TEOCH 54

“Rehas, I’d like to borrow your and Damian’s helmets for a moment. Would that be all right?”

“Are you planning to be out for a long time, Your Majesty? It will be cold out there.”

“You need not worry about that. I won’t be very cold if I move my body.”

As soon as we returned to our temporary shelter, Tristan proposed that it would be fine for him to take Rikiel and go out for a bit.

I was worried that the two of them might run into monsters, but fortunately, according to Damian, there seemed to be few monsters in the vicinity. As long as they didn’t go too far, it seemed there wouldn’t be any great danger, so I nodded my head silently.

The two of them pulled the ‘suffocation prevention’ helmets borrowed from Rehas and Damian down low and walked away. It seemed they intended to be gone for at least a few hours. I felt inwardly sorry toward Tristan as I watched their retreating figures. Rikiel looked thoroughly dispirited, likely because of what had happened earlier, and Tristan didn’t look very cheerful either.

For some reason, things just aren’t going well today. Where on earth did it all go wrong?

After watching their backs for a long while, I let out a light sigh and sat down on the floor. Damian and Rehas, who remained in the cave, also sat down next to me. Rehas looked quite gloomy, perhaps because he had watched the fight from the side, but Damian wore his usual placid expression.

“You must all be very tired. Please get some rest.”

“Nah, it’s not like we did much. By the way, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Damian, how about you?”

“Hm, I’m not particularly tired, but my mana is very low. If there’s nothing to do right now, would it be all right if I meditated for a bit?”

“Please do. It would be better to build up your mana now for tomorrow’s exploration.”

Damian immediately closed his eyes and began to meditate, and Rehas let out a snort of amusement as he watched. The sight of him acting as if nothing had happened, even after witnessing such a loud fight just moments ago, must have seemed quite funny. However, I didn’t pay much mind to Damian’s attitude. It was because I knew that he was the type to not be affected by fights happening around him.

Feeling a bit envious of Damian, who looked peaceful as if he had already fallen into his own world, I glanced over at Rehas. Rehas had a look on his face as if he wanted to say something to me, but I deliberately avoided his gaze.

At least for now, calming my complicated feelings was the priority. I wish there was something else to do, anything.

“Right, Rehas. If you’re not too tired, won’t you take care of a simple task? It’s difficult to just sit still like this, so I need to do something.”

“Well, if you say so… So, what are you going to do?”

“First, you need to make some arrows. In the last stage, we used parasites to make arrows, but now we don’t have many parasites to spare, so let’s make the arrows by hand and apply poison to the tips. Please make as many as you can, even if the materials are a bit scarce.”

“I’ll do that. At least I won’t be bored, so that’s a relief. What about you?”

“I will organize the rest of the materials. These things need to be done when there’s time.”

With that one sentence, we began to devote ourselves to our respective chores. Rehas went outside and came back with branches and tough vines, and began to shape the branches and bone fragments using a dagger.

Of course, I had many things to do as well. After infusing the medicinal herbs with the power of purification, I removed the roots and small leaves. I sorted through the tree nuts, discarding the mushy ones, washed them well, and placed them near the campfire to dry. I wrapped the meat of the mushroom rat we killed at dawn tightly in leaves and grass, and the tendons and bones, which I had soaked in cold water for a while, I placed over the campfire and brought to a rolling boil. This was to make glue.

As I focused on the task at hand, time flew by in an instant, and I was able to calm the bewilderment and annoyance I had felt earlier and regain my composure. By the time I had finished most of the work, Rehas also seemed to have run out of things to do and was staring at me blankly.

“This is all I can make today. I’ll need more materials to do anything more here. I need to find feathers to balance them, and I’ll need something like glue paste.”

“I’m making the glue now, and as for the feathers, let’s go find them when we go exploring tomorrow. By the way, His Majesty and Sir Rikiel are quite a bit later than I expected. Is their talk getting long…”

“Perhaps they’re having a sparring match? They both took their swords when they left.”

Is that so? Well, I think Tristan did say something about ‘moving his body’ as he was leaving… As I was tilting my head in wonder, a strange message suddenly appeared in my field of vision.

Startled by the sudden message, I read its contents and finally understood what Rehas meant completely. At the same time, I also felt a little conflicted.

[Tristan’s skill ‘Practical Swordsmanship’ has been enhanced. Tristan’s swordsmanship has slightly improved through several hours of sparring, but his stamina has been significantly depleted due to the excessive intensity of the sparring.]

[Additional Effect of Practice: Tristan’s mood has improved considerably. Tristan no longer feels depressed. He is now ready to soothe Rikiel’s feelings.]

With a reluctant expression, I stared blankly at the message. Since when was this game so kind as to inform me of the other companions’ moods? Besides, to put it another way, that means Tristan was feeling depressed because of me until now… It’s a relief that his mood has improved a bit now, though.

Anyway, according to that message, it seems Rikiel’s anger hasn’t subsided yet. Even if Tristan diligently tries to soothe him, it’s highly questionable whether he will have any success.

I dismissed the message, which I couldn’t tell was providing information or just teasing me, and let out a small sigh. My mind, which had barely found stability, now began to twist with self-loathing.

Right, when I think about it, this incident can’t be said to be entirely Sir Rikiel’s fault. It was largely my fault for acting without any explanation, knowing his personality from the start. If I had catered to his pride sufficiently, we wouldn’t have ended up raising our voices and fighting like this.

After all, Sir Rikiel is a person who can think rationally enough as long as he judges that he is being respected. Of course, Rikiel did get unusually angry today, but I was the one who provided the fundamental cause. If I hadn’t messed things up with a moment of carelessness, I wouldn’t have ended up hurting both Rikiel’s and Tristan’s feelings.

But, why on earth did he act like that today of all days? The Rikiel I know is someone who would protest on the spot if he felt he was being ignored, not someone who would hang his head like a sulking child and throw a tantrum. Why on earth…?

‘Did I perhaps say something that would hurt him?’

I still have no clue what specific words caused Rikiel to react that way, but it’s a clear fact that I said something that hurt his pride or touched a raw nerve. It’s probably just that I’m so insensitive that I haven’t noticed what was wrong.

I need to think, but what on earth is the problem… As I was struggling alone, trying to endure a growing headache, I suddenly felt a strange gaze from my side.

“…Hrmmm.”

Feeling reluctant, I turned my head, and just as I expected. Rehas had been staring at me blankly for a while now. Feeling my already complicated mood sink even further, I met Rehas’s gaze.

What does he want to say to me, looking at me with those eyes? Could it be that this person also wants to inwardly blame me for my fault?

“Is there something you want to say to me?”

“Just when I thought your mood had improved a little, you’re making a long face again.”

“A long face? I was just…”

I was about to snap back curtly, but I sighed and shut my mouth. Well, from a third party’s perspective, it would look like a long face. Rehas giggled as if he found my reaction amusing, and I turned my head away with an uncomfortable feeling.

“See, it’s a long face.”

“Is it fun to say that after teasing someone?”

“Mmm, I can’t say it’s not fun. It’s the first time I’ve seen you look so down, after all.”

“…Rehas.”

“What, is there something you want to say?”

Aren’t you the one who has something to say? I was about to say that, but I shut my mouth after seeing Rehas’s expression. He still had that strange look in his eyes. The thought that perhaps that person didn’t want to say something to me, but rather wanted to hear something from me, flashed through my mind.

“Rehas, by any chance…”

“Hm?”

“Do you also think I was a bit harsh?”

After a moment of hesitation, I cautiously opened my mouth. I couldn’t guess yet what that person thought about what had happened earlier, but judging from his current attitude, it didn’t seem like he had a negative opinion of me personally. It probably wouldn’t hurt to talk a little.

“In what way?”

“Well, how should I put it. My personality… isn’t it too blunt?”

“That’s hard to deny. So?”

“Would it kill you to say it’s not, even as an empty compliment? Anyway, if I had spoken more considerately to Sir Rikiel, this wouldn’t have happened. I regret pushing him too hard because of my emotions earlier.”

“Hmm.”

“If I had explained about the berserker fluid more properly, and if we had come to a full agreement on who should take this parasite before deciding, wouldn’t he have understood? It wasn’t even that difficult, but somehow I ended up being negligent…”

Rehas neither affirmed nor denied my words. I continued to ramble on to him, feeling as if I were sorting out my tangled thoughts.

Well, I’m planning to apologize to Sir Rikiel anyway, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to practice beforehand. Since I currently have no idea why Sir Rikiel was more upset than usual, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to look for a clue while talking to this person. Thinking that, I continued to pour out my heart to Rehas.

However.

“I know it, too. I haven’t been very considerate of you all until now. Earlier too, if I had been a little more considerate of Sir Rikiel’s pride, he wouldn’t have been so displeased…”

“Wait a minute, Rohan.”

“Yes?”

“So, you think the Guard Captain is acting like that because his pride was hurt?”

A faint question began to form on the face of Rehas, who had been listening quietly for a while. Wait, did I say something wrong? I snapped at Rikiel with a very aggressive tone earlier, and he got angry at me because his pride was hurt by that. What on earth is the problem?

“Yes, of course. It’s because I lack too much consideration for others…”

“Rohan.”

“Yes?”

“You are considerate enough of others.”

“You don’t have to say such empty words. I know what I know.”

“It’s true, Rohan. The Guard Captain is probably not angry for that reason either.”

“Then, what is it?”

Rehas’s eyes looked unprecedentedly serious as he said that, so I couldn’t help but be inwardly surprised. What on earth is that person thinking? Rikiel isn’t angry because his pride was hurt?

Of course, there was no guarantee that Rehas’s thoughts were correct, but I decided to hear him out anyway. However, the one sentence Rehas brought up was truly unexpected.

“It’s because you don’t take care of yourself.”

…What?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why are you suddenly nagging me about something completely unrelated?”

“Completely unrelated? I had a feeling, but don’t tell me you have no idea why the Guard Captain was angry?”

“…?”

What is this sudden nonsense? I was at a loss for words and stared at Rehas for a long time. What connection is there between me not looking after myself and Rikiel being angry? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with anything.

“I don’t understand what you mean, Rehas. Can you explain it more clearly?”

“Good grief. Is it okay if I say one thing, Rohan?”

“What is it?”

“About what you’ve been saying until now, honestly, I think those things don’t matter in the current situation. The issue of consideration or agreement, I mean.”

Wait, it doesn’t matter? I frowned faintly at his words, which completely negated everything I had said so far, but his expression was unshakably calm. While I remained silent, Rehas continued to speak.

“It can’t be helped that you can’t fully consider our positions. You know much more than we do, so it’s natural that you can’t explain everything you know to us one by one.”

“…”

“Sometimes, we might not all agree with the decisions you make. But even in those situations, I will trust you anyway. Because the decisions you make will be better than the decisions I or others make. But…”

“But, what is it?”

“If you don’t take care of yourself, we can’t help but worry about you. Just like the Guard Captain did earlier.”

Rehas tossed out that one sentence and shrugged his shoulders. Unlike his light tone, the content was quite unexpected, so I couldn’t help but ask him back without realizing it. Uh, um, so, Rikiel was what…?

“Wait, he was worried about me?”

“Somehow. I had a feeling you wouldn’t know.”

I looked at Rehas’s expression, which included a light click of his tongue as if to say I was pathetic, with very skeptical eyes. That was him being worried? No way. What kind of person expresses worry like that? If that act of pushing someone and even shouting can be called worry, then I would have worried about that person thousands of times over by now.

“That can’t be. He was just doing that because his pride was hurt.”

“What on earth do you think that Guard Captain is like? You’re as stubborn as a mule.”

“What did I do? No, who in the world worries like that? He acted like he was going to eat me alive!”

“Hmm, he was certainly a bit aggressive… Well, do you think you’re any better than him? You and him are exactly the same.”

“What did I do for you to say that?”

“You pushed him and shouted at him in the first place, didn’t you?”

“Sir Rikiel was the one who charged at me first. He was also the one who shouted first. Is that my fault?”

“A person can do that when they’re startled. In the first place, do you know how bewildering your actions were from our perspective? Suddenly cutting open your leg and putting in a parasite that ate some unknown liquid. I didn’t show it, but honestly, I was a bit scared too.”

Rehas burst out laughing as he said that, and I let out a dry cough out of embarrassment.

So is this what he’s trying to say? Sir Rikiel charged at me because he was scared and bewildered by my sudden action, and he shouted because he was worried about me?

‘His behavior was a bit strange today, but… is it really true?’

To be honest, I still had my doubts, but if what Rehas said was true, my position becomes quite awkward. It means I got angry for no reason at someone who was worried about me.

Besides, Rehas’s words weren’t entirely without merit. It was certainly strange for a person who would normally meet my gaze and talk back to me point by point to suddenly act like that. If he really acted that way because he was worried about me…

‘Ah, seriously…!’

My annoyance started to surge, and I scratched the back of my head over and over. This, this honestly isn’t my fault. Can’t we just say it’s Rikiel’s fault? I was bewildered too! He charged at me with that huge body and knocked me over, and he shouted like that while claiming to be worried, so it’s natural for me to misunderstand.

He could have just been direct and told me to be careful because he was worried. Why beat around the bush like that so no one can understand! What kind of person is like that?! It’s not like he has the patience of a saint!

No, that’s not it. Maybe Rehas was mistaken. Maybe he’s overestimating Rikiel too much, or maybe he’s subtly interpreting the situation in Rikiel’s favor to help me and Rikiel make up. Well, if I were to make things up, there could be various possibilities.

There’s no need to take his words at face value. Even in the first playthrough, whenever I fought with Rikiel, everyone would either take Rikiel’s side or sweat buckets trying to force us to reconcile.

But, but.

“I’m going to step out for a bit.”

“Why, are you going to make up or something?”

“Rather than making up… well, there’s something I want to ask him. I’ll take my time coming back, so if you’re tired, please go to sleep first.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whether you fight or make up, handle it outside. Goodness, I’m sleepy…”

Rehas, as if it were the most natural thing to do, flopped down, using Damian’s legs as a pillow. Damian squirmed in protest, but Rehas didn’t pay him any mind. I stood up and walked out of the cave. Feeling the cool, damp air instantly cool my heated head, I immediately opened the map.

‘Right, if I hear his side of the story, I should be able to get a grasp of things somehow…’

I don’t know exactly where the two of them are, but if they went out with the intention of sparring, they would probably need a wide, open space. I set off in a direction I could roughly guess.