Finally, he was able to level up. Every day, through blood and sweat, he tried his best and managed to level up in four years. Of course, he understood that this was a rather average result, but it was better than leveling up in ten years. But his thoughts are interrupted by a sharp push in the side. Before he could open his mouth, he was forestalled.
"Congratulations, Rein!"
"Thanks. But how did you know?"
He smiled when he saw the smile of his comrade. He had been with him for three years. And even though they are from different families, all the difficulties they had experienced together strengthened their connection so much that he began to consider him a blood brother who would always help in times of need.
"Ha-ha-ha, that will remain my secret."
Putting his finger to his lips, he smiled, patting him on the back. Rein smiled at this reaction, because he knew from the beginning that he would do that, so he just remained silent.
"Hey, wait, where are you rushing off to?" - Grabbing him by the hand. - "We need to celebrate this."
"… Why not."
Rein agreed, looking intently into his eyes. He certainly wanted to go down to the dungeons today for training, but why not relax? He didn't remember the last time he rested. All they did was train and go down to the dungeons.
"I knew you'd agree. I've already prepared a place. Oh, we've already prepared a place to celebrate your promotion, let's go."
"Have you told everyone already?"
"What, did you doubt it?"
"Ah, no."
Rein exhaled, realizing that if he already knew, then others knew too. He could have assumed this from the beginning.
"Okay, okay, let's not waste time. Let's go!"
"What kind of place is it?"
"Don't worry, you'll like it."
"Well, since you say that, I definitely won't like it."
At these words, his comrade grabbed his heart.
"How cruel… But don't worry, now you'll definitely like it."
"You always say that."
"No, I don't!"
Looking intently into his eyes. After a few seconds, he looked away, acknowledging the situation.
"Well, okay, it was a couple of times," he admitted, scratching his head. Starting to speed up to avoid looking into those eyes, and in a confident voice, he continued: "Today you definitely won't be disappointed… maybe."
"We'll see."
Sitting at the table and watching everyone else having fun, he unconsciously smiled. After all, he was having fun.
"Why are you sitting here alone?"
"You know I'm not that kind of person… but still, thank you for today, Albert."
"You're welcome."
"Of course, I'm surprised."
"What at?"
"That you're not drunk yet."
"What opinion do you have of me? Do you think I can only drink?"
"I don't think, I know."
Looking into each other's eyes, they both laughed.
"Are you going to confess to her now?"
"Do you think she'll agree?"
"Yeah, of course not, have you even seen yourself in the mirror? You're just ugly."
"No, I'm serious."
"You're serious… but you understand. Compared to her, we're just ants. We can just admire her from the shadows and should be happy about it."
"Love is equal for everyone."
"Yeah, love is like in novels where beautiful women fall in love with monsters and so on. But there's one downside - they only exist in novels."
"You just have to hope and then everything will work out."
"It would be good if that were the case. But know that the more you hope, the more disappointed you will be. In simple terms - be prepared for the worst outcome."
"Thanks for the advice, Albert. It's better to try and get rejected than not try and regret it for the rest of my life."
"Okay, okay, enough about that, we have a whole night ahead of us, let's have fun."
Getting up and joining the fun. After Rein was alone with his thoughts again, he couldn't help but worry on the day he confessed, because all his efforts were for her. He tried with all his might to reduce the distance between them, but at the same time understood that he would not succeed.
And so a week passed. For him, this week was the most difficult, because today the Loki family expedition returns. Because of these thoughts, he didn't go down to the dungeons and abandoned training - he was just preparing for the upcoming day with anticipation.
But no matter how hard he tried to forget Albert's words, they kept coming back to him, making him hesitate more and more. And finally that day came.
"Sorry, I'm not interested in relationships right now."
"… Okay, I understand."
"Albert was right after all," he thought, saddened by the outcome. He believed with all his heart that it might be mutual love. After standing for a little longer with his head down, someone patted him on the back.
"Ha-ha-ha, you should have seen your face, and I told you from the beginning that's how it would be. Oh yeah, you're probably the thousandth person she's rejected. So it's not that sad."
"…"
"Get a grip!"
Hitting his back with all his strength.
"Ouch!? What are you doing? It hurts!?"
"I'm just helping you to come to your senses. Is there something you don't like?"
"Yes. Of course I don't like it! Who else would like to be hit?"
"Okay, okay, let's go to the dungeons, everyone is already waiting for us."
Without waiting for an answer, he started walking, because he knew that Rein would go. He knew him better than anyone.
"Hey, wait, you could have hit softer."
"Oh, stop whining, I hit you softly."
Two months have already passed since the confession.
"Hey, be careful."
Cutting the monster in front of him into two pieces, he just watched it disappear.
"What's wrong, Rein? You're acting strange, what happened to you?"
"Yeah, the sword princess rejected him again."
"Seriously? How many times are you going to bother a person, just calm down and that's it, Rein."
"You just don't understand. I read in a book that you can't give up on the path of love, if you get rejected, make her agree."
"Wow, you read books. How many times do I have to tell you that no means no. You need to calm down before it leads to trouble."
Looking intently into the eyes of his companions, he decided to just remain silent. He understood that it was useless to argue with them. They have different views on life and I have different ones. But deep down he is sure that it will work, because the book said that it will work in ninety cases out of a hundred. So he was confident in himself.
"Ah, okay, let's drop this topic, we have more important things to do than pointless arguments. We still need to go down to the twentieth floor."
"Yeah, I agree, these arguments won't lead to anything."
"Okay, captain."
Looking at Albert and Rein, in one he saw calm, in the other a hint of irritation, but even that was better. Turning away, he begins the journey to their goal for today.
"Who is that?"
Looking in the direction that Albert is pointing, they saw a running person. Because of the blood it was unclear who it was - a girl or a boy and what age. But when he got closer, he was able to see him better and realized that it was just a boy. Discontent appeared on their faces at this sight.
When he ran past, he tripped him. They widened, seeing him fall and roll head over heels.
"Where are you running? Scared of goblins? Running to mommy's skirt?" - After Albert's words, everyone laughed.
"Run, run! There's no place for such weaklings and cowards here, just scum like you. Cowards who always run away."
They watched as the boy got up and, ignoring them, ran away. They looked at him with contempt. They all disliked the weak who can run away at any second. Just drop everything for the sake of their lives. They understood that anything can happen in the dungeon. But even so, they were all thinking about the same thing.
"Hey, where are you going, what are you so scared of, aha."
"Hey, hey, quiet, or he'll faint from fear, hah."
"Just trash!"
The captain shouted after the boy. When he completely disappeared around the corner of the dungeon, after that everyone's smile disappeared from their faces, and they continued their journey. Their entire next journey was spent in silence. No one wanted to start a conversation first.
Time passed.
"Do you think we were too cruel?"
"To whom?"
Albert looked questioningly at Rein, wondering what he was talking about. He just sighed at this reaction.
"Well, to that boy."
"Oh, I remember… I don't see anything wrong with that, Rein."
"Well, what could I expect from you. And you, captain, what do you think?"
"Cowards shouldn't go down to the dungeons."
"Why are you so sure that he was running from fear?" - Rein read on his face. - "You are still too young… Or have you forgotten what the cowards did to you?"
Looking intently into his eyes.