The graduation ceremony ended without bloodshed, and we were now returning. And yes, when saying goodbye to DarkMel, I couldn’t bring myself to part with her and ended up squeezing out my dry tear glands for a few more drops. In the end, despite all my worrying and constantly renewing misgivings, I did indeed leave.
Urgh, I’m counting on you to take care of DarkMel, Rami-chan and Graham...especially you, Graham! Do not dare make a mistake, Graham! You hear me, Graham?
Even though I complained in my heart, I did understand that the boy was trustworthy. As trustworthy as Edgar. Compared to the person who had almost become a cursekin, the difference was like heaven and earth. I really needed to get over my doting tendencies and overprotectiveness, as had been pointed out to me in the elven village.
Okay, let’s trust Graham! And let’s try to only do an appropriate amount of doting!
Currently, I was in a carriage heading homeward while vowing to improve myself. Along for the ride were Mel and Rion...and Dorothy for some reason.
Yeah, uh...why are you riding in our carriage? You know this will go straight back to our home using all sorts of shortcuts, right? Well, to be fair, we’re staying in Pub for the night, so we’ll really be going home tomorrow. Meanwhile, Bell and my father-in-law went back in their own devilish carriage. I mean, it was even drawn by headless horses. I didn’t expect there to be animals like that. I was actually impressed, since I knew that I would never be able to make such a cool carriage myself. There’s no way to imitate that aesthetic sense. What do you think, Dorothy? With your perspective as a newly minted god, have your tastes changed? As a sort-of blacksmith, I’m a little curious.
My silence seemed to prompt Dorothy to say, “If there’s something you want to say, Kelvin, why not just come out and say it? I cannot use telepathy, so I won’t understand if you don’t use your words.”
“What do you think about the carriage Gustav and Bell left in?”
“What?”
“Ah, sorry, ignore that.” Whoops. I ended up just saying what I was thinking. “Actually, I was wondering why you’re riding with us, Dorothy.”
“Oh. It’s a bit late to ask that.” For some reason, she let out an astounded laugh at my expense.
I mean...it’s true that I wasn’t really in a state to think about what was happening around me because I was so distraught about leaving DarkMel, but still!
“Come on, Kel-nii! You remember that Thee-chan is going to be staying with us until the wedding, don’t you?” said Rion. “We’re going to the same place, so of course she’s riding with us!”
“Huh? Really?”
That got Rion to pause. “Wait, this is the first you’re hearing of it?”
“Um, yeah, I think it is...”
I was more confident than anyone that I would never forget if Rion had told me something like that.
“Uh...huh? Erm, Thee-chan, you didn’t tell him?” Rion asked. “You just got on with us, and Kel-nii didn’t say anything, so I totally thought...”
“My apologies, Rion-san,” Dorothy apologized after a beat. “I have said that it is proper to ask personally to stay somewhere, but I hadn’t actually told him yet. I must apologize to you too, Kelvin-san, for joining your carriage without a word.”
Oh, wow. Dorothy actually bowed her head. This is a rare attitude for her to have toward me. She usually gives me such a pleasant wash of killing intent. I kind of feel like I’m being treated special— Wait, wasn’t she just laughing at me?
“In truth, I had planned to tell you while we were still in school. However, judging the right moment to broach the subject was a little difficult...” Dorothy explained.
“Ah...I see. Yeah, my clumsiness caused quite a fuss, after all. But it calmed down a while before we left, so you totally could have talked to me then.”
“Oh no, erm...actually, this is my first time staying at a friend’s house, so...I wasn’t sure how to ask and ended up procrastinating until the last moment...” Dorothy said. She was faltering harder than anyone I’d ever seen as she revealed that.
“Uh...right...”
“Thee-chan...” said Rion.
I’d never expected Dorothy to stumble over something like this when she didn’t even hesitate to try to kill me. I couldn’t say if it was actually unexpected or if she was just unreadable.
No, that’s not it. No matter how powerful a god she’s become, it hasn’t even been a year since Dorothy was freed from the shackles of being a Divine Pillar and allowed to live as a human. Everything is new to her. Even something as trivial as asking a friend’s parents to stay over must be hard. This is actually natural, considering how her life has been.
“Also, I was so afraid Kelvin would ask for rent or some other fee for staying, and that only made me even more hesitant to ask...” Dorothy said.
“Yeah, I get— Uh, wait? No, seriously wait a second. Do you really think I’d do that?”
“Would you mind if I told you how I really felt right here right now?” Dorothy asked.
It took me a moment to find the answer. “No, don’t. I get it; don’t say it please.”
The girl was definitely going to say something I didn’t want Rion to hear. It might have just been her hiding her feelings out of embarrassment, but she was still very aggressive toward me. Though, that attitude was technically a win-win for me, so I didn’t mind.
“Anyway, I don’t mind if you stay. You don’t need to worry about meals either. Adding one more person to the list won’t make our kitchen much busier at this point.”
“Um, still, I feel it would be too much. At least let me pay for the food,” Dorothy insisted.
“Ha ha! I’ll say this again, but you don’t need to worry. You know we have Mel at home, right? Even if you’re a big eater, Dorothy, the amount of extra food we’ll have to make is only a drop in the bucket.”
“Om nom... Honey, please don’t praise me so much in front of her. It’s embarrassing,” said Mel. She blushed as she continued downing the whole new mountain of food she’d bought before we left.
Yeah, uh, that wasn’t a compliment.
“Also, I’m not petty enough to take money from a friend of my little sister who’s only coming to stay. In fact, a friend coming over to stay should be a lighthearted event. Common sense dictates that there should be no need to think too hard about this kind of stuff.”
There was a beat before Dorothy said, “I see. In that case, I accept.” She bowed courteously.
Good, good. That’s the spirit.
“As for the room you’ll be using, Dorothy... Rather than lend you a guest room, it would be better for you to stay in Rion’s room, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah! I like that better too!” Rion chimed in.
“I... I would also...” Dorothy bashfully trailed off.
“Got it. I’ll tell Efil that over the Network. Ah, right! Dorothy, you’re free to try to assassinate me anytime while you’re there. So I’m counting on you for that too.”
“Okay. Thank you for everyth— Um...what did you just say?”
“Hm? Oh, just that you’re free to try to assassinate me at your leisure.”
Dorothy paused. “Where did all that talk about common sense go?”
“In our house, attacking me is the norm. Even if you don’t do it, I have a former assassin after my head on the daily, along with a former goddess who will put me in joint locks and holds while I’m sleeping. Of course, harming anyone else or damaging the property itself is out of the question. Okay?”
“That’s okay, isn’t it, Thee-chan?” Rion asked. “Mmm! I’m so looking forward to our sleepover!”
Once again, Dorothy paused. “Suddenly I am very worried about this entire affair.”
“Huh? Why?!” both Rion and I exclaimed in unison.
Why would you say that now when I’m welcoming you with open arms? Hm... I really don’t get Dorothy’s tastes. How strange.