girls were here, maybe we could’ve changed the atmosphere.
Sara was at the Royal Palace, Leia and Matilda had been sent to the Temple, and Silvia was completely knocked out, laid down in her room.
And Diana, too, seemed quite exhausted from continuously using illusion magic, so she was comfortably napping in her room.
Of course, Elder Sister Rachel was still working.
In other words, only Vanessa was by my side right now.
Even she was positioned by the door, showing no intention of joining the conversation, so I had no choice but to face Alicia alone.
“Oh, come on. Stop pretending to be tough. It was dangerous, wasn’t it? Why are you acting like it wasn’t? You were actually grateful I rescued you so coolly, right? Huh? Right?”
O-okay. First, I need to change this gloomy atmosphere somehow.
To do that, I playfully poked Alicia with my elbow and spoke.
“……Yeah.”
But at my words, Alicia immediately nodded.
Aaaargh! Why are you agreeing there?!
Vanessa! HEEELP! Hey! Why are you shaking your head?! I didn’t even say anything weird, did I!?
“W-well, anyway! The result is that everyone’s safe! Isn’t that what matters?!”
“…I’ll definitely repay this debt later.”
No. I mean, there’s no need for that.
If you do that, I’ll just feel even more guilty, you know?
“There’s really no need to…”
“…Are you uncomfortable because it feels like a woman you dumped is clinging to you? If that’s the case…”
“You must repay it! You must! No matter what!”
I had tried to gently refuse Alicia’s promise, but her next words forced me to change what I was saying.
Ugh. Damn it. I-I couldn’t help it! I had no choice!
She hadn’t brought up the fact that I’d ‘dumped’ her even once since then, but now she was bringing that up!
“So, stop making that gloomy face that doesn’t suit you! I’m really fine, I tell you! I was just mentally exhausted from blocking with my proud son and slept for a long time, that’s all!”
Since it’s come to this, I’ll force a change in the atmosphere, even if I have to.
I thought that and tried to push it, but Alicia still couldn’t quite relax her expression.
“W-what do you mean, a gloomy face that doesn’t suit me?! I make a face like this when I feel guilty too! You only say that because you didn’t see your own face when you couldn’t get up! Even with all the healing every day, you just kept getting more and more gaunt every time I saw you…”
I told you, that was all an illusion, you idiot!
What in the world did Diana show her?!
“I’m perfectly fine again, aren’t I?! And you’re going to repay the debt anyway, right? So there’s absolutely no need for you to feel guilty towards me!”
“But I haven’t repaid it yet!”
“I’m going to make sure you repay it twofold, no matter what, so it’s as good as repaid! Don’t regret feeling guilty later, just cheer up!”
“You… you stupid bastard…”
At my persistent, illogical arguments, Alicia clenched her fists, trembled, and bowed her head deeply.
And when she lifted her head again, Alicia’s eyes were shining as if they had regained their former wildness.
No. ‘Regained their wildness’ sounds a bit strange. What I mean is, just…
SMACK!
Right. That violent feeling had returned.
Enduring the stinging pain on my back, I looked at Alicia with an aggrieved expression.
I definitely told her not to feel guilty, but that didn’t mean she should hit me.
“…You know I was unconscious for two weeks before waking up, right?”
“You said yourself you were fine, didn’t you?”
…Well, I did.
And it’s true, too.
“Just as you said, I won’t feel guilty anymore.”
“…Fine.”
Even though I said that, wasn’t her change of attitude a bit too quick?
I thought that for a brief moment, but of course, I couldn’t say it out loud.
“…You soft-hearted bastard.”
Because I saw Alicia muttering that in a small voice, subtly wiping her eyes with her fist.
Aaaargh! I’m not a good guy, I tell you! I’m a total scumbag! I go around calling myself trash all the time, so why does everyone here refuse to believe it?!
“Anyway, I’m glad you woke up.”
Once I had forcibly shifted the atmosphere back to normal, Miriel, who had been standing a step behind, finally stepped forward and offered those words.
You should’ve stepped in sooner!
“We also feel responsible for this incident. Not just for saving Alicia, but also for rushing things too much. We should have at least waited until you were strong enough to navigate the Turtle Cave before asking for your help. We couldn’t properly protect you even when we got the Wyvern’s penis before, and now, because of our greed, you’ve gone through something similar again. I’m truly sorry.”
But this one, putting aside whatever she’s plotting regarding the Demon God, has a genuinely good personality, so it’s hard to say anything harsh to her.
I don’t call her a classic wuxia protagonist for nothing.
“No, I went along knowing all the risks. And this time, it was clearly mostly my fault. You were facing a monster you’d never encountered before, so we should have been even more careful, but I even went ahead and tried to do something by myself.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
As I patted Miriel’s shoulder, who was bowing and sincerely apologizing, she looked at me and smiled brightly.
Maybe it was just because the image of her as a half-sister was ingrained in my mind, but seeing that smile, she subtly resembled Sara again.
“So, about that… I know you might think it lacks sincerity to say this after apologizing, but…”
“Oh, right. The key, you mean.”
And indeed, thinking she subtly resembled Sara made my heart soften.
Seeing Miriel, whose cheeks were slightly flushed, start to speak as if it was difficult to bring up, I spoke for her and pulled out the monster penis from my inventory.
“Th-thank you.”
Perhaps not expecting me to hand it over so casually, Miriel accepted the monster penis with a slightly bewildered expression.
Hey. It’s all good, but you’re not planning to carry that out as is, are you? Put it properly into a Spatial Pouch or something. At that size, you won’t even be able to carry it out the door.
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s fine. I went along to give this to you in the first place. If I didn’t give it to you, all my suffering would have been for nothing, wouldn’t it? And I don’t want to keep such a uselessly bulky item for long. It’s better to hand it over quickly.”
Despite having gone through all that trouble not to hand it over, I casually bluffed.
How’s that? My perfect acting.
“…Just as Alicia said, you really are a good person.”
So stop looking at me with a smile similar to Sara’s. I’ll get attached, you idiot.
And don’t say things like that to make it awkward again, especially when I just managed to fix the atmosphere.
“Miriel!”
“Ah, sorry.”
Before I could even say anything, Alicia, whose cheeks were visibly flushed even over her milk-coffee colored skin, hastily chided Miriel.
“D-don’t get ahead of yourself. I didn’t say anything much.”
And then she glared at me as if she was about to devour me, spitting out those words.
…Don’t threaten me before I even get a chance to ‘get ahead of myself.’ How am I supposed to live if I’m always scared?
“Well then, we’ll be going. Sorry for keeping someone who just woke up for so long. Get some good rest.”
“Don’t overdo it just because you’re awake, you bastard. You’re still a patient, so stay in bed for a few days. Your complexion still looks bad.”
No. I mean, I’m not actually sick.
If my complexion really looks bad, it’s probably because I just experienced hell down below.
“If you think that, then why did you hit my back earlier…?”
“Do you want to get hit again?”
“No, ma’am.”
That’s strange. Alicia isn’t even my woman, so why am I letting her hit me like this?
Just in case, let me say this now: it’s absolutely not because I’d lose if I fought her, so keep quiet.
I even beat that Threon, you know? Though I did use my Saint skills.
Anyway, letting Alicia hit me like this… well, it’s because of guilt. I feel incredibly sorry, you see.
“Hey. Vanessa.”
After sending Miriel and Alicia off, I immediately called Vanessa.
“…What is it?”
So why do you get so wary just when I call your name?
Well, it’s true I’ve done a lot of things to warrant it. And I’m about to do it again.
“Did you hear what they just said?”
“…How wonderful. To be called kind. Were you that pleased?”
At my question, Vanessa’s eyes grew subtly colder as she spoke dispassionately.
No. That’s not what I was talking about! Don’t look at me with such cold eyes!
You’re making me look like some giddy fool who gets excited over a single compliment!
“Not that! The part about my complexion looking bad!”
“…I heard it.”
Only after I said that did Vanessa finally relax her gaze and nod curtly.
Honestly, what does she take me for? You like me, don’t you? If you like me, then I should be able to… Oh, wait. Is it possible she wasn’t treating me like a fool, but was jealous because I was happy about another woman’s compliment?
If I think of it that way, even that cold gaze from earlier looks pretty.
“What about in your eyes? Do I look that way to you too?”
“Are you not feeling unwell anywhere?”
Vanessa looked at me as if saying, Wasn’t your unconsciousness until now also a lie? but I didn’t back down.
“I told you earlier, I went through a lot of trouble down below. It could be an aftereffect of that. So, how do I look? Come closer and take a good look.”
“……”
Even Vanessa, it seemed, couldn’t refuse a request to check my complexion. She approached me with a wary expression, bent slightly at the waist, and stared intently at my face.
And at that moment, I gave her a charming smile and a wink.
“You do appear to be in a slightly poor state.”
But even at my triumphant wink, Vanessa’s facial muscles didn’t twitch a single bit. She straightened up with a perfectly expressionless face and uttered those words.
…Hey. When you say ‘poor state,’ you’re talking about my complexion, right?
This time, my spirit almost faltered, but my steadfast resolve didn’t give in.
I’m the kind of person who returned from hell with my sanity intact. Do you think I’d be broken by something like this?
“Really? So it is true? It seems I do need a little healing. Help me.”
Saying that, I immediately wrapped my arms around Vanessa’s waist and laid her down on the bed.
“…So this was your intention all along.”
Vanessa, who had already been wary, didn’t even twitch an eyebrow as she lay on the bed, looking up at me with an expressionless face and speaking as if she had expected this.
But if she expected it, she could have avoided it, couldn’t she?
It’s not like I moved with all my might or anything.
“You’re not resisting? Usually, you’d resist, saying things like, ‘I’m a butler right now, so no,’ or ‘I’m working, please don’t disturb me.’”
“…Because it’s true that you need healing.”
I was surprised by Vanessa’s unexpected reaction and tried to probe a little, but Vanessa said it in a calm tone.
So what is it then?
“So, you’re saying that right now you’re not my woman, but my butler, and you’re just enduring this for my treatment? Strictly as part of your butler duties?”
“That is correct.”
Heh heh. Look at her. She’s making my competitive spirit flare up again.