Chapter 59.1 – Heart mess – part 2

Tresuria noticed the sad look on Chujitsuna’s face and said, “This one feels sorry for your pain, but you don’t know this one well enough to see her as a love interest, and perhaps you are mistakenly taking attraction for love.”

“Yeah, it could be it. That’s why we should start as friends and see what happens. Despite the fact I know for sure I am not mistaken, because what I know about you, I already like, and I bet the more I find out, the more I will like!”

Tresuria gulped and faced forward again, trying not to look into those deep brown eyes and hypnotising smile.
She focused her attention on Nozomu’s back, concentrating on his movements, broad shoulders, and bouncing butt, as Rampage ran and made him bounce. She tried all sorts of distractions, trying to take her mind away from what Chujitsuna Hito told her so directly, and that made her heart pound like crazy.

When they were near the first mountain, Tresuria glanced at Chujitsuna, and saw her staring at the tall mountain with her eyes wide open, and heard her say, “Cool! We may need to climb all this or look around for a path! Tresuria, I will see you using your pretty vines to help you climb! I bet that will be a sight to kill for!”

Nozomu noticed Rampage was staring at the left side of the mountain where a tree was, and asked in a low tone, “What’s the matter? You saw something?”

As an answer, Rampage threw a lightning bolt at where he was staring, and they heard a muffled scream and something falling to the ground. Taisetsuna jumped from Furnace’s back and took her sword from her back as she approached the tree.
Robert Keskula and Hinen Sukemoru went with her, and they returned in mere minutes, with Taisetsuna dragging a body by a foot.

She placed the small and frail body near Rampage, and Nozomu said, “Don’t tell me we already caught a Goblin this easily! Now, what do we do, go back to get the point?”

Taisetsuna answered while looking at the fainted Goblin at her feet. “We could, but something seems off. Goblins don’t normally climb trees, but this guy was up there as if he was guarding something. Rampage knocked him out before he raised the alarm, but I don’t know… Remember that cave we found last time that was full of Goblins? Near that tree, I smelled the same stench that was in that cave. Maybe there is a cave nearby, and there are a bunch of Goblins inside. I think we could tie this guy and have Rampage and Furnace guard him while we go take a better look.”

Nozomu frowned while looking at the fainted Goblin. “Would that be wise? Last time we were lucky, and I don’t want to risk another crazy stunt like that.”

“Me neither, but what is the alternative? Go back to the Academy and warn the Principal and let them deal with this? Or, we could take this opportunity to test our Party, and, I could get revenge for what happened when these bastards tried to eat me.”

Robert Keskula spoke with a slight smile, “I won’t mind. It will allow me to show you that I am a suitable pretendant for you, my dear Taisetsuna!”

Hinen Sukemoru almost shouted, “You? Don’t make me laugh! She would be a thousand times better off with a Cat-kind like me than with a frugal Human like you!”

That was Taisetsuna’s limit. She jumped at the arguing boys, grabbed their necks, and raised them a few centimetres above the ground by sheer strength, and she spoke in a harsh voice, “Enough! I am not a prize or someone you should annoy! From now on, if any of you say something about wanting to conquer me, kiss me, or speak to me without I ask something, I will break your necks! Understood?”

Robert tried to speak, but got his neck squeezed harder as a response. Hinen grabbed Taisetsuna’s wrist to get free and got her fingernails piercing his throat, and he froze immediately because he realised she wasn’t joking.
The moment Taisetsuna let them go, Robert jumped on her as soon as his feet touched the ground, and he put a dagger against her throat.

He spoke, while glowing, surrounded by Magic, “You stupid woman! Do you think I do this often? I am applying to this Academy because of you! I said that it was to make a name for myself as an excuse! I want to impress you and make you realise I am the right one for you! The next time you doubt my intentions or threaten me, I am going to give you the beating of your life! Understood, dumbass?”

He then slowly looked down when he felt something sharp against his groins. Taisetsuna answered in an icy voice, “There won’t be a next time, dumbass, because you are not going back alive. I am going to cut you open like a chicken, and have you swallow your intestines full of shit like your brain.”

Robert pushed the dagger against Taisetsuna’s neck and spoke in a harsh voice, “Try me. The moment you move one finger, I am going to slice your throat. I don’t mind dying because I would rather lose my life than not be with you, but if you try to kill me, I will kill you first. Don’t mess with me, Taisetsuna, because I can be as deadly as you, or even more.”

Taisetsuna slowly pushed her dagger against Robert’s groins, but he didn’t even flinch. Nozomu spoke, interrupting the stalemate, “Do you mind stopping this stupid contest of who has the biggest balls? Put the daggers away, we are wasting time here!”

Taisetsuna opened her mouth to say something, and Nozomu warned her, “I wasn’t asking, Taisetsuna Kawa! You either do as I say, or I am going to cut your tail and beat you with it. And you, dumb maggot, next time you threaten her, I am going to slice your head off and send it in a tiny box to your parents!”

Robert blinked and answered, “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Do you want to bet? Do you see Taisetsuna doubting my words? Put the dagger away now!”

Robert faced Taisetsuna again and saw her turning pale and trembling. He took the dagger from her throat and saw her putting her dagger at the waist again, still staring at him and doing everything she could to avoid facing the angry Nozomu.

Nozomu approached them both and punched their heads hard, saying, “Stupid fools! You are good to each other, no doubt about it! Two kids that let anger take the best of them! I want you both away from each other, and I don’t want to hear a single word from any of you, understood? You too, Hinen! I have had enough of your stupidity! You just met Suna today, and you are acting as if you were in love? The last time you annoyed me, I rubbed the floor with you. Leave her alone!”

Hinen Sukemoru frowned and answered, “No, I will not leave her alone. I want to learn everything I can about her and have her get to know me as well. There is no way I will stand still while that stupid blond guy tries to take her from me! You can punch me as much as you want, but I won’t quit! It took me until now to find a girl like her. I will not stay away just because you say so!”

Nozomu slowly shook his head, dumbfounded, and then Robert completed the mess. “I say the same. You have no right to keep me away from her unless you are her boyfriend. Since you are not, why are you even talking like that? It is up to her to choose a boyfriend, not you.”

“She didn’t look as if she was looking for one. She was about to slice you open, remember?”

Robert Keskula spoke while caressing the right cheek of the surprised Taisetsuna. “That was entirely my fault. Hinen distracted me from what I wanted with his constant annoyance. I want you, Taisetsuna. I thought I was pretty clear in the Castle, but either I was not, or you are doubting my words. I am not sure what I did to annoy you so much, but if you tell me, I will do everything not to repeat it.”

She slapped his hand and frowned. “This is what annoys me! You keep touching and grabbing me as if I am just a piece of meat! You are used to those easy girls in the Princess’ court, but I am not one of them!”

“Yes, I am aware of that. You are right; I am far too used to those kinds of girls, and I sometimes treat you like one. That ends in a few moments, but first...”

Robert suddenly approached and gently kissed her. He then stared deep into her eyes and spoke in a low voice, “This will be my last kiss. I will do everything I can so that next time, you will be the one kissing me. If I never get a kiss from you, I will keep this memory for my entire life, and I… Uuf!…”

In the next second, he was bending his body forward because of a punch to his stomach.

Taisetsuna crouched near him and spoke. “Keep this for a memory as well, moron! You are unbelievable, soon-to-be Viscount Robert Keskula! I told you what I don’t like, and then you go and kiss me! I am starting to think you like to be beaten!”

“Ouch… I wouldn’t say I like to be beaten, but I don’t mind when you do it. At least I got a reaction from you. I tried the entire way to get here to have a conversation with you, and you didn’t open your mouth. It’s not only your eyes that are impressive; your voice is also very alluring. I wouldn’t mind waking up for the rest of my life with you saying good morning near my ear.”

“What the… Did you hear this moron, Nozo? He is completely nuts!”

Hinen Sukemoru tried to get to Taisetsuna, but Nozomu pulled him back by his shoulder and asked, “And where do you think you are going?”

“I am going to get a kiss as well. Why?”

Suddenly, a dagger was stuck to the ground near his right foot. Hinen looked at it and heard Taisetsuna say, “Try it, and the next one will be on your forehead. Didn’t you hear what I said? Leave me alone!”

While Hinen was frowning and being frowned back, Chujitsuna Hito spoke to Tresuria, who had her hands covering her eyes ever since Taisetsuna grabbed the necks of the two boys. “This Party is funny, right? We are sure to get a few laughs with those three over there! Four, because Nozomu is not any better; he is as nuts as they are!”

“This one… is not sure if it’s funny… It’s too much unnecessary violence. This one doesn’t understand why all those strange reactions. Do they like each other, or do they want to kill each other? It’s all so confusing!”

Chujitsuna Hito spoke and made everyone stare at her, “Well, from what I can tell, Taisetsuna likes Nozomu; he is dumb because he didn’t notice; Robert likes Taisetsuna; Hinen is just plain stupid because he saw Taisetsuna today and says that he likes her or something. See? Funny, right? And considering they are all staring at me completely dumbfounded, it means I hit the target. I wonder what my prize will be? Heheheh!”

Before Taisetsuna could deny it, or Nozomu could ask what she meant by that, Chujitsuna gently pulled Tresuria’s arm and said, “What about if we went ahead to see if we could find more Goblins and leave them wondering about their feelings? Oh, can you wrap that Goblin? Just in case he wakes up and tries to flee. It’s probably better if you can find a place to hide him so that another Goblin or another Party doesn’t find him.”

Tresuria nodded and made a few vines grow from the ground near the Goblin, then wrapped him like a present. She then pointed at the tree, and Draiky, her pet plant, carried the Goblin above his big round head and used his root feet to grab the tree as he went up the tree, with no visible effort.

Chujitsuna smiled and said, “You weren’t joking, Tresuria! That little guy is strong! Should we go? Let’s leave them here to think about what they did. Their stupidity might be contagious, and we don’t want to be infected, right?”

She walked with Tresuria around the tree, after putting her tongue out to the still frozen Taisetsuna, who stuttered before going after them, “P-probably b-better if we go with them. Y-yeah, let’s go, everyone!”