Chapter 135: Admiration is the Emotion Furthest from Understanding
Liverpool is a port city with a prosperous trade. One could experience the local customs of 19th-century Britain and be surprised by how vibrant the streets still were, even in the evening.
The streets were still bustling with pedestrians, and both shops and restaurants were lively, completely different from the rural town of Axel where shops closed early.
With a beautiful woman for company, the outing was quite pleasant.
...Except for a certain shy blonde lady who followed closely behind Kobayashi's back, looking like a little puppy afraid of being abandoned, which made him let out a light laugh.
"Wh-why are you laughing?!"
"Sorry, sorry. I just didn't expect you to be so shy with strangers. Is it because you rarely go out?"
"Under normal circumstances, a student doesn't need to leave the academy!"
"That is true under normal circumstances," he repeated softly.
Although the girl was a severe tsundere, her hidden goodwill was still quite obvious.
At the same time, it puzzled him.
"Why did you specifically wait for me, Charlotte? Don't tell me you heard the word 'date' and were really looking forward to it?"
"Who would look forward to a date with you..." she said angrily, as if to cover up her own shyness.
At that moment, the laughter of a middle-aged man suddenly came from behind them, accompanied by a teasing "youth is so wonderful," which made her tremble slightly.
He stopped, looked at the girl hiding behind him, and then at the bustling streets and pedestrians.
"I see, so that's how it is~"
"Hey! Why do you have that 'I know everything' look on your face!"
"Simply put, as long as Sigmund isn't by your side, you feel very uneasy, don't you?"
"Ngh..."
She let out a whimper and lowered her head, seemingly aggrieved and unable to speak.
It seemed he had hit the mark.
He quickly comforted her. "Rest assured, I'm the same way in that situation."
"...Really?"
"Ah, really."
The first time he met Esdeath, he had been afraid of her exaggerated strength and unpredictable personality. He had tried to act tough, but his slip-ups were seen through by her. So he could empathize with that feeling of unease.
"Is that so? So that's how it is."
She smiled slightly. It was the empathy of finding someone who had had the same experience.
"So don't worry. If we run into danger, I'll protect you. You know my strength, right?"
"...That's exactly why I'm worried. Who knows if you're not a pervert disguised as a knight in shining armor."
"If you were so afraid, why did you follow me? Don't tell me you have some kind of strange hobby? Or were you secretly hoping I would do... this kind and that kind of bad things to you?"
"Of course not! Honestly, I'm already thinking about whether I should just go back!"
The two of them kept bickering. However, the atmosphere did not become particularly bad. To an outsider, it probably looked like a couple's flirtatious banter.
...I sincerely hope they don't think that, because Miss RyuZU, who has been following behind us, is acting a bit strange.
The serene and elegant automaton rarely made expressions that did not match her status, but it was precisely because of this that he always paid attention to her, afraid of neglecting her too much.
He took the initiative to take her hand and strode forward. Suddenly creating distance with Charlotte, the shy girl hurriedly followed.
She said in a panic, "D-don't just suddenly walk off like that, okay? Where are you going?"
"To take a walk by the canal. After all, I had already promised to go see the night view with RyuZU."
He held up their intertwined hands.
To hold another girl's hand in front of a girl, and to deliberately show it off... it had a strange, forbidden feeling.
Charlotte was a little surprised to see their intimate gesture. "You're a bit strange. For a puppeteer to actually listen to their own automaton... what a worthless man, to be dominated by an automaton. The roles are completely reversed!"
Faced with this scolding, he was not angry.
Instead, he said in a very ordinary tone, "RyuZU is my attendant, my companion, and my most important family. Is there anything strange about that?"
"But your attitude towards other automatons is also different from others," she said curiously.
Before, he had treated Sigmund. Under normal circumstances, a puppeteer would not treat another person's automaton. Not only had he taken the initiative to treat Sigmund, but he had even asked about its condition. And he had asked Sigmund directly, not her, already treating the dragon automaton as an independent individual.
"Everyone has their own criteria for judgment. I classify 'anything that can think and communicate' as an independent individual. If you're implying that I overstepped by asking Sigmund, then I apologize for that."
"...I didn't mean to blame you."
It was precisely because he had shown kindness to Sigmund, which her own dragon had pointed out, that she had come to help him. Although her tsundere appearance made her seem rather reluctant.
"Then there's no problem," he said, extending an invitation. "How about it? Want to come with us?"
"What?"
"To see the scenery."
"I refuse."
She turned her head away and refused crisply. "Why should I go with you two to see the scenery? Besides, I'm already hungry."
She's hungry... Just as she said, she's always inadvertently causing trouble for others.
"Alright, let's go eat."
"Huh? Aren't you going to see the scenery?"
"When someone tells you they're hungry, can you just silently go and look at the scenery?"
This rhetorical question made her lower her head again, as if regretting the tsundere words she had just blurted out.
He walked ahead and called back to her, "Let's go. We'll find a restaurant with a nice atmosphere. We can have a big meal and also see the scenery. The best of both worlds, isn't it?"
The boy who was making things easy for her was surprisingly a gentleman, which moved the girl greatly.
And then she refused again.
"I-I don't want to!"
After speaking in a firm tone, her eyes darted around, and she muttered, "This month... um, simply put, I'm in some financial difficulty... you could also say the economy is not doing well... or something..."
"If it's about money, don't worry. I just exchanged quite a few gold coins at the pawnshop. It's more than enough to treat you."
"Gold coins..."
The girl was momentarily speechless. She had forgotten how rich this country bumpkin was.
Thinking of this, her eyes sparkled, but then she came back to her senses, snorted, turned her face away, and said in a tsundere way, "I don't accept favors from perverts."
Unfortunately, her stomach betrayed her.
Grumble—
"...You... you rude person!"
"My fault?!"
He stared with wide, uncomprehending eyes.
Then, as if in revenge, he cupped his right hand to his ear, feigned listening, and teased, "Oh my. Unlike a certain tsundere girl who doesn't say what she means, her stomach, upon hearing that someone was going to treat her, has already started to cheer with joy."
"Wh...! To actually make me lose face..."
Then, with an attitude of self-abandonment, she said viciously, with tears in her eyes, "I get it, I get it! Since you're so rich, I'm going to make you treat me to a huge meal!"
The girl's unreasonable blame made his mouth twitch. But this could all be seen as her strange way of covering up her shyness. After all, she was a tsundere. It was good enough that she had agreed.
Twenty minutes later, the three of them appeared at a restaurant along the canal. With the power of money, they were seated at an open-air table on the second floor.
From here, one could clearly see the lights on the canal. The interior of the restaurant was a modern style composed of steel and bricks, which didn't give one a feeling of being unapproachable, nor did it feel like it lacked class. It was a restaurant that left a good impression.
"You can have a big meal and also see the scenery. How about it? A nice restaurant, right?"
"...It's alright."
What she said and the expression on her face were completely different. It seemed she was also quite satisfied with having dinner here.
The dishes were brought out one after another. With money, what they ate was naturally high-end cuisine. The noble girl was very satisfied with this.
It was just that during the meal, she kept looking at him, as if looking at some rare and exotic beast.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I heard that the table manners of Japanese people are the worst. I didn't expect you to be quite normal."
"Hold on a minute. Have you misunderstood something?"
"Misunderstood what?"
"I'm not Japanese. I'm from the country next door."
"...Eh? You're lying!"
She covered her mouth in surprise, looking at him in disbelief.
As expected, she had misunderstood. His name, his appearance, and his overly close contact with Raishin had completely misled the native Western girl.
But then she said something even more misguided.
"You're from that country? But I heard that everyone wears cheongsams and has bun-hair..."
"That's a prejudice!... No, maybe it's not a prejudice."
It couldn't be helped. The stereotype left on outsiders was too strong. On top of that, it was still the 19th century. This kind of misunderstanding was also normal.
"In any case, I am not Japanese. You must remember that."
"...I understand."
The girl nodded solemnly, taking this to heart.
This was her good point. She would remember things the other party was unwilling to talk about or had clearly stated, and would not bring them up in front of them again.
"In that case, your fighting style being so different from others is also because of this?"
"...You could say that."
"Is it a particular school?"
"A school? We don't call them that where I'm from. But if I had to say... My own school?"
What was passed down in the family is an XX-ryu. What you copy from others is a Genryu. What you make up on the spot is a Shinryu. And if you don't know anything and make it all up yourself, that's a Garyu (my school).
In terms of machinart, he really could only rely on himself, so it was reasonable to say it was his own school... even though RyuZU had not officially made a move since coming to this world.
The girl nodded in a daze, it was unclear if she had understood.
"Alright, this time it's my turn to ask the questions."
The smile he wore looked very wicked to her. She clearly showed a displeased expression, but she also seemed to feel that refusing would be too unfair, so she nodded reluctantly.
And the man with ill intentions, the moment he opened his mouth, went straight for her weak spot.
"What is your relationship with Felix? Where did you meet?"
"What, do you care? Don't tell me you have improper thoughts about him, are you gay..."
"I'd advise you to be kind, young lady!"
He smiled and forcefully interrupted her, letting her know to pay attention to the automaton girl beside them who was about to open her mouth with some sharp-tongued remarks.
Fortunately, she held it in.
Charlotte's cheeks flushed slightly, and she lowered her eyelids. "He was the one who took the initiative to get to know me."
The girl's shyness was on full display.
But immediately, a hint of gloom appeared in her sapphire-blue eyes.
She said in a low voice, "After all, I always unconsciously create enemies for myself... Don't misunderstand. Even so, I don't care. I'm fine on my own anyway, and I don't intend to get close to them. And there are advantages to being isolated. And Felix, because of his position on the Disciplinary Committee, is considerate of me in many ways."
"...I see."
His teasing followed, completely ignoring that the girl was still immersed in her sadness.
"And so you developed a crush on him?"
"Of course not!"
She immediately denied it in a tsundere way.
She raised her fair fist and threatened, "If you say any more nonsense, be careful I don't have Sigmund burn you to a crisp!"
"Scary, scary~ A girl who flies into a rage out of humiliation is so scary."
Far from apologizing, he escalated.
That was because the dragon automaton was not by her side. Otherwise, she would surely have had an IQ drop due to her shyness and issued a forced command.
"Actually, you didn't want to find me at all. You wanted to go out and play like this with that guy, right? What would you call something like this? A date rehearsal... or something?"
"Wh...! You...! How...!"
The girl was so shocked she couldn't speak.
Clearly, he had guessed right. He pressed on, "Didn't he ask you out? Why did you refuse? It should have been a dream come true for you, right?"
"...I can't."
Her anger suddenly dissipated, and in an instant, she lost her momentum and turned her head away.
She turned her gaze to the dark canal, and her sapphire-blue eyes were also dyed with its color. She said in an empty voice, "Felix is very popular. The girls are crazy about him. So if I go on a date with him..."
"You'll create more unnecessary enemies, or something... But you said you didn't care about those enemies. So you're afraid of causing trouble for him, right?"
He laid out her concerns.
The girl who was feared by everyone in the academy and called "Tyrant Rex"... to think that she would be so considerate of others. If others knew, their jaws would surely drop.
"And so that love slowly turned into admiration."
"...Probably."
"But, my dear girl, admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding. Do you understand this principle?"
"...Eh?"
She suddenly raised her head and looked at him, puzzled, as he had suddenly said something so philosophical.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm just repeating someone else's words."
"I thought so. After all, you're a country savage who would dare to go head-to-head with an automaton."
"If you're referring to the actions of those small-fry puppeteers who just stand there and attack with their mouths as 'elegant,' then yes, I am indeed a complete country savage."
"You...!"
Thinking of how he had knocked down the ten puppeteers who had sneak-attacked them, she couldn't say anything more.
However, the girl's unreasonable behavior still made him treat her to three servings of ice cream. In response, the filthy rich country savage also requested that she accompany him to buy things as a mission.
After that, they wandered around for a while. After night had completely fallen, they returned home.
But as soon as they returned to the campus, they sensed something was wrong.
It was already nine o'clock. Normally, the academy should have been quiet by this time, but now, the other side of the main gate was abnormally noisy.
—An attack had occurred.
Hearing this news, he subconsciously frowned.
(End of Chapter)