Inside An Ad*lt Game As A Former Hero - Chapter 67

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Cloud popped the wine bottle’s cork.

The deep aroma of the wine rose in the air.

The wine was some hundred and forty years old, it had a rich yet subtle entrancing scent.

The wine was poured into the glass as it glowed in its bright crimson hue.

“Sure enough, expensive things taste different. It isn’t at all worth comparing to the wine I have at the pubs.”

“The wine has been fermented for more than hundred years in a warehouse where clean mana flows. Yup, it’s picky to compare it to the wine purchased at a regular bar. By the way, the Duke did pay a lot of attention towards us.”

Wines of this quality are very expensive. By the kingdom’s standards, it is impossible for even a rich merchant to get his hands on one, maybe only a wealthy count would have the capacity to own a bottle.

Of course, in the Empire, there are cases where a baron may own several dozen bottles of such quality, but the Empire and the kingdoms are different in nature and money.

Giving this quality of item to consume to the guests, than saving it for banquets or important meals, was a sign of considerable favor.

“The next head of the Perdiac family asked for drinks, you know, so I guess he could not had have offered a crude one.”

“…but I never did put pressure on him for that.”

As Frillite sighed with a sullen expression on her face, Cloud smiled and poured more wine into her glass.

“It’s just a joke, and maybe it’s because they are trying to win the heroes’ favour. The public sentiment is already in bits because of this incident, now he can’t be a miser even to the heroes who saved the city, can he?”

“…is it really true that the Duke of Oler locked the inner city’s gates?”

“Um, yeah. Because of that, the public sentiment is very heavy. I don’t know about nobles, but among the knights there must be quite a few who are housing animosity.”

And not to mention the common soldiers.

Cloud tilted the wine glass he brought to his mouth. He sipped a mouthful of wine and savored the taste.

Well. It tasted just like wine.

‘Yeah, I’m not some wine sommelier, how should I compliment the taste of wine?’

Whether it was expensive or cheap, it was good wine to him as long as it exceeded a certain level. He gulped down the wine from his mouth to the throat.

He said, placing the wine glass on the small round table.

“Then tell me about you.”

“You already know most about me.”

“Not that.”

Cloud shook his head.

“I saw soldiers’ corpses lying around the Behemoth. Is it because of that that you have a wilted expression on your face, Frillite?”

Frillite opened her lips to say something then pressed it into a fine line.

Cloud gently patted Frillite on the back to comfort her.

“If anything feels difficult, tell me. Isn’t that’s what a friend is for? To share their laughs and sorrows as the time shows them one by one?”

Frillite raised the corners of her lips and tugged a small smile. She quickly erased her smile and she put on a serious expression. Like Cloud, she poured her wine into her mouth without savoring it.

“The Behemoth was strong.”

“Hm.”

“The sound of his roars made my head ache, the ground shook when he stomped his foot, and he shredded dozens of soldiers with any kick of his like it was nothing.”

“Crazy.”

“Yeah, crazy. But it was preventable. Unbeknownst to others, I was capable of stopping his attack. Still, I did not and dodged it. Do you know why?”

Frillite’s expression was pained.

A look of self-hatred and guilt was etched on her face.

Instead of answering, Cloud quietly poured wine into her glass. She continued to speak, she didn’t want an answer, she needed a listener.

“It was because there was a possibility that I would not be able to subdue the Behemoth. I could have held the attack, but if I did, injuries would have built up inside my body, making me lose my strength to face it again.”

“So do you regret it? What you did? ”

“No.”

Frillite firmly shook her head.

“I do not regret that. The me back then thought it was right, and the me now still thinks so. Even if I go back to the past, my judgment will not change.”

“However, I cannot shake the thought that if I had been stronger, they wouldn’t have had to die.”

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Frillite muttered with a bitter expression.

Even though known as the strongest of the four Heroes, she had taken it as her own weakness.

Cloud couldn’t stay silent towards Frillite’s self-blaming attitude.

“Hey, let me ask you one thing. Have you ever not done your best in your life? Have you ever been lazy, indulging yourself?”

Frillite tilted her head as if to ask why I was asking such a question.

Still, she answered my questions faithfully.

“I think I did my best. But now that I think about it, there were many better paths.”

“Yeah, there must have been a better way, there must. But you didn’t know at that time, and you did your best. The you of that time exerted effort. Why are you belittling her hardship? Why are you criticizing the results of your own?”

“…”

“Sometimes… no, I always think. You are too strict with yourself. I mean, you have a tendency to push yourself too hard. I don’t even know if that’s a bad habit. Because most people who do, don’t have a good ending.”

In the past, Cloud had a colleague. A swordsman with no talent for swordsmanship. What others would realize in one hour, he had to practice for ten continuous hours to realize the same thing.

Everyone told him to give up.

It was not that they were demeaning him or sympathizing with him. They said it because they were genuinely concerned.

But the swordsman did not agree. Every time he heard such words, he secretly increased his training time and abused his body into practice.

After pushing and overusing himself like that, the swordsman finally bloomed into a beautiful flower and became what others called fruit. Or maybe not?
Proofreader: DreaMing

After pushing and overusing himself like that, the swordsman finally bloomed into a beautiful flower and became what others called fruit. Or maybe not?

For the fruit withered like a flower not long after it beared.

Cloud still couldn’t comprehend what drove him so hard. Because his friend was reluctant to talk about his past.

Cloud just thought he had been stupid.

Doesn’t matter if you try and succeed, what good it gives if you lose yourself in the process?

Who will recognize a flower that lost its glamour soon after blooming? So what if they had been proved wrong? They will remember the moment when the flower lost its life rather than the moment when it looked most beautiful.

“Many have died. Each of them had families and friends—someone’s son, husband or father. Many people cry over the death of their loved one. If I could lessen their tears, wouldn’t it be worthwhile for me to push myself?”

“Then what if you are wrong? What about the people who will cry at your loss?”

Who will cry for me? She questioned internally.

To Cloud’s words, the first thing that came to Frillite’s mind was her family.

Her father and mother.

Will they shed two tears for her?

It didn’t seem like that.

So, what about the people in her family?

Frillite, who recalled her family members, shook her head again. She couldn’t imagine seeing those statue-faced people weeping for her.

Frillite sipped on the wine silently for a moment.

She asked, her voice tiny and small as she looked at her own face reflecting on the wine glass’ surface.

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“If something happened to me, will you cry for me?”

“Um. I will cry. I will cry out loud enough to make a river out of my tears.”

An immediate answer without any hesitation.

Frillite grinned and turned her head to Cloud.

“Playing jokes at times like this…”

Frillite’s mouth shut closed.

His face, which she thought would be full of playfulness, was dead serious. He was missing his usually relaxed expression.

He also looked a little sad.

“I’m not joking. If you don’t want to see me die of dehydration, start taking care of yourself.”

The withered flower inside Cloud’s chest was not only of his swordsman friend. His chest was filled with graves of countless flowers.

And he didn’t want to add another new flower there.

* * *

“Hey.”

Cloud, who had fallen asleep on the narrow round table, made a strange groan. There were several empty wine bottles rolling around him.

Frillite silently stared at Cloud, who was drooling.

She felt at peace.

Just looking at him without doing anything made her feel at ease.

‘It wasn’t like this at first.’

How had it come to this?

It was somewhat ironic.

Frillite looked at him with a smile and remembered what he had just said a few hours earlier.

‘If you don’t want to see me die of dehydration, start taking care of yourself.’

It was a strangely intimidating tone, but the thing put in as collateral was her life.

He sounded sincere though.

Even thinking about it now, she wanted to laugh out loud at the sheer incredibility.

Still…

It honestly wasn’t a bad feeling.

Because whatever he said, he genuinely cared for her.

The permanent emptiness in her heart seemed to be filling up. Now that it was mentioned, she had never felt so free and light before even though she was filled up.

– You don’t even want to marry Cloud, do you?

What Lorian had said during the day.

Made Frillite briefly recalled a conversation she had with her father.

Her father, surprisingly, saw her, Frillite’s proposal positively. She also credited her father for giving in to her will, but that was not all.

Because the head of the Duchy of Perdiac was not a person who can err on the side of emotions.

Everything was calculated.

First, Cloud has the status of a hero. His status is not lacking to Frillite.

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And he is an orphan from commoners.

There will be no such thing as an outsider disturbance within the family. In addition, Cloud himself said that he would not touch any of the family affairs and would be faithful only to his role.

It was another bonus that he wouldn’t have to worry about the appearance of his grandchildren because of his natural handsome looks.

So, from the Duke of Perdiac’s point of view, Cloud was a very good son-in-law candidate.

Because of which, the Duke of Perdiac had given his consent for the marriage if Cloud showed improvement and removed the tag of the Incompetent Hero.

‘I had never even thought about marriage until now.’

Until Cloud spoke up.

To be honest, even now, when thinking of the word “marriage”, she felt a little confused.

‘It’s not bad though.’

While governing her stale household, if Cloud will be with her, her boring life will have an element of fun.

Frillite was not concerned about the conditions the Duke of Perdiac had presented.

From what she recently watched, Cloud was never really incompetent. And according to what had happened today.

Tags such as the Incompetent Hero will be easily shaken off soon.

As she continued to stare at the sleeping Cloud, Cloud’s hand somehow caught Frillite’s attention.

Cloud’s hand was amazing.

Unlike her warrior-like hand, which was crude, his were white and beautiful.

Frillite blankly stared for a while, then carefully took his hand into hers. She intertwined his hand along hers and peacefully looked at him.

“…I must have been drunk too.”

Her face turned red and her heart started pounding. Yeah, she must have been drunk.

Heavily drunk, actually.