CH 57

Episode 57 – An Evening Chat with Lyra

TL Note: Three sponsored chapters today, thank you so much for your support! (1/3)

“Still, they really treated you terribly in the Healer’s Guild.” (Lyra)

“Well, there was probably some truth in the fact that I wasn’t that useful.” (Lewin)

“I just got to know you not long ago, but I think that’s really not the case. Maybe because of what happened with Nina, I really empathize with you. I’m seriously starting to hate Brandon, too.” (Lyra)

“Me too! …Hey, now that we’ve signed a contract, why don’t we team up to teach him a lesson or two?” (Byrne)

Byrne and Lyra began to discuss a pretty scary topic. I was happy that they were angrier than I was about the whole situation, but I had to stop them. I really didn’t want anything to do with Brandon or the Healer’s Guild anymore; I didn’t even want to think about them. If anything, I had to thank Brandon for firing me after all the wonderful things that I had the opportunity to experience lately.

“Byrne, Lyra, I’m really grateful you guys are angry for my sake, but I want to leave those matters of the past alone. Because I was fired, it gave me the freedom to be where I am now.” (Lewin)

“That’s definitely true, I suppose. If you always worked for the Healer’s Guild, your future would have been doomed!” (Lyra)

For a while after that, we continued to talk about various things, but, as it was getting late, we soon called it a day. They made sure that I knew that I was supposed to sleep in the tent they set up for me, but, before sleeping, I wanted to try simmering the Glutamate Herb in hot water. I left the tent alone and set up a fire near the mountain stream to boil some water.

I sat there waiting for the Glutamate Herb to finish coming to a boil while listening to the crackling of the fire and the tranquil gurgling of the mountain stream. Suddenly, I heard someone approaching from behind.

“Hey. I noticed you ran off on your own, so I came to see what was up.” (Lyra)

Turning my head slightly, I saw Lyra walk over and take a seat beside me at the fire.

“Sorry, did I make you worry?” (Lewin)

“Hey, Lewin. Is there a reason you’re still using polite speech?” (Lyra)

I was bewildered by the sudden, incomprehensible jump in conversation topics. I thought she was going to speak to me about the Healer’s Guild or about the plants I collected since we were just talking about those things earlier today.

(TL Note: While Lewin stopped using honorific suffixes with them, such as -san after their names as of Chapter 48, he has always been using the polite forms of speech in Japanese, ending sentences with the formal -desu form. Everyone else in [Iron Gear] uses the casual/informal form of speech and no name honorifics. English doesn’t have a clear-cut formal vs informal speech, so this is inevitably lost in translation.)

“If I had to say a reason, perhaps it’s because I’m your client and contractor? …Also, I just think it’s less rude to use polite speech.” (Lewin)

“Now that you mention it, that’s indeed true. But suddenly speaking informally with you guys, won’t it be weird?” (Lewin)

“Not at all! More importantly, we would be happy to become closer to you!” (Lyra)

…If that was the case, it would probably be better for me to speak casually to them. I mean, I had already formed an exclusive contract with them, so it was better to be closer to them.

“T-then… From now on, here comes the informal speech!” (Lewin)

“Ahaha! What the hell, it sounds all broken up and unnatural! Lewin, you know… you seem mature at times, but you can be really funny! This is good though. You should talk to everyone this way!” (Lyra)

“I underst–er, gotcha. I’ll try my best to not use polite speech as much as possible.” (Lewin)

“You’re right! Lookin’ good…! You wanna drink some too, Lyra?”

“Yup! I’ll have some!” (Lyra)

Lyra was playfully imitating my unaccustomed way of talking with a wide grin across her face. It was pretty embarrassing, but I poured the stock into a cup and handed it to her.

“Thanks. Whew, it’s already giving off a great smell. Did you put anything into the pot aside from that plant?” (Lyra)

“Nope, just that plant.” (Lewin)

“Hoh, so this great smell is only from that plant. Then, bottoms up!” (Lyra)

With a smile, Lyra took a sip. Following her lead, I also tried a bit of the Glutamate Herb stock.

…….Huh?!! D-delicious! Way too delicious!! When boiled, the effect was about twice as strong as the time I was just chewing on the leaf. It was just the boiled essence of the Glutamate Herb, but it was almost as delicious as the soup we had for dinner. Of all the plants I’ve discovered so far, the Dumbbell Weed easily took first place, but this one probably took second place!