T/L: Lore_Temple (foxaholic)

“You don’t seem to like the idea of having an arranged marriage. All right, then I’ll be kind for once and give you the benefit of taking me as your family’s son-in-law.”

“W, What?”

Presumably surprised by my ‘sincerity’, Frillite was genuinely surprised.

It’s the kind of expression presented on seeing some serious bullshit all of a sudden.

It’s also the first time I have seen an expression like that.

I decided to come out a little more brazenly.

“Hey, what’s wrong with your reaction, isn’t such a free benefit nice?”

“Benefit? You sure that’s a benefit?”

“Of course it’s a benefit. Hey, to be honest, my character is good enough for you, my personality is not that angular, and since I am also a Hero, I can compare in status with you. No matter where you look throughout the continent, you won’t find a better groom than me.”

The ?ock is 3cm tall, but I’ll fix it soon, so let’s leave that out of the discussion for now.

“..you can say such things with your own mouth, don’t you usually shy?”

“Why should I? It’s all true. And it’s not bad for you either. Isn’t it better to be with someone you know than with someone you don’t know? Not only that, I’m confident I won’t touch you at all.”

“Won’t touch me.. that’s not possible. In order to carry on the family line, I have to bear children.”

“We’ll adopt.”

“..are you sane?”

“I am dead serious.”

Frillite looked at my face with an absurd expression.

In the meantime, I continued to appeal my strengths like a freshman interviewing for the first job.

“And I may not even care what you do and don’t. I’m not really interested in power, add that as a plus. As long as you give me three times of delicious meals, I will gladly stay in the corner of the room.”

I folded my arms and nodded confidently. The appeal is over. Now all that remains is to wait for the boss to declare the result.

“..didn’t you ask me to be your friend just a few hours ago?”

“Umu, I did.”

“And now you are proposing? Do you have any idea of how many immediate steps you have skipped in the middle?”

“Isn’t it more attractive because it’s manly?”

“Crazy.”

Saying that, Frillite didn’t look annoyed. Rather, she was smiling broadly as if she was enjoying the fun of it.

Yeah, she was giggling.

She’s the first friend I have made in this new world. Wouldn’t it be better to live with a smile if possible?

“Really.. when I first saw you, I never thought you would be like this. How the hell did you hide that cleverness?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Welp, was a bit hard. So what is your answer, my lady?”

“I am grateful, but I will politely decline. In the first place, my marriage is not something that I can decide on my own.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate. Hash, it was a great opportunity to change my status quo, missed, tsk, tsk.”

“Don’t be too sad. I’m going to make that suggestion to my father. We don’t really know, maybe he will select you as his future son-in-law, huh?”

“Sadly, by then, I will be out of stock already. It’s a body that the precious daughter of the Perdiac family cannot find once it’s sold.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. If I can’t find you, I will make you come to me.”

“Oh? How?”

Frillite said with an uncharacteristically warm smile.

“If you are married, why not just make that marriage a thing that never happened?Fortunately, I have that level of power.”

“Hey, that’s a funny joke.”

“..”

“..you are kidding, right?”

Frillite didn’t answer. She just looked at me with her smiling face.

As cold shivering sensations were about to climb upto my spine, she burst into giggles.

“Of course it’s a joke. Did you really believed that?”

I nodded my head.

“I hope you better not make such jokes in the future.”

""

“Why not?”

“Depending on the listener, I think he might seriously consider suicide.”

She took it as a joke, but unfortunately I was serious.

You really can’t joke around lightly, nowadays world is very serious with things.

* * *

Maybe it was because the poor horse was made to gallop the whole night, we were able to meet the lord of the territory before the lord’s army collided with the Ogre.

“Hero-sama! Thank you for coming at such a short notice!”

The old lord, who had been wandering here and there with a dark expression until before, saw Frillite and ran over to her with all his remorses.

“I’m just fulfilling my duty as a Hero. So where is the Ogre?”

Frillite treated the lord lightly as if it was very natural, even though he is one of the oldest nobles and a Count of the Empire. Even so, the lord didn’t lose his smile throughout the whole conversation and treated Frillite with respect.

Does he really not care, or is he being patient even though he cares?

I didn’t know what he was thinking in his head, but one thing was certain for sure.

‘There is a distant class wall between Frillite and an ordinary count of the Empire.’

It was a new situation, but I realized it for once again that Frillite’s class level was very high.

..I’ll have to make sure she was really joking.

While I was thinking about it, the count explained the situation to Frillite.

“Most of the content will be omitted since Miss Frillite has already heard it from Alex. It’s been about four days since we found that Ogre, we don’t know exactly when it entered the forest. According to the scout’s report, that Ogre is currently lodging beside a lake inside the forest.”

“A lake in the forest. I got it. I’ll go right away.”

“Yeah, then.. Yes? Miss Frillite, I’m sorry, but this old man has a bad hearing due to old age. What did you just say?”

“I said I would go alone. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to deal with that Ogre. I’ll have to ask Count Lykel to take care of the monsters who might escape during my fight with that Ogre, otherwise the aftermath will be more difficult to handle.”

Leaving her words that was more close to an instruction, Frillite left the barracks.

I walked after her.

“Cloud, there’s no need for you to accompany me. Honestly, it’s too dangerous for you.”

“Before that, let me ask you one thing. Can you really kill an Ogre by yourself? Aren’t you the one trying to be stubborn in that case?”

As she said, if she can kill the Ogre alone, that’s the best ending.

Because it can end without anyone dying.

However, that was only when she was able to deal with the Ogre by herself.

I looked around at the Count’s soldiers. There were elite soldiers and knights wearing good quality armor and holding sharp weapons, but most of the others were conscripts who didn’t have a piece of proper armament.

For example, the farmers who don’t even know how to fight.

If they collide with the Ogre in this state, they will take quite a good deal of damage. A lot of people will die and more will get hurt.

Frillite was surely concerned about that, so she may have said that she would go alone.

To a priest, it might be considered a noble behavior, but to me, it was plain stupid.

At my question, she stopped, she turned and looked at me, and asked.

“What if I said I can’t?”

“What then? We will go together and bash that monster together.”

A startled expression appeared on her face as I spoke without hesitation.

“I thought you would stop me, but I was wrong.”

“What if I do? Are you even going to listen to me? Hah, even if I grab hold of your legs, you’re going to drag me in that state.”

“That’s true.”

Frillite broke into giggles. Then, she expressed in a serious voice soon after.

“Don’t worry, I’m not as reckless as you see. I’m going because I can.”

“You can deal with an Ogre by yourself? What level are you?”

How much is she in saying she can subdue an Ogre by herself?

“60.”

“?”

Damn?