14 EP.14 Well, let’s do well with the same protagonist.
If you want to read the fully translated chapters including the last chapter very cheaply. p(a)treon.com/Daoist02
Unlike 'The Hero's Party', where there are several heroines, there's only one heroine in 'The Tale Of A Knight's Affair'.
Isabelle.
Mars' childhood friend and the woman he has a big crush on.
The story of 'The Tale Of A Knight's Affair' is very simple, even cliche.
Mars, dreaming of becoming a heroic knight, sets out on a journey to build up his experience as soon as becomes an adult. On that trip, Isabelle and the son of the baron, whom they had met by chance, joined alongwith for the journey.
As they travel, they meet two more colleagues, a disgruntled big-dick blonde thug and a disgusting-looking uncle with circular hair loss and thick belly.
So the five of them continue the journey.
Now, if you look up to this point, it's just plain NTR water.
But, how could just that much would have been actually able to made me so mad?
There are two reasons.
First of all, I did not even know that I was hit by NTR in the 1st round.
""
What does that mean?
When playing for the first time, it just flows smoothly, like an ordinary RPG game. Adventures, establishing friendships, and flirting with Isabelle. Then the crisis comes at the end of the game.
The invasion of a city by cruel demons.
The party escapes with hard tenacity to run off the demons. Meanwhile, suddenly a burning building collapses, and Mars throws his body to hold the structure which was meant to fall on Isabella.
Demons were chasing after them, but Mars was in a desperate situation, crushed under the rubble of a building.
Of course, I thought Isabelle would help there.
But, actually what? This Pink Woman looked at the main character with a guilty expression, and just said, "I'm sorry…" and turned away.
While I was thumping inside myself, wondering what the hellsh!t was going on, the other colleagues leave not-so-good remarks for the main character one by one.
-Isabella will surely make us happy with her body. Go, go, sleep in peace.
-You can't even guard your own woman, so it's rightful for us to enjoy her, isn't it?
– Whoops… That àss, that elasticity, keke…
And so, his so-called colleagues and Isabelle turn their backs and run away, and the main character is killed by demons without even knowing what words to utter at that moment, and just like that, the first episode ends.
'At this point, I threw the monitor.'
Unable to contain the rising anger, I cried out in the east, west, north and south. Although to be soon overpowered by Leah.
Anyway, after the first round ended in such a futile way, the second round reveals the hidden truth.
First of all, the Baron's son and Isabelle had been dating for quite a while before they even left for the trip. Of course, like a fantasy story's thumb of the rule, it's baron's son using his status to half force it, but the deed was done anyways.
And while traveling, she actually asks the blonde lecherous thug whom she had just met to become her teacher to 'teach' her about love relationships and takes 'real life experiences', and then later gets raped by the pot bellied geezer with circular hair loss under the two's plotting.
But what's really crazy is that it actually shows all this psychological portrayals in the game. Fu*king out of mind blowing!
Little by little, reluctantly she allowed others to use her body as they saw fit, thinking—'This is for Mars…', 'If Mars finds out, he will be sad…'
…This crazy b!tch.
Anyway, while having stormy sex positions with the three of them behind his back, she pretends to be polite and virtuous lady in front of Mars again. She's innocently shy when he hold her hand, and blushes when he kisses her on the cheek.
And, then have steamy sex sessions with the other guys under the night sky again.
What the actual f*ck?!!
If you are doing this so 'selflessly' for the main character, why do you do it with others then, is using brain such a tasking job nowadays!?
Yes, I understand how you feel.
You don't want to show your dirty past secrets to someone you like, or something like that.
But, you know what?
You should rather have drove a sword right into Mars' heart.
Being skewered into a human sasami would actually have been a better fate for him!
He dearly loved you, b!tch!
"…that's how it happened. Big Bro, this is my friend Isabelle."
As I recalled the past, Mars finished explaining what had happened so far.
"Hello. Sorry for yelling earlier. I was unnecessarily startled… that… Please take good care of me?"
Isabelle held out her hand.
I cooled my bubbling stomach.
Yeah, she's not that b!tch yet.
""
She's still a pure kid.
I smiled and answered to her greeting.
"Get lost, Pink Woman."
F*ck it. People don't change.
* * *
'…what the hell is wrong with that guy?'
Isabelle recalled Cloud whom she had seen yesterday. She was going to thank him for coaching Mars, but he tsked at her at first sight and told her to collect her ping pongs and piss off.
When she asked what he meant by 'pink woman', he simply replied that it was a perfect word used to describe a person like her.
'No, by the way, who actually tells a person to get lost when they are just meeting for the first time?'
Isabelle grunted inwardly and climbed the hill. Because she innerly wondered what Mars was learning.
Yesterday she was made to get lost, so she had no choice but to leave, but today she was going to hide and watch them.
'Where, ugh, what are you guys doing… uh…?'
""
Isabelle's eyes widened.
She rubbed her own eyes again and again. Even so, the scenery entering her eyes did not change.
It told her—the scene that she was seeing right now was hundred percent real. She hurriedly sprinted forward.
"What are you doing?! S, Stop! Stop!"
"Isabelle?"
Hearing Isabelle's voice, Mars's head turned. The wolf pushed open its jaws without missing the obvious gap.
"Aaah!"
Isabelle shut her eyelids.
She was not confident enough to keep her eyes open and watch the horrific situation that would soon ensue.
'…?'
But strangely, Mars' screams were not heard.
She slowly opened her eyes.
""
Cloud was holding the wolf's head in a vice grip and stopped it from moving in the slightest.
Mars was standing in front of him and was looking at her with an expression of wonder.
Isabelle was silent for a moment, then she looked at him again.
No way. How can a person subdue a wild wolf? And that with one hand?
Suddenly she came to her senses, and hurried over.
"What are you two doing?! To make Mars fight a wolf. It's dangerous!"
"I don't talk to pink women."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Mars, explain it for me."
At that, Mars awkwardly scratched his cheek and began to explain to Isabelle.
"Ah, this is what it is… that's what big bro said. Even if I learn a skill, my body wouldn't just move at will in real life-threatening battles. That's why I'm practicing actual situations right now."
"But that's too dangerous…!"
"It's okay, I guess? Didn't you see big bro subdue that wolf? Rather, it's safer to do some real training when big bro Cloud is still here."
At Mars' explanation, Isabelle bit her lips.
She didn't like it, but he was right. As long as Mars dreams of becoming a knight, there will come a time when he will have to fight monsters anyhow.
But then, if his body hasn't adapted and he can't show his skills, his life would be in danger.
So, it would be better to practice in advance when it was safe like now.
"Ha… I see. Ok, I understand… Wait, but, why are you using a wooden sword?"
"Yes? Ah. Big bro told me to kill a wolf with this wooden sword."
"W, Wh-What?!"
Isabelle was terrified.
She understood that one needed to gain practical experience.
But what about killing a wolf with wood?
Originally, a wolf is a terrifying beast where victory cannot be guarantee even if a veteran village hunter raises his knife.
""
It's not even a real sword, are you going to hammer it to death with a wooden sword?
"No, does that make sense!?"
"Uh… I thought it was ridiculous at first too, but it turned out to be better than I thought. Fighting a wolf over and over again relieves some of my muscle tension and helps me in practicing my skills as well."
As Mars smiled awkwardly, Isabelle lost her words.
What can a third party say when the person in question says it works?
Meanwhile, Cloud clicked his tongue with an annoyed expression.
"Pink Woman, run off quickly. Otherwise, I will no longer be teaching Mars."
"Big bro Cloud?! That's a bit…"
Mars fidgeted and looked at Cloud and Isabelle alternately.
Seeing this, Isabelle sighed.
She knew that she couldn't make Mars' get troubled by choices.
"All right. I'll go. Instead, promise me one thing. Please don't hurt Mars no matter what. Then I will not care what the two of you do in the future."
Isabelle came up with a compromise of her own.
But Cloud shook his head resolutely.
"I don't make promises with pink women."
"Aaaah! Really, why are you doing this to me?!"
In the end, Isabelle gave up her vexed voice.
"Mars. This ping pong woman is too loud. Make her quiet."
"That… Isabelle? I'm sorry, but can you please be quiet…"
Isabelle wanted to cry.
Only…
She had no tears to shed.
* * *
It was around the evening time when the sun was setting in the background, when Mars finally struck down the wolf with a wooden sword. He took a deep breath and wiped his sweaty face with his arms.
As his breathing calmed down a bit, he flopped down on the floor.
He was dead tired—he had been moving his body all day long.
Cloud went and sat down next to him.
"How's it? How do you feel about killing a wolf for the first time?"
What the, that's what you ask from someone who is finally getting his piece of rest after being worked to death?
'Don't now people usually say that you have worked hard?'
Mars looked at Cloud with a fed-up expression, then sighed and released his expressions.
Come to think of it, he was always like that, rather, being normal would be his abnormality.
"Honestly speaking, I was scared sh!t at first. I was so nervous that I couldn't even move ambly."
It felt like his heart had stopped moving when the wolf growled and showed it's razor sharp fangs.
"However, I managed to hit it once, and that once became twice, and the twice became thrice, and at some point, I was just no longer afraid."
Instead of fear, rapacious fighting spirit filled his heart as if to outflow to his mind. A wolf's wild predatory gaze and sharp molars frighten him no longer.
"Is that so? Good job."
Cloud smiled and patted Mars on the back. When Cloud, who was stingy with his praises, praised him, Mars smiled brightly as well.
"Right bro. It's something I've been wondering about before. Why do you hate Isabelle so much?"
Some may not like someone else in their first encounter, havit a bad first impression. However, Cloud's attitude toward Isabelle was too extreme.
Mars couldn't help but wonder why.
Cloud spoke, looking straight into Mars's eyes.
"You like her, don't you?"
"W, What?!"
Mars was taken aback by the sudden query. What followed was a combination of crude excuses that were embarrassing to even utter. Only after a while, was Mars finally able to calm himself down.
He slowly nodded his head in affirmation.
"…Yes, that's correct. I do like Isabelle."
"Then isn't it good for you that I hate her? To be honest, I was a bit sassy indeed. But, if I had been interested in her, it would have been the end for you, buddy. You won't even stand a chance, ha."
Cloud rubbed his palm against his neck.
Just then he thought—no, Mars will have his confidence shambled, but, he had nothing to console with, because everything he said was too true.
Compared to Mars, who has a moderately decent appearance, Cloud had a face that made him look like a high nobleman.
Frankly speaking, Mars was indeed a little relieved from inside that Cloud was hostile to Isabelle.
As Mars was feeling the bitterness of reality, Cloud opened his mouth while savouring the last glow of sunset.
"…I also had a childhood friend like Isabelle."
Mars realized that those words were the real answer to his question. He listened to Cloud with a serious expression.
"I was an orphan. I lost my parents when I was young, so I can't even remember their faces."
Mars widened his eyes.
Perhaps it was because he couldn't fathom that Cloud was an orphan like him.
"And, you know what? Children are pure and innocent, but sometimes cruel too. I was bullied by the village children because I had no parents."
"…"
"At that time, the only friend who reached out to me was Neria. She was the village chief's granddaughter, and she always took care of me and, helped me."
She was the village chief's granddaughter, so, the village bullies did not dare say anything reckless about Cloud anymore. Saying that, Cloud chuckled with a nostalgic expression on his face.
"I liked her as a kid. How can I not? She was the one and only person who took care of me when the world ignored me. Can't help but falling in love with her, eh?"
Mars smiled and nodded his head as if he knew that feeling too. That's what Isabella was to him too.
"And, you know what? Neria's dream was the same, just like your's—to become a knight. It was a dream too big for a small village chief's granddaughter."
"…"
"But she did not give up on. She ardently practiced her swordsmanship skills, and even saved her pocket money to buy herself a sword. I knew, she was just meant for it. So I decided to follow her. I wanted to like what she liked too."
Mars continued to listen quietly.
"After a lot of hard work, I finally got the right to stand by her side. We went on many adventures. Caught monsters and meet many new people. Then, we met a man."
Mars noticed.
When Cloud mentioned 'a man', his face contorted for a moment.
However, he soon returned to his normal laid back expression and continued the conversation.
"That man had some pretty great skills. He was honestly much stronger than me. He wanted to accompany us and we gladly accepted it."
That was a mistake. Cloud murmured under his breath while sneakily glancing at Mars.
"Our adventures continued, and then from a certain moment, the distance between the two of them began to grow closer. In case of a critical situation, Neria relied more on him than on me. It lobbed my pride, but what could I do?It was true that I was weak, too weak."
Cloud had a deep sense of defeat on his face.
Mars had no choice but to swallow his saliva. Cloud so much stronger than him, but even someone like him couldn't do anything…
Once again, he felt that the continent was wide.
"I thought it was fine though. Unlike him, I thought that Neria and I were bound by a strong bond. Have you ever felt the same way with that lass named Isabelle?"
"Yeah, I do feel that way."
When he gets married later, his wife could only be Isabelle.
—Mars had that conviction.
"But, it was all an illusion."
"…huh?"
It felt like suddenly a hammer hit his head.
Before Mars could back come back to his senses, Cloud continued.
"It was that one night. It was a particularly sleepless night. I wanted to go for a night walk, at that time, I noticed that she wasn't in the bed next to me. I was trying to find out where she had gone when I heard some strange noises from the room next door. The voices from the room next door was Neria's. An ominous imagination gripped my mind. But, I opened my door, believing it was nothing like that."
Mars swallowed his saliva.
"But, my damned ominous imaginations had have always been right. What I saw through the gap in the door… was Neria, who was biting that man's cock."
There were many emotions on Cloud's face, which he struggling to hold up to this point.
Sadness. Anger. Betrayal. Disappointment, etc.
It was mixed, with all the negative emotions that a human could imagine was mashed up in a hodgepodge.
Seeing that expression, Mars couldn't almost breathe for a moment.
"That, big bro…"
"Ah… I'm sorry, I must have been too empathetic. It's been a while, but even now, when I think of it, it's comes up like this, mh."
Cloud had an awkward expression as he shook the back of his head.
"Anyway, that's why that lass named Isabelle didn't look so nice to me. Because… she was just as beautiful and just as youthful as Neria back then."
"….."
"Haha, loosen your face, you baby chick. This is just my story anyway. Your's would be different, right?"
"…Yes, definitely."
"Ha, look at heavy atmosphere I caused. I was just talking. Thanks to you, I now have to say goodbye in this heavy atmosphere."
Mars, who had a grim expression on his face, widened his eyes.
"Goodbye?"
"Yeah, I'm no mama bird, boy. I can't stay here forever."
"Yeah, b-but… can't you just stay a little longer?"
"Nope. To be honest, I'm already running a little late."
Having said that with a grin, Cloud took out a money bag from his arms and threw it at Mars. Mars, who received the heavy money bag, tilted his head.
"This..?"
"About 2000 gold. With this, go to a Swordsmanship Guild in a nearby town and learn some cool sword skills."
"2000 gold?!"
Mars looked at the money bag in his hand, startled like a little lamb.
He never held 100 gold in his whole life, let alone 2000 gold.
Mars's hand holding the money bag trembled.
He resolutely shook his head and handed the money bag back to Cloud.
"No, I don't think this is right. I cannot pay you back."
"Duh, what should I do of a guy who wants to become a brave knight but is scared of some measly 2000 gold?"
"Still…"
"Succeed in your ventures and pay me back, you idiot. Don't worry, it's interest free!"
The grim expression on Cloud's face was long gone. He patted Mars's back with a bright smile as usual.
To that, Mars also laughed helplessly.
"Yes, I will pay it back after I make it big."
"Do pay it back. Don't die before you do, you stubborn punk."
After giving him a few more tips, he turned his back and left. Mars waved his hand to see him off.
Eventually, when he disappeared from sight, Mars' expression darkened.
Because of the recount Cloud had told him earlier.
'Cloud bro is handsome.'
Not just handsome, but very handsome.
He is also slightly taller than average and has a good physique. He is a skilled adventurer and not poor.
His personality is little questionable, but still charismatic in it's own right.
He was the one who took care of Mars like no other, he was a kind man too.
'…Yet brother's love did not come true.'
He devoted himself to the woman he liked, but his love was not reciprocated.
Cloud had no shortages.
Cloud was like that too, but, what about him?
He is uglier than Cloud, has no skills to speak of, was dirt poor, with a less interesting personality.
He was how he was.
"Mars! Did that big brother go? Can I come up now?"
Just then, his unrequited love, Isabelle showed up.
She was as lovely as ever.
However, Mars's gaze on her was quite complicated.
* * *
I didn't stop by this village to take Mars with me.
Of course, if I take Mars with me and train him, he will grow quickly, but…
'It could be a poison pill instead.'
What is a protagonist?
Isn't it referring to someone who overcomes the hard trials that befall on him in the name of fate and carves out a path of his own way ahead?
But what if I take Mars with me and change his ways?
'That's no longer the main character.'
It's just an extra or a slightly important supporting role.
That's why I didn't take Mars with me.
Because that guy has to carve his own path as the main character.
All I can do for him is to give him some advice and to steer him on his path while being away from tragedy.
'My lie must have created a stir in Mars' heart.'
Hopefully the next time we meet, the stir will be bigger and ready to become waves that leads him to joy.
If you want to read the fully translated chapters including the last chapter very cheaply. p(a)treon.com/Daoist02
