CH 195

{Sword}

I know why Indra stopped me. After all, it was for my sake. If I had killed Primrose for no reason, I might have gotten arrested.

Of course, they wouldn’t go as far as executin’ an S-Rank adventurer like me, but the nobles would be able to use this as excuse to treat me as their lapdog. As punishment, they’d have confiscated all my assets, includin’ our base. In the worst case, I could have been turned into the nobles’s slave, forced to endlessly farm cash in the capital’s dungeon.

It was clear that Indra wouldn’t accept that, and she’d likely save me while usin’ all methods available to her.

＊

――In the first place, Indra isn’t the type of girl who’d avoid that kinda trouble. She does what she wants to do, and if someone opposes her, she simply crushes ’em.

She keeps tellin’ me to do what I wanna do as well, but that’s because I quickly end up broodin’ ’bout silly stuff.

The reason why Indra stopped me from 『doin’ what I wanna do』 this time is probably because it’d have increased the things for me to brood ’bout. She’s clearly grasped that I tend to avoid killin’ people.

Of course it ain’t like I haven’t killed any people so far and I’ll naturally kill people if it’s part of a request. I haven’t regretted doin’ so either. But, stuff like that still torments me.

――Even so, I’d still become a murderer at anytime if it’s for Indra’s sake. I could easily slaughter the folks who maltreated Indra.

But, that lass didn’t kill ‘nyone and havin’ treated Indra badly was her only crime.

And yet, I’d kill her. I wouldn’t regret killin’ her either, but butcherin’ innocent folk isn’t ‘nythin’ I can do as calmly as Indra. Knowin’ that, Indra stopped me.

The one thinkin’ the most ’bout my good, and not just preachin’ it with pretty words either, is Indra.

――That’s why I really felt like killin’ Primrose.

Also, as form of personal atonement for havin’ taken Indra’s emotional scars too lightly in the past.

＊

I stopped after havin’ walked up next to Indra, taken a breath, and looked at her.

“……Sorry ’bout earlier. You might have been the one to destroy the window, but I yelled at you without askin’ ’bout the circumstances first.”

Indra also stopped, and looked at me, blinkin’ her eyes in surprise. And then she put on an awfully sulky expression.

“…What’s wrong?”

Why are you poutin’ albeit I’m apologizin’?

When I asked her in confusion, Indra suddenly averted her face, “That’s so not like you. You’re not a guy who would agree with my doing things like that, right? Rather, you’re the kind of guy who drops a fist on my head although I didn’t do anything wrong, aren’t you? And you’re just fine like that! You just need to get irrationally angry at me without thinking about any unnecessary stuff!”

Eh? That’s her evaluation of me?

…Sure, I do scold her at times, but that’s only when she overdoes things. Who’s gonna teach her how to hold back if not me?

“…I’m scoldin’ you for your own sake, you know?”

It’s because I can’t leave you be like that. After all, I don’t wanna see you fall into darkness.

You probably wanna get your revenge on the folks that attack you, but not knowin’ how to hold back, you’ll simply massacre everyone, and thus get dragged in even worse situations. And if that starts to even affect the folks idolizin’ you, even your gonna regret it, right?

Though, if you get seriously pissed and feel like doin’ as you please, I won’t stop you and simply handle the aftermath. But, I don’t wanna see you cryin’ in regret when you end up hurtin’ somethin’ you cherish just because you did somethin’ out of fun.

“I know! So you don’t need to tell me! In the first place, I won’t be able to shine as a silly nutcase without your retorts! That’s why you’re the only one allowed to scold me! It’s like how the “Chief” scolds “Ryo,” or how “Namihei” scolds “Katsuo!” “Ryo” and “Katsuo” would also feel sad and lonely if they were abandoned and didn’t get scolded anymore!” 1

She told me while still avertin’ her face sulkily.

…Though I got absolutely no clue what she’s talkin’ ’bout….

After gazing at her for a while, I thrust my hands under her arms and lifted her up.

“What are you doing!? Put me down!”

For a change, Indra became beet red, flappin’ her feet as she trashed ’round. She landed several kicks.

“Don’t make such a fuss. …’nyway, I’m goin’ to properly train you from now on as well. If you hate that, get your act together and learn how to hold back.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just put me back down!”

Indra with her boyishness, as she kicked up such a fuss, was cute.