Javagiir’s eyelids twitched. Moments later, his eyes opened fully, and he was glaring at me. “Hm?”
“You’re up, huh?” I was watching over Javagiir until the Knight Order arrived. Javagiir seemed to understand the situation right away, as he alternatively looked at me standing beside him, and down at himself, all tied up.
“So you beat him too, huh?” he asked.
“Guess so.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” he muttered. “Good work, greenhorn.”
In order to reduce the risk of Javagiir escaping, his bones hadn’t been fully healed. His voice was quiet and strained, as if he could feel every bone in his body creaking.
“The Knight Order will be here soon. When they do, they’ll arrest you.”
“Ah, guess there’s no getting around that. Hey, can I ask ya one thing?”
“What?”
“There’s a donut in my pocket. I want you to put it on my mouth. I know full well I’m not in a position to ask you anything, but can ya do that for me?”
“Donuts again?”
“Donuts again.”
Seriously, bringing up donuts now, in this situation? Wasn’t he maybe a little too obsessed? Still, as a sign of respect for his unwavering spirit, I took the donut out of Javagiir’s pocket.
“O-oh, hey, wait a minute!” Just as I was about to put the donut to his mouth, Javagiir cried out, flustered, as if he had just remembered something.
“What is it this time?”
“Before you put it on my mouth, can ya hold it up to my eye? It’s a full moon tonight, isn’t it? There’s nothing quite like looking at the full moon through a donut hole.”
“I don’t get it at all…”
But I didn’t have any choice. I held the donut over his eye, so that his line of sight was aimed through the donut hole.
“Wow…” Javagiir let out a sigh of completely contented admiration. “Huh. Tonight’s full moon looks even bigger.”
“You don’t need a donut hole to tell that.”
“You idiot, don’t ya know anything about elegance? It’s like the folks who hold up umbrellas on rainy days! It’s the same thing.”
What was the same?!
Anyway, he was finished looking at the moon, so I held the donut to his mouth. The moment I did so, Javagiir started darting his tongue in and out of the donut hole at rapid speed. That was close—I pulled my hand away just in time…
“Bleh! Bleeeeeh! Ahhhhhhhhhh, this is the best! I can taste the mooooon!”
(No, he was absolutely not tasting the moon.)
“Whew, now that was a satisfying smoke,” said Javagiir. “Though the taste doesn’t quite suit someone as moderate as me.”
“Okay, first of all, that’s not what smoking is.” I’d never seen such a bizarre “smoke” in my life.
Javagiir chuckled softly. He looked refreshed, somehow. “Thanks, greenhorn. Now I can go to jail without any worries.”
“If only you’d directed those feelings of yours in a different direction. Like toward muscle, you know?”
“You got a long way to go as an adventurer if you’re feeling sorry for criminals, greenhorn.”
“It’s not like I’m feelin’ sorry. It’s just…it’s a little bit disappointing, is all.” I’d wanted to have a fairer match against a guy with such passion in his heart.
At the far end of the road, illuminated by the light of the full moon, I could see the Knight Order had just arrived and were approaching. It would probably only take them a few more minutes to get here.
“Hey, everyone,” I shouted out to Filia, Ashley, and Loli Loli. “They’re here!”
We had decided in advance that all of us would be present for me to hand over Javagiir, just to make sure that everything went well.
Javagiir bowed deeply as I stood him up. “Sorry.”
“I’m not saying I forgive you, but…I do accept your apology,” said Ashley, looking Javagiir straight in the eye.
“I’m grateful just for that. Oh, and tell the owner of the shop I’m sorry as well,” said Javagiir. “My methods were wrong. I should have tried getting him to understand how good real donuts are. I just got so mad that the blood went to my head, and I couldn’t think of anything else but violent retribution.”
Finally, the knights reached us to retrieve the criminal.
“Welp,” said Javagiir, “see ya, greenhorns. Give it your best. Don’t just act big—walk tall.”
With that, the Knight Order took Javagiir away, leaving only those words behind.