TPIMAWW Chapter 9

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Chapter 9: Handsome Men Are Always Handsome

When Shun turned back to the market, the eaves of the shop were beginning to be lit up. Magic stones, which seemed bigger and better quality than those in the black market, illuminated the stores and passageways. The black market’s lamps were orange, but these were more close to a milky white and had a wide range of illumination.

The light served to give a sense of security, and no anxiety was felt when dusk came in the market. Even though nightfall would soon break, the market was in full swing.

Shun didn’t know when the next time he’d have an opportunity like this with the governor out. He felt like it would be a waste to leave like this and decided to return to the teppanyaki restaurant he had seen earlier.

Shun wasn’t sure where it was and went through dozens of shops looking for it. He didn’t have a clear map in his head either because he had gone into stores at random.

Just as he was thinking of giving up and returning to the castle, Shun noticed that he was walking along a street lined with miscellaneous goods and household furnishings.

“There’s no bookstore…”

There were places that dealt with thread-bound booklets, rough bundles of paper, and old, secondhand books, but there were no new, leather-bound, hardcover books. Shun knew there was a time when paper was a luxury item in his old world’s past. Did that mean that parchment paper was still mainstream and that the technology for making paper quickly from plants hadn’t been established yet?

Shun didn’t know the literacy rate here, but it definitely didn’t seem like ordinary people were buying books for themselves. However, there were plenty of books in Craig’s house and in the Dawn Fog’s castle.

“Because he’s a former prince and making money off bounty hunting…?”

Shun wasn’t completely convinced by that.

To begin with, organizations like Dawn Fog needed to have skilled members and only one or two people in charge.

In addition, when speaking to other members of the group, Shun had the impression that they were smart, although they didn’t have much education or had much knowledge of classics, poetry, or scriptures. Even if they needed to develop a strategy, they had the skills to do so from experience, which Shun felt was equally important.

In other words, mercenaries were not interested in the knowledge they could get from books.

So then, Craig was the only one that needed the books. In fact, Shun hadn’t seen anyone other than Craig pick up a book. So why did Craig need so much knowledge?

“There’s too little information about Craig…”

Maybe it was a cornerstone of his game route.

After all, Shun still doesn’t know why Craig left the Wolf Kingdom.

“What do you think?”

Shun looked up at the sweet voice. A glittering, handsome man leaned against the wall and stood in his way. This was familiar sight for him.

Moreover, isn’t this what the world calls “overseas” kabedon?

And he was still handsome.

No way.

No way.

Shun should no longer be the acting heroine.

Come to think of it, in his excitement about his newfound freedom, Shun had neglected to figure out how he was going to find the heroine and get her to follow Craig’s route.

“It’s rude to just ignore people.”

Shun, who had been distracted by his thoughts, heard a new, lower voice than before.

The man, who was steadily approaching, was well-dressed and clean. However, although his smile was as perfect as if it had been painted on, Shun felt uncomfortable.

“Oh, well, I’m in a hurry, so excuse me.”

Shun was grabbed by the arm as he tried to get out of the first man’s arms. His memories of the past few weeks resurged.

He was supposed to be headed toward the furniture street, but while he had been thinking, he had gotten turned around and ended up on this street that was lined with tavern-like eateries.

The men were drinking and making noise, and there were no ordinary women in sight. The women he saw were in revealing dresses, probably prostitutes.

The meteor lamplight was nearly orange in color.

“Drink with us. I’ll treat you.”

As this was said, two more men appeared from behind him. They were far from handsome and had a very vulgar atmosphere. They seemed to be trying to laugh and appear harmless or inviting, but it was apparent that they were only grinning and drooling over the prey in front of them.

As I had thought, he was a butterfly anglerfish type that fed on handsome men, catching them and then sharing them with everyone. However, this realization did nothing for Shun.

“I’m sorry, but I really am in a hurry! Maybe some other time!”

Perhaps it was because of his unfamiliar, Japanese nature, but when he bowed unconsciously, the other person was frightened.

At that moment, Shun ran away as fast as he could.

He was certain that he wouldn’t get another chance and turned in the direction of the bright lights or at least, intended to. However, the more he ran away, the thinner and darker the road became.

The light source he had been aiming for was on the other side of the wall. He had chosen the wrong fork in the road.

How is that possible??

Shun can’t afford to stop, even as he lamented his own luck because he can hear footsteps approaching from behind him. He felt like he’d fallen for an anglerfish’s trap.¹

And unfortunately, there was a dead end around the corner.

”How can this be!”

Shun cried unconsciously, his hands hitting up against the wall that blocked his way.

“You’re giving me a hard time.”

“That’s enough now. It’s time for you to entertain us.”

When Shun learns that he can no longer escape, the man, who played the anglerfish’s part, slowly approached him.

“Someone!”

There was no voice to hear him when he knocked and screamed against the wall in his way. The footsteps continued to approach. The handsome man led the way.

Contrary to his attractive appearance, he had a graceless smile on his lips. The inorganic walls, illuminated by orange light, surrounded Shun on all sides, and he was nothing more than a rat in a bag.

His heart beat unpleasantly in his chest. The sweat from the chase earlier was now mixed with a cold sweat.

Just as Shun thought it was all over, one of the men groaned from behind him. At the sound, the other two looked back. The first one fell with a crash, and something golden passed by the corner of his sight, and the butterfly fell.

Perhaps because of the low light or Shun’s dynamic vision, he didn’t catch sight of the other figure clearly until all three of the men had fallen to the ground.

“You… need to learn.”

Craig stood behind the three writhing men with a wrinkle in between his eyebrows. His beautiful, blonde hair was disheveled, but he wasn’t breathing hard at all, neither had he drawn his sword in the altercation. He looked very normal aside from his sullen expression.

“Ah…”

“Hey!”

Shun suddenly felt weak all at once. Craig supported him with an arm, preventing him from falling to the ground.

“Oh, thank you…”

Shun said that weakly, forgetting that this was a capture target, and leaned his head against the shoulder in front of him. Craig shook in surprise, but Shun ignored it. A sense of relief spread over him as he was surrounded by the familiar scent.

“Are you all right?”

After a while, Shun nodded in response to the caring voice. It was a sweet voice that was very pleasing to his ears. He smelled good too.

Gradually, his heart rate calmed down, and Shun noticed what he was doing. Was he leaning on someone?

“Ah! Sorry!”

Shun leaned back as far as he could, but he tripped over his own feet and almost fell back. Craig tried to stop him from falling by reaching for his arm.

“You told me not to get close to you. Sorry.”

His heart was beating in a different way now. He didn’t know what to say, and it ended up sounding sarcastic.

“This is different.”

Craig’s large hand was held out in front of him. Shun put his own in it, and Craig helped him back onto his feet.

“…and this wasn’t your fault,” Craig said quietly to tell himself.

Shun had almost missed it, but there was so little distance between them that he heard him clearly. Even though he was already standing, Craig still held onto Shun’s hand.

For some reason, Craig had a sad expression on his face that Shun couldn’t endure.

“Why do you look like that?”

“I’ll take you to somewhere with more light. Don’t walk alone in the dark.”

Craig interrupted Shun’s question, letting go of his hand, and walked with his back turned. The conversation ended without an answer. Shun gave up on it and followed behind his broad back.

When Shun glanced back at the three in the alleyway, Craig cursed under his breath.

“They won’t get up for awhile. I’ll call the knights for them later.”

Shun thought it would be too bold for a wanted person to contact security or the police in Japan, but he decided not to ask about it.

He asked Craig to take him to the edge of the central market near the entrance to First Avenue, saying that he would be fine from there.

The security in Second Avenue was not as good as that of First Avenue’s, but unless you went in a dark alley, it was safe. It may be because of the royal palace, but in First Avenue, there were many guards and no major incidents ever occurred.

Shun thought he could finally relax.

It was supposed to be over.

However, that was only the beginning of the mysterious event.

As soon as Craig walked away from him and turned the corner, Shun was kabedoned by another blonde that had bumped into him.

“Do you know what kinds of eyes you’re giving me, kitten?”

A large number of question marks² appeared in Shun’s mind.

How could this happen twice in one night?

“No, you’ve got the wrong person…”

“Where are your wings now, my angel?”

“It’s either a kitten or an angel!”

Although Shun pointed it out without thinking, the handsome man continued trying to seduce him with crude lines. For some reason, the street was deserted even though there had been several people there before.

This man didn’t feel as criminal as the butterfly angler, but he was persistent.

After the angels, he was compared to a lark. The long-winded pickup line is no longer a line for ordering Starbucks. If things went on like this, Shun wasn’t ever going to get back to the palace.

While Shun was at a loss and trying to think of a solution, he was grabbed by the jaw and forced to look up.

There was a handsome face suddenly in front of him.

This was poorly done.

Even a virgin like Shun, who has little experience in love, could understand what he is trying to do. He moved his arms desperately to resist, but the other person continued to move in closer with a cool expression.

There was a breath that smelled unnecessarily good, and Shun shouted in the direction where Craig’s wide back had disappeared.

Again, I’m sorry!

“Oh, Craig! Help–” Before Shun had even finished, he saw Craig running back from around the corner. Seeing the man who was about to kiss Shun and Shun struggling alternately, Craig’s face changed.

“Stop! He doesn’t like it!”

In just a few steps, Craig arrived, grabbed the man by the shoulder, ripping him off, and punched him. But to his surprise, the man avoided his swing.

Perhaps he had thought this man would’ve been as easy as the previous three, and Craig stood between them with his back to Shun as if to protect him.

Shun couldn’t see anything past Craig’s back.

The handsome man, who had confronted him, twisted his mouth, clearly expression his bad mood.

“What’s wrong with you? If you don’t have anything to do with it, stay away.”

The atmosphere of a gentlemanly man had disappeared. He reduced the distance that had been created by Craig and pushed Craig aside, reaching out toward Shun.

Craig quickly brushed his arm away, drew his sword from his waist, and thrust it threateningly toward the man’s throat.

“I don’t care… This guy is mine!”

Shun was choked with anger from the bottom of his heart. He couldn’t see his expression, but Craig’s aura was heavy and tense.

The point of his sword that was pointed at the man’s throat was like a last warning.

The handsome man cried out and retreated quickly. He left with a few flippant words about how he was joking.

Craig exhaled and returned his sword to its scabbard.

Shun shuddered at the sound of the sword. He could feel Craig turning around slowly.

His golden eyes focused on Shun. Craig supported him, perhaps because he thought Shun would fall down like before.

“Oh, it’s all right! Thank you!”

Shun felt flustered when he remembered how he’d hugged Craig before.

Shun’s words weren’t a lie because the other man had been alone, and Craig had arrived quickly.

However, now his heart was beating fast because of the man in front of him.

Still worried, Craig began to say something but finally let go after Shun repeatedly assured him that he was okay.

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1. I’m not a 100% on my translation of this, but I tried to make it make as much sense as possible in the context since it was just “Anglerfish’s Lessons were flying.” and I couldn’t really find a good explanation for the idiom. The raws said this: “あっちだ、とチョウチンの指示が飛んでいる。” If anyone has a better way to translate that. (ty)

2. It said hattena marks, and after some research they seemed to be the equivalent of question marks, so Shun basically looked like this:

TL Note: This chapter has the dog food we’ve all been waiting for. >:3 I might have the next chapter out before Friday because this feels a bit like a cliffhanger.

Word Count: 2,282

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Can You Save The Capture Target From the Main Character’s Clutches?

Warning: This short story contains Mild NSFW content. Read at your own risk.
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I confronted Elliott, who was a brilliant, fellow knight, in a dimly lit and unpopular alley.

As a member of the royal family, I had been staying in a remote town for “practical training” for knights. My name was Gil Alstad¹ (Ethelde² was the name of the country, and he was also sometimes called that himself), and I had just joined the Knights’ Order.

Even if I say I’m a knight, it was just an ornamental title for nobles like me, a far cry from an accomplished honor. It was the guards organized in each town that were actually performing the job and supporting them.

Combined with that, I felt depressed.

There is no shortage of fun in an empty place far away from the capital like this, if you smile at a country girl. However, I was too lazy to deal with the drama of falling out, so I was left doing nothing.

Perhaps because he was told to take care of me, Elliott, my roommate, has never left me alone. When I return to my room, I’m so exhausted that I don’t even feel like saying a word and go straight to bed.

When I got tired of my mother-in-law trying to take care of me in some way or another, I took the first chance I could to get away from her. This chance was a town patrol that was part of my on-the-job training program. The patrol was done in pairs, but in quiet, rural towns there were many meaningful opportunities to take breaks.

I had lured Elliott into a deserted alleyway, and now, here we were.

“What kind of knight are you, with a body like this?”

“What?! What do you mean? Let me go!”

“It’s cute,” I said, “You’re trapped in my arms.”

“What? Cu… Cute?!”

I restrained my colleague’s arms by pressing them against the wall and ridiculed him while taking in his distorted expressions of pain and humiliation.

At that moment, a disturbing wind blew through my body with a strange sensation.

What was left by it, was memories.

Unknown memories, knowledge, and values tried to take control over my consciousness. The next moment I blinked, I no longer felt that depraved compulsion that had swept over me.

An unpleasant feeling of sweat flowed down my back, and I felt chills.

[The goal of the game is to win the Knight’s Summit Battle.]

The explanation of a passage in an unfamiliar memory.

However, there were some things I did know. The final match at the summit that takes place in front of the King in the capital, Verse, was held every three years. At the same time, the yearly fertility festival would be held, and many people look forward to it every year as a form of entertainment.

When the two were held at the same time, it would be a major national event.

What does that have to do with anything?

[On the way to the summit battle, you can enjoy not only those from other worlds, but also young men and knights as well as beasts, elves, and mob characters from some of your favorite game scenarios.]

An inorganic, feminine voice reverberated in my head, and was then followed by a familiar voice.

“Your little hole is better as it grows wet.”

A series of familiar movements flashed through my mind of holding down Elliott, who I hated, slipping off his underwear and quickly applying the sweet-scented lotion.

What’s this video?! As soon as I thought this, I became dizzy from the images that filled my consciousness one after another.

Elliott’s soft, silver hair was disheveled, and the feeling of pounding repeatedly into him floated in his eyes vividly.

…

It was an unpleasant video, and you could even hear the wet sounds.

There was a blonde man slamming into Elliott from behind and venting his desires.

The muscular man’s face wasn’t visible, but he was wearing a knight’s uniform. It was just the uniform however. It was possible for him to be a spy disguised as a knight. Then the image shattered moments later.

…what?!

When the video switched perspectives, I could suddenly see the blonde man’s face.

…no, no way?!

The face was a familiar one, specifically the one I saw in the mirror every morning. The way he was thrusting into him violently like a beast with every exhale is obviously selfish. He doesn’t seem to be thinking of the other person at all.

It was appropriate to say that this act obtained without consent was “humiliating”.

This is ridiculous…!

Elliott’s suffering expression is painful for me to watch. However, with one arm to support his body against the wall, his face was dyed red and his mouth was covered with his other hand. Something more than just pain could be seen with the way he couldn’t stop the voice from slipping between the fingers. The indecent image of Elliott, who has a serious and fastidious image, getting rocked by me, came as a huge shock to me.

“Uh, Lord Alstad³?”

When I unwittingly buried my face in Elliott’s shoulder, he bewilderedly asked me this question, and I merely shook my head lightly. In an effort to escape from the images that just invaded my mind, I apologetically released Elliott.

“Are you all right?”

“Wait, what?! Huh?! …Well, I’m fine, but Lord Alstad, aren’t you the one who is feeling unwell?”

It wasn’t the Elliott, who had been forcibly taken by me, in front of me. However, his image is now confused with the ones from those strange memories.

I wanted to go settle this invasive memory in a quiet place immediately.

I kept a slight distance from Elliott, struggling to suppress the irregular beating of my heart.

“I’m sorry…”

Unexpected words left from my mouth.

Elliott, who had unconsciously rubbed the hand I had restrained, was wide-eyed and surprised.

While ignoring his curious gaze, I frowned at my unusual behavior.

When have I ever taken the time to express my concern for others or apologize to them before?

I can’t remember a single time. I could “now” see that I was that kind of self-centered person.

The seriousness of his colleague, who had been nagging him about something, was off-putting to him, and in order to maintain a moderate distance, he was the one who called him out to that place under the guise of patrolling for a threat.

He tsked his tongue at his change in consciousness.

I decided to leave the darkness of the alleyway, abandoning Elliott as he was, who turned a silent, unfamiliar gaze toward me, and to return to the knight’s station as usual.

Along the way, I concentrated on organizing my memories.

By the time I got to the station, I had sorted out my memories to some extent. That was to say, I had a pretty good memory of the humiliating BL game and its characters with outstanding settings, including being from another world but in this world.

I settled on the assumption that this was just one possibility that could happen in the future.

The blood drained from my face when I stood in front of the station door.

I regretted at once that I didn’t check on my surroundings without being too distracted.

The future I’ve come to know revolves around the man known as the protagonist. In the encounter with the protagonist, his future with the person called the “capture target” I recalled may have already begun.

The capture target was the roll of the character the the protagonist chose from several men.

In the future, there were several scenes, called “reminiscences”, for the target to look back on.

One of the stories was, “A boy from another world finally arrived in a town and barely knew what to do, running into me with a hazy step.” In the game, I had deliberately avoided crashing into him and humiliated the boy as if I hadn’t even cooled down from the afterglow of my earlier actions with Elliott.

From what I could recall, I had chosen to act like an outrageous person from the many options available.

Moreover, I existed as a minor character that only appeared in Jandel’s set of memoirs that describe his traumatic experience prior to becoming a capture target.

To an extent, it was undeniable that I had made those choices while playing the game, but now I didn’t want to put my hands on Elliott and much less, traumatizing the other boy.

But I was a scoundrel who had no problem doing such a thing while playing the game.

I was absorbed in his newly gained memories and couldn’t figure out if I had already passed the boy from another world.

Come to think of it, was it possible that that was related to Elliott’s story as well, since he was supposed to have been relentlessly humiliated and taken by me but hadn’t?

There probably would’ve been a bigger gap between when I left there originally because of the act between me and Elliott, and so I had missed the timing to meet the boy. Since I was supposed to run into him immediately afterwards.

Anyway, I’m annoyed that my head is full of lust and that my lower body is a beast in the game’s storyline. I calculated the distance from where I was supposed to meet him to the edge of town.

That was when I came back to myself.

Why is it that people are so impatient with strangers?

The behavior was the exact opposite of what I usually do, and I almost sighed.

[After the act, the boy is abandoned in an alleyway, and when he tries to leave the town, he is found there by the bandits who have come to rob him and raped him.]

An unfamiliar sense of frustration followed the rape scene playing in my head. Maybe it was only natural since I had a reason to be impatient. Fortunately, the owner of the memories seemed to want to help me, so I ran back the way I came.

On the way, I found Elliott, and I told him that I had found some information about where the bandits were hiding. Elliott nodded with a serious expression and followed me with an, “Okay.”

I noticed that Elliott’s hair that was flowing behind him had gotten messy and was stuck to his forehead with sweat. When did his sweat start flowing? He wasn’t short of breath, but it wasn’t a short journey.

Country towns were hilly, and though each house was small; the land was expansive, and it was a long way to the next bend in the road. There were many times when I had wanted to take a shortcut across one of the yards only to be rebuked by Elliott.

“It doesn’t make much difference to the distance, sir,” and “It’s more troublesome to have to deal with explaining the reason for this when we’re caught,” was what he had told me.

Elliott’s seriousness had made me feel somewhat helpless.

We finally made it to the outskirts of town, but there was nothing but the gentle breeze and a swaying wheat field. A barn stood next to the road, and behind it was a forest of varying types of trees.

From this spot, we could see along the road for a good distance, but there was no one walking along it.

Soon, the night’s darkness would fall.

“What about the bandits?”

I covered Elliott’s mouth with a gesture to be quiet. Elliott, who understood what I was telling him, stood back and began to approach the barn.

There was a bandit lying comfortably on the straw. He wore a fur waistcoat and carried a wide, large sword.

That’s when I started to feel a bit uncomfortable. I noticed more things than usual, even in the thicket back behind the barn, as well as small clues that I would usually miss.

First, I took the great sword from in front of him and stuffed the handkerchief I had into the mouth of the dumbly snoring man, gagging him, and restrained him. With the bandit taken care of, I drew the sword on my waist and stepped towards the forest, and a group of bandits appeared, likely from where they had been lying in wait for nightfall.

In the game’s storyline, these guys also irrationally violated the boy’s body. The residual memory inside of me showed that the insides the boy will be lubricated, and the men will treat him as a man whore… and destroy his spirit even more.

In the game, it was explained that way. Was it okay to believe in my memories of it? Even though it might be just a hallucination?

While I attracted the bandits from the front, Elliott went around and made a surprise attack from behind. The bandits’ heads were not in the battle, and I was able to subdue them unexpectedly quick.

However, there was no boy from another world among them.

We asked the bandits to tell us everything that had stolen, including items or money, and the whereabouts of their remaining cohorts.

However, I was concerned with the boy’s whereabouts.

“You do well when you have to. Don’t you, Lord Alstad?”

It was a rude remark, but I also don’t think I’ve ever been more desperate than I was today. I glanced at Elliott, who looked away in a different direction.

Was the day I met the boy not this one?

I looked around carefully again, but there was no one but Elliot and the bandits in sight.

Elliott was unusually talkative while we returned to the Knight’s station.

On the way, he told me pleasantly, “That restaurant serves delicious food,” and “There is a secret menu, and they won’t let you know about it unless you go there for days.”

Was Elliott a foodie?

In the game, Elliott was a character with a resigned attitude, and that the wounds he had received from the knight he’d admired in the past had left him heartbroken.

The knight he admired?

He must have been quite the ma. He had to be a fastidious, disciplined, and serious man to have intoxicated and disturbed Elliott so much.

I didn’t know much about Elliott’s background, but now the character that was in charge of Jandel seemed to be fine for now. Perhaps he was more talkative than usual because he was excited to have succeeded in catching the bandits.

In any case, should we care about who approached Elliott?

If the game’s main story starts, what will happen in the near future will be terrible. As expected, I wanted to avoid that.

But… was there anything I can do about it?

A scene that seemed like reality, like I was looking into the past, suddenly emerged in front of my eyes. If I was supposed to be the cause of the trauma, then the possibilities in that Elliott’s future would be different now.

I didn’t know how much I could change it, but…

That was all I could think of.

Maybe it was due to this memory, or maybe it was because of the mixture of values and knowledge that came into my life in such a short time, but it seemed that I was seeing things quite differently than I used to.

Besides, Elliott seemed to be a quiet and enduring person, but he doesn’t give off that impression anymore. He changed his expression, smiled, and talked a lot.

The game was set in this world, and the people I knew appeared as characters in it. However the game itself was an unknown variable, and not everything would be the same as in my memories.

Thinking about the future, it seemed that the conversation was still going on, and Elliott spoke with a loud voice.

“If you don’t like sweets, there are bars where the snacks are delicious.”

“You mean the Rabbit’s Tail Pavilion? The beef tail stew is good. And, of course, our signature dish, fried rabbit tail.”

“That’s right! The stew there is well-seasoned and prodigiously tender! The rabbit’s tail is crispy and crispy with crispy fried cartilage… Ah, I’m getting hungry.”

With a wry smile, I asked him, “Would you like to go eat after we’ve handed them over to the interrogator?” I invited him to go with me, and he froze in surprise.

I knew it wasn’t something I was not used to doing, and the moment I realized I shrugged my shoulders.

I felt a slight thump and supported what crashed into me, which moved away in a hurry. The boy from my memories had appeared in front of me.

“Are you all right?”

“What? Oh, I’m sorry…” the boy said and then promptly passed out.

[Tripping in another world, the boy ran into the Knight, Alstad, who then humiliated and abandoned him. Afterwards, he was captured by the bandits outside of the town, who were also a handful of knights, and the boy was kept alive while his body was further violated, and he grew up with a grudge and came to attack this town as a companion of the bandits, as well as for revenge.]

Rather than protecting the unsteady boy, the future was supposed to come as a result of abusing the boy’s innocence, which I hated.

The main story was different, and this town was just a prop to give depth and trauma to the capture target. After all, it was the starting town for two characters, the serious Elliott and the boy who had transmigrated right in front of me.

[Until you win the Knight’s Summit Battle, you can repeat the evening scenario of finding the capture target of your choice and lure him back to the castle to train him.]

I’m at a loss for words at the details that flowed directly into my thoughts.

…what’s this setting? Rape, kidnapping, confinement and training.

Moreover, it was something that could be left out.

The main character was a born demon who uses a cheat ability. The Demon Castle was a place of confinement for him, and there was no way to escape. If he fails to claim a capture target and passes a certain level of frustration, he will sink a country.

…the country was probably Ethelde, where the game was set. Not to mention Verse, where the capital is located, and everything becomes a sea of fire as a result.

I’d like to say don’t take it out on me since you couldn’t lose your virginity…

If the protagonist was there, he would be practicing training and training in the next town, just like I did. Did they meet at the ordination ceremony of the knight when they were in the capital? I couldn’t remember at all.

The character setting and story are so complex that I felt nauseous just thinking about it.

Moreover, from the point of view of the main character, this world might have been a different world and a world he was unattached to. However, the population of women is almost half that of men. I thought it was strange that I would rape Elliott when there wasn’t a lack of women.

Is it because the flavor of the game was in a certain direction? Was it distorted to maintain consistency? I was afraid of that compulsion to not look at the opposite sex.

Anyway, the main character was from the same world as the boy in front of me. There was the difference between the two of transmigration and reincarnation in another world though.

I looked down at the boy and made up my mind.

“Elliott, protect this boy.”

“What? Do you know him?”

“I don’t know him, but he’s no stranger to me. He’s probably dehydrated and dazed now.”

It looks like there are two Jandel characters that this city has, but I’m going to break their flags.

“I’m sorry, but… What’s going on with you, Lord Alstad? Wait, no… I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

It wasn’t a compliment.

Even if the boy wasn’t attacked by me or bandits, the threat was still there.

He was a demon king who shakes the world.

The game information that I remember is a game to humiliate men, and it would be like taking candy from a baby to win the battle at the summit.

It was a story about a demon who wanted to get rid of his cravings. Could love ever grow there?

What do you do with the demon king who has the power to obliterate a country?

Doing something about the protagonist, the Demon King, would be a great contribution to the country that might be destroyed, but it would be a problem if I failed, and he destroyed the country prematurely.

I don’t even have time to retrain from scratch. I only had a certain amount of strength, but somehow I wanted to protect these two from the evil hands of the demon king.

The game was only one of the possible futures. A nightmarish possibility of what could happen.

――――

[This R-18 BL game is set in a fantasy world with swords and magic.]

[The goal of the game is to win the Knight’s Summit Battle.]

――――

This was my way of making amends for the events that happened in my memories.

“Yuzuru? Welcome to the world of Illuminas. This country is the town of Ethelde, where we are now. And I’m Gil Alstad, next to me is my colleague, Elliott Ruebens. I will be your guardian for a while. Please take care of us.”

************************
1. It’s “ジル” in the raws and I was torn between calling him Gil or Giles… :[

2. Send help for these names: “エセルデ“. Ethelde is my best guess.

3. Mister or Master felt weird to put here since they’re supposedly the same rank. In the raws he’s called with “-sama”, and since he’s some unknown rank of nobility I just put “Lord”.

TL Note: Unfortunately no romance, however I really enjoyed the story concept. There is, like, a second installment to this, but the characters and everything else were all different. I won’t be translating it because I wasn’t as interested in it.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Anyways, I hope ya’ll enjoyed this. I honestly wish there was more of it TToTT

Words: 3,607

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DKFAWLTHCFBHLH Chapter 2

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Chapter 2: Playing a Trick

I’m going to talk about this world and the other world here. About ten years ago, an event called the “fantasy break” occurred in this place that we usually call “Earth”. During that period, creatures that previously only existed in myths appeared.

It seems that from then on, the fantasy world of some other world and part of this world were fused together. As a result, all kinds of monsters like yokai, fairies, and ghosts appeared. In Japan, there are also people who gained the ability to fight with “spiritual power”.

They were originally called Onmyoji¹, but these days, they are mostly called something else. This is especially noticeable in schools, although they foster talents to succeed the original Onmyoji. The schools that especially want to attract students even change the names of their classes.

　　　1. It says “陰陽師” which is translated to diviner, specifically a Yin-Yang Diviner or Onmyoji. I’m just going with “Onmyoji” for now, unless there’s something better to put there (they sound like cultivators imo x’D)

In other words, those with a light attribute are part of the “Hero’s Department” and those with dark attributes are part of the “Demon King’s Department”. The names were changed in hopes of attracting a little bit of interest, since it is a field that depends a lot on talent. By the way, I belong to the Demon King’s Department 1-A, and Rei belongs to the Hero’s Department 1-C.

The classes were not divided by ability, so I happened to be in the class next to Rei’s. That’s part of the reason why Rei is able to come to my class comfortably. Besides, Rei is now very pleased, even though he was in despair when he first found out we were in different classes.

So, that’s the story of this world. However, I have another secret. My body has “dark spiritual power” that is normally not conceivable, even though it is “sealed”.

Yes, my “true power” is different. By the way, Rei also has “light spiritual power” that is sealed away because he currently cannot handle it. However, it was called “magic power” rather than “spiritual power” in the other world.

The walls of the world were originally thin due to the influence of its connection to the other world, and because of my enormous power, I became the Demon King in the other world while I slept in this one. It seemed to be the same for Rei, and he was a hero in that world.

While I still have my memories of the other world when I wake up here because of my enormous power, because Rei has not awakened all of his yet; he does not remember anything in this one.

That was unforgivable to me.

In that world, I am a good Demon King. However, there was still the “farce” of the hero coming to defeat the Demon King. There, there is a rule that the one who won would be given one favor from the loser.

That’s fine.

However, when I first me Rei in the other world, he “confessed”. He said that he had always been in love with me.

However, when he returned to this world, he forgot everything. Yes, everything.

Frankly speaking, I was very happy to be confessed to. Because I like Rei too. However, Rei has no recollection of his confession, even though I have already accepted it.

I didn’t like this.

That’s why I’ve decided to take advantage of the fact that he doesn’t remember confessing as an excuse to tease Rei while knowing he is in love with me. In this world, I often laugh at Rei’s face that is red with complaints while he asks why I was acting so mean.

Then, when he got angry and challenged me to a fight, I knock him down, hug him, and seduce him until he’s “half-dead” just to tease him some more.

I have enjoyed his impressive patience, but the other day I was finally defeated and embraces… he was very persistent at the time. I told him not to do it anymore, but he wouldn’t listen. He had seduced me so many times, that I was certain that this was earned.

“That’s why I’ve made up my mind, and I’m going to ‘tease’ you a lot here.”

“Kurousagi, what’s wrong?”

“I’m scheming. After all, I’m the Demon King.”

“It’s the job of the hero to thwart the Demon King’s plans.”

“Then we’ll have to honor your courage. Do you want a Dashiyaki Tamago²?

　　　2. Japanese Egg Omelets made with Dashi. See the photo at the bottom to see what it looks like.

“You have to feed me.”

“It can’t be helped. I’ll feed you later.”

While I was saying that; “You two are as close as ever, aren’t you?” spoke a stranger who appeared familiar.

****************************
Japanese Egg Omelets made with Dashi:

****************************
TL Note: When reading the acronym for this does anyone else immediately get hit with “DK! Donkey Kong / He’s the leader of the bunch / You know him well” or is that just me? I’m never ready. Anyways, here’s the song if you’re curious.

Also, I now have a discord set up, if that’s something you’re interested in.

Word Count: 753

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Can You Save the Capture Target From the Main Character’s Clutches? (Summary Page)

Written by Yukimi (雪見)
Raws

It was a R-18, BL game that was set in a world with swords and magic. The goal was to win the Knights’ Challenge at the top of the summit, and it seems that I have transmigrated into the devilish character that only appeared to instill trauma in one of the capture targets from Jandel’s route.

(TL Note: this is a short story with only one chapter. It’s R-18, and there’s no way for me to really do a version without the 18+ content since it’s part of the plot. This has been your fair warning.)

Read now >>>

TPIMAWW Chapter 8

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Chapter 8: The Love Affairs of Younger People

“This day has finally come.”

The day after he and Craig finally had a conversation, Shun stood in front of the gate of the central market and was distracted by his emotions.

There was a reason why he was able to suggest something so ridiculous when he was alone with Craig. He has never once tried to hit on Shun.

Gin, Evan, Diane, the group leader, and the other members were all attractive men, and Shun had been on guard for the first two or three days in fear of suddenly being caught in a kabedon. However, no one showed any signs of approaching him.

When Shun realized this, his heart leapt with joy. The heroine must have finally appeared. He was finally released from the (provisional) BL game.

Shun had gained his freedom.

He started to begin with looking around in the central market, which he usually runs by at full speed.

Since Dawn Fog wasn’t a strict company¹, he didn’t have any specific working hours.

Sometimes there was an emergency call made around five o’clock in the morning when a bounty appeared, and on days where there was no work, they would gather in the evenings just to make merry.

Shun had gotten to the office around nine and decided to go home before dark.

There were days when he wanted to work overtime to sort through the wreckage, but he was afraid of seeing dangerous people like he had the other day. Plus, he didn’t want to listen to the high-pitched complaints of his white, pumpkin-shaped governor², so he decided to return to the castle earlier as he was told.

Apparently his governor didn’t like that he wasn’t promoted because he was entrusted with a good-for-nothing³ like Shun.

While Shun sympathized with him, Shun was also troubled by his inability to pass up the opportunity to scold Shun every time to vent his frustrations.

Today, however, the governor had returned home for the birth of his grandchild, so it was a great opportunity for Shun.

Shun asked Aria, the lady-in-waiting who had become his personal maid because of the cake-cutting incident, to come to his room. She was dressed in inconspicuous, brown commoner’s clothing and ready.

Shun passed through the gates one step at a time and looked closely at the shop towards the end.

Oh, how wonderful a world it is when he isn’t constantly being kabedoned!

As expected, the central market was the biggest, and there were many clean shops selling fresh fruits, open-air shops offering up bone-in meat that was said to be eaten by bandits, and jewelry shops where young women happily picked out hair ornaments.

The currency of the world is “gai”⁴, and when he looked at price of a large piece of pastry bread being 100 gai, he had a feeling that gai was about equal to yen.

It was easy to understand.

For the first time, Shun felt like he was using money with no worries or expectations, and he walked straight from the castle along the rugged, stone-paved road.

Shun was impressed by the beautifully cut, orange melon and strawberries at a fruit shop and bought some of it that was stacked on a bamboo skewer.

A fruit about the size of a golf ball that the owner explained to him were apples, but the peeled fruit was bright red. It was cut in the shape of a rose to match the color, and Shun felt childish excitement.

It didn’t matter how much he saw, it simply wasn’t enough.

There were curious goods everywhere.

Other shoppers seemed to be very lively, perhaps stopping by on their way home from work or to buy dinner.

It was a wonderful place that reminded him of the large, Christmas markets but without all of the decorations, yet the excitement remained the same.

Shun finished eating the sweet and sour apples and was still a bit hungry, so he went to a teppanyaki restaurant⁵ that smelled strongly of charcoal-grilled food.

On a hot, black iron plate, sliced steak that was probably beef was being grilled. The thick, well-cooked meat was then brushed with a shiny, brown sauce by an older man that reminded him of Dian.

Everyone, including Shun, was mesmerized by the sweet and spicy smell of pepper floating in the air.

Shun desperately wanted to eat white rice.

Although it was a game with European motifs, it was still a game created by Japanese people.

Shun looked around the shops in the area to see if he could spot a similar grain.

No, not here either.

There were noodles that looked like pasta, but Shun’s cravings could only be satisfied with a nice bowl of rice.

No, this one was different too…

“…what are you doing?”

Shun looked up at the familiar voice.

It was unexpected to see this person leaving a small, flower shop.

Evan, holding a small bouquet of white lilies in his right hand, looked at Shun suspiciously.

Shun panicked because he had been caught desperately looking for some rice, but for some reason, Evan also looked like he had been caught red-handed.

“Evan, you forgot your change!”

The door of the shop opened with the ring of a bell, and a small woman appeared in a floral dress with a warm cape over her shoulder. Judging from the apron tied around her waist, she must have been the shop’s clerk.

She looked like she was in her early thirties, only a little older than Shun. Her long, glossy brown hair was tied back, and her long, lashes shadowed her eyes of the same color.

Her dignified features gave off the impression that she was an intelligent beauty.

“Keep it.”

“I can’t take money from kids.”

The clerk gently took Evan by the hand with a worn hand and dropped some small copper coins into his.

Shun didn’t miss the way Evan, who was always clamoring for a reaction, sealed his lips when the woman’s hand touched his.

“And here’s a bonus that I had waiting for you.”

Smiling, the woman took some candy wrapped in brown oil paper from her pocket and made Evan hold it along with the copper coins.

“Don’t treat me like a child.”

His words were still sharp, but it was nothing like how he spoke when he was around Gin or Shun.

As Shun stared, the woman noticed him and asked if he was looking for something.

“Oh, sorry. I’m not a customer, but a friend of Evan’s.”

Shun didn’t know how much she knew about Evan’s job, so he made their relationship unclear at the last second. She seemed to wonder what kind of friend of Evan’s he was but didn’t particularly ask.

“Come again. Send my regards to her.”

She poked Evan in the chest once and then went back into the shop.

Evan watched her leave with a bitter and wistful expression. He was wearing even better clothes than he did in the morning. His robes were beautifully embroidered, and the fastenings on the chest were made with brown jewels.

Even Shun, who was out of touch with this world’s culture, understood his situation. He couldn’t help but laugh, and Evan stared at him. However, Shun wasn’t scared of him.

In the past month, Shun had learned that only Evan’s speech and behavior were rude, and that Evan was actually gentle and full of a sense of justice appropriate for his age.

Shun’s fear of him was gone.

Shun thought of him more as an older friend than a cute student. As he started walking, Shun followed up beside him.

“Being young is nice.”

“Says the old man.”

Shun smiled and laughed at his sharp words that lacked their usual venom.

“Don’t tell anyone.”

Shun had never seen Evan look so serious.

A little pressured, Shun nodded firmly. However, he couldn’t help but open his mouth.

“Why do you want to hide it so much?”

“On the contrary, why did you think you could be open about it?”

Evan spoke quietly and looked down at the white lilies in his hand.

Shun, who had been thinking lightheartedly about how he was jealous of the fact that his beautiful sister would probably take a cue from him when he revealed his interest and thought that maybe he was embarrassed to be teased about keeping it a secret, realized something.

In medieval stories like this, women of that age were usually only single at that age for two reason.

Marriage was forbidden because of their work, or they were widowed. However, florists weren’t prohibited from marrying.

Few people would congratulate Evan, a teenager with no position or power, on his love affair with a widow.

Rather, the widow would be believed to have played a trick on him, and the world was not good enough for them to be able hide this from judgmental onlookers.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just that I’m pretty happy you’re teasing me about it like normal.”

He said that bluntly, sounding a bit embarrassed, but that just made Shun feel even more guilty.

“I was thinking irresponsibly, but you’re a good guy…”

“What? You’re treating me like a child?”

Evan looked bad with an unpleasant expression but stopped talking when he saw Shun’s face.

After scratching his head with a difficult expression, he offered something to Shun. It was one of the candies he had received earlier.

“I don’t care what you really mean. That’s all I’ve got.”

Like Gin, Evan always acted young, but he really was an adult. His past was unknown to him, partly because he never cleared Craig’s route, but at his age, he was already a bounty hunter.

He must have his own circumstances.

“It’s not good for someone as thin as you to look so gloomy. People will think I’m mugging you.”

Even though Evan had a pretty face, he was strong and looked a bit like a delinquent, and he looked quickly around them.

Did something like that happen in the past?

“But this candy is the precious thing Evan got. I won’t take it.”

“I don’t like cinnamon. When I first got it, I said I liked it even though I didn’t to act like an adult, and I can’t clear up the misunderstanding now.”

Shun couldn’t help but laugh at his troubled face that made him look younger than Shun was.

Evan put a finger to his mouth and urged Shun, “This is also a secret.”

“She thinks you have a girlfriend, but is that okay?”

“That’s just her assumption. It’s the only reason a person like me would buy flowers every day, and I’m in trouble if I deny it and have to think of another reason for buying them.”

They walked side by side, eating cinnamon candy, and talked for a bit.

What a cowardly thing for a guy, who would punch others without a moment’s hesitation if the town’s unscrupulous people mocked him or his friends, to do.

But maybe that’s what love is all about.

Also, Evan told Shun about it calmly and is convinced that the other party doesn’t particularly think about him.

Shun, who was probably the most experienced person in the royal palace if not the most experienced person in town, couldn’t give a good comment, let alone offer advice. He muttered to himself that he was sad.

“I can’t do anything, but I’ll listen to you complain. It was through some coincidence that I found out.”

“You’re a useless old man.”

Evan didn’t get angry and looked relieved, even though he was speaking in a rude way.

“I might complain once in a while. And I’ll be happy if you give me candy.”

Shun squinted at his youthful smile.

They separated at the edge of the market because the sun was about to set. Shun was forced to promise not to tell anyone, and was told to both keep away from the florist but also buy the flowers there.

***********************
1. I got “solid company” from the raws, but I think strict works better in context.

2. It said educator, but he’s like in a “medieval” style world so I’ll use governor/governess instead, since that’s the more specific term for it.

3. It literally said “穀潰しを” which translates to grain crusher, which from context I assumed meant that Shun was considered useless, but it took forever to find something that confirmed this :[

4. I just went with the romanization of this from the raws “ガイ” because “guy” as a currency is a little… -w-;; If anyone has any better suggestions, I’d be more than happy to hear them.

5. A teppanyaki restaurant is like this, in case you’re curious:

***********************
TL Note: So I was trying to put in linked footnotes with HTML (cause they’re nice), and it turns out, I’m not allowed to do that! It gives me a notification saying that the text has become invalid! QwQ I’m gonna try again after this month when I upgrade the site

I’ll see ya’ll again Wednesday with a new chapter. ❤

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DKFAWLTHCFBHLH Chapter 1

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Chapter 1: At The End of Class Today

The exhilaration of classes being over is the best. As I, Ishigaki Kurousagi, thought. I have dark, black hair and pale, blue eyes, and I’m wearing glasses.

These glasses are, by the way, date glasses. It’s convenient for me, and I use them to disguise myself. People think I’m a cool guy, but it’s not because I’m trying to dress up, it’s just because I don’t talk much and keep quiet.

I wait here as usual, listening to the sound of students leaving their seats one after another. Because he is coming. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m exhausted from class or because I’m waiting for him, but I stretch in my seat.

It’s only natural that I’m tired, after all I was paying attention and trying to learn the material, and I’m not asleep even though it’s a peaceful time in the classroom. As I stretched in my seat, someone came over. He was a refreshingly, handsome man with red hair and golden eyes.

He had come quickly from the class next door, looking happy to see me.

“Kurousagi, where are you having lunch today?”

When I saw his face, I was trapped in a feeling I didn’t recognize it.

“…there’s no lunch to eat with you.”

“Ok!”

“…as usual… the weather is nice today, so let’s eat on the roof. Why did you come here so quickly? Our classrooms are right next to each other.”

“I missed you, Kurousagi. But, uh, yeah. The rooftop sounds nice.”

He laughed happily then. This person is Minazuki Rei, my childhood friend. Also, an old enemy from another world?

I’ll explain more about that later, but my childhood friend has been my best friend from kindergarten to my freshman year of high school, and we’ve been rotten friends¹ since then. And I know this best friend of mine wants to upgrade this friendship even further. But, due to some circumstances… I’ve decided to leave him hanging for a little longer.

　　　1. A “rotten relationship” is an unfavorable relationship that can’t be cut off even if you tried. You can read more about it here. The Google Translate of it is pretty readable.

After all, I wouldn’t be able to refuse him afterwards, and I muttered to myself, “I have to train myself before then. He has too much stamina. If I don’t, my body won’t last.”

“Did you say something, Kurousagi?”

“You’re imagining things.”

“I’m curious though.”

“Don’t think about it.”

While we were talking, the homeroom teacher, Tanaka Kuzuki, seems to have heard the exchange.

“You two are close as always.”

So has been said. He is a reasonably tall and attractive teacher that I’ve heard is popular with both students and other teachers. There is probably a student in one of his classes that is secretly fond of him.

However, he wasn’t on my radar at all, since I already had someone I loved. So, as usual, I answered without prejudice.

“It’s a rotten relationship.”

“Don’t say that.”

Despite hearing Rei’s pathetic voice, I ignored him and instead asked the teacher about something I had happened to see.

“Putting that aside… is that cat food?”

So I asked him about the tins of cat food that I happened to see in his bag.

The teacher laughed in annoyance and said, “Oh, I’ve been discovered. Keep this to yourself. I’ve recently picked up a cat … and it seems to be weak, so I’ve been taking care of it at home. Even though it’s a stray cat, I’d rather be on my own.”

“…I can smell the magic.”²

　　　2. It said something like “I smelled the scent of magic”, so I changed it to this.

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m about to collapse from hunger.”

“Oh, sorry for keeping you.”

As I watched my homeroom teacher walk away, I thought about the trace of magic I detected earlier. It wasn’t something from “this world”, but it was something that I remembered.

“…cat?”

“What’s wrong with cats? I thought you liked them, since you’re so similar to them.”

“In what way am I a cat?”

“In a whimsical way? Or in a cute way?”

“Okay, I’m not eating with you today. It’s nice to be alone. I’ll get away from the hustle and bustle of people.”

“Huh? Why are you mad? Wait, no! Let’s eat together!”

“Why don’t you ask someone else?”

“Never.”

Rei groaned when I said something mean. While watching his reaction, I felt like this was enough to get him to dial back. Don’t call me cute here all of a sudden, I was about to confess to you! I thought, not even showing it on my face, but inwardly I was impatient.

It was probably better to go eat soon.

“I’m going to the rooftop.”

“Ok!” Rei replied happily.

*************************
TL Note: This is a pretty short and cute story I decided to translate on the side for you guys. There’s no schedule for it, since I’m prioritizing releases of TPIMAWW. It’s got only 11 chapters though!

Also, the title is a mouthful, wowie. The acronym honestly just looks like nonsense Also, just so ya’ll know, the smut’s not until the last chapter.

Words: 752

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The Demon King From Another World Likes to Tease His Childhood Friend (The Hero) Because He’s in Love With Him ~The Demon King, Who Has Already Been Defeated, is Being Doted on by His Childhood Friend, the Hero~

Written by Raspberry Pi (Adult Version) [ラズベリーパイ（大人版)]
Raws

I, Ishigaki Kurousagi, was the Demon King in another world. My childhood friend, Minuzaki Rei, who was a hero in another world, has already confessed to me and had a relationship with me. However, I don’t remember any of this at all. So… I decided to have him confess again to me in this world.

I hope you enjoy this one-sided romantic comedy and contemporary fantasy with the cool, tsundere protagonist[Kurousagi], who teases his childhood friend while confessing his love in his heart.

Currently being updated irregularly!

Table of Contents

Chapters with a * next to them have NSFW content

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11*

TPIMAWW Chapter 7

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Chapter 7: It didn’t work out.

Although Craig had warned Shun not to get too close to him, they were still colleagues, and seeing as Craig was the group’s head, the opportunity for them to talk to each other still came.

The best example of this was during Craig’s income and expenditure report.

“A Barn Merchant on 2nd Avenue paid me 39,522 for the guy on the eighth, and I got fifty thousand for the thief I caught on the tenth.”

Shun moved his hand toward Craig’s report in the chair next to him.

He didn’t look up as he inked the quill, which was difficult for him to use since he was used to ballpoint pens, and wrote the numbers into the A4 account book.

“And yesterday’s bodyguard’s payment was 800,000.”

Come to think of it, he was a bodyguard.

Craig peered over at the first page of the account book in Shun’s hand as he was adding the word “guard” to the list of sorting items.

“Did you make this yourself?”

Shun was so startled he almost fell out of his chair. He never expected Craig to speak to him.

It was true that they exchanged words that were essential to perform their jobs, but it really was the bare minimum.

Craig didn’t know if the newcomer, Shun, was messing around, so the income and expenditure report always went straight to him from Shun.

Even in situations like the current one where Shun is informed of payments, the rule of “keep away from me” was usually still enacted. Craig usually read out the amount from business partners from the chair or the desk near Shun and then left without hesitation.

Craig put down the notes of the report from Gin and the other members of the group and looked at Shun suspiciously.

Shun couldn’t say that Craig was the one who told him not to talk, so he sat up in his chair and nodded at the question.

He was sure that Craig already knew this, but their previous ledger was in shambles.

Although the dates were stated firmly, it was commonplace to see over the course of the month duplicate details written twice or thrice, and it was impossible to tell whether the month was even in the red or black, let alone the final net profit or loss, because the information was just jotted down in a messy manner.

At the beginning, it was clear that Craig had been solely in charge of it as it was in a clear, easy-to-understand format.

However after that, their number of people in Dawn Fog increased, and the accounting was relinquished to others, subsequently causing it to be unclear and incomprehensible.

For a moment, I had felt hopeful upon unearthing the beautiful ledger, but then he received the ledger from Gin that was convoluted from the accumulated entries.

To make matters worse, Gin’s explanation was entirely unhelpful from the way he prefaced it with, “I don’t really understand it well.”

For the time being, Shun knew that he couldn’t rely on anyone else and started to do something on his own.

Although Shun had never submitted a white paper¹ before since he was banned from working as a sideline, but Shun has done bookkeeping and kept a household account book.

While casually listening to the castle’s previous bookkeeper, Shun managed to draw a line on a brand new notebook and made his own account book with the dates listed vertically and business partners and sorting items on the side.

Each page included the weekly balance, and with that, Shun could easily calculate in his head the final monthly gains or losses to list on the final page of the book.

“That’s impressive.”

Craig picked up a dark blue book from Shun’s desk and flipped it over.

It was only a week ago that he began to work on the current ledger, as well as reworking the past one, and he had gotten up to two months ago listed in his format from what he could garner from the old ledgers.

The book that Craig was holding now was one of them.

The compliment wasn’t for the format itself, but rather the amount of effort it had taken Shun to draw lines over dozens of pages, to pick up the information from the chaos, and the speed of his calculations for accounts spanning across several months.

“Oh, thank you.”

It felt more like a soliloquy, but since Shun could hear him, he decided to express his thanks anyway.

Craig looked embarrassed for a moment at the sound of Shun’s voice.

After all, he regretted that it was aimed at Shun, and he kept the books without saying anything and quickly moved from next to Shun to the central sofa.

It felt bad.

Though Shun didn’t say anything and went back to work.

However, there was not much to do this time, so he ran out of things to do early on. It was almost time for the sun to set.

Shun had decided to review the past books early in the morning when he could concentrate better, so he was only about halfway through the day.

He had time before he headed home.

The most troubling thing, though, was that Craig and Shun were the only ones in the sitting room. Craig clearly has no clue how uncomfortable Shun is while he’s sitting on the sofa and leisurely reading a book with a thick, red cover.

“If you don’t have anything else, you can go home.”

Even though Craig glanced at me over the backrest, Shun couldn’t make himself move.

Ever since he had graduated from university, he had worked until the last train rather than leaving on time.

Is it okay to leave early, even if he isn’t sick?

Craig’s mysterious, golden eyes gazed at Shun, who showed no signs of leaving.

“I’m serious. It’s a waste of time to stay behind and do nothing.”

“You’re serious. You’ve got nothing left to do.”

There is something to do!

It wasn’t work, but if he’s thinking about the future, now was the perfect time to try to deepen his relationship with Craig.

He almost stood up with his fist raised, but as soon as he met Craig’s gaze, his excitement waned.

Shun has mentioned this several times before but, Craig was super beautiful.

It’s not only that, but he’s also a skilled swordsman and has the leadership skills to lead the Dawn Fog, a group of rogues.

In Shun’s former world, he could have joined a large company, worked well, and taken home at least three, beautiful women from a party every night.

How was Shun supposed to get along with such a fashionable person²?

For Shun, who is so conscious of his plainness that he doesn’t like it, he even feels like he’s going to get hit even if he tried to talk about the weather.

If there was something that he could easily talk about with him despite being an anxious person, Shun could easily open up to him.

“Would you like to play Old Maid…?³“

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Shun withdrew his offer at the speed of light and focused on the books.

What is he even talking about when he doesn’t even know if they have Old Maid in this world?

He doesn’t even know if they have playing cards or not.

How do all the non-clubbers of the world survive?

Shun was getting used to Craig’s suspicious gaze.

Now that he’s being looked at like this, it was safer to hold onto his “Become Craig’s friend” plan for another day.

Shun opened up the ledger from three months ago, sighing.

He would do a full-scale overhaul of the following morning, but for now, he decided to rescue as many numbers from the chaos as possible until the sun sets.

Just three months ago, their previous bookkeeper had disappeared, and Gin was subbed in as the pinch hitter. (TN: what a bad pinch hitter… Press F to pay respects to Craig’s baseball team.)

It seemed that with the job changing hands suddenly, information loss was guaranteed. The books from three months ago were missing a lot of information.

He had the dexterity to groan with his head in his hands and chase the numbers with his eyes for a while. However, it soon became clear that the previous method he had been using wouldn’t be enough and began to draft a different form.

“Ah.”

“What’s the matter?” Craig asked Shun, who had stopped calculating.

“Well, I’m looking at the balance from three months ago and four months ago, but it’s a bit strange.”

Shun had honestly forgotten about Craig completely in his focus.

He held up the ledger and showed it to him, feeling embarrassed by how unexpectedly loud his voice was.

When Craig came over, he bent over and looked at what Shun was pointing out.

Although Shun knew he had no other intentions, he couldn’t help but shrink away from him.

He didn’t seem to notice and looked at Shun’s hand with a bitter expression.

Craig traced the spot where Shun had written a “X”.

There is something curious about the bounty he received from four months ago.

Some of the names of the bounties were missing, or there were multiple names that were unnaturally similar.

The latter gave the impression that someone created it.

Tomorrow, he could match the names of the people that Dawn Fog had captured against the information from the security bureau, but if they didn’t match, there were too many of them to be cleared up by human error.

“I believe we caught a pretty big one that day. As luck would have it, Diane came across me in the tavern getting drunk and didn’t damage any equipment in particular.”

Craig murmured, recalling the memory.

However, the price was as same as that of a thief.

Moreover, since there was no damage to the swords or clothes recorded, that didn’t mean that the expenditure was deducted in advance.

As for the other days, they were also inconsistent with Craig’s memories.

Since there is no bank system, nobles, large merchants, and farmers all manage their own money.

The Dawn Fog’s money was no exception, and these savings were kept in a tightly locked safe.

Shun remembered being forced to count all of the gold, silver, and copper coins that were kept in hemp bags piled up ceiling-high.

Of course, because he wasn’t trusted yet, he was blindfolded and taken into the room by Craig and Diane, who doubled as inspectors.

Shun had never seen such a large amount of money, and it was difficult for him to not be dazzled by it. However, the stern gaze and the sword ready to be unsheathed at any moment was too close for comfort.

If he did anything even slightly suspicious, his head would fly– instantly– and he was, fearfully, diligently devoted into being a money-counting machine.

Shun was keenly aware that he was entrusted with the accounts of a terrible organization that had the wealth of a large merchant, despite being a commoner’s organization.

In other words, there may have been some money behind the scenes, but Shun was well aware of the amount of savings the Dawn Fog had.

Using Craig’s memory, Shun reorganized his calculations.

He then discovered that the amount was short.

When Craig saw the negative sum that Shun wrote down, he tsked.

“Four months ago … that was when I was out of town for a time, so they were stretched thin.”

It seemed that Craig had been away from the Dawn Fog at that time.

Shun had seen the signature in the original book. It was easy to tell that this had been done by a man named Zaz⁴, who was in charge of the books at the time, taking advantage the chief’s absence.

“He was from a merchant family and had experience as a bookkeeper. I hired him because he was a good swordsman, but he had bad behavior, so I kicked him out three months ago. So he was embezzling money. I should have looked into it sooner.”

Craig replied with an uncomfortable air. Shun had heard about Zaz’s bad behavior from Gin and Diane in a variety of complaints. It had been one thing after another with him, such as breaking all the bottles in a bar out of spite when a woman refused him and damaging a noble’s carriage.

Even so, it seemed that Craig patiently employed people who were strong, but Zaz had gotten up to his usual, old tricks and was fired because of an incident one morning where he had caught the whole city on fire, including the Dawn Fog’s hideout.

Thanks to how Craig and his team handled it, the incident wasn’t a big deal, but the cost of that final screw-up was not small.

It had garnered the antipathy of their neighboring population and forced Craig to move them to their current location three months ago.

In a world where there were no moving companies, it must have been more difficult than Shun thought.

Finding a replacement for the bookkeeper and reviewing the books had to take a back seat.

Shun had a feeling that the house they had been in before was the one that he’d seen in the game.

If Craig’s route went on, he would surely end up in this house. That had to be why the heroine that Shun was controlling got stuck in the early stages of the game.

It was a bit frustrating.

“It must have been hard.”

He wanted to say something clever, but Shun didn’t have that skill and could only think of simple expressions. Still, Craig seemed to understand his intentions.

“It’s all over now. Besides, thanks to you, we found out about his embezzlement. Well done.”

Craig put his hand on Shun’s back as he pondered.

Shun unconsciously looked up to Craig, who stood next to him, speaking with a gentle tone that was different from his usual harsh voice, and his hand was warm.

He wondered if this meant they could get along a little better.

Craig moved away from Shun immediately after a moment of embarrassment.

“…well, it’s getting dark. I’ll take you home today.”

Craig wouldn’t even look at him now, and his voice had regained its usual gruffness.

Shun did not hide his disappointment and meekly responded that he understood.

********************
1. A white paper is an in-depth report or guide about a specific topic and the problems that surround it. (TL Note: I have actually seen one of these before, but I didn’t know that this is what they’re called. Ah, administration.)

2. The raws said a party person “パーリィピーポー” but uh, that’s just from his assumptions I think, so I went with fashionable? But maybe ya’ll can help me find a better word for here…

3. The dictionary I used said the game was Old Maid… but if not, it’s probably fine. ^^;;

4. “ザズ” when I googled it, all I got was results for a musician called Zaz, so hopefully the name is correct ;;

TL Note: Poor Shun doesn’t realize how overly conscious Craig is of him TToTT Silly baby, Craig is looking at you with eyes full of something more intimate than friendship. I’ll see ya’ll with the next chapter on Friday!

Word Count: 2,410

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TPIMAWW Chapter 6

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Bonus chapter! Big thank you to SadieWoods for donating!
*********************************

Chapter 6: I Envy Cats

“Oh, he’s not very nice to look at, but he’s very friendly and nice to talk to.”

Gin finished sweeping the living room, rested his chin on the long handle of his broom and told him absent-mindedly. Shun turned his gaze from the bookshelf that he had been cleaning to look at him. Noticing Shun’s troubled expression, Gin began to babble about his complaints absent-mindedly.

“Well, I’ve never asked you to go with me to pick up a girl, and that’s partly why it’s such a pain in the ass. If Craig was here, I would be guaranteed success. Last night too.”

“It’s because I have a higher success rate picking up girls by myself than I do with you.”

Shun couldn’t ask him why he didn’t sleep well. Evan, who had just come out of the washroom with a waste bin, started to make tea.

“Don’t be so noisy….maybe.”

“You’re already an old man¹, and why don’t you settle down instead of playing around?”

“I’m only twenty-six!”

With the cheekiness that only the young could have, Gin chased Evan around the room with his broom. Shun, who was beginning to understand that their quarreling was like a greeting for them, ignored them and moved on to the next bookshelf. If Gin was an old man at only twenty-eight, then Shun was as well, so he secretly supported Gin’s efforts.

It had been three weeks since Shun had joined the Dawn Fog.

That aside, the calendar system was roughly the same in this world, and there was around thirty days in each month. Maybe it was just something that was automatically translated when someone transmigrated like he did.

However, there was now twenty-eight hours in a day, and thus, more time to sleep.

There were twelve members in the group led by Craig, the group’s leader. Shun had been properly introduced to the other four, who were present at his interview, the next day. They were all men that were in the primes of their lives, and although they didn’t look as good as their leader, they all had looks that would make heads turn when passing on the streets.

Some of the members were dismissive of him because he came from a well-off family. However, after he had been seen doing the bookkeeping calculations with sparkling eyes and a single-minded devotion, they now began to talk to him in a friendly manner.

Shun never thought the day would come when a mental arithmetic geek would be useful, except for when instantly figuring out the price per hundred grams at the supermarket. It was a bit unexpected.

Additionally, there was a big, female tabby cat. Carl, who had picked her up in the woods, had named her Sui². She didn’t hesitate to climb into Shun’s lap and purr loudly even when they first met.

With her large, round eyes, she easily gets rewarded secretly with snacks from everyone in addition to what Carl regularly feeds her, even the strongest of men couldn’t resist her charms. Shun was more than happy to join her long line of tributes.

After finishing dusting off the bookshelf, Sui abandoned her efforts to remove a hair ball from her bed and approached Shun’s feet, greeting him with a high, spoiled voice. Shun apologized to her for being empty handed, and her wide eyes suddenly turned half-lidded. She rubbed her tail across Shun’s feet with her long, beautiful tail and then moved on to press up against Evan and Gin, who had seemed to have settled their disagreement.

Shun couldn’t help feeling like she thought of him as a servant, but he couldn’t help but like that about her. After all, she was just a cat, but he was a bit in love with the idea that paying tribute to her like that would bring him good luck in finding a woman.

At any rate, Shun had no complaints about his relationship with his coworkers.

Except for one thing.

How could someone who’s “friendly and nice to talk to” warn him to not get to close to him?

Shun breathed a sigh at the image of Craig that did not match Gin’s description of him. It was true that Shun’s words and actions were incoherent, and he couldn’t really remember the scary look on Craig’s face, but he’d like to think that that wasn’t enough to make Craig hate him… so much that he wouldn’t even show his face.

From the exchange after the interview, I understood a bit more of Craig’s personality, and it didn’t seem like he was too narrow-minded.

Shun noticed Sui swishing her tail while begging for food from Gin. Gin, locked onto her, was rifling through his pockets to see if he had something to give her.

Now that he thought about it, Shun had never seen Sui approach Craig, who happily spoke to anyone in hopes of getting some food.

Instead, he had seen her react contrarily toward him when he was on his way to work that morning. Craig had been in the empty living room, eating and trying to pet Sui gently. However, Sui’s hair suddenly stood up on end, and she ran away while yowling in a threatened voice that Shun had never heard before. Shun saw Craig’s back through the gap in the door, and there was a sad slump to his shoulders that were usually so fine and broad, and even Shun felt a bit sad seeing this.

Shun had a feeling that this interaction had occurred with Sui several times before and ended in failure every single time. Although Craig was very strong and charismatic enough to be the leader, Dian and Carl were even stronger than him. Sui was a nuisance with those two, so it didn’t make sense that she would instinctively avoid Craig.

“Why are you afraid of him even though he likes you?”

Sui, who hadn’t gotten what she wanted from Gin, had returned to Shun and was lifted into his arms.

“I don’t like you, but you get along with me just fine.”

She huffed in front of Shun, who was pessimistic about his troubled future; it was an unfortunate loss.

*********************************
1. In the raws it says “ossan” (おっさん)  which is a semi-rude way to refer to a middle aged person (generally someone 40+), so I used old man since that’s like… the English equivalent that I could think of b/c of this line: “The future is now, old man.” And all the other similar memes. Though saying something like “boomer” or “grandpa” might be just as good lol

2. Her name is written “スウィ” in the raws, and I’m terrible at figuring out names but we’re going with Sui for now (partly cause it’s the same name as the wonderfully cute slime from Tondemo Skill De Isekai Hourou Meshi):

TL Note: This chapter is a little short, but it is a bonus chapter! Luckily I was able to finish up my lab fairly quickly despite it lagging out several times to get this out

Word Count: 1,032

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TPIMAWW Chapter 5

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Chapter 5: Am I hated?

“I don’t know what we did wrong.”

“Do you think he knows what he’s doing?”

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s the right thing to do.”

Their move seemed to have been a waste of time, since there were four pairs of eyes now peering through the door of the study. It was impossible for Craig to have not noticed, but since he didn’t say anything, Shun didn’t dare to either.

The best Shun could do was remain focused on Craig’s onslaught of questions.

“503 divided by twelve?”

“Forty-one. The remainder is eleven.”

“That’s correct. Then, 889 times forty-nine?”

“43,561.”

“…312 times 447?”

“Uh; 139,464.”

Sometimes, Shun had to calculate the answers while using a mental abacus on the desk. He was happy that he had gotten them all right, but he was beginning to feel a bit fatigued after solving almost thirty problems in a row.

After he became a member of society, Shun only did flash arithmetic to kill time and had lost a lot of his original skill at it.

Even so.

“That’s enough, isn’t it?” The delinquent boy in the doorway said exactly what Shun was feeling. It was impossible for Shun to know these questions before had, so his mathematical skills were proven. They had to admit at this point that Shun was the best fit for the bookkeeping position, especially since several of them had done it before.

Nevertheless, Craig continued to spit out math problems as if he was forbidden from saying, “you’re hired”, and every time that Shun answered correctly, he became more and more depressed. It was almost as if hiring Shun would mean the end of the world.

Shun knew he wasn’t particularly liked, but he didn’t think he was so hated that he would be refused to the position at this point. It said it’s essential to bond with someone in order to build a good rapport with them, however what was Shun supposed to do when he had already fumbled it this badly?

Shun felt dizzy.

“Are you tired?”

Shun’s consciousness suddenly became aware of something other than formulas, words. Although Craig sounded considerate, his dour expression remained unchanged.

“No… Yes, I’m tired.” For a moment, Shun thought it might be better to lie than admit the truth, so he wouldn’t be considered weak.

Craig ran his hand through his bangs expressionlessly. For some reason, he looked more confused than Shun was feeling.

Shun became even more bewildered. If he didn’t like it, all he had to do was reject him outright. He just couldn’t understand.

“This is the last question. If you get it right, you’re hired.”

“Yes!” The cheers that burst out were, unexpectedly, not from Shun. When Craig glared behind Shun in surprise, Gin hurriedly shut his mouth.

Craig took a thin book from a nearby shelf and opened the first page.

“Answer in five seconds.” Craig pulled out a watch with a silver chain from his chest, clicked open the silver cover, and placed it on the desk before him.

“What’s seven plus seven, minus seven times seven, minus seven divided by seven, plus one, plus seven times seven, minus seven times two, plus one, minus fifty, plus seven, plus seven, plus seven times seven, minus seven divided by seven, plus one, plus seven times seven, minus seven times two, plus one, and minus fifty?”¹

Before Shun had even gotten the chance to respond to his earlier stipulation, Craig quickly recited the formula.

“Huh?” Someone said, verbalizing Shun’s feelings once again. However, he didn’t have a moment to be thankful. He managed to calculate it about halfway but felt like he missed something while he was flabbergasted by the question.

The design of the watch was almost the same as the ones in his original world. The face had a golden dial and twelve black numbers with long, needle-thin hands, and the seconds ticked by mercilessly.

Just before the seconds hand passed the fifth dot and while in a panic, Shun shouted vigorously, “Zero!”

He hadn’t moved even a millimeter from the chair the entire time, and yet he was out of breath. As the energy from his answer dissipated, silence spread again.

Craig looked as if he was bearing all the troubles of the world. Then with a little relief, he said, “You passed.”

“I did it!” Bang! The door flew open, and the first person to jump into the room was Gin. As Shun stood up, he grabbed both of Shun’s hands in his and spun them round and round. Although Shun knew that he was giddy from being saved from bookkeeping, Shun was about to lose his mind.

Excited and free from the heavy responsibility, Gin finally let go of Shun and went to Craig to give him a firm handshake. When Shun was thrown aside, he was supported by the boss’s, who had a punch perm², arm.

As he managed to swallow a scream that almost came out instinctively that ended up sounding more like a whimper, a nifty wink flew out with a powerful thumbs-up. It seemed he did a good job. Funny.

“You’re awesome. I never met anyone like this in school. What’s going on in your head?” the delinquent boy, who was called Evan, that was next to him was too impressed and stunned by him.

“Oh, I think I spent all my talent on this.”

“No, no. You did well, boy! Now our accounts are saved!” As Evan responded to his self-deprecation, a heavy shock hit his left shoulder, and Shun nearly collapsed beneath it.

Dian³, or Santa as Shun’s been calling him, stroked his fine beard with a hand resting on Shun’s shoulder, smiling heartily.

“Well, Gin wasn’t suited for it by any stretch of the imagination,” Evan turned toward Gin with a hateful expression, and Gin responded by showing his teeth, pretending to intimidate him.

“Well, it was worse for everyone else. Some people can’t even keep their letters straight,” Carl(boss) said solemnly, narrowing his thin eyes, “I mean, right now our finances are in shambles because of you.”

“No, that’s different.”

“At any rate, I’m glad the boy is here. Come to think of it, I haven’t asked your name yet.”

Dian looks at Shun with black eyes that are as bright as his shiny head.

“It’s Shun, thank you very much. However I’m too old to be called a boy anymore.”

“Shun, Gin.”

All of the hustle and bustle quieted down. Shun, who wanted to change Dian’s perception rather than introducing himself, suddenly hesitated before turning to speak.

Craig called the two of them back in while urging the other three back out. Evan gave him a sharp look, but Dian and Carl simply smiled and obeyed.

“Gin, you’re not done with your work yet. Make sure you take over properly.”

Gin, who thought he would be free from bookkeeping the moment Shun was hired, slumped his shoulders. Still, Gin nodded, reluctantly agreeing, and Craig’s golden eyes turned towards Shun.

“Eep,” Shun squeaked, cringing. It was a pity that he still hadn’t shown any signs of growing accustomed to Craig’s intense gaze after so many times.

“You can use anything in this building as you wish, except for this study. I have to ask you to refrain from leaving until we’ve decided that you’re worthy of trust. You can sleep here until then. There are plenty of rooms available, but whenever you leave, I or someone else will have to take you out like when you arrived here. You won’t have to wear a blindfold, but you’ll be riding in a carriage with no windows to avoid you knowing where this is. Is that alright?”

“Yes, of course.” Shun nodded deeply. He had a few questions about this, but this wasn’t the atmosphere to do so. He doesn’t want to lose this opportunity he worked so hard to get, after all.

“Carl is in charge of meals, and cleaning the common areas is on a duty schedule. Ask Gin if there is anything else you don’t understand.”

Shun nodded again like a karakuri puppet⁴.

“And you don’t have to use honorifics here with me or anyone else.”

Shun returned from a puppet to a human and looked at Craig’s and Gin’s faces. Gin affirmed his words with a nod of approval.

“This place is like a gathering place for people of any status or age. I’m the head of the group, so I can make the final decision and make decisions on emergencies, but it’s basically a system of consensus. We don’t want any sense of hierarchy.”

Craig granted them leave when Shun didn’t say anything in response to his determined voice. However, even as Gin walked out while stretching, Shun remained standing there.

Shun didn’t think that the first prince of the Wolf Country had thought so much about ordinary people and his rootless grass⁵ partners.

Gin was the only Dawn Fog character that appeared in Craig’s route, and he just thought this was a part of Gin’s personality and not the group as a whole. Come to think of it, the spoilers didn’t even mention why Craig ran away from the Wolf Country and was believed to be dead.

“…what?”

Seeing Craig’s troubled face, Shun hurriedly looked around the room and realized that they were alone.

“Oh, oh, uh… “

“…did you calculate the last question?”

Shun was unable to say anything when Craig asked him this. Even though he had lingered because of the questions things that were on his mind, it would be rude for him to turn and run away now.

It was a blunt way of asking, and Shun wondered if Craig even cared about the answer.

“Actually, no… I didn’t.”

Craig raised an eyebrow at him, and Shun merely shrugged his shoulders in response. Now that they had come this far, Craig probably wouldn’t fire him all of a sudden.

“Problems with the same number in succession usually cancel each other out to get another number, like one or zero. I knew that if I got fifty minus seven squared plus one at the end, the answer would be zero.”

Craig probably knew that five seconds wasn’t enough to calculate the answer. So Shun answered honestly, but as soon as I finished say that and fell silent, I felt uneasy. Daring a glance at Craig, Shun became wide-eyed.

“You look like nothing but a weak man, and yet you’re surprisingly ballsy. You had the brains to think that far ahead with a time limit.”

To Shun’s surprise, Craig was laughing. His beautiful eyes were lifted into crescents, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. However when Craig noticed Shun’s gaze, he returned to his original, difficult expression.

“Go.” He spoke bluntly, but Shun could see the blush growing in the corner of his eyes, so it seemed more like a cover for his embarrassment. Shun had imagined him as an arrogant, arrogant man, but the reality was that he was a good, free, young man. He truly was a capture target.

Shun’s face suddenly turned red, and he took a step back. Craig tilted his head in curiosity.

“Well, that’s all that I had to say. Thanks for hiring me!” Shun quickly turned on his heel.

Right. Craig was a capture target.

Before now, Shun may have seemed to be acting suspiciously, so Craig had been harsh with him. However now, with the absence of the heroine, he should avoid being left alone with any of the heroine’s capture targets.

“… Hey.”

“Oh!” When he was caught by the shoulder from behind, he became nervous.

“I have one thing to tell you.”

As if to keep Shun from turning back, a low, sweet voice sounded in his ear. A soft stimulus rippled through him from the warm breath that ghosted over the shell of his ear.

“Don’t get too close to me.”

Craig’s frighteningly quiet voice engraved itself in Shun’s mind. He didn’t even know how to reply. If there was one, Shun did not know them. Craig pushed him out of the study and shut the door as if he was saying goodbye.

Shun was then surrounded by the group who had begun to make merry again and was forced to join in. He didn’t even notice Craig cursing at himself with his back against the door.

**************************
1. 7+7-7×7-7÷7+1+7×7-7×2+1-50+7+7+7×7-7÷7+1+7×7-7×2+1-50 …this is unreadable both ways honestly. But grammar tells me to write it out, so. Hopefully I didn’t miss anything lol. Bless Shun’s soul for being tortured like this with math.

2. The raws just said basically the punch perm guy’s arm, and the boss guy was frequently described to have black, close-cropped hair, so… Also a punch perm looks like this (for those of you who remember this meme):

3. Diane‘s name might actually be Dian? It’s “ディアン” in the raws (for anyone who knows better than me), so I’m probably going to go back and fix it in the last chapter… Sorry about that (￣ー￣；

4. “Karakuri puppets are traditional Japanese mechanized puppets or automata, originally made from the 17th century to 19th century. The dolls’ gestures provided a form of entertainment.” -wikipedia (basically he’s saying he’s nodding mechanically a.k.a. a bot)

5. Rootless grass is a term coined by a Japanese playwrite and author, Abe Kobo. It’s basically a term for being without attachments, literally having “no roots”.

TL Note: I did not think I was going to be able to get this out before bedtime, haha. Anyways, I’ll see ya’ll with chapter six on wednesday? I’ve got some assignments I have to prioritize for a few days x’D

Word Count: 2,211

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