Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
013 – Fufufu, son. It’s the April Field Study② [B]
“Thanks for earlier, Fie.”
“Hm. You finished things in my stead, so I don’t mind.”
Rean was preparing for fishing for him and others at the Parm River.
Jusis and Fie were watching with curiosity, as if this was their first time fishing.
“I’ve got enough fishing rods and bait for everyone, so you two should try it out. It’s quite interesting, you know?”
Rean made two fishing rods appear in his hands via Osbon, and with swift actions, prepared fishing bait and handed it to the two.
The other two widened their eyes at Rean, who took out fishing rods like a magic trick, but as they had started to get used to Rean’s strange behavior, they silently accepted the rods.
[“Fufufu, son. It seems they’ve gotten used to it quite a bit.”]
{“From my perspective, they just stopped thinking about it.”}
What, weren’t you two being silent all this time?
[“Fufufu, it just shows that we aren’t boorish adults who interrupt the children’s moment of being adolescents.”]
{“That’s how it is.”}
[“We’ll stay quiet for a while. Son, enjoy your fishing together with your ‘comrades’.”]
{“Enjoy”}
Valimar sure got influenced by Osbon quickly, thought Rean as he cast his fishing line into the river.
Jusis and Fie also followed suit and cast their fishing lines into the river.
It wasn’t like they would be able to catch a fish right away, but Rean held an expectation of others’ beginner’s luck and read the flow of the fish for a while.
Silence filled the Parm River.
Perhaps unable to bear this atmosphere as they fished, Jusis suddenly opened his mouth.
“A noble is expected to do what they ought to do. That’s indeed the case… that’s noblesse oblige. Yet there are few people in the current empire who actually do it. Just like the request for dye we had earlier.”
“Did something happen?”
“Our client was an earl who was looking for Parm textiles for a noble’s pleasure rather than for Spring Dyeing. However, this noble didn’t like that the craftsman who made them was a young man, so he checked out another craftsman in the end. Things would be messy if Machias was there. In the end, this noble noticed Jusis and left as if to run away.”
“I won’t say one shouldn’t feel anxious for the young craftsman, but he didn’t even bother to check his skills first. It would be the craftsman’s fault if the workmanship is poor, but in this case, the problem goes beyond that.”
“Heeh, I guess I made the right decision to take care of Machias. I will likely feel bad about it otherwise.”
“In that sense, Jusis’ interaction was impressive. ‘You did a good job,’ he said… oh, caught a red perch.”
Rean was the first in the group who caught a fish.
Fie looked dissatisfied, and as Rean tried to calm her down saying it was just a difference in experience, Jusis continued.
“It is exactly because when one has a greater power than most, that one has to be more disciplined in using it. In my case, it’s authority, but should one lose control, there’s a danger one might go berserk.”
“I know how that feels.”
Rean said that as he put the red perch into the bucket.
Rean was also someone who was troubled by the supernatural power known as the power of ogre.
Thanks to Osbon, he could control it properly now, but should he surrender to his destructive impulse like he did when he protected Elise, Ymir Village could have disappeared from the map by now.
Whenever Rean thought of that terrifying situation, he would burst into tears.
“…………I think I know how that feels too.”
Fie also agreed.
For Fie, who had the title of being a former jaeger that had been traveling around battlefields since she was ten years old, it was important for her to know how to handle power.
Using the sheath known as ‘self-control’, the blade would be unleashed with a handle known as ‘request’. Such was a jaeger.
However, should they get controlled by that power instead, they wouldn’t be worthy to be considered a jaeger, but instead a scum. They wouldn’t be any different from the thugs wandering around.
The content of the request a jaeger receives could be quite disturbing, but that was exactly why one should know well the extent to which they could wield their power.
Of course, there were a lot of yakuza-like and battle-crazed people among jaegers, and Fie’s father was also one of those people.
However, Fie, who was an orphan, learned the existence of family there.
Once they left the battlefield, the faces she saw were those of her kind parent and siblings.
She was glad to be able to grow with such a loving family, but now that they had parted ways, she felt so lonely.
“I also learned that from my father.”
Laura, who came over while carrying Celine, said.
Laura seemed happy to finally be able to stroke Celine.
Rean ignored Celine’s grudging look and asked “What about Machias?” and apparently, Sara was taking care of Machias at the moment, according to Laura.
I guess I can rest assured then, thought Rean as he resumed fishing.
Celine raised her voice in protest, but Rean pointed at the fish in his bucket then brought his finger to Celine’s mouth, to which Celine hesitated about it for a while then returned to acting like an ordinary cat. She was easy to coax.
“So the instructor came, or rather, you heard our conversation, Laura?”
“Yes, I just happened to hear it… I’m sorry for overhearing your conversation. However, I just thought it’s a bad idea to have a noble at Machias’ side at the moment after all.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Nobles protect their people and in return their people serve them. It’s just that simple, yet why does he hate nobles so much?”
“The fact you can say that shows that you are blessed with good parents and a good environment, Laura.”
Viscount Arseid also had a good reputation to Jusis, who was a member of a duke’s family.
Despite the absolute difference in status between a duke and a viscount, the fact Jusis had such an evaluation showed the personality of His Excellency the Viscount.
“Back to the topic, I also learned things like that from my father and my other dad.”
“In my case, I guess it’s also my father. My brothers also taught me a lot, though.”
“As for me… it’s my brother, I guess. Being a duke family, most things could be taken for granted. That’s exactly why I shouldn’t be swayed by these feelings.”
For some reason, Jusis was somewhat awkward saying it.
Rean still could feel that Jusis was cautious around him.
Just as he thought he should ask, Fie’s fishing rod had a fish hooked for the first time.
As Fie was panicked, Rean placed his hand on her hands in a practiced motion and helped her pull it up.
Fie’s first catch was a carp.
“Oh, you did it, Fie. You managed to catch it without the fish stealing the bait.”
By the way, Rean had caught several fishes during the conversation, with more than three fishes in his bucket at the moment.
Fie was in a bad mood due to Rean’s composure and resumed fishing without saying a word.
Seeing Laura didn’t have anything to do, Rean handed her fishing gear back to her, and the four resumed fishing and stopped their conversation.
In the end, Rean caught 6 fishes, with an additional fish for Celine’s portion, thus 7. Fie caught a fish, while Laura and Jusis didn’t catch anything.
Seeing the other two didn’t catch anything, Fie had a smug expression, which caused tension between her and Laura, but that’s another story.
＊
“Instructor Sara…”
“Yahoo~ Machias. You look pretty terrible.”
Machias raised his upper body from the bed, and his face became even more distorted when he saw the instructor’s carefree appearance, which was the complete opposite of his own feelings.
“I’ve heard the story from Laura. Even if the other party is Rean, there are still things you can and you can’t say… but looking at your face, you seem to understand what you’ve done, right?”
“………………”
Sara’s trouble was apparent from her words “even if the other party is Rean,” but Machias didn’t have the composure to notice that.
Sara sat down in the chair where Laura sat earlier without saying anything and put the liquor she brought in on a nearby table.
Machias was taken aback by her action, but he started becoming angry.
“What did you come here for?”
“Well, I’m still the instructor in charge, so it’s my duty to come and check on the students.”
“In that case, please head over to the other three instead. They should be fishing in the Parm River by now.”
“Laura also went there, so there are four people… and since she carried Celine, I guess that makes four people and one animal.”
“Then just go and make it five people and one animal… Please just leave me alone.”
“Well~ I’m tired since I rushed here from Celdic, so I’ll just rest here.”
“You…………!”
Seeing the attitude that was unlike that of an “older woman” that Machias knew of, his exhausted heart was energized.
The fact the fuel was anger toward the woman in front of him was hard to admit for Machias, whose motto was to be kind to women.
“Then how about I point out the problem like an instructor should?”
“I don’t need it…”
“As expected of an honor student.”
“I’m losing to Emma-kun, though.”
“I think being ranked second in the entrance exam is good enough, though?”
“Still, a loss is a loss. Even with that strength, I’m no match to nobles… in particular, that Rean Schwarzer is overwhelming…”
Rean had shown his martial arts as well as an unknown Art utilizing the Power of Ashen.
Regardless of who he compared himself with, he was no match to any of the nobles as he couldn’t reach them, and such reality almost broke Machias down.
The result was his heart refusing to admit and get Rean involved as he did earlier.
Now that he had calmed down, he could clearly see how foolish he was earlier.
Above all, the fact the person he hated the most among those people, the one from the ducal family, was the one who covered for his mistake, weighed heavily on Machias’ heart.
“I think he is an exception, or rather, you shouldn’t compare yourself seriously with him, though……”
Sara offered words of comfort to Machias, who was depressed.
As a matter of fact, it was unreasonable for the students of the same age to compare with a boy who could potentially even overwhelm her.
“If only…… I had power like him…”
“And with that power, you would beat up the nobles you don’t like and feel refreshed? Then what will you do next?”
“Eh………?”
“Let’s say you managed to eliminate all the nobles from Class VII and use that momentum to eliminate the noble department from the Thors Military Academy entirely. What are you going to do after that? Eliminate all nobles from all over the empire?”
“After, that?”
“Once your ‘enemies’ are gone, your current self is likely to create new ‘enemies’ for some reason. I have no idea what caused you to harbor such hatred toward nobles, but…”
Sara said that as she drank the liquor she brought.
The scent of alcohol hit Machias’ nose, but he was even more curious what Sara was going to say next.
“The fact you can still reflect ‘now’ is your turning point. I’ll prepare an outlet to vent those feelings and clear your mind, so you can rest for the next request.”
Author Note:
This is weird.
The plot was supposed to be that Rean, who was worried about how to handle things on his own, proceed to contact Rosine or Beryl for consultation, but it ended up developing into something else entirely.
It felt normal and serious.
Was this the correction of the original plot, or rather, of the Class VII…?
Or perhaps things simply became normal because Osbon didn’t appear…? In that case, it seemed like Rean-kun was an ordinary boy after all!
It would have been nice if both the Old Class VII and New Class VII had more horizontal relationships, but I guess this is fine now in its own way?
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