Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Author Note:
It was supposed to be a slice-of-life chapter, but the plot veered off…
I actually wanted to have Munk appear in this chapter, but the story ended up going in a completely different direction.
Thank you for the typo reports as always.
Chapter 021 – Fufufu, son. It Is Great to See That You Are Having Fun [A]
A month passed since the beginning of the school year, and the students had become familiar with the school’s classes and rumors about Rean.
Rean had just left the student dormitory to complete an early morning marathon.
This was something that Rean had done every day since he came to Trista, except during the field study, and even though it had become a familiar routine, Rean saw different things every day.
Today was a free day, so Rean changed into ordinary clothes and made plans in mind as to what he should do for the day.
As Rean did that, he had a long-awaited encounter with an exceptionally unusual person.
“—————————Eh?”
As soon as that person saw Rean, she stopped and blinked her dark blue eyes behind her glasses, stunned.
Her long, wavy black hair was full of luster, and the newsboy cap that she wore over her hair prevented it from swaying in the wind.
As if to portray her beauty, her jacket wrapped around her slender figure, and her legs were long and thin as they peeked out from her knee-length pants. Coupled with the physical richness of motherhood, a symbol of woman, she was such a beautiful woman that 10 out of 10 people would stop and look back at her.
Rean couldn’t understand why such a beautiful woman was staring at him with such confusion depicted in her eyes, so he also stopped on his tracks.
Then Rean realized.
The woman wasn’t surprised to see Rean, but rather to see the doll that was clinging on his left arm —— Osbon.
As if to confirm, Rean slowly raised his left arm.
That woman’s gaze also moved in the same direction.
Rean was convinced.
He realized he had met someone who was able to see Osbon for the first time since Emma, Celine, Rosine during the Ashen Trial, and Beryl, whom Rean thought actually could see Osbon——
Upon noticing that, Rean acted quickly.
“You are a witch, aren’t you?!”
The beautiful woman’s body trembled.
Rean was confident in his guess and ran toward her.
“Wai…… what?!”
“You are, right?! Please listen to me. I just want to ask you something.”
“Get…… away from me!”
Bystanders would have watched as a boy forcibly approached a woman, a behavior truly that of an unruly man.
If it wasn’t early in the morning, someone would have seen it, reported it, and it would have been inevitable to be brought up as a public moral issue at the military academy.
Moreover, Rean was so well-known that there were very few people in Trista who didn’t know him, for better or worse, to the point that even a random child could easily identify Rean.
However, Rean was so desperate.
He came to Trista to search for people who could see Osbon, so he had no intention of letting someone who met that condition to fulfill his purpose to escape.
“You can see this doll, right——”
“DeepBlue (Sleep in blue).”
[“Muu, this is… Vali-kun.”]
{“Oh!”}
“?!”
Seeing the presence of dense mana surrounding the woman —— similar to when Emma would use her witch spells, Osbon noticed and Valimar roared.
Just as a gigantic dragon-shaped energy was about to appear in Trista in the early morning——
“Ille(To the other side).”
“I won’t let you!”
Rean grabbed the woman’s arm, showing his intent to not let go of her.
In an instant, the woman disappeared along with Rean.
The morning calm returned to Trista, and now, Rean Schwarzer’s schedule for his free day was filled.
＊
The place they teleported to was a quiet land surrounded by forest.
Feeling the commotion in the air, Rean immediately used his power of ogre and saw a large amount of mana filling his surroundings.
“No way………… even though I didn’t specify the coordinate, to think I would end up here, of all places. Besides, you, that appearance…………”
Then Rean realized he could still feel the arm he was holding in his right hand.
Seeing the stunned woman, Rean realized what he had done, pulled his hand away, and set apart some distance.
Of course, it was still within the distance where he could immediately get to her if she tried something.
“——Please excuse me. I just got too excited to meet someone who could see dad. I guess that’s not an appropriate behavior towards a lady.”
After saying that, Rean bowed his head.
Yet he didn’t neglect his sense of perception, so if the woman tried to escape, Rean intended to chase after her immediately.
As if sensing that, the woman looked at Rean with wary eyes.
“Dad, you say……”
“You can see it, right? This doll, I mean.”
After saying that, Rean raised his head and held up Osbon, but the woman’s eyes were still directed toward Rean.
“My friend who can see this is a witch, so I thought you were also one…… what do you think?”
[“Fufufu, even if you’re trying to deceive me, you can’t hide your wisdom, Azure Abyss Diva.”]
“I-it talked…… I’m sorry, please let me calm myself down a little bit.”
“Okay.”
The woman said that as she took a deep breath and calmed down.
It didn’t seem like she had any intention of running away, but Rean still wouldn’t let his guard down.
Rean had hoped to at least get her contact information and to form a friendship.
……Anyone who heard about their worst first impression would likely say that was an impossible goal, though.
After waiting for the woman to calm down, Rean introduced himself.
“Then let me introduce myself, I am Rean Schwarzer. This is Osbon, and as you can see, it’s a doll. I call it dad, though.”
“Um… that doll has its appearance deformed, but that seems to be the Blood and Iron Chancellor of the Empire, right?”
“Yes. Apparently, I am his son.”
The woman leaned back as if she was shocked.
The way she put her hand on her forehead seemed like she was trying to escape from reality but somehow trying to accept the fact.
“Err, were you born from a doll?”
“No, I’m Giliath Osborne’s biological son. Apparently, my father has no idea of dad’s existence, though.”
“F-fuuhn………… so, why did you suddenly attack me?”
Nearing the end, Rean felt her words felt a little twitchy, perhaps it was mixed with anger.
Since there was no reason to lie, Rean answered honestly.
“This doll—— or dad, is something that no one but I could see. It was thanks to my dad that I was able to overcome my trauma, but it made me feel frustrated that nobody could perceive him, so I came to Thors Military Academy looking for people who could see him. That’s where I came to be acquainted with the witch I mentioned earlier. That’s why I came to the conclusion that witches are people who could see dad, so I’d love to become friends with you too…… but if that’s not alright with you, we can start from being acquaintances.”
When Rean told her everything in a single breath, the woman seemed to flinch.
She seemed to be shaken by his honest and pure feelings without any lies and deceit, which was more than she expected of him, considering his initial behavior.
But despite that, it contained an overflowing strong will that seemed to have enough faith it could move a mountain.
Perhaps resigned to that, the woman introduced herself to Rean.
“…………I’m Mi……… no, I’m Vita. Vita Clotilde. Just like what that doll said, I’m an opera singer that goes by the nickname of Azure Diva.”
“Aren’t you a witch?”
“Aren’t your friends also students?”
“You’re right,” said Rean as he agreed.
The image of witches he had was that they lived in hidden villages, but since there was a precedent like Emma, there might be witches who blended in society as normal, like Vita in front of him.
“So, what are you going to do after you meet the person who can see that doll? Are you plotting for some——”
“Eh, nothing in particular? That my dad’s words could reach people other than me…… it makes me happy if that can become a part of my daily life.”
In fact, Rean himself understood that his desire was nothing but self-satisfaction.
Even Osbon pointed out that Rean was just shutting himself in his own world, but Rean just wanted other people to know how great his dad was, and he did what he did for that reason.
No matter how hard he tried, he would just end up with strange stares from people like they were looking at a weirdo, but Rean didn’t care about that in the slightest.
“Okay, then if I see you in the future, I’ll make sure to call out to you, so for now, let’s leave it h——”
“———To think that we are actually able to meet here, we never know what will happen in life, don’t you think so, Vita?”
Vita, who tried to run away, stopped moving.
No, if one paid attention to the surroundings, even the trees that were swaying in the wind just a moment ago were motionless and the landscape was fixed in place, just like a photo.
It was as if time had stopped.
“Baa-sama……”
“You naughty girl, we finally cau——nnuoh?! You, what’s with that horrible thing!”
What was supposed to be a dignified voice came crashing down easily as if it were never there.
The owner of the voice was a child holding a staff larger than she was.
Her blond hair was longer than Vita’s and reached her knees.
The texture was like high-quality silk, creating a luster that could be seen even without touching it, and her scarlet eyes somehow reminded one of Rean’s fiery eyes after he activates the power of ogre.
However, what was important to Rean wasn’t her appearance, but the fact that the girl also perceived Osbon.
“Can you see this?”
“O-ooh? W-why is he able to move? There’s no sign the time barrier is broken either —— hey Vita, don’t run away!”
“Please just let me go……”
In order to help the girl to hold back Vita, who totally intended to escape, Rean unleashed the Power of Ashen.
“Come, Power of Ashen—— Loa Valimar!”
{“Oh.”}
“Nuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!”
The enlarged mana took the form of a dragon, and instead of the ashen armor that protected Rean, it manifested as a complete form.
Ignoring the girl who made a strange voice out of surprise, Rean established a tactical link with Valimar, unleashed even more power of ogre, and prevented Vita from escaping.
Vita murmured the pure feeling she felt.
“This boy is scary……”
[“Fufufu, I’m sorry about my son.”]
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