by CHIROLU
Chloe had been surprised to find Latina knocking on her door earlier than usual, but after hearing what had happened the night before, that was the first question out of her mouth.
“‘Now’?!”
“Well, I guess that good-for-nothing did well for himself, having finally confessed... Still, to think that he’s only just getting around to it now...”
“Huh? What? You knew, Chloe?”
“It’s not just me. Aside from you, everyone else probably already realized it, Latina.”
“Whaaaaaaa?!” Latina shouted out in surprise, and with her cheeks beet-red, she tried to get a handle on the situation. “So... since the night festival, when we saw him for the first time in a while?”
Latina’s guess was far off the mark, and Chloe silently shook her head from side to side.
“No, you see, Rudy’s lovesickness has been getting worse and worse alllll this time.”
Seeing her friend tilt her head after being told all that, Chloe let out an audible sigh. “Rudy’s loved you since before we started going to school.”
“Huuuuuuuh?!”
Chloe had expected it, but Latina’s reaction made her expression grow even more awkward.
“Huh, but... Rudy was always so mean!”
“Yeah, he sure was easy to understand.”
“He was always teasing me.”
“Yeah, like I said, he was easy to figure out.”
“What was ‘easy to figure out’?”
“Yup. That’s the problem, sure enough.”
Over their long years of knowing each other, Chloe had come to get a vague sense that Latina had no idea that someone could end up teasing a person because they liked them.
The natural airhead was completely removed from what was thought of as common sense. Chloe would occasionally forget it, but her friend was a member of a different race, was born in a different country, and had a whole different sense of values.
“Rudy always acted that way to hide his shyness.”
“Huh...? Then... Rudy, he... always...?”
“Yup. The whole time.”
“I... didn’t realize at all...”
“Well, Rudy didn’t think we realized either, but we did.”
“Chloe... before, you said ‘everyone’...”
“Right, ‘everyone.’ Not just Sylvia, but Marcel and Anthony... and other people probably realized, too.”
“Waaaah...”
Latina’s gaze darted about nervously. Her face was red, and she looked like she was about to break out in tears.
“I don’t know how I can even look everybody in the eye next time I see them...”
“Before that, you should think about what you’re going to do the next time you see Rudy.”
“Wah...! Right, Rudy’s been coming to the shop every day...! What should I do...?”
“He’d been coming to see you, right?”
“R-Right, that’s what he said... What should I do...?!”
Seeing her friend at such a loss and panicking from the depths of her heart shocked Chloe, and that proved that she still wasn’t immune to such situations.
At any rate, the people around Latina have clearly been overprotective. Looking half-astounded, Chloe gave another sigh.
Latina was a true beauty with a great personality, and Chloe would proudly brag about being her best friend anywhere and everywhere, but apparently no one had ever confessed their love to her up until now. Chloe could only figure that the people around Latina had been driving them all off.
There was a limit when it came to being overprotective. Chloe figured there were some folks who wanted Latina to retain the purity she’d had since she was little.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“What am I going to do? How am I going to look them in the face...?”
“Not that, about Rudy. What are you going to do about him?”
“Rudy said he just wanted me to hear that, but...”
“There’s no way that’s good enough. What response are you going to give him?”
“I really do have to give him a response, don’t I...” Looking like she was at a loss, Latina stared straight at the ground. “I’ve never even thought about it. I had no idea Rudy liked me.”
“...I know.”
“Why me?”
“You should ask Rudy that, right?”
“I mean... I’m a devil, and we have different lifespans... and I wouldn’t be able to have children...”
“Latina... shouldn’t that normally be your problem and not his?”
Latina’s gaze lifted just a bit so she could see her friend’s face.
“Are you alright with us humans? We don’t live as long as devils, and not all of us can use magic, either. We’re a weak race.”
“Chloe?”
“You think of yourself as being below everyone else way too much. You’re beautiful, which is a special privilege in and of itself. And the way that you’ll pretty much always stay young and pretty, don’t you think that’d be ideal from a man’s point of view?”
“Wha...?”
Of course, Chloe didn’t think her friend was capable of looking at things so philosophically, but she said it anyway because she thought that it wouldn’t be strange at all if her friend actually valued herself that highly.
“You think too little of yourself, Latina.”
“But, I...”
“You’re my precious best friend. And I won’t forgive anyone who speaks badly of my best friend, even if that’s you, Latina.”
“Chloe...”
“Do you think I don’t have an eye for judging people?”
“No!” Latina said while swinging her head from side to side, flustered. Her expression brightened just a bit, and Chloe continued on.
“I don’t know happened to you back in your home village, Latina. I only know you as my precious best friend that I met after she came to Kreuz. But that’s enough for me to proudly declare how important you are to me.”
“Chloe...”
“So you can have some confidence in yourself. If you just keep speaking ill of yourself, then it’ll be like you’re putting down Rudy too, right?”
“Right... I got it. I’ll give it some proper thought.”
“Still, it’s a proven fact that he is an idiot, though,” Chloe said with a serious expression on her face as she denounced their childhood friend.
“Wah?!”
Latina was so surprised that she forgot all her concerns for a moment.
While holding herself back from laughing at how Latina had acted just as expected, Chloe pointed a mischievous smile at her friend.
“Next time I meet Sylvia, we’re going to talk up a storm about this, so prepare yourself, alright?”
“Wah...”
Sensing that her red-faced, flustered best friend was starting to act more like her normal self, Chloe’s thoughts raced as to what she should say next. Her friend was overly serious, so it was good for the people around her to mess with her every now and again. Or at least, that’s what Chloe had claimed in their long years of knowing each other.
After returning from Chloe’s house, Latina discussed what had happened the night before with Kenneth. She didn’t hide anything, telling him of how her friend had confessed to her and how she’d been so shaken by it that she had become a wreck.
“So I was so surprised that I didn’t know what to do... and I made all kinds of mistakes. Sorry for letting personal matters affect my work.”
“Everybody has times like that. Just learn from it, and do a little better next time.”
“Right. I really am sorry. Also, Kenneth... I think Rudy will probably come today, too. Is it okay if I take a little time off of work then to talk to him?”
“Got it. Just give me a shout when the time comes,” Kenneth responded, holding himself back from sighing. He couldn’t imagine how the customers in the shop would react if the two had that discussion there. At the very least, he couldn’t
let them get ahold of anything to stab at the wounds in the kid’s heart and traumatize him. After all, he was one of Latina’s precious childhood friends. That needed to be taken into account, at least to some degree.
So, it’s finally happened, huh?
That thought made Kenneth want to let off a chain of rapid-fire sighs.
From Kenneth’s perspective, the reason a bunch of lovestruck men hadn’t swarmed Latina was because her “guardians” gave them glares and sharp looks; also, none of them would let any other fellow pursuer try to get ahead. Now that it had happened for the first time, the current equilibrium would surely collapse.
I was hoping Dale could make things clear before something like this happened...
What invigorated those who had fallen for Latina more than anything else was Dale’s absence.
Latina couldn’t stay a kid forever, so how much should he protect her from now on? How much should he leave things up to her? This was a difficult subject for her greatest supporter during Dale’s absence—her mentor, Kenneth.
Before long, the time finally came.
Sensing a new customer had entered, Latina reflexively turned around and called out, “Welco—”
Realizing it was the person she’d been waiting for, Latina gripped the tray she was holding tighter so she wouldn’t drop it this time. “...Rudy.”
“Hey...”
The memory of yesterday was still fresh, so it may have been only natural that the attention of everyone in the shop fell on the awkward pair.
Latina called out to Kenneth, and then brought Rudolph through the kitchen and out behind the shop. That was the backyard where Theo and Vint often played, and it had a lived-in feel that the storefront lacked.
As if trying to clear away the unpleasant silence, Latina awkwardly but clearly spoke up. “Um... Um, Rudy... About yesterday...”
“Right.”
“I was surprised. I had no idea.”
“I know. I was aware that you never saw me that way, Latina.”
Rudolph silently gazed at Latina as her breath caught in her throat. Then, he kept talking. “I also know that you’ve been looking at someone else all this time, so I didn’t think I’d get an answer from you... I just wanted to express my feelings. That’s what I was thinking.”
“Rudy...” Latina gulped, then looked down at the ground. In order to regain her composure, she took a deep breath. Chloe had told her how Rudy felt, but it was still a little rough hearing it from him in person.
Before long, Latina raised her face again. And then, with slightly upturned eyes and an embarrassed blush on her cheeks, she stated the words he had expected but least wanted to hear. “I’m sorry, Rudy...”
“...I see,” he forced out, his voice hoarse. He was only able to say it because he’d more or less already known what her response would be.
“I’m sorry, but I love Dale.”
“I know...”
“Dale still treats me like a child and won’t see me that way at all, but I still can’t give up.”
“I know...”
“So... I’m sorry. I can’t accept your feelings. But...” Latina pointed a slightly awkward smile at Rudolph. It was different from her usual one, but still somehow enchanting. “Thank you, Rudy. Thank you... for loving me.”
Her blushing face, her watering eyes, and her gentle, sweet voice... They were all things he’d wanted her to point towards him. That’s why Rudolph gained the courage to push himself a little further.
“I won’t give up, either,” he said, looking straight into Latina’s grey eyes. He realized that he was probably so red that he wouldn’t lose out to Latina, but even so, his voice didn’t falter in the least.
“Rudy...?”
“I know who you like, and that he still hasn’t accepted your feelings... So I intend to keep on waiting until you’re willing to give up on him.”
Latina didn’t say anything.
“I hope that you’ll remember me if that time comes.”
For an instant, the light from the shop reflected off of something hanging in front of Rudolph’s chest. There was no way Latina didn’t know what that was, as it had once been a part of her. She finally understood the reason that he had treated it so preciously.
As she drew close to him and reached a slim finger out to touch it, Rudolph froze. She grasped it and brought her lips close to it, as if to blow on it.
“Thank you, Rudy.” She imbued that former part of herself with her feelings of gratitude. “I’m sorry. But I also really, truly want to say thank you, too...”
For some reason, even when Latina let go, Rudy still felt like a little bit of warmth remained.
After watching Latina head back into the Dancing Ocelot, Rudolph leaned his back up against the wall and then slumped to the ground.
His voice caught in his throat.
Even though he’d known what Latina would say, it was of course still hard to hear. It was obviously still painful.
Regardless, he didn’t regret expressing his feelings. It was a good thing; he’d gone from someone she saw as just a childhood friend to someone she recognized as a member of the opposite sex. That’s what he told himself, at least.
He’d continued to act brave in front of Latina. He somehow managed to make it through.
He didn’t want to look pathetic in front of the girl he liked. He didn’t want to lose to that man whose back he was chasing after. But putting up a front and acting tough was the most that Rudolph could manage as he was now.
“Is everything good?” Kenneth asked as Latina returned to the kitchen. He sounded concerned.
“Yeah,” Latina responded with a nod, looking like she’d managed to clear her head.
She looked like her old self from before her relationship with Dale had gotten thrown out of order. Even the unclouded smile she wore as she briskly carried out her work was the same as it used to be.
Even when Latina changed into her pajamas and combed out her hair that night in the attic, her expression looked as though her sorrows had been cleared away.
“I’ve decided to tell Dale properly,” she said to Vint, who was lying by her side, her voice still remaining steady.
“Woof.”
She hadn’t noticed the feelings of the childhood friend who had been near her for so long. She realized she’d been quite egotistical in thinking she could express her feelings to Dale with such insufficient words. It was obvious that someone wouldn’t understand everything you were feeling just by being by your side.
As long as those were feelings that she couldn’t give up on easily, she would need to be willing to try as many times as it took. She hadn’t thought Dale would accept them immediately, anyway.
“I’m going to try again. And if that fails too, then I can just keep on trying.”
“Woof.”
“Before that, though, I need to apologize to Dale for causing all this trouble. Then, I’ll have to do things again properly.”
She hugged Vint tight, and the grim, pained expression on her face was already gone. Now, only pure determination remained in her eyes.
“I already knew that Dale saw me as a child, so I won’t get discouraged over something like this.”
“Woof.”
“So from tomorrow on, I’ll give it my all again.”
She reaffirmed that her feelings weren’t something she could give up on.
She didn’t have any time to lose heart or grow timid. She was still far from being her ideal woman. Even if she tried harder and harder, she’d still come up short. Even so, there was still someone out there who had told her he loved her. It hadn’t been enough to give her a big head, but she decided to have at least a little confidence in herself. All of her efforts hadn’t been in vain.
“I’ve got no intention of giving up. And if that’s the case, I’ve just got to give it my all!”
“Woof.”
Feeling the warmth from her friend cheering her on, Latina’s determination only
grew more firm.
†
A few days later, a single letter was delivered from the capital to the Dancing Ocelot in Kreuz.
It was a concise message: Dale had fallen ill.
3: The Young Man’s Feelings for the Platinum-haired Maiden
Healing magic didn’t work on illnesses. And the one that ruled over each and every illness was the Fourth Demon Lord. Everyone knew that; it was common sense.
It was thought that the mana of the Fourth Demon Lord brought about all illness; it was called a “magical element” and was said to possess a unique power other mana lacked.
Officially, it was called a “magical element malfunction,” and it threw off the flow of mana and life force. Because such treatments would operate using those things which had been thrown out of order, using magic to directly heal it was extremely difficult, and depending on the circumstances, that magical intervention could end up working against the patient.
The standard treatment was to suppress the symptoms with medicine, use stamina recovery magic if it was possible to do so, and wait for the effect of the magical element to fade and the normal flow of mana to return.
There were afflictions outside of magical element malfunctions, such as malnutrition and parasites, that could be treated with healing magic, but the difference was difficult to distinguish at a glance. It was said to be best to leave it to the judgment of the specialists in the temple of Niili.
Dale was sprawled out slovenly atop the bed that had been assigned to him. He rolled about and finally tossed the thick book he had been holding aside. “Ugh... I’m sick of this.”
By the third day, Dale had already grown tired of taking it easy and resting up.
“I want to move around... They’d find out if I used my sword, but I should be able to get away with some basic training...”
Whenever he stayed at the duke’s estate for work, Dale would read through books and the like to familiarize himself with the latest information that had been gathered using the family’s position as one of the leading authorities in the nation. It was part of his work so he wouldn’t be looked down upon by nobles for something so trivial as being uninformed. He had no intention of giving anyone an easy weakness to attack. In addition, Dale had also been educated by Master Cornelio, so he liked to continue his studies when he had the time. But now that he was able to do nothing but that, he’d grown bored of it.
