Chapter 163 – 163 – People Are Animals of Jealousy
The morning after the eventful rescue operation. We lined up the local residents and started moving.
When I first heard crazy things about visiting the demon world, I was prepared for a living hell full of monsters, but perhaps thanks to killing Yagarum, it was more comfortable than I thought.
Because the monsters that were searching for us as soon as we entered this world have no intention of approaching us anymore.
However, should I say instead…
“Hit me.”
“What are you planning, you crazy bastard?”
Less than 30 minutes after departure, a tortoiseshell cub was attached.
Adamantone with puffy eyes under his eyes clung to my collar, chattering as if screaming. I began to desperately wonder what he was plotting against me.
“Just close your eyes and strike me. Think back to the time when I held a knife to you and threatened you with not paying your salary!”
“That’s what I’m saying. What would a bastard who pulls a sword and get punched in the face by a porter, just at the mere mention of adjusting salaries, do? I don’t know what you’re trying to do, so explain, Adamantone. Why do you suddenly want to get beaten up?”
“It’s obvious. You can’t just walk around with Florica like this. Don’t you think it’ll ruin the mood if you show a jealous expression in front of people? I think I’ll come back to my senses if I get a slap on the cheek. Please help me.”
“If you’re doing it because you don’t want your thoughts revealed, then just take it easy.”
“Would it be easy to do that overnight? At least if I’m bruised and dead after being beaten by you, it will look like there’s another reason!”
“…Now I understand what this is. You know, no one would be offended by looking at your expression in such detail. I know you’re anxious because of the issue of ownership of the warrior’s sword, but calm down.”
It seems like the cause of the mental problem has been taken too seriously. Adamantone, which had been pierced through the head, became even more mortal.
In other words, he is jealous because he feels like Florica took away the hero’s sword and her family, and he seems to be afraid that showing too much envy will lead to conflict or a fight.
Are you willing to go as far as treating the porter like a piece of shit in order to maintain a cooperative mood among the group? It’s touching to see that the guy who used to think of other people as a dick has matured.
···Is it true that you have matured?
The speed at which Adamantone’s social intelligence develops is quite surprising, but the strategy it devised to avoid conflict is downright ignorant.
Aren’t there better ways to manage facial expressions than getting hit? Let’s not say nonsense because we’re anxious, but let’s come up with a solution together.
Just as I was trying to comfort her by talking about it in principle, I heard an inner voice.
‘Hit it.’
…Now that I’ve heard the devil’s opinion, I should also listen to the angel’s point of view. The defenders of the ‘let’s not hit’ side, please come forward.
But no matter how much I search in my head, the angel does not answer the call. I looked around the corner toward the devil.
Lilith, who defeated both the angel self and the demon self, is nodding her head at the defense table for the ‘let’s hit’ side.
‘Slap it. I didn’t like that guy from the beginning.’
‘What have you been doing here, Lady Guardian? I almost got killed by a guy who said we were Yagarum or something. But have you been hiding inside my body and flirting?’
‘With the lust that gathered in your and Erina’s dreams, I was piecing together your internal organs that had been torn apart by Mithra’s divine power. I think it’s thanks to me that you’re still alive after all this time. But what? Madam?’
‘···I apologize politely, I’m sorry.’
‘I’ll accept your apology when you land a nice fist on that guy.’
‘I don’t know why I suddenly became so obsessed with it, but I’m a principled person. Fistfighting between party members during an expedition is considered suicide. Even if we hit, we have to hit after the mission is over.’
‘What is that, it’s not funny.’
Lilith smiled, opening her half-moon eyes.
‘If you don’t do it, I will do it.’
Just when I had an ominous thought, my body started moving on its own. After changing his mind, he didn’t care whether Adamantone waved his hand or not.
“No, no. As you said, I think I went crazy for a moment because I was mentally overwhelmed. I’m sure there is a way to manage my facial expressions even if I don’t have to get beaten up.”
Skip.
“There are a lot of potions, so even if we fight, we won’t say anything, and even our healers can’t fix broken teeth.”
To do that, you’ll either have to go to an expensive temple, or join the extermination party and meet Sister Monica.
Garam said with a sigh. Agent Shingyo, who was skilled in healing, looked at Adamanton with pity and nodded.
Adamantone mumbled, clutching his broken front teeth.
“I think he’s trying to make the best of it because I got hit. Would you have said that even if I had hit this guy?”
Garam blinked and then smiled calmly. And he explained it step by step.
Conversely, if my teeth were broken, what would Garam have done to Adamantone?
Thanks to this, Adamantone was able to join the ranks without a trace of jealousy on his face.
Erina and Florica looked questioningly at the guy walking at a distance, lost in thought.
“···That guy, why is he acting like that? It’s suspicious.”
“I crushed its snout with an uppercut.”
“Oh my. Why did you do that?”
“Everyone wants to be like that when they hang out with that guy.”
I don’t really want to tell you what Garam said. I didn’t want to know what sound it would make if you peeled off a person’s skin.
I don’t even want to blame Lilith. If he says, ‘I didn’t do it, Lilith did it,’ he’ll somehow sound like a psychopath.
I sighed and asked myself.
‘Are you dissatisfied with Adamantone, Lilith?’
‘I don’t like the idea that you can fix that guy’s life.’
‘···I don’t really intend to do that, but let’s just say that. Why do you think you are not a human being who can be repaired? Because he is the son of Edin, who turned back?
‘Do you remember Moriba and Mindina, who followed that guy around?’
‘I remember. A modifier-type wizard, and a healer. Adamantone and porridge go well together. However?’
‘Do you know what happened to them?’
‘I don’t know. It seemed like they were treating the two like casual lovers…’
Lilith brought certain images to my mind.
All erotic information produced by mankind is directed to Ishtar. Ishtar looks down and remembers all humans who share love.
But what happened between Adamanthon and his two companions was more of an unpleasant and terrible kind than of love. I was speechless.
‘It was almost like a prostitute hired with money. ‘Those guys had a lot of trouble in places I couldn’t see.’
‘Instead, those two girls also acted like they were riding on the power of the Sunstorm family, so they couldn’t just say it was unilaterally unfair. Even if you were a victim of power somewhere, you were a perpetrator of power to someone else.’
‘But it’s clear they treated me badly. ‘I know what you mean.’
‘My point is not to say that Adamantone Sunstorm has no regard for the personalities of those around him. It’s about seeing the people around you as tools for your own enjoyment. That is different from personal immaturity. It’s a deep-rooted trait of vice that was probably inherited from the devil.’
Lilith lowered her voice seriously. It’s not like someone is eavesdropping on the voices in your head.
‘As someone who has lost love after receiving a favor in return for betrayal, I give you this sincere advice: If you’re going to give a guy like that a chance, don’t do it. Always be on guard, and if it looks like he’s trying to steal your back, hit him. That is your guardian spirit’s advice.’
I thought it wasn’t wrong, so I silently nodded. But there was no further response.
It remains to be seen whether once trash will remain trash forever. If I was a bastard who only had calculations in my head, wouldn’t I have exploded the moment I thought that everything was taken away from me by Florica?
Do you think there will be a place for you when you go back to that house? Do you think you will be safe after stealing my knife? Maybe I would have done that in the past.
I shook my head to shake off the thought. There are many people to think about besides him.
For example, Erina is handing out dry food to refugees to eat while walking.
As soon as I approached, Erina smiled and held out her dried fruit.
“Are you turned off by the smell of sugar, Mr. Worker Ant?”
“Let’s talk comfortably?”
“Oh, that’s awkward.”
After consuming her appetite, Erina tore her piece of fruit in half and pressed one piece to her lips.
And she smiled as she chewed the remaining piece.
“Tell me honestly? It’s embarrassing because I keep thinking about that Ferris wheel.”
“If you’re embarrassed to think about it, just don’t think about it. Think back to when you were clinking cans of beer at a campground in an abandoned building and asked your friend out for a meal.”
“It’s not easy. It’s like something out of a sexual fantasy from my teenage years that came out of a dream. The person in my sexy dream keeps pretending to be close, so it’s dizzying before her eyes.”
“Do you know what’s truly dizzying? A porter who ate a friend attacks the leader of a murderous martial arts group, saying, ‘If you want to kill me, try to kill him.'”
When I shook her head and spoke, Erina frowned as she remembered yesterday’s incident.
“I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t want to be told to be careful by someone who throws themselves at me.”
“Of course, I’ve done something in the past, so I don’t have the right to criticize you for being reckless. I just wanted to tell you to take care of yourself. Even if it’s just out of consideration for the people you care about.”
“Hey. Who is the person I’m worried about? Her mom got sick and her dad went to the magic engineering bomb…”
Erina, who was muttering sulkily, suddenly glanced at me with a strange smile.
“Oooh, wait a minute.”
“···Why.”
“You’re worried about me?”
“Rather than that, it’s a story about the residents of Etheria who are currently accompanying you through your stubbornness.”
“Huh, if I change my words now, it’s all on her face.”
I admitted with a deep sigh. Then Erina giggled and started poking my side.
This is not the physical appearance of the delicate young lady I met in my dream. It hurts a little.
“Hey.”
When the elbow she was swinging at me caught on the metal piece, Erina let out a silent scream and jumped to her side.
The person who destroyed Erina’s joint with her elbow pad was Florica, who suddenly came between Erina and me.
Florica, much of her color returning, cleared her throat. And when she was about to ask Erina if she was okay, she blocked my mouth with a question.
“How about adamantone?”
“Uh, how are you?”
“You said you would talk a little while ago, and you two went somewhere. I’m asking because you looked bad yesterday and today.”
Adamantone does not want Florica, the real Sunstorm, to discover his fake jealousy. I just laughed it off.
“I feel sick because the air in the demon world is so thick. It’s no big deal.”
“···I like how loyal you are to your colleagues. You were the same to the extermination party members.”
Suddenly?
“But it must be a terrible feeling to suddenly have your family and your hero’s sword become someone else’s. I’m more than vaguely happy that I’ve found my place. Didn’t I come here to talk to you to soothe those feelings?”
If accepting a bullshit request to break the snout is also a conversation, then that is roughly correct. I thought about it and then nodded.
Then Florica’s face darkened a little. This is embarrassing.
“I see.”
“···I’m just saying this just in case, jealous?”
Erina, who was fiddling with her elbow as if it still hurt, tilted her head to the side and asked.
Then Florica straightened her body and forced a smile. And yet, those blue eyes quickly pass by, looking at me.
“Oh, no. No!”
That’s right, jealousy. Her spine feels a little dizzy.
I was just there to chat for a while while the procession stopped and took a break, but Adamantone looked like I was wasting time talking to him.
‘Be careful, too. ‘I feel like there’s some serious obsession.’
‘Be quiet, Lilith. ‘It doesn’t help at all.’
“Is there anything you wanted to urgently share, Florica?”
Florica forced a smile and quickly shook her head. And when I shrugged her shoulders, she quickly nodded.
“It wasn’t there.”
“···I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be by your side, so talk to me when it’s convenient.”
Florica nodded her head in relief. It was like she was worried that I would leave if I didn’t have anything to say.
I thought as I stroked her face. If you think about it, Florica probably also has a lot of worries and thoughts. She’s learned too much lately, from the Demon King to her own birth.
It would be strange if they listened to Adamantone’s concerns, but did not listen to Florica’s pain. I patted the back of Florica, who looked depressed.
Florica flinched as if creeped out, and then she forced herself to smile again.
“If you’re having trouble organizing what you want to say, take your time and organize it. I’ll wait for you.”
Florica turned into a flowery color.
She walks and walks and the sun goes down. Even though the day is not hot, children are sweating, and elderly people in vehicles secured on the road are also holding back the groaning sounds.
Although she was confident in the work she did, Garam and Erina also began to notice the Lord Youngrak of the Shinyo religion, and even the elite agents of the Shinyo religion began to look for her water bottle more often.
The encampment is re-established. I unpacked everyone’s luggage and started preparing for an overnight stay.
When her pot was almost boiling, Florica quietly lowered her head.
“I remembered everything I wanted to say.”
“···Now?!”
