Translator: mii
Editors: sleepchaser, Katie_WanderingFujoshi, ASplashofMusic
After sending off Mister Elmer, I sat down in a chair by the bar counter.
Talking for such a long time was tiring, but… what really weighed heavily on my mind was Riley’s current persona based on what his traveling companion had told me.
The hero, who had previously sworn vengeance, did just that. He had obliterated the Demon King’s close aide. The demon that had burnt Tobol village to ashes. However… was there supposed to be a “happily ever after?”
What an idiot.
I wanted Riley to live.
Since there was no way both of us could survive, ensuring Riley’s survival had been my goal. Even if that meant I had to sacrifice my life for his.
It had been that simple to me, and yet…
Did my action cause this? Riley’s obsession in tormenting those demons?
I covered my face with my hands, trying to keep myself from drowning in my emotions. Unlike in my previous life, my hands were soft. No blisters or anything.
That was natural though. I never held a sword in this life.
The valiant Allen was no more.
Was I wrongly murdered? No, I had deliberately challenged a demon, dying as a result.
And I had been completely satisfied with this outcome.
I had felt content knowing that I had died protecting Riley.
And had hoped that with my sacrifice, he could live freely.
That he would push the memories of me into the secluded recesses of his mind. That he would find a lovely wife in a city somewhere, and lead a peaceful life.
Never had I wished for him to seek revenge.
As I was wrapped up in my own dark musing, someone gently removed my hands from my face. “Ilya.”
I looked up, meeting Riley’s scarlet gaze. A gaze that seemed to ignore everything else around us.
In the past, I could read his emotions with just a glance, as if it were completely natural. But now, he was an impenetrable fortress.
Yet, behind those calm eyes, I could still see a young version of Riley, grief-stricken with tears.
“Riley,” I said, as I reached out to him, tentatively touching his cheeks.
His cheeks were no longer as chubby as prior. In contrast, they seemed to be carved in perfection, with only a slight curve to them.
Even if Riley managed to tilt his lips upwards, in a certain sense, it would only be a semblance of a smile. He could no longer smile from the heart.
Confusion filled his eyes as he wondered what I was doing.
“Would you like to go to Tobol with me?”
At this, Riley widened his eyes in surprise. While merely a slight change in expression, this tiny accomplishment was enough to lift my spirits.
✢
Our family’s tavern, which came equipped with an inn, was fairly prosperous in the royal capital.
Our prices were more affordable compared to those of the luxurious inns. Because instead of installing ensuite bathrooms like the luxurious inns, we had opted to install a large public bath.
Since it had wide bathtubssimilar to big soaking tubs, it was popular among our lodgers.
It felt much better than simply wiping one’s body with a damp cloth, and it was nice to take a bath in such a spacious area at a cheap price.
Once the tavern closed and we shut off the fire for the bath, my family would soak in the lukewarm water. Even so, it was simply heaven for a former orphan like me.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The only regrettable thing was the sight of Riley following me to the bath every day
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But I’d be lying to say it didn’t feel weird, having two grown men share a bath.
Absorbed as I was in these contemplations, Riley roused me from them by asking, “Ilya… What did the swordsman say to you?”
“Swordsman? It’s ‘Mister Elmer,’ right? Really now, call him by his name.”
“What did he say?” Riley asked, disregarding my reminder.
I tried to evade his question, but Riley was too persistent. He made his way toward me, the sloshing of water clear in the backdrop, until we were shoulder to shoulder.
As I took in the pale scars running through his body, my heart twinged.
“No, it was nothing,” I said, trying to downplay the importance of our discussion.
But he saw through me in a flash. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not. I’ve never lied to you, have I?”
“Yeah. But you still have a history of deceiving me.”
Damn, he was right about that. Why were his remarks so sharp nowadays?
In these kinds of situations, being childhood friends was troubling. Practically impossible to hide anything from him.
But it wasn’t as if I had a habit of doing it, though. I just didn’t want him to catch my gloom.
“It’s not like I’m deliberately hiding anything… He really didn’t say anything of importance, so…”
“Ilya.”
“Alright, I won’t hide things from you, okay? Well, when I talked about my reincarnation, we ended up revisiting the specifics of Allen’s death.”
That’s why I felt tired. But before I could say this, Riley seized my shoulders in a crushing grip.
His fingers dug into my skin painfully enough for me to grimace.
My head jerked upward to question him. But when his face entered my sight, I fell into a daze.
Really, what’s with that expression?
Despite the fact he was in a warm bathtub, his face had lost all its color.
His trembling lips pursed in apprehension, eyes filled with nervousness.
That expression gave me a glimpse of his trauma.
Sixteen years. An entire sixteen years.
Longer than the time we had spent together.
Yet, he still hadn’t come to terms with Allen’s death.
The moment I realized that, irritation surged through my entire being. Glaring into his pomegranate eyes, I gripped Riley’s hand, pressing it onto my chest.
He whispered brokenly, “Allen…”
“I’m not Allen. I’m Ilya.”
My heart pounded in brisk thumps.
The solid proof of my existence, palpitating in a spirited cadence under my skin, was transmitted to Riley through his palm.
His face contorted with various emotions. My nails dug into the back of his hand as I tried to tamp down the urge to scold him.
“Allen died a long time ago. You understand that, right?”
Trembles wracked his body as he shook his head in denial.
He didn’t understand? Or did he just not want to admit it?
My impetuous actions at that time must have changed him. Must have transformed him into this repressed and irrational being. It’s all my fault.
With one of his hands still on my beating heart, I yanked hard at the other one lying on his side.
He staggered a hint due to the force. I leaned in to rest my forehead on his shoulder.
Warm body with flowing blood. And a noticeably faster pulse. Further signs of my vitality.
“Look at me, Riley. Ilya is the one who’s alive now, not Allen. Allen died when he was twelve.”
Not a word escaped Riley’s lips. Similarly vexed, I found it hard to say anything more than that.
We simply listened to each other’s heartbeats for a long stretch of time, before naturally separating.
And for the first time since my reunion with Riley, I slept in a different room.
✢
Going to Tobol village was something I’d always yearned to do since I realized that I had memories of my previous life.
I saved up my salary. Researched how to travel to that village, incessantly sighing over how far Tobol was from the capital.
I would also need a horse for such a long journey. But even renting a horse was quite expensive, let alone buy one.
What was even more expensive were the fees for hiring an escort.
One could encounter demons and wolves, who frequently appear in deserted areas near villages, as well as bandits during one’s journey. Word has it that the bandits would auction off the people they captured if they had no money to pay ransom. Hence, I couldn’t be stingy when searching for an escort.
If my destination was a big city, then I could ask a merchant for a ride. But this wasn’t possible in my case. Tobol village was in the middle of nowhere.
Getting there would be difficult enough. Getting back was a different story altogether.
Just as I was wracking my brains day and night for a way to safely visit the Tobol villagers’ graves, Riley appeared out of the blue, solving my predicament.
He was the strongest and most trustworthy escort I could have. His protection also had the benefit of costing nothing.
Only… I’m a tad uneasy about treating the hero as an escort.
I trudged around the city, suppressing the unease about not dragging Riley along today. Ever since we had argued, he’d been in low spirits.
After finishing up my daytime shift, I found that there was still some time left before my night shift, when the tavern opened for the night. So, I used that spare time to travel to the headquarters of the Knights’ Order.
Whether I could find someone familiar remained unknown. I was not even sure if the Knights Order still existed.
But I felt like I must meet that person.
I approached the gatekeeper, who stood at attention right outside the gates of the knights’ headquarters. “Excuse me, I have someone I want to meet. May you help me with that?” I asked, flashing him a small smile and ignoring his glower.
✢
Following that, a myriad of confounding things happened. And it somehow resulted in me sharing a carriage with Mister Elmer.
If I had to put it in a nutshell, he stopped the gatekeeper from detaining me as a person of suspicion. The authority of a master swordsman was really impressive.
Though, never had I imagined Mister Kenneth to be such a big shot. In the past, he looked quite young. Pretty sociable too. And as an orphan without any living relatives, I found him to be the closest thing to an uncle.
I wanted to apologize to the gatekeeper. There was nothing more suspicious than knowing Mister Kenneth’s given name but not his last name or title. Sorry for confusing you…
“With such a docile face, I wouldn’t have pegged you for a reckless guy, Ilya,” said Mister Elmer.
A little sheepish, I said, “Ah, someone told me something similar when I said that I’m going to travel to Tobol on foot.”
He paused before questioning, “On foot?”
“Yeah, on foot.”
“To Tobol?”
“Yup.”
Mister Elmer gaped at me, chock full of disbelief.
This person’s face was highly expressive. To the point that I was beginning to wonder if he could perform a play solely by using his face as the cast.
Just imagining Mister Elmer, with his vivid expression, chattering away at Riley, this expressionless person, sparked an interest in my heart, a glimmer to my gaze.
“Then, based on what brash impulse did you intend to visit Sir Kenneth?”
“Hey now, don’t call me brash. I’m not particularly impulsive. It’s just that I’m heading off to Tobol with Riley, so I figured it’d be nice to meet Mister Kenneth before that.”
“…Wait. With the hero?” Mister Elmer probed in incredulity.
“Yeah.”
“To Tobol?”
“Yup.”
What’s with this strange exchange? This was the second time it happened. Hold on, did I tell him I was leaving on foot again? No, right? Well, whatever. Perhaps I should quit this line of thought.
Riley had his own horse already, and since we’re saving up on the escort fee, I could rent my own.
Oh, maybe it’s because it’s unconventional to treat the hero as an escort. That’s why his curiosity had been sparked. A weak sigh left my lips. I was back to pondering that topic again.
Even I found it a tad excessive for someone like me to have the world’s strongest escort. However, Riley said that he had always wished to return to Tobol. It would be fine if I simply followed along to visit, right?
“I have a personal question. Are you and the hero in a romantic relationship now?” Mister Elmer wrecked my train of thought with that explosive question.
“Huh?!”
“No, I’m not against it. It’s taboo in this country, but there are quite a few countries where homosexuality is recognized. The Bible is pretty vague about it. I just assumed this since both of you are more mature than when you were twelve, so—”
“Wait, wait, romantic relationship?! Who?!”
“You, Ilya.”
“With who?!”
“With the hero,” he replied nonchalantly, as if he weren’t shocking me with this question.
Riley and I in a romantic relationship?!
My thoughts, which had been in total disarray, completely halted. Then my brain began to rewind at breakneck speed.
What the heck did he mean by this?!
Both Riley and I were men! In the first place, we were reacquainted only recently, and Mister Elmer saw us together just the day before yesterday.
So how on earth could he misunderstand our relationship? Confused, I started replaying our reunion nine days ago.
We ended up hugging in public.
Riley currently lived at our inn.
And to be honest, we slept in the same bed too.
Oh, and we also shared a bath on a regular basis.
But it’s not like we caressed each other’s bodies or do stuff like that… Well now that I thought about it, we did touch each other quite a bit in the bath the other day… But there were no ulterior motives, ambiguous undertones or anything like that! It was all platonic. Platonic!
In the midst of my panic, I recalled the abnormal behaviour of the people around me these past few days.
My father had suddenly told me to follow my heart.
Ever since my elder brother had returned from buying newspapers, he stared at me with a warm gaze. I didn’t even have the ability to consider what was in the newspapers now.
Also, when I had told my mother that she didn’t need to change the sheets in Riley’s room, she flashed me a strange smile.
And for some inexplicable reason, my sister had started teaching me delicious recipes. She told me that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, or something to that extent.
…Were they doing all this because of what I was thinking?
I had even announced my trip to Tobol Village so abruptly, yet none of them were opposed to it!
“Wait, wait! We’re still not like that!” I exclaimed after running everything through in my head.
“Hmm, still, eh?” Mister Elmer snickered.
“N-no!” Ahh damn it, my face was burning! Hot to my ears!
And could anyone explain why I suddenly pictured Riley in the bath just now?!
His slicked-back and damp hair. The trail of water trickling down his thick neck… Why did I even remember that?! I was really such an idiot!
…Hey, that swordsman right there! Wipe that grin off your face!
/miican’tstopgrinningtoo /brickedbyIlya
Support the author! Here’s the tutorial made by “Shido Within” on how to buy digital books at CMOA. The tutorial specifies on how to buy digital manga, but I think it should work for novels too. After registering, you can click here to go to Icy’s CMOA page. Apparently, you can also buy this book at Bookwalker Japan! You’ll need to create a Bookwalker Global account first, then connect to VPN before clicking here to go to Icy’s Bookwalker page (or you can go there from the RAW Page on Icy’s ToC!). Here’s the guide on how to purchase books on Bookwalker JP Store! After the purchase, you can turn off the VPN and download to read the book on any device! (Thank you Shadow-san for telling me about this! ˭̡̞(◞⁎˃ᆺ˂)◞*✰) The difference is that if you’re using CMOA, you need to pay using your credit card, but with Bookwalker, you can pay using PayPal! Very efficient!
Support the translator! How about buying this translator a cup of bubble tea to give her a pat in the back? ₍₍ ◝(●˙꒳˙●)◜ ₎₎
I’m grinning too.
Illya on his way to be bent. (*≧艸≦)
Thanks for the chapter!!!
Honestly Ilya is so level headed and decisive I’m beyond pleased with him. No dilly dallying, just straight up “Riley, I died, it’s not Allen anymore it’s Ilya”, I’m so impressed!! Also fluster Ilya is adorableeeeeee (๑>◡<๑) thanks for the chapter!
+1
+1
Oh oh a dense MC that got enlightened early! This novel is really surpisingly quick and refreshing 😀
Thank you for the chappy, guys!! Ahh, xD Allen/Ilya is the besssssst lmao
Thanks Elmer for kickstarting Ilya’s thoughts in that direction!
Hahah yes bathing together (scrubbing each other’s backs?), sleeping together, and all of that is totally platonic
Thank you for the chapter!!
That ‘still’ tho~ uwu
Thanks for the chapter~ ( ^ ♡ ^ )/
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
“still” eh?? hey hey -wiggles eyebrows-
Thanks for the chapter! Still, he said, lol.
Well, he’s Just 16 and had been a pure boy this far. It’s no Wonder he didn’t think about those kinky things, hehehe. Now that he knows, he can think things through.
Thanks for the chapter!
🤭 Thanks for the chapter! 😘
I love how our MC is still very straightforward and understanding of ML 😋.
I hope this work is chock full of fluffy, sweet dogfood 🙏
(Please no: misunderstanding in their relationship due to the allen/ilya identity crisis
I feel that there might be)
Thank you for the chapter ❤❤❤❤❤
Ehehehehe “platonic” that’s bs HAHAHAAHA
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter
Now let the pa pa pa begin
Hehe
Hehehe
Hehehehe
Hehehehehe
Hehehehehehe
Hehehehehehehe
Hehehehehehehehe
Hehehehehehehehehe
As wise man said, don’t judge a person too soon without knowing them. Elmer dude, I am sorry about my initial dislike. You are an okay being in all honesty. Ilya having gay panic moments is cute.
My grin won’t wipe off…
Do not deny it Ilya ;))
Thanks for the translation
Opaa♥️🛐 kkkk Elmer, o Ilya e o Riley são namorados que não são namorados ainda kkk