CSA 47 - I Pretended Not To See (Patreon)

T-there’s no way I can accept something like this happening twice...!!

Trembling with anger, I questioned the innkeeper.

“Our sincerest apologies!”
“Can you settle this with just an apology? Can you? Are musical instruments really that cheap? Are they?”
“I-I will definitely find it, even if I have to put my life on the line, so please forgive me!”
“Heeh, the innkeeper’s life is really that valuable, huh?”
“Everything! I'll put everything on the line, this land, my house, my family! I'll definitely find it, so please! Please! Please have mercy...!”
“Ha... well, whatever. Or rather, I’m just venting my anger, so please raise your head. The person who stole it was the one who was at fault, Innkeeper-san was just lax with security measures, I don’t think you are that bad.”
“Oooh, what mercy!”
“Next time, please take security measures to prevent thieves from entering, okay?”
“Yes ma'am! As Thou, Most Merciful, hast commanded!”
“Nn? Yeah, do your best, okay?”

I felt like Innkeeper-san’s countenance or maybe his atmosphere had suddenly changed, but was it just my imagination? No strange magic activated on its own, right?

It was partly my fault for forgetting to put it in Storage, and there's nothing I can do since it’s already stolen, so I pull myself together and head to the gate.

“A permit to Lycorus country, please.”
“You can't go now. Come back in six months or a year.”
“Wh... what did you say...!?”

When I asked Clerk-san for details, it seems that the Gate to Lycorus country is unstable and connects in a cycle of six months or a year, and the last time the Gate was open was yesterday, and he comforted me, saying, “you could have gone if you had arrived a little earlier.”

“Is there any other way to get to Lycorus country?”
“Hmm, if you go to Aribia country, there is a Gate that can take you to Lycorus country, but you can only go there using horse-drawn carriages. It will probably take half a year to get to Aribia country, so I recommend you wait quietly.”
“Is that, so...”

Leaving the Gate behind, I sat down on a bench in a park and took out the world map from Storage to check the path from my current location to Aribia country.

“Great forest, wetland, desert, volcano, canyon... isn’t it full of places that a horse-drawn carriage can't pass through?”

If you get lost in a large forest, you die; if you get stuck in a swamp, you die; if you get stuck in a desert, you die; if you inhale poisonous gas in a volcano, you die; if you slip in a canyon, you die.
You’ll get killed by nature before monsters or thieves.
Leaving myself aside, I'm not confident that I can protect the coachman, guards, and horses.

“I guess I’ll fly... Yeah, I should. That's the only option!”

It's boring to just wait for six months or a year, so I decided to go by flying.
I’m not as good as Z-Fighters, but I can fly as fast as a high-speed train, so taking the growth rate of my Flight Skill into account, I think I can reach Aribia in a week, or two weeks at the latest.
It’d be convenient for sightseeing later if I just set up teleportation spots at key locations, so isn’t that a pretty good idea?

I put the world map in Storage and set off for Aribia country immediately!

“That’s not it nya! I properly brought my money nya! I didn’t have the slightest intention of dine and dash nya! Please believe me nya!”

I heard a familiar voice coming from who knows where, but I was so preoccupied with heading to Aribia country that I just passed through without stopping.

“Ah! Lotorl! Please stop nya! Hey!? Please don't ignore me nya! I want you to save me nya! Please, please stop nya!”

Myaa-san desperately called out to me, so I had no choice but to go back the way I came.

Well, I knew it was Myaa-san as soon as I heard her voice, but I wanted to see her troubled face, so I deliberately walked past her so she could see me though.

“Oya, if it isn't Myaa-san who left me behind? Why are you in such a panic?”
“Uh... I want you to lend me some money nya... If I continue like this, I'll become a criminal nya...”

Myaa-san's expression as her cat ears droop instantaneously and her face turns sad, is very stimulating, to say the least. It makes me want to tease her even more... slurp.

Teasing her is fine, but I shouldn’t bully her, you know? They are both the same? They are different.

“Are you this girl’s acquaintance? If you pay for her, I can stop reporting her, but what are you going to do?”
“Hmm... I can pay for her... but, well... what should I do...?”
“I-I'll do anything! I'll do anything, so please lend me the money! Please!!”

Perhaps no longer able to keep up her appearance, Myaa-san forgets to add “nya” at the end of her words as she begged me, she is just too lovely, that didn’t come out all right.

If I leave Myaa-san like this...

“Ojou-chan... your face...”
“Was there something on it?”
“N-no... it’s nothing...”

No good, no good. I almost accidentally made a dangerous delusion. Did the squirrel-faced Shopkeeper-san see me having a strange look?

“Then, how about we do this? I will pay for Myaa-san's meal, and Myaa-san will wash the dishes. How about that?”
“Well, as long as you pay me, I don’t care either way.”
“Thank you nya, Lotorl... and what do you want to ask of me nya...?”

I suppressed my desire to ruin Myaa-san with my right to do whatever I wanted, and responded with common sense.
If this goes on any longer, the beast inside me will start rampaging and it’d be dangerous.

“In order to increase Myaa-san’s work, I will also eat here.”
“Uuu, Lotorlll...”
“What an odd acquaintance...”

Squirrel-san's restaurant has a lot of nut-based dishes, so I wondered if the food was exactly what it looked like, and when I ordered it, it was quite delicious, so I ordered a large amount of small dishes and put them in storage.

“Fuu, thank you for the meal.”
“This is the first time I've had a customer eat this much! I was impressed by how much you ate, so I gave you a discount!”
“Thank you very much.”

When I received the long, handwritten receipt, I looked at the discount and found it easily exceeded the cost of Myaa-san's meal. I ordered a little too much.

“Lotorl, you ordered too much nya! If this goes on, I won't be able to finish washing the dishes even if it turns into night nya!”
“Wouldn’t that be a good way to reflect on losing money?”
“Lotorl is a demon nya!”
“Ha ha ha! Keep at it, newbie!”
“I don’t want to work here nya─!”

As expected, I’d feel bad if I went to Aribia just like this, so I waited at the restaurant until Myaa-san finished washing the dishes. While ordering more.

“Then come again!”

Myaa-san's dish washing really continued until night, the cost for Myaa-san's meals had long since been exceeded, so Squirrel-san paid for the remaining time accordingly, and I personally would like to give him a 3-star rating for that.

“My hands are exhausted nya...”
“I'll put some potion on them.”
“Thank you nya.”

I took out a Hi-Potion from my Storage disguised as a stomach pocket and sprinkled it on Myaa-san's hand.
I feel like I could have used Heal if it’s just her hands getting rough, but I suppose it's too late now.

It’s become a bad habit, me wasting Hi-Potion that is.

“It's already late today, so let's stay at the inn.”
“...I'll definitely pay you back someday nya.”
“You can just pay with your body, you know?”
“If it's Lotorl, it's fine...”
“I'm just kidding. I'll never do anything that would make Myaa-san run away again.”
“...Sorry.”

This is, Myaa-san is having a bit of a mental breakdown I see.
As expected, I don't want to play pranks on her until she gets sick, so let's keep quiet for a while.

The innkeeper of the inn I was staying in turned crazy in the head, so I decided to stay at another inn.

“I wish we were in the same room.”
“I’d be troubled if we're in the same room. Goodnight then.”
“Goodnight...”

After making sure Myaa-san entered her room, I went to a different room I had taken and sat down on the bed.

“Fuu...”

Let's postpone going to Aribia country until things like Myaa-san's financial situation and her heart circumstances settle down. I’m not in a hurry anyway.
I feel like I should hurry up a little bit. But well, I’m sure it’ll be okay. It would be scary if there were pursuers approaching though...

That night, I thought various things about Myaa-san and before I knew it, I fell asleep.

────

(T/N: sometimes I’m just not satisfied with the translation, fixing it would take too long or outright impossible, so I Ieft it as is.)

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