044 – Quiet Yet Noisy

*Unedited

That night.

It was so noisy that I woke up. But once I woke up, the only sound I could hear was Zen snoring. The dormitory was silent as well. Why did I think that it was noisy? Could it be a dream….?

There was no way to get an answer anyway. Oh well, it was most likely to be a dream. I would like to keep this from delving into horror.

But now I am awake.
There was no sense of sleepiness at all.

” ……….. ”

Now I had loads of free time on my hands. No I cannot go back to sleep. For some reason, my body started getting restless and my head was still filled with questions so I decided to take a walk.

The ladder creaked when I climbed down. Since when did it start creaking? Holding my breath, I took great care as I climbed down. Reaching the floor, I put on my shoes and slowly ran out.

At this time I would always think of a phrase.
Every step you take, lift silently, step softly, like a ninja. [TN: Took liberty with this. 一歩踏み出すたびに、抜き足、差し足、忍び足。Ippo fumidasu tabini, nukiashi, sashiashi, shinobiashi. Basically, stealthy steps.]

Come to think of it, we used to change it to ‘lift silently, step softly, walk drunkenly, hahaha. After laughing while reminiscing, I am currently repenting about it. Walking in a room without switching any lights on while laughing, I am like the most suspicious person right now!

By the way, that main point for that joke was to stumble exaggeratedly on the 3rd step.

《暗視》[TN: Anshi, Night Vision]

I cast my magic chantlessly. This is a very useful magic. It allows people to see without the need for any light so it was the ideal magic for lazy people. Ah, this world had no electricity in the first place so I had to change lights to a lamp-like magic tool.

Walking down the corridor in total darkness, I climbed up the stairs and passed the lobby. Once there, I saw a person crouching down at the sofa area.

That person was trembling and muttering something at the same time. I wonder what was wrong….? Worried, I got closer to her.

” ……so noisy, freaking noisy! Shut up! ”

That person who stood up shouting was the elf who skipped her self-introduction by being angry at that time.

Now, what did I do? If my ninja steps were being complained as too noisy then I can’t even breathe, can I? Hmm, that’s not it. She should not notice me being here in this darkness. But there was only me in this lobby right now.
――――――――Who or what was she yelling at?
As I continued watching her, she squatted down again.

At the self-introductions, she was clearly showing her anger at her surroundings. And me, who saw that….. Yes, at that time I felt that her anger ‘was not directed at us’. And now, thinking back, either her head was wired wrongly or she can see something we cannot.

I strongly want to believe that it was not the former. Let’s go with the latter. I decided to speak up.

” Are you okay? ”

The girl jumped at my voice. Trying not to scare her, I chanted.

“《光》” [TN: Hikari, Light]

Because having a guy suddenly appear right next to her in darkness was a standard in horror movies. The light ball that appeared bathed the lobby in a soft light.
Ah…..Wait. What if she was the kind who can see spirits…..?

Hhhhhhhhhhow?

What if she was distracted by this me who is trying to show off? That’s so uncool. No, no, no, no, no, a gentleman would always help a damsel in distress. I have to be confident here. Even though my inner thoughts were in a frenzy, I walked towards her.

She was looking at me with a worried face. ――――Bingo.
I was correct. She was not afraid of me but of something I cannot see. Even so, she was still worried about me. What a good girl. What was it that had driven her up the wall? Anyone who troubled a girl is the enemy of the world! Not to mention such a cute girl!

As I got closer to her, her pearly white smooth skin that young girls usually have, came into view. Oh, I am not a lolicon. No. Definitely.

….Ahhhh, damn it! It was irritating not to be able to see whatever was here! If I could see it I would bash it!

It was then I noticed.
If I cannot see it, all I need to do was to make it so I can see it!

I smiled, and immediately regretted smiling when I saw her shocked at it. Ah, it can’t be helped.

Rustle.

When I was 1 step closer to her, the air rustled. Could it be…that this was the cause that woke up me up? Thinking about it, I casted it chantlessly.

《可視化》[TN: Kashika, Visualization]

Suddenly, something appeared in front of me.

” ……!! ”

Taking a step back due to shock, I bit on my lips as I smiled. As I thought. Various vague human shapes appeared in the room. No, it would be more apt to say they were already in this room when I became able to see them. So they are the ones who troubled her.

《コイツらと会話》[TN: Koitsura to Kaiwa, Being able to talk to them]

I cannot hear their conversations so I focus my mana on my ears and cast.

” Oh! ”

Suddenly, it overflowed. Voices, voices, voices――――――――…. Without thinking, I covered my ears. Is she hearing this all the time? As I began to get used to it, I could pick up on several conversations.

(( Oi, this human seems to be able to see us? ))
(( Don’t talk crap. There’s no way he can! ))
(( That’s right, but he did take a step back, didn’t he? ))
(( I-It’s your imagination, there is no way a mere human can see us faeries… ))
” I can. ”

I stopped the self-important grandpa voice in mid-sentence. The voices grew louder, like they were bewildered. But above all, it was really noisy. I frowned and lowered my voice.

” You are troubling her, would you mind shutting up? ”

At that, the voices grew louder again. But instead of bewilderment, it sounded like mocking instead. As I waited for a reply, finally a self-important one replied me.

(( To think a low-mana mere human dares to commend us. ))

Okay, negotiations failー!
I see, so in the fairy’s world, the one with a high mana rules.
In that case………

I grinned.

” In short, you guys would abide me if my mana is higher? ”
(( Huh? Is your brain melting, human? As if anyone of us would lose to a human. To compete with us………!!?? ))

I let out a little of my mana that I usually stored inside of me. Ah, Father had once said that just by leaking 20% higher than what one normally would gave out would really be effective in intimidating people. Since I am a [Cheat], it would be enough to just release 10% to get these faeries to yield, hahahaha!

To tell the truth, I am quite irritated. There was no need to feel bad for these guys who forced such a cute girl up the wall.

Smiling all this while, I slowly approached the proud one who spoke just now. The faeries, who were so noisy just now, were so silent that you can hear a drop of water.

Tat tat tat tat. The only sound in the lobby right now was my footsteps as I finally stopped in front of that guy.

” Would you abide? ”
(( WAH!! ))

The faeries shuddered. This reaction hurts a little….and I did not even release 20%…. What am I, a rare beast?! I frowned unintentionally and all the fluttering faeries lay themselves at my feet. Yes, they are doing dogeza. [TN: 土下座, lay flat on the ground….goggle it.]

” I-I abide! Please…..forgive us for all the impolite things we had done! ”

That all-important grandpa was desperately shouting.
……Am I that scary?……
Even though I was shocked and a little hurt by that, at least that’s one problem solved. That’s a good thing.

” Is that so. That’s great. Would you mind leaving this place then? ”

My speech was slightly a mess but it cannot be helped. I smiled, and they dispersed like ants. [TN: Spiders in japanese] How rude. To not even apologize for causing this girl so much trouble. Oh well, I will get them to properly apologize the next time.

Hahh. I get out a breath as I kept my mana back in.

As I approached the stunned girl, she pulled back a little. Her eyes reflected surprised and doubts. I was worried if I scared her but it looked like I did. Even if I did predict it, it still hurts. But the girl was not to blame, I was the one who moved on my own.

” Sorry. ”

I sigh and laughed at the same time, scratching my head.

” I did not meant to scare you, are you okay? ”

Saying that, I crouched down to where she was. Her eyes avoided mine.
Uwa..uwah.
It seem like it’s my fate to have woman hate me….. I began to hate god…. But it was also due to this power (cheat) that I have the strength to help people so…. I had complicated feelings about this.

As these thoughts went through my mind, the crouching girl seem to have frozen in her spot. Then she began to speak, a bit reservedly.

” Ah…It’s not that. ”
” Hm….? ”

It’s not what? Do not tell me she was not being bothered by the faeries….? Worried, I looked at her and she said shyly.

” I am not scared….Erm….Thank you. ”

Her face blossomed into a smile. I went blank for a moment. Up till now I had only seen anger or an emotionless face. That smiling face was a critical hit. My god, this girl….is super cute! This onii-chan will look forward to your future! It’s not that I am a lolicon. It was just, a pure thought. Just a thought. I was only thinking that she really belongs to the beauty army.

My eyes met her deep green eyes and immediately, she avoided it.
…..Wah…..
Ah no, she did said she was not afraid of me so it might just be her habit of not meeting people’s eyes. Yep. I want to believe it was that, No, let’s make it that.

As I convinced myself, I stood up. Then, she spoke again.

” But. ”

But? I looked worriedly at her.

” Who are you? ”

I was asked a difficult question. She might be asking if I am a sage’s disciple or not due to my mana but sadly, my real identity was nothing like that. In that case, a noble and a student of this school, will that do? But with the flow of this conversation, to state I am a noble was kind of weird plus she would already know I am a student since I am in the dorm….In that case.

” I’m Will? ”

I said, tilting my head and she burst out laughing. Wha-? Don’t laugh! There is no answer better than this!

” The-then, who are you? ”

Embarrassed, I asked her back.

” I am Selphys. ”

She said happily. For some reason, we started laughing.

 

◆◆◆

Chiffon [Ha…! For some reason my 6th sense is tingling! Will is being….]
Mary [Are you saying Young Master Will is in danger?]
Chiffon […..I feel like a bug had been attracted by Will.]
Mary [That’s bad!]

TN: There you go. Since this is the month of Halloween, this chapter feels slightly appropriate.