madnovel #355 - It's sand, it's bean paste, one is buried here, one is thrown into the waterfall
#355 - It's sand, it's bean paste, one is buried here, one is thrown into the waterfall
“Yo, Crusch, are you alright...?”
For some reason, after meeting at the inn after more than ten days, Crusch hid behind Ferris as soon as she saw him, looking quite embarrassed.
“Ferris, did I do something wrong?”
“Well, for a man who says he wants to get married upon meeting someone, you've already done something quite wrong.”
“Then you haven't seen the women who propose to me upon meeting me.”
Ferris stood in front of him, preventing him from getting close to Crusch as if guarding against a thief.
Was he a 'male mother'?
Seeming to sense Zunzun's intention to strike up a conversation, this guy actually spoke first: “Crusch-sama, the journey has been tiring, let's go rest first, the air here isn't very good.”
“Oh, oh... Then Zunzun, we'll leave first.”
Crusch was dragged away by the cat-eared man, but she still greeted him before leaving, and the two of them left in a hurry. Watching their departing backs, Zunzun scratched his head.
“...Am I a source of pollution?”
“I'm truly sorry for Ferris's words, he didn't mean to say that.”
“Hearing you say that makes me feel relieved, Wilhelm-ji.”
Wilhelm seemed to have gone to settle the dragon carriage, which is why he was a little late, but thanks to that, Zunzun didn't feel embarrassed by being neglected, which would have made it seem like he was disliked, at least by Ferris.
Zunzun and Wilhelm rested in the courtyard, and both tacitly avoided mentioning the invitation from Anastasia, after all, excessive probing would only create unnecessary misunderstandings between them.
However, no matter who it was, they could guess that Anastasia wouldn't fail to invite the other royal candidates.
“Wilhelm-ji, Reinhard will also be coming this time.”
“...Hmm.”
Zunzun's sudden words made Wilhelm silent, and he looked at Zunzun's eyes filled with inquiry.
—What does that mean?
“It might not be appropriate for an outsider like me to say this, but I hope Wilhelm-ji can reconcile with Reinhard, or rather, you two should hurry up and reconcile, it's been a year, what have you been doing?”
“Reconcile...?”
“When we decided to subjugate the White Whale, Reinhard also wanted to come, but in order to protect Felt—”
“I know.”
Wilhelm understood, but he was the one who initially reprimanded Reinhard, and now he couldn't bring himself to lower his head and beg for forgiveness.
There shouldn't be hatred between grandfather and grandson, rather, Wilhelm was temporarily unable to accept his wife's death and took his anger out on the unknowing Reinhard, but now that the great revenge has been avenged and so many years have passed, he should have let it go.
“Reinhard also...”
“Thank you, Zunzun-dono, I didn't expect my foolish self to be awakened by an outsider, I will consider it carefully.”
He bowed deeply and walked towards the inn to meet with Crusch and the others.
What was lacking now was a stepping stone. Zunzun, as a comrade-in-arms and a royal candidate, was naturally qualified to serve as a bridge between grandfather and grandson. Now, all that was needed was a suitable opportunity, and they would surely bury the hatchet.
At this moment, Zunzun heard a commotion outside.
He went outside.
It turned out that Natsuki Subaru and the others had arrived, and it seemed that they were related to Crusch. He couldn't help but wonder, was it because he visited earlier that Crusch sped up?
At this time, Natsuki Subaru was arguing with Julius.
Even though this guy acknowledged Julius's good intentions in his heart and was grateful to him, he just wouldn't admit defeat verbally, and his face showed a displeased expression.
“I was wondering why it was so noisy, so Subaru has arrived.”
“Ah, Zunzun! Long time no see!”
Natsuki Subaru's face showed the joy of reunion after seeing Zunzun, which was completely different from the sullen face he had when confronting Julius just now. Seeing a fellow countryman safe and sound in another world was better than anything else.
“It's really great that you're still so energetic, Subaru.”
“Of course! If you want to know why, I've been training for a whole year, and I'm completely different from before! Don't underestimate me now!”
Natsuki Subaru crossed his arms and raised his head triumphantly. Although it wasn't very obvious, he should have become a little stronger than before... right?
He then looked at the silver-haired half-elf standing beside her.
“Emilia-sama, long time no see.”
“Long time no see, Zunzun.”
To be honest, he hadn't had much interaction with Emilia, he had only met her at the royal selection ceremony and had a brief conversation during the subjugation of Sloth, and hadn't seen her since but...
“Emilia, your face is so red, are you sick?”
Natsuki Subaru touched her head.
His face showed concern, but saying that in front of everyone would still make people feel shy, at least Emilia was very shy.
“Subaru, I'm fine.”
“But... Ah, could it be that you blushed when you saw Zunzun? Indeed, his current attire must seem very surprising to you.”
Zunzun was wearing a yukata.
Unlike the clothing of this other world, it was particularly novel, and the simple attire further highlighted Zunzun's good looks, so it was normal for girls to be shy when they saw him.
However, what no one expected was—
“T-That... I'm sorry, Zunzun, you're a good person!”
Huh? ? ?
She gave him the friend card right away! ?
Zunzun looked at Emilia, who was bowing to him, in astonishment, and then at Natsuki Subaru, who was equally dumbfounded, the meaning in his eyes was very obvious - what is going on?
“Emilia, what is going on?”
Natsuki Subaru asked directly.
“Th-that… I’ve already kissed Subaru, so I can’t marry Zunzun. S-so… I’m sorry, I can’t agree to the conditions Mr. Miklotov said…”
She looked at Zunzun cautiously.
I forgot about that.
Miklotov conveyed the matter of becoming the next king as long as one married Zunzun to every royal selection candidate, and Emilia, who declared fairness at the royal selection ceremony, was naturally no exception.
“I-I think I should refuse! Because I’ve kissed Subaru, even if Zunzun has thoughts in that direction, I have to refuse properly! This is something that absolutely cannot be ambiguous! …That’s what I think.”
“Emilia, I really love you to death! E·M·T!”
The pure girl stood firmly by the side of the man she had chosen.
—What is this?
I clearly haven't done anything, and I didn't even have any thoughts in that direction in the first place, but instead I was given a friend card in advance. Even if that's the case, I've eaten my fill of dog food.
“Hehe, hehehe—”
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Zunzun looked at the intimate pair with a fake smile and said to the best knight beside him, "Julius, can I trouble you with something?"
“Please command.”
“Kill them, turn them both into red bean paste. Bury one here and throw the other across the great waterfall!”
“——Hey!”
Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but shout, "I know my charm is very strong, making you jealous, but you don't need to get so angry!"
“Shut up, be careful I'll gather the FFF group to get rid of you! Put you on a pyre and roast you!”
“You don’t need to go that far! Besides, don’t you also have two childhood sweethearts? You should also be punished!”
Although the two bickered and argued non-stop, anyone could tell that their relationship was very good.
“Wait a minute!”
A delicate scolding voice interjected, the owner of the voice glared at the two with some displeasure, and said, "Betty doesn't know about things like friend cards and the FFF group, but neglecting a lady by the side is really inappropriate."
With long, light-colored hair that is almost cream-colored, braided into twin pigtails in the form of vertical curls, often wearing gorgeous frilly dresses, she looks like a young girl, giving people the impression of being lovable.
“I was a little too rude.”
Zunzun bowed elegantly, and took one of her small hands, and gave it a light kiss in the air in front of everyone.
“I didn’t expect to meet a high-ranking elf lady like you. It’s my first time meeting you, I’m Zunzun, please give me your guidance.”
Because there were many things he wanted to ask this artificial spirit with vast knowledge, Zunzun gave enough face and did enough etiquette, wanting her to help solve his doubts.
But he didn't expect it to stimulate Natsuki Subaru instead.
He shouted in surprise, "Zunzun, you bastard, could it be that you saw that there was no chance with Emilia, so you aimed for Beatrice? Enough! Stop it, she's only 400 years old!"
You're the one who's had enough!
How can there be such a thing as a 400-year-old child?
“Don’t be nervous Subaru, although I have a good impression of him, and I can’t help but want to go to his side right now, but my contracted partner is Subaru, so I won’t go over.”
“…Why does it sound like I’m helplessly bound by a garbage man? I’m very hurt!”
Natsuki Subaru pretended to cry.
Beatrice rolled her eyes at him, then looked at Zunzun and said, “Besides, it’s not our first time meeting. I saw you when you came to the mansion to visit. I wanted to call you up, but you slipped away in the blink of an eye.”
“Oh, that time…”
Originally, Zunzun's secondary purpose was to see her, but he had to give up for various reasons, and then he was attacked by the Bowel Hunter.
Natsuki Subaru looked at Zunzun with slight surprise.
“It’s so strange, Beatrice actually hates humans, I didn’t expect…”
“Don’t misunderstand, Subaru, the person standing in front of you is not a human, nor an elf, but an even more amazing existence.” She looked at Zunzun carefully and said, “Boy, you should have contracted with an elf, right.”
“Yes, I have contracted with 6.”
“Just so you know, Lord Zunzun is different from me, he doesn’t have the blessing of attracting spirits.”
Julius's words further demonstrated the extraordinariness of Zunzun's physique.
“You’re also a flower-attracting guy.”
Beatrice snorted a little jealously.
Emilia also said in a low voice, “A-actually, I also have a little bit of a good impression of Zunzun… D-don’t misunderstand, Subaru, it’s just a little bit…”
“Even Emilia-tan is like this!?”
Natsuki Subaru widened his eyes and murmured involuntarily, “Emilia and Beatrice, could it be that they were (N)TRed…”
“Shut up, you idiot!” Zunzun grabbed his collar and shouted, “I’m a pure love war god!”
“But—”
Natsuki Subaru wanted to say something more, but at this moment, a strong wind came from his face, accompanied by a tiger's roar.
“Wait, Garfiel!”
And Emilia's cry.