No More Pain For This Villain.

"Ren,I might sound selfish, but would you help me mend things with my friends?" Anabelle asked,

"Nope." I know I sound like a jerk, but I have a reason.

An abrupt surprise was written all over Anabelle's face. She did not anticipate this brazen of a response from me, nor did I want to give one, but in this kind of circumstance, I am powerless to intervene.

 "I see." Anabelle suddenly fell silent as she turned her attention to the coffee mug in front of her.

"I believe I should leave at this time," After digging around in her handbag for a moment, Anabelle pulled out a silver coin and set it down on the desk.

"I appreciate the coffee." After saying this, she stood up, turned around, and started to walk away.

"Sit down." I noted this while grabbing her wrist.

"Huh?" Finally, Anabelle turned to face me.

I instructed you to sit down and stay for the entire speech. This time, I was considerably more polite in my delivery.

"You don't have to push yourself; I am aware that my request was egotistical," said Anabelle.

"Please sit down and listen to what I have to say. I'm not forcing myself, and I don't think your request is self-serving; on the contrary, I think it's completely sincere." I described.

After giving a hesitant nod, Anabelle sat back down.

"Listen then; from what I understand, I'll make a few things clear. First, you are not feeling guilty about killing that bandit, right?" I asked, "If it was someone else, then they would have felt guilt over killing someone, but as far as I know, even if it is little, Anabelle is a radical person.

"Yeah, killing bandits doesn't make me feel bad, but I don't want to do anything that will make me have to repeat the same kind of behaviour. It's never fun to kill someone, but if I stay a mercenary, it won't be long before I'd have to do it once more. "According to Anabelle, feeling guilty and not wishing to repeat an experience are two distinct emotions.

 When you do something wrong, you feel guilty, but Anabelle is arguing that she is not guilty; rather, she simply doesn't want to repeat that action, even if it was the right one.

"I can't interfere in your personal matters, but I do have an excellent idea; it's up to you if you want to follow my advice because, at the end of the day, all of the results depend on the effort you've put in." I said,

I then informed Anabelle what I was thinking about her case at the time. I'm really not involved at all, and it relies on how she carries out the strategy.

"Fufu." Anabelle giggled as I ended up telling her all the plans.

"Why are you laughing? Did you find anything funny?" I asked, 

"I was actually laughing at the fact that Ren makes it look like he doesn't care, but he actually does." Anabelle wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. I don't know if they were tears of happiness or something else.

"Anyways, what do you think?" I asked, "It's all a waste if she is not on it with me.

"I love it. Thanks for helping and telling me where I am lacking." An upbeat smile came from Anabelle.

"Then it's decided; you'll mend things with your friends yourself." I declared.

We then left the cafe while laughing and chatting. Anabelle was in a good mood, and to make things clear, I paid for the coffee. I ain't letting a girl pay on a date.

"Wow! " Look at the sky." Anabelle said, "It's like six in the evening, and the sun is setting, painting the sky in its colours.

The slanting rays of the setting sun gave a warm orange tinge to the sky. The sky was ablaze with the fire of the setting sun.

"I think this is truly where our date ends." I said, "It's a little sad, but it was going to end sometime," right?

"Well, you can at least walk with me until the roads separate." Anabelle's place, where she lives, is opposite my house.

"Yeah, that'll do." I agreed; it's fine if we walk for a little more.

We were talking as we walked about unimportant topics like our favourite foods and God knows what else when all of a sudden we both stopped talking. Although the contents were adequate, I felt that the tranquilly was more satisfying.

I have no idea what Anabelle is thinking, but from the look on her face right now, it doesn't appear like she has much on her mind.

Bump

"I am sorry I didn't see—" I apologised as my elbow bumped into someone. I know it's a lady who felt something soft touch my elbow.

"Ruu!" The person exclaimed.

"Mrs Marylin?" I was shocked to see Marylin here.

"Oh, it's a pleasant surprise to see you here. What are you doing?" Marylin asked, and she has that genuinely happy expression.

"I was on a date." I said, "It's not like there was anything to hide; certainly not something that I'd be hiding from Marylin.

"Ho! with this young lady? She's the same girl who saved you back then, right?" Marylin asked, "Why is she grinning like that?"

"Yeah, she is; her name is Anabelle." I introduced her.

"Hello there; it's good to see you again." Anabelle came forward.

"I am also happy to see you again; then how good is our Ruu as a boyfriend?" Marylin asked,

"Boy- boyfriend! We are not in that kind of relationship." Anabelle's face turned as red as a tomato due to embarrassment.

"Fufu, you don't have to hide anything from me; I ain't going to snitch on his mother. Tell me." Marylin began nudging her with her elbow, and I saw Anabelle fidgeting more and more.

Sigh

"That's enough teasing, Mrs. Marilyn; she's not my girlfriend; we are just on a friendly date." I explained,

"Buu, that's too bad," Marylin says, retreating a little.

"Then again, what are you doing here? "You should be at your shop, right?" I asked; it's not like her to keep the shop closed.

"I am also on a date today, but unlike you, who is here with a cute girl, I am with my beautiful daughter." Marylin replied.

"Mary?" I felt a clutching feeling in my chest when I heard her name.

"Yeah, she'll be going to the academy in a few days, so I thought I should spend more time with her." Marylin explained, yeah the academy is starting soon so that means she'll be going to the Hestia Empire in few days.

"And where is she now?" I asked immediately, if anything I'd like to avoid meeting her, I don't why but that's the first thought that comes to my mind when I hear her name.

"Oh, she's gone to the washroom in that cafe over there; she'll be back in a few minutes." Marylin was as chill as ever.

It's the same cafe we were at just a moment ago, which means we barely missed her.

"Then we'll be going." I grabbed Anabelle's hand; she got startled by the sudden touch.

"That's fine, bye." Marylin's expression shifted to one that cannot be qualified as happy from any angle, but she didn't stop me because she knew that it would bring nothing good.

I took a step ahead but stopped and turned around. There's something I wanted to ask Marylin. "I was told that you bought the Thargtusk corpse from the guild." I asked.

"Ah! Who told you, "Hey, look, Mary is coming? "Do you want to meet her?" Marylin looked shocked at first but changed her sentence in the middle. Why does it feel like she changed the topic?

"Let's get going." I said to Anabelle and dragged her out of there without turning to look at Mary:

All that time, Anabelle kept her gaze on the hand I was holding. What is she thinking? I thought.

After a fifteen-minute stroll, we arrive at the location where we go various directions. I let go of Anabelle's hand quite a while ago, but she still hasn't spoken a thing.

"Well, then this is where we go different ways." I said,

"Looks like it," Anabelle said while tucking a strand of hair behind the ear.

"Bye then." I turned to leave when I suddenly felt a tug on the hem of my sleeve.

G u l p

"Umm....an we meet tomorrow?" Anabelle asked,her eyes glued to the ground.

"Tomorrow?um...it's my birthday tomorrow, so I am planning on spending the whole day with my family." I answered normally.

F w i p

"It's your birthday!?" Anabelle looked at me immediately; it was fast. I am worried that she might crack her neck someday.

"Yeah," I confirmed.

"Don't just say "yeah." You should tell me about these things beforehand." Anabelle nearly screamed these words in my face.

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[ A/N: You should tell about your birthday date to your friends.]