Ore wa Mada, Honki o Dashite Inai - CH 70

Mouths Are a Source of Increased Appreciation

Translated by Mlzkzr

Edited by Mlzkzr

At the parlor of the mansion, I and Lina were facing each other.

Lina Mi Aegina.

She is one of the first royalty of Aegina whom I met, and she is one of the ones who are very much keeping an eye on me.

This Lina came to visit me and didn’t say a single word as we face each other.

“Uhmm…… I have something to do――”

Stare.

Lina glowered at me.

I would say it’s more like scornful eyes than a glare.

She looks kind of grumpy and a little sulky.

Pressured by her eyes, I swallowed the “――don’t you know?” part.

After a while, Lina opens her mouth.

“You have become His Majesty’s instructor.”

“Eh? Ah. What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong, you say?”

Her expression did not change, but the power of her voice ―― her pressure seemed to have increased.

“Remember how you and I met.”

“Met…….”

“You didn’t want to be serious, so I interpreted it on a meaning that you didn’t want further advancement.”

“……Ah”

“And yet, before I noticed it, you’ve become His Majesty’s instructor”

“Err……”

I now understand why Lina is in a bad mood.

Yes, it was at the time I met her.

When I subdued the Slime Lord, she came as an inspector general in order to verify it.

And partly because of my mistake, Lina realized that I wasn’t “taking it seriously”.

“Someday, show me your seriousness”

She backed down after saying that, and I expected her to give me a medal every so often after that.

I broke it and yielded at the king —— that’s what my appearance is right now.

That is…… she’s mad.

“It was like an accident. It just happened, and I couldn’t refuse.”

“……”

“His Majesty was serious, I couldn’t say no.”

Lina is silent, towards me who can only repeat the same words.

I have nothing to feel guilty about, but there’s nothing else I can say.

So I insisted and hoped that somehow Lina would listen.

“……Is it just the role of an instructor?”

“Eh?”

“Do you just play the role of His Majesty’s instructor?”

“Err, yeah, that’s right”

I lied.

I can’t tell you about the Guardian Chivalrous Thieves Army.

So I decided to deceive her.

“That’s right. Then that’s fine. If you’re an instructor, then you don’t have to 『get serious』.”

Lina backed down, as if to say, “That’s the only thing I’m particular about”.

I was relieved.

“A’re?”

“What?”

“Just now, maybe ――”

“What is it”

She stared at me, glaring.

It’s a different type of glare than before, the type that pushes straight pressure.

“No, it’s nothing.”

I hurriedly waved my hand to end the conversation.

Well, I don’t think it is.

Asking a royalty, “Are you being jealous?” ——Yes, I can’t complain if I’m being rude to some people.

So I diverted the conversation.

“However, it’s difficult to deal with a King’s race.”

“Hou?”

“I have to think about the king’s status, his position, his honor, and so on.”

It was mainly about that righteous bandit thing.

I usually have to behave with the king’s position in mind, but I had to be even more careful about the story the king said about the righteous bandits.

To be honest, the hardship is nothing compared to what I had to deal with before.

It’s like a sigh of relief.

“……”

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Lina? You look like a pigeon that got hit by a peashooter.”

“His Majesty’s …… honor”

“Yeah? Ah, well. That’s what I think”

“Indeed, that’s what you think”

Immediately after she mumbled, Lina dexterously twitched the corners of her mouth and said, “Ni”

I had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling, an incredibly bad feeling.

“As His Majesty’s instructor, you can’t afford to lose to a common swordsman, right.”

“Well…… that’s right. ――Wait, no way”

“Thanks, that was a good hint.”

Lina looked extremely happy, unlike at the time she came.

She simply turns around and tries to walk away.

“Wa,wait a minute. What are you going to do?”

“Fufu, I’m going to find my shishou now”

“No way! You’re going to have me challenge your master?”

“I would never do that; it would be disrespectful to His Majesty.”

When I was relieved to hear Lina’s words.

“His Majesty’s master ――right, he just request for a peerage. My shishou is amazing, super amazing, so amazing that he should be given a peerage―― it’s just that. Then”

“Then?”

“His Majesty will say, 『Sensei, you should meet Lina’s master in a match. 』”

“Ah!”

I understand that feeling a little.

When you have the same toy and the other person brags about how great “the one they have” is, you get pissed off.

“So with that said, please polish your skills”

Lina said so and walked away with a cheery look on her face.

I was crestfallen.

It would have been much better if she had said, “Please wait for your punishment”.

Lina will surely bring a pretty good expert.

Lina is the one who wants to see me in my seriousness.

As an instructor, I bet she will bring the strongest swordsman she knows to see me in my seriousness, since I myself can’t lose in a contest held in front of the King.

And when I beat him, the king would be delighted ―― my reputation will go up again.

“Hah…… the mouth is the source of disasters ……”

With my casual remark backfiring.

I would sigh deeply at the fact that I was about to get another evaluation.