<h4>Volume 3 Chapter 11.1</h4>


    Trantor: Kureha


    Editor: Weasalopes


    「… Where ‘m I?」


    Hiroshi heard a panicked voice calling out his name. As if to be drawn towards that voice, he regained his consciousness.


    「Hiroshi-kun!」


    「Good, you’re back…」


    As Hiroshi regained his consciousness, andscape of an unfamiliar room, Tatsuya’s relieved face and Haruna’s near tear expression jumped into his vision.


    「Brother…? Haruna-san…?」


    「Before we exin what happened, Hiro, how much can you remember?」


    「… hol’ up …」


    Trying to answer Tatsuya’s question Hiroshi tried to remember back to thest thing which was on his mind before cking out.


    「Um, we went to the pce, n’ we met up with Elle, n’ we decided on goin’ to Queen’s tea purty n’…」


    Suddenly, his body started to tremble uncontrobly. Something happened at the tea party. He could remember that much. But he could not remember what actually happened. However, from how he was subconsciously reacting to the whole event, he took the hint that it was something rted to his phobia.


    「That’s more than enough, don’t push yourself.」


    「Hiroshi-kun, it’s okay now, everything’s fine now…」


    The two cut off the conversation; deciding it was best not to force him, seeing how badly he was reacting just by the attempt of remembering what took ce. Seeing the state which he was in, they thought the whole thing would start all over again if they mentioned that chocte was served at the party.


    「… I’m, I’m real sorry…」


    「Don’t worry about it.」


    Hiroshi felt guilty as he saw that he must have caused his friends some trouble, seeing how Haruna and Tatsuya were acting. And seeing that his mind was subconsciously preventing him from remembering the event, he detected that it must have been very bad. Although it wasn’t a formal meeting, it was still a rude gesture to show in front of her majesty. There was nothing they could say even if they were told off for this.


    However, seeing that the Queen has prepared him a room to recover, it was unlikely that she was nning on making a big deal out of this. Yet it did not change that he was being impolite towards such a powerful authority. And most of all, he was burdened by the idea of leaving all the aftermath of this incident on his friends.


    「So, wha the situation like now?」


    「I’ll tell you everythingter, let’s get you up first, okay? If I’m going to exin what happened, then I would have to exin from the beginning so I’ll tell you once you’re more stable.」


    「Don’t push yourself, okay?」


    「I’m real sorry for pushin’ all this on ya’ll…」


    Hiroshi felt immense guilt as he saw that he must have caused a lot of worry and burden to his friends. From a third-party perspective, it was an unavoidable ident. However, there was no denying that his friends had to deal with the aftermath. Not only that, but it was also a matter involving a well-respected royal family like Layotte.


    It was an issue which he did not have a lot of control over. However, Hiroshi did not like the idea that he was causing setbacks to his friends over the same reason all the time. Yet no matter how inspired or motivated he was, it was a type of phobia which had hard to deal with. He has handled his phobia well when he was interacting with Rainy, even though one person was the limit, he could be in the same room with Haruna without panicking. Considering the root of his phobia, he has improved significantly.


    「By da way, where’s Makoto-san and Mio?」


    「Their exchanging information with Elle-chan. We’re organising what we’re going to do after this. So, we decided to organise a meeting once everything has been settled.」


    「I see, roger dat.」


    「But the Queen seems to be busy so they don’t think we can have a formal meeting today anyways.」


    「I’m real sorry for causin’ all this burden.」


    「We heard you the first time so just stop apologising.」


    Seeing that Hiroshi was feeling down, Haruna responded with reassuring words and smile. The smile she showed made her look like an entirely different person from when she had a dual with Rainy yesterday. Respecting Haruna’s expression, Tatsuya made ament.


    「Is anyone hungry?」


    「I don’ have much appetite ‘ight now…」


    「I see.」


    「By dah way, how long was I passed out for?」


    「About three hours I think. It’s well past noon now.」


    「Did everyone haf lunch already?」


    「Yeah, well, something of that sort I guess. It was mostly alcohol heavy dish or spice heavy dish so we asked if they could change the menu for Haruna, Mio and Elle.」


    To save water, it wasmon for many dishes in Darl to use alcohol instead. Though, alcoholic dishes were rarely served at inns during daytime; in general, most dishes in Darl were made by stirring food with either alcohol, pine fruit or some type of milk with spice. So, there were many soups and stews which were heavy in spice yet had a tinge of alcohol to it.


    「I see, so brother, what’s ya opinion on the dishes?」


    「I think those vours will only go well with Kansai style Udon.」


    「… so yain ‘bout runnin’ a food stall but ya give me an opinion based on food stall menu.」


    「It’s be a habit at this point…」


    9 months since he has joined Hiroshi’s party, even Tatsuya has started to think about the sess of running the food stall.


    「Anyway, that’s my thoughts on the food. Elle and Artiem were a little hesitant on those dishes as well.」


    「I see, guess I hafta make alotta food for tonight..」


    「Yeah, that might be a good idea, but I don’t think it really matters as long as it’s not some type of spicy food.」


    As Tatsuya finished giving his opinion on the dishes which were served, he left to tell Makoto that Hiroshi has regained his consciousness; as Haruna seemed determined to stick by Hiroshi’s side.


    「Since you don’t have any appetite, did you want something to drink?」


    「Ye, could ya please get me somethin’ to drink?」


    「Of course, what did you want?」


    「I’ll leave it up to ya.」


    Hiroshi left the decision up to Haruna as he wasn’t sure what exactly he wanted but was definitely feeling dehydrated. Taking his hint, Haruna went off to brew a mild herb tea which wouldn’t give his system a sudden shock. The herb tea in this universe went well with milk and it will slightly fill up your stomach while it eased the digestive system.


    「There you go.」


    「Thanks.」


    「If there’s anything else you need, just let me know, okay?」


    「Thanks alot, but I’m fine fo now.」


    Hiroshi’s expression rxed a little after he took a sip from herb tea which was brewed at just the right temperature. He didn’t realise how his thoughts were running all over his mind until then. Seeing that Hiroshi has finally let his guard down, Haruna seemed joyful and relieved from the bottom of her heart.


    Admitting how helplessly in love she is in with Hiroshi, Haruna wished for this quiet moment tost just a little longer.


    ==


    「I haf a vague idea on what happened but can ya exin the whole story to me now?」


    As everyone finished eating their meals and have gone back to their allocated rooms, Hiroshi brought up his burning question after he observed how his friends were reacting. It was already past midnight, and he was mentally stable enough to hear what took ce at the tea party. It helped that he already had some idea on what took ce. So, it was unlikely that he would faint again if it was just listening to others exining themotion.


    Aearis has also decided to participate as she was in the room when Hiroshi fainted. Norton sisters had some personal reasons why they did not want to be at the pce; so, they have note out of their rooms since yesterday. The only time they havee out of their rooms was during dinner.


    The seclusion barrier which they were in had exclusion setting for the Queen just in case.


    「We don’t mind telling you what happened but are you sure you’re okay?」


    「Like I said, I kinda know what happened. As lon’ as I try hard ‘nough, I shouldn’t pass out like before.」


    「I don’t mean to be rude but personally, I don’t want to exin this situation to you multiple times.」


    「I know, I don’t want to listen to it if I don’t hafta. But I caused y’all some trouble, ‘ight?」


    Even though Makoto has stated in a harsh tone, she had a concerned look. Seeing Makoto act in such a way, Hiroshi brought up the undeniable truth. Hearing the expected response, Makoto gave a small sigh and decided to exin the event as simply as she could to avoid Hiroshi remembering anything that was seriously triggering.


    「What happened is very simple. There was chocte served at the tea party. Apparently, they call it Kakora in this universe.」


    「… Jist as I thought. I can remember most of the stuff that happened now.」


    After hearing Makoto’s exnation, Hiroshi was trembling a little. However, he seemed to have maintained hisposure for the most part. Everyone could not help but be concerned after seeing him at such a state.


    「Hiroshi-sama, please do not push yourself too much…」


    「Knowin’ the situation, I hafta push myself a little. I know ya don’t want me to, but please, jist turn a blind eye for this much.」


    「… If your condition bes any worse, Haruna-sama and I will cease this conversation even if we need to be forceful. Is that condition agreeable with you?」


    「 ye, that’s fine.」


    Seeing that Hiroshi has no intention of backing out, Aearis resorted to negotiation. He was mentally strong in an odd aspect so everyone was worried that he will push himself too much.


    From there, they went through things which Hiroshi might have remembered and gave detailed information on what took ce afterwards. Then, Tatsuya ended up spitting out a question which crossed his mind.


    「Hey Hiro,」


    「wa is it?」


    「I’m surprised you could live normally back in Japan even though you’re so scared of chocte. How did you manage it when you went out shopping?」


    「If I knew the store sold em, there was some stuff I could do. At the supermarkets, I knew where the snack section was n’ I avoided the new stock section for za snacks. If I really had to walk past it, I would set my mind to it n’ walk past it as quickly as I can. Welp, I did most of my shoppin’ online, so ‘t was only ‘bout once a month where I really had to go into a store. N’ even though I’m scared o’ chocte, I don’t hate em. So if tis just a photo or a picture, ‘t won’t trigger my phobia.」


    Everyone weirdly agreed to Hiroshi’s exnation. With his case, going to the supermarket itself was a problem. It depends on the time of the day, but on average, supermarkets have more peoplepared to Wulls. Especially at the grocery store, there tend to be more females than males. So, for Hiroshi who has a phobia towards female, entering the supermarket required a lot of courage.


    With convenient stores, even though there would be fewer people, it bes increasingly difficult to maintain his distance from chocte. So, he would not walk into a physical store unless he absolutely had to.


    It was impressive to think that he could go to a normal high school under such condition. However, the area which Hiroshi was living in was somewhere between an urban and a rural area. So, the total number of students at his school was much lowerpared to the poption of Wulls. Moreover, the suburb which Hiroshi and Haruna lived had headquarters of certain majorpanies. The area was also somewhat well known for major figures who have invented over technology such as VR living in that area. However, there were some factories in the area and the poption itself was quite high. So, ces like the front of the train station and shopping district had more people than any urban areas.


    「By the way, isn’t the thin’ ya really want to ask is why I’m so terrified o’ chocte, ‘ight?」


    「Well, a lot did happen so, yeah, naturally. It would be convenient for us to know what happened when we need to back you up if something like this happened in the future. But we won’t ask if we’re only opening up an old wound.」


    「Hiroshi-san, you shouldn’t push yourself too much.」


    「Hiroshi, to begin with, would it even help you get over your phobia if you talked about the root of your phobia to us?」


    「Welp, I guess ‘t won’t solve anythin’.」


    To Douga’s question, Hiroshi replied with a bitter smile. Even if everyone knew the cause of his phobia, the situation wasn’t going to change. Talking about it would show Hiroshi’s trust towards his group, but that seemed a little pointless at this point. Yet, knowing the cause of his phobia would have some benefit to the group but everyone in the barrier understood such an easy concept. So, nobody dared to ask Hiroshi what actually happened. However…


    「If Sensei wants to talk about it, then I want to know.」


    「Mio?」


    「If sensei can be more optimistic by talking about it to us, then I’ll listen, no matter what it is.」


    To break the paralysing tension, Mio broke the silence which filled the inside of the barrier. Because it was Mio, who had a very uniform reaction from the beginning, she could behave in such a way.


    「… I want to know as well.」


    「Haruna?」


    「Haru?」


    「Even if we can’t solve anything by knowing the cause, I want to at least know what is hurting you so much. If I don’t know anything about it, then I don’t know how I can support you. By not knowing anything, I could identally hurt. And if I knew what happened, I might be able to understand your pain even if it’s just a little. So…」


    Cutting off herst word, she looked directly into Hiroshi’s eyes. A moment has passed, then, Haruna made up her mind and spoke again.


    「I’m fine with just the things you’refortable talking about at this very moment. So, Hiroshi-kun, please tell me what happened.」


    Hiroshi could have dislike Haruna for saying such a thing. But, Haruna put aside her fear and decided to ask the question. If she didn’t ask now, she will most likely never find out. On top of that, she wanted to know what was hurting the guy who she has helplessly fallen in love with. She could only call it a true victory after she found out what really happened to Hiroshi and got over the awkward rtion they have. There was nothing Haruna could fall back on, but she didn’t regret her decision.


    It ended up looking like Haruna was just following Mio’s suggestion. But if nobody else brought it up, the first person to break the silence most likely would have been Haruna. The reason why it took her some time to speak out was because she needed some time to gain enough courage to say it. With these situations, Aearis will trust Hiroshi’s decision so unlike Haruna and others, she would have quietly listened to what has happened to Hiroshi without saying anything. When ites to listening to other’s trouble, Aearis who have been trained as the Princess Priestess was on an entirely different level.


    「Welp, to be honest, there’s not allot to say.」


    Hiroshi gave a heads up, giving him some time to prepare to talk about what has happened to him. Trying to hold back as much of his shiver, he decided to give the simplest description of what happened.


    「What happened is very simple. On valentine’s day, I git acquaintance chocte with raw meat in it n’ was forced to eat it n’ almost died from food poisonin’.」


    Hiroshi casually described a very serious situation. To the unexpected twist to the expected scenario, everyone lost their words and just let the silence wrap within the seclusion barrier.