４１
[What are you making a fuss for?]
My head suddenly becomes heavy and Saine peeks at me.
[Dole said he’s going to treat me. Hey, when are we going?]
Wondering if I’m being shameless, I ask him for the day.
I want to eat it soon. But walking from here to the Northeastern Section’s market takes around an hour. If we go there now, it will be dinner time. This vaguely feels like eating out equals lunch. I don’t mind it being dinner if Saine goes with us, but, we can’t possibly also have him pay for Saine’s food now, can we? We can just divide 1 ras between us but then that probably won’t be enough for Saine.
[Hmm, we can go tomorrow……]
There was a sound of cutting air and Saine hits Dole. I closed my eyes with a ‘woah’ but without hearing a noise, I slowly opened one eye and Dole stood up and avoided it behind me.
[Why are you going out to eat with other men!]
He shouts at my ears and grabs my shoulders. Why is he this angry? I’m even getting treated. (TN: MC tossed all that explanation about the husbands being very possessive towards their Reincarnators straight to the other side of the mountain.)
[Eh, but he said he’s going to pay for it…… it’s grilled ras, you know? It’s only sold as a whole and it’s 30 ales a bird, you know?]
Grilling requires heating power, that’s why it can’t be done in the fireplace at home.
[If Saine also wants to eat it then let’s go together. You can take half of mine. Of course, I’ll give you a bigger portion.]
So don’t be mad, I laughed, but when I did, a roar of laughter came from the surrounding.
[You have it hard, Saine.]
[He’s still a kid.]
[When it’s time to do it, do it gently, okay?]
[Rather than that, go and tie a rope on his neck.]
[Yeah, you don’t know where he’ll go, that one.]
[SHUT UP!!]
Saine thunderously roared at the audaciously yelling voices. But it’s as if nobody cared and they all laughed.
Saine hits the head of a young man laughing nearby. The beaten man threw a punch towards Saine’s stomach. Saine just slightly bent his body and tried to kick the man. But since he dodged, he(S) ended up kicking the back of the uncle behind him.
A brawl started in the blink of an eye.
[Come here. You’ll get drawn in.]
A curly brown-haired young man protectively held me and brought me towards the corner of the room.
[Wi, will he be okay?]
Saine is in the middle of the brawl. I was worried about Saine but when I peeked from his back, a chair came flying.
[Dowaah!] (TN: Woah!)
Before I could close my eyes, the young man stuck out his arm and protected me from the chair.
[We don’t know what’s going to come flying over. Don’t put your face out.]
[But Saine is……]
[Let him be. They’re just playing around.]
Now that I took a closer look, he looked like he was having fun. There’s also a cheering crowd around them going ‘waah waah’ which makes it noisy, but even those cheers also sound happy. The guys participating in the brawl were also laughing. Saine was also laughing as they hit each other. Dole is also there.
I was often hit and yelled at by Saine ever since I came here but, it looks like those weren’t just because he was in a bad mood. It was Saine’s, or rather, a guard’s normal state.
The brawl finally calms down and they break up into smaller groups here and there and settle down. I also sat on a chair. Saine, who sat beside me, put his arm around my shoulders. I tried to remove it because it was heavy, but I was hugged even tighter.
[It’s just grilled meat, I can let you eat it. Don’t follow other men you don’t know just because they’re taking you to a meal.]
[But I know them already. They’re Dole and Olphynn.]
Maybe because he was involved in the brawl, there’s a bruise on Olphynn’s handsome face.
[You only know their names.]
[Knowing their names is enough, right? What else is there?]
Introducing each other’s names and shaking hands, that already makes them my friends. When I said that, Dole was grinning and Saine bitterly glared at me.
[Eh? Sorry, was it impudent to call them friends?]
I bow my head dejectedly.
That makes sense. I’m a Reincarnator, moreover a man. Male Reincarnators are unlucky, right? Our existence is from the Ceremony’s failure, and our husbands will become a laughing stock in general. There’s no way they want to be friends with someone like that, right?
When I laughed ‘hehehe’ to hide my embarrassment, Olphynn glanced at me. My heart jumps at the handsome man’s sidelong glance.
[Knowing each other’s name is enough to be friends.]
[Are you going to be my friend!?]
[Yeah. You’re useful.]
I slowly stretch my hand out and he squeezes it back.
[Today is a rea~lly great day. It looks like I’ll be able to eat grilled ras and I also made a friend.]
He’s my first male friend from this world ever since I came here.
The Men’s Club and the Reincarnators’ Association are also my friends, but I’m so happy to have a non-Reincarnator friend. Moreover, he’s very handsome. It feels like I can brag about being friends with someone with a face like his.
Olphynn’s hand is very pretty unlike the other men. His long fingers and white palm are soft. It wasn’t as soft as a woman’s, but it was neither big nor rough.
As I was laughing while shaking hands with my first friend, a big and rough hand grabbed my arm. Without letting go, he unreasonably breaks our handshake with all his strength.
[Didn’t you hear him? He’s trying to use you.]
[Use?]
[Didn’t he say that you’re useful?]
[By ‘useful’…… I just helped him take materials from the goat and the sheep.]
[He’s right. He managed to accomplish the things that I couldn’t do. That’s enough to allow him to be my friend.]
Although he said that arrogantly, Olphynn was smiling. I lowered my head while ‘ehehe’ing and thankfully accepted my title as his friend.
TN:*sigh* Our MC is too innocent. I look forward to the days when he no longer looks at himself so negatively.