Dream Life Vol II Chapter 41.3: “Beatrice Laval”

　He thanked me with a satisfied smile.

　I wondered for a moment, but soon realized his intention and felt a little embarrassed. Then I said, “You don’t need to thank me,” and lowered my spear.

　I really wanted to be his guardian. I wanted to see how strong he would become.

　I set a condition for becoming his guardian. He was to party with me.

　When I told him about it, he looked at me dumbfounded, as if he didn’t understand. To be honest, I was hurt.

　He asked politely, “Could you repeat that?”

　I hid my disappointment and reiterated that the condition of guardianship was that he would party with me.

　He looked as if he did not know what to do and called out to Lydiane, who was standing behind him. She seemed to understand my intention and gave a frustrated look but did not answer his question.

　With a look of annoyance, she asked me if it was a permanent thing to form a party.

　I almost told him that an invitation like this would not normally be a temporary party, but I honestly told him how I felt.

　But he shook his head as if he didn’t understand, and flatly refused.

　To be honest, I did not expect him to refuse.

　I was a little depressed.

　To cover up my hurt feelings, I had to cower my shoulders with an exaggerated hand gesture and say, “You just dumped me.”

　But I didn’t give up. I asked him again, thinking it would be okay if we could work together from time to time.

　He nodded his head.

　To hide my joy, I said in an even more playful tone, “I understand. I, Beatrice will be your guardian.”

　He bowed deeply with a serious expression on his face and said, “I look forward to working with you.”

　I felt a little sad at his distant gesture and boldly told him to talk casually, and he began to talk normally like a companion.

　The next day, I got to see what his childhood friend, a little magician named Sharon, could do.

　Sharon was a lovely little girl, no taller than my waist, and I would have believed her to be the daughter of a noble family.

　At first, I wondered if she was really going into the forest. Still, I approached Sharon and squatted down in front of her to make eye contact with her because Zack had told me to.

　That was a mistake.

　Sharon was scared of me and let out a little scream. I thought I had done it again and apologized to her.

　However, Zack soothed Sharon as if to protect me he said, “I think Beatrice is beautiful. She’s just big and not scary.”

　I felt my face heat up.

　I had never had anyone say that to me with a straight face before. I was irresistibly happy that he, surrounded by a beautiful woman and girl, Lydiane and Sharon, had said that to me. Even if it was out of concern for me, his guardian.

　I was so elated by his words that I could only cover up my reddened face.

　The four of us went into the forest. But the first monster we encountered was not a good one.

　The Killer Hornet is a dangerous monster with a powerful poison. Their movements are straightforward, but a single sting can render the bee incapacitated. If there were a dozen of them, you would normally be running for your life.

　But Zack laughed and said he and Sharon were going to attack them together.

　I thought he had misjudged the situation due to his inexperience.

　That’s when I made up my mind.

　I thought that if there were ten Killer Hornets, I and Lydiane would be able to take them out.

　However, Lydiane, who should have been a veteran, did not look worried; on the contrary, she was smiling with a relaxed smile on her face.

　And I soon found out why.

　The two of them exposed themselves to the Killer Hornets, luring all of them, and then simultaneously unleashed a [Tornado Slasher], tornado blades made by wind-attribute magic. Their breathing was perfect, and two tornadoes of exactly the same size appeared at the same time.

　After that, I honestly don’t remember much. Maybe my mind refused to comprehend it because they had defeated the Killer Hornets so easily.

　I finally understood that the girl Sharon was also a genius.

　And I became her guardian.

　That evening, we celebrated my meeting with Zack and the others and their registration as adventurers with a feast.

　I was invited to Zack and his family’s home, where I was even more surprised.

　There was a bath.

　It is common knowledge that baths are only found in the residences of royalty or great nobility. Even here in Doctus, there may or may not be a bath in the home of a high-ranking guild official.

　What was even more surprising was that the baths were magically filled with water and magically heated. Even in this town, the home of the Magician’s Guild, no one would use magic to do such a thing.

　Well, I thought it was possible with Zack and his companions, but I didn’t know how to take a bath. He was aware of this and instructed Lydiane to teach me how to get in the bath.

　Lydiane must have had a drink when she went to buy bread and liquor. She smelled of alcohol and was quite jovial.

　I would have had no problem with that, but when she was drunk, she became bold, and after she showed me how to take a bath, she started touching me.

　have no interest in making love with other women. I don’t mind being touched, but Lydiane was interested in my breasts and would tease me by saying things like, “They’re so big,” or “Really, what’s in that chest?” I thought she was like a drunken old man in a bar.

　When I was in trouble, Zack helped me out of the bathtub, and I managed to take a relaxing soak in the hot water. I didn’t realize how good it felt until I took a bath. I realized that a bath was such a pleasant experience.

　After leaving the bath, I tried on the loungewear that had been prepared for me, but it was still too small. I put the sleeves on, but they were still too small. But it wasn’t that I couldn’t wear it, so I just went back, but then he saw me, he suddenly turned red.

　Yes, he was embarrassed after seeing my body.

　I felt a little superior to Lydiane because he didn’t seem to be feeling anything when she came out earlier, but he looked so embarrassed that I felt embarrassed too. I couldn’t even talk, so I hurried to get dressed.

　Afterward, we enjoyed a delicious meal and talked about many things.

　We talked about their hometown, the academy, and the battle in the forest.

　What surprised me the most was that within the five years, it will take him to graduate from the academy, he was planning to become stronger than a court magician and even a sword fighter on the level of a veteran mercenary.

　He doesn’t seem to understand it well, but a level 40+ magic swordsman is quite rare. He probably doesn’t realize this because there is a level 40+ magic archer named Lydiane nearby. However, there is a difference between a swordsman who mainly uses close combat and an archer who uses magic and long-range attacks.

　As a magic swordsman, if you are that good, you can join most knightly orders, and if you are a mercenary, you could even create your own mercenary company. Normally, a talented person would have to work hard for more than 20 years to reach this level. He is trying to achieve it in just five years.

　To me, he seemed to be in a hurry. Yes, he had a purpose and was trying to meet it in time.

　I wanted to know that, but it had only been two days since we met. It was probably not something I should ask him. If I had been my usual self, I would have asked him without hesitation. But this time, I refrained so that he would not hate me.

　I can’t tell anyone, but I was fascinated by this kid named Zack. I wasn’t attracted to him from his looks or his talent, but by the trait that makes me attracted to older men, yes, his tolerance.

　It’s a funny story, I think to myself.

　He is just old enough that I could say he is my son, but I feel as if he is protecting me, that he is cradling me.

　It’s absolutely ridiculous.

　He saw me off on his way home. At that moment, I envied Lydiane and Sharon who were living with him in this house.

　And I was muttering to myself, “Why didn’t I meet him sooner?”

　Fortunately, he didn’t hear me, but if he had, I would have been so embarrassed that my face would have been a fiery red.

　Still, I wanted to thank the gods that I had met him yesterday. At least he didn’t reject me. And they gave me time to spend with him from now on.