When I suddenly asked him to go out together, Belsus became visibly tense. It made sense, considering I had always kept him cooped up on the farm; this was the first time I had ever asked him to go somewhere with me.
And having lived with me for about a month, wouldn't he have caught on to something by now, no matter how much of a pushover he was?
'If I'm asking him to go somewhere with me for the first time, it means it's a highly suspicious place.'
Belsus suddenly wet his hair to tidy it up. He also smoothed out his clothes until they were crisp and wrinkle-free.
"What's with the grooming?"
"I'm going to meet an acquaintance of yours; I shouldn't cause you any embarrassment."
I felt like I was the biggest embarrassment right now, though. I was completely bundled up in a robe, a hat, a face covering, and even gloves. I made Belsus throw on a robe, too.
That just made Belsus look even more massive. The moment he stepped into the tavern, all the drunks flinched in surprise.
'Have they never seen a mercenary before?'
The Bard was sitting in the exact same spot as yesterday. Upon spotting me, he casually raised his hand.
"Here's the instrument. Check if it's really +6. And hand over the Hunter's Token now."
"Hmm..."
The Bard offered a handshake to Belsus. Belsus looked at me once. I gave a slight nod.
With my permission, Belsus clasped hands with the Bard and received the Hunter's Token from him. At the same time, the Bard took the instrument from me.
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like the first thing he checked wasn't the enhancement level, but the 'Perius ♡' written on the back of the instrument... It must be my imagination, right?
"Done. Let's go."
I confirmed that the Hunter's Token in Belsus's hand was genuine. Just as I was about to grab Belsus and make a run for it, the Bard stopped me.
"Why don't you stay for a meal? The food here is quite good."
Come to think of it, unlike yesterday, the Bard's table was laden with various steaming dinner dishes. Why did he order so much just for himself?
The Bard's gaze was fixed on one side. I looked at the table, then belatedly followed his gaze and looked up at the person next to me.
Belsus was staring at the food on the table. He looked somewhat captivated.
But I already fed him dinner?!
I stared blankly at Belsus before my body started to tremble. Suddenly, my head felt dizzy.
"Y-You... You aren't, right?"
You wouldn't dare. I cook for you every single day, so you wouldn't dare lay your eyes on someone else's food, right?!
My vision seemed to turn yellow, and my head spun. I staggered slightly before standing up straight. I literally felt my blood boil.
Belsus flinched when he saw me, tearing his eyes away from the table in a panic.
Bang! I kicked a chair. The chair crashed into the table, causing broth to spill from the stew bowl. Crash! A glass shattered. All the noise in the tavern vanished.
"Belsus!"
Belsus jumped even more at the loud shout. I didn't care about the commotion I was causing in the slightest. I grabbed both of Belsus's arms tightly and shoved my face close to his, looking ready to kill.
"You like me the most, right?!"
I was so anxious and spoke so hastily that I left out the word 'cooking.' Belsus would understand what I meant, though.
An earthquake erupted in Belsus's pupils. Still, he didn't avoid my eyes. Stuttering slightly, Belsus opened his lips.
"I-I like you the most."
See! Without realizing it, I broke into a wide smile.
He says my cooking is the most delicious! He's already tamed by me.
The Bard seemed to be staring at us with a strange look, but nothing else registered in my eyes. Clenching the Hunter's Token tightly in one hand, I linked arms with Belsus with the other and happily walked out of the tavern.
"If you eye any other food, you're dead."
Right before we left, I whispered the threat. Belsus looked more filled with an unknown confusion than fear, but he quickly nodded, satisfying me.
---
A night where the dark sky was densely studded with stars. Belsus woke up in the early hours of the dawn, a rare occurrence for him.
Unable to sleep due to his restless mind, he finally gathered his courage and stepped out of the outbuilding.
'Is he asleep?'
The cabin where Heean stayed was quiet. For the first time, Belsus decided to go for a walk alone.
After receiving the Hunter's Token from his acquaintance, the hunter who had once given Belsus the performance ticket, Heean had allowed Belsus to go out.
Well, actually, he only permitted it after taking one last measurement of Belsus's chest, thighs, and biceps... nodding in satisfaction at their massive size, and then putting him through a strength test.
-From now on, you can go out and move around as you please. Take walks, go to dungeons. As long as you don't get hurt, you can do whatever you want.
-Is that really okay?
-It's not like I've been keeping you locked up or anything, right?
He practically had been keeping him locked up, but now he was acting shamelessly, claiming he had 'never locked him up.'
-Really... I can go out?
-I told you, I never locked you up. I just kept you inside until now because I was worried about you.
Belsus's mood cleared up as he recalled their earlier conversation.
And he thought to himself: 'I, too, have never once told you that I wanted to leave.'
Other than that special dungeon, he had been stuck on the farm the entire time, but he had never felt suffocated. Such a cozy, comfortable space was far too precious to him.
The fact that he had a place to return to even when he went out for a walk brought him a heart-aching joy.
'Would you worry about me if I wander around?'
It could be that Heean was worrying about his safety... Or maybe...
Once again, a burdensome yet heavy sensation filled his heart. It was a rather uncomfortable feeling. Above all, Belsus simply couldn't get used to this kind of emotion.
After walking along the night streets for a bit, Belsus entered a shop that still had its lights on despite the late hour.
The tavern was quiet. A female owner, who looked like she could keep a secret, was standing at the bar, wiping the moisture off a glass.
In his past experiences, tavern owners were the tightest-lipped people around. Because they bought and sold information, they didn't easily spread their customers' stories.
Well, they might have sold Belsus's information... but at least they sold it less than the countless townsfolk he had crossed paths with.
Instead of taking a table, he sat at the bar where he could talk one-on-one with the owner.
The owner seemed quite surprised by Belsus's unusually large frame and intimidating aura, but like a seasoned merchant, she didn't show it. After double-checking that there was no one nearby to overhear, Belsus hesitated before speaking.
"By any chance... if there is a man nearby who favors other men, do you know how one should treat him?"
How could two men be involved with each other like that? His confusion hadn't faded, and he desperately wanted to ask someone. Anyone, as long as it was someone who wouldn't remember him.
The tavern owner offered him a faint, professional smile.
"Can I get you a glass of beer?"
She had clearly heard his question but was skillfully deflecting it. Belsus raised his head.
The guilt of putting someone in an awkward position, or the embarrassment of having his question dodged, emotions that would normally consume Belsus, held no sway over him right now. He asked the tavern owner once again.
"Did I ask too difficult a question?"
Only then did the owner's expression change. She quickly checked to see if she had offended the massive mercenary customer.
"I'm sorry. It's not that I wasn't listening."
"Then?"
"Forgive me for saying this, but is it really a problem for you? You don't look like someone who is troubled by it at all."
Belsus's mouth shut. He couldn't believe what the tavern owner had just said while looking into his face. Belatedly, like a fool, he even touched the contours of his own face with his hand.
"My word, it's my first time seeing someone talk about having a man who loves men in their life with such a proud look on their face," the owner said honestly.
Belsus couldn't say a single word. Soon, he felt the edges of his face and his earlobes burning up.
"Make sure no one knows I was here."
Belsus left a coin on the counter and stood up. The drink hadn't even been served yet, but it was the price for her silence.
Upon returning to the farm, Belsus suddenly felt the urge to see Heean sleeping. Heean always went to bed later than he did. He wondered if Heean was sleeping well, if he was in a deep slumber.
However, wondering what position Heean was sleeping in or what kind of sleeping habits he had... had absolutely nothing to do with Heean's well-being...
It would be best to just go to sleep now. As Belsus was about to enter the barn, he noticed that one of the green stems in the field was bent.
'Oh, dear.'
The pole tied to the stem seemed to have been knocked over by the wind, causing the fruit-bearing stem to bend.
They were plants like Heean's own children. They were precious to Belsus in many ways as well.
Belsus strode into the middle of the field. Reaching out with his hands, which were as large as pot lids, he tried to carefully lift the stem back up.
Slap!
"...?"
Just now... it felt as though the plant stem had swatted Belsus's hand away.
Belsus's arms froze in mid-air. Did I see that wrong? But the cool, moist sensation of the stem hitting the back of his hand was real.
It definitely wasn't just the wind blowing it...
The plant sat perfectly still, as if it had never done anything suspicious. This was natural, of course. Feeling doubtful, Belsus planted the pole back into the ground, tied the stem to it, and stood in the middle of the field looking around.
He couldn't find any clear evidence. In the end, he gave up and retreated.
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