Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
Somehow, I made it to the end of the second day of the field study (and the IRL date changed as I wrote).
Thank you for the typo reports as always.
Chapter 018 – Fufufu, son. It’s Time for the April Field Study Results
After completing their field study, Class VII Group B was traveling to Trista by train with Kurt, who was on his way back to the Imperial Capital.
However, Rean was not among them, and in his place, there was Kurt, who had changed back into his own clothes.
Naturally, Kurt was sitting in his seat looking sheepish, but Laura gave him a follow-up.
“Um, is it really okay for me, who is unrelated to the field study group, to sit here?”
“Don’t say things like you’re unrelated. Hadn’t Kurt helped conquer the monster breeding facility together with us?”
“Hm. You couldn’t establish a link because you don’t have ARCUS, but your manpower certainly counted.”
“Aah. I guess it’s as expected of someone who bears the name of Vander. Be proud, for you have certainly dealt with the evil that was lurking in Sutherland.”
With those words from Laura, Fie, as well as Jusis from the duke family, Kurt was able to gain confidence in his sword, even if just a little.
He might be inexperienced, but he had certainly accomplished something.
“So Machias, don’t you have anything to say to him?”
“……………This incident is caused by nobles to begin with.”
As Sara passed the topic to Machias in a teasing manner, he made a sullen response.
Those words made Jusis frown.
After all, this incident involved not only many nobles, but also people from Albarea.
Although his father and older brother weren’t directly involved, even if the people who did it belonged to the branch families, it didn’t change the fact that Albarea was involved.
Despite being exposed as a child of a concubine, the Noblesse Oblige that Jusis’s brother taught him became his support, allowing him to stand firm and finally secure the evidence of the monster breeding.
Although there was a danger that the berserk monsters might be unleashed, Team VII Group B, including Kurt, bravely faced it, and Sara, who came to the rescue, landed the final blow, but without them, it wouldn’t have been possible to seize evidence, and Sara also supported their claims.
“However, we were able to resolve this matter with the help of the nobles, led by Marquis Hyarms. I have no intention of denying that.”
Looking back, even back at Vander dojo, Jusis and Machias were given generous applause after losing to Rean. 1
It seemed that there were many nobles who gave them applause, and when Machias heard about it after he woke up, he couldn’t help but ask Kurt to find out which families they belonged to.
In other words, people would find out the fact that Machias was biased against nobles even if he didn’t like it.
Machias, who was trying to sort out the motions that were surging inside him, folded his arms.
Sara realized this and changed the subject.
“Well, I’ll tell you upfront that I’ll give you all an A for your performance. To be frank, considering the relationships between members, I thought it would end up as E at first…… but you have accomplished all of the requests and even when you faced unexpected situations, you have all responded well.”
“…………”
“Oh my, are you dissatisfied? What you guys have accomplished is definitely worth preserving the peace in Sutherland Province, right? I personally won’t mind giving you all S, though——”
“No, I’m happy about that. I’m happy, but……”
All of them were proud of their accomplishment.
But as expected, they were worried about Rean, who wasn’t present there.
Perhaps because everyone held complicated feelings about Rean, none of them mentioned him.
“I see that everyone is worried about Rean-san.”
Kurt, who was confused by the atmosphere and didn’t know Rean well, said this to change the atmosphere.
The first to respond was Fie.
“You’re right. The last time I saw him, he was heavily injured, after all… he’s going to take a break from the academy for a while, right?”
“Yes. Marquis Hyarms personally gave his word. He will take responsibility for his treatment and send him to Trista. Instructor Beatrix seems to have been summoned there, so I think he’ll be back in a few days.”
“So he’ll be not taking class again. For just this one month, he missed nearly half of the classes. Will he really be alright?”
They asked Sara about Rean’s current situation, who knew the details.
Then, she told the group that his days recovering will be counted as sick leave.
It should be noted that it was Aurelia who brought Rean back, and the Class VII Group B didn’t know what to say seeing that that heroic woman brought their classmate back.
Moreover, Celine was accompanying Rean and wasn’t with Group B.
Since it was Rean who brought Celine along to begin with, it was indeed his responsibility to bring her back to Emma.
Hearing this, everyone fell silent again.
“……………Even when I haven’t apologized yet.”
Meanwhile, Machias muttered that as if distressed over his emotions.
An apology to Rean —— Machias regretted insulting him as a vagrant and it was hurting his conscience.
“There’s no need to be so depressed. He’ll be back within this month —— and above all, it’s that boy’s fault that you guys missed a S grade.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even though Kurt-kun informed Rean that he would be guided because of Rean’s personal matter, he should have consulted with the rest of the members the moment he heard that business. Didn’t all of us, including me, only get to hear the content of the request after Marquis Hyarms informed Rean about it? This arbitrary action gave a negative impact to the overall score. We did end up accepting the request in the end, but by that time, the group no longer had any choice but to be dragged in and get involved.”
“That bastard, in the end, he just dragged all of us in and left us to fend for ourselves.”
“We’re the one who is leaving him now, though…… but if it wasn’t for him, I think we would still be in a disintegrated group.”
“In the first place, it was Rean who triggered the group to disintegrate, though.”
“Indeed,” laughed the four.
“Um, was Rean-san really that outrageous of a person? He gave me advice and didn’t seem like a bad person, though……”
“Kurt hasn’t been with him for long and hadn’t acted together with him, right? Then let’s talk a little about Rean. That said, it’ll be a partial perspective.”
“You’re right. To be frank, we don’t know about Rean’s behavior in his daily life and only got to know more about him during the field study, but aside from the rumors, things he did in the academy was——”
And so, until they arrived at Trista, Class VII Group B talked about the boy named Rean Schwarzer.
Kurt felt that they seemed to talk about Rean as a common enemy rather than a comrade, but he could sense the competitive spirits underlying their words.
He could feel their determination to catch up to this classmate who was already walking far ahead of them.
Aaah, so these people don’t want to lose to Rean-san.
Although they only got to see the last bit, Kurt was also one of the people who were captivated by the battle between Rean and Aurelia.
The last phenomenon was incomprehensible, but Rean challenged Aurelia head-on and caused the Rakshasha’s breathing to become erratic.
He didn’t manage to make Rakshasa fall on her knees, but seeing that she was exhausted enough to use her sword as a support showed how hard Aurelia was pushed.
“That power isn’t just his talent. There’s a proper guidance, environment, as well as connection, that he gained at the academy… Well, a lot of things are intertwined.”
Fie didn’t want to think about the difference in ability between her and Rean due to the difference in her father’s teaching, which she respected.
Jusis didn’t want to lose to a man his elder brother paid attention to as a younger brother as well as his origin.
Machias didn’t want to admit the outrageous behavior of a man who had destroyed the values he had due to prejudice.
Laura didn’t want to be inferior in terms of her mentality towards fighting against an opponent with a difference in ability.
Each of them had their respective thoughts exactly because they acknowledged Rean.
“Well, worry as much as you like. No matter what the outcome is, if you come up with the answer yourself, you’ll be satisfied in the end, no matter how long it takes to reach it.”
Kurt was also worried about his swordsmanship as a person who represented the Vander’s name.
They, who were stronger than he was, were also worried about many things.
Perhaps because of that, he felt that his worry became slightly lighter.
And so, as Kurt heard about Rean’s actions at the academy and had his cheeks twitching dramatically, he remained engrossed in the conversation until they got off the train.
＊
“There’s nothing to do.”
“Like I care.”
In one of the rooms in Marquis Hyarms’s mansion in Saint-Arkh,
Rean, who was undergoing emergency treatment and recuperating, had nothing to do.
When he woke up from unconsciousness, he found himself lying in bed with signs of having been treated, and he heard about the situation from Celestin, who had just visited earlier.
By the way, it seemed like Aurelia had already finished her work here and returned to Lamare Province, but her contact information was registered in Rean’s ARCUS.
Although Rean didn’t receive any messages, he could feel her unreasonableness. It was as if she was saying “notice my intention.”
Since Rean didn’t have any reason not to contact her, he intended to contact her if he had time.
Celine was pretending to be an ordinary cat until Celestin left, but once he left and she did not feel the presence of anyone else, she was able to speak as much as she pleased.
After chatting for a while, Rean suddenly asked Celine.
“Can you contact Emma?”
“Hm~…… wait a minute, I’ll contact her through telepathy for a——”
“No, it’ll be more natural to contact to her using ARCUS. I think Celine should get used to the conveniences of civilization.”
“I’m a cat here…… Hmm, this is hard to hold.”
Despite her complaints, Celine learned how to use ARCUS from Rean and contacted Emma.
A few seconds later, a desperate voice came from the other side of the terminal.
“Rean-san?! I thought you were quiet since you didn’t contact me this time, but did you cause some trouble after the field study ended?”
Emma’s first sentence clearly reflected how she thought of Rean.
“Ah~ the problem is already resolved, but if I had to say, I just sustained an injury that would take a few days to fully recover. Valimar is also sleeping for a bit, but once he wakes up, I’ll use Arts to recover——”
“Please explain it from the beginning!”
Rean explained from the beginning.
“And so, the control of Power of Ashen has progressed as well——”
“…………………………………”
The response he got was a long silence.
Although Rean couldn’t see the other side of ARCUS, for some reason, he could imagine her mouth was trembling.
“Emma-san.”
“Yes.”
“Are you angry?”
“I’m not angry.”
She’s definitely angry, thought both Rean and Celine.
“Rean-san.”
“Yes.”
“——Why didn’t you consult with the team members?”
“Eh?”
“At Celdic, we consulted on various issues and cleared the requests. In the end, we were helped by the Railway Military Police… but still, none of us arbitrarily accepted requests without consulting others, you know?”
“Ah~……………”
Now that she mentioned that, Rean couldn’t refute it.
The reason Rean accepted Aurelia’s request was because he pushed aside matters about Class VII Group B and the field study to the back of his mind since he wanted to learn how to control the Power of Ashen no matter what —— that was all he had in mind at the time.
In hindsight, things went well, but if the request had nothing to do with field study, then it could only be considered Rean’s fault.
“To be honest, since this chain of events is caused by Celine and I teleporting you there to begin with, I can’t really say anything about it. But Rean-san, if you want other friends who could see Osbon-san, just like what you’re trying to do for Rosine-san —— then please look out for the other parties as well.”
Emma implicitly told Rean that what he did was just self-righteousness.
She put the nail on the coffin of dangerous thought that “all is well as long as Rean wants it.”
“Since you’re injured, I’ll refrain from talking too long. On my side, the other members of Group A are waiting for me —— good night, Rean-san.”
The call was disconnected.
Celine dexterously manipulated the ARCUS and put it back, but Rean’s heart was depressed.
“Look out for the other party, huh. I got to understand just how open-minded Rosine was, for not saying anything about it.”
“Well, that girl seems to be on the philanthropic side after all. But that girl is just an exception, while everyone else is more like them.” [T/N: them referring to members of Group B.]
How much of a burden was it for people to accept someone like Rean?
In the conflict with Group B, Rean got to learn how much he had been spoiled by his friends.
It was important to make Osbon visible to others, but that didn’t mean he could neglect a third party for it.
It was a natural thought if one thought about it normally, but Rean jumped over that possibility and ignored it.
He reflected on that.
“You might have a lot to think about, but you should rest for now. At the very least, if you rest your body, you’ll be able to organize your thoughts.”
Caline said that as she curled up next to the pillow.
When Rean asked if she wanted to get into the blanket, Celine refused because she didn’t want to get crushed.
Since she was next to his pillow, there was a possibility that her body could get hit if Rean turned over while sleeping…… but Rean decided not to mention that.
It was because he understood Celine’s worries.
After taking a breather, Rean’s eyelids also became heavy.
Although he had just woken up, his body sought rest.
Without resisting, Rean opened the door to his dreamland.
Eventually, after confirming that Rean was sleeping through his breathing, Osbon muttered.
[“Fufufu, son. You’ve done well for the field study —— Thors Military Academy, as I thought, it’s the right choice to send you there. I’m looking forward to the future.”]
There was nobody to answer that.
However, the words filled with love for his son disappeared into the depth of a void that nobody knew about, without touching the night’s air.
Author Note:
This is the end of the April field study arc, which was packed with too many things.
There seem to be serious moments added to the story, but thank you everyone for reading!
This is unrelated, but Emma’s angry expression during Cold Steel IV’s bonding event looked great.
Want early access to Cannon Fodder, Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer, and I Was a Man Before Reincarnating, So I Refuse a Reverse Harem? Support the translator on Patreon!
