Chapter 9 : Flirting By Accident
Back at the manor:
In the middle of the night, Shame was plunged into a strange dream.
"What is this place…" he murmured, looking around. Before his eyes, an enigmatic and fascinating landscape, both frightening and welcoming, stretched out like a capital city suspended in the skies. Buildings of unknown shapes stood tall, menacing yet magnificent, with architecture completely foreign to him.
"This place is weird," added Shame, advancing slowly through the deserted streets of this mysterious celestial city…
He suddenly woke up, still shaken. Today, he was supposed to visit a city with Grealf. Without further delay, he jumped out of bed, excited for the day that awaited him, and rushed downstairs. Upon arriving, he saw that his grandfather was still snoring on the couch, deeply asleep and clearly still under the effects of last night's alcohol.
"Grandpa, wake up! We're supposed to go to town today, you promised!" Shame shouted as he approached the couch.
The old man didn't stir and simply responded with an even louder snore.
"You don't want to get up, old man… GET UP, OLD TIMER!" yelled Shame, raising his voice.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" Grealf suddenly screamed, waking up with a start and sitting up, looking grumpy.
"Finally awake, Grealf!"
"Kid, don't you ever wake me up like that again," retorted Grealf, irritated.
"You can't threaten me from the heights of your thousand years, old man—" Shame started to reply, but before he could finish, Grealf threw a pillow at him with such force that Shame was knocked back, hitting the wall of the manor's vast living room. He briefly lost consciousness from the impact but quickly came back to his senses.
"YOU CRAZY OLD MAN! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, THROWING YOUR GRANDSON AGAINST THE WALLS LIKE THAT!" Shame shouted.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE WOKEN ME UP PEACEFULLY, YOU IDIOT!" Grealf retorted without a hint of apology, his voice booming.
At that moment, three knocks sounded at the door, interrupting their quarrel.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Huh? Who's knocking this early in the morning?" Shame grumbled, casting a curious look towards the entrance.
"BWAHAHAHA! She's here! Go open the door, kid!" Grealf shouted, a broad smile spreading across his face.
"'She' who?"
"Don't trouble yourself with formalities, just go see who's at the door."
"This seems suspicious, Grandpa…"
"You're way too curious for your own good. Go open it and stop keeping the poor girl waiting!"
Resigned, Shame approached the door, placing a hesitant hand on the handle. But as he was about to turn it, he hesitated and took a step back.
"This is way too stressful… Who could be hiding behind this door…" he muttered, before murmuring to himself, "Maybe… a monster?!"
Panicked, he quickly ran to his room, grabbed his rusty sword—or rather, his "legendary sword," as he proudly called it—and strapped it tightly to his side before heading back downstairs towards the door.
From the living room, Grealf, watching his grandson, couldn't help but shake his head, mocking aloud.
"He really is a strange one… Is he that afraid to talk to a girl?"
Shame, now back in front of the door, took a deep breath.
Knock, knock, knock.
He lowered the handle and slowly opened the door, his mind on high alert.
"…Yes… to whom do I have the honor…" he murmured, forcing an awkward smile.
He ended up opening the door completely, discovering the person standing on the other side.
"A… girl?" he whispered in surprise, as his eyes scanned every detail of the stranger.
She wore worn brown leather boots, seasoned by adventure, and a long white dress that fell to her shoes, emphasizing her slender silhouette. On her shoulders was a blue cape held by several belts, fitted to carry weapons, adding a practical yet mysterious touch to her appearance. After examining the lower part of her attire, Shame raised his gaze to her face, noticing she seemed to be around his age. Her features held a luminous softness, her face a radiant beauty, her skin smooth... then he noticed an unusual detail.
"Strange ears…" he murmured, staring at the blue fur covering her ears, located where human ears would typically be. The young girl, blushing, caught his murmur perfectly, embarrassed by his intense gaze, as Shame continued to scrutinize her as though she were a strange creature. Her ears, a light blue matching her long hair, only added to her enigmatic aura.
Then his gaze stopped on her forehead, where he saw a horn rising, like that of a unicorn. Her overall appearance had a common humanity about it, yet this horn gave an impression of striking anomaly.
"Weird horn…" he muttered. She blushed even more under his prolonged inspection.
Finally, he met her golden gaze and murmured, captivated by that brilliant hue, "Magnificent color…"
The young girl turned bright red, stammering.
"S-s-s-stop staring at me like that, you pervert!" she shouted, clearly at her limit.
But Shame, absorbed in his observations, didn't even hear her cry.
"Incredibly beautiful…"
A silence suddenly filled the air. The young girl standing in front of Shame suddenly spoke out with fervor.
"Are you out of your mind?! What on earth are you doing, you lunatic!" she yelled before throwing a punch straight toward Shame's face at full speed. The blow sent him flying backward, and he landed on the floor with a groan.
"This... is the second time I've been thrown into the air today…" he muttered, getting back up, his gaze unfocused.
With all the noise, Grealf finally decided to come out of the living room. With a casual stride, he walked over to the entrance. The young girl, as soon as she caught sight of him, ran toward him.
"Grealf! You're finally back!" she exclaimed, her voice betraying a certain emotion.
"She talks like that with Grandpa… yet she hits me right away…" Shame grumbled, still dazed, as he tried to stand back up.
"Grealf, you won't believe it! This… this servant started complimenting me!" she added indignantly.
"Ah… Fyr, it's not what you think, that idiot—" Grealf began, only to be cut off immediately.
"I refuse to be courted, especially when I'm already promised to someone!" she declared, crossing her arms, visibly annoyed.
At those words, Shame spoke up.
"Excuse me… I didn't mean any harm… I know I lack manners. You can even pass on my apologies to the person you're promised to," he said, genuinely sorry. Thinking about it, it was probably the first time he'd offered sincere apologies—quite different from the fake ones he used to throw at nobles in alleyways, just to make them leave him alone.
"A-Ah… sorry. I shouldn't have hit you earlier… That was uncalled for," she murmured in turn, looking down a bit.
Suddenly, Grealf interrupted them, annoyed.
"Alright, there are two misunderstandings in the air here, and it's starting to get on my nerves."
He looked at them sternly before continuing.
"Listen up, kids. First, I'm talking to you, Shame," he began in a gruff tone. "Today, you're going to go on that trip to the city, but not with me."
Then, he turned to Fyr.
"Now, it's your turn, Fyr. The person you just hit at the door there… that's my grandson," he growled, looking grim.
At these words, Fyr began to tremble.
"O-Oh… what a terrible mistake I've made…" she murmured before turning to Shame with a desperate expression.
"Please forgive me!" she cried, visibly distraught. It was the first time someone had sincerely apologized to him, and he was deeply moved.
"O-Oh, don't worry," he replied, a small grin on his face, almost as if he'd won a victory by managing to get an apology.
Then he turned to Grealf.
"That reminds me… Grandpa, you said I wasn't going to the city with you. So who am I going with then—"
"WITH FYR, YOU DENSE KID!"
"BUT FOR WHAT PURPOSE?!" Shame replied, stunned. Grealf let out a huge sigh of exasperation.
"Stop playing dumb now, kid… Take her and make her happy," he said in an exhausted voice.
Shame got lost in thought, a little confused.
'Make her happy? But she's already promised to someone… Ah! I get it! She must not have many friends… like I didn't before. Well, I actually didn't have any at all…'
With this thought in mind, Shame turned to Fyr and showed a smile that could easily be mistaken for a joyful one. In reality, it was a smile of pity.
"Fyr… I'd be happy to visit the city with you," Shame declared, secretly thinking he could become her friend and ease her loneliness.
But the young girl interpreted the situation very differently. She blushed, taking Shame's invitation as a gallant gesture.
'He's braver than I thought…' she mused, flustered.
"V-Very well, sorry about earlier… I hope we'll get along for this… date," she stammered.
Suddenly, Shame frowned. 'Hmm? Date? She's using strange words for an outing between friends…'
"Yes, I'm looking forward to it too," he replied, thinking: 'She's really strange, but oh well… I won't push her. She might even become my first friend.'
What Shame didn't know was that, during his hunting training, he had accidentally fulfilled a promise Grealf had made. In that promise, Grealf had pledged to "find him a girl from his contacts" if he succeeded in defeating all the monsters.
And that very "girl" was none other than Fyr Palacia, the daughter of one of Grealf's former companions from his own adventures. She was aware of the pact and viewed the meeting with Shame as an arranged encounter. She had even planned to refuse this so-called date with Grealf himself.
But in the face of Shame's advances, all her resistance had vanished.