Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki Volume 4 Chapter 5 Part4

Translator Corner

Minasan oideyasu. This is Yukkuri demasu!

Today is a day of many release.

Also, I want to try a new thing!

CLICK THE b.u.t.tON!

DISCLAIMER: There is no guarantee that my translation is 100% correct. Please correct me if I was wrong.

Author:

Dozeumaru(どぜう丸)

Translator:

Yukkuri Oniisan

Editor:

SMS

CLICK ME!

Enlightenment Arc

Chapter 5 As a Person D

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on sh.o.r.e, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my subst.i.tute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the s.h.i.+p. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me.

There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs—commerce surrounds it with her surf. Right and left, the streets take you waterward. Its extreme downtown is the battery, where that n.o.ble mole is washed by waves, and cooled by breezes, which a few hours previous were out of sight of land. Look at the crowds of water-gazers there.

Circ.u.mambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. Go from Corlears Hook to Coenties Slip, and from thence, by Whitehall, northward. What do you see?—Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries. Some leaning against the spiles; some seated upon the pier-heads; some looking over the bulwarks of s.h.i.+ps from China; some high aloft in the rigging, as if striving to get a still better seaward peep. But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster—tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks. How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here?

But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive. Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice. No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in. And there they stand—miles of them—leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues—north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite. Tell me, does the magnetic virtue of the needles of the compa.s.ses of all those s.h.i.+ps attract them thither?

Once more. Say you are in the country; in some high land of lakes. Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries—stand that man on his legs, set his feet going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region. Should you ever be athirst in the great American desert, try this experiment, if your caravan happen to be supplied with a metaphysical professor. Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.

But here is an artist. He desires to paint you the dreamiest, shadiest, quietest, most enchanting bit of romantic landscape in all the valley of the Saco. What is the chief element he employs? There stand his trees, each with a hollow trunk, as if a hermit and a crucifix were within; and here sleeps his meadow, and there sleep his cattle; and up from yonder cottage goes a sleepy smoke. Deep into distant woodlands winds a mazy way, reaching to overlapping spurs of mountains bathed in their hill-side blue. But though the picture lies thus tranced, and though this pine-tree shakes down its sighs like leaves upon this shepherd's head, yet all were vain, unless the shepherd's eye were fixed upon the magic stream before him. Go visit the Prairies in June, when for scores on scores of miles you wade knee-deep among Tiger-lilies—what is the one charm wanting?—Water—there is not a drop of water there! Were Niagara but a cataract of sand, would you travel your thousand miles to see it? Why did the poor poet of Tennessee, upon suddenly receiving two handfuls of silver, deliberate whether to buy him a coat, which he sadly needed, or invest his money in a pedestrian trip to Rockaway Beach? Why is almost every robust healthy boy with a robust healthy soul in him, at some time or other crazy to go to sea? Why upon your first voyage as a pa.s.senger, did you yourself feel such a mystical vibration, when first told that you and your s.h.i.+p were now out of sight of land? Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting, mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.

Now, when I say that I am in the habit of going to sea whenever I begin to grow hazy about the eyes, and begin to be over conscious of my lungs, I do not mean to have it inferred that I ever go to sea as a pa.s.senger. For to go as a pa.s.senger you must needs have a purse, and a purse is but a rag unless you have something in it. Besides, pa.s.sengers get sesick—grow quarrelsome—don't sleep of nights—do not enjoy themselves much, as a general thing;—no, I never go as a pa.s.senger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook. I abandon the glory and distinction of such offices to those who like them. For my part, I abominate all honorable respectable toils, trials, and tribulations of every kind whatsoever. It is quite as much as I can do to take care of myself, without taking care of s.h.i.+ps, barques, brigs, schooners, and what not. And as for going as cook,—though I confess there is considerable glory in that, a cook being a sort of officer on s.h.i.+p-board—yet, somehow, I never fancied broiling fowls;—though once broiled, judiciously b.u.t.tered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more respectfully, not to say reverentially, of a broiled fowl than I will. It is out of the idolatrous dotings of the old Egyptians upon broiled ibis and roasted river horse, that you see the mummies of those creatures in their huge bake-houses the pyramids.

No, when I go to sea, I go as a simple sailor, right before the mast, plumb down into the forecastle, aloft there to the royal mast-head. True, they rather order me about some, and make me jump from spar to spar, like a gra.s.shopper in a May meadow. And at first, this sort of thing is unpleasant enough. It touches one's sense of honor, particularly if you come of an old established family in the land, the Van Rensselaers, or Randolphs, or Hardicanutes. And more than all, if just previous to putting your hand into the tar-pot, you have been lording it as a country schoolmaster, making the tallest boys stand in awe of you. The transition is a keen one, I a.s.sure you, from a schoolmaster to a sailor, and requires a strong decoction of Seneca and the Stoics to enable you to grin and bear it. But even this wears off in time.

What of it, if some old hunks of a secaptain orders me to get a broom and sweep down the decks? What does that indignity amount to, weighed, I mean, in the scales of the New Testament? Do you think the archangel Gabriel thinks anything the less of me, because I promptly and respectfully obey that old hunks in that particular instance? Who ain't a slave? Tell me that. Well, then, however the old secaptains may order me about—however they may thump and punch me about, I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is all right; that everybody else is one way or other served in much the same way—either in a physical or metaphysical point of view, that is; and so the universal thump is pa.s.sed round, and all hands should rub each other's shoulder-blades, and be content.

Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make a point of paying me for my trouble, whereas they never pay pa.s.sengers a single penny that I ever heard of. On the contrary, pa.s.sengers themselves must pay. And there is all the difference in the world between paying and being paid. The act of paying is perhaps the most uncomfortable infliction that the two orchard thieves entailed upon us. But being paid,—what will compare with it? The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah! how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition!

Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the wholesome exercise and pure air of the fore-castle deck. For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks he breathes it first; but not so. In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it. But wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt the sea as a merchant sailor, I should now take it into my head to go on a whaling voyage; this the invisible police officer of the Fates, who has the constant surveillance of me, and secretly dogs me, and influences me in some unaccountable way—he can better answer than any one else. And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this:

“Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States. “WHALING VOYAGE BY ONE ISHMAEL. “b.l.o.o.d.y BATTLE IN AFFGHANISTAN.”

Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces—though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circ.u.mstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.

Chief among these motives was the overwhelming idea of the great whale himself. Such a portentous and mysterious monster roused all my curiosity. Then the wild and distant seas where he rolled his island bulk; the undeliverable, nameless perils of the whale; these, with all the attending marvels of a thousand Patagonian sights and sounds, helped to sway me to my wish. With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.

By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open, and in the wild conceits that swayed me to my purpose, two and two there floated into my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale, and, mid most of them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air.

It was nightfall by the time the audience with Mary was concluded. Roroa and Junsan welcomed us when we returned to the office room. I also could see Carla in her maid uniform at the corner of the room.

「Welcome back Darling…… Eh, did something happen?」(Roroa)

「Ano, what happened, Your Majesty?」(Juna)

Though both welcomed us with smiling at first, they became worried the moment they noticed my expression. Ahaha, surely my face looks horrible right now…… May be it really does. Junsan touched my forehead with her cold and soft hand.

「There’s no fever…… But, are you feeling unwell? Would you like to rest for a while?」(Juna)

「Wait, Cinee! What happened to Darling!?」(Roroa)

「E-even if you ask me, I also don’t know!」(Liscia)

Just as Roroa pressed Liscia for an answer, I replied, 「No…… I’m alright」, and gently brushed Junsan’s hand aside, before sitting down on my “desk”. And then,

「Sorry. Liscia, Aisha, Junsan, Roroa…… Come over here.」

I beckoned my fiancées closer. The four of them exchanged glances and then slowly approached me. When they stood close enough by my side, I wrapped them all together in a hug.

「Hyah?」(Liscia)

「What!?」(Aisha)

「Aw……」(Juna)

「W, Darling!」(Roroa)

All four of them yelped, but I kept hugging them without minding it. From a distance, this would look like a team huddle, so there would be nothing romantic about it. Even so, I could feel their warmth…… I finally calmed myself down. After a minute or so, I released them. While mending her disheveled clothing, Liscia asked with a hint of anger.

「…… You better explain what’s going on, okay?」(Liscia)

I was glad that behind her angry tone, there was a heart that genuinely cared about me.

「Yes. I shall explain everything.」(Souma)

「Souma, you became like this after the last conversation with the Holy Maiden, right? Did something happen?」(Liscia)

「…… I felt… a sense of discomfort, the whole time during the audience.」(Souma)

「Sense of discomfort?.」(Liscia)

I nodded.

「When I saw Mary for the first time, I thought that she was pretty. But at the same time, I felt that something was strange. She should have come across as a very attractive girl, yet I couldn’t bring myself to see her that way.」(Souma)

「But, from her appearance, she looks like a beautiful girl in my eyes.」(Hakuya)

Hakuya said so. Yeah, perhaps, other people wouldn’t able to notice it.

「I also didn’t notice at first. However, the moment I thought that this emotionless girl’s face is 『Like a Doll』, or perhaps I should say, 『seems artificial』, I noticed the true cause of that sense of discomfort. She…… resembled someone.」(Souma)

「Resembled someone? Who?」(Liscia)

Liscia ask me, and so I pointed my fingers at her.

「You. Liscia.」(Souma)

「M-me!?」(Liscia)

「Yes. Furthermore, Aisha and Roroa too.」(Souma)

「Eh, really?」(Aisha)

「Me too?」(Roroa)

Upon hearing my answer, Aisha and Roroa stared at each other face. I then turned my attention to Hakuya.

「Hakuya. How you would describe Mary’s appearance to someone who was not in the Audience Room?」(Souma)

「…… Let’s see. A well proportioned face. Silver hair, braided into two……Wh-!?」(Hakuya)

Hakuya widened his eyes, so he seemed to notice it too. I then let out a sigh.

「For me, I will describe her like this. Her well proportioned face resembles Liscia. Her silver hair is reminiscent of Aisha’s Dark Elvish characteristics. Her hairstyle is similar to that of Roroa. In other words, Mary's appearance seems to be a composite of features from Liscia, Aisha, and Roroa.」(Souma)

「Li-like us!?」(Liscia)

Yeah. The reason why I did not get charmed by her at all, even though she was a such beauty, perhaps because my face perception processing gave off a red flag. If one day, Aisha suddenly had a human face, then I would be surprised. If Liscia or Roroa’s hair became silver then it would be natural if I felt uncomfortable. Then, Aisha tilted her head.

「Wait a moment. If she has our characteristics, then where is Junsan’s part? Her body appearance is also average, right?」(Aisha)

「That’s it!」(Souma)

I slapped my knee, as I realized something.

「Judging from her look, Mary doesn’t have any resemblance to Junsan. Though perhaps, only her big black eyes are similar to Junsan, but as a characteristic, this is too weak. Then, what is the difference between Junsan and the other three?」(Souma)

「I am the only candidate as a Royal Consort. And…… it is only my engagement which still has yet to be announced to public.」(Juna)

I nodded at Junsan’s reply.

「For Liscia, Aisha, and Roroa, their engagements have already had been announced to public, but out of consideration for Junsan’s activities as 『Song Princess』, Junsan’s engagement hasn’t been announced yet. That’s why no one knows that Junsan is my fiancée. Following that, if we consider that the dispatched Holy Maiden possesses the characteristics of my fiancées, excluding Junsan, and the active movement of the Orthodoxy State’s spies in the Capital, we could speculate that what the spies gathered was information about my fiancées’ appearance. It was so that they could send a girl as the Holy Maiden that matched my preferences, or at least won’t be disliked by me.」(Souma)

「Souma, then.......」(Liscia)

「Yeah…… Do you remember what Mary said, when I mentioned whether she was here 『to offer herself as a bride』?」(Souma)

『If Your Highness Holy King desires so, you may do whatever you please to me.』

Mary replied without any objections. To send a girl who matched my preference, and that girl said, 『You may do whatever you please to me』. And then, as quid pro quo, in exchange for her, the Orthodoxy State could try to press on their demand. In other words, for the Orthodoxy State, the Holy Maiden was

「Something similar to national scale honey trap.」(Souma)

「What they attempted is similar to how the n.o.bles try to peddle their own daughters……」(Liscia)

Liscia spoke in astonishment. Truly, for a country governed by clergymen, this was a vulgar doing. As a nation, the Orthodoxy State is just as worldly as any other country.

「After I noticed the true cause of the sense of discomfort…… I asked Mary about how she was selected as a Holy Maiden, and she gave a very thorough and detailed explanation.」(Souma)

It seemed that the Holy Maiden of the Orthodoxy State was chosen from among the nuns who work in the Central Church by an “oracle” from the Moon Stele 『Lunaris』. It seemed that most of the nuns were originally orphans. They numbered around 50 people. Perhaps, they were trying to have a diverse stock of Holy Maiden candidates for the rulers they wanted to ensnare. At the Central Church, a place separated from the secular world, the nuns received their training and were raised into obedient believers of the doctrine. And when they come to a certain age without being chosen as a Holy Maiden, it seemed that they would be dispatched as Priestesses to various churches.

「This is…… a horrible story, isn’t it?」(Aisha)

Aisha spoke up.

「Doesn’t that mean they are like real dolls? That they have no free will at all?」(Aisha)

「No, no, Ai-nee. I’ve heard worse stories.」(Roroa)

Aisha found this unacceptable, but Roroa had a different opinion.

「No matter what the country is, a proper orphanage is difficult to operate. After all, even when the children reached the working age, without any education, they would end up as cheap manual labor. A place that teaches reading, writing, and basic arithmetic is rare. Especially for women who come from the orphanage…… There are many who have no choice but to sell their own body. If they could escape from this circ.u.mstance by living in the church so that they can have enough food, clothing, and shelter, then for the person themselves, this would be happiness, right?」(Roroa)

「Even so! They are being raised to become tributes to rulers of other countries as Holy Maidens!」(Aisha)

「Calm down, Ai-nee. I also find it unpleasant like you do, but using children in marriage is something that is common practice for any n.o.ble or Knight House. Even I…… I also use myself for political reason.」(Roroa)

「Rorodono.」(Aisha)

「Besides, in her story there are several Holy Maidens. In other words, there are other nuns who experience the same story. It would be pitiful to call the Holy Maiden as a tribute, but if they were handed to a ruler, they are marrying into wealth and status. Just like me, who used myself for political reason, am perfectly happy, whether or not they are happy or sorrowful is not something that can be decided by another person.」(Roroa)

Roroa gave her honest answer. Really…… She is a strong girl.

「I also agree with what Roroa has said. Although I don’t find this method agreeable, I have no complaints with the system itself.」(Souma)

「Then…… why does your face have such a horrible look?」(Liscia)

Liscia asked me and put her hands on my forehead.

「What shocked me…… was the fact that Mary accepted that “I am a Holy Maiden” and completely embraced everything about it.」(Souma)

◇　◇　◇

At the end of the audience, I asked Mary something which had been bothering my mind.

「Mary-dono, don’t you have any problem with being treated as the Holy Maiden? To suddenly become burdened with the country's prestige, to stand in front a king of another country, and then to a.s.sure that  king 『you may do whatever you please to me』. This burden is too much to bear for a single person, even more so for a mere normal girl; this will be utterly unbearable. Isn’t this way of life too grueling?」(Souma)

In response to my question, Mary answered while smiling.

「I have been graciously bestowed with the position of Holy Maiden by the Lunarisama’s Will. The Holy Maiden is the face of the Orthodoxy State. I, who had been bestowed with that duty, rather than my own sentiment, I would like to carry out my duty as the Holy Maiden that has been conferred to me. Not just for my country, but also for the people.」(M)

「……Are you forsaking yourself for others’ sake?」(Souma)

「Isn’t this a natural obligation for those who have received a higher honor than other people? Does Your Majesty Souma as a Great King not understand this?」(M)

「.........」(Souma)

「 To live according to other people’s expectations, I think, is an extremely magnificent and wonderful way of living. I am willing to devote myself for the sake of those who revere me as a Holy Maiden.」(M)

For those who revere her as a Holy Maiden……? When I saw Mary’s smile who believed that it is wonderful to live up to other people’s expectation, the word of the other Holy Maiden came into my mind.

『Although my station is that of an Empress who governs over the Empire, in the end, I am just a human. Rather than being wors.h.i.+ped as a Holy Maiden, I want to be loved by other people, as a human, as a person.』

One Holy Maiden takes pride to be a Holy Maiden and behaved as such.

The other Holy Maiden refuses to become a Holy Maiden and tries to be a mere person until the end.

『Does Your Majesty Souma as a Great King not understand this?』

――― I……

◇　◇　◇

「There are times…… when I had the same thinking as Mary.」(Souma)

I informed my partners as if I was confessing in a church.

「Perhaps Carla remembered? Our conversation during the battle with Amidonian Army.」(Souma)

「That time……?」(Carla)

Carla who was standing in the corner of the room muttered and I nodded.

「I was suffering from the magnitude of responsibilities because I am merely human. As such, I was worried about the decisions I had made. Actually, I didn’t want enact them, but I was obligated to. Being forced by the war at that time, I… unconsciously behaved like a machine…… A system called a 『King』. After all, a machine would neither suffer nor worry.」 (Souma)

「Souma……」(Liscia)

I smiled wryly and shook my head to Liscia who looked worried.

「At that time, thanks to Carla who pointed out to me that 『Won’t you become broken?』, I realized how warped I’d become on the inside. I was barely able to stop it from progressing further…… However…… perhaps if at that time, Carla didn’t point this out…… Just thinking about it makes me s.h.i.+ver. Perhaps, I may have also ended up like Mary.」(Souma)

When I thought what if I, who became a system called King, stand up in front Liscia and others…… I was afraid. Will I, who will throw everything away for the Kingdom, be able to notice Liscia and others’ tears? Will I able to make Liscia and others smile?

―――I want to be loved by other people, as a human, as a person.

.

(Yes…… You are right, Maridono)(Souma)

If I don’t notice Liscia and others’ tears,

If I can’t make Liscia and others smile,

Even if I was suffering from the heavy responsibility, even if worried about my decision,

I don’t want to become just a machine, a system.

「Yes, I am fine as a mere person.」(Souma)

「Souma? …… Hyah.」(Liscia)

I stood up, walked to Liscia’s side and hugged her.

「Ano…… Souma? Can you release me? This is, you know…… embarra.s.sing, in front of everyone……」(Liscia)

Liscia raised an objection, but I ignored it. If she really disliked this, with her strength, she could easily thrust me away. While still hugging Liscia, I spoke to Hakuya.

「I will not become a Holy King. Furthermore, I won’t let the Orthodoxy State as they please. However, all the plans that I’ve thought up can only stall them and not be a permanent solution. The Lunaria Orthodoxy believers inside the Kingdom are bound to become a problem. I hope that they can be rendered powerless, or perhaps, become harmless.」(Souma)

「Wait, why are you having a serious discussion in this manner!?」(Liscia)

「Then, please leave the countermeasure to me. I have an idea for it. Therefore, please lend me Kagetordono and the Black Cats Squad.」(Hakuya)

「You too, Hakuydono? Why are you replying to him!?」(Liscia)

「I understand. Then let’s work it out tomorrow.」(Souma)

「Thy will be done, Your Majesty.」(Hakuya)

「Am I being ignored!? Are you ignoring me!?」(Liscia)

「Yes, I’m depending on you, Hakuya. Then,……」(Souma)

While scratching my cheeks, this time I turned to face the girls.

「I am sorry, but please leave me with Liscia alone for tonight.」(Souma)

「「「!?」」」(Aisha)(Juna)(Roroa)

Aisha, Juna, and Roroa were opening their eyes wide from surprise at my request. Liscia who had been protesting from the beginning,

「……*open mouth*close mouth* open mouth*close mouth*.」(Liscia)

There were no words coming out from her mouth anymore despite opening and closing like goldfish. To think Liscia, who was always gallant and confident, would make a face like this was quite fascinating.

「DDarling. That means……」(Roroa)

「Rorosan.」(Juna)

Roroa who was trying to ask me was stopped by Junsan who placed her hand on Roroa’s shoulder, whispering something to both Roroa and Aisha. She, then, turned to me and bowed with her usual elegant manner.

「Then, Your Majesty, Liscisama. We will excuse ourselves from this room.」(Juna)

After saying this, Junsan gracefully left the room.

「Etto…… Please have a good rest, Your Majesty, Princess…… Liscisama.」 (Aisha)

「Muuu…… Cinee! Tell me what happened later ‘kay!」(Roroa)

After that, Aisha and Roroa followed Junsan.

「Until tomorrow. Please have a good rest.」(Hakuya)

「S-since I’ll stand outside the room as the guard…… M-my Lord and Lady, take your time.」(Carla)

Finally, Hakuya and Carla also exited, leaving only me and Liscia in the room. I lifted the completely stiffened Liscia into my arms.

(She is so light……)(Souma)

She had some muscle, but overall her body was lean, so I was able to comfortably lift her up by our weight difference. When I put her down in the small bed that was always placed in the corner of the room, Liscia finally regained her senses.

We sat side by side on the bed, under the candlestick’s light.

「ano, Souma? Is this…… that thing, right?」(Liscia)

When the face-flushed Liscia asked me like that, I felt my cheeks warm up, too.

「Ah…… Yeah. I intend…… to do so……」(Souma)

「I-I see……」(Liscia)

「………I can’t?」(Souma)

「No! You can! After all, I have been waiting for this……」(Liscia)

Liscia quickly shook her head. Her words became weak at the end, though.

「B-but, why this sudden? Haven’t you been hesitating all this time?」(Liscia)

「Ah, yeah. Well…… I had thought that 『after the country has become more stable』, 『after I am able to take the responsibility』, or 『after I took a proper steps』……」(Souma)

Aw, geez. This is so embarra.s.sing! I scratched my head.

「However…… After seeing Mary and realizing that I want to be a mere person…… I couldn’t hold back anymore.」(Souma)

「I-I see……」(Liscia)

There  was also some influence from Maridono’s words: 『I want to be loved by other people, as a human, as a person』. I want to love Liscia and the others as a person. I want to be loved by the Liscia and the others as a person. When I thought deeply about this, I couldn’t hold back anymore…… Well, as expected, it would be untactful to say, 『I am deeply impressed by the words of another woman』 in this scene.

Both of us were slightly embarra.s.sed and we began to excitedly take off our clothes while avoiding eye contact.

「But, well…… for the First Time, an office room is not that romantic.」(Liscia)

Liscia, who was folding her undressed outerwear so it wouldn’t wrinkled, said this while being bashful.

I also removed my outerwear and hugged Liscia who was only wearing white underwear.

The one who’s trembling. Is it me? Or Liscia? …… Or perhaps both of us?

Because both of us were inexperienced, we embraced each other awkwardly.

For now, after we exchanged a kiss,

「Then, should we change the location?」(Souma)

I teasingly whispered into Liscia’s ear.

Then Liscia made a wide smile while slowly shaking her head,.

「No. This place will do. After all this……」(Liscia)

―――Is the same place where you and I met.

read from yukkuri literature service blοgspοt okay? or I will Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo,

Aureli pathice et cinaede Furi,

qui me ex versiculis meis putastis,

quod sunt molliculi, parum pudic.u.m.

Nam castum esse decet pium poetam

ipsum, versiculos nihil necessest;

qui tum denique habent salem ac leporem,

si sunt molliculi ac parum pudici

et quod pruriat incitare possunt,

non dico pueris, sed his pilosis

qui duros nequeunt movere lumbos.

Vos, quod milia multa basiorum

legistis, male me marem putatis?

Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo.

☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽

SERIOUSLY CLICK THE b.u.t.tON!

NEXT CHAPTER! HOT s.h.i.+P TO s.h.i.+P ACTION!

The author says:

No… There is no 18+ scene.

Go and draw or write the doujin yourself.

What? No footnotes, how boring.

Next chapter: The morning after + Souma and Hakuya’s evil scheme that even made Mary’s expressionless face showed an expression.