When I didn’t get up, Belly stroked me a few more times gently, then rose while hugging me along with the blanket. Belly had originally been bigger than me, but now there was more than a head’s difference between us. Even though I had grown too. No, what do I mean one head? There was a difference of two heads.
Anyway, what I wanted to say was that even when he carried me in his arms, my feet didn’t drag on the ground. He didn’t seem to find it difficult, and whenever I was too lazy to move, he would carry me to move me. Thanks to that, my laziness had been intensifying these days.
Belly sat me down in front of the table.
The size of the room where Belly and I stayed had become quite spacious. It was Rose’s prescription after seeing us cramped together in a narrow space.
Belly welcomed that decision with both hands raised, and the reason was that we could set up a simple bathtub in the room. Since we couldn’t connect the plumbing separately, we had to carry the water ourselves, but Belly never disliked that process even once. Rather, he seemed to enjoy it.
Still half-asleep, I dozed off while sitting in front of the table. Belly neatly arranged the food he had brought from the dining hall in front of me. Seeing him humming a little tune, he seemed to be in a good mood.
The fragrant aroma wafting from the food pricked my nose, and in response, my stomach squirmed. Because of my churning stomach, I had no choice but to wake up from sleep.
“Here, please eat.”
To me opening my eyes drowsily, Belly personally placed the utensils in my hands. On the plate, sausages, bread, eggs and such were appetizingly prepared. It could be called the perfect breakfast.
Belly meticulously spread butter on the bread in front of me. He now seemed unsatisfied unless every single one of my trivial actions went through his hands. It was an affection that seemed obsessive.
He attended to me without receiving any compensation whatsoever. The reason for doing so was supposedly to receive my favor, but the degree was far too excessive. He had now become a more perfect attendant than Lily, the character in the novel he had initially modeled himself after.
Being attended to by an important character in this world, as time passed, my feelings became strangely twisted.
“Mm… Thanks.”
“It’s only natural.”
Only natural. Since when did it become natural for him, an important person, to attend to me, a mere extra?
Suddenly I felt like my throat was blocked. Struggling to suppress the turbid feelings that rippled up, I devoured my breakfast. Though it had been food giving off a delicious smell, it was painful because it wouldn’t go down.
* * *
“You seem to be in a bad mood lately.”
As I sat curled up on the sofa reading a book, Rose said while looking at me worriedly.
“There’s nothing to be in a bad mood about, well…”
Nine years since possessing into this world. Compared to the terrible begging days at first, now was as different as heaven and earth. It was incomparably peaceful compared to the time when I was always exposed to violence and it was hard to even beg for a single meal.
Moreover, thanks to Belly’s abilities, I no longer had to work hard at the tavern. Belly was no different from a pearl necklace on a pig’s neck to me. I was a low-level extra without much ability, but he was different.
He was physically excellent and his intelligence was exceptional. The way he absorbed and utilized everything he learned was like watching a sponge. He even possessed magical talent, so I had nothing to say except that he was amazing.
However, such a Belly never left my side even for a moment. Stuck close to my side as I merely did serving and menial work at the tavern, the higher-ups eventually freed me from low-level tasks to utilize Belly.
Now I infiltrated assigned mission sites and collected information. Since infiltration missions had a high degree of danger, Belly and I received substantial hazard pay for our work. Thanks to that, my thin wallet also became plentiful, so it was truly killing two birds with one stone.
So right now, my situation was such that there couldn’t be anything to make me feel bad about.
Food, clothing, and shelter were abundantly provided, and the work, though more dangerous than working at the tavern, was safe and comfortable because Belly was there. Since I used neither my head nor body, it was truly no different from lying down and eating rice cakes. My wallet had become generous enough to buy more books.
It could be said that both my public and private life were completely fulfilled. So feeling bad was the complaint of a full stomach. I had to be okay.
“Master, please have this.”
“Ah! That!”
Belly poured tea into an elegant teacup. Seeing that, Rose shouted and pointed at Belly accusingly.
“Where did you find that!”
“The cupboard.”
Belly answered stiffly without even looking at Rose. Belly’s coldness toward others remained the same even after several years had passed. Probably even after 10 years, that wouldn’t change. Fundamentally, he didn’t particularly like humans.
Rose was in a better position than others since she at least got an answer.
“I was saving that…!”
“Master, please drink it quickly. It’ll get cold.”
With the despairing Rose in the background, Belly speaking affably to me created a severe disharmony, but this situation was now no different from daily life. In fact, Rose acting like that was also for fun. If she really disliked it, she wouldn’t have kept it on the kitchen ceiling but would have hidden it somewhere like the bedroom.
When I sipped the fragrant black tea, Belly smiled brightly and Rose looked at him as if that face was detestable. However, affection flickered in those pupils. Since we had known each other for six years, she had now grown attached to Belly as well.
“Jack.”
Rose rummaged through the documents she had been working on, then held out one sheet to me. Belly quickly received it and held it out to me, as if I might get up. At this rate, when Belly leaves my side later for the story progression, I might not be able to do anything by myself.
“What’s this?”
“A new mission. You seem depressed lately too… You’re depressed because you’re always only with the same guy. Go outside and meet some people.”
If that was the reason, shouldn’t she introduce me to people rather than a mission? It was questionable, but Rose must have known that I was happiest when doing missions. I received the documents Rose handed me without complaint and read them.
[**Din Telliano.**
Male. 34 years old. North Organization’s exclusive tattooist…(omitted)….]
The documents contained detailed personal information.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t done missions directly dealing with people in the past few years. My main tasks had been secretly observing them from above the ceilings of noble houses or trading companies. It wasn’t that it wasn’t fun. As long as I wasn’t caught, my body was comfortable too.
But sometimes I missed the time working at the tavern. Since my body wasn’t strained, it seemed like I was getting absurd idle thoughts.
“Master should rest—”
“Sounds good.”
Belly looked at me with wide-open eyes. Seeing him blink blankly several times, he must have been quite surprised.
“But, Master. Isn’t it hard for you to meet other people?”
“Hm? Not really?”
It would have been hard normally, but it was different in this world. In this world, whatever I did became enjoying the novel. Thinking of it as reading a novel, even someone like me who didn’t have hobbies of going out could enjoy it quite a bit.
“But… you’ve been having a hard time lately.”
“That’s why I should meet some people and such. Well, this is a mission though.”
Rose said with a cheerful smile.
Even though it was called a mission, this person Din Telliano, while being an organization’s exclusive tattooist, had a low degree of danger. He didn’t seem to be directly involved in the organization’s work. If it had been dangerous, Rose wouldn’t have recommended it to me either.
Probably if my prediction was correct, Rose had recommended the most decent-looking person among the missions who could also pique my interest.
“Then I’ll do it starting tomorrow.”
“Master…”
Belly looked at me almost tearfully. His earnest, sorrowful eyes glistened with tears. However, that didn’t mean I could take back what I had already decided.
Moreover, as Rose said, it seemed like a change of scenery would be good right now. I was lacking stimulation enough to miss hard work.
“Belly, I’m still going to do it.”
“…Understood, Master.”
The appearance of Belly drooping his head glumly was beautiful like a single lily. Seeing his pure appearance made my heart flutter as if I had done something terribly wrong. But as if knowing my feelings, Rose said firmly.
“Don’t try to manipulate him.”
“Ah… it was manipulation?”
“…There’s no way, Master.”
Though Belly shook his head glumly, the desolate energy from before had considerably dissipated. It seemed to have been manipulation as Rose said.
I almost fell for it and canceled the mission. It’s not even for just a day or two, but did he dislike me going on a mission that much?
* * *
“Master, it really suits you well.”
“Yeah?”
The next day when it was time to go out for the mission, Belly dressed me up in new clothes he had brought from somewhere.
Having become a perfect attendant over the past few years, Belly now seemed like he could possibly do undressing and dressing using just one hand. Moreover, he set the clothes so well that even if he got a job at a tailor’s shop, he would probably do better than most veterans.
“Where did this come from again?”
By the way, these clothes weren’t ones I bought, right? Such high-quality linen shirts were not something I would buy with my own hands. The buttons also seemed to be plated and looked quite expensive.
“I saw nice clothes so I bought them. Do you like them?”
“Yeah, I do, but… you bought them with your money again? I told you it’s okay. What the guild provides is enough for me.”
We were still receiving support for all daily necessities from the guild. Daily necessities partially included clothes as well. Though the quality wasn’t very good, it wasn’t terrible enough to be unwearable, so I would get by for a year with just the provided items.
However, Belly, not liking those clothes, would always buy my clothes with his own salary. Thanks to that, my wardrobe was abundant with clothes he had bought.
