Chapter 5: Narrow-Eyed Man and the Blunt Woman
Chapter 5: Narrow-Eyed Man and the Blunt Woman
“What is this… What are you doing right now?”
“Excuse me? Uh, then what should I do…?”
“Ah…!”
Drin, who had been looking at the man with a stunned expression, belatedly realized that she was now mustering all her strength, then she regained her composure after the error in her intuition that had just occurred.
She quickly sheathed her sword and took a passive stance.
She had inadvertently become the one to threaten and after feeling threatened, and was now annoyed as to why she was felt threatened in the first place.
“Ahem…!”
A futile cough that came out of uneasiness.
“I’m sorry. That-“
Drin felt embarrassed trying to be honest about her intuition.
I have a bit of a special intuition, and it sent a signal that you were a great danger. How was she supposed to say that?
He was threatened with a sword out of the blue, and beyond the point of disbelief, he thought he was being made fun of.
“While tracking a dangerous person, I mistook you for that person because I felt a presence in the alley. I sincerely apologize.”
In the end, she mixed a little bit of truth and lies and blurred the lines.
‘Lying like that…‘
It was a harmless and necessary lie, but Drin, who had a serious personality, was shocked by it alone.
“Oh. Oh! Is that so? Whew! I feel as if 10 years were shaved from my life. I thought I had met a robber or something.”
“A robber, huh..”
He even thought she was a robber.
‘Me, a robber…?‘
A robber.
Drin had always been someone’s protector or object of admiration.
She had never imagined that she would hear such words in her lifetime.
Drin was so shocked that she opened her mouth and lost consciousness, and even gave a helpless expression that was unlike her.
It took her quite a while to come to her senses, and she barely managed to say.
“A robber… I can’t believe I was mistaken for a robber…”
“Yes, I was very surprised. I wondered where such a terrible robber came from!”
“…”
Drin bit her lip and smiled kindly.
“I apologize for startling you earlier. It was not my intention.”
“Why are you approaching me!?”
“Oh, I just wanted to help you up since you fell because of me.”
“It’s fine! I can get up by myself, so please don’t come near me!”
Snap.
Crunch.
She continued to smile warmly, despite the cold and indifferent attitude of the other person.
‘Let it go…‘
She knew that he was the one who had threatened him, so she understood why the other person was so wary.
She made an effort to understand the other person’s position.
“By the way, you mentioned earlier that you were chasing a dangerous person. What kind of person was it?”
“Oh!”
Drin recalled her original purpose and explained the situation to him. She described the appearance of the assassin and asked if the other person had any information.
“Unfortunately, you are the first person I’ve met here.”
“This…”
She had missed the dangerous person. And to make matters worse, this man appeared at a time when her intuition was clouded.
‘No, it’s not his fault.‘
It was her own lack of ability. But to try to blame it on others…
‘Let’s be ashamed of it.’
Drin scolded herself and admitted her mistake sincerely.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help. Well, if you don’t have any other business with me, may I leave now?”
At that moment, the man asked cautiously.
Drin was about to say yes, of course.
‘No.’
But she immediately changed her mind.
The man still regarded her with caution.
His perception of her remained as a “terrifying robber”.
Drin’s wounded pride could not tolerate sending him away like that.
She had to make up for her mistake and correct his evaluation.
As she thought about what she could do to earn points with the man, she suddenly had a question.
“If it’s okay with you, may I ask you one thing?”
“Yes? Ah, yes, sure…”
“…”
Drin was always the subject of admiration for others. She was shocked once again by the man’s uncomfortable attitude towards having a conversation with her and barely continued speaking.
“Uh… That- I’m wondering why you came all the way to this remote place…”
“Oh, that. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit it, but I got lost and ended up here…”
Drin nodded her head. He got lost and ended up in such a faraway place. She thought about his answer.
“What’s with that reaction? I don’t know if it’s because of my mood, but it hurts my heart for some reason.”
“Yes? Ah! No, I don’t have any particular intentions…um…Oh! By the way, may I guide you if you need directions?”
“Oh, are you familiar with Arienne’s geography?”
“No, that’s not it. I just came to Arienne today.”
“yes~? No, but what kind of directions… You are a funny person.”
Drin grinned and said, biting her lips.
“Ugh…I’m not unfamiliar to the extent of needing guidance. I have some understanding of the geography.”
“Yes!? Oh! No, it’s not like that-“
“Sigh, forget it. It’s true that I’m just a pathetic guy who gets lost easily.”
“Uh, um…”
When Drin talked to male acquaintances, they usually listened attentively and showed interest in her stories.
Talking to men was an unfamiliar experience for her. She thought that the conversation kept getting awkward because she was inexperienced and kept making mistakes, feeling self-conscious.
She didn’t realize that the man was watching her reactions with amusement beyond his sincere gaze.
“Well, anyway. Thanks for the offer, but I politely decline. You don’t have to go that far.”
“You don’t have to decline!”
“No, it’s not that I’m declining…”
“You’re not declining?”
“I’m scared…”
“Scared? What do you mean? Oh well, don’t worry about that. I’ll protect you no matter who shows up!”
Finally, as the conversation flowed in a direction she was comfortable with, Drin spoke with a confident expression.
“No, when I said I was scared…it was about…ummm…”
“…”
“…”
“I swear on my honor! I have no intention of harming you. If you still don’t trust me, you can take my sword.”
“Even if I have it, I feel like I would lose.”
Swish.
“Don’t…don’t do that. This is a dangerous place to be alone-“
“Isn’t it hard to find someone more dangerous than you in this alleyway?”
Swish!
Dorin prayed.
Please, I hope I don’t lose my temper because of that man who’s too good at pissing people off with his disrespectful attitude.
***
Drin is a main heroine who becomes closely involved with the player during the early to mid part of the game and their relationship continues until the ending.
In other words, as someone who only experienced the beginning part of the game, I don’t know much about Drin. However, I have heard and seen a few things about her elsewhere.
When I first met Drin, the first thing that came to mind was the official setting that I had seen on a wiki.
[Her blunt and cold personality makes people feel like there’s a wall between them. Even though there are many people who admire and look up to her, there are few people she is close to.]
‘Is that so?‘
At first, I didn’t get that impression from her.
She was blunt and cold.
But now?
I don’t really know.
Oh, there is one thing I am sure of.
This person is quite fun to tease.
As something that has become a part of my natural instincts, thanks to my possession of the narrow-eyed character, I found teasing this person quite enjoyable.
“Are you really going to follow me from such a distance… ?”
This was the reason why I was making fun of Drin by pretending to be frightened on purpose.
In fact!
I don’t want to do this either. To make the other person pay attention by pretending to be scared on purpose, and then use that to elicit a reaction.
That’s so insidious.
However!
There’s nothing I can do.
Why?
Because it’s true to the character of a practical joker.
When I created this character, I put in all sorts of traits to make him as mischievous as possible.
Those traits became an instinct.
The instinct of a practical joker.
That instinct was commanding me strongly right now.
To tease Drin!
To savor the feeling of her discomfort!
It was a structurally difficult but attractive proposal to resist.
“What’s the problem?”
“There’s no need to go all the way out there, is there?”
“There’s no need to get too close either, is there?”
“Mm-hmm.”
In reality, I was enjoying teasing Drin so much that it was exhilarating.
‘I took care of that assassin guy, so I should be okay even if I cause a little trouble.‘
I had a good excuse.
I decided to fully enjoy this situation.
While giving directions, I found myself looking at my own awkward figure as I’m preoccupied with paying attention to my acting.
At the same time, I glanced at the window that popped up in one corner of my field of vision.
[Quest – Stop the Assassin]
-Stop the assassin targeting Drin Lebringer.
It was a quest that occurred when the strange guy I just ran into in a back alley looked at me and said, “I need to kill you too, and kill her too.”
‘Is this the dangerous person that Drin was chasing?‘
[Reward – 3P (Store opens when 10P is achieved)]
The reward was to catch the dangerous person instead of Drin.
‘The reward is store access with point rewards.‘
The heart of the possessor couldn’t help but smile at it.
‘Just as when I was possessed, I was at a loss as to what to do next.’
I arrived in Arienne, where the main quest began. In the process, a new quest arose, and I solved it and received a reward.
It feels like taking one step at a time steadily.
‘I think I can do better than I thought.’
The anxiety I felt when I was first possessed was fading away, and self-confidence was taking its place.
“We’re almost there.”
Now, it would be perfect if I could pass the Academy entrance exam.
I organized my thoughts and focused on the conversation with Drin.
“Come to think of it, where are we heading to right now?”
Drin said she would guide me out of here, but she didn’t exactly say where she was taking me.
“This is the way I came in.”
As soon as we emerged from the alleyway, the sun shone on us as if the curtains were pulled back.
There were a myriad of people.
It seemed to be the market street of zone 4.
“Hey!”
As soon as we stepped out of the alley and onto the street, someone who had been looking around noticed us and immediately approached us.
Translators note:
I hate that some parts are really easy to tl and some are just a fucking confusing pain. It’s a first for me to see such a confusing style of writing. I will try to get used to it but the quality may not be up to par in the early chapters.
I will most likely be uploading mon-fri 1 per day.