What Must be Conveyed
Two weeks had passed since our final battle with Demon King when I came to.
The first thing I saw was Alma sleeping over my body.
...This would cause another misunderstanding if her parents were here. Alma Papa especially.
I mean, uh, it might not be necessarily wrong in the near future.
I feel bad waking Alma up but I can't get back to sleep either.
...I mean, I've got enough sleep for a lifetime. My body's creaking all over.
My arm is injected with a pipe connected to a nutrient like tube. I had no idea this world had IV tech. Kinda surprising.
Staring at Alma's sleeping face, I feel sorry for making her tend to me all this time and how cute she looks while asleep, shallow of me.
As I kept staring at her I recalled how our feelings were laid bare in the open when we were fused. I know it's too late and all but that was so embarrassing I could die.
Uoaaaaaaaa.....! Just kill me now...!!
How dare an old man reserve unit fall in love with such a delicate beauty, man.
...What's even more surprising is the fact that the feelings are mutual.
I mean, there were signs sure. But, I didn't want to take it wrong and pretended to look the other way.
Wonder when did I fall for her. I'm still not sure the moment.
Was it that time we stabbed each other's stomachs? The heck kinda splatter is that.
That time we walked around together like it was a date during the hunting fest? There's absolutely nothing romantic about that gourmand outing. Nope.
That time we went fishing? That time we were clearing a dungeon? That time we defeated a Jet Boar at Keruna Village? That time we overcame a Stampede? That time we trained together to learn Magic Swords?
Maybe I already fell at the first sight when she saved my life at Magic Beast Forest.
I think both me and Alma were attracted to one another as we spent more days together and began to harbor feelings.
I patted the sleeping Alma's head while reminiscing all that.
...I can't decide if I want to wake her up and talk about it or if I want to stare at her sleeping face forever.
My mind is a mixed mess of being scared to change our longstanding relationship and wanting to deepen it.
Even my wording is getting messy thanks to everything going on in my head. Wait, no I guess it's same as ever?
"....U...Un...H,uh...Hikaru...?"
I patted her for a while before Alma woke up. Oh jeezuz.
"...Good morning, Alma."
"M, orning... You're, up."
"Yup, I did just now. My bad for making you wait so long."
"...You wouldn't open your eyes, no matter how many times I called you."
"...I'm really sorry."
She muttered in a slightly bad mood, either a low blood pressure from just waking up or her being angry about me sleeping through all those days.
I have no idea why I slept that long either. I mean I guess I got my eyeball gouged out and all, maybe the fight with Demon King was more draining than I thought.
"How are you feeling now?"
"My head is still hazy and my body is creaking all over, probably from oversleeping. But I'm perfectly fine."
"I see... I'm so glad, you're finally up."
Alma sighed with her usual expressionless face you could mistook for being curt.
I know this question comes too late, but I wonder why is this girl like this when her parents can't stay a second without bombastically expressing themselves... No, I guess that's precisely why?
They must have an over reaction to every little thing Alma did, so she ended up learning not to be expressive.
You can tell how she feels from her gestures and intonations once you've gotten to know her better though.
We're having a little chat to get me up to speed.
Like how are the guildmasters, her parents and training members doing.
Like say, Neora-kun is apparently going around all over the world distributing goods with Item Screen and Fast Travel.
That doesn't sound like a job meant for heroes, but it's definitely the best way to use him.
...Apparently he's given up correcting locals who keep mistaking his gender.
"Menu played a prank and activated Valorous Fusion in front of many people so he's been getting marriage proposals left and right."
"Ahahahahaha, someone's popular. All of them gotta be men though."
"A little tidbit, Alan is among those men."
"Bffft!? What happened, Aizawa-kun!? He knows Neora-kun is a man, right!? Actually, wasn't he wooing you, Alma...?"
"...'I'm fully aware that I ain't meant for you. Ya go ahead and get yer' happiness', he never showed up again after telling me that."
No seriously, what happened. Heard he tried to court Alma-fused Neora-kun before the final battle, did that start the shift?
...Who'd have thought he'd woke up to that. You really can't tell what the future holds in store, scary~.
"What about Reina and Hiyoko?"
"They've been hunting down magic beasts around here to prevent Stampedes taking place during the rebuilding effort. They couldn't really level up after getting so much stronger though."
"Ah, guess she's a Special Job now... I mean, our changes are just as drastic after defeating Demon King."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
Looking at Map Screen, Reina and Hiyoko have both reached Lv82.
They must be the youngest strongest human and magic beast in history.
Alma's Job had changed to 'End Paladin' after defeating Black Dragon.
Add exp point from defeating Demon King and things are getting out of hands.
Alma's is Level 109 now. She's ten level higher than her parents.
Her Attributes have shot up as well. Average being 4500, it's Oni-sensei's tier.
Speaking of which, mine is Lv126... Thanks to finishing off Demon King, or almost like soloing him, my level ups were just nasty.
Despite having left Neora-kun's party, my Attributes have 8000 as the lowest. I could easily reach 100,000 with Energy Control buff.
I could fight on par with True Demon Release Demon King no biggie now. No the final form though.
Well, I don't need this stupid amount of power though. Demon King is no more anyways.
"We managed to defeat Demon King relatively fast but there's still a lot of casualty I see."
"Un. Thanks to adventurers, soldiers and guards doing their very best, civilian casualty was kept at a minimum but there's still an untold number of life lost."
I thought we were given the shortest end of the stick having to fight Demon King but if you consider the strength and number of current generation demons, the people who had to face them were having it much worse.
I have nothing but gratitude for those who stood up and lost their lives despite the despairing odds... Let's offer them a prayer.
"Sounds like your parents were blasting things left and right. They got quite a few level ups."
"They kept fighting and even went after the fleeing demons in the end..."
"...Yeah, I could see that."
The damage suffered by the area under Alma's parents is the lowest among other areas.
...But their unchecked rampage might have done more damage to the cities than the demons. I get that it's inevitable though.
"They squeezed me so hard when I woke up I thought I was getting strangled to death again."
"They got way too much energy. Well, I'm just glad we're all safe and sound here."
"After that, mom told me something so outlandish I passed out again."
"Eh, what did she say?"
"...'Alma-chan is gonna be an onee-san soon', she said as she rubbed her stomach."
"O, ooh... That's gonna be quite a long year apart between the two of you."
That's an unexpected good news from Alma Mama.
...No wonder she got knocked out hearing that right after getting up.
.....
We kept talking about that kind of stuff, but not the important one.
There was something I wanted to tell her after the battle.
...I would have raised a flag if I said it out loud though, so I kept it to myself.
Apparently the rule here states that the man must be the one telling the woman.
Only uncommon cases like multiple women going for one man prompt the woman to go for it.
Dunno who made that rule but apparently those who ignored the rules will be branded as 'a bum who can't even say love to the woman he likes', by the men side.
...This kind of rule would get torched up badly if it were introduced in modern Japan.
I gotta say it.
I'm super hesitant to open my mouth, but I gotta say it no matter what.
It's my duty, for having peeked at her heart.
It's, my feelings, laid bare to her.
"...Alma. Please calm down, I need to tell you something."
"...You too, calm down, Hikaru. Your body and voice are shaking really hard."
No no no, losing my mind in such a crucial time would be way past being a bum.
Deep breath, deep breath... No I ain't doing Lamaze technique.
"Alma."
"...Yes?"
"Speaking as a man, I love you."
Note from Author:
Thank you very much for reading this work.
This is the end of this story for now.
Next chapters will be short stories about later development.
Note from translator:
Still a lot to cover
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