Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
When Himeno came out from behind the building, fiddling with her pink hair and looking at Shinji’s face, she could see a hint of annoyance in his gaze.
Because when they first met, they were in the same situation as they are now, with her attendance scattered about.
”I’m sorry, but Mitono is coming suddenly. I was originally supposed to be staying in my village, but……”
”So why did you have to run away? He’s your fiancee, right?”
Himeno choked on a perfectly reasonable question.
Hayate, who was behind Shinji, reacted to the word “fiancee” and began to listen to her.
”That’s true, but I’m afraid he’s going to …… be giving me a lot of grief. Because originally, he was opposed to me leaving my village to participate in the fighting tournament”
”Is that so?”
Shinji’s question was met with a nod from Himeno.
”Yeah. Mitono does not want me to face the strong man. Maybe he knows what I like, too. ……But absolutely, it’s cruel to try to tie me down even before marriage”
Shinji can’t help but laugh at Himeno’s angry attitude.
He knew that Himeno’s insistence that she wanted to fall in love and Mitono’s insistence that he didn’t want her to see other men were incompatible.
”Well, Mitono-san, he can’t just sit back and watch while there is a possibility that his future bride might be attracted to another man, can he?”
”Are you on Mitono’s side? ……”
As someone who is going to married someone else, Shinji’s feelings are more towards Mitono. He had no choice but to continue laughing at the sullen look in Himeno’s eyes.
”Mitono-san seemed to like you, you know. As a man, my feelings are more towards him, but I won’t tell you…….”
”I know that, too……”
Shinji could not feel the discomfort from the itchy expression on Himeno’s face. He had thought that she might not like him because she once said she didn’t like him, but in fact, it��s not true.
”I don’t feel bad when someone likes me, either. In the first place, if I really don’t like him, I can just break up with him. Although Mitono is not my favorite, but it’s perfect for a……. partner”
For Himeno, Mitono is a nagging fiancee, but at the same time he is a hardworking, knowledgeable and respectable person.
Even if they did not have a burning love, they could still nurture their love as a couple.
(He was the only one who was odd enough to want me, a girl who was said to be a wild, as his spouse)
Himeno, the strongest young warrior in the village, was not well received by warriors of the opposite s*x. Even more so if they were of the same s*x, many of them were jealous of Himeno as an excellent warrior, so she didn’t have many friends from her childhood.
Furthermore, her overly cheerful personality made her shunned even by the quiet ones who preferred to read books.
Despite her good looks, there was no one who whispered love to Himeno, who was known as the “Wild Girl”. Except Mitono.
So, when Himeno’s family was happy to see Mitono accept Himeno as she was, as a result, she became his soon-to-be bride.
And because they had known each other for quite a long time, her feelings for him were almost like those of a family member. Himeno’s selfishness is also a sign that she is spoiled by Mitono.
Her desire to fall in love was also born out of her acceptance of a future where she would be married to Mitono.
In the depths of Himeno’s heart, Mitono’s existence is firmly rooted.
”Tsundere……”
Hayate murmured in a whisper.
From the point of view of those who don’t know much about the situation, it looks as if Himeno’s behavior is that she can’t be honest in front of him and runs away, but she’s trying to show that she understands what’s good about him when he’s not there.
Even Hayate realized that Himeno loves Mitono. So, of course, Shinji would notice.
(She said she didn’t like weak men, but she never said they weren’t important)
A feeling of wanting to corrupt Himeno welled up inside Shinji, but he kept it to himself.
Himeno’s face tightened up as Shinji made a grimace, as if he was watching something funny.
”W, what are you trying to say……?!”
”I think it’s a good idea to be honest once in a while”
”I, I’m honest!”
Himeno, with reddened cheeks and shouting, is very cute. Seeing so, Shinji apologizes, while chuckling.
”I’m sorry, it was just funny”
”Y, you……. You’re still laughing at me. You owe me some kind of apology for that”
As Himeno pretended to be angry to cover her embarrassment, Shinji suggested an apology.
”What about that carbonated…… juice you drank before, or a mock battle with a high-ranking spirit?”
”…..! Are you a spirit user?”
Himeno is attracted by the words “mock battle with high-ranking spirits”.
Because the reality is that it’s difficult to get involved with spirits…… especially high-ranking spirits, and dragonmen also don’t have a good relationship with spirits.
So, there are few people who want to get involved with dragon men, perhaps because they can’t make contracts on their own and spirit users are pulled in by the temperament of the spirits they contract with.
”It’s a similar thing”
”Well, ……I’ve never known a spirit user before”
Himeno looked at Shinji closely.
In the case of Shinji, his contracted spirit, Flair, is half succubus and half spirit, so he is less likely to hate dragonmen, which is a characteristic of spirits.
Flair is only a companion and has little direct influence on Shinji.
As a result, Shinji is able to be in the somewhat unusual position of being a spirit user who can interact with dragonmen in a normal way.
”I have no reason to dislike you, Himeno-san. I see Himeno-san as an individual rather than a race of dragon man”
”That’s right, because good guys are good guys and bad guys are bad guys, no matter if they are dragonmen or people!”
Himeno smiled brightly and agreed with Shinji’s assertion, which was something she had been thinking about for a long time, and she was glad to know that there was other spirit user who felt the same way.
”Then I would like to fight you after the tournament, since it is now before the tournament……”
”I understand. Let’s have one more chance after the tournament, before Himeno returns to her village”
After saying this, Shinji called Flair.
”Flair, come”
”Shinji, did you call me~noja? ……Hmm”
Flair’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment as she saw Himeno, but she quickly turned to Shinji.
Himeno was Himeno, and she instinctively sensed the magnitude of the magical power she felt from the high-ranking spirit of Flair. Without a doubt, she was the strongest being she had ever fought.
The belligerent smile on Himeno’s face deepened Shinji’s smile as he realized that she had gotten what she wanted.
At the same time, he thought he had caught her well.
”Flair, you will have a mock battle with Himeno-san later”
”All right. See you later, Dragon man”
”I’ll look forward to it!”
After the meeting, Flair quickly disappeared, and Shinji decided to talk to Flair again later, while he and Himeno worked out the details of their post-tournament meeting.
___________
Himeno-chan’s story about Mitono-kun.
The fact that the somewhat brainless Himeno-chan continues to be a mature bride is a sign that she is accepting of him.
Even though she doesn’t like the opposite s*x, she respects Mitono-kun as a person.
This is why the Shinji-kun sensor reacts……
And he was able to get a promise of a secret meeting using the mock battle as bait.
What will happen, Himeno-chan?