In the morning, in front of the forest, my father affirmed us with those words.
My father always wore his mithril armor at work which was provided by the national military.
It was given to protect the country and should never be used for any other causes.
This was a principle, there was once a poverty-stricken soldier who brought his mithril armor home, and sold it for the need of gold.
From then on, carrying it home became prohibited, This was one of the provisions of the Demon forest fortress. Mithril was not only a rare but also an expensive material, the armors crafted from such material had high-end performances.
Therefore, It wasn’t distributed to all the national military members, but only to those who were appointed to an extremely dangerous post.
When a soldier resigned or retired, his armor would be transferred to a newly appointed soldier. In general, there were alchemist and blacksmith divisions in the fortress around a danger zone, so if the size of the old armor didn’t fit it wouldn’t be a problem.
So right now, the armor equipped on my father wasn’t mithril, but the plain light leather armor he wore every time he returned home. These leathers were made out of demonic monsters’ furs that often carried magical power, its durability weighed better than the average iron armors.
The reason my father was equipped with armor was because we were heading into the forest just now.
When I got home, my father was going to take me to hunt as promised. So I asked
“There’s not enough time to finish breakfast, is that okay?”
“It is better when you are not full.”
He answered with a straightforward smile. My father was basically a monster with immense stamina.
The atmosphere inside the forest became somewhat terrifying as the light almost couldn’t even penetrate through.
The enormous trees looked like they were dropped from the clouds occupying all the sunlight while gazing down at the short withered trees from high up there.
Thanks to that reason, the ground was covered in short and weak trees, as long as we paid attention to the roots of the trees then the route was rather an easy walk.
Although it was easier said than done, it would be tough without a certain degree of stamina.I followed behind my father in this forest as I advanced forward.
“Sir Allen, there are still no demonic monsters?”
Then, another voice called out, this adventure was accompanied by another companion.
“Oh, Ted, not yet. I will tell you in advance if it does appear, but stay alerted of the surrounding before that.”
“But….”
“There’s only one request before we departed——to get you acquainted with the forest, well, Gustav, your dad could also do that, but that guy is currently busy with hunting. You will continue to stay with us until your strength grows to a certain extent, so before that don’t purposely go look for demonic monsters.”
Ted, the son of a hunter in the village, currently ten years old. His father Gustav was the village’s most skilled and best-rated hunter,  once he entered the forest he never came back empty- handed.
Such man’s son wanted to go through my father’s training and become a hunter himself. Gustav normally hunts animals, when a demonic monster appeared even he had to avoid it. If he was ever put into a situation where he had to fight a demonic monster, the result would be unknown whether he could win or not.
Therefore, in order to let his son know about the danger facing off a demonic monster, Gustav requested my father to bring Ted along with us.
The only person in the village that could pull off such request was my father, I’m proud of him.
It was for this reason, Gustav was able to rest assured to let my father take care of Ted.
However, seems like there was a problem with Ted.
And that is………
“Ted, is hunting really that hard?”
When I asked such question, Ted responded
“……My father says, it is quite difficult to hide one’s presence.”
His answer was mixed with hesitation.
It seemed like, he didn’t want to talk to me.
We often drank together in my past life, his reaction made me felt somewhat lonesome.
Anyway, Ted was the village child king who took the lead of avoiding me.
Although the three of us were walking together in the forest, but he would secretly direct his glance at my side from time to time, and when I looked back he immediately diverted his line of sight.
He was obviously hiding from me. Most of the time, when a person tried to shy away from someone the reason wasn’t because hatred but rather not interested in the other person, but Ted seemed a bit curious about me.
There was no one else in the forest beside us if we continued to walk at this pace maybe we could develop a good relation through this kind of intimacy.
Ted gradually stopped disguising his line of sight, and would occasionally look directly into my eyes.
Apparently, Ted was feeling a bit insecure, even though we were together with a strong bodyguard, but there was always the chance to come across a demonic monster, and disturbing thoughts like am I really safe would just arouse at a time like this.
The one that broke the ice wasn’t me nor Ted, but the adult that was leading us.
He’s the most straightforward man among us three.
Father——Allen looked at me and Ted, and muttered.
“You two seem so concerned about each other, are you guys planning to go on a date?”
He used a tone that was suggesting not to do such thing.
“Hey, father!”
“Please, Mr.Allen! Don’t speak nonsense.”
We accused my father at the same time.
Even though I was curious, but at least I wasn’t homosexual. Yeah, I wanted us to be friends but I never thought of going beyond that. Of course, I wasn’t going against homosexuality itself, I had known such relationship existed in my past life. Anyway, in short, I do not have this hobby, I should appropriately let my father understand that. Otherwise, if this ever preached to the village we would be walking down an endless dark path for the rest of our life.
Certainly, Ted was having the same frame of mind, rather than indignation, it would be better to say we were anxious to justify ourselves. Until now, there wasn’t any problem between our relationship. We were literally in the same boat facing off a common enemy.
My father continued to speak as if nothing had happened.
His tone sounded like totally unconcerned with no special meanings in them.
“So what, is there a girl you like?”
This was my salvation. We wanted to let him know that his misunderstand was outrageous. What kind of madness could lead to such conclusion? Ted and I both groaned out our words.
“Yes, of course, there is one. I like Emily!…..Eh?”
We were surprised to hear from each other’s mouth while saying those words at the same time.
I covered my mouth with a sudden movement, what am I saying just right, me and Ted both noticed each other’s face.
Then Ted and I immediately turned to the direction my father was facing and understood that it was all his tactic.
My father burst out laughing and said.
“Hahaha! Don’t you guys get along well!? You two have been avoiding each other since the beginning……now the both of you share a common secret. That means it is possible to become friends right?
Ted and I were left dumbfounded after hearing what my father had said.
In short, Ted knows who I like, and I know who Ted likes.
According to my previous life experience, if this topic was ever known by others then I would be doomed for my entire life. Not to mention, we lived in a small village that only held about a hundred people, so once the information leaked out it would spread around lightning fast. That would not be a good thing.
Well, although that would be very troublesome, but I was a grown up internally, understanding and accepting consequences was part of being an adult. However Ted face’s face was pale, he couldn’t accept people knowing his weakness, he probably thought that he would lose his place as the village’s child king.
Ted took a deep breath and looked straight at me, he nodded his head, then extended his hand to me and asked for a handshake.
I held his hand shaking it up and down.
This meant we had reached an agreement here.
We shook hands reluctantly while exchanging sharp glances that seemed to be estimating each other.
“Ted, we should admit each other for better or for worse.
“Dammit. John, If I knew this would happen I wouldn’t go as far as avoiding you, I should have just recruited you as my underling.
This was the first time I heard my name called out from Ted’s mouth, but also the first genuine conversation.
My lacrimal gland loosened for a moment there after hearing the nostalgic call.
Well, crying like this must be weird. I thought about it and tried to prevent my tears from dropping.
“……Hi John, why are you crying?…….It was my bad for avoiding you, but we are friends from now on”
However, it looks like all my effort to hold back was in vain, I began to cry.
Ted was flustered and tried to comfort me.
He was the child king after all, who already got used to comforting others.
In the child society, the parents would stand out once their child started to cry, so in order to avoid the problems, Ted would anything to prevent that.
Of course, kids just being kids, no matter how harmonious the children were with each other, once something happened they would immediately cry out loud.
At such time, Ted would be the first one to come out and comfort the little fellow.
By the way, This guy was a good man with tolerance and became very popular later in adulthood. This technique was mainly used to deal with women’s issues. I was a bit envious.
“Friends……”
“Yeah, friends. Come on, why are you crying because of something like this. I still think you are a weird guy.”
My eyes were swallowed, Ted rudely patted my shoulder as he said those words. My heart skipped a beat, so he really does think that I’m weird.
I wanted to inquire his reasoning of why was I perceived that way.
“Why am I a freak?”
“Why? Oh, that’s because……”
Ted looked at my father as he was about to say those words.
Although my father was a straightforward person but that did not mean he couldn’t read the atmosphere. He shrugged his shoulder as if it couldn’t be helped and proceeded to cover his ears. The reason he didn’t leave us was because demonic monsters could be around us anytime. My father was capable of sensing mana, he did not let his guard down even his ears were covered.
Ted made sure my father couldn’t hear anything, as he muttered in my ears in a low voice. “You can use magic right?”