Mob… Sore mo waki mob no hazu nan desu kedo!?

This time, I’m about to be questioned about the circumstances... But wait a minute!? 

When I saw the tear-filled deep crimson eyes, I couldn’t help but smile wryly. I lightly patted his back with my hand, and once again, I met the wet eyes to confirm.

“The fever and pain have subsided. The rampage of magic has also subsided. How is it? I should have been able to stabilize it with my senses.”

Although I had also calmed down, when I looked up, Suou’s eyes were still as bright as before, and the patterns were gone, returning to the usual deep crimson eyes.

“Ah. The ritual of the oath was successfully completed. I’m really relieved.”

After that single sentence, I was embraced tightly once again, but it was only for a moment. That’s because I was pulled away by Mooks-san.

“You’ve confirmed it, right? Then you don’t need a hug, right? I’ve also calmed down, and it’s good that Az seems to be okay as well. However, even though I anticipated it to some extent, it’s truly surprising that it led all the way to the oath already.

By the way, you there! What on earth are you doing to Az?! Even if they’re 13 years old, doing something like that to a child who looks like they’re under 10...I understand there may be appearance-based cases where they are actually older, regardless, even if not solely based on that, they would still be considered a criminal if they’re not of legal age! ... Even if they were of legal age, I feel like it would still be a problem based on appearance.”

A 23-year old who looks like a child under 10 years old... That’s a crime, isn’t it! Definitely? Good~ it seems that there is at least a recognition of sex crimes in this world as well. Huh? But is it safe for a 23-year-old to appear as 13? Is it better not to think deeply about this? Well, even if I think about it, nobody would attack someone like me. Just thinking is pointless.

By the way, towards the end, you were muttering something, but I couldn't catch it. I wonder what you said?

However, this time, it was surely necessary for the oath. My eyes were stinging and burning so much. There must be a connection! Can’t be helped. No choice but to go along with it. No way around it. Yeah, otherwise, my first this and that, spanning past lives and this life, would be considered taken by a man. That can’t happen. This is often said to be life-saving! It was helping a person! Yes, that’s right, definitely not just my first this and that! Hearing Suou’s words that followed, I felt a bit relieved.

“It can’t be helped. Generally the ceremony of the oath is completed with just the name. However, with his name, I felt uneasy about the amount of magical reaction it evoked. So, just to be sure, I incorporated the exchange of bodily fluids as well. Saliva with blood, and finally tears were obtained, but even then, it was all for the removal of the pattern. It was absolutely essential.

While I didn’t originally plan to perform the oath today, I realized that if I were to do it later, it would be the same as if I did it now. It seems my master has a tendency to cause trouble and then disappear if you take your eyes off of him for a moment. So I decided to firmly catch hold of him. My intuition is usually right, after all.

In fact, within this short time, I understood what you said: ‘You are after all, you, no matter how you look at it.’”

As I desperately tried to heal myself, Suou calmly talked while putting on an eye patch. It sounded like they were making fun of someone, but maybe it’s just my imagination? Hm?

After confirming that Suou had finished putting on the eye patch, Mooks-san seemed relieved.

“Do you understand? This one causes all sorts of trouble, without even knowing how much.

So, what did you do wrong this time? Just to make it clear, I’m not talking about the oath with this guy. Don’t try to divert the topic, got it? You weren’t in this room until just now, were you? To be more precise, you suddenly disappeared from this room where you should have been sleeping and came back just now, right? Hm?

When, where, with whom, to whom, in what way, what did you do? Explain everything, including why the situation ended up like this. Right now!”

Amazing... it’s more than the 5W1H!1  But now is not the time to be impressed! How does everything become known?

“Let me tell you, he even noticed when I snuck in. Although he might have been expecting me to come, he’s known everything from start to finish, from the moment we were in the room.

You let your guard down way too much in your own territory. If you keep doing that, you’ll be defeated by enemies in no time.”

Well, I don’t have any enemies! Regular people don’t usually get attacked, right?! You’re supposed to let your guard down in your own room, right? Isn’t that how it works in your own room?? Huh? It’s different!?

But... maybe I should have set up a soundproof barrier in the room while this guy was here. It might have been the same after our return. I was talking quite thoughtlessly. It’s too late to regret it now, though.

“Don’t reflect meaninglessly on your own, spit it out already!”

I don’t know why, but even though I didn’t say anything... I flinched and covered my mouth, and Suou laughed at me with a smirk.

“What you’re thinking didn’t come out of your mouth, but it’s written all over your face. You... once someone gets inside your head, they really mess you up. Do you need correction?”

Ugh, I instinctively cover my face. But it’s probably too late for that now. Mooks-san hit my head. It made a dull sound and was subtly painful.

“Come on, Spit it out!”

Tears well up in my eyes as I looked up at Mooks-san, but he glared back at me with a really intimidating expression. Ungh... this is another situation I can’t escape from. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’ve been giving up too easily, but if I try to deceive now, the situation will only get worse. That’s the one thing I want to prevent! Moreover, with this incident, they probably found out that I can use magic, and I’ll have to apologize for that too. Ungh, my stomach hurts... tears are coming.

And so, having given up, I explained the events that had happened until just now, reluctantly recounting everything. It feels more like I was forced to spill the details due to the overwhelming pressure than actually explaining.

******

“That’s the situation. I’m sorry I didn't say anything about being able to use magic until now.”

In the now-silent room, I finished speaking. Mooks-san had been listening silently throughout, without interrupting. Finally, I quietly got off the edge of the bed and went over to Mooks-san, who was sitting in a chair, bowing my head and apologizing.

“Well, that’s not a big deal. I knew. But more importantly, 『Eh?! You knew?! Huh?』... Are you explaining that right now?”

Mooks-san’s unexpected words made me raise my head and exclaim. After all, I was keeping it a secret! When did he figure it out? How?

“When did you find out?”

I asked hesitantly, only to receive yet another shocking response. Mooks-san looked exasperated.

“From the beginning. You might not remember, but after your injury healed when I found you, your health took a nosedive for a while. It was worse than the injury you had when I found you. We didn’t even know the cause. It lasted for about half a year, until you were around 7 years old, I think. You were bedridden, remember?”

As Mooks-san spoke, memories came flooding back. I vaguely recalled something like that happening. During that period, my consciousness had been hazy, and I didn’t remember much. I just remembered the pain and how it reminded me of my past life’s struggles with illness, which was terrifying. I even suspected that my memories of my past life were being triggered, affecting my physical state.

“I don’t remember much, but I do recall being in poor health during that time.”

“I found out during that time. On the slightly better days of your health, you’d practice magic while lying in bed, right? You tried to hide it, practicing when I wasn’t around, but I must have sensed something. You were caught in the act when I unexpectedly returned to check on you, you know?”

“...”

Certainly, I felt like I was wasting time just lying in bed, so I practiced magic. I’ve been caught since the very beginning! What have I been doing?!

“Later, when your health seemed to recover, you snuck out when I wasn’t home, right? I happened to see you while walking in town for work, and I secretly followed you. And what did you do? You went outside the main gate, then ventured into the woods, and guess what? You entered a cave and started practicing magic. I was dumbfounded for various reasons.”

Incredible... everything is completely exposed. I couldn't help but bury my head in my hands and crouch down. It’s so embarrassing and pathetic! Back then, I couldn’t use detection magic, and I wasn’t even conscious of sensing people nearby, so even if someone was close, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

“Well, you seem like you wanted to keep it hidden, so I observed silently. In any case, I thought it would become apparent during the 10-year-old examination. So, when the detection stone didn’t react I was surprised. Az was surprised too, it seems.

As for your magical abilities, nobody besides me is likely to have noticed. I haven’t told anyone either, so don’t worry.”

Even though they say not to worry... I really appreciate that they kept it confidential, but ugh, that’s not the point. I just can’t seem to recover at all. Everything’s falling apart for me.

“Why didn’t you notice you were being followed-? Try to notice. What am I even doing...”

As I fretted alone, I felt a vigorous pat on my head. With teary eyes, I looked up to see Mooks-san laughing heartily.

“What are you talking about? I haven’t trained so weakly that a 6 or 7-year-old kid could notice me! Well, you might notice now, but only when you’re focused, and that’s limited to when you’re taking requests. There’s a big difference between when you’re fired up and when you’re not. This incident is probably the same, right?”

Though Mooks-san was laughing heartily, their demeanor changed completely with the last sentence, and the atmosphere grew heavy.

“If it had been someone other than me—like a knight or a spy, or even related to the mastermind of this incident—it would have been bad. Though you haven’t been fully targeted yet, it’s only a matter of time.

That’s why I even turned a blind eye to the oath with one of the closed-eye clan members... sigh.”

Seeing Mooks-san so downcast, I couldn’t say anything. Is this indicating that my crisis management is really lacking? But this incident should only outwardly be about me assisting Suou. Would that be enough to draw attention and make me a target?

“It’s evident how much you’ve been through. Asnold... even if poison was coursing through you, you helped me—a closed-eye clan member—in that situation. Moreover, you took on those seven dogs. There’s no way you wouldn’t draw attention.”

“Even without that, you stand out in relation to Suzuela Trading Company. There are other factors too... Should I really impose a ban on going outside?”

Both of them piled on, and I instinctively took a step back. Am I really standing out too much? From my perspective, I’m just doing my best every day to make the Twanonus Resettlement Project a success.

“Asnold?”

Mooks-san called me in a low, low voice, and my face twitched.

“Um, well, I’ll be even more careful to not stand outl?”

“No, that won’t do. Why does your tone sound questioning at the end...”

Oh, Mooks-san hung their head. Is Suou also looking off into the distance? It’s hard to tell with the eye patch, but it seems like he's looking at the ceiling. But I don’t know what else to say... I have no idea what to do in this situation!

Translator notes:

5W1H- Otherwise known as the questioning method or the method of the Five Ws, It is an acronym in which every letter corresponds to a question: what, who, where, when, how and why. This technique allows you to understand a situation, to discern a problem by analyzing all the aspects -Google