Loser, look up (4)
Loser, look up (4)
Rus's mind went completely blank.
"... Until tomorrow...?"
She repeated what he said with her own lips.
As if the words might somehow change.
Rus pondered the meaning behind the word 'tomorrow'.
So... Stachys was saying that he was going to meet Elzain starting now, and their appointment wouldn't end until tomorrow.
If someone stayed up all night with a friend until tomorrow, you'd think they just played all night.
If they stayed up all night with family, you might think they had a heartfelt conversation.
If they stayed up all night with a lover... that could only mean one thing.
Sex.
Wondering if she might have misheard, just in case, Rus asked him again.
"So... you're saying you're staying with your girlfriend all the way until tomorrow?"
"...That's... right?"
Stachys couldn't look Rus in the eye. He felt like his lie would be found out for no reason.
He wasn't meeting a girlfriend; he was meeting his hyung.
On the other hand, to Rus's eyes, that looked like Stachys being shy.
A hint of anticipation regarding his first time seemed to show as well.
It felt like needles were repeatedly stabbing deep into her heart.
"Ha... haha. Chis-ya, if you're making up a lie like that just because it's hard to meet me, you don't have to~. We can just meet next time. Yeah, I think something came up for me too. Right?"
"No, Rus. As you've always said, we're best friends. Why wouldn't I want to meet you? It's not because of you. I really am not going home until tomorrow."
Stachys didn't want to give the impression that he disliked Rus.
But listening to it, Rus felt like her legs were about to give out.
This time, she didn't even have room to think otherwise.
Even if she generously wrote off his previous remark of 'my girlfriend was delicious' as a slip of the tongue,
there was simply no other way to interpret this time.
Stachys looked up at the sky.
The orange evening glow was beginning to be pushed back by purple, bit by bit.
'Hyung's going to be waiting.'
"Anyway, that's that. Rus, I should be going now. It's almost time for my appointment."
"W-Wait a second!"
Rus grabbed his arm as he tried to leave once again.
She couldn't find a single thing to say.
She wanted him not to go, but she had no idea what excuse to make.
Stachys, waiting a bit with his arm grabbed, said,
"Rus? Spit it out quickly. I have to go."
In the end, Rus started pleading without any reason at all.
"Th-That... Chis-ya... Can't you just not go this once?"
"... Huh?"
Stachys didn't understand what Rus was saying right now.
Rus didn't know what she was saying either. Her body was simply acting on its own.
"What does that even mean, Rus."
"Just this once. Can't you just break your promise and go straight home this one time?"
Rus knew that if she let him go now, he would have his first time.
If he went away now, Rus's opportunity to share his first time would vanish.
'Give me just one more chance.'
Rus begged desperately.
"Right? Chis-ya? Right? Right?"
Out of desperation, Rus even started acting cute, something she never normally did.
"You want me to just break my appointment and go home?"
"That's... yeah..."
At Rus's desperate appearance, Stachys's heart wavered, but he didn't want to follow a command to go home without any reason whatsoever.
And especially, the reason he couldn't listen to Rus was that this might be his last meeting with his hyung before entering the B-rank dungeon. He was also looking forward to fishing.
As much as Rus was desperate, Stachys didn't want to break his appointment either.
Stachys brusquely pulled his arm away.
"Rus, you know that makes no sense, right? How can I just go home? And I have to go now."
From Stachys's perspective, time was dragging on far too much.
"I don't know why you're acting like this, but I don't have time to chat. Go inside and rest. Let's see each other next time. I'm late."
Tap, tap. Patting Rus's shoulder, he smiled brightly.
Then he turned his body and walked away coldly without a shred of lingering attachment.
He disappeared with somewhat quickened footsteps.
Rus couldn't stop him.
She could only watch the back of Stachys as he walked away.
Rus couldn't believe that he had left her so easily when she had thrown away even her pride to beg.
To this extent, he had always... listened to her.
Just what the hell was that bitch Elzain supposed to be?
As the back of Stachys's head vanished from sight, her eyes went blank and unfocused.
All the strength drained entirely from her body.
She thought to herself:
Stachys was now going to hold a woman for the very first time in his life.
And that woman wasn't her.
She had been robbed of his first time, which she had always dreamed of.
I walked briskly and soon began to break into a slight jog.
I had thought I was a bit late from the moment I left the house,
but after running into Rus, I was way too late.
I ran quickly toward the restaurant written on the back of the note.
.
.
.
"Hyung!"
I loudly called out my hyung's name in a posh restaurant where everyone was sitting with decorum.
Hyung also leaped up from his seat in response and shouted loudly back:
"Hey you little punk! Stachys! Why are you so late?!"
People jumped in surprise and looked back and forth between us.
Then, feeling the gazes focused on us, hyung bowed his head here and there to apologize.
I approached the table where hyung was sitting.
I said to him in a volume fitting the atmosphere of the place:
"Sorry, I ran into Rus on the way over..."
Hyung paused.
"That old friend of yours...?"
"Yeah, that's her. Let's sit down first, hyung."
Both hyung and I sat down.
"Did you order the food?"
"Of course I did. If you don't like it, it's your fault. Anyway, what did you guys talk about when you met?"
Hyung had an expression as if he found something amusing.
I told him what had happened with her.
At that, hyung laughed out loud again.
"Hyung, you always die of laughter whenever you hear about me telling lies, huh?"
Hyung grinned at me and said:
"No, no... It's just funny watching those girls get tricked."
"What's so funny about it?"
Hyung waved his hand dismissively.
"Forget it, have you been doing well?"
Hyung asked about how I was doing.
Ah, right.
I needed to talk with hyung about B-rank requests.
This was a chance to get advice if possible.
"Hyung. That's right."
"...?"
"I'm thinking of taking on a B-rank request in a few days."
At my words, hyung's smiling expression gradually turned serious.
He looked at my face for a long time with that expression, then nodded slightly.
"... Yeah. I figured you'd do it eventually."
"I thought you'd get mad and try to stop me, but you're not?"
"Because I was expecting it."
Hyung took a sip of water and asked:
"Still, why now? Did something happen to give you confidence? If you're just challenging it without thinking because you want to promote, I'm going to stop you."
Something to give me confidence—yes, there was.
I had been a bit too embarrassed to brag loudly about it to Marshal, the guild receptionist,
but I wanted to brag to hyung.
"Something happened that gave me confidence, alright. Hyung, just recently I overpowered a Twiit Scorpion with sheer force. Even crushed its carapace just like that."
However, hyung wasn't surprised.
"Huh? Doesn't that thing break anyway if you hit it?"
He just looked at me with an expression that said it was obvious.
Aish. I clicked my tongue.
All my excitement completely fizzled out.
No matter how much I tried to boast, it was no use against someone who was A-class.
"Aish. You really kill the mood for bragging..."
Only then did he relax his serious expression and smile slightly.
"I didn't do it on purpose, I really just don't remember. I don't know the details, but... you're saying you're confident?"
I held my hand horizontally and shook it slightly.
"So-so?"
Hyung took another sip of water and said without looking at me:
"... Yeah. If you had said you were confident, you would've gotten an earful from me."
"... I'm scared too, of course. I have party members who are following along and only looking at me."
"So, what B-rank are you going to hunt?"
After agonizing all day and listening to various strategies and characteristics of different monsters, I had decided on one.
"...Sword-master monkeys."
I told hyung in a low voice.
Sword-master monkeys are smarter than ordinary monkeys. Their intelligence is slightly below that of humans.
With that heightened intelligence, they wield swords, using body proportions different from humans to employ a somewhat unique swordsmanship.
However, the most troublesome thing about these sword-master monkeys is that, just like humans, they travel in packs.
Simply put, it's a party consisting of sword-wielding monkeys.
A single sword-master monkey is around D-rank, but there is no such thing as a solitary sword-master monkey wandering around.
Hence, B-rank.
"Sword-master monkeys... That's not a bad choice for a first B-rank request. Is the gathering target their swords?"
"Yeah. I thought about it quite a bit before choosing."
And as an important collection item obtainable from this monkey party, there was the sword-master monkey party leader's sword.
Because swords soaked in monster demonic energy for a long time mostly turn into demonic swords.
And among them, the sword-master monkey leader's sword becomes one of the top-tier swords.
There's a lot of demand for it.
While I was talking with hyung, someone approached us from the side.
At first, I thought it was a waiter, but looking again, it wasn't.
Upscale clothing and a neat posture.
A face with a dignified charm and a white beard covering his chin.
He reeked of nobility.
As I cautiously looked at the approaching man, hyung also turned his head.
The man spoke first:
"Aren't you Steon, the leader of the A-rank party 'Ade'?"
It was a cave-like, deep bass voice.
Unlike when he was facing me, hyung answered with a distinctly rigid and charismatic expression.
"... Who are you?"
I was startled by hyung's reaction.
He looks like a noble, can he just talk down to him like that?
However, the noble didn't seem to mind.
Instead, he reached out his hand to hyung first and said:
"I am Hian, head of the Nisty noble family."
Hian Nisty. I've never heard of him.
Feeling like this wasn't a place for me to chime in, I just stayed quiet.
However, hyung seemed to have heard that name, as his eyes widened slightly.
"Hian Nisty. So that's you?"
Then he grinned and grasped the middle-aged noble's hand.
"You seem to know me."
"Of course I should. Most of the requests I mainly handle come from the Nisty family."
Hian Nisty chuckled heartily.
"Indeed. That's true. Since it's mostly your party handling my requests, I know you as well."
"Be that as it may, what do you want? As you can see, I'm having dinner with my younger brother here... isn't this a bit of an interruption?"
Hyung once again spoke words that could border on rude.
And once again, Nisty spoke as if it were nothing.
"I just wanted to drop by and say hello. I'm always grateful because the condition of the requested items is so good."
"Really? Glad to hear it. Well, it was nice meeting you too. Now be on your way-"
"-Dad!"
A slapping sound came from behind Hian Nisty.
Before he knew it, a young woman was standing behind Hian.
She peeked her face out from behind Hian.
"What are you doing not coming over, Dad?"
"Rose...! I told you to wait a moment!"
A flabbergasted voice came out of Hian's mouth.
All his dignity vanished without a trace.
It felt like looking at our hyung.
Dignified in front of others, but a fool in front of me.
Judging by the circumstances, that girl seemed to be Hian Nisty's daughter...
I glanced over at her.
... Huh?
My eyes grew round.
Pink hair, pink eyes, moderate bust, moderate height.
Her face wasn't quite as pretty as Vien, Rus, or Lily noona, but she still had a cute look.
I had occasionally seen pink hair and pink eyes passing by, but this was the first time I'd ever seen someone who matched my mental image of Elzain so perfectly.
Above all, that silhouette. I remembered it.
It was that young lady who had visited the innkeeper a few days ago saying she wanted to try out commoner food.
Flustered and not knowing what to do, I looked at hyung, and hyung was also rolling his eyes back and forth, glancing at her.
We conversed through our eyes:
'Stachys, she looks exactly like the girlfriend you've been telling everyone about?'
'Hyung, your expression is melting.'
"Ah."
Hyung muttered, then immediately switched his expression back to bluntness.
"Th-Hian. Who is that behind you?"
And then he asked with dignity once again.
"Umm...!"
Hian let out a moan as if he'd been caught with treasure, then let out a deep sigh.
".... She is my daughter."
Though he finished his words shortly, the girl suddenly spoke to us:
"Hello! I'm Rose Nisty!"
She looked extremely cheerful.
The stiff atmosphere shattered in an instant.
"Rose...! Be quiet!"
Hian scolded Rose.
We didn't know how to react.
For some reason, I felt needlessly uncomfortable.
It felt like my lie had materialized and was stabbing at my conscience.
It was a bit of an exaggerated thought, but it felt as though I'd been going around lying to everyone that this woman right in front of me, Rose Nisty, was my girlfriend.
That was how much Rose Nisty resembled the Elzain in my imagination.
Hian hurriedly said:
"Well... since greetings are done, we'll be heading back. Ah, before that."
This time, he looked at me.
"It was nice meeting you too. Did you say you were Steon's younger brother?"
As he reached out his hand, I shook it and replied:
"Yes, I'm called Stachys."
"Nice to meet you, Stachys-ssi."
Rose naturally offered her hand for a handshake too.
However, Hian snatched Rose's arm away.
"No!"
What do you mean, no.
At this point, Hian's dignity and all that crap were completely gone.
When this young lady visited our inn back then, I finally felt like I understood what those two bulky bodyguard-types meant when they said 'our master cherishes the young lady dearly.'
Hian quickly pulled himself together.
"Ah, well... my apologies. Our daughter has a weak constitution, you see. She's rather uncomfortable touching people."
Rose looked healthy as a horse.
"We'll be going now. Well, then, have a pleasant time."
Hian hurriedly spoke and dragged his daughter, Rose Nisty, away as he fled quickly.
Rose Nisty waved at us even as she was being dragged away.
... No, it felt like she was waving specifically at me.
"Hoo."
Hyung let out a sigh.
"You didn't base Elzain on her, did you?"
I let out a sigh too.
"You saw us exchanging names."
I stroked my chest in relief.
The one saving grace was that even though she looked exactly like the Elzain of my imagination, her name at least was different, right?
What were the odds of that making sense, but if her name had actually been Elzain too, I would've been in huge trouble.
It felt like a storm had passed. Then, a question that popped into my head was asked of him:
"Ah, hyung. But they said that guy's a count, is it really okay to talk down to him like that? What if he thinks it's rude?"
Hyung gazed at the spot where they had departed, then turned back to look at me at my words.
"Hmm.... You probably don't realize, but your hyung's social standing is higher than that count's."
"Huh?"
"Look. Do you think there are more nobles like that in this country, or more A-rank party leaders?"
"...."
"Besides, in a country like this that relies heavily on gathering items, how valuable do you think my power is?"
This was a fact I was learning for the first time. Was hyung really that amazing of a person?
"Hyung, does that mean you can pretty much talk down to nobles wherever you go?"
"Even just being a member of an A-rank party lets you get away with it to some extent. But on top of that, I'm the leader."
And he grinned broadly.
His expression seemed to say, 'This is how you brag.'
Rus stopped her footsteps.
After sending Stachys away, Rus had been dragged along wherever her legs led her on their own.
Intoxicated by sorrow and half-dazed, she hadn't even properly thought about where she was going.
And now, her legs had finally stopped.
"...."
She slowly raised her head.
She checked where her legs had brought her.
Right before Rus's eyes, the door to Stachys's lodging was visible.