As Ashley hugs her stuffed rabbit, Ichiro asks her,
「Do you have anywhere else you want to go? I’d be happy to join you if you’d like.」
Ashley had come to town with three goals: lunch, clothes, and novels. However, after meeting Ichiro and spending more time than expected enjoying lunch and the street stalls, she’s used up quite a bit of time. Looking at clothes, searching for novels—Ashley does some mental calculations. Unfortunately, it seems there isn’t enough time to do both.
So she has to choose one or the other. But should she say it out loud? Would he think it’s weird?
「What’s wrong?」
Ichiro asks as Ashley hesitates. Seeing Ashley still deep in thought and struggling to speak, Ichiro makes his own assumptions. Of course, his interpretation is completely off the mark.
「Oh, wait—was I being too nosy? Yeah, of course I was. Haha, I’m really sorry about that.」
As he scratches the back of his head with his right hand and apologizes with downturned eyes, Ashley quickly waves both hands in denial.
「No, that’s not it! That’s not it at all! How should I put this… Ichiro, you didn’t do anything wrong… this is about me…」
「About you…?」
「Ah, geez! Ichiro… will you promise not to laugh at me?」
Facing Ashley’s somewhat pleading expression, Ichiro immediately nods and speaks quickly, trying to dispel her worries as fast as possible.
「Of course I won’t! There’s no way I’d laugh at you like that, Ash. And if you’re still worried, I’ll tell you one of my secrets too. I once said ‘EHHHH!!’ in casual conversation and totally weirded people out.」
Ashley tilts her head in confusion for a moment at Ichiro’s sudden confession.
「Hehe, what’s that about?」
While she doesn’t quite understand the latter half of what he’s saying, his enthusiasm and heartfelt words still make her smile.
「I’m sorry, Ichiro! I shouldn’t have worried about telling you. Actually, I… I love novels—」
Before Ashley can finish her sentence, his eyes light up and he interrupts with questions.
「What genres do you like? And what books have you read recently?」
His incredible enthusiasm catches Ashley off guard. For her, the only person she could share her hobby with was a single maid who served at the manor. And even then, out of respect, the maid couldn’t engage in such passionate discussion as Ichiro is doing now.
That’s why Ashley had never encountered someone who could talk so enthusiastically about hobbies, and she didn’t know how to react to such behavior.
「Um, this is kind of embarrassing, but I love romance stories… Recently I read this book called ‘Why the Black Knight Saves Her’—」
「That one’s great! I love it too. I really like Irene, how she gets forced onto the battlefield just because she has fighting talent, but still faces her challenges head-on. Even when she’s miserable and lamenting her situation, she always shows incredible strength of will. The Black Knight is great too. Despite his intimidating appearance, he secretly helps Irene and devotedly serves her. That scene where he accidentally runs into her while in disguise and she scolds him for badmouthing himself—it’s just perfect!」
「W-w-wait! Wait a minute! You read it too?!」
「’Read it too?’ I’ve read tons of these!」
He had spent quite a lot of time reading during his days in the mountains.
「Then, then, what about that book?! Have you read ‘The Doll Princess’?!」
「Of course! It was good. Actually, my vocabulary’s kind of melting—all I can say is ‘good’ at this point.」
And so begins their discussion about books. Since their preferred genres overlap significantly, Ashley is thrilled to find her first friend who can share in conversations about reading. They head to the bookstore while enthusiastically discussing with each other. There, they recommend their favorite books to each other, never losing their smiles. If he says something’s interesting, it’s an immediate purchase. If she says she enjoyed something, it’s an immediate purchase. Together, they end up with quite a haul for one day.
◇◇◇
However, even fun times must eventually end.
「That was really fun.」
「It really was!」
Ashley responds to Ichiro’s words with a bright smile. The sky has turned to dusk, and it’s already time for her to head back.
「Ichiro, can we meet again?」
「Of course we can.」
Feeling reluctant to leave, Ashley asks him with downturned eyebrows.
「This was the first time I’ve ever been able to talk about novels like this… It was really so much fun…」
First time—those words make Ichiro’s chest tighten. Back when he was in Japan, he would spend endless hours discussing various media with his friends. Such an ordinary part of daily life wasn’t something that came naturally to her, who had been a Holy Knight guarding the seal since childhood… So he immediately voices an idea that comes to mind.
「Hey, Ash. If you’d like—」
If you enjoy it and wish to see more, please consider giving it a 5-star rating for the series on NU. Click Here.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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Chapter 264
◇◇◇
As Ashley hugs her stuffed rabbit, Ichiro asks her,
「Do you have anywhere else you want to go? I’d be happy to join you if you’d like.」
Ashley had come to town with three goals: lunch, clothes, and novels. However, after meeting Ichiro and spending more time than expected enjoying lunch and the street stalls, she’s used up quite a bit of time.
Looking at clothes, searching for novels—Ashley does some mental calculations. Unfortunately, it seems there isn’t enough time to do both.
So she has to choose one or the other.
But should she say it out loud?
Would he think it’s weird?
「What’s wrong?」
Ichiro asks as Ashley hesitates.
Seeing Ashley still deep in thought and struggling to speak, Ichiro makes his own assumptions. Of course, his interpretation is completely off the mark.
「Oh, wait—was I being too nosy? Yeah, of course I was. Haha, I’m really sorry about that.」
As he scratches the back of his head with his right hand and apologizes with downturned eyes, Ashley quickly waves both hands in denial.
「No, that’s not it! That’s not it at all! How should I put this… Ichiro, you didn’t do anything wrong… this is about me…」
「About you…?」
「Ah, geez! Ichiro… will you promise not to laugh at me?」
Facing Ashley’s somewhat pleading expression, Ichiro immediately nods and speaks quickly, trying to dispel her worries as fast as possible.
「Of course I won’t! There’s no way I’d laugh at you like that, Ash. And if you’re still worried, I’ll tell you one of my secrets too. I once said ‘EHHHH!!’ in casual conversation and totally weirded people out.」
Ashley tilts her head in confusion for a moment at Ichiro’s sudden confession.
「Hehe, what’s that about?」
While she doesn’t quite understand the latter half of what he’s saying, his enthusiasm and heartfelt words still make her smile.
「I’m sorry, Ichiro! I shouldn’t have worried about telling you.
Actually, I… I love novels—」
Before Ashley can finish her sentence, his eyes light up and he interrupts with questions.
「What genres do you like? And what books have you read recently?」
His incredible enthusiasm catches Ashley off guard. For her, the only person she could share her hobby with was a single maid who served at the manor. And even then, out of respect, the maid couldn’t engage in such passionate discussion as Ichiro is doing now.
That’s why Ashley had never encountered someone who could talk so enthusiastically about hobbies, and she didn’t know how to react to such behavior.
「Um, this is kind of embarrassing, but I love romance stories… Recently I read this book called ‘Why the Black Knight Saves Her’—」
「That one’s great! I love it too. I really like Irene, how she gets forced onto the battlefield just because she has fighting talent, but still faces her challenges head-on. Even when she’s miserable and lamenting her situation, she always shows incredible strength of will. The Black Knight is great too. Despite his intimidating appearance, he secretly helps Irene and devotedly serves her. That scene where he accidentally runs into her while in disguise and she scolds him for badmouthing himself—it’s just perfect!」
「W-w-wait! Wait a minute! You read it too?!」
「’Read it too?’ I’ve read tons of these!」
He had spent quite a lot of time reading during his days in the mountains.
「Then, then, what about that book?! Have you read ‘The Doll Princess’?!」
「Of course! It was good. Actually, my vocabulary’s kind of melting—all I can say is ‘good’ at this point.」
And so begins their discussion about books. Since their preferred genres overlap significantly, Ashley is thrilled to find her first friend who can share in conversations about reading.
They head to the bookstore while enthusiastically discussing with each other. There, they recommend their favorite books to each other, never losing their smiles. If he says something’s interesting, it’s an immediate purchase. If she says she enjoyed something, it’s an immediate purchase. Together, they end up with quite a haul for one day.
◇◇◇
However, even fun times must eventually end.
「That was really fun.」
「It really was!」
Ashley responds to Ichiro’s words with a bright smile.
The sky has turned to dusk, and it’s already time for her to head back.
「Ichiro, can we meet again?」
「Of course we can.」
Feeling reluctant to leave, Ashley asks him with downturned eyebrows.
「This was the first time I’ve ever been able to talk about novels like this… It was really so much fun…」
First time—those words make Ichiro’s chest tighten.
Back when he was in Japan, he would spend endless hours discussing various media with his friends. Such an ordinary part of daily life wasn’t something that came naturally to her, who had been a Holy Knight guarding the seal since childhood…
So he immediately voices an idea that comes to mind.
「Hey, Ash. If you’d like—」
If you enjoy it and wish to see more, please consider giving it a 5-star rating for the series on NU. Click Here.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link
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