Vol 3 Chapter 2 (1/2)

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Chapter 2

Volume 3 Chapter 2: I tried to regain my composure

“Good grief… What were you doing?” [Cecilia]

“Umm… what are you talking about? I don’t know what’s really going on now…” [Youki]

Cecilia stood before me intimidatingly as I sat myself in seiza once I sensed the change in her mood. This scenario seemed pretty familiar to me.

How had it come to this?

I tried to remember the sequence of events that led to this moment.

Ten days ago, my chuuni switch flipped as I was shopping, likely due to acc.u.mulated stress. As a result, I wound up giving myself an alias that was taken from a story from somewhere, and accepted A-rank missions as the Magic Knight of Black Lightning. I then proceeded to enthusiastically complete one mission after another, laughing the whole time, until I regained my senses after listening to what Duke said. An overwhelming sense of embarra.s.sment washed over me in that instant, causing me intense feelings of regret which prompted me to run, screaming my lungs out, all the way back to Minerva.

Seeing as I had to somehow report to the guild about my missions, I decided to make my way there today, albeit dispiritedly. However, while I was on my way there, I was suddenly captured, forced into the carriage from Aquarain’s family, brought to the mansion, and guided to this room where Cecilia was angrily waiting for me.

“You don’t understand yet? Magic Knight of Black Lightning, Youki-san.” [Cecilia]

“Ugh… How did you know that it was me?” [Youki]

I had not removed my helmet at all for the past ten days since I thought it would be much cooler to remain as an anonymous, mysterious A-rank adventurer. Looking back at it now, I was nothing but a suspicious looking guy.

“There’s a rumour going around in Miverva about a mysterious A-rank adventurer who appeared out of nowhere by the name of Magic Knight of Black Lightning. So, it was natural that the rumour reached me, too. The moment I heard about it, I knew that the said person is Youki-san.” [Cecilia]

“But, I had properly concealed my face. Even the shape of my body was supposed to be different after I morphed it a little…” [Youki]

Even when I was running amok while in my Magic Knight of Black Lightning disguise, I had always kept that in mind. That was the reason why I went through only partial transformation, changing just the shape of my body to prevent any unwanted rumour about my real ident.i.ty from spreading around.

“Certainly, based on the rumours, that person is said to have delicate features and slender looking body. There were also some who said that he’s a heroic looking man …But, you can’t deceive me.” [Cecilia]   (ED Note: A women’s intuition is scary.)

“No… I mean, that’s what I wanted to know. How did you find out?” [Youki]

“I have not actually seen what you looked like myself, but the appearance of the person from the rumours sounds roughly similar to Youki-san …besides, you’ve given many ‘unique-sounding’ lines to the clients, right?” [Cecilia]

It seemed that those chuuni lines of mine had been circulated in various places… It was h.e.l.l. Even Cecilia knew about them now. It was undeniable that my chuuni level was at its peak then, but it was still unbearable for such embarra.s.sing lines to have reached the ears of the person I like.

At that point, my mind was seriously on the verge of another breakdown despite the fact that I had just experienced one only the day before.

“Was that the reason why Duke noticed that

I am Magic Knight of Black Lightning?” [Youki]

“Did you meet Duke?” [Cecilia]

“The group of knights came upon me when I was subjugating the thieves. He urged me to come to my senses.” [Youki]

“…That’s just like Duke, isn’t it?” [Cecilia]

I was really no match for Duke; I really had to hand it to him. If I had continued running amok at that rate, I would have ended up in a bad situation from which there was no escape. The next time I see Duke, I should treat him to something.

…Even so, it amazed me that she could figure out the ident.i.ty of Magic Knight of Black Lightning from just that.

“Hold on a second, if Duke was able to figure out that it’s me, then-” [Youki]

“Naturally, Sheik-kun and Happiness-chan are aware of it, too. The two of them were laughing when they heard the rumours…” [Cecilia]

“Those guys…” [Youki]

It looks like I’ll need to have a little talk with them later… No, forget it. I’ll just be rubbing salt into my own wound if I do that now. My mind wouldn’t be able to endure another attack.

“Leaving that aside, do you understand what kind of situation you’re in now?” [Cecilia]

“Eh? No, not really.” [Youki]

It was clearly not the time to be joking around. That was what I thought as I maintained my seiza posture in front of her.

“I should have explained it before, right? About what would happen if you attract too much attention and become famous.” [Cecilia]

“Um… what was that about again?” [Youki]

I did recall being told something like that before, but I couldn’t remember it. I had a feeling it was something pretty important.

“Haven’t I told you that each country has started ama.s.sing talented people from everywhere?” [Cecilia]

“Ah… That’s right!” [Youki]

I guessed we did have this conversation before when I first came to this mansion. It was about countries using political marriage to try pull talented people to their side for a war.

“You seem to have recalled it. I don’t want to restrict Youki-san’s freedom too much, but you’re attracting way too much attention. Could you please restrain yourself a bit…” [Cecilia]

What Cecilia said was sound. It would’ve been fine if I was an ordinary A-rank adventurer. However, it was a different story altogether in my case. When I took on A-rank missions, I had not only hidden my face and put on a strange outfit, but I also used an alias. To make matters worse, the rumours circulating in various places about my physique and personality were ambiguous for some reason, making me stand out more – in a bad way.

“I was really a fool this time. I hadn’t considered the consequences and lost control of myself.” [Youki]

“No, I think there are people who were saved by Youki-san through these A-rank missions as well. But you should probably restrain yourself about the Magic Knight of Black Lightning…” [Cecilia]

“Yeah, I’ll definitely not do it again. I’ll accept the guild missions as only Youki after this.” [Youki]

I decided to seal that chuuni outfit at the bottom of the dresser. I should also seal all that happened in the period of ten days deep inside my mind.

Magic Knight of Black Lightning… We’ve known each other for only ten days, but thank you for all you’ve done.

I bade farewell to Magic Knight of Black Lightning in my mind.

“I see… Sorry. I ended up saying all those even though it isn’t my place to interfere in your affair…” [Cecilia]

“No, you don’t need to apologize for it. I was the one who went out of control.” [Youki]

Rather, I was thankful for her advice. She seemed to be worried about me. As I thought, Cecilia is the best.

“I’m happy if you think so… Also, I’ve informed Sheik-kun and Happiness-chan to keep the real ident.i.ty of Magic Knight of Black Lightning a secret…” [Cecilia]

“T-Thank you. Those guys might blab about it if you had not cautioned them. You’ve helped me out.” [Youki]

Duke aside, those two people might turn it into a laughing matter.

“Also, Sophia-san and mother seemed to have some suspicions about it, but I was able to deceive them somehow.” [Cecilia]

“…It seems that I’ve caused you so much trouble.” [Youki]

“No, I’ve not done much at all. …By the way, do you have an idea if there is anyone else who knew of your ident.i.ty? If there is, you should tell them to keep it on a hush.” [Cecilia]

“Urm… the only other person is Clayman, I guess. He knew about since he was there from the beginning. I think he’ll keep it a secret for me.” [Youki]

In any case, I still need to turn in the quests as a form of procedure, so I could remind him again at that time.

“Is that so? If it’s him, it should be fine. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy to me. That’s the impression I get when we did our mission together the other day… Above all, he’s Sophia-san’s husband.” [Cecilia]

“Ah, it does seem convincing if you put it that way.” [Youki]

Sophia-san didn’t appear to be the type who would fall for a bad guy. Even though Clayman was a good-for-nothing, he could still complete his work one way or another. It was simply because of his usual lackadaisical att.i.tude that he gave people a bad impression.

“It makes me feel bad for Clayman just saying this, but I have known Sophia-san for a long time.” [Cecilia]

“No, you don’t need to be considerate of Clayman. He only has himself to blame for being lazy most of the time. When I went to the guild to take on guild missions, Clayman shooed me away and asked me to do it at another reception desk.” [Youki]

He urged me to go over there since all the pretty ladies were on that side. It was a nostalgic memory.