Chapter 162: Bitter Better Bita~n (bitter better ビターン) 3
*
The moment Lou Memphis heard that voice, she couldn’t help but feel envious. Was it because her mother had been a prostitute?
She couldn’t quite bring herself to fully believe in things like love or affection, but this made her understand—this was the real deal, perhaps more real than anything else she’d encountered. The trust overflowing in their voices for each other was intense.
Neither of them seemed to think for a moment that the other would betray their trust. It wasn’t like holding hands; their words alone revealed a bond akin to gripping each other’s wrists.
Though the atmosphere was far too volatile to be called simple affection between a man and a woman.
Erica’s voice… that was bad, really bad.
Is that acceptable?
Erica had said, catching her in an embrace.
Erica herself worried that people quickly distanced themselves because she unconsciously placed expectations too high, but that was absurd.
The reason was that face, that smile.
Did she even know how many noble daughters had seen Erica’s smile directed at them and kept their distance, sensing danger?
Absolute confidence, a resolve that surpassed even that—to put it in my commoner terms, it was a face that screamed, “I won’t take back what I’ve said.”
And she’d say it with such a face, looking so utterly fond.
It was emotional, overwhelmingly so.
Emotion charged in like a cavalry assault.
Now she understood. She understood how those female classmates felt, the ones who kept their distance from Erica and watched from the shadows.
This wasn’t good. As a couple, these two were really something else, and not necessarily in a good way.
“It is my dearest wish.”
His dearest wish, huh… Lou felt an awkward chuckle threatening to escape, but the moment her feet touched the ground, she snapped back to reality.
No matter how you looked at it, there was no time for awkward chuckling.
After all, Erica’s husband had just fallen into a hole.
There were plenty of things she wanted to say, like how if Daryl-kun hadn’t tried to save her… but all of that was less important right now.
Reacting to the sudden collapse of the ground, perhaps, one of the guards—the silver-haired girl—came falling from the sky.
As usual, she was an enigma.
Their worlds were too different; Lou couldn’t imagine ever becoming friends with her.
What should she say to Erica, who was staring intently at the collapsed ground where the hole had been filled in?
As Lou searched for words, the silver-haired girl—Elza—spoke to Erica.
“Senior Disciple will be fine. I was interrupted, so I couldn’t pull him up, but I think he made it down below.”
“That’s only natural for Shin,” Erica said, tearing her eyes away from the Landslide Site.
“I couldn’t risk Luu getting hit under any circumstances, so you were a great help, Elza-san.”
While they exchanged words Lou didn’t understand, Elza grabbed the collar of a Knight from the Guards who was shouting “Prince!” towards the filled-in hole.
“Master, retreat, retreat! Senior Disciple made a fool of himself!”
“Is that so?” came a reply from the other guard, Barbara, in a voice completely devoid of worry.
Aren’t you Shin-kun’s master? Lou thought, but decided not to dwell on it, figuring those two operated on a completely different level of common sense.
“Whoa, the hole’s filled right up. My disciple’s an idiot. He should’ve just flown out with Guts.”
I don’t think people are built to fly using Guts, Barbara-san, Lou thought, looking at Barbara, who, like Elza, had just dropped down beside them from the sky.
Lou felt sorry for Shin.
“Erica, the fact that the hole is filled with earth and sand means it’s likely hollow underneath. Let’s move back a bit,” Shara said, approaching after having moved the injured to a safe place. She took Erica’s hand and led her away from the hole.
“Hmm?”
Shara tilted her head, still holding Erica’s hand.
Right, this girl was pretty strange too, Lou recalled.
Lou felt a strange sense of alarm at Shara’s gesture.
This Sister had sensed the abnormality of the situation faster than anyone.
Lou braced herself, wary that Shara might start saying something weird again.
“It’s alright, Erica. If Shin-san were to die from something like that, he’d already be dead double-digit times over.”
Shin-kun comes close to dying that often?
Lou was surprised that the weirdness had taken a different direction this time.
Ignoring Lou’s reaction, Erica smiled at Shara.
She responded while fluttering her palm lightly, as if to show she was fine now, that her hand wasn’t trembling.
“You’re right.”
You’re right?!
Lou stared, startled at how readily Erica agreed.
“It’s only double digits because I’m around. If I take my eyes off him, that man would die triple-digit times over. He really is troublesome.”
Isn’t Shin-kun the one who should be troubled?
Lou couldn’t help tilting her head, and Eri-cchi and Sha-chan peered at her inquisitively.
Being asked “What’s wrong?” with just their eyes was also troubling.
She herself was confused.
Nevertheless, Lou answered them.
“I was just thinking… I never expected I’d end up worrying about the hateful man who stole my best friend from me.”
Erica laughed.
“Shin would be delighted to hear those words.”
Is Shin-kun that starved for kind words? No, my words weren’t even that kind. If he’d be happy hearing that, his usual life must be incredibly tough, mustn’t it?
“But there’s no need to worry. As long as half of him from the neck up remains, Shin will probably be fine.”
You wouldn’t call that human anymore, would you?
Lou thought but didn’t say it out loud.
A Knight who looked like someone important gave a loud signal to start moving, so Lou began walking, following the flow of people.
Eri-cchi does have a bit of a sadistic streak, after all.
Maybe that’s just their kind of relationship.
Lou decided to leave it at that.