Chapter 82 – Why the Magic Archer Dressed as a Man
82 – Why the Magic Archer Dressed as a Man
I discovered that the androgynous Savior, the Magic Archer Shoots, is in fact female. Moreover, I discovered it by seeing her completely naked. Shoots is covering her important bits with her hands and her face is bright red. Eventually, she spoke, in a faint voice.
「C-could you close your eyes, please?」
「Got it.」 I immediately did as I was told.
Several minutes later, I heard 「Y-you can open them now.」
When I opened my eyes, I saw the figure of Shoots wearing a cloak over her light clothes. Other than her hunting knife, she also had standard archer equipment like a bow and quiver. But, just like the time with Alchemy, my attention is focused on the chest area.
Alchemy had new clothes made for her, but Shoots should be wearing the same clothes she normally wears, yet the fabric is being pulled up, causing her belly button to be visible.
「I-I usually wrap my chest in cloth to make them seem smaller, but figured I had to hurry, so…」
「I-I see. I don’t mind.」
「No, well…you have to go back soon, right?」 asked Shoots with a tinge of loneliness.
「…Guess so. Don’t think I can stay here for long.」
We are currently in the sprawling forest just outside of the town that Shoots and Alchemy designated as the rendezvous point. We walked closer to the river and sat on a convenient boulder. Then, I talked about the events that led to me becoming a freeloader in the Demon King Army, and about the days I’ve had since then.
「I heard from Marie, but…to think you’d truly be living with the children from that time.」
The Seven may be indispensably important figures in that country now; but five years ago, they were just captive young girls. It’s probably hard to imagine for Shoots that those girls would go on to have successful careers in a Demon country, and then support me.
「…When you disappeared, I honestly knew that you ran away of your own volition. With your powers, there was no way you simply messed up and got kidnapped. The things we did to you, despite being regrettable, had to be done; but it’s only natural that you wished to escape.」
『……』
I think Mika wanted to say something but didn’t in the end. She probably thinks that she’s just as guilty for keeping quiet.
「It’s fine. I definitely hated it, but I can understand why.」
「Yeah. I could understand it too. With Humanity’s predicament in mind, if the world can be preserved by warping the life of just one boy, I could accept that. In fact, all five of us did just that. However, acceptance does not mean forgiveness. When you left, I realized that.」
「…Is that why you searched for me?」
She shook her head feebly. 「…I don’t think so. I don’t plan on asking for forgiveness. That would force you into either forgiving me or not, and I believe that to be arrogance. But…」
「But?」
Shoots looked at me with a sad smile. 「It…it beats me. Maybe I would’ve felt better if I knew you were okay.」
「I’m doing fine. I fight sometimes, but I’m having fun everyday.」
She muttered「I see.」in response and hung her head.
「Oh, by the way, Shoots…」
「…Yeah?」
「Why… no, I shouldn’t ask.」
「Saying it like that makes me even more curious.」
『…Pretty sure Rain wants to ask why you hide your boobs.』
Shoots’s face started turning red, perhaps remembering what happened a few moments ago.
「O-oh…! Ahaha, that, huh. I see, you’re curious. It’s no big deal, really. Before the Crest of the Savior appeared on me, I was a lone traveler. I ran into all sorts of trouble during that time. My ears and chest were particularly eye-catching, so they always got me in trouble.」
「I see, so that’s why you wear a hood to cover your ears and a cloth to…suppress your chest.」
「Yeah. Luckily, my voice and the way I spoke made me seem like either gender, so I pretended to be a man. As soon as I did that, all the troubles I used to run into almost disappeared, so I have lived like this ever since.」
Those with long ears in Human Territory are rare. That, along with her beautiful face and well-endowed breasts, would surely attract attention. I could easily imagine creeps coming on to her.
「In that regard, Marie sure is something. She pays attention to people who shoot her obscene looks and properly punishes the reckless fools who try to cop a feel.」 said Shoots. Both Alchemy and Shoots had their reasons to hide their breasts, but Marie proudly leaves them be. Shoots admires how she deals with the trouble that comes along with them.
「To each their own when it comes to problem solving. Being able to solve a problem is amazing, and taking measures to avoid a problem altogether is also amazing. Although, it’s best if there weren’t people who caused problems in the first place.」 I said.
That’d probably be hard to achieve.
「…You’ve changed, Rain.」 Shoots looked at me in surprise.
「Have I?」
「At least, I don’t think the old you would’ve said something like that. Although, perhaps you just didn’t want to speak to us.」
Hm. Certainly, in my days of concentrating on completing my mission and sleeping while longing for normalcy, I would not have been able to pick up the finer details of my allies’ hearts. Nor could I have said anything that would have made them feel better about it.
「I’ve been learning, recently.」
「…About a woman’s heart?」
Shoots had mixed feelings written on her face. 「No, I’ve been learning about how to be a normal person… Woman’s heart? What?」
「Oh, I see…! Ahaha, I see, I see! …Please forget about what I just said.」 The tips of Shoots’s ears were dyed red.
『Oh god… The Seven are already too much to handle, but now there are the three of you from the Six Saviors, too?!』
I have no clue what Mika is talking about.
「Lady holy sword? I think you’ve got something wrong?」 objected Shoots vigorously.
Anyway, this is how I reunited with the Magic Archer Shoots, soon after meeting the Sage Alchemy. I wonder if the Swordmaster and the War God are doing well? Ah well, I’m sure we’ll see each other depending on future operations. I then spent some time talking about random things with Shoots, and afterwards returned to the Demon King Castle.
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