Chapter 539: Progress Between Two People
Tauro and his party chose the Swen Branch of the Adventurers’ Guild, located in the capital city of Count Swen’s domain, as their base of operations in the north—for now.
Its proximity to the northern border and the fact that it was a large city were also major factors in my choice.
It was ideal for gathering information on the Empire, and given its strategic location, it would be natural for Imperial spies to set up a base here.
“Now that we’ve had a good night’s sleep and are well rested. Shall we head to the Adventurers’ Guild?”
Tauro suggested to Aeris and the others at the inn’s dining hall.
“Hey now, Leader. How about taking one more day off for once? Go observe the city a bit. Better yet—why don’t you go with Aeris, just the two of you?”
Ankh proposed this, perhaps trying to be considerate—or perhaps because he simply wanted time to enjoy the city himself.
“Sounds good. I’ll look around too, see if there are any fellow Dragon people in this city,”
Ragune said, grabbing Zion by the arm and siding with Ankh’s idea.
“…? Well, if everyone says so, I don’t mind… Aeris, is that okay with you?”
Tauro asked, checking with the unusually quiet Aeris.
“If you’re okay with it, Tauro… then I’d like to join you,”
Aeris said, trying her best to sound nonchalant.
“—Alright! Then Aeris and I will go on a date. You guys take care of everything else!”
Tauro said lightly, half-jokingly. Beside him, Aeris’s face turned bright red.
“…I never thought I’d hear the word ‘date’ coming out of the leader’s mouth… man, this old guy’s moved to tears just seeing your growth…”
Ankh said, dabbing at the corner of his eyes, his tone half-teasing, half-serious.
“Hahaha! Let’s leave things to the younglings and make our exit,”
Ragune said, pulling on Zion’s arm like an overbearing aunt.
“I’m young too, you know?”
Zion pointed at herself with a puzzled look, clearly not getting the joke.
“It’s just a joke. —Come on, let’s go,”
Ankh said, grabbing Zion’s other arm and leading them out of the dining hall.
“Man, everyone really jumped on that ‘date’ joke, huh? Hahaha… —Hm? Aeris?”
Aeris stood beside Tauro, her face red, fidgeting nervously.
“…Please take me on a date…”
She said it in a tiny voice, mustering all her courage.
“Eh…!?”
Even the usually dense Tauro couldn’t miss it this time. Seeing Aeris’s shy expression and hearing such a direct confession, he sensed she was serious—and found himself at a loss for words.
So… does this mean
He thought to himself.
Of course, lately Tauro had found Aeris especially beautiful. She had a great personality, and more than anything, they got along well as friends and fellow adventurers, so he really liked her.
I feel at ease when I’m with you.
But in his previous life, he’d never had a girlfriend, devoting his youth entirely to magic circle research. He was painfully inexperienced when it came to romance.
Even in this life, his adventures in another world had been so much fun, leaving him just as detached from romance as before.
Still, he wasn’t so hopelessly oblivious that he could ignore Aeris going this far. The moment it clicked, he felt his own face grow hot.
“T-Then… shall we go…?”
Tauro took Aeris’s hand as she looked down shyly, her face flushed.
Aeris lifted her face, smiling brightly.
“Yeah!”
And so the two left the dining hall and went on their first serious date in the town of Sven.
“…The leader’s already fifteen, you know. Aeris is seventeen. If things didn’t progress at least this much, it’d be such a shame,”
Ankh muttered as he, Ragune, and Zion watched the two leave from the corner of a building.
“It’s good that Tauro has finally noticed Aeris,”
Ragune replied happily, watching them walk away together.
“…I honestly thought those two were already dating,”
Zion said. Even someone as romantically dense as her had assumed as much, having seen how hard Aeris worked beside Tauro during their training in the Dragon’s Den over the past year.
“Those two are both naturally clueless when it comes to love. On top of that, you’ve got our leader, right? Aeris had already realized her feelings and was getting more proactive—but the leader was so dense he still didn’t notice. This time, Aeris really stepped up,”
Ankh explained, striking the pose of a seasoned romance expert.
“You’re less a romance expert and more just a frequent visitor to brothels,”
Ragune said, giving Ankh a cold, unimpressed stare.
“H-Hey, my love life isn’t the point! Ragune, you’re nineteen now, right? It’s about time you found a good man or two!”
Ankh hurriedly tried to redirect the conversation once the spotlight turned on him.
“I’ll have you know, even though I look like this, there are still men in the dragon tribe village who try to court me!”
Ragune replied proudly, determined not to lose the argument.
And indeed, if she stayed quiet, Ragune was strikingly beautiful, with an exceptional figure— so it was no wonder she was popular.
But since she’d joined the Black-Golden Wings, Ankh had never once sensed any male presence around her, so he was genuinely surprised by her claim.
“I-Is that so!? …Then why don’t you have a man around?”
Ankh fired back with a perfectly reasonable question.
“…We Dragon people are a long-lived race. We’re patient when it comes to love. Of course, I do have a type, and I think things through properly before acting,”
Ragune replied, unexpectedly candid.
Her words caught both Ankh and Zion off guard.
“R-Really!? Then what kind of guy do you like, Lady Ragune?”
Zion asked, suddenly intrigued.
“…Well. I like someone who even if they’re sloppy in everyday life, when it really counts, I can trust him to have my back—a dependable guy with a contradiction like that,”
Ragune answered honestly, if a little embarrassed.
“Hmm. With those characteristics, then Ankh-san sounds like he’d fit that type!”
Zion said, somehow arriving at that conclusion and blurting out Ankh’s name.
““!?””
Ankh, who had been mentally cycling through faces of Dragon people he knew trying to find who it might be, was completely blindsided by Zion’s words.
Ragune was equally caught off guard by Zion’s comment and froze as well.
“D-Don’t be ridiculous!”
Both Ragune and Ankh denied it, turning their backs to hide their expressions.