Nurturing the Hero to Avoid Death

translator: mii

editor: ASplashofMusic, Sleepchaser

When I wake up the next morning, I see Lian sleeping comfortably next to me with a peaceful look on his face.

Ahh, I’m really happy that what happened yesterday isn’t just a dream.

I can see the faint red marks on his chest, neck, arms, and also the other places that are peeking through the shirt he’s wearing. They’re the marks I made yesterday.

My favorite scent softly wafts from his warm skin. His scent is as mild as a grassland yet also slightly sweet.

Everything and everywhere looks very… delicious. I gulp.

Ahh. No, not good. I still haven’t had enough.

I want to touch him more. I want him to touch me with those soft, warm hands of his.

Unable to stand it any longer, I lick his sweet skin and then his lips before biting his chest, which looks like a pale fruit in my eyes. As expected, Lian appears to have woken up from my ministrations.

He lets out sweet moans and gasps, face bright red and eyes suddenly wide-open. “Ah… Al…?”

“Good morning,” I say.

He still seems to be sleepy because his voice is quite faint as he says, “Good morning…?”

When I push his shoulder, he easily leans back and falls onto his back again. Even after my body envelops his, he only tilts his neck slightly in confusion, staring at me with puffy eyes.

When our eyes meet, he flashes a soft and dreamy smile. He looks so cute and delicious that I can’t help but kiss his lips.

Then Lian flinches.

Maybe he’s surprised and complaining right now. I can feel his muffled voice on my mouth as he starts to resist in my arms.

…It’s a failure this time. It seems like he has fully woken up. If I had made him feel a little better, maybe he would have gone along with it just like that… He might have even allowed me to do it again once more. I think. No, I’m sure of it. I want him to let me do it with him since I haven’t touched him for a long time. So just a little bit more—

Unwilling to give up, I lightly bite Lian’s ears and neck. With a flushed face, he kicks me, pulls the back of my hair, and scolds me, “You idiot, I told you yesterday that we’ll be leaving in the morning, didn’t I? Just wake up already!”

In the end, he hits me on the head.

When Lian isn’t sleepy, not only does he not go along with my whims that easily, but he’s also quite harsh.

After the roof repair flurry starts to calm down, Lian tells me he’s going to build another fence in front of the forest at the western side of the village.

Hearing that, the workers and I exchange glances. All of us thought that even if he doesn’t do that, he’s already built a sturdy fence to repel the monsters. It’s already good enough.

Seeing our reaction, Lian smiles with a slightly embarrassed expression. He then explains that demon activity has been particularly increasing in other villages recently, causing more and more damage.

Also, his survey showed that there seems to be many blood claw bears lurking deep within the western forest. He wants to prevent tragic incidents like Mite and Moot’s case from happening again, so he believes that it’s better to take precautions since it will be too late to deal with a situation once it has already happened… Well, that’s true, but…

…I’ve been going outside this village for deliveries, but I’ve never seen or heard of any demon-inflicted incidents that dealt serious damage.

According to the rumors I’ve heard from other people, they only saw a glimpse of rarely seen monsters in secluded places. There won’t be a problem as long as everyone is being as careful as before. Even if Lian doesn’t set up any urgent preemptive countermeasures, the situation isn’t that bad at all.

But I don’t voice out my thoughts.

Right. Because I made a promise to him at that time.

Even if I suspect that he might be lying, I won’t ask him anything. I won’t try to find out the truth. It doesn’t matter if what he says is a lie.

Because I know that beneath his lie, there resides the real reason for his actions… Even if he can’t tell it to me yet.

…Also, if he knows that I’m aware of how he’s trying so hard to hide his lies, which he hates so much… We won’t be able to get along like how we do right now.

Or worse… he might disappear from my side.

It’s not impossible.

In the lullabies that Marie used to read for me and also the books that I read, there have been several stories of people losing what’s most important to them after giving in to others’ suspicion and curiosity and then revealing the truth.

If that happens… I absolutely won’t like it. I don’t even want to imagine Lian disappearing from my side.

I want him to be with me. Forever. I want him to always look at me with that soft and warm smile of his.

So without caring about anything else, I only reply, “Just do as you wish. No matter what happens, I’ll accompany you until the end.”

This causes Lian to look up at me. His eyes look like he wants to tear up. Then he replies in a small voice, “Thank you.”

If Lian will stay with me forever as long as I don’t reveal what I know, then… I won’t ask for him to tell me the truth for the rest of my life. He can keep what he hides a secret.

It’s fine for me to never know the real reason that he’s desperately trying to hide from me. As long as he doesn’t return to the Goddess.

As long as I know that his like and love toward me is real, just like what he told me on that day, that’s enough.

So…

“Lian-dono sure can make a very wonderful fence, huh?” mutters a man next to me in admiration.

I then snap out of my thoughts and return to my senses.

The moment I become aware of the existence of the man beside me, I can feel my mood immediately souring. Even that realization annoys me.

When I glance to my side, my gaze meets the guy’s eyes, whose pupils are too blinding.

He’s offering me a friendly unnatural smile, but I can’t bring myself to smile back at him at all.

Rather, since he was dispatched to help Marie, he should go back to the church. Just go away already.

This man, who claims to be a cathedral knight of low rank, heard us talk about the fence construction. He then tells Lian that he wants to see it and also help if possible… Recently, he’s been following us more and more often.

Lian is the head of the construction. Since he accepted his request… I have no choice but to accept it too.

And… There’s no way I can say that I don’t want him to come just because I don’t like him. That sounds like something a whiny brat would say. Lian will definitely be amazed by my words considering my age.

Even so, sometimes I feel like he treats me like a child.

“The demon-repelling fence I saw the other day at the west side of the village is straight, tidy, and lined up perfectly… It’s beautiful. Just by looking at it, I can see that it was made very meticulously. Of course, this is thanks to everyone’s great skills, but… I heard that Lian-dono personally went to the site and instructed them to make it that way.”

True, he told us not to rush it and to work precisely. And that if we had any concerns, we needed to report it to him immediately. He also told us to be careful not to get hurt during the construction.

Every time before we start working, Lian would always tell us that. Before and even until now.

I break eye contact with Schwede, whose light-colored orbs hurt my eyes too much. Instead, I stare at Lian’s back.

As we check the materials that are being unloaded from the carrier one by one, which are for the fence that we’ll be building soon, Lian is discussing with a worker, a map and a stack of planning sheets in one hand and a pen in the other.

Looking in the same direction as me, Schwede smiles and says, “My. Lian-dono is always working hard no matter what.”

His eyes are narrowed and gentle, just like when Marie is watching the kids.

“He’s doing his best to protect this village… To protect you all.”

…I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but I feel like he’s trying to imply something there… I look back at the guy standing next to me. Schwede also reciprocates my gaze. He seems to see through my confusion and… smiles in pity.

Once I see that, a wave of extreme annoyance washes over me. In a harsh tone, I talk back to him, “…That’s only normal. This is the Owens’ territory and the land that Lian’s family rules over.”

I can’t read Schwede’s emotions, but his smile becomes more shallow.

“It sure is a very happy life for you to take his protection and love for granted without knowing anything about the situation, isn’t it?”

Sorry for the lateness again. This is all my (Sleepchaser’s) fault for being slow with the second check. Mii and ASplashOfMusic have been consistent with their work this whole time. Also, don’t worry. There will be another chapter this weekend (so in a couple days)