Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 021 – Fufufu, son. It Is Great to See You Having Fun [B]
After making a fuss for a while, Rean, who dispelled the power of ogre, was brought to a village by the girl.
Apparently, it was a hidden village where the witches live, but they couldn’t afford to leave Rean alone in the forest, so she guided him inside. As far as she was concerned, arresting him was probably the correct term.
Together with Vita, who was also taken away by the girl between them, Rean looked around at his surroundings.
Loa Valimar had already withdrawn.
It said that it was because the way Vita looked at Rean was as if she had an encounter with the unknown.
The men and women of all ages in the village were looking at Rean with curiosity, but Rean could feel that their gazes were even more focused on Vita.
“Vita-san, are you from here?”
“Yeah, well. To be honest, I didn’t plan on coming here again… but I never thought my teleportation would be interfered with.”
“I was just desperate. That said, I didn’t realize I interfered with that, though.”
“Just how desperate are you… Well, I think the fault lies on your dad rather than you, though?”
[“Fufufu, you make me blush.”]
“I’m not praising you.”
Contrary to Vita’s bitter expression, Rean was all smiles.
It was because it made him happy to see Vita respond to Osbon’s voice naturally.
Exactly because she understood Rean’s emotions, Vita couldn’t help frowning.
“Hey, don’t ignore us and talk on your own. Granny will die if they are lonely.”
“That’s a rabbit.”
“It’s the same, both are six letter words.”
“If they are considered the same just because they have the same number of letters, I’m sure rabbits would find that unbearable.”
“We told you! Vita too, we just thought you’d run away, you just talked with the kid! Care for us as well!”
From Rean’s perspective, the girl that Vita called baa-sama only looked like a cheerful girl for her age.
But since Vita obediently followed and respected her, it seemed that the girl was a person with status.
As if the doubt was evident on Rean’s face, the girl grinned and put her hands on her hips, puffing out her small chest.
“Fufuhn, despite our appearances, we are a great witch who has lived for 900 years. Show us your respect, will you? Hahahah.”
“Then can I migrate here?”
“Hahahaha—aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh?!” 1
When Rean suddenly said that, the girl who had puffed out her chest staggered back and almost fell.
Vita looked at him, wondering what he was talking about, but Rean didn’t care.
“It won’t be forever since there’s also Ymir, but I would like to move here for a year or two.”
[“Fufufu, son. You’ll have to graduate from academy properly first, okay?”]
{‘Umu. It’s not good to drop something halfway in anything.”}
“In the first place, we can’t connect the conversation at all, rather, you two can actually talk! Moreover, isn’t one of you actually the Ashen?!”
{“Do you know about me?”}
“Wait, wait wait wait! Explain everything!”
It was explained.
“………………………………”
“………………………………”
They turned silent.
“When I heard that the Ashen’s consciousness resided on its Awakener from Crow, I laughed it off as an Awakener joke, but to think it was actually the real thing……”
Vita looked down, muttering in a voice that Rean couldn’t hear as she tried to accept the reality.
The girl also seemed to have lost her soul as she stood dumbfounded in place, so Rean asked if there was a place where they could rest and continued.
“For the time being, it’s not good to keep standing in place while talking, why don’t we go somewhere we can relax?”
“Is that what you’re supposed to say…?” 2
The girl’s voice was somewhat weak.
Rean was then guided to a large mansion, where he waited for the two to return from their mind break while drinking the tea given to him by someone who looked like a butler.
“……I can imagine Emma’s hardships.”
“Umu…… the next time she comes back, we’ll try to reassure her a little more.”
“Ah, so the two of you are Emma’s acquaintances after all.”
“That’s right. We had been raising her since Emma’s mother passed away. Same could be said for this prodigal girl.”
“Does that mean, the onee-san that Emma is looking for is—”
“…………I see, so that’s why Emma was at the academy after all.”
Despite her melancholy, Vita’s smile had a hint of happiness.
There was a glimpse of her love for her sister, but then, why didn’t she just meet Emma directly?
“In addition to guiding the Awakener, she also said that she came to the academy to look for you. Why don’t you meet her? Since you’re in Trista, you’re close enough to meet her right away, right?”
“…………I have something I had to do.”
“Mumu, that’s right, Vita. What on earth were you thinking? Did you plot something?”
“Fufu, that’s a secret. Or perhaps you want to ask by force?”
“Is that really okay?”
“…………No, why are you interrupting?”
“I’m Emma’s friend after all. I might be unable to teleport, but it’s my second time returning to Trista from around here, so I can bring you there in less than a week. If you don’t like to walk, I can carry you on my back and take care of you during the journey. Ah, if you’re worried about camping in the wild, you don’t have to worry. Dad has a lot of items after all. Besides, when I was teleported to Sutherland last time, I got acquainted with a boy who was good at survival skills. Thanks to that, I’ve gained some discernment on what stuff is edible in the wild.”
“…………I think it’s important to maintain a reasonable distance if you want to make friends.”
“Yes, it might be weird for us to say this, but you are weird.”
Rean groaned.
For the current Rean, Vita was someone he wanted to form a friendship with, but it wasn’t something to be prioritized over Emma.
Therefore, he wanted to do his best for Emma, but he was admonished such that he couldn’t talk back.
Rean suddenly remembered that he hadn’t heard the girl’s name yet, so he asked.
“Come to think of it, what’s your name?”
“Oops, there were so many things that we didn’t introduce ourselves. Our name is Roselia. We are the elder of Eryn, this witch village.”
“My name is Rean Schwarzer. I’m the eldest son of Baron Schwarzer, who rules the famous hot spring town of Ymir.”
“You’re normally polite, but your actions tend to be outrageous.”
“I just want to be friends with anyone who can see dad, though……”
“Okay, then I can be your friend. So I can return now, right?”
“Wait, will you! The brat might be fine with that, but you aren’t finished with us yet!”
“If Vita-san is Emma’s onee-san, I’d like to talk about that.”
“I have no allies here……”
While Vita hung her head in sadness, Osbon joined the conversation.
[“Fufufu, Miss Vita. There’s nothing wrong with having good family relationships, right?”]
“U~hn, this feeling of being consoled by a doll. How should I express it?”
{“Then should I speak in his stead?”}
“It feels even weirder!”
“Rather, it’s weird of you to absorb the Ashen Trial. What would Dreichels say if he were to see it……?”
Osbon reacted to Roselia’s muttering.
[“Come to think of it, is it okay to assume the kind hearted witch who guided Dreichels in the War of the Lion to be Miss Roselia?”]
“Yes, it is indeed us. In that sense, we feel like causality at work to be able to meet the Awakener of Ashen of this era… no, it seems that your causality became strange, didn’t it?”
“…………He seems to tread the path he is meant to take, but it feels completely different. Even though the destination is the same, his pace is completely different. In the first place, rather than walking, it feels like he’s flying above the path, that seems like a better way to express it. Rather, if the Ashen becomes like this, then the Phantasmal Blaze Plan (Genen Keikaku) will………… No, but the main body is still in existence, so even if the personality is not there………… but in that case, the Pseudo-Rivalry at the end of the conflict would…………”
Vita was saying something, but Rean didn’t know what she was talking about, so he didn’t say anything.
Neither Osbon nor Valimar said anything about it, so there was nothing Rean could do.
Since it couldn’t be helped, Rean decided to talk to Roselia.
“By the way, why did you guide me here? No, I am happy that you did, but this place is supposed to be a hidden village, so I thought while you let Vita-san in, I would just be thrown out.”
“You are too much of an irregular, but you’re still the Awakener of Ashen, right? In that case, it is the witches’ duty to guide you. Emma is in charge of that, but there’s no rule that we can’t help in that regard. We would prefer if it could be entrusted to the village’s facilities, though……”
“But Valimar’s main body is at the military academy, you know?”
“We’ll support you using teleportation spells. Rather, it seems that it was Vita who brought you here after all. We have to return you properly. Hey, Vita.”
“What is it, baa-sama?”
“You’re the one who brought him here, so you have to take responsibility and send him back, okay?”
“Eh~…………”
Vita seemed dissatisfied.
She didn’t give off the impression of the beautiful woman Rean felt when he first saw her, but instead an ordinary woman who was in trouble because she had been scolded by her family.
From the way she was looking at Rean and Roselia, it felt like Rean was the one who did something wrong.
From Vita’s perspective, Rean was the bad guy who stopped her from escaping and forced her to meet the little sister she had no intention to meet, though.
At this rate, the conversation wouldn’t progress and the business wouldn’t be concluded.
Rean judged that things wouldn’t be good at this rate and decided to compromise.
“Vita-san.”
“Eh, w-what?”
“I’ll make a compromise. I’ll stop asking to be your friend or acquaintance at this opportunity, so could you write a letter to Emma? At the very least, I’d like you to let Emma know that you don’t have any bad feelings towards her.”
It was something that Emma told Rean after the field study last month.
It was to look out for the other party if he wanted to make friends with people who could see Osbon.
However, not only did the both of them met at random, the fact Vita almost escaped made Rean almost forget Emma’s advice.
But once Rean calmed down, he could start thinking about Vita as well.
If Rean was thinking for her, he should back off at this point, but even so, he prioritized Emma’s situation —— the desire of his friend who wanted to meet her older sister —— over Vita’s.
{“Is it okay, Rean? I thought your purpose is to look for friends who can see Osbon.”}
“That doesn’t mean I can neglect my current friends after all. Besides…… Roselia-san, I can visit here from now on, right?”
“Why do you decide things on your own…… We doubt you can come here if Emma doesn’t show the way, but we don’t mind you coming to visit. The matter about migrating is an entirely different issue, though.”
“That’s too bad,” said Rean, looking really disappointed.
Roselia broke into cold sweat, thinking that not far into the future, Rean might really set up residence here.
“So, how is it?”
“I……”
[“Fufufu, Miss Vita. It might be weird for me to say this, but should you refuse, my son will chase you everywhere, you know?”]
“I’ve already remembered your presence.”
“I’ll write it.”
“Isn’t that a threat……?”
Vita reluctantly decided to write the letter, and Rean tried to watch her doing it, but Roselia reprimanded him, so he decided to run a marathon instead.
It was because he followed Osbon’s advice that Roselia might have something to discuss with Vita personally.
While Rean explored the hidden village, he talked to the children in the village about the outside world, went fishing, visited various facilities regarding the Divine Knight, also places like fortune-telling, bars, and hot springs.
Many people in places Rean visited were surprised to see Osbon, and all their reactions felt fresh to Rean, which made him irresistibly happy.
When he said that, everyone except children looked at him like a weirdo, but Rean didn’t have the mentality to feel depressed over that.
If he was concerned about that in the first place, he would have already broken down by the moment Osbon stuck on him.
“It seems there will be meetings with new people,” said Rean with a smile on his face as he ran around Eryn.
＊
“Haah, it seems like this isn’t the reunion we expected.”
“I also never thought in the slightest that I would be returning like this.”
“When we felt a nostalgic presence and came to see it, there you and that Ashen brat were, moreover both of you moved normally despite the time barrier, we really freaked out at that.”
“I guess it’s because of that doll which calls itself Osbon. It even interfered with my magic and tampered with the destination.”
“So that’s why you stayed in place without running away. Well, thanks to that, we can have a time like this, though……
It seems to be visitor with ‘Divergent Law,’ but we can’t grasp any proof from that brat’s words. That said, it makes us feel reluctant to discuss it with that thing……”
“I understand that feeling. To think the sacrifice of this generation would be like that. Looks like I need to revise the plan.”
“Mumu. What was the plan you mentioned earlier? What are you plotting?”
“It’s not something that would cause trouble for baa-sama. Rather, in the future……”
“You’ve become quite secretive.”
“I’ve learned it from baa-sama after all.”
“You have your way with words.”
Roselia pouted, but it seemed she had the leisure to enjoy the conversation.
Vita too, didn’t seem to have any intention of running away right now, and although she was quite stubborn, she seemed to enjoy the reunion with her grandmother for the first time in a while.
“Since I’m writing a letter, does baa-sama have any messages for Emma?”
“Let’s see. Well, perhaps the thing we want to say is the same as Vita, just with different wordings, though?”
“Is it after all? As expected, the important one is this, right?”
After that, both of them said the words at the same time.
“”Choose your friends properly.””
＊
It was a free day where various things happened, but Rean said goodbye to everyone in the witch village and returned to Trista via Vita’s teleportation.
Vita was said to be quite a personality on a radio program Abend Time at Trista Broadcasting station using the name of Misty. She said Rean saw her in the morning because she came for a meeting.
“But because of you, I ended up skipping that……”
“I’m sorry about that. I’ll apologize with you.”
“No no, what would people say if I bring a younger boy to the studio with me?”
“But is it really okay?”
“I’m still a witch after all. I have my ways in deceiving people. In the first place, the reason Emma couldn’t meet me was because I manipulated things casually so that our paths won’t cross.”
“…………Well, I was the one who was rude this time, so I’ll just tell Emma that someone suddenly passed this letter to me. Can’t I tell Emma about Misty-san or Azure Diva?”
“As long as that girl doesn’t notice that on her own, that is. This time, I just lost to your meddling (threat).”
“I can’t accept your words as is though.”
“I said it that way after all.”
Vita giggled.
Perhaps because she was already surprised so much for the day, she was already able to laugh Rean’s behavior off.
“Can we exchange contact information?”
“You sure asked about it again. You also seem to ask for contact information of baa-sama and others in the village, so you’re really quick on action… Well, I guess it’s okay. If I don’t, you’ll likely come crashing into my workplace after all.”
“I won’t deny that.”
“You should deny it, okay? Please do. It’s common sense.”
“Vita-san is a witch after all.”
“Even witches still follow general rules of society, you know?”
“Then let it be an exception this time.”
“You’re likely making a lot of exceptions……”
Vita did jokingly write that she was worried that Emma might befriend Rean out of guilt in her letter, but she thought it was 70% a joke.
Leaving aside the fundamentally strange Osbon and Valimar, Vita did have a certain amount of trust in Rean, who was probably influenced by them.
It might be weird to have such trust despite knowing him less than a day, but Vita was still a talented witch.
She naturally had the ability to discern whether his actions were true or false in addition to discerning causality.
This time, Vita’s keen eyes as a witch judged that Rean requested Vita to write a letter to Emma really due to their friendship.
Vita thought that Emma and Celine were likely exhausted as the witch who led the current generation of “Ashen,” who tended to run wild, but she also thought it might be just right for the two who tend to be too serious. Such were Vita’s thoughts as an older sister.
“Heeh, so its name is Grianos.”
[“Umu. It’s hard to understand its words, but its emotions are quite easy to understand, right?”]
{“I can’t understand at all.”}
When Vita looked away, she saw a blue bird, which was her familiar, sitting on her arm and they were having a conversation about it.
Grianos was a familiar who specialized in combat and magic, so his will wasn’t as detailed as Celine, but rather rough.
But despite that, Rean and others weren’t attacked by it and were trying to communicate with it.
Was it because of Osbon, Valimar, or Rean’s nature?
Even Vita, who was a witch, couldn’t figure that out, but she had given up trying to figure out who they were, just considering the three of them together as a great figure.
“Even if I gave my contact information, you shouldn’t think I’ll be available often, okay?”
“I understand that. Rather than for regular communication, it’s more for emergency purposes.”
“I see. If you need something from me, just send a postcard or letter to Trista Broadcasting Station. I’ll make sure it is delivered to me.”
“Witches sure can do a lot of stuff.”
“I’m a witch after all.”
The two finally set foot in front of the Trista Broadcasting Station.
Rean missed the opportunity of listening to Abend Time due to a lot of stuff, but he decided to listen to it from that night onwards.
Vita was happy the number of listeners was increasing, but she felt strangely troubled at the fact that the listener was Rean.
“Well then, thank you for everything. I’ll deliver the letter to Emma right away. Good luck with your work.”
With that said, Rean ran toward Thors Military Academy with a communication terminal in hand.
If only his behavior at this moment was seen, Rean would seem to be a polite boy, but Vita thought she would never be able to look at Rean that way again.
Thinking of her little sister’s continuing hardships, Vita wrote her letter.
However, there was definitely an aspect where Emma seemed to be having fun.
When Vita “saw” Emma from a distance, she lacked the anxiety from before and she could see her natural demeanor.
It was assumed that while her friendship with Rean gave her a hard time, it also slammed off her mask.
It was a shame as an older sister to admit, but there was certainly an aspect that Rean saved Emma in.
——That night, before the recording of Abend Time, Vita “looked” at Emma, and saw Emma holding the letter Vita wrote in both hands while tears were constantly dripping from Emma’s eyes.
She’s still a crybaby as usual, thought Vita as she found Emma endearing.
“It might be sooner than expected that we can meet in person…… Emma. Next time we meet in person, I wish it would be at the end of Rivalry.”
While sealing her feelings for Emma and Vita’s name under the mask of Misty, the elder sister sends her voice from Trista to the entire empire that would never reach her younger sister.
The evening time was equally healing for the listeners, and just for today, it was conveyed to the family in a different form.
That said, a postcard from Rean, who sent it as a listener, arrived a few days later, made Vita unnecessarily wary, slumped, before she accepted it, but that is a story for another time.
Author Note:
This conversation took place after Rean was revealed to know Vita.
Rean
“Come to think of it, Vita-san is really passionate about maintaining her health.”
Emma
“What do you mean?”
Rean
“She seems to be very worried about the salt-reduction plan (Genen Keikaku).”
Emma
“It seems nee-san has it hard as well……”
It was causality at work to prevent them knowing the true name and the content of Phantasmal Blaze Plan (Genen Keikaku).
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