Chapter 79: A New Direction
"...My hair is straight and blonde. My-"
"Wait, wait, wait."
I raised my hand with a slightly distressed expression.
"That wasn't what I meant by an introduction."
Ela looked back at me with a blank look.
"I believe my introduction was going just fine. Is the purpose of an introduction not to describe oneself for the purpose of understanding the other?"
A bitter smile formed on my face.
"Well, I guess, but you don't have to go into things like your physical features. It's pretty easy to make out most of those just by looking at you."
"I understand. So it must be things not immediately apparent."
She responded swiftly, prompting me to nod.
"Ah, yes. Like that."
Ela thought for a moment before continuing on.
"To continue with my introduction, my family has several connections with the Mage Association. There are also a few named merchants that will sell us in-demand products first before-"
"No, no, no. Sorry, maybe I didn't explain it properly."
I raised my hand to cut her off once more, while my eyelid began twitching. Ela was confused.
"What? I followed your instructions, did I not?"
I took a deep breath, trying my best not to show how much I was cringing.
"What I meant about introduction, is to say the name you prefer to be called, and after that, something interesting about yourself. Perhaps one of the things that you like."
At this point... it would be clear, right?
Ela blinked a few times before nodding.
"Alright. For those of nobility, you may simply refer to me as Ela. As for the commoners, you can refer to me as lady-"
"Stop. Stop."
For what felt like the thousandth time, I held out my hand to stop her. Ela furrowed her brows.
"Are you simply trying to find trouble with me? If you do not appreciate my presence, you can just say it."
I let out a long sigh while pressing two fingers to my forehead.
"Look, I guess it might be a little hard for you to expect, but while we are sitting at this table, I don't want you to bring your rank into this. If that's too much for you, then it's probably best if you don't sit here."
Ela remained silent for a while. To be honest, I was a little surprised by how much this girl cared about the rank of nobility. There wasn't really a trace of this in the game itself, as she didn't really need convincing that commoners were people too before liking the protagonist.
She was probably going to take off in a huff, but-
"I'm sorry."
...Oh.
"What are you sorry for?"
Ela waited a good minute before responding once more.
"I'm sorry for... not doing the introduction properly."
I couldn't help but let out a laugh. From the sounds of things, it was actually something else, but I didn't care enough to ask her.
"Alright, I guess the best way to explain things is to give you an introduction instead."
After bringing a fist up to my mouth, I coughed.
"My name is Bryson. If you wish to, you could call me Brian instead. Something that I enjoy doing is... er- singing."
Just in case Nathan ended up slipping up and calling me Brian, this would be a good enough explanation. I noticed Nathan was staring at me for a certain reason, but just ignored it.
"That's my introduction. How about you try now?"
Ela clenched her fists tightly and kept her head down. I decided not to point it out for now, it would be difficult to get it perfect on the first try I guess.
"My name is Ela. I-If you wish, you can call me..."
"Er- Ela is already quite short, so it might be too much for a nickname."
Ela cleared her throat and nodded.
"Ah, yes. Just call me Ela. Something I enjoy doing is..."
She blinked a few times, remaining silent while the rest of us were just staring at her awkwardly.
"Um, I recall nobles usually enjoy hunting, so I guess I enjoy that."
Was that how it worked now?
She looked at me with calm eyes.
"Can I sit now?"
I scratched the side of my head.
"Um, I guess so."
After that, she sat down and began looking left and right, staring at each person explicitly in a way that made pretty much everyone uncomfortable. All of a sudden, Arianne suddenly tugged on the sleeve of my shirt. She spoke after I turned to look at her.
"Um, am I being a bother by sitting here?"
I chuckled before shaking my head.
"No, why would you think that you are a bother? If you're worried that your general social skills are at the same level as... a certain someone... don't worry, they are still pretty good."
Arianne let out a sigh of relief before nodding. I had no idea what that was about but decided to just let the topic rest. Before silence dominated the entire scene, Nathan pointed at Ela with a flat expression.
"Do you actually not have something that you enjoy doing? How the hell do you get by in your free time then?"
Ela tilted her head to the side slightly.
"But I said there was hunting. Nobles enjoy hunting."
The corner of Nathan's lip twitched.
"Would you go out of your way to hunt even if there was nobody telling you to do so?"
Ela scratched her cheek.
"I would say that is unlikely."
Nathan leaned over and pointed at her accusingly.
"Then you clearly don't enjoy it! What, do you just spend your free time just standing still?"
Raisa laughed awkwardly.
"Well, while I may not be particularly insistent on hunting, I do find it somewhat enjoyable."
Arianne let out a small laugh.
"Ah, I wouldn't have a good answer to that question either. My answer would be something like... spending time with my mother."
I pointed at her and spoke blankly.
"No, that's still miles better. That's a legitimate thing to enjoy, and besides, it wasn't like you were lying to get an answer."
"A-Ah, is it? I-I see."
Nathan rubbed his chin in thought.
"So what do you do when you have no responsibilities then, Ela?"
Ela responded blankly.
"I study."
Nathan sucked in a cold breath, while a frown formed on his face.
"Oh god... so you're one of those types."
Ela blinked several times.
"I don't get it, what's the problem?"
Nathan scratched his ear.
"I guess it's not exactly a problem, but-"
"Talk to me too! Why are you only talking with that girl..."
Charlotte interrupted him with a pout. It could've just been my imagination, but I think I saw a vein pop in Nathan's head.
"I was literally talking to you just a few moments ago. Am I not allowed to have a conversation with other people?!"
Charlotte puffed up one of her cheeks and crossed her arms. She looked to the side to avert her gaze.
"W-Well it makes me feel weird when you talk to her. Besides, you already have me to talk to, commoner! There's no need to talk with anyone else."
Nathan began berating her, which appeared to be rather shocking to Ela. In the end, she didn't talk much at all. I wasn't sure why she wanted to sit with us, but nothing really changed, so I guess I didn't have to make a big deal out of things. Our lunch passed by as it normally did, and the rest of the school day did as well.
Before the day ended, Raisa discreetly passed me a piece of paper. Considering that she was looking away while tapping on me, that was probably the map for the black market. Without acknowledging anything, I just took it and moved on.
After I got on the carriage to get back home, Nathan followed me without much complaint. However, he suddenly shuddered.
"Wait."
"What?"
He turned to me slowly, like he was a poorly oiled robot.
"...Is Jess going to come too?"
My eyelid twitched.
"Isn't that obvious? We ride the same carriage every day. You obviously know that too."
Nathan immediately stood up before running, with his arm at a ninety-degree angle, while his fingers were stretched out straight. But before he got out of the carriage, I caught him by the back collar of his shirt.
"Dude, chill. What, do you think Jess is going to kill you or something? I thought you liked her."
Nathan turned to look at me from over his shoulder.
"What do you mean? She obviously hates me! I-If I just stay out of her sight then maybe-"
"What is going on here?"
Jess interrupted him, making Nathan pale like he was just a step away from death.
"I... I..."
Jess then looked at me with an accusing look.
"Why did you force the commoner to come again, brother? He clearly doesn't wish to."
Nathan let out a leaky laugh, like he was a squeaking pipe.
"Y-Yeah, I... definitely don't wish to..."
Jess glared at me, but before she could berate me more, I clarified things.
"Hold on. He was the one that asked to come to me in the first place. Second, the reason why he got so scared was because of you."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Because of me? How could that be?"
"N-No, it's not like that at all..."
Nathan tried to defend himself, but could hardly keep himself standing. I let out a sigh.
"He has the misunderstanding that you actually hate him. Because of that, he doesn't want to bother you."
Jess shifted how she crossed her arms.
"That... but how can that be true?"
"Haha, it's not... it's not..."
I shrugged my shoulders.
"To be frank, he almost ended up running the entire way to our place on foot just so he wouldn't have to bother you."
Jess turned to look at him.
"If my brother is trying to force you, then just tell me. Were you the one that requested to come?"
Nathan scratched the back of his head.
"Ah... yeah. Well, I don't really need to come I guess."
I coughed.
"Jess, just clarify things a bit, alright?"
Jess turned to look at Nathan.
"Do you believe I dislike you?"
"W-Well..."
Nathan turned away further, facing the opposite direction. It looked like he wanted to turn away even more, but that wasn't exactly possible. Jess tilted her head to the side. While confused, she decided not to act on those just yet.
"I don't dislike you. If I gave you that impression, then I'm sorry. So long as you have my brother's permission to come, then don't mind me."
Nathan blinked several times before turning to her with a surprised expression.
"E-Eh? You really don't hate me?"
Jess smiled bitterly.
"I'm a little confused as to why you even believe I hate you. I don't recall any of your actions having an offensive nature."
Nathan proceeded to sit back in the seat next to me with a laugh. He crossed his arms and tilted his nose upwards like the traditional cocky villains in comedy anime.
"Haha, yes! Of course I knew that! I uh... definitely wasn't avoiding you or anything like that."
Jess blinked a few times.
"I... I see."
The carriage ride back was quite silent. Nathan's confidence eventually began dwindling once more. Although nobody was saying anything, he had both hands on his head in distress.
Tsk. This stupid guy was thinking that Jess hated him again despite the fact she literally went out of her way to say she didn't.
I spent the rest of the carriage ride hoping that Nathan wouldn't try to yeet himself out in the middle again.
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