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Chapter 14 Part 2: The friends are worried about the brother who has a lot of problems.
Translator: Michiko
Editor: Elena
When Reiru entered the kitchen, it seemed to be break time, and he could see his fellow workers talking about something.
“Ah, Reiru!”
One of them noticed Reiru and quickly came up to him.
“Come over here for a bit.”
He lightly pushed Reiru’s back and took him to the back of the kitchen.
The others followed behind.
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Mblu pwaaswdele Slkaw, lmnbydtle zssjp, yde vbld pweeldzu casjl vbl knl.
“Slkaw, cl bsdlpv okvb wp, sjyu? Zsw oydv vs tlv yoyu qasx vbyv twu, esd’v usw?”
“Twb…?”
Slkaw eked’v wdelapvyde obyv bl oyp ypjle yv qkapv.
Slkaw oyp xwxczkdt vs bkxplzq vaukdt vs qktwal swv obyv vblu olal pyukdt obld vblu pvyavle prlyjkdt vs bkx kd bwpble vsdlp.
“El blyae qasx vbl uswdt zyeu. Mbl blas nbyple yqvla usw, eked’v bl?”
“Zlp, olzz…”
Mbl blas nbyple yqvla usw.
That may be true, but Reiru felt uncomfortable with the way he said it.
“I thought there were circumstances, but… are you the hero’s lover… or perhaps his mistress?”
“Reiru, didn’t that hero guy kick you out because he was getting married to the second princess and you were in the way?”
Reiru was flustered by the questioning from his friends.
There’s no way Gio would kick me out. I can’t fathom how they came up with such a ridiculous idea.
“No, it’s not, he’s─”
He was going to clarify, but Reiru’s friends looked at him pitifully and they piped up one after another.
“What were his intentions when he kicked Reiru out, broke and as good as penniless, and now he wants to bring him back? The boss told us you’re from a town pretty far away, right? And yet, to be so lightly dressed, almost empty-handed… that’s strange no matter how you look at it.”
“I mean, you’re so skinny, you had to wear unfashionable clothes, you were sleep deprived… Did he ever treat you like a proper human being? I don’t think you were given a healthy or culturally appropriate minimum standard of living.”
“I wondered what kind of nerve he had to corral a bunch of his friends to bring back his mistress in the first place.”
“Reiru, if you’re going to run away, take this. You don’t need to pay us back.”
With that, a small money pouch was placed in Reiru’s hand. Feeling the heavy weight of the coins, he was at a loss for words.
“It’s not much, but it’s all the money we have on hand. You can get far away with a boat.”
“If necessary, we’ll hold him back for you. I don’t know if he’s a hero or not, but anyone who does bad things to Reiru─”
Reiru’s mind went blank.
Up until now, no one around Reiru had spoken ill of Gio.
Despite the unfortunate circumstance of growing up in an orphanage in the countryside, Gio has risen through the ranks in the capital and is a respectable, fine young man who still visits the orphanage to befriend and support orphans in the same situation. The whole town was proud of Gio.
And more importantly, Reiru had never been in a situation where Gio was condemned for his sake.
“No, he’s not! Gio’s not like that!”
He unconsciously raised his voice and was astonished at himself for doing so.
His friends instantly shut their mouths.
Then they grinned broadly.
“Heh, then what is he like?”
When Reiru came to his senses, he found himself being led by their conversation skills to reveal the abridged story of his life before coming here.
In the first place, Reiru had lived a life where he rarely had a chance to talk about himself to others. Even in town, he was simply known as “Reiru of the orphanage.”
It could be said that he never received any interest from others.
In that sense, they were one or two steps ahead of the naive Reiru.
Reiru had tried to be vague about the princess’s money, the fact that Gio’s friends didn’t think highly of him, and that Gio had feelings for him, but it was apparently easy for these experienced people to work it all out.
After a series of questions, they exchanged glances with a complicated look on their face.
“I see… that’s how it is.”
“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”
“Or rather, isn’t the hero a victim, too?”
“Well… I’m sorry for Reiru, but I can somewhat understand the feelings of the hero’s friends. You see, sometimes there are people who have a respectable job and are serious, but their personal life can be questionable. Like getting into a weird religion, being coerced into buying expensive products, or being exploited by hopeless parents.”
“Ah, yes yes.”
“After all, people don’t usually donate most of their salaries. Even more so, every month, for years on end. If my friend was like that, I’d be worried.”
“Besides, and I’m sorry to say this, but Reiru’s previous appearance could’ve easily given the wrong impression that he was embezzling the donation money…”
“Exactly.”
Reiru looked out into the distance and thought, “Not that again,” but he was glad that they understood the situation with Gio.
He returned the money handed to him and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Wellーbut I’m glad to hear that the misunderstanding has been cleared up.”
“However, the hero is also very praiseworthy. He devoted himself that much to Reiru.”
“No, it’s not like that… Gio didn’t do it for me, he did his best for the orphanage.”
As soon as Reiru said that, their expressions diminished and their eyes became soft.
“Reiru…that’s not it.”
“You’re certainly not wrong, but you’re not entirely right either.”
“You really are thickheaded. The poor hero.”
“I guess this is why we can’t leave you alone.”
Reiru was about to repeat his claim that it wasn’t like that, but then he realized that Gio liked him, and held his tongue.
What if Gio’s consideration and kindness so far had really been his love toward me?
If that was the case, Gio must have been thinking about me for a long time.
Reiru’s chest slowly warmed up, and his cheeks flushed faintly.
His friends grinned and watched as Reiru fell silent, looking like an embarrassed teenage girl.
When Reiru pulled himself together and was about to go back to work, they apologized in a formal manner.
“Reiru, We’re sorry about earlier. We spoke ill of the hero.”
“Huh?”
“Reiru, you must have been really upset for you to shout like that.”
“Yeah. You don’t seem to get mad over little things.”
“I apologize for saying what I wanted when I didn’t even know the situation.”
When they said that, Reiru suddenly felt ashamed for losing his cool.
They were worried about Reiru and even offered their money to help him escape.
“I’m sorry, too. You all were just worried about me.”
“It’s okay. We’re friends after all.”
Reiru looked back at them with surprise.
He never thought he’d make friends at this age.
They each patted Reiru, who was feeling embarrassed and shy, lightly on the shoulder and returned to their respective posts.
Looking back, I lived an idyllic life with the children at the orphanage.
Every day was like a battlefield, but Reiru was helped by children old enough to be sensible, adored by young children, and lived unaffected by the pitfalls of the world which his fellow workers had told him about.
Even though he was poor, he had a reassuring brother, Gio, who supported him through it all.
Since he’d left, he’d been housed at the inn, and everyone had been nothing but kind to him.
Maybe my life is actually more fortunate than I thought.
With that in mind, Reiru also went back to the kitchen.
“─that’s what happened, Hero.”
“Really? I see.”
After completing the formalities of his stay, Gio went out to check the location of the town’s teleporting station for the future, but was intercepted by the innkeeper’s daughter.
They walked side by side as she offered to show him the way to the teleporting station.
“Oh, I thought you’d be more pleased. Reiru got mad on your behalf, Hero. That’s why I went to the trouble of telling you.”
“Thanks for that. But little miss, eavesdropping is not something that gets praised. Especially if you eavesdrop from a guest room, you could get in a lot of trouble depending on the situation.”
When Gio gave her a scolding, the little girl avoided his gaze, looking resigned.
“I’m sorry… but this time was an exception. I was worried about Reiru, you know. Besides, I quickly retreated before things got too adult, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, retreating is good. Self-control is important after all.”
Gio edified as if to remind himself.
I feel like taking Reiru into my room right now, but I shouldn’t interfere with his work.
“Hey, if you know of any good eateries or sweet shops in this area, let me know.”
“Ok but what kind of shop do you want to go to? For one person? For a date? What kind of food do you like?”
“It’s for a date. Something easy to eat and get some calories out of it.”
“Yes, Reiru has a small appetite, so you must be worried, Hero.”
Afterwards, as a thank you for the little girl’s efforts, Gio went to a confectionery store that the girl recommended, bought her a generous amount of sweets, and then ordered a large quantity of sweets boxes and gave them to the innworkers.
“The hero looks like the owner of the store, it’s amazing.”
“It’s more scary if you think of this as him keeping us in check.”
“The duality of showing economic strength along with consideration is cool.”
During their break, while munching on sweets, Reiru’s friends said such things in an amused tone.
Then they grinned at Reiru, who was slowly crunching on one of the sweets.
“Well but… the fact of the matter is, I bet he bought all of them because he wanted Reiru to eat it.”
“You’re loved, Reiru.”
Reiru mindlessly gulped down the sugary sweet, which spread a buttery flavor in the mouth as it was chewed.
Seeing his ears turn red, his friends inwardly congratulated them on their future.
TN: I am really sorry for being late. I didn’t post last week because I was sick and busy with clinic visits. I hope you all are having happy holidays. Enjoy reading.