NOVEL NEXT Chapter 107.2
Knowing The Truth Won’t Change Anything, You Know?
After all, in this world, there are all kinds of non-human species. Lelei’s father is a cat beastman, and Hermione is a winged person. Balroy, who comes to visit sometimes, is a wolf beastman, and his owner, Archette, is a halfling who often plays the role of the straight man. Nina, the doctor at the clinic, is a rabbit beastman, and the alchemist blacksmith who made the alchemy cauldron, Gurgal, is from the mountain folk. Just the people Yuuri has interacted with are from various species… He’s even met a lost werecat prince.
Considering all of that, the fact that Brook wasn’t human didn’t really matter to Yuuri. Since he was Bahamoon, there was no danger of Brook harming Yuuri, and even if Yuuri found out, Brook wouldn’t leave. So, that information was more or less irrelevant to Yuuri. …Natural-born airhead, terrifying.
“It might be rare, but…”
“Since to me, Brook-san is just Brook-san, I don’t really care about stuff like that.”
“…Yeah. Yuuri is Yuuri, alright.”
“Hmm?”
With the care one would show a small child, Brook patted Yuuri’s head. He must have realized how silly he was for being so cautious, thinking about it too much, and being on alert. Yuuri was still just Yuuri. No matter how much Brook thought about it, he would just toss it all aside in a typical Yuuri fashion.
“…What are you two doing?”
“Oh, welcome back, Ali-san. Huh? Where’s everyone else?”
“I left the others with Frau. I’ve got another job to handle.”
“Thanks for your hard work. Want me to make tea?”
“Please make it black tea.”
“Understood.”
A cheerful atmosphere surrounded the two when Ali appeared. Looking puzzled, Ali nonetheless kindly made his request when Yuuri offered. Yuuri ran toward the kitchen, and Ali glanced at Brook as he saw his back. Brook’s face was one he’d never seen before—completely flustered.
“What’s with that face?”
“Well, Yuuri really is… impossible to figure out.”
“That’s old news.”
“I mean, even when he looked me in the eyes, he acted normal.”
“…Ah. I already knew that.”
“Even if you knew, normally, there’d be some kind of reaction, right?”
In response to Brook’s question, Ali shrugged. After all, it was Yuuri. There were times when expecting normality, common sense, or things like that was a lost cause. He knew that well… mostly because of his experience being the one to lecture Yuuri whenever he got into trouble. Being a guardian is hard.
“Well, that’s good, right?”
“…Huh?”
“There’s someone else who knows about it, and they’re normal.”
“…You and Leopold are special, though.”
“If you’re going to say that, then Yuuri’s special too.”
“Eh? I’m normal, you know?”
““Definitely not.””
Yuuri’s carefree interjection was met with the low, synchronized voices of the two adults. Looking perplexed, Yuuri handed Ali the tea he had prepared. As he accepted the cup, Ali muttered under her breath, “There’s no way you’re normal.”, with genuine conviction. It made sense. Yuuri’s usual behavior was what it was.
Yuuri also offered tea to Brook. Unlike Ali’s tea, this one had honey in it—a small, thoughtful gesture for Brook, who had a sweet tooth. Since Yuuri naturally did things like this, it’s no wonder everyone loved him. He, on the other hand, thought of it as just doing the regular housework.
“Yuuri’s way of thinking is rare.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah… If everyone thought like Yuuri, I wouldn’t hide the fact that I’m Bahamoon.”
“Is that so…? Must be tough.”
“Yeah.”
Brook stifled a laugh while drinking his tea at Yuuri’s lighthearted remark. Meanwhile, Ali, sitting beside him, seemed to be silently saying “Do whatever you want.”, as he drank his tea. At their reactions, Yuuri tilted his head in confusion.
No matter what his true identity is, he’s still an important companion. That doesn’t change.