Return of the Former Hero

Chapter 174. Former Hero – causes a girl to cry

Translator: Raizu

Editor: Shirayuki

[As expected from Haruto-kun! We caught the unicorn very easily!]

Etna-san rushed to me, wrapping my arm with hers.

Her warmth was immediately transmitted to my arm thanks to that.

[It’s nothing much~]

Dehehe.

Being up close, Etna-san looked at me with a favorable gaze. Now that I have the high ground, I played it out by saying something modest.

[Ara ara, so humble of you, Haruto-kun… but, it is what makes you wonderful! Hug!]

In response to my humble response, Etna-san’s eyes sparkled and I could feel her hugging me tightly on my chest.

Funyon, the feeling of the particularly soft part of Etna-san’s body spreads to my chest.

I accepted Etna-san, put my hands around her thin waist, and hugged her back tightly.

Etna-san also circled her arms around to my back. The distance between our bodies was basically less than 1mm now.

[Nn…]

Whilst hugging Etna-san, I sneakily reached out to her butt. Her body shook in response, and she sighed.

[Haruto-kun… you perv.]

Etna-san looked at me with fluttery eyes, her cheeks were raised to a smile.

Her lips might be scolding me but her body language and expression appeared to be asking for a continuation. No, it’s actually the case.

[Etna-san….]

[Haruto-kun….]

After we called each other’s names, Etna-san closed her eyes quietly.

And then, I went closer to kiss Etna-san’s lips――

『Uwaaaー! What the fー!』

Haa.

The sweet moment was shattered by the sudden shout. Then I woke up.

….it was a dream. Of course. The process was a bit too convenient.

Damn. Cockblocked even inside my dream.

Will I be able to see the continuation if I go to sleep again?

All I want is a kiss. Nothing more.

I closed my eyelids, even when knowing how futile it is.

『Brrrー! Brrrー! Anyone! Can anyone help meー!』

However, the unicorn screaming outside was so noisy that I couldn’t sleep again. I’m…

There’s no helping it, I gave up on sleeping and got up instead.

Next to me, Etna-san was sleeping peacefully.

Even though it’s so noisy, Etna-san didn’t seem to be disturbed by it. I guess that’s fine.

Perhaps because of what I dreamed just now, seeing Etna-san’s sleeping face… especially her lips, made me excited.

Ah, I should cut it out before I did something regrettable.

If only the unicorn was a little bit more quiet, I could’ve enjoyed the softness of that lips. In my dream I mean.

While Etna-san is still asleep, let’s try kissing her lips a little.

No no, should I?

Just do it and be done with it.

Great things that we respect each other.

At all costs, I should strive to become Etna-san’s ideal man.

『Unununu……! This kind of restraints, I’ll make you regret ……no good!』

Ahh, that unicorn is noisy.

Not only did I couldn’t continue my dream, the mood to kiss Etna-san was spoiled too.

[Oーy, you noisy. I understand your situation, but can’t you be silent for a while?]

I went out of the tent quietly so as not to wake up Etna and told the unicorn to shut up.

Well, I get why it’s being noisy, but it’s also making it hard for me to sleep.

『Hnnn?』

In response, the unicorn looked at me with a surprised expression.

『Wha…? Nn? Yesterday? …so it was a man after all…ahh……no no, that’s not important. You, you can understand what I say? I thought no human can understand demon language.』

Demon language?

What’s that?

Didn’t we just talk normally? What the hell is this guy talking about?

Ah, no, of course.

Even though to me it seemed like we’re talking normally, it was actually the translation magic helping in automatically.

If the other person has a certain intelligence and language system, the conversation will be established regardless of the language spoken.

Thinking back, last night I didn’t say a word to this fellow.

So that’s it.

The reason why Etna-san didn’t respond to the unicorn’s vulgar talking was because she didn’t know what it’s saying. I see, I see.

[Ahー… I can’t really speak that whatever you call demon language… I mean, I guess you can say that I can in a way?]

『? But you speak very fluently though ….? No, that’s not important. It’s enough that you can understand me. Please help me! Untie me!』

The unicorn begged me. But I’m the one who captured and restrained it in first so it’s begging kind of fell onto deaf ears.

『Kuu…why did this happen…? What did I do wrong? I was sure that the scent belonged to a human female virgin, how come I made such a blunder…!』

Perhaps it realized that I had no intention of helping, the unicorn then started self-deprecating.

It seems that unicorns are unicorns after all. They are conscious of being careful with the scent of virgins.

But is there any special hypnotic effect that makes you forget about yourself when you actually see it? Is it something that only works on unicorns … Well, it’s a mystery.

Well, a normal human male’s capability to reason also drops by several notches when seeing a cute girl. It’s not limited to virgins.

Aren’t we very similar? ….not? There’s something fundamentally wrong with that thought.

Aside from that, I was more interested in the words the unicorn said before that.

But I’m more curious about the『What did I do wrong?』part that the unicorn said earlier.

I wonder what trouble this guy had caused?

I was only requested to capture it by the old man. He didn’t mention whether it has caused any problem.

A strange feeling of guilt was born just because we could communicate with each other.

[I was asked to catch you. Didn’t you do something wrong? If not… what? So am I in the wrong now?]

I stopped by the unicorn and asked.

『Well … I don’t think I have done anything wrong. I heard that there is a lake here that can heal wounds, so it’s especially annoying to be captured by humans after coming all the way here… 』

Healing lake, huh?

Could it be, as low the chance as it could be that it’s this very lake?

[Barely any scratch on you.]

But I didn’t remember hurting it anywhere last night.

The unicorn immediately responded upon realizing that I was observing its body for a wound.

『The external wounds have closed, but not with the internal ones, you know? Now, adding to this, do you understand how bad is it?』

Being captured while wounded or sick must be tough indeed.

But… wellー, how should I say it.

Since it spoke of it in a rather light tone, I don’t know whether I should believe it or not…

[Haruto-kun? What’s wrong? You’re speaking to yourself pretty loudly…]

As I was wondering if the unicorn was right or wrong, Etna, who had awakened before I knew it, was anxiously looking at me with her face emerging from the tent.

[Ah, Etna-san. Good morning… did you hear me talking to myself? Well, I mean… it seems that this unicorn is injured….]

For the time being, I tried to explain the situation so as not to be misunderstood since Etna-san couldn’t understand what the unicorn was saying.

What a mess.

Would anyone believe it if someone claimed that he could talk to a horse?

If I heard something like that, I would’ve probably thought there’s something wrong with the guy’s head.

[Eh? Haruto-kun, you can talk to the unicorn? Amazing!]

But Etna-san easily believed me. Are you an angel who knows no filth of this world?

No, it must be because of her growing trust in me after the time we spent together.

Yep, that must be it! Ehehe.

『Uwooー!What a nice scent! Nice scent! Uwoooー! Seriously refreshingー!』

[Uwaaa, shut up!]

After Etna-san showed itself, the unicorn started acting up as though its switch had been flipped.

[Ah… I… I, I’m sorry]

Ha…

Etna-san seemed to have misunderstood that my reprimand just now was directed at her. Probably because she couldn’t hear the unicorn talking. So immediately, I…

[Eh! Ah! No, that’s not what I mean. That’s not it, Etna-san! Etna-san could hear it just now, right?! The unicorn! It suddenly shouted!]

…made an excuse.

[? Is that so? But I didn’t hear anything just now… But thank goodness.]

At first Etna-san looked stunned, but seemed to be immediately convinced as she regained her wit and smile once more.

But there were drops of tears hanging at the corner of her eyes…

[Yeah, I’m sorry for shouting out of nowhere…. Hey, idiot unicorn! Calm down, will you? Calm?down?please!]

After apologizing to Etna-san, I immediately went to the unicorn and pinned its neck to snap it out of its MAX level trance.

It’s all because of this guy.

『Ugigi…!　Ogo…go, got it… a, alright. I’ve calmed down now…。ouwie ouwie ouwie!』

[Yosh…. No more sudden shouting or getting excited out of nowhere, okay?]

『Got it, got it, I got it already.』

Did it get it?

It can’t be helped. I let go of the unicorn from my pin.

『Aaaー…my neckー. You’re good at it…』

I have doubts already.

[Umm… well… I mean, so Haruto-kun can talk with the unicorn?]

Seeing that my exchanges with the unicorn had seemingly come to an end, Etna-san finally chimed in.

[Nnー… I guess so, in a way.]

[Waa, Haruto-kun is the best. Amazing.]

I’m not sure about it myself, but it still felt amazing to be praised by Etna-san like that. Uhehe.

[So, what did you two talk about?]

Etna-san finally left the tent as she said so, joining me and the unicorn outside.

Right then, even if it’s not a shout, the unicorn snorted.

I think it’s better to keep the unicorn away from Etna-san. Seriously.

I need to be careful so as not to awaken something weird within this lousy unicorn.

[Ahー, about that, it seems that it’s injured so it’s currently not feeling comfortable…]

[Oh, is that so? Should we undo the restraints…?]

I screwed up.

Shouldn’t have told her so honestly.

It’s easy to guess that someone as kind as Etna-san would immediately suggest that upon hearing my story.

『Un un! The human female virgin is kind-hearted.』

The unicorn raised its head and scrunched its nose.

[Eh… you, you can understand what she’s saying?]

『Nn? Yeah, a little.』

H-hey….

I was able to understand what the unicorn is talking about only because I have the translation magic, but it can actually understand human language. Scary. It’s so scary.

[What is wrong?]

[Ah, nothing. More importantly, we need to check what kind of injury it is in――]

In the end, I decided to explain what the unicorn was saying to Etna-san, who had come to the side of the unicorn.

******

[So the unicorn…Tarma’s story about the healing lake is true?]

[That is correct. Tarma-san’s story matches with what I know.]

When I finished explaining the unicorn’s story and asked Etna-san for confirmation, I found out that he seemed to be telling the truth.

By the way, Tarma is that unicorn’s name.

I laughed, thinking that the name reminds me of the daruma doll. Etna and Tarma were deeply hurt when they were sent a gaze like “What’s wrong with this person?”

There’s no such thing as a daruma doll in this world.

Aside from the fact that the lake really is a lake with healing properties, I still had some doubt whether the unicorn was really injured or not….

『Since you two can at least understand me, let me tell you this…』

After having some more talk with it, I was convinced that the unicorn is unlikely to do us any harm. When I thought that it’s okay to release it from its restraint, Tarma suddenly spoke to me out loud.

『You should leave here immediately. Of course, after letting me go.』

[I should leave immediately? Why?]

When I asked back, Tarma looked fidgety and turned his face down, then he continued speaking.

『Because a dangerous monster will come after me.』