/
Chapter 11 Part 1: The brother didn’t have the detection ability.
Translator: Michiko
Editor: Elena
“Gio-sama, I’ve been waiting for you. The carriage is ready.”
Reiru was really surprised when he heard Milvance say that to Gio.
“Thank you for taking on the sudden job. I appreciate it.”
The beastman agreed, “Thank you, Milvance-chan.”
As Reiru watched both the brawny beastman and Gio thank Milvance, Reiru reflexively asked, “You knew each other?”
“Yes. I’ve been secretly escorting Reiru-sama for the past few days, and the client is Gio-sama.”
The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com
“Ob, lpnsav? Ykzhydnl-pyd bye clld lpnsavkdt xl?”
Tso nswze pwnb y clywvkqwz yde taynlqwz qlxyzl clypvxyd cl y twyae? Ysalshla, pbl’p xu twyae? Gde Qks bkale bla, obyv vbl blnj?
Slkaw oyp nsdqwple, wdyczl vs psav vbaswtb vbl kdqsaxyvksd.
“Slkaw-esds, Ykzhydnl-nbyd xyu zssj zkjl vbkp, cwv pbl’p vbl xspv nsxrlvldv yde qlyazlpp qktbvla sq vbl dsavblad qasdvkla clypvxyd vassr. Gde xu nswpkd.”
Mbl clypvxyd lmnzykxle okvb y raswe zssj.
“Jwv R’x dsv yzzsole vs ts bwdvkdt, vbswtb.”
“Rv nyd’v cl blzrle. Nkjl bwxydp, clypvxld esd’v zkjl vs byhl osxld sd vbl cyvvzlqklze lkvbla. Ykzhydnl-nbyd oyp ps ydtau ycswv kv vbyv pbl zlqv vbl vassr yde clnyxl yd yehldvwala. Ebld Qks pweeldzu kdiwkale ycswv y pjkzzle lpnsav, R kdvasewnle bkx vs Ykzhydnl-nbyd. Psd’v czyxl Qks qsa dsv nsxkdt vs tlv usw aktbv yoyu, sjyu? Fkdnl uswa pyqlvu bye clld yppwale, R vbkdj kv oyp aktbv qsa Qks vs raksakvkgl keldvkqukdt vbl ldlxu, nszzlnvkdt lhkeldnl, yde lhynwyvkdt vbl nbkzeald qasx vbl sarbydytl. Jlnywpl bl nswzed’v rknj y qktbv okvb asuyzvu wdyaxle.”
Mbl clypvxyd lmrzykdle kv lypkzu, cwv Slkaw nswzed’v xyjl pldpl sq kv yzz yde pkxrzu vbswtbv, “Xb, R pll.”
The encounter with Milvance had certainly been sudden, and it was only because of her particular forcefulness that they had come to Paffamzia together in the first place. However, it didn’t occur to Reiru that he was in fact the one that had been escorted without his knowledge.
Rather than blaming Gio for not coming to get him, Reiru thought that he would never see him again.
Why would Gio go to such lengths to begin with?
Reiru looked up at Gio, and their eyes met.
“Huh?” Reiru felt uncomfortable. He felt like Gio was not his usual self. He didn’t look sullen or angry; he looked a little down.
“When Willie found out you’d run away from home, he contacted me. From now on, if anything happens, you contact me first. Don’t leave quietly. It’s bad for my heart.”
“I’d left a farewell letter properly, though.”
“Reiru, that’s not a proper means.”
Reiru began to feel embarrassed, thinking that somehow things had been blown out of proportion.
Since the crown prince was with them, they decided to change the place to a restaurant or inn for nobles.
Thereupon the little girl said, “It’s not for nobles, but please come to our inn!” and the crown prince generously replied, “That’s fine with me.” so the destination was decided.
Summer was the peak season for tourism in Paffamzia, which faced the sea. However, now it was deep into autumn, the off-season, so even the inn where Reiru worked was never fully occupied.
As Reiru swayed in the carriage, he thought about how to explain the situation to the innkeeper.
“Father! The hero-sama is here to pick up Reiru, who ran away from home! All of hero-sama’s friends and the crown prince are with him! It seems that there’s an extraordinarily complicated situation between the princess, the hero, and Reiru
 Reiru is insisting that he won’t return, and hero-sama is trying to somehow convince him to come back with him. Let them use the best room so they can talk it over carefully!”
Reiru’s explanation wasn’t necessary.
No, what Reiru really wanted to explain was that her phrasing was very misleading, but after the little girl’s dramatic presentation, anything he said would fall on deaf ears.
The owner was so astonished when he was told about the situation that his jaw almost hit the floor and he led everybody to the largest room with the best view.
When Reiru apologized for not being able to return to work, the owner encouraged him by saying, “Just think of it as your job to entertain His Highness and hero-sama.”
Everyone entered the room and settled down. The owner seemed to have thoughtfully prepared tea and sweets, and Reiru tried to serve them, but Gio barked at him, “If they want to eat, they will do it themselves, so you sit down, too.”
There was an empty spot next to Gio on the sofa on purpose, and he had no choice but to sit there.
The first person to talk was the crown prince.
“Reiru, it seems my sister has asked you for some unreasonable things. But I don’t want you to think that the royal family is looking down on the hero’s brother. I promise to talk to my sister clearly and make her understand about this matter. I hope you continue to live with Gio in peace from now on.”
“Ha—”
“Let us apologize to you, too. We misunderstood you. We’re sorry.”
“No, that’s not really
”
As he listened to them apologize in unison, Reiru was simply bewildered.
The crown prince wants me to continue to live with Gio from now on, but it has already been more than ten years since I lived with him at the orphanage. I don’t know why in the world I’m being apologized to by Gio’s friends. However, this isn’t exactly an environment where I can interject either.
He looked at Gio to ask what he should do, and Gio hugged Reiru’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.
Reiru had never had anyone do that to him before. No, it happened a little while ago. However, the current situation was different.
Reiru was startled and tried to distance himself, but Gio’s intense eyes overwhelmed him and he stayed put like that.
“I returned the money that was in the safe. I don’t know what that woman said to you, but forget it all.”
“Eh, is that so?”
I see you gave it back. What a waste.
Reiru couldn’t help but feel that way. He had left that money at the orphanage with the intention of returning it to Gio. It was up to Gio to do as he wished.
Rather, he said, “that woman.” No good, you can’t refer to your lover like that. And, especially not in front of His Highness the Crown Prince.
When Reiru started to warn him, Gio suddenly stood up.
“I think we’re done here. Let’s go, Reiru.”
He said it as if it were a matter of fact and tried to grab Reiru’s arm. When Gio decided to do something, he acted quickly.
Dodging Gio’s hand, Reiru vowed,
“Gio, I have no intention of going back.”
“
What are you talking about?”
As Reiru sat down and looked up at Gio, he felt that Gio’s gaze was much heavier as he was looked down upon.
“I’m already working here. What’s the point in going back to the orphanage now?”
“You didn’t leave because you wanted to, either.”
“That’s true, though. It’s just
 my plan went slightly wrong, but I was going to leave the orphanage sooner or later anyway. And now that it’s come to this, I think it was a good opportunity.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because if you’re going to take care of the orphanage, I don’t need to be there.”
“What are you saying, Reiru?”
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I thought it would be more profitable to leave the orphanage to Willie soon and go out to work. Just like you helped with the money, I want to do the same. I’m not going to make as much money as you, but it’s better than nothing. Well, that’s no longer necessary either, you’re going to be a rich nobleman who can take care of an entire orphanage.”
Willie was a young man who would turn eighteen this year. Usually, children in the orphanage got jobs and left the orphanage around the ages of twelve to fifteen.
Willie had suffered a childhood accident and was left with a leg injury and he also lost his parents in the accident. With one leg crippled, Willie needed a cane to walk and couldn’t run either.
Most of the jobs that orphans were hired for were chores, so by simply not being able to walk normally, it was enough to be denied a job. Because of this, Willie was still at the orphanage.
Reiru had kept telling Willie that he didn’t need to feel pressured to leave. He then asked Willie to support the children in the orphanage and gradually taught him how to interact with the people who gave them donations.
Willie was smart, although his youth made him a bit dodgy. Reiru was also eighteen when he became the head of the orphanage, but Willie was a lot more gutsy compared to Reiru at that age. It was time to consider handing the reins of the orphanage over to Willie entirely.
“You won’t treat Willie and the little ones badly, and you can even get them good caretakers and teachers. There’s no reason for me to stay.”
The children need a mother-like figure who is used to handling children and loving — not a skinny, unreliable father-figure and a failure of a man like me. And they needed a proper, educated teacher, not a self-taught one like myself.
Reiru had always thought so, and had told Gio what was on his mind.
Gio would definitely hire someone capable of that. Then it would no longer be Reiru’s role.