Chapter 22
Half Asleep
Translator : PolterGlast
【Appraisal Result: Male (18)】
I used the Appraisal
skill almost reflexively. This person, like Sutra-san, was someone whose name
wasn't displayed. Judging by his age, he was the same age as Lotus.
The soldier pointed
sharply at me. It hadn't even been a month since I had tried to force my way
into the city of Volvect, disappearing for a moment and then charging when he
looked away, only to slip spectacularly, get grabbed by the neck, and almost be
taken to the church. It was probably still fresh in his memory. Since he was
entrusted with guarding the gate, he might have a good memory.
"Ah, um, ah,
uh... Excuse me!"
I should run. I
immediately turned around, but that just made me look even more suspicious. I
bit my lip and turned back again, facing him and bowing my head. "I was
very... sorry for the trouble back then!!" "Nah, it's nothing. You
didn't really cause any trouble," the man said, placing the butt of his
spear on the ground. "Just suspicious."
"I hear you're
working at Harapeko-tei now? Lotus told me. How's Sutra-san doing?"
"Eh?"
"The other day, I
thought she had escaped a monster at incredible speed, only to see her fall
flat on her face right in front of me. She surprised me more than you did, I
gotta say."
"Ah,
yeah..."
Sutra-san had gone
outside the city in search of slime water, encountered a monster deep in the
forest, and barely escaped with her life. She said she had outrun it with her
gazelle-like legs and was overjoyed to have reached the city, only to slip and
fall and things got bad. Had that happened in front of this gatekeeper? By the
way, were there gazelles in this world?
"Umm. Her injury
hasn't completely healed... but she's doing well."
When I left
Harapeko-tei today, she was saying, "Even with one leg, maybe I should
start serving customers soon... But with my beauty after so long, the customers
might faint! My own beauty is terrifying!!" She was basking in a
spotlight, a very assertive beauty. The landlady had muttered, "Faint?
Your words give me a full-body rash."
"That's good
then," the white-haired man smiled wryly. He wasn't as striking as Lotus,
but he was quite handsome in his own way. Not flashy, but he had a calming
appearance.
"Let me properly
introduce myself. I'm Yozaki. I'm usually on gate duty here, so I think we'll
see each other often when you go outside. Nice to meet you."
"Ah, um. Nice to
meet you too. I'm El."
I reached out and
shook his hand. Next to me, Ichi and Nii were asserting their names.
――――I'm Ichi! I'm Nii!
That makes two! But there's one more!
How polite.
"So, what can I
do for you?"
"Right, is
Lotus-san here? I have something to deliver from the landlady."
It would be fine if he
just took the package even if Lotus wasn't there... I added in a murmur, and
Yozaki blinked. He must not be here, I thought, as he let out a sigh that I
couldn't tell if it was relief or something else. "He's here," he said.
I still had mixed feelings. "But you could also say he's not here."
Which one was it?
When I looked up at
him, not understanding what he meant by his next words, he led me outside the
city. Right by the gate, leaning against the wall, Lotus was asleep. He was sitting
cross-legged with his arms crossed, in a posture that honestly looked painful.
Surprised, I looked up at Yozaki, who saw Lotus and chuckled.
***
"Lately, he's
been acting kind of strange,"
Yozaki explained,
holding his spear.
"Originally, the
closer you get to the city walls and the further you get from the castle, the
less the knights will be on guard, and the less security there will be. This
guy, he has been making the rounds on his own initiative."
Come to think of it,
when I met him in my adult form, I didn't know why he was at Harapeko-tei in
the middle of the night. Sutra-san had said before that the area around
Harapeko-tei wasn't very safe. So Lotus might have been on patrol, checking if
there were any wrongdoers.
"But he's been
going too far lately. He doesn't even have time for a break, he just eats
whatever he can cram down and then goes from one end of the city to the
other."
The landlady had said
that Lotus seemed busy lately. I had felt that way too. That's why I had come
with the food, but the trigger was meeting the adult me. In other words, after
he met a demon.
(Because I ran away.
Maybe he thought I might be doing something bad somewhere...)
Even in his sleep,
Lotus had a troubled expression. There was a deep frown between his eyebrows.
When I looked closely, there were faint dark circles under his eyes. "I
told him to just sleep as much as he could in bed. But he said he would end up
sleeping more than he should." So he was deliberately sleeping in an
uncomfortable place, leaning against the wall.
Yozaki looked at Lotus
with exasperation. Even though we were talking so close, Lotus showed no signs
of waking up, he just continued to make a stern face. Yozaki and I exchanged
glances. He shrugged.
"Well, wake him
up whenever you think is a good time. I'm going back to my guard duty."
I watched the young
man's back as he disappeared. I placed the pot of stew and the bag on the
ground and sat down again in front of Lotus, thinking. He really did look
terribly distressed.
(Why, this person...)
I didn't know Lotus as
a person. I had no idea what his goals were or what he was thinking. I knew him
as a character in a game. That was all, but that wasn't Lotus, it was an
existence on the other side of the screen, with a darker face than now,
speaking less, and always making one of his eyes look stern as if he hated
everything.
(He's not going to
tell the church or the knights about me, is he...)
He could just say he
saw a demon.
If he did, they would
immediately come and search for me thoroughly. A suspicious person like me, who
had just arrived from outside the city and whose origins were unknown, would
surely be dragged out without question, even if my age and appearance were
different. If that happened, I would just run. Life would be even harder than
it is now, so I really didn't want that, but I might be able to manage with
Ichi and the others. I sighed.
(Why, I wonder...)
I really didn't
understand Lotus.
But seeing his messy,
jet-black hair and his troubled sleeping face made my chest feel heavy and
uncomfortable.
Lotus, whether he
realized it or not, sometimes smiled incredibly adorably. He was a young man
who usually had a difficult expression. He himself might not care at all. But
at least when he was sleeping, I wished he would have a happier face.
My hand was
outstretched unconsciously.
I placed a small,
childish finger on the furrowed brow of the exhausted young man. Just a little,
just a little bit, I wished the etched wrinkles would lessen. There, there. I
stretched out my arm as much as I could and gently stroked his forehead. I felt
like his expression was softening little by little. As I quietly gazed at his
sleeping face and thought, "He has a cute face," I felt a sharp pain
in the depths of my chest. That's when it happened.
His black-purple eyes
snapped open with force, staring at me. "Eh, ah, hi..." Still
sleepy-eyed, the young man moved quickly. "Ungyaaaaaah!???" A young
girl's scream echoed.
"Let go, let go,
let go, let go, a leglock out of nowhereeeeeee!!??"
"...Huh? Sorry, I
was really out of it. Unconscious."
"Pigyaaaaaah!!!!"
***
I was just astonished
at how well my short, original body could manage that, but after being
counterattacked by a just-woken-up Lotus, I arrived back at Harapeko-tei
feeling like I had been robbed of something while delivering the stew, all
wobbly.
The shop floor was
polished sparkling clean by San, and I watched Ichi and the others clapping
(clapping slime-poyo hands) among themselves. I stared at them and thought for
a moment.
Would Lotus continue
guarding the city alone until he found me, a demon? He didn't seem particularly
concerned, though. But then I looked down at the night city from the window.
"I wish he would
return my necklace..."
That murmur was an
excuse. I wanted him to return it, so it couldn't be helped. I could only
transform into an adult for a short time. I could change for just a moment to
meet Lotus.
Conveniently, the
night sky occasionally showed a large moon through the clouds, as if inviting
me.
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