Heyy, PolterGlast here
I want to say Thank You to Tuan for the coffee
Your support is very much appreciated
And here is a new chapter for you
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Chapter 2 Part 6
Translator : PolterGlast
Proofreader : John4891
Ena
guided them to a corner of the commercial district. As merchants from various
countries gathered here for trade, inns were created, so they could rest. There
were various inns from luxury inns for rich merchants to cheap inns for the
poor such as porters.
The
inn, where Nozomu was brought in, had a sign on top which said
"Ushitotei" (Ox Head Pavillion). The first floor featured a dining
area, and the second floor seemed to be where the private quarters were
located.
"This
is the "Ushitotei” inn that we run," Ena said.
She
disappeared through the inn’s entrance. Nozomu followed her, and an aunt with a
wide-physique wearing an apron greeted them.
"Oh,
welcome home, Ena-chan. Did you find Maru-boy?"
"I'm
home, Hannah-san. I scolded him properly because he was disturbing others. Oh,
and this is the person that my brother troubled”
"Ah,
I see. I'm sorry for the trouble caused by this foolish boy. Wait a minute, let
us treat you as an apology. It's on the house."
"No,
It's okay. I don't really care about that. She already apologized properly, so
I don't mind anymore."
"I'm
glad. Then enjoy your time here. Maru-boy, come on! What were you thinking!!
Disturbing people again!! Come here for a moment !!"
"Aw
aw aw !! Let me go !! Hey !!"
Hannah
grabbed Mars's ears and disappeared into the kitchen. "Goi-n". The
sound of a pot hitting someone's head rang throughout the inn.
After
a while, Hannah came back with a tray. There was bread and brown meat on a
plate. Salad was also served.
"Here
it is. It's a dish that Ushitotei is proud of! A platter of rabbit meat and
salad. This is an apology for the trouble that foolish boy caused, free of
charge."
Having
said that, Hannah placed the food in front of Nozomu. The aroma of the meat and
the overflowing gravy stimulated Nozomu's appetite. It was already lunchtime.
Nozomu himself felt hungry.
Hannah
urged Nozomu saying, "just eat it already.” He reached for the dish she
prepared for him.
Digger
Rabbits were rabbits that live in the forests and grasslands around here, and
as the name suggests, they lived by digging holes in the ground and were mainly
hunted for food.
The
meat of the Digger Rabbit was soft because it was prepared well and then
cooked, and it had a scent of sake or what it was baked with. To top it off,
the abundant amount of gravy dramatically improved the taste of the food.
The
salad and bread that had been prepared also went well with the meat, and it
seemed like he could eat his heart out by dipping them in the gravy.
"Thank
you for the food. It was really delicious!"
When
Nozomu, who had finished eating in a blink of an eye, thanked them, Hannah and
Ena laughed with happy faces.
"No,
it's okay! Don't worry. This was for the trouble Maru-boy caused. And I wonder
how delicious I made it this time too."
"That's
right. Originally, that foolish brother was the cause. Nozomu-san doesn't have
to worry about it. What was he thinking by suddenly inviting and then attacking
you."
"Currently,
that idiot is being disciplined by my husband inside. He won’t do it again, so
can you forgive him?"
"Well,
I don't mind about it anymore, so that's fine ..."
He
was angry that he was suddenly attacked, but Nozomu thought it’d be enough
after seeing Ena's mental attacks expose Mars's past shame out loud.
"I
see...I'm glad then... Ena-chan, I'm sorry, but my husband is about to prepare
for the night, so please help him."
"Eh...yes,
I understand."
Ena,
who noticed Hannah was trying to say something, disappeared into the kitchen
with an empty plate.
"...
say Nozomu? I have something I want to talk about ......... Is that okay?"
"What
do you want to talk about?"
"The
children, Mars and Ena. What do you think of the two?"
"Hmm?"
Nozomu
tilted his head because he didn’t understand the meaning of the question.
However, when he saw Hannah, her eyes were serious. He couldn't take it as a
joke.
"...Well...I
can't say anything because I just met Ena-chan, but I think she’s a mature
child. Maybe Mars had a big influence on her."
Nozomu
couldn’t make any judgments about Ena since he’d just met her, but he thought
she’d grown up to be a very mature child because of Mars’ bad behavior.
"About
Mars...I don't really know about him. He didn't really care about me and didn't
try to hide it. But...at the end of the second year, I felt like something was
wrong with his attitude. "
Mars
was defeated by Nozomu in a mock battle at the end of the second grade to the
point of being backed up against the wall.
Since
then, Mars had stopped swearing and ridiculing Nozomu.
Nozomu
himself was aware that Mars's attitude had changed, but he didn’t know why;
however, Hannah, who heard about the mock battle, muttered as if she was
convinced.
"I
see...as I thought"
"What
is it?"
"I
knew about that child's weird behavior, and when I heard Nozomu-kun's story, I
understood the reason."
"Reason?..."
"Well,
yeah. But I'm relieved. There’s someone who can still be friends with that
child."
"...E,
what does that mean?"
Hannah
spoke happily, but Nozomu was skeptical of her words. Although Mars had become
docile recently, Nozomu still didn't think they could become friends based on
Mars' attitude towards Nozomu so far.
"That
child, he doesn’t hate you coming here. Maybe, he doesn't consider you bad
anymore, right?
From
what he heard, Mars never brought his entourage or the bad guys he knew to this
inn. Nozomu was also a little surprised.
(He
seems to know at least that what he's doing is bad, and maybe he's not as bad
as Nozomu thought ...)
At
least for Nozomu who’d been harassed by Mars and his entourage, Mars' decisions
to keep his family out of his actions was news to him. Nozomu felt like he knew
a little bit more about Mars.
===========================================================
Going
back in time, when Nozomu was eating Hannah's food, Mars and a giant with a
stern look were facing each other in the kitchen.
The
name of the giant man was Dell. Hannah's husband and the owner of this inn.
Mars
had been scolded by Hannah until recently, and when Dell finished cooking and
his wife delivered it to Nozomu, Mars was finally released from the chiding.
However,
Mars had a big lump on his head because he was hit by Hannah with a frying pan,
and there were tears in his eyes, probably because it was hurt.
"Good
grief ... how long are ya gonna keep acting like this?"
“...”
The
innkeeper was amazed when he heard about what Mars had done to Nozomu. Mars
also thought it was too much, so he had no choice but to shut up.
"Is
it cuz’o him that ya been actin’ crazy lately?"
“...”
"From
your point of view, maybe, to him...to Nozomu-kun. Did ya lose to that
child?"
"Na!!"
Mars
was surprised to be told the facts. He’d never told anyone about the mock
battle with Nozomu.
"How
many years do ya think I've been raisin ya in place of yer parents? Yer annoyed
by how many times you lost...."
"That's
not it!"
"Then
why’d ya become such a bummer?"
Mars
turned away and muttered,
"...
I just wanted to know why he got stronger ..."
With
that said, Dell sighed,
"Haa...".
Mars
had some difficulty with Hannah and Ena. He had pride. He had the awareness
that he could protect himself; however, there was a time when Dell talked
honestly to some extent. For Mars, Dell was an irreplaceable family member, a
"reliable father" and, in a sense, aspired to be like him. Even if
they weren’t related by blood...
"Why
didn’t ya just say that? You just had to ask him bout it from the start."
“...Why
are you only telling me this now? Besides, I thought he was just a failure. Far
from a decent guy"
As
expected, it seemed that Mars couldn't suddenly accept that someone he’d been
swearing at until recently was strong. Well, it was a normal reaction.
"Why?
Did ya confirm yerself that he was really a bad person?"
"Are
you making a fool of me!?"
"Iya,
impressive, when I'm always looking at you, I wonder if there's an electric
jellyfish in your head..."
"N,na,
How can I know!!"
Mars’
face turned bright red. He denied it, but Dell felt a little relieved to see
that.
Mars
had a good relationship with goon, but he never brought them to this inn.
Maybe
because they only thought about themselves.
Even
though Mars was a bully, Mars wasn’t against it when he saw Ena take Nozomu to
the inn. Dell knew that Mars also accepted Nozomu since Mars wouldn’t bring
thugs here.
By
the way, Electric Jellyfish are one of the demonic beasts that live in the sea.
They float while riding in the ocean current, and the electric current
generated by the long tentacles numb the prey, letting them be easy picking.
Although
it was as large as an adult man, it had no means of movement. It could only
float in the sea, and it wasn’t known to be very dangerous in that regard.
Dell
was happy that Mars had friends, hence, he told him to do what he had to do.
“...
At least apologize for what you did."
"I,
I know..."
Dell's
focus and questioning naturally loosened up on Mars, who was listening to what
he had to say while averting his gaze awkwardly.
==============================================================
Nozomu,
who had been fully cared for, thought it would be bad to disturb them any
longer, so he decided it's about time to leave.
"Excuse
me for disturbing you. The food was delicious."
"It's
okay. Please come again. It was quite a lot of food to eat right? This one was
worth making too."
"Nozomu-san,
my brother may cause you trouble again, but please take care of him."
Dell
answered with a smile that didn’t look good on his stern face, and Ena also
bowed and thanked Nozomu.
"Look,
Mars. You have to send Nozomu off properly because you caused him
trouble."
"I
know..."
Mars
lazily responded to Hannah, who urged him. Nozomu thanked Hannah and others
then went back to the dormitory with Mars.
On
their way back to the dormitory, the two remained silent. Until now, Mars had
only cursed Nozomu, and Nozomu never had a decent conversation with Mars, so it
was reasonable.
After
a while of silence, Mars spoke first.
"Ah...I'm
sorry...for many things up to this point"
Mars
apologized to Nozomu awkwardly.
"It’s
alright. I don't mind anymore."
(As
expected, I can't hurt someone who has been so tattered)
Nozomu
remembered Ena, who fiercely attacked Mars with her words, and Mars, whose
heart was shattered by her. As expected, Nozomu couldn’t pursue further after
remembering such verbal abuse.
“...Oi,
Did you think something strange just now?”
Mars
asked Nozomu because he sensed a disturbing atmosphere from him.
"No,
as a human being, why don't you blame the person who got destroyed by his
little sister..."
"Bastard!
You’re still thinking about that, huh!! How’d you remember it so well!!"
"No,
I can't just forget something that has such an impact ..."
"Forget
it! Forget it now!! Forget it immediately!!!"
"Wait,
hey! What are you doing !!!"
Nozomu
left in a hurry and Mars rushed towards Nozomu, but he felt that the distance
between them was shrinking.
(Somehow
it feels nostalgic. There are only a few people besides Shisho who talk like
this)
The
two were going along while screaming.
No
matter how others looked, they could only see them as bad friends, but he felt
that the distance between Mars and himself was shrinking.
