Chapter 23: A Little Something for the Boys
“Orphe.”
“What?”
“Thanks for bringing Eris this far. I’m pretty sure she would have ended up in a terrible situation if it were just her alone.”
“Indeed,” Orphe nodded in agreement.
“Hehe, you can praise me more, you know?”
Her straightforwardness felt refreshing.
“Just like you, Orphe! You’re so reliable!”
So, I praised her honestly.
“See! See! Praise me more!”
“Of course, it’s Orphe we’re talking about! I’ll continue to rely on you from now on!”
“Fufu…”
Orphe placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest in response to my compliments. Oh no! If I keep praising her like this, she might get a big head! I need to change the subject quickly!
“More importantly…”
“Hm?”
“I’m surprised you thought to bring Eris to me. I mean, she’s a member of the super amazing clan, Seventh Blue, right? There must have been plenty of reliable people around.”
“Ah, about that, before we get into it…”
“What is it?”
“I’ve been wondering for a while. I’m technically your disciple, right? I thought I might call you ‘Shifu’…”
“You can call me whatever you want. I’m pretty sure we’ve had this conversation before.”
“It feels different, though. Eris calls you ‘Shifu,’ right? It’s kind of… well, you know, overlapping?”
“Overlapping…?”
“That’s right! It would be the same name as Eris’s, you see?”
This muscle-headed girl was worried about overlapping names in a serious conversation!
“It doesn’t matter if it overlaps. For example, at school, all students call their teachers ‘Sensei’ without exception.”
Eris shot a glance at Orphe, as if to say, “Isn’t ‘Shifu’ fine?”
Orphe tilted her head, looking dissatisfied with my explanation.
“Is there another good name I could use?”
“Are you seriously asking me?!”
“Hey, don’t you have any other good ideas?”
Feeling the NPC vibe of repeating the same thing, I was struck with fear. If I didn’t propose something, the conversation wouldn’t move forward.
“‘Sensei’… is already taken—”
As I glanced over, I saw Sensei grinning and giving a double peace sign. Oh no! That would overlap too! I need to think of something else!
“How about ‘Master’?”
I asked, even though I knew ‘Master’ didn’t suit me at all. However,
“Not quite.”
She shot me down immediately.
“Oof.”
Even though I knew it wasn’t a good fit, it was strangely frustrating to be rejected by someone (especially a muscle-head).
“Fine! Then pick whatever you like from here! ‘Head,’ ‘Boss,’ ‘Top,’ ‘Craftsman,’ ‘Shifu,’ ‘Leader!’”
I twisted my head around and quickly threw out several names.
“Hmm…”
After a moment of contemplation, Orphe said,
“Then I’ll call you ‘Shifu.’ That way, it won’t overlap with Eris, and it feels special since it’s a name just for me, right?”
Honestly, there’s nothing special about a name. I thought, but I kept that to myself.
“Then, please call me Shifu.”
As I let out a sigh of relief, she continued,
“Ichiro Shifu, about that question from earlier…”
Hearing my name called made my spine tingle. But putting that aside, the “question from earlier” must refer to my inquiry about whether Orphe had other people she could rely on.
“Indeed, you’re right. If I returned to the clan, there would be a reliable Clan Master, seniors with wisdom and knowledge, and seasoned warriors aplenty.”
Even I, who was somewhat out of touch with the world, knew about the famous clan. That was to be expected.
“However, even if they all banded together, none could take your place.”
Those eyes. She pierced me with a challenging gaze.
“It was a fight to the death. We couldn’t have won without every single one of us. The battle against the Three-Headed Dragon was truly a life-or-death struggle. With all our might, we somehow grasped victory. But what awaited us was despair.”
Indeed… that was the embodiment of despair.
“I experienced despair for the first time that day. The opponent that appeared before us was the King of the Undead. When I saw him, I thought, ‘Ah, humanity is finished now,’ and I gave up on everything.”
Orphe trembled. It was a shiver born from both fear and fighting spirit.
“I can still recall that abomination vividly whenever I close my eyes. No one from Seventh Blue could have driven him away. Even if we gathered the full strength of the clan, defeating him would have been impossible. That’s why I thought, since you accomplished that, you could do anything. No matter the hardship, I believed you would help us.”
I wasn’t used to being praised, and recently, I’d been receiving a lot of compliments, making me feel a bit ticklish in the back. Still, I wanted to cherish her feelings.
“I can’t push Eris too hard, so let’s have her stay here for the night.”
Orphe bowed her head.
“That’s fine, but…”
Looking at Sena, she nodded solemnly as if to say, “It can’t be helped.”
“What about you, Orphe?”
I asked as she stood up.
“Me? I shouldn’t overstay my welcome, so I’ll be taking my leave soon.”
As we were having this exchange, Sena spoke up.
“It’s already dark outside. It’ll be a struggle for you to descend the mountain alone. You should stay here.”
Surprised by her words, Orphe looked taken aback for a moment before responding,
“Then I’ll take you up on that offer.”
With a smirk, Orphe sat back down.
Afterward, since Eris and Orphe hadn’t had dinner yet, they readily accepted our invitation to join us for the meal. With a grunt, I began to think about the ingredients and menu to prepare extra for them, diving into the cooking process.
The cabin, though called a “cabin,” was spacious enough that five people could fit comfortably without feeling cramped.
I prepared a large meal, and the four of them devoured it with an enthusiasm that seemed to say, “What’s this ‘holding back’? Is it delicious?” Once they were full, everyone except me sprawled out on the floor. I wouldn’t call it bad manners; I understood how they felt. Among them, Eris, perhaps exhausted from her full stomach, was the first to drift off to sleep.
I had spare bedding in my Magic Bag, so I used that. After extinguishing the light from the magical lantern, I soon heard multiple snores.
Well then, I guess it’s time for me to sleep too… wait! Hold on a second! Everyone in this cabin is a girl except for me!!
This is bad! This is really bad! I’m too nervous to sleep! It’s going to be a sleepless night!!
How can I possibly sleep in a place full of girls like this? I need to get back to my own room! But wait! I don’t even have a room!
Should I just expand the cabin instead? Maybe I’ll go back to my room to draw up some plans! But wait! I don’t even have a room!
In times like this, I should just have a drink to calm my nerves… but I don’t have a room for that either!!
Damn it!
“What the hell am I supposed to do…!!”
With thoughts swirling in my head, I felt trapped in a mental dead end, and to calm myself, I took a deep breath and quietly stepped out of the cabin.
The night in the mountains was nearly pitch black until my eyes adjusted. Still, I pressed on aimlessly for a while until my vision began to clear.
“Ichiro.”
I hadn’t sensed her presence at all.
“I followed you out of the cabin.”
The one who called me was Sena.