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Saine was there when I opened my eyes. He was extremely furious. He was looking at me with rage despite his facial expression not fluctuating.
[You…… STUPID IDIOT!!]
*Bonk*, my head was hit so I hold it while rolling on ground. It hurts like hell. But Saine glanced at me, who was rolling around and crying ‘oww oww~’, then left.
[It’s not surprising for Saine to get mad, you know? We told you many times, didn’t we? You can’t wander far by yourself.]
Dole looked at me worriedly and Olphynn touched my head while casting a spell. At that moment. the pain disappeared.
[That was dangerous. That was considered a rare big shot in recent years. We walk while avoiding things like that so we don’t see it in the first place. Wow, really, that was a very close call.]
[Did Saine save me?]
I didn’t remember at all. When I closed my eyes thinking that it’s over, I lost consciousness.
[That’s right. Actually, you were rescued by the tree and the armored bug before Saine arrived.]
[What?]
[The tree. I think it was that one that was walking yesterday but, well, it’s not like I can distinguish the trees apart. It’s also the same for the bug. But probably, they were returning the favor. The tree was about to be cut down by Saine and you applied the dour grass to the armored bug.]
When I looked around, the mentioned tree was walking. Yo~, to~, ho~* it was walking away somewhere. Its back figure looked triumphant for some reason. When I looked about, the armored bug that looks like a black rock flew away. (TN: Consider it as the sound of the tree as it walks.)
[It, it flies……]
[It does, doesn’t it? It’s my first time seeing it, too.]
Olphynn grabbed my hands and bowed his head.
[I’m sorry…… It’s my fault. You weren’t simply lost, were you? My story compelled you from behind. I didn’t think about how a male Reincarnator like you would feel.]
He laughed at himself in self-derision. Even that expression looked good in his handsome face.
It’s true that I thought about what Olphynn said and also about Saine but, in the end, the fact that I got separated from them was due to my own carelessness. I feel so guilty about him bowing his head like this that I feel like running away.
[It’s not Olphynn’s fault. I’m the one who lost my way…… Besides, there’s that can be done about the Ceremony. I came out of it by myself. The events after that isn’t Olphynn’s fault either. Nobody becomes responsible for what anyone does just because he’s affiliated to him.]
I tried to talk as brightly as I could but Olphynn furrowed his eyebrows as if he’s putting up with the pain. Then, he firmly grips my hands.
[The Priests were the one who summoned you. As one of them, I also feel responsible. However, don not treat your own life so poorly. If Saine is going to sell you, I will take you in. You can live your life by my side.] (TN: Ngl, my heart fluttered at the last sentence. <3)
Olphynn said that so seriously that I renewed own resolution.
I chase after Saine. Night is still slightly far ahead. We have the white fruit and the cobble’s tears left. Before we leave this forest, I plan to set everything straight with him.
Discovering Saine’s broad back, I called out to him. Upon seeing his face when he looked back at me, I recognized that it’s the real Saine. No matter how realistic those monsters imitate Saine, I’m confident that I won’t be deceived. It’s not a theory but a conviction.
[I’m sorry!]
I grabbed his arm so he didn’t leave me behind and bowed my head.
[I was spacing out. I was looking for firewood but just couldn’t find one so I got separated from you…… And then, when I was attacked by a monster and thought that it was hopeless, I realized it. Although, I should have realized it sooner.]
It won’t be over unless I say it. Saine is kind, and he always puts me first even though he hates me. That’s why, I have to tell him.
I tightly clenched my hands and grit my teeth. I’m a man, be brave. I must let Saine go.
[I know that I’m a big nuisance. I know that I’m in the way of your happiness. That’s why I…… I…………. I’ll go to Olphynn.] (TN: Well, I didn’t expect that.)
I told him as brightly as I could.
[He’s going to be your husband? How much should I sell you for?]
[I’m not sure.]
Is that what Olphynn meant when he said to keep me by his side? I didn’t think of that. I simply thought that I’ll be hired as a servant. But Reincarnators can’t work. In other words, does Olphynn plan on being my husband?
[Olphynn will become a Priest so I don’t think so. If a Priest’s Ceremony fails, he can immediately have another one.]
That’s why he should be able to get a woman through the Ceremony. If so then I’ll become a bother to him.
[Then what about you?]
[Hmm~, I have no idea. Olphynn said that he will keep me by his side, maybe as a servant?]
[Does he want to buy you as the Priest’s servant? Or are you going to be bought by a servant? However, those guys are charworkers. They don’t have money.]
[……I don’t know……]
I thought that would apologize for getting lost, thank him for saving me from the monster, and then, I will set Siane free. But I wonder why? Why, are we talking about my husband and my future?
[How much is fine? I’ll ask Olphynn and pay. Reincarnators may not be able to work outside but I can work on chores inside the Priest’s house and pay it back.]
Uh-huh, let’s do that. When I strongly nodded, my face got squished by big hands. It’s tightly sandwiched in between, it hurts. (TN: Like this: [) °3 °(] )
[Saine…… ow……]
My cheeks get close together and I turn ugly. His hands are squishing my face so it’s hard to open my mouth. Saine stared and the state of my face, but he talked without laughing.
[Do you want to leave me?]
[You’re the one who wants to, right?]
[I’m asking how you feel.]
[I don’t care either way. You’re the one who matters the most.]
He clicks his tongue and lets go. My face that was just released is still painful.
[You need to retake the Ceremony and get a woman, right?]
[Just why are you so obsessed with women?]
[Well, they’re cute. The woman and, uhm……….. doing it, don’t you think about it……?]
My face is burning. Imagining Saine holding a woman. my cheeks heated up and my chest started hurting.
[When it comes to giving birth to a kid, men or woman make no difference.]
[No, why are you talking about a kid…… Before having a child, that, uhh, you know…… s*x, can’t be absent, can it?]
Saying that makes me blush. But Saine apparently didn’t understand what the word meant, he dubiously furrowed his eyebrows.
[I wonder what the terms for that here is….. oh, right. Fraternization*?] (TN: Previously “interacting” in ch50. I already changed it.)
I’m pretty sure that’s what Olphynn said.
[Fraternization? I’ll be lying if I say I’m not interested, but in the end, it’s an action that has to be done so a child can be born, isn’t it? What’s the point in embracing each other without any reason?]
Hm? I think the conversation is weird. First of all, you embrace each other because you like or love, right? Isn’t the child born because you love each other? Speaking of which, Dole said it before. As long as she can give birth, any woman is fine. In this world, is having a child the top priority? Because the want a child, a heterosexual male is forced to buy a man?
[Hmm~…… Oh, but I think a woman is better. She can get pregnant more easily…… Male Reincarnators, on the other hand, rarely give birth.]
[So you want me to hold a woman?]
[Instead of wanting it, I actually don’t…… No, I absolutely don’t not want it! It’s only natural for Saine to embrace a woman!]
I repeatedly nodded my head in affirmation, but Saine didn’t seem to believe me at all.
[Get a woman and make her your wife. Once you have a child, I’m sure you’ll be a great father. You’re kind, sincere, and incredibly reliable, after all.]
I can’t lift my face. I was looking down but I was smiling.
[So, are you going to be embraced by your next husband?]
[That’s impossible. Olphynn mentioned it, didn’t he? One won’t get the urge to do it unless the drink the red wine. Yet they buy a man just because he’s cheap, it’s going to become a warped relationship. That’s why…… everyone doesn’t say it subtly, even Haruka always gets beaten up.]
They buy a man even though they don’t like them, and those who have never taken the Ceremony never drank the red wine. Their l*bido isn’t working. Even though their l*bido switch isn’t turned on, they try to force themselves to do it, and they resort to violence since their heart can’t keep up.
Olphynn doesn’t want to save just me but everyone. He wants the male Reincarnators who were summoned from the failed Ceremony to have an option to live. Living the life of a sandbag is too much, isn’t it?
[Even if my next husband hits me, I have no other choice. A male Reincarnator is a shameful, unlucky, hard to conceive, doesn’t have a woman’s body…… I’m totally useless so if I even refuse to get hit, that would be way too extravagant of me. If you just said the word to get rid of me after the Ceremony, I would have disappeared ages ago. Even though I was only at that level of existence, it was very selfish of me to not know it. Someone like me is useless if not for getting hit……] (TN: Please don’t ever think like this, you’re just as precious as everybody else in the world.)
I can’t do anything aside from getting hit, after all. So this is just fine.
I can hear my own voice. I always knew deep inside my head. What I can do, the only thing that I can do. I knew what it was but I pretended that I don’t.
Looking down, I heave a sigh. For some reason, I’m very exhausted. It’s quite tiresome to face myself. I see the things that I don’t want to see, and realizing that I’m very useless is really tiring.
I was sly so I pretended that the things that I don’t want to see and hear don’t exist. But you know, I can’t keep doing that. Because there are other people who can see and hear it in my place. After all, Saine was carrying the burden of everything that I ignored.
But I finally managed to say it. With this, the rope that’s binding Saine can finally let go. The kind Saine. Please be happy in the future.
I looked up with all my strength and smiled. When I beamed as I looked up at Saine, he strongly hugged me.