“I think I am starting to genuinely like you a little bit.”
Belze murmured casually.
Even when I stiffened up, not knowing how to react, Belze did not laugh it off with a joke like she usually did.
Belze just stared straight into my eyes as I sat across from her.
Amidst the silence and the gaze, I had no idea what to say—
“Uhm, Belze…”
“What is it?”
“Why did you name me ‘Pino’?”
Yes, I changed the subject to distract her.
Belze answered calmly without becoming in the least bit displeased.
“It is the name of a dog I picked up when I was a child.”
“A dog?”
“Yes. It was my beloved dog. It died early from an illness.”
An illness?
“Waxy disease. Those who are continuously exposed to thick magical power can sometimes be afflicted by such an illness. If it had been discovered early, it would have been an easy disease to treat, though.”
“You couldn’t discover it…?”
“Right. The early symptoms of waxy disease appear on the tongue. You stop being able to taste things, and therefore you stop eating food. But for me, refusing food was a normal thing. That is why I did not notice.”
Belze seemed to regret it.
“If it cannot be treated in the early stages, it is quick from then on. The body turns into wax, and breathing stops.”
“I see.”
“In that respect, you are a human. Even if your tongue goes wrong, you will immediately tell me with words. It is reassuring.”
That might be true.
What could a young child do for a dog that could not use words? It can only be called a misfortune.
“Am I a replacement for that beloved dog?”
“Well, yes. At first, you were.”
Once again, Belze stared straight into my eyes.
“You were an unexpected find. Your cooking is truly delicious.”
As always, this person speaks her mind honestly.
…Of course, it is a happy thing to hear.
It is a very happy thing to hear, but—
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“I said that I am starting to genuinely like you a little bit—”
Ah. You are bringing that back up.
She repeated the exact same words, word for word. It was definitely intentional.
What on earth is she planning?
Does she think of me as a beloved pet, is she teasing me, or is she actually speaking in that kind of way? I cannot read her at all.
When I stiffened up again, Belze sighed and stood up.
“Well, whatever. I knew from the start that you were that kind of man.”
Before I knew it, the plates were completely cleaned.
The inside of the pot was also almost empty.
Saying she would give the rest to the Gnomes, Belze walked a few steps away from the Gnome settlement.
At her destination, a large boulder stood a little in the distance.
She slipped off her shoes smoothly, lifted her foot into position—and swung it down.
“Crazy cow, physical enhancement.”
It was a tremendous amount of power.
It was a blow where the sound burst out with a delay, right after the impact.
The shockwave released from a single light kick split the distant boulder right in two and pierced right through it, and furthermore, it cut down ten and then twenty trees in the background right from their roots.
“It is a power with the best possible compatibility. The magic power of spirits that has accumulated for a hundred years, and a body that seems to embody violence… Is this the first time such power has dwelt in my ‘Gluttony’ since the ancient dragon?”
Belze made a wicked, grinning face at the power, which was on a completely different level from the big boar’s “physical enhancement,” which had only shaved the boulder halfway.
“Pino. In light of your achievements, I will forgive you this time.”
There will be no next time, Belze said with a mischievous smile.
Let us have a modest epilogue for now.
Since then, we were allowed to rest a little longer in the Gnome settlement.
Both Belze and I were exhausted after all. We slept like logs.
The return trip was eventually around the evening of that day.
“Shall we head back, then?”
That was when Belze spread her large wings from her back.
Right there, we had a bit of a reunion.
It was the sparkling hero party, walking out from deep in the forest. Their arrival was a day late.
“Princess Belze! W-why are you in a place like this?”
The hero looked surprised when he saw Belze.
It feels a bit like déjà vu. I feel like we had the same conversation at the guild.
“Um, we came here chasing reports of a high-ranking demon being sighted, but as for Your Highness—”
“It was a different matter. But I defeated the demon.”
“Eh? You defeated it?”
“Yes. Therefore, we are on our way back. Pino, let’s go.”
So Belze, why are you in such a hurry when it comes to the hero?
Belze hurried me, hugging me from behind and tapping my head repeatedly with one of her large wings.
As I playfully told her to stop, the hero shouted as if he could no longer hold it in.
“Princess Belze, I am in love with you!”
Ah, he said it.
Well, I figured it would be something like that.
Belze simply nodded, saying, “I know.”
“I cannot understand why you suddenly appointed such a man as an attendant… B-even so! I will not give up.”
“Is that so?”
“That day, I had just regained the memories of my previous life and was wandering around without even knowing the meaning of being reincarnated, and it was Your Highness who taught me my mission as a hero!”
—Excuse me?
Previous life. Reincarnation. Those words made me freeze up.
It made me stop as cold as an ice statue, to the point where the romance happening right in front of me no longer mattered at all.
Because it was a story that hit way too close to home.
…This hero, could he possibly be the same as me?
When I turned my gaze to Belze above my shoulder, Belze ignored the hero who was pressing in front of her, saying, “It was love at first sight!”, and tilted her head toward me.
“What is it?”
“Um, about the previous life and reincarnation…”
“You do not know? It is the qualification of a hero. They say a hero is a vessel for a soul that drifted in from another world. Without the power of another world, the Demon King cannot be killed.”
Belze stated that simply.
So that was what she meant when she said she didn’t meet the conditions to be a hero.
“Princess Belze! I will definitely defeat the Demon King. When that happens, please, with me—”
However, the hero’s second proposal was not allowed to be finished, either.
Belze took off without giving any room to argue.
She forcefully grabbed me and floated up into the wide-open sky with her four large wings.
For some reason, I instinctively shouted toward the hero as he grew more and more distant.
“Hero! Next time, please let me make something for you!”
“Eh?”
“Let’s eat a meal together!”
“Ah, uh. I don’t really mind, but… Eh, why? What on earth are you?!”
Before I could answer that question, the figures of the hero party had disappeared into the distance.
Why did I say something like that? Was it because I found out we were from the same hometown, I wonder?
I somehow couldn’t feel like he was a stranger.
While flying through the sky, Belze grumbled in a low voice, “What are you planning?”
“You are my cook.”
“That’s right.”
“I certainly will not forgive you for serving food to others without me. Make me sit with you.”
Ah, so that is fine with you.
“Understood. By the way, um, does Your Highness dislike the hero?”
“Not really. He is a good man, so there is no reason to dislike him. It is just that he is persistent, so I do not want to stay long.”
“I see.”
It seems his proposal didn’t resonate with her at all. I felt a bit sorry for him.
Even so, a reincarnated person, huh?
In the end, I never told Belze that I was a reincarnated person.
Why is that? It is difficult to self-analyze my feelings at this moment.
Probably, maybe, for sure—
I didn’t want to be thought of as a special person.
My cooking skills were recognized. That was all I wanted.
I didn’t want her to look at me through colored glasses, thinking I can make good food because I have knowledge from another world, or perhaps thinking I might be a hero myself.
I wanted Belze to see the current me, just as I am.
That is why I couldn’t say it.
With such an unresolved feeling remaining—
My first adventure thus brought down the curtain.