Author: aji (あじ)
Translator: sleepingjay
＊
Around dusk.
I was holed up in my room, developing the burn medicine for Brad’s treatment. I put together multiple different herbs and stirred the mixture evenly. Next to me, a bunch of Spirits were floating around in circles, mimicking my movements and making a racket.
“Roooound and round.”
“We go round an’ round~”
“Lilius~ Are you listening?”
“Yes, yes, going around in circles is fun.”
If I didn’t give a reply, they would keep asking the same question till the end of time. Even though it was a half-hearted reply, the Spirits were satisfied with it and returned to fluttering around the herbs.
I had no idea what the underlying reason was, but the quality of herbs would increase greatly when the spirits stayed near them.
Today after work, I brought along the Spirits and the herbs I had grown at my previous house.
Since they had a whimsical character, I thought I would be rejected, but when I tried inviting them, I was surprised to find that they were happy to go, to the point they had a big fight over who got to go with me.
After all, I had expected them to say something more along the lines of, “Eeeh? Troublesome~”, “Right?”, “Right!”.
I immersed myself in the work of developing the medicine, talking to the Spirits from time to time. Once I finished creating the burn medicine, it would be time to make medicine needed for work.
When the figure of the sun completely disappeared and the round figure of the moon had risen, Seth came barging into the room, his face flushed.
“Hey!!! Oi, Lilius! What the heck did you tell the Commander?!”
“……Nothing much? Something something slacker, black-hearted, and so on and so forth. Nothing important, don’t mind it.”
“I care!”
Seth sobbingly shed crocodile tears, collapsing onto the floor. But even if he put on such a show, my conscience wasn’t going to hurt. On the contrary, the corner of my lips lifted up, showing my raised mood.
“Uwaa, you’ve got a super evil look on your face. Exactly like a villain!”
“Heh. I haven’t forgotten how you made fun of me that day.”
“Th–that?! It was just a little joke, you’re even holding a grudge for that? You’re terrible, Lilius.”
“Hmm? You sure you’ve got time to yapper on like that? Shouldn’t you be making a run for it instead?”
“Aa, right….! Listen, Lilius. I’m going out for the next three days until the Commander calms down, so I’ll leave the rest up to you.”
“…..”
“Lilius, you listening or noooot?”
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.
Vb bnfgvgjwjalm.
Well, it was true that Jill’s magic felt heavy as he was heading towards us.
Vfflcu atja Vfat kjr ufaalcu afjgs-fsfv obg gfji, P vfmlvfv ab ifcv tlw j tjcv.
“Ljnf sbe vfmlvfv ktfgf sbe’gf ublcu obg atfrf atgff vjsr?”
“Rbqf, jr ibcu jr P mjc beagec atf Jbwwjcvfg!”
“Lww. Ktfc, P’ii rfcv sbe bea klat afifqbga wjulm. P’ii fnfc yglcu sbe yjmx joafg atgff vjsr.”
“Whoa, thanks Lilius! My world collapsed when I knew you tattled on me, but it turns out we are friends after all!”
“…….Hah.”
I gripped Seth’s hand as he urged me to hurry, and enshrouded him in my magic.
When transferring someone else, I had to set up the spell more carefully than usual. That said though, I was used to it. Soon, the magic circle was completed.
“Get me back in three days!”
“Trust me on it.”
Seth, oblivious to my scheming, embarked on his trip with a big smile on his face.
It wasn’t long before Jill arrived. From Seth’s suddenly disappearing trace, and the high density of magical residue, Jill seemed to have figured out what had happened.
“Did you let Seth escape?
“Well, but it’s not for free. He’s going on an expedition with the healer squad for three days. I’m assigning him to be their escort.”
“……Lilius.”
“Isn’t this fine? It’s much better than him wandering around aimlessly for three days. And since the knight himself chose to come accompany them for free, I’m sure his likability will go right up too.”
Jill sighed in exasperation, but I didn’t mind.
Since that day, just like this, he had been showing me various kinds of expressions and attitudes. This was much better than having that manly nobleman smile directed at me all the time.
Jill sat down beside me as I continued my work, and looked down at my hands with curious eyes.
“What’s this medicine for?”
“It’s Brad’s medicine. The guy with the burns.”
“I see. He’s still……”
“Aa. Well, being down about it doesn’t help with anything though.”
To be honest, my heart was very depressed because I had high hopes. But even after we took down the demon, Brad’s condition showed no change, and there wasn’t even a hint of him waking up.
But, that was exactly why I had no time to lounge around being sulky. If I had time to be down, then that time was much better used to search for the next method to wake him up.
“If there’s anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”
“……mm. Thanks.”
It’s already enough that you’re doing this.
If I asked anything more of Jill, then surely the heavens would punish me for being greedy.
I smiled, and Jill stared at me gently. The look in his eyes made me feel sweet and bashful.
Even I had to say that I fell in love too easily. Once I was aware of it, it was easy for it to ruffle my heart.
Jill stayed next to me, helping me with my work, and time passed by leisurely.
But in the midst of it, I noticed something strange.
“What’s up? Why are you so restless?”
“Aa, no. Well, kind of.”
“What’s got you worked up?”
Jill was hesitating whether to say it or not.
When I wondered whether something was seriously wrong, Jill shook his head to indicate otherwise.
“I just don’t know whether I should say this while you’re working so hard……. Actually, I came here to invite you to play in my little brother’s territory for two days and one night next week.”
“—!”
“My little brother’s place has a warm climate. It’s like summer all year round, so we can go to the beach even at this time of year.”
I was blindsided by an invitation that I never would have imagined.
I got fired up at the thought of being able to go to the beach, which I had always wanted to do, but then I remembered I had work to do and the fire went out.
“…… Sorry, I’m working.”
“No need to worry about that.”
“Why not?”
“Just now, I went to see Bel-kun. He said you don’t need to have any reservations about leaving.”
“You’ve gone to see Bell?!”
“Aa. Hank-dono as well.”
“Why did you do that,”
Did he use his position as Commander……?
No way. No way that would happen, not Jill at least. I shook my head to drive away the weird idea.
Watching me, a chuckle slipped out of Jill.
“I received the petition regarding the misuse of funds from Hank-dono, and since it’s related to a case I’m responsible for, I went to tell him to leave it to me. Then, he told me that you were too much of a workaholic, and that you need to take a break every now and then. I heard you even worked secretly when you were injured?”
“I mean, even if it was work, it was all easy stuff. Anyway, it’s good to hear an update about that.”
It was embarrassing to have it exposed that I had been working, but more than that I was relieved to know that the funding issue was going to be resolved.
The case that involved Jill seemed complicated, but it looked like the funds misappropriation case by the Magical Healing Bureau official would be resolved very soon.
……Then, could I really go to the beach?
I had never skipped work even once, so I felt a bit guilty at the idea. But after all, the idea of going to my dream destination was so appealing that I couldn’t stop myself from getting excited about it.
“……Well, since you’ve gone and done all that, I can’t not go. I’m not heartless.”
To be honest, I was extremely happy. But there was no way I could honestly show my pleasure.
Jill laughed at my curt response, as if he somehow found it endearing.
Seeing that smile reminded me.
Right, Jill has the Kakyou, so my real feelings were all—
“~uhh, i–idiot! Don’t look at me!”
“You’re really cute.”
“Uggh. That’s so not fair! It’s not fair that only Jill knows.”
I felt like steam was going to come out of my head at any moment.
Because I knew that the fact that my heart was actually really happy about this would be leaked to Jill.
“Do you know what you look like in my eyes?”
“No need. I don’t want to know that.”
“Really? Inside Lilius, there’s these tiny flower buds blooming all at once. It’s very beautiful and lovely.”
“I told you not to say it! Why are you teasing me, idiot?”
I crouched down, hiding my face in both hands. Next to me, Jill laughed, his voice ringing loud in amusement.
Translator Note:
Beach episode woooo~!
i almost forgot lilius was kinda OP after that last arc
thanks for the chapter ♡
Another sweet chapter, they are both adorable. Poor Seth, tho, I don’t think he’ll escape punishment even after those three days away. 🤣😂
Thank you for the chapter!!!
how cute!
thanks for the chapter <3
The beach episode is truly Japanese 😂