Chapter 151.2 : Sudden Change

「In that case, just don’t tell the local lord.」

Donner muttered so.

「No, that’s not a choice either. Seeing that Flora-sama’s condition keeps deteriorating, if her condition doesn’t improve during her stay in this village or if it turns out that her illness is an endemic...........」

Scratching his head, Will talked about the reasons for why there was no other choice than to rely on the local lord.

「Humph, in short, you’re just scared. Your sudden change of attitude is simply because you don’t want to be the only one who is responsible for this matter.」

「HaaA?? 　I’m not scared!」

Furrowing his eyebrows, Will said so in response to Donner’s mocking remark.

「In that case, you should tell Flora-sama. Tell her that you’re going to report to the local lord if her condition doesn’t get better in a few days. In addition, you should ask her if there’s something that troubles her.」

「I’ve told you that it’s better to not probe too deeply regarding her situation. I’ve no problem with asking those questions. The problem is if things get more complicated due to my questions, what would you do if you were in my position ? 」

Will retorted, almost shouting at Donner. But, Donner refused to back down.

「That’s why I said that you’re getting scared. I mean you basically never told us about this matter up till now.」

Donner replied without holding back as if to sneer at Will’s wimpy nature.

「............ YOU BASTARD, ARE YOU TRYING TO PICK A FIGHT WITH ME? 」

Will’s face stiffened due to anger. The other men just listened to the situation in silence as they thought about the reason for their quarrel.

「Humph, the one who pushed us away first was you right.」

「Because things would get messy if you guys suddenly intruded!」

「And you only talked about it when it was convenient for you.」

Donner said so as he glared at Will.

「You bastard............ quite a chatterbox when it comes to Flora-sama’s condition aren’t you? Well then, if you were in my position, what would you do to protect Flora-sama? 」

Maybe because he was already at the end of the rope, Will asked such a question in a fit of anger.

「Humph, I can do more than you, at least I won’t turn into a coward like you!」

「YOU BASTARD! 」

Will was about to punch Donner in hearing his blunt answer. ―,

「Oi, cut it out already! 」

Naturally the other men stopped Will.

「LET GO OF ME! 」

Will tried to shake off the others in order to punch Donner, but――,

「GUH」

He couldn’t help but be pushed away by their strength. Even if he were to challenge Donner in a contest of strength, Will had no chance of winning against Donner who had a stronger physique than him.

「Humph, aside from your loose lips, you’re powerless against me. You won’t be able to protect Flora-sama. In the first place, the one who guided Flora-sama to the village chief’s house was me!」

Saying so, Donner looked down on Will with a triumphant face.

「Then, show me how you’re going to protect her!　I don’t think you can do anything for her!　You can say that since you don’t know about Flora-sama’s current condition!　I already have no choice other than relying on our local lord! 」

Even if Flora won’t agree to that idea―― And thus, Will ranted on and on about what he was feeling lately while glaring at Donner with a menacing gaze.

「.......................... Humph!」

Frowning, Donner stared back at Will. Donner was making a scary face, though Will couldn’t read his mind, he felt that it was something unpleasant towards himself. Then, a while later, he suddenly turned around and left them.

「Ah, oi. Donner, where do you think you’re going! 」

When the other young men asked him――,

「................. The break time is over.」

Turning around lightly, Donner muttered those words and left. The other young men, including Will were left behind as they watched Donner’s retreating back embarrassed.

◇　◇　◇

After that, Donner who had pretended to go back to work took a detour from the agricultural field towards the house at the center of the village.

On the way, when he passed by another villager who was already at the prime of his life――,

「Are, if it isn’t Donner... What’s the matter? 」

The other person called out to himas his house wasn’t located in the middle of the village, it was slightly separated from the rest of the houses in the village. And since work was about to begin, there might be no reason for him to be in the middle of the village during this time.

「........... My farming tools were in a slightly bad shape.」

Donner averted his gaze, feeling guilty about lying to another person as he showed the hoe in his hand.

「Ha~h. I see. Then return immediately after you fix it.」

The man said so without thinking too much about it. Despite the lack of courtesy, Donner didn’t mind it so much as the one who had said those words was a villager from the same village as himself.

historical

「.......... Yeah.」

Heaving a sigh, after nodding at the man, he went away as it is. ――,

「Come to think of it, HEY DONNER! 」

The man called Donner as if he suddenly recalled something.

「................ What’s the matter 」

Donner shuddered, and as soon as he turned around――,

「Please be careful since you’re going to scare the young women.」

The man said so while laughing heartily.

「............」

Frowning, Donner clicked his tongue and left in silence. The man went towards the field, still laughing at Donner.

（Everybody just keeps making fun of me!）

Donner stepped on the ground, feeling angry. He felt that everyone in the village was looking down on him. The girls didn’t approach him as they thought of him as weird and spoke ill of him behind his back. Such a persecution complex started emerging from within, overflowing endlessly.

（Look. Even someone like me..........will go to save you. I won’t leave you to that wussy Will. I will show you how to do it, Will!）

He turned around. Or to be exact, he wanted to turn around. He couldn’t accept the fact that Will was the only one allowed to see Flora. Despite only having his glib tongue with his status as the village chief’s son, he received a lot of attention from the other girls. He came later and yet had become the only one close to Flora. Even though the one who had talked to Flora first was him――.

And so on, while thinking about such things, Donner arrived at the house of the village chief. ―、

（He should be in the middle of morning patrol right now. I must finish this right away before he realizes the strange situation.）

And so, he secretly approached the village chief’s house. Each member of the village chief’s family, including the village chief himself were assigned to their own jobs. However, even though the village chief, as the one who held the official position, was supposed to stay at home, he mostly spent his time outside it. Donner knew that right now, he wasn’t at home and had yet to return since leaving that morning.

Then again, as Flora was staying in his house right now, he might have left someone in the house, so he observed the situation inside the house from a slight opening at the front door.

（Yup, no one is inside. Let’s enter now.）

After confirming that no one was inside the house, Donner went inside immediately. The house was very quiet.

（She should be on the second floor.）

He had a grasp of the village chief’s house as he had visited it many times before. Thus, Donner went towards the second floor with ease.

After he reached the second floor and the sole guest room there, he stood in front of it for a while before he knocked on it. He sharpened his hearing to make sure he did not miss any sound from inside and then――,