This Love is Futile - Chapter 40

()x10-12 minutes 20.06.2022

Translator: P411

Editor: Figaro

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

We finally arrived at the desert city past midnight after riding at an incredibly fast pace. Then, we stopped to rest at an inn.

Vidello-san once said that with a quick horse we could easily arrive at the desert city within a day, but it wasn’t like that at all. Unlike with the carriage where the coachman had to sit inside and ride it, I wouldn’t fall over with this quick horse, but how should I say this… It was very much like a roller coaster without a safety belt. I was frightened a bit, no, a lot, yes.

The moment we arrived at the inn and I got off the carriage, my knees were wobbling, but Crash was all calm and composed. He was amazing, I mean.

At any rate, we were moving around with all the stuff securely kept inside my inventory. I had convinced Crash with a multitude of reasons like if the bottles broke when we were attacked by monsters, it would be terrible, and right now, potions were in short supply, so we could be easily targeted because of this. Inside the wagon, at least there were things we could use for camping, but we had already arrived at the desert city, so there was no need for us to do that now. It was because we would soon arrive the following day if nothing happened, of course.

There had been no attacks so far. The monsters on the way didn’t attack us because the quick horse was so fast. Even if they attacked us, with this speed, they would just end up run over by the carriage instead. I guessed I would’ve liked to see it at least once.

“Well, so far, so good. I think we’ll arrive by evening tomorrow .”

“Ok. These quick horses, I mean, they are really fast. It’s completely different from a normal carriage.”

When I muttered while having a late night meal in our room with the food we prepared in advance, Crash looked at me in surprise.

“So, you had already ridden a carriage.”

“Yep, I travelled to Quattaro with it. It’s fast, but the speed is completely different.”

“Hee, even to Quattro…”

“Eh, is it w-weird?”

Crash’s face broke into a grin.

Eh, did I say something that could make him smile?

“Hmm… I see. The one you went together with, it’s Vidello, right?”

“Huhh?!”

He identified exactly that the other person was Vidello-san. It was correct, I mean it was true but…

“So, it’s a date. To have a carriage date, seems like he can even crack a joke?” Don’t point that out with a smug expression. What was with that curious look on your face?

“Why in the world did the two of you go to Quattro? Now, I’m curious. Tell this big brother more about it.”

“Big brother!? Aren’t you the same age as me?”

“I’ve finished my coming of age ceremony. No matter what you think about it, I’m the older one here, right?”

The fact that Crash had finished his coming of age ceremony meant he could take off his pants. I could also take them off under specific conditions. It was still a secret though. I had already climbed the stairway to adulthood, hadn’t I?

I showed my blue feather accessory which was hanging on my chest to Crash who was still grinning.

“I went to buy this together with him. He gave me this as a good luck charm.”

“Hee, it’s pretty. Can I appraise it?”

“Sure, ok.”

When I checked this now, the percentage had increased to 7%. This, what was this really?

“Hee… this is amazing. Did you get this as a present from Vidello? So, that’s why the blessing gauge is attached to it. Tell me what happens when the percentage becomes full, ok?”

“A blessing gauge?”

“Yep, this feather, depending on the strength of the bond between you two, its percentage will keep increasing. If both of your feelings overflow, it’ll transform into something else. It’s that kind of amulet. Did you receive this without knowing it? [Blessing Gauge] is also known by another name as [Love Gauge].”

“L-Love Gauge?”

Crash extended his hands and examined the feather.

An amulet that could transform, this was the first time I had heard of it. Maybe even Vidello-san wouldn’t know about this.

If it was about this love gauge, this 7% accumulated points, was this gathered because I did this and that with Vidello-san? Uh, but it was already accumulated a little bit by the time this was bought. …..Ah, yep, it was all about feelings – I meant feelings. This wasn’t solely because of that. For a second there, I even thought that I needed to make love with Vidello-san many times. Just how scary was my adolescent brain…

While I was thinking about all this, Crash interrupted my thoughts saying, “Hey!”

“This, where did you buy this? Should I also go there to buy it?”

When I told Crash, who was still appraising this with sparkling eyes, the location of the shop, Crash nodded and said this with a look of amazement,

“Ahh, so it’s Regalo’s store.”So, Crash was an acquaintance of that handsome butler.

He nodded saying, “I see, I see,” and let go of the feather.

“Thanks. I know about Regalo himself from the shop-related gatherings, but I didn’t know what he was making. I got good info today.”

“Ah, um, I’m glad if I can be of help to you.”

“Let’s go there next time. If I request him, will he make me one?”

“Did that handsome butler-san make this by himself?”

When I tilted my head in puzzlement saying, “He isn’t just a dealer, but he makes this by himself?”

Crash nodded his head in agreement.

“The last time I met him, he said his hobby was making small accessories, so I think this is made by him.”

How should I say, I wanted him to teach me how to make this small handmade accessory which incorporated a love gauge. But I couldn’t do anything related to handicraft though. It really was amazing, to be able to make handmade accessories that could even transform; just how dexterous was he?

I would treasure Vidello-san’s love forever and ever.

While I was thinking about this over and over again, I sat down on my bed. If I didn’t go to bed early, it would hinder tomorrow’s mission. Maybe I should at least log out once, eat something, and go to bed for a little while.

When I crawled into the bed with my bag still on my waist, Crash stood in front of the door.

And, his fingers moved, drawing something in the air.

“Crash?”

“I’m just simply locking the door. You can sleep first.”

While saying this, he continued drawing a magic circle. The light from the line drawn by Crash’s finger shone in the dimly lit room quite beautifully.

This was the first time I had seen a magic circle. I wondered if I could learn it.

“You can also use magic.”

“Certainly not. My magic power is low, so I can only use a few magic spells. And also, I can only defeat those monsters with my sword, and there’s nothing to speak of my skills also.”

“But, it’s really beautiful.”

“It’s because I was taught.”

Crash, who was still drawing those beautiful patterns, when he saw the light shone brightly for a moment, as soon as he confirmed that the magic circle had activated, he said, “Good,” nodding his head and headed to his bed.

“Magic circles can be learnt.”

“That’s right. I’ve learnt ancient language from my mom, so I can use it. If you can perfectly memorise the ancient language, can think of the best way to arrange the magic circuit, and are able to draw that pattern, you’ll be able to use a magic circle. Do you want to learn it too? If it’s a simple magic circle, I can even teach you.”

Uwaa, he was making such difficult things sound simple. Drawing the pattern with the best arrangement I could think of for the magic circuit… What the heck did that mean? And also, there came out a language that I had never heard before in our conversation. What was that ancient language? I was someone who had never once decoded those ancient letters. Yep, the magic circle was impossible for me.

“When I have a chance, I’ll learn it.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it. Next time, I’ll lend you an old book written in an ancient language. Would you like to use it as a replacement for a textbook?”

“If I have time, I will.”

I didn’t think I could memorise them. My English grades were already bad enough, if I added another language like an ancient language to my brain, there was no way that I could memorise them.

We said good night to each other, and I pulled the blanket over my head. But, you know what, I at least wanted to see them, those ancient language books, just for the sake of it.

But now it was already midnight. Even if I logged out and slept, I couldn’t oversleep today because we had to depart early tomorrow. After saying that to myself, I finally logged out.

———————————

The inside of my house was dead silent in the middle of the night. Both my parents had work tomorrow. I quietly went to the kitchen, took the bread as a spoil of war, and returned to my room.

Although it was just an in-game quick horse-drawn carriage, a rollercoaster, my real body could get quite exhausted too.

While I was still munching on my bread, I sent a message to Yuuta containing,

“I rode the quick horse-drawn carriage because of an emergency quest. It’s a ‘Yayyy!’ We’re expected to get attacked soon. If there’s no attack, I’ll arrive in Sette tomorrow evening~”

Before I finished eating my bread, a notification alarming a new message was replied back to me. So I opened the message with a surprise,

[I also rode that quick horse—drawn carriage. It’s quite interesting. I saw it with my own eyes that it had run over those monsters that tried to attack the wagon. Anyway, did you stick your nose into something dangerous? If you get attacked, it’s not going to be just one or two, but a group of adults that will come at you. Did you have more guards beside you? If you have, it’s fine, but if not then, Kengo, you’re done son.]

“Are you serious!?”

Yes, I was alone. No, with Crash, it was two, a production worker and a shopkeeper. If something came to us, before we got surrounded, maybe we should just run away first. Even if we rode a quick horse and ran, on the contrary, we would just stand out with its big size.

I replied back to Yuuta saying, [I’m really alone.] and crawled into my bed, thinking this would be a little dangerous. If that was the case, I should sleep more. I set my alarm clock early in the morning, and I closed my eyes while taking deep breaths as if to calm my slightly racing heart. Ah, I forgot to brush my teeth.

*****