* * *
I couldn’t be one hundred percent certain, but I felt more than halfway sure that he would accept it.
‘Calm down.’
Think about my current state.
I’m not even useful when I’m at my best—what good would I be to him now, when I can’t even think straight?
The best thing I could do for the hero was to do my part and then leave him alone as soon as possible.
Yeah. That’s right.
“Well then, Zerbin, I’ll go wash up real quick, so don’t eat dinner without me. You can’t eat until I take care of it for you!”
The hero, who had followed me into the temple, looked at me with a puzzled expression.
He wasn’t the only one confused—I was confused, too.
It took me a second to realize why.
Ah. I called him Zerbin.
I had been trying to create distance between us, and yet I had said it so naturally.
‘Should I just keep calling him Zerbin from now on?’
It’s not like he’d care.
He only let me call him Batista because I made a fuss about calling him “Bati.”
Before that, he hadn’t cared at all about what I called him.
It had never mattered to him.
In fact, thinking about it, he even let me call him “Bati” at first.
‘To be honest, calling him by his name feels way too familiar.’
And maybe that’s why it feels even more affectionate.
Besides, the only people who called him by his name were his master and an old acquaintance from his childhood.
I was the only one who had gotten closer to him recently.
Wouldn’t it look like I was someone special to him?
But I was just going to leave after I did my part.
I didn’t want to get tangled up and cause any damage to his reputation.
“Well…”
Was it because calling him by his name made it seem like I was being overly familiar?
Maybe I should just go back to using his last name.
It wouldn’t matter, right?
It’s not like he cared what I called him.
He only let me use “Fer” because I made a fuss about it.
“Well?”
“I mean…”
Why was this so hard to say?
I met his gaze directly, feeling the weight of his expectant stare, but all I could do was part my lips soundlessly.
This was weird.
‘But we did agree on a name. Wouldn’t it be rude to take it back on my own?’
I had asked if I should keep calling him Zerbin, and he had said no.
But when I did call him by his name, he hadn’t minded.
He even said he didn’t think it was bad.
“…It’s nothing.”
What an idiot.
A complete fool.
The truth was, I just wanted to keep calling him by his name.
What was the point of calling him “the hero” in my head if I couldn’t even stop myself from wanting to call him Batista out loud?
The truth was…
I didn’t want to keep my distance at all.
I had been ignoring it, but lately, it was becoming harder and harder to deny.
The more the hero treated me kindly, the more I found myself wanting to stay by his side.
Somewhere along the way, I had started expecting—hoping—that maybe he’d want me to stay, too.
What the hell.
I had really gotten full of myself.
It’s not like I had gotten any stronger, and yet, just because the hero was treating me a little better than before, I was acting all self-important.
Pathetic.
“You’re sulking again.”
The hero spoke abruptly.
“…Sulking?”
“You’re all curled up, staring at the ground.”
…Was it that obvious?
I was usually good at keeping my expression in check.
Most people couldn’t tell.
“Stop wasting time with useless thoughts and go wash up.”
With that, the hero casually reached for my coat and helped me take it off.
It was such a natural gesture for him, but my heart nearly stopped.
His fingers brushed against my bare shoulder, where my sleeveless shirt left my skin exposed.
It was just a fleeting touch, but it sent a jolt through me.
Wait.
Why was the hero helping me undress?!
“T-There’s no need for that!”
“I’ll have it washed.”
He ignored me!
And as if that wasn’t enough, he also casually pulled out all the daggers I had hidden in my coat—ten in total—and arranged them neatly.
“Are you going to wash up or not? I’m hungry.”
“…Y-Yeah.”
Damn it.
Damn it!
With my heart pounding like crazy, I clutched my chest and bolted into the bathroom.
I couldn’t let the hero go hungry, so instead of properly washing up, I just rinsed myself off quickly.
The blood smell was mostly gone.
That was good enough.
The leftover cooking ingredients were still intact.
I grabbed the bacon and eggs again, just like last time.
Honestly, what kind of adventurer couldn’t even do something this simple?
“I’m not going to talk this time.”
Batista, thankfully, waited in the kitchen again.
It would’ve been nice to chat, but I didn’t trust myself right now.
Cooking wasn’t that hard, but last time, I got too caught up in our conversation and burned everything.
This time, I had to succeed.
I was determined to make something decent—at least good enough that the hero wouldn’t say, “You’ve never succeeded once.”
Resolving myself, I placed thin slices of bacon onto the pan.
The sizzling sound was satisfying.
Even though I had said I wouldn’t talk, I kept glancing at the hero.
Was he getting bored?
Would he leave?
But when I turned around, I met his eyes immediately.
He had been staring at me the whole time.
It was just eye contact, but my cheeks felt hot.
I quickly turned back to the pan, but my neck still tingled with awareness.
Why was he watching me so intently?
Was he just really hungry?
I really couldn’t afford to mess up now.
Determined, I focused entirely on cooking.
And somehow, I managed to produce something half-decent—slightly crisped but still edible bacon, and an egg with a broken yolk but not burnt!
Calling this “decent” makes my conscience ache.
But out of everything I’ve made, this is the best so far.
Considering how much the hero eats, I’ll need to grill a lot more.
But I’ll wait to see how this batch turns out first.
Even if it looks fine on the outside, something could still be wrong.
If he wants more, I’ll grill more!
“Here!”
Even though this was the best thing I’d ever made, I knew it was a stretch to call it actual cooking.
Still, my voice came out proud.
After all, this was my first real success worth celebrating!
“Finally, something that qualifies as a meal.”
His words sounded teasing, but his tone was too dry for any real playfulness to come through.
Honestly, I couldn’t argue even if he was making fun of me.
In fact, wasn’t this a good thing?
Has anyone else ever been teased by the hero?
Probably just me, right?
Thinking about it rationally, teasing a mentor isn’t easy. Right?
‘What the hell is wrong with me?’
Why am I reading so much into this?
If I weren’t traveling with the hero, I might have gone to meditate under a waterfall to clear my head.
Then again, now that I think about it, it’s summer, so it’d probably just feel refreshing.
“Good job.”
“Huh? What?”
I was so lost in useless thoughts that I completely missed the moment when the hero took his first bite.
The stack of thinly grilled bacon had already lost a piece.
But I didn’t miss the way his expression softened—just a little.
‘Oh my god…’
He must’ve liked it! It must’ve tasted decent!
Well, I did buy expensive, high-quality bacon, so of course it tasted good.
But for some reason, I still felt ridiculously touched.
Just the fact that he was satisfied with something I made made me happy.
“Should I grill more? A lot? Like, a whole bunch?”
“Just as much as you can handle.”
A calm, rational response.
Right, I shouldn’t get carried away and burn the rest.
As expected, the hero is cool-headed, objective, and—honestly—the best.
* * *
owww cuties