Chapter 124 – Titles
It was a warm, soft hand.
If a hand is just a piece of cloth, should I say that it is truly like a saint to feel the warmth that makes you feel at ease just by touching it?
I had to try with all my might not to caress Ophelia’s hand inadvertently. Then the atmosphere you’ve worked so hard for will be destroyed.
“…”
To my best encouragement, the girl did not return any reply.
He just looked up blankly at my face, blinking his innocent, big eyes. It was a completely different reaction than expected.
I thought I was comforted pretty well. I wonder if it was a little too much for my clumsy speech. This is why, no matter how good the intention is, it seems to be important to convey it.
In the middle of the day, I wonder if I did something wrong, even a little bit of regret.
“…Thanks.”
Ophelia’s face flushed red, and the rest of her hand, which hesitated in the air, gently overlapped my hand.
So we ended up facing each other and holding hands alternately, in a rather awkward posture.
“Saint?”
The moment I was quite taken aback by the girl’s sudden action. She started to mutter in her hazy voice, without hesitation, fingering her thick, clunky fingers.
“When I saw him fighting the monsters with these hands at dawn, I was afraid that he was no longer the old man I knew. Hehe, what a stupid idea. He’s still this warm.”
“That, these hands are stained with the blood of many lives. They are not clean enough for the saintess to touch them freely.”
She tried hard to gloss over the atmosphere that was trying to be a little weird, but the girl didn’t even get a seed.
On the contrary, it only had the opposite effect.
“Eh. Then, as a saint, I must cleanse these sinful hands as much as I can? So, I’ll be like this for a moment. Wait a minute…”
It was a big deal. Why is this little boy doing this?
The way I try to bring my hand closer and closer to my body. If left alone, he was ready to bruise even his face.
Even if she is a little saint, her body is definitely a grown adult. It is not supposed to be so close to a man and a woman who are not in any relationship.
Even so, it was a car that was in trouble internally because of the desire that I couldn’t solve last night. Because of her woman’s warm body temperature and scent, she is even afraid that useless thoughts will come out of her head.
… I can’t. Let this just happen. In this situation, to be honest, I was a bit ashamed.
“Ugh! It was a sudden request for consultation, but I’m just grateful that you responded so diligently.”
Aside from the fact that the atmosphere became strange, the conversation just before was more like a sincere conversation than a consultation, so I also received a lot of mental comfort.
After expressing my sincere gratitude, I tried to get up. The girl put on an expression of regret and tried to stop me desperately.
“Ah, no, Mister! I’m rather thankful for it. Well, I’d like to give you something in return…”
“Well?”
That’s the answer
I was about to say that I don’t need that kind of thing, so I’ll go, but a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
Of course, I have no intention of demanding anything grandiose from the girl. Because she didn’t do a great job as much as she did.
But, if Ophelia really wants to do something for me…
How about this.
“Then, I have a request for you.”
“Yes! Just say anything. I’ll do anything you want, sir. If it’s not too embarrassing for you…”
I said with a serious expression to the girl who, for some reason, began twisting her body.
Let’s make sure we nail it this time.
“That, other than Mister, can I call you another name?”
“Yes?”
“A title, a title. I, I’m quite younger than I look. At most, I’m less than half of my 20s. But I heard that the saintess has just become an adult. Then, after all, the age difference isn’t too much, but the title ‘Mr. Is too much…”
As I spoke, I got a little mixed with my emotions, and unintentionally, a number of lamentations broke out.
Then, the saintess who listened to me with her eyes wide open grabbed her navel in front of me, and she burst into laughter more than ever before.
“What? Ahaha, ahahaha!”
“Hmm.”
It was a very different feeling.
When did I ever get treated like this? Quite a few men shrink on their own as soon as they make eye contact with me, and women don’t even come close because they are afraid of my rugged appearance.
And it was the same even now when he became famous. Yena now, my personal relationships are extremely narrow.
Excluding lovers, nine out of 10 people who approach me are just gnats trying to eat falling beans, so I didn’t feel the need to expand my human relationship.
In short, it means that I am not at all immune to these ‘girlish reactions’.
Damn, at this point, my face is burning in a completely different way than before. As a man, the feeling of being ridiculed by a little girl was embarrassing.
“Ah, did you feel so sad about that? Then you’ve said it before… But really, our age difference isn’t that much smaller than I thought. That, then maybe it’ll be better.”
“Well, if you don’t have a specific title to call it, the Black Lion Knight Commander or Sir Wolfgang would be enough. Just like others often call it. Anything other than the old man is fine.”
“Ah, but that’s a very hard title. Between us…”
Between us?
I don’t know when Ophelia and I became so close. In her mind, did our relationship go beyond just exchanging grace and develop into a very close relationship?
It was a girl who smiled round and round as if she was asking me when she was having a hard time and gave me meaningful eyes.
It was fortunate that she returned to her lively appearance, but soon the title that came out of her mouth was of a kind that far exceeded my imagination.
“Then I’ll call you oppa from now on. Is that okay? Older brother Wolfgang. Hehe!”
“Yes…?”
Brother What is that strange nickname?
Feeling as if I had been hit in the head with the morning star of Ragnarson, the chief of the northern tribes, I could only blink blankly for a moment.
I left my family when I was young and was raised by Master. There is no one I can call my sister. That’s why the name is even more unfamiliar.
Well, looking at that little boy’s wishful thinking, it doesn’t seem like a very inappropriate title, but…
“Ugh! What is that reaction? Obviously he asked for it to be called differently.”
“No, of course it’s better than Mr.
“Don’t you like it? If you don’t like it, just call me uncle again, well.”
“No, no. Please call me whatever you feel comfortable with.”
When the girl with a dark smile said “Mhehehe” And gave me the fearful Lee Ji-seonda, in the end I had no choice but to accept the unfamiliar title with a feeling of embarrassment.
Although she was the one who said she would do my favor. It seems that her position has changed at some point.
Even Ophelia’s attacks did not end there.
“That’s it, brother! By the way, brother Wolfgang, are you thinking of using honorifics for your sister?”
“What else do you mean by that?”
“I want you to be comfortable talking to me from now on. Of course, other people may misunderstand you, so even if it’s just the two of us like now. How is it?”
“All right.”
“Oh, that’s not it.”
“Okay, kid…”
For some reason, the girl who seemed to be in a great mood began to drive me crazy with her chatter like a chirping canary.
In the end, I was swept away by her momentum and ended up lifting both her hands and feet.
Just like I did when I met Alicia, I have no choice but to become infinitely weak in a situation where I cannot mobilize force.
—Ahem!
Ophelia, who was very energetic, stood up from her seat, put her hands on her waist, and pushed her breasts out in an exaggerated manner.
Then she even tried to tease me with a mischievous look.
“Little boy? Oppa, look at this. Where is this big little boy? Yes?”
Indeed, she was proud of the curvature that far surpassed her master’s and rivaled that of Alicia, but she seemed to have trouble climbing it any longer.
I sighed, adjusted my strength so that even ordinary people could withstand it, and hit her forehead with a chestnut.
—Fuck!
“Aww! It hurts! What are you doing, oppa! To wield violence against a saint! That’s bad!”
“Be in moderation, kid. You’re a kid if you do that.”
“Hey…”
Then, her forehead turned bright red and a small lump formed. If she had applied a little more force, her skull would have been crushed.
I smiled as I watched Ophelia breathe her divine power into my forehead.
“Heh heh! It looks good. I was looking for a saintess in the middle of the day. I never thought she would have a tryst with you in a place like this.”
In the meantime, when an uninvited guest broke into a small room located in a corner of the barracks, we were startled.
The Grand Inquisitor, who had just returned from the funeral, was watching us chatting while making his sign in the air.
“Chu, Cardinal!”
“Oh, Grand Inquisitor?”
“No, it’s fine. Being young is good. Just do what you’re used to doing. I was like that once too…”
Leaving behind the terrifying old man with a faint smile and immersed in memories, Ophelia and I hurriedly left without asking anyone first.
It was a short peace in the middle of a busy and desolate mission.
* * *
Just like that, the day after everyone, including the saintess, finished a brief rest and reorganization.
“Captain! It’s a big deal! A detached team investigating the disappearance of Raman village…!”
The crisis came in an unexpected way.
