Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Helen
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 059 – Fufufu, Son. It’s Time to Help Them Out [B]
“I-I……”
As he said that, Cedric placed his finger over his lips in a thoughtful manner.
The reason he was troubled despite the fact that Kurt, who was his escort, should step down lay at the roots of his wish.
[“Fufufu, son. It seems you have seen through His Highness’s heart.”]
I’m not as good as Musse, but I can at least do this much.
{“What do you mean?”}
Osbon answered Valimar’s question.
[“You see, His Highness has no confidence in himself. Ever since he was a child, he has been compared to Princess Alfin, to Prince Olivert’s talented behavior, as well as the guilt of having his older brother gave up the status of crown prince —— his weakness has developed into his complex.”]
So if there’s anything he can do, he might choose to take action. So……
Although he was just asking for him to guide the way, their actual purpose was to search for terrorists.
This didn’t change the fact that it was still dangerous, so Kurt naturally wouldn’t stay quiet.
However, Rean felt that holding Cedric back and not allowing him to do anything was wrong.
Regardless of whether one had power or not, at least the choice had to be left to the person in question.
As Cedric remained silent, Rean made his final move.
“Aah, are you worried about my strength without having seen it for yourself? If so…… to make it easier to understand, I would like to ask for permission to have a match with Kurt over there, so we can compare them right away.”
If he said it so in such manner, the result would naturally follow.
“Your Highness, I would like to ask permission for that as well.”
“K-Kurt?”
“I’m not that good of a person to remain silent after being told all that.”
“Of course you are. Then let’s go to the square below the balcony. I’d like you, Your Highness Cedric, to act as judge and witness.”
The tense atmosphere wouldn’t disappear unless there was a clash of swords.
The sword might stay sheathed if Olivert was around, but neither Alfin nor Cedric had the words to break the atmosphere they were creating.
Having been given permission to use the place, the two advanced whilst being watched by the royal siblings and the senior and junior of the girls’ academy—— and naturally, Kurt was thrown to the ground.
“Gah…………”
“Kurt!”
“It’s not, over yet!”
Kurt immediately stood up and charged forward with his twin swords.
“Rain Slash!”
The twin swords unleashed from both hands danced wildly in all directions, approaching Rean.
However, Rean grabbed Kurt’s sword directly with his hand, as if to show off.
“Gh! Guh………… Uuh…………”
“No way…………”
Kurt tried to move his twin swords, but they wouldn’t budge.
He overflowed it with fighting spirit, putting his all into trying to shake Rean off.
Naturally, even if Kurt was in beginner grade, Rean wouldn’t be able to avoid being wounded by grabbing Vander’s sword directly.
The reason why Rean was able to stop it with ease was because he was wearing the ashen armor created by Loa Valimar.
Rean could win in a pure one-on-one fight without any problems. However, he chose to use this method on purpose to show his overwhelming advantage.
Kurt had seen Loa Valimar himself, before at Parm, but he was so anxious about his sword being shattered that he didn’t even consider another possibility.
“What’s wrong? This side is open.”
“Gah…………”
Rean launched a kick onto Kurt’s exposed chest.
There was the Eighth Form of Eight Leaves One Blade that utilized barehanded combat, but the leg strength that supported high-speed sword techniques, which were mainly based on the Second Form, exceeded that of a fist in terms of pure power alone.
That said, if Rean had kicked Kurt with all he got, it wouldn’t have just ended with broken bones, so he held back. Even so, Kurt was forced to let go of his twin swords, and took a large step back.
“Ah……”
“Here, I’ll give it back.”
Kurt’s eyes widened as his twin swords were carelessly thrown aside and as they slid along the ground.
Rean didn’t attack.
Scratch that, Rean hadn’t even drawn the tachi on his waist, yet he overwhelmed Kurt with barehanded combat alone.
The dual swords were stopped by Rean’s hands thanks to the ashen armor, but he only used it once. It was for the sake of making an impression on Cedric, or rather, to those around him.
From then on, Rean overwhelmed Kurt with pure martial arts.
The difference in their abilities was obvious to anyone.
Kurt knew that better than anyone.
Even so——
Kurt stood up.
He knew if he lost here, he would lose both Cedric and his pride, which he had to protect.
However, his willpower alone wasn’t enough to make up for the difference in strength between him and Rean, and Kurt was sent tumbling to the ground again and again.
Cedric continued to stare at the pitiful scene and was at a loss for words.
“Rean-san, he’s already……!”
Alfin realized that Cedric was unable to move and tried to step in to interrupt.
However, it was her best friend who stopped her.
“Princess, you shouldn’t. Kurt-san hasn’t given up yet.”
“Elise, but your brother……!”
Alfin then noticed that Elise’s hands were shaking.
When Alfin’s momentum stopped, Elise wrapped her hands in both of Alfin’s.
Elise appealed to Alfin as if she was pleading.
“Please, Princess. Please watch over them……”
“B-But……”
Alfin was shaken by the sight of her best friend, but still couldn’t fully trust Rean.
That was only natural. She only got to meet Rean for the first time that day, after all.
Alfin had neither spent a long period of time with Rean as family like Elise did nor did they have a prior tryst like Musse did.
In that case, her feelings naturally sided toward Kurt, who was her brother’s friend.
“Nii-sama isn’t a person who would do something like that without reasoning behind things. There must be something on his mind…… Otherwise, he wouldn’t have such an expressionless face.”
As Elise said, Rean hadn’t shown any emotion during…… nay, even before the confrontation.
From Elise’s childhood until she enrolled in the girls’ academy, her brother was a person whose emotion was clearly shown on his face.
When they found out they weren’t related by blood, Elise was overwhelmed by emotion and distanced herself with him, which caused Rean to look so distressed it made Elise feel sad as well.
There must be a reason why her adoptive brother behaved like that, bottling up all his emotions.
That was what Elise had deducted.
“It’s as senpai said, Princess. He is an outrageous person—— but I don’t think he would do something that will really make someone sad.”
As for Musse, she saw the reason for Rean’s behavior with her brilliant mind.
Rean was the man who asked her for her help in exchange for stopping her uncle—— to stop the civil war to begin with.
He, who valued friendship more than the fragment of Salt Pale, must have realized something and did this solely for Kurt and Cedric’s sake.
He must be playing the role of a villain since the both of them wouldn’t reveal their true feelings, Musse thought.
In other words, he was an excessively caring person.
So much so that he was taking on all the things that a young girl like Musse felt hesitant to do.
After hearing her friends’ opinion, Alfin couldn’t say anything rough, unable to stop the two from fighting, and could only watch them over in the end.
The only one who could stop this battle was——
“Haah, haah…………”
Kurt who fell flat on his back.
He must have gotten so used to the taste of falling to the ground that it was a pain to count past ten.
Even so, he tried to stand up, but the considerable damage and the accumulated fatigue robbed him of his strength.
“Is my strength clear to you now, Your Highness? I believe I would be more useful as an escort than Kurt.”
“T-That’s……”
“Y-You’re wrong…… The one who will protect His Highness…… is me……”
Even so, his spirit didn’t fall.
As Kurt fumbled to stand up, Cedric’s trembling lips tried to part.
However, Rean had anticipated this and stopped it first.
Now that his preparations were complete, he piled up words to draw out Kurt’s true feelings.
“Kurt, I can do the role of escort much better. If it’s to protect His Highness from danger, you should have realized that I’m the right person for the task, right?”
“You’re wrong! I…… I didn’t choose to protect His Highness because of the role as escort——”
Kurt stood up.
Unable to even grip the twin swords anymore, his body staggered, and he approached Rean step by step.
What came to his mind was a scene from a long time ago.
It was when Kurt met Cedric for the first time and saw him face to face.
[“——Please call me Cedric.”]
——I responded to that.
[“——I couldn’t help but feel envious of my brother and Mueller-san.”]
——I feel the same too.
[“——In exchange, I’d like to call you Kurt…… is that okay?”]
——And I called him Cedric.
——As his friend.
“——He called me his friend back then—— so I want to protect him!”
“Kurt…………!”
His right hand, barely exerting any strength at all, reached out to touch Rean’s cheek.
Forget adults, even babies wouldn’t feel any pain over that mere touch of a fist.
“Guaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”
However, when Rean took it, he screamed.
He then manifested Loa Valimar in an instant, deliberately allowed himself to be thrown by that fist, and was truly blown away.
While everyone was stunned at Rean’s monotone acting and being sent flying five arge over that, Musse, who realized Rean’s intentions, whispered to Cedric.
“Your Highness, the battle is already over, you know?”
“Ah…………”
Urged by Musse, Cedric ran over towards Kurt.
His face was distorted as if he had been crying, but strangely enough, from Kurt’s perspective, it looked like Cedric’s smile, which he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“—————Your————Ce, dric.”
“! Hahah, it’s been a while, since you last called me by name. And as I thought, it seems like you’re the only one who can serve as my bodyguard.”
“…………It’s, just something he gave me.”
It was at this point that Kurt finally realized Rean’s intentions and he saw Elise rush to her fallen adoptive brother.
Kurt belatedly realized it was all an act to draw out his true feelings.
“It’s fine. Even if it’s the ‘Thunder God’ or the ‘Radiant Blademaster,’ they can’t serve as my bodyguard. After all, that’s something only Kurt can do.”
…………Aah.
[“——Kurt, even though you’re the second son, you are still a man of the Vander family. Vander is a sword of guardian that vanquishes evil and reveals righteousness, but I want you to know there is more to Vander than just its strength.”]
Mother, I finally understand. What it means when you said that there’s more to Vander than just its strength……
Cedric’s genuine smile was something that even the best warrior in the Empire, such as Matteus and Victor, could never bring to life.
Because it was him—— Kurt, who was Cedric’s friend, who did it.
Kurt, understanding this, also turned to Cedric and gave him a smile that truly came from the bottom of his heart.
“Of course. I am Cedric’s bodyguard —— and friend, after all.”
“————Yes!”
Seeing Cedric’s expression of laughing and tears, Kurt leaned his body against his friend and let himself fall into a comfortable sleep.
Author Note:
A certain tea time at St. Astraia Girls’ Academy
Alfin
“In place of a childhood friend who had kept his distance from, there is an older man forcing himself on him!”
Musse
“It is only when he was on the verge of losing him that he realized how he felt towards his master ——no, to his friend!”
Alfin & Musse
“How precious……”
Elise
(“I have to protect Nii-sama……”) 1
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