This Love is Futile

Chapter 068 – There Are Different Types of Curses After All

When I was about to leave the shop after saying thanks, I noticed a new message arrived in my chat column. 

After telling the two that there was a matter I needed to attend to and I was sorry, I opened the chat column. 

A message from Yuuta had arrived. 

[ We all died after leaving the elf village and respawned at Sette city’s save point. Now we’re heading to Tre. [ Mad Ride ] party is together with us. We’ve just left the desert city now.” ]

“Huh?!”

Yuuta was already heading here. 

Even so, [ Takahashi and his Merry Men ] partied together with [ Mad Ride ] and all of them were wiped out?! 

[ Just what kind of monster did you encounter for all of you to be wiped out? ] 

When I typed, a reply came back immediately. 

[ We bumped into one of the three strongest monsters living in the forest while it was roaming around. ]

“Ah…”

So there were three of those strong monsters… Just how strong were they?

Then, I suddenly felt a strong gaze and shifted my attention from the chat column. 

“Did something happen?”

“Was there an accident?”

The two were staring at me. 

Ah, I now completely looked like a weird person. I was staring into the air, making strange noises.

“Ah, no, it seems like [ Takahashi and his Merry Men ] party is heading this way… Ah, that’s it!”

I totally forgot to ask permission from the butler whether it was okay for them to come here. 

I felt like I was forgetting everything else except Vidello-san whenever I was with him. I needed to do something about this part of me or else I wouldn’t be able to see anything else but him. 

“Owner-san, my friends want to come here, so can I bring them here next time?”

The handsome butler nodded saying yes to my question with a smile. 

“If they are friends of yours, they are always welcome here.”

“Wow, thank you very much!”

“For me, I’ve been recently looking forward to Vidello-kun and your next visit. It’s fascinating to see how much you’ve been taking care of the amulet.”

“I understand, Regalo-san. I’ll try harder to harvest my love for Mac.”

“Wha— Vidello-san?!”

You’re saying such an embarrassing line here?! He looked serious enough, but to boldly declare that in front of the butler…

Such unwavering confidence. That’s my Vidello-san. I like you

Now look at the butler, he was smiling right at us. 

“They’re still far away, right? I mean Takahashi’s group?”

“He said they’d already left the desert city, so I don’t think they’ll disturb our time together.”

When I answered his question about the current situation, he showed me a troubled smile.

“Mac, have you forgotten what you look like now?”

As soon as he pointed it out, I remembered the state I was in. 

Ah, right! I forgot I was now under the influence of a potion and looked like a grown man now. 

“Oh, god. I forgot that I’m like this now.” 

I only had a little bit of it in my mouth, so I felt like I was over 20 in terms of age and appearance. Come to think of it, I’ve never told Yuuta about anything related to alchemy and about how I got this alchemist job. Um, what should I do now?

When I was struggling with how to handle the situation, a helping hand came to my rescue. 

“If it’s about that, then you should pretend that you are under a curse. There are many types of curses in this world. Curses that cause rapid aging are lying around everywhere. I have also seen my fair share of various types of curses throughout my life.”

“Eh, really?! Are there that many?”

Come to think of it, Vidello-san also said he saw a type of curse that could change someone into an old man. 

I had never thought that someone could get cursed that easily. 

While I was astonished at the new knowledge, the butler continued the topic. 

“Umm. When you enter into what they call dungeons, you’ll find a lot of interesting curses. Isn’t it  quite interesting?”

“Have you ever been in a dungeon, butler-san?!”

“Ah…”

I was so excited that I made a mistake. My face instantly became red, reflecting my shame.

I mistakenly called the owner-san as butler-san. I had been referring to him as the butler all the time in my mind. 

He now looked really surprised hearing it. 

For a split second, I heard Vidello-san’s laugh, but he immediately fixed his demeanor and coughed as if to cover it up. 

“Butler-san… Em, well, I’m dressed like this, so I’m in no position to complain even if you call me one.” 

Even the person himself started to chuckle, so I desperately apologized to him. 

“It’s fine. You can start calling me ‘Regalo’ from now on. I don’t mind if you keep referring to me as the handsome butler, but I think it’s hard for you to keep calling me that too.”

“Have you been reading my mind all along?!”

I was so surprised to find out that he knew what I was thinking all along that I ended up asking this question to confirm my doubt. At the same time, as if he couldn’t hold back any longer, Vidello-san burst out laughing. 

I was a bit scared to know that he knew exactly what was on my mind, but with this unexpected turn of events, I was able to learn his name at least.

Looking at a new notification that came to me, all I could do was hang my head in shame.

“Then Regalo-san, please call me Mac too.”

“Very well, Mac-kun.”

We exchanged our names for the first time after I visited the shop a few times. I’m happy. 

I was grinning, but when Vidello-san saw my face, he hugged me so suddenly.

He looked a bit grumpy, but I thought that maybe he was jealous. His jealous face was great to see too. But I’m sorry Vidello-san because I was a bit happy. 

A silent battle unfolded between us, but to put this simply, we were just staring at each other. 

Regalo-san happily smiled looking at us.

Anyway, we left the shop and talked in general about what we were going to do for the rest of the day and whether we should drop by some shops. 

Not a restaurant on a busy main street, but a restaurant in a narrow alleyway. This was a street accessible to players, so it was a bit crowded even though this was a small alleyway.

When we walked through the door of an old restaurant, which gave off a classic vibe, I found that half of the seats were already occupied and half of the customers were players. 

He took my hand and led me to an open seat in the back corner. 

“This place is known as a hidden, but also famous restaurant. Is there anything you don’t like to eat?”

“I can eat anything. Is it delicious?”

“Yes. It’s not as good as the tart you made for me, but compared to the others, I find this place better.” 

“I see. I’ll look forward to it.”

What should I order? As I looked around here and there, I couldn’t find anything like a menu anywhere. 

There was nothing on the table that looked like a menu either. Eh, what did this mean?

As I tilted my head in confusion, something like a seafood dish was suddenly placed in front of me. 

“Fish…?”

“Yes. It’s fresh fish from the lake located south of here.”

“South…”

This was the first time I heard there was a lake and also fish in it. Meat was common in the market and I could always buy vegetables from Kyle-san’s place. 

“I really like fish.”

I picked up the fork beside me with a sparkle in my eyes. I would love to eat this with chopsticks, but I had never seen chopsticks in this world. What a pity. 

“I assume there’s only one dish here?”

“Yes.”

Wow. A restaurant specializing in fish dishes! Should I stop by here when I come to the city again? I took a bite in bliss. A refreshing taste stimulated my taste buds; a taste different from the usual dishes I had with soy sauce and wasabi. It’s delicious!

This wasn’t sashimi, but this sourness, it was more like it was marinated. So delicious! 

“Vidello-san, it’s delicious!”

“Yes. I also take a liking to this sourness too. If you didn’t prefer fish, I thought about going back to the main street.”

“This is the best!”

When I told him with a serious look, he grinned happily saying, “I know, right?” 

So there was a lake with a fishing spot. 

I wondered if there was a road to the south. Well, I will look it up next time. 

“Perhaps, are you interested in the lake? How about we spend the night here? We’ll rent horses tomorrow and go there.” 

“Is it okay!? I wanna go!”

YES! A horse date! 

I kept eating the food with my happiness at its peak. After I finished, I said thanks for the meal1 and noticed Vidello-san’s hand reaching out to me. 

He was pinching my cheeks, feeling the softness, and looking at me as if he wanted to devour me whole. My heart was beating loudly and needless to say, my desires for him were about to explode. 

We found a vacant inn in Quattro, paid in advance, and headed to our room. 

We got into our room, put down our bags and when I was about to take off my robe, his hands stopped me. 

“If we love each other while you’re wearing this amulet, won’t we be able to accumulate more…?”

“Eh, uhm, Vidello-san…?”

He held the amulet in his hand and dropped a kiss on it. Looking at the suggestive sight, blood rushed to my head. 

You mean, you mean with my clothes on? Ehhhhh! It felt exciting, but, but…

“D-don’t you think the amulet will get dirty…?”

“You aren’t worried about the clothes, are you?”

After hearing my concern, he chuckled saying it was so like me. 

It was because I didn’t know if I could wash this or not, but clothes could be washed easily.

“It’s all right. I’ll keep it from getting dirty…” 

Hearing his soft whisper in my ears, my heartbeat became faster every second he changed into his wild beast mode. I gently kissed him back in response to his temptation.