CH 195

Episode 195 – Of Few Words

After the smoke in the room was completely aired out, I was chewed out thoroughly by the owner. Since it was entirely my fault with no room for rebuttal, I kept apologizing profusely as Aruna stood there staring fixedly at me with a complete lack of expression on her face.

“Aruna, you too. Stop provoking people in the bar. I seriously thought there was a fire and freaked out, you know?” (Araku Village Owner)

“…..I didn’t expect him to use smoke like that. If it had been a direct frontal assault, there wouldn’t have been any trouble for the bar.” (Aruna)

“Sigh. You’re always so quick to make excuses. I still haven’t forgotten that time you punched a customer, you know? Next time you cause a problem, I’m going to fire you immediately.” (Araku Village Owner)

The focus somehow shifted her focus from me to Aruna, and she almost got fired. I wasn’t too sure about that time she hit a customer, but this time it wasn’t Aruna’s fault because I was the one who provoked her then created the smoke.

I cast an apologetic glance at Aruna, who looked away with a pout, and then apologized to the owner.

“I’m really, really sorry.” (Lewin)

“…….Fine. I’ll forgive you this time. But next time you cause any problems I’m going to ban you from coming here, so you better be prepared.” (Araku Village Owner)

It seemed the owner had finally decided to lay down her arms, as she heaved a deep sigh and left the room. My eyes followed her back as she left the room, and I suddenly became hyper-aware that I was once again alone with Aruna in the room… Honestly, it was incredibly awkward.

I dared to talk big to her earlier, and then I went and lost to her right afterwards. Then because of that, she got chewed out too. The fact that she was just staring at me made me feel even more ill at ease.

For now, I guess I should just apologize for everything then leave here as soon as possible, huh?

As for the matter about party members, I would just have to give up on it at this point.

“Errr… Aruna-san. I’m really sorry! I provoked you and then decided to go with a strange strategy, and I ended up causing you trouble. I know it may sound like an excuse, but I really didn’t mean to provoke you, and I sincerely apologize if I offended you.” (Lewin)

The uncomfortable silence dragged on, and the moment I was about to ask if I could leave… Aruna finally spoke.

“What about the matter regarding party members?” (Aruna)

I raised my head when I heard Aruna’s words, then tilted my head in confusion. The reply to my apology was ‘what about the party’? The flow to the conversation made absolutely no sense to me, and I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“E-err…. The matter regarding the… party members?” (Lewin)

Aruna looked a little miffed when she heard me parrot the same question back to her. Aruna’s face was pretty much always expressionless, but I felt like I could begin to somewhat decipher the changes in her expression by the slight lifting or drooping of the corners of her mouth.

“Right. You want to party up with me, don’t you?” (Aruna)

“But I couldn’t land a blow on you.” (Lewin)

“It’s fine.” (Aruna)

What does ‘it’s fine’ supposed to mean? Am I supposed to take this to mean that she’s fine with partying up with me?

I was undoubtedly male, and I couldn’t get her to acknowledge my strength in the end. Normally, it shouldn’t be ‘fine’ at all… But Aruna’s words were truly too scarce.

“Umm, I’d appreciate it if you could party up with me, but I don’t satisfy any of your requirements. Is that okay, Aruna-san?” (Lewin)

“I told you it was fine.” (Aruna)

“I’d appreciate it if you could tell me why though.” (Lewin)

“The reason I said it was fine to party up was because I acknowledged your strength. I’ve never heard of smoke coming out of someone’s empty hands before, so there’s a good chance you’re a Rare Skill User. Also, regarding your slashes, you couldn’t see and you seemed to be holding back, so even though I blocked it, I could tell that it was a heavy blow. Regarding your gender, I was just looking for someone of the same sex since partying up with a guy is troublesome for various reasons. But you seem to have some self-respect in a positive sense of the word, so I decided it would be fine…. Phew. Happy now?” (Aruna)

Without the slightest waver in the intonation in her voice, Aruna rapidly rattled off the reasons why she thought it would be okay to form a party with me. I thought she might turn out to be an absent-minded person, but as it turned out, she was exceedingly insightful.

We met for the first time, and then soon after, we had a battle to test our strengths. She didn’t know me at all, but she could come to the conclusion that I was a Rare Skill User and could see through my slashes. After hearing her explanation, it became obvious to me that despite her adorable appearance, she was powerful.

“Thank you. I understand now. If that’s what you say, Aruna-san, then I’m happy to hear that. I look forward to working with you in a party from now on!” (Lewin)

“Yeah, looking forward to it.” (Aruna)

Aruna’s long, fluffy ears, which had been standing on end, were now drooping until they were practically folded in half, as if she was tired from talking too long during this trial. Her ‘looking forward to it’ had hardly a single shred of enthusiasm behind it. She looked way too tired for someone who was about to have to go to work… But if we were going to form a party, I wanted to talk a little more about it.

We needed to decide on our terms for challenging the Dungeon, and we also needed to inform the Guild employee who would be joining the party as soon as possible. I forcefully carried on the conversation with Aruna, who had already turned away from me and clearly had zero interest in talking to me anymore.